#but really all of the characters because they are all my children

[acis-arts]

if narinder is the only cat left in the swap au, what happens to aym, baal and forneus? :(

could there be sheep versions of them, then?...

Unfortunately, Forneus, Aym and Baal are gonna be dead in this AU :( They are however still there as characters, just very absent from the main story, as a part of Narinders backstory

Down below, I will be talking about my ideas for them and show you the new characters for this Swap!

In my Swap AU, Narinder was kind of a family friend to them. Forneus was a single mother of two, during a time where all the cats were being hunted down and had to stay in hiding mostly. Narinder had known her for almost his entire life and he knew Aym and Baal since they were born. Because of that and due to their circumstances, he often helped Forneus out and was practically part of the family.

Narinder is devastated by the fact, that not only was he the last cat alive, but the only close thing to a family he ever had is gone. Narinder misses them dearly, and is plagued by the fact, that he can't bring them back.

He will form a found family again in the main story (with Leshy, Heket, Kallamar and Shamura as his followers) and he will do anything to keep them safe and protect them

As for the second question, yeah! There will be "sheep versions" of them!

These are some designs I came up with yesterday! I had already decided that I wanted the Disciples of Kali (the Lamb) to be black sheeps, because the 7 new Lamb character designs should vary in colors as well as horn shapes and I think they turned out really cool!

Since there is pretty much no information about the slaughtered Lambs and they are my OCs, here's some info I have about them so far:

Fortuna is pretty much just a sheep version of Forneus, being a shopkeeper with 2 children that were taken away from her. As for Luna and Sol, I don't want them to be exactly like my headcanons for Aym and Baal. Luna is the older twin who isn't as scary as she looks and actually has a bit of a silly side to her. Sol is very observant and isn't the type to start a conversation with anyone unless it's someone she's close to.

This is all I have for now! Thanks for the questions and Thank you for reading!!

#art #cotl #cult of the lamb #cotl swap au #cotl narinder #cotl forneus #cotl aym #cotl baal #swap au #cotl au

[ceasarslegion]

If you dont know the difference between nudity that just exists in the context of human bodies existing and sexual nudity i really dont know how to help you. Like i dont consider a lot of things "inappropriate for children" because i dont consider portraying some god character or whatever as nude inherently inappropriate. Like if it makes sense in the narrative and isnt clearly for a sexual gaze then i dont actually see any issue with it.

This is where i think a lot of western anime fans in particular really lose the plot around it. Like yeah, im not under any impression that there isnt a real problem with misogynistic fanservice in the anime industry, but i dont think the scene in Madoka Magica where Madoka and Homura hold each other while she ascends to godhood is inappropriate or sexual, it's clearly supposed to be a very vulnerable and intimate moment with no sexual undertones whatsoever. I don't think the infamous "Come, Sweet Death" scene in End of Evangelion is inappropriate, why would a god have a concept of nudity at all? (Although yes, there's a lot of fanservice in Evangelion. It's borderline Freudian sometimes. But you get that in any 90s anime for adults. Some of them you really have to take on a case-by-case basis. And honestly I'd still let my little sister watch it with a few eye covering moments because it's not like the ENTIRE show is made completely inappropriate and unwatchable and corrupting because of a few boob shots, the vast majority of it is like, fine.)

Not every culture or even every filmmaker within your own culture has the same ideas about nudity as a christian puritan does. Not all nudity is sexual. Tons of nudity is completely fine for children to see. There is nothing inherently sexual about a human body.

#some thoughts

[upagainstthesunset]

Adoption in Comics

Found family and adoption are big themes in comics. i see a lot of talk about found family, as i think that really hits home for a lot of the tumblr comics fandom and rightly so. So for this post im focusing on adoption, legal or otherwise. A guarding and ward relationship, which can be parent and child or looser terms.

Many of the most well known and beloved heroes were adopted or have adopted children of their own. It invites discussion of nature vs nurture, of dsymorphia, of choice. It can be a situation that's terrible, or it can be a salvation. It can be done for all the wrong reasons and lead to a disconnect of expectation vs reality. It can be full of love but still lead to missteps.

But before i go any further, a poll. Id like to get some background on the fandom here, so please consider reblogging.

Note for the poll: "Strangers" meaning someone who did not know your birth family prior to the adoption

I wish there were more poll options to also ask the adopted part of the fanbase if they are a different ethnicity from their adoptive family, as that usually has a huge impact on their experiences. For example, I'm Korean but my parents are white US Americans. I grew up in an area of some diversity but not a lot, in that all my closest friends were white and all of my extended family was white. And because of that, my ethnic heritage was something ive had to actively seek out and choose to make part of my identity. It also meant that i just plain did not look like my family or peers, and so stereotypes and assumptions (good and bad) have been put on me at times.

Economic status also plays a role. Im mostly pulling from past knowledge of adoption agencies, but it's not exactly inexpensive, and of course financial stability is one of the big things agencies look for. So it ends up being that a good chunk of adoptive parents are fairly well off, in the upper middle class range. And that in itself can be alienating. This wasnt my personal situation but I knew of others where it was.

I might need to make a series of posts about how all this pertains to comics. It could really be a Master's thesis topic. But for now I'd love to hear other people's thoughts on adoption in comics. What feelings do you have about it? Have you given it much thought? How do the socioeconomic statuses of the adoptive family inform the characters and their actions? Does race with respect to adopter/adoptee play a part in the dynamics of what's going on in the stories you read?

I of course have tons and tons of my own opinions on all this, but I genuinely would like to hear from others. This includes fans who arent adopted! Your readings and interpretations are valid on this subject too! Youre really the average reader, the main demographic. So it's interesting to hear opinions from that perspective as well. And if you are adopted and feel like sharing your thoughts on comics, please please do.

Oh! And one last thing, feel free to tag or list comics characters who are adopted or who have adopted someone. I'd be interested to see how many there really are!

#dc comics #adoption #clark kent #bruce wayne #<-tagging two of the big characters related to adoption #gottaknow #kateliftstheveil

[i-guess-im-into-this-now]

The Apothecary Diaries

S1E11 First Watch

Here's where I watch The Apothecary Diaries for the first time and give my thoughts, analysis, predictions, and occasionally I stumble into a joke.

To start at the beginning:

Episode 1

My character/location cheat sheet

Lady Ah-Duo - Pure Consort, one of 4 top concubines

Garnet Pavilion - Lady Ah-Duo's residence

Fengming - Head LIW at Garnet Pavilion

Lady Lishu - child bride concubine

Jade Pavilion - Lady Gyokuyou's residence

Luomen - Maomao's physician father

No cryptic opening! Maomao is in a garden, examining a flower, and maybe this is one of those plants that she mentioned last episode. One of the medicinal plants that suspiciously grew both in the palace and in Luomen's own garden. Is she thinking of the secrets that her father has kept from her? Or how the machinations of the palace affected him?

Maomao goes to deliver a letter from Lady Gyokuyou to Lady Ah-Duo, but runs into Fengming, and I'm guessing that's why she is actually here. Maomao opens a box and shows her something that makes Fengming nervous. Maomao has figured out what has been going on in this pavilion and she's either here to confirm something or to offer her own form of justice.

If that's the case then I'm scared that she's doing this on her own. Aren't we still assuming that someone here tried to murder Lady Lishu? And wasn't the servant girl that worked here killed? Isn't it dangerous to confront these folk all on her own? Does she know something that I don't (she does), about these mysteries that makes her feel safe walking in alone?

The people of Garnet Pavilion have their luggage packed and are vacating because Lady Ah-Duo is about to be replaced.

Maomao confronts Fengming with what she has surmised. Lady Ah-Duo had her baby at the same time as the former empress and was unable to receive medical help during delivery. Something went catastrophically wrong if Maomao is correct, and Lady Ah-Duo lost the ability to bear children. Since Lady Ah-Duo was so injured after birth, Fengming cared for the newborn. Fengming made a critical mistake when she fed the infant honey and azalea (Oh that's the flower she was examining in the opening). The death was attributed as being due to the same poisonous powder that killed another newborn recently, but Luomen was blamed, labelled incompetent and expelled from the palace. Later Fengming learned that she was responsible when she heard Lady Lishu's story, but kept the truth hidden, and tried to keep distance between Lady Ah-Duo and Lady Lishu, who had developed a bond. Fengming tried to eliminate Lady Lishu by poisoning her soup.

Fengming denies none of it and simply asks:

What may I ask do you want?

Justice asshole!

But really, what is Maomao trying to achieve here? She isn't trying to blackmail Fengming. If she really wanted to do something about this, couldn't she just tell Jinshi and let him handle this? What does Maomao gain by going directly to Fengming with this? It seems dangerous.... is she trying to see if Fengming would kill someone for discovering this secret? Trying to see if this is what happened to the servant girl who was killed?

Fengming feels incredible guilt over what happened to the baby. She witnessed Lady Ah-Duo's grief. And devoted herself completely to her concubine.

Maomao: I can't relate. I don't have it in my heart to let anyone that close to my own.

Girl, we noticed. But that is Maomao's character arc! I've talked before about her fear of vulnerability, I just didn't know she was aware of it.

I've been thinking about Maomao a lot (obv, I'm writing blogs on every episode), and something has been slowly becoming more and more apparent. She doesn't think very highly of herself.

Oh sure she's assertive in how she acts with others, but that's only because she typically only speaks on topics she is certain on. She consistently declines to talk about gossip, and routinely resist talking about conjectures. Jinshi is sometimes an exception. Maomao knows what she knows about medicine and draws a line where her expertise ends. So when she speaks, she speaks with confidence and we get the impression she is a confident person.

But I don't think that's the whole story. I think she views herself in how she can help others. She only is valuable because she can serve others. If she couldn't do that, then what good is she? And even as an apothecary she doesn't take pride. She believes she's subpar, because she compares herself to her father.

I don't think she sees herself as inherently worthwhile.

We hear it quietly in off hand comments sometimes, like when she was talking about Lady Lihua having a large chest and she says that she herself isn't blessed that way.

We see it in big ways like self harm and suicidal ideation.

We see it a whole lot in how she relates to Jinshi.

Maomao: Please, I'm of lowly birth. It's not right for you to touch me. [Episode 6]

She really thinks she isn't worth his attention.

So she's going to need to learn to love herself for more than what she can provide to others before she can accept that others love her too.

But she does better when she's surrounded by people who truly love and appreciate her, like the ladies of the Jade Pavilion. And Jinshi too. On his good days, he's a great influence on her. I like the ways he makes her comfortable enough to share her thoughts, supports her, and appreciates her. He's giving her some desperately needed validation. And what is love if not feeling seen and valued? Our girl will get there eventually.

Maomao: Once he hears my story, Master Jinshi will surely apprehend Fengming. There's no way she wouldn't be executed. The woman is smart, and surely she already knows this.

Then Maomao offers to take her two motives and make them into one. I wonder what she's doing. Lady Ah-Duo watches Maomao walk away, turns out she wasn't out of the pavilion as Fengming had claimed after all. I wonder if she heard all of that.

Maomao is exhausted from the stress of all the emotions she's been navigating all day, and the weight of the choice she has to make next. Turns out she was prepared in case Fengming had tried to stab her. She really walked in to a situation where she thought she could have died. And for what? What did she achieve today?

My guess is that she needed to confirm her theories before she brought them to Jinshi, because the stakes were too high for her to be wrong. If Maomao's theory had a flaw in it, and Fengming was executed because of it... well Maomao couldn't risk that. So she walked in there, knowing she could be attacked or killed, to get the truth. Holy shit Maomao.

Jinshi is also tired. Fengming handed herself in. I'm sure he's happy to get to the bottom of this case but it's yet another thing for him to deal with. And maybe he hoped that there was some other explanation that wouldn't require him to execute Fengming.

Jinshi asks if Maomao knew about it, she denies it. I'm sure he already knew she was involved before he asked and I'm sure she knows that he knows. So this little exchange is just a testing of the waters. With Jinshi saying are you ready to open up to me yet? And Maomao saying nope. The whole conversation Jinshi's keeps pushing, keeps giving her opportunities to tell him the truth. He never gives up on her. But she has locked every door he tries open.

We find out that Lady Ah-Duo was already scheduled to leave the palace to go to an imperial villa. Jinshi thinks Fengming's motive is odd.

Oh Hongniang came by earlier and brought some flowers? I'm sure it was just a meaningless gift for the palace manager and not an excuse to spend time with Gaoshun.

Maomao starts sucking on a flower so Jinshi does too. Then she tells him it's poisonous. Just because Maomao eats something doesn't mean it's safe! Which is actually hilarious, because she is a food taster.

Maomao explains that she convinced Fengming to say the baby's death and the attempt to poison Lady Lishu were due to the same cause, which was trying to secure Lady Ah-Duo's position as a favored concubine. I don't quite get how that motive explains the baby's death, but I'm just going to roll with it.

Jinshi goes to Lady Ah-Duo to talk about Fengming. He's going to have to execute her, but she was a well respected companion to Lady Ah-Duo. I think it is kind that he is taking time to have this difficult conversation with Lady Ah-Duo. Jinshi never shies away from a situation because it's hard, and I think that's admirable.

But also, this is SO his mom! I know I said that about the dowager empress, and I was dead wrong. In my defense, the empress also has the same coloring as these two. But, Lady Ah-Duo, she even wears her hair up in the same style. And there was a whole scene in an earlier episode about how Jinshi wouldn't spend time in a concubine's room alone with them, but here he is, perfectly comfortable doing just that. She's his mother, and he knows that, and probably other people know that too, since he's not afraid of getting busted. I'm dying to see how Jinshi relates to the emperor and empress.

Maomao is feeling guilty. She's done the right thing, but someone was executed because Maomao got involved and she's struggling to accept that. She climbs up on the wall. This is the same place that Lady Ah-Duo's lady fell to her death to drown in the moat. This wall which represents the boundary between the cage of the palace and death in the moat. I don't think it's a coincidence that Maomao is here. Is Fengming's execution justice for the girl who died?

Lady Ah-Duo meets Maomao up there. She probably has a lot o her mind since her head lady in waiting was just executed for killing her child, and attempting to kill Lady Lishu whom she has a fond relationship with. Plus she's leaving the palace tomorrow. Perhaps she wanted to come up to the wall one last time before she leaves forever.

Lady Ah-Duo tells us she never wanted to be a concubine and questions why she clung to it for so long. Her relationship with the emperor was that of a friend rather than a concubine. Maomao thinks that Lady Ah-Duo would be saying the same thing to anyone whom she may have come upon on the wall this night. I disagree. I think Lady Ah-Duo is a lot more aware of who Maomao is then she is letting on. I think she overheard the conversation between Fengming and Maomao the day of the confrontation. So Lady Ah-Duo has Maomao to thank for uncovering the truth about a couple of things. But also. Since I'm assuming Lady Ah-Duo is Jinshi's mother, there is also the possibility that she knows a whole lot more about Maomao, having heard it all from Jinshi himself.

I see. Lady Ah-Duo is up her for the same reason as Maomao, which is to remember the servant girl who died. Turns out even a servant girl's life mattered to someone in the palace. She didn't just disappear without a care. I wonder if Maomao will take this to heart, if it might help to ease the black mood we saw from her a couple of episodes ago.

But her death was a suicide. She killed herself this way so as to keep suspicion from Lady Ah-Duo. Perhaps Fengming even helped her. Lady Ah-Duo knew how the girl died. She calls her a "fool" but cries and says "we all are." This entire story arc demonstrates the desperate choices people make under pressure, and what they are willing to sacrifice.

The servant girl's suicide is the most prominent example of acting out of desperation, but every character in this arc has their own version of this. Fengming in what she has done to cover up the truth of Lady Ah-Duo's baby's death. Lady Ah-Duo with her clinging on to her position in the palace. Maomao in her need to figure out what happened to the servant girl. Even Jinshi in his desire to connect with Maomao.

Maomao is coming down the wall when she is startled by Jinshi. She falls, into his lap. And... is Jinshi... drunk? She tries to get up, but he hugs her.

Oh Jinshi. If we needed another example of desperation here it is. Tears fall as he asks Maomao for warmth, just for a little while.

Jinshi has been unraveling for awhile now (See previous posts). He's lonely, overworked, and overwhelmed. And now he is overcome with emotions. Plus, he's just had to execute someone today. And his mom is leaving. Yet another loss from his ever shrinking circle of support. It's been a rough time for our dude.

I don't know what was happening with him and Lady Ah-Duo, I'm guessing they were drinking about how shitty the day was or maybe saying goodbye since she's about to leave. I wonder why Lady Ah-Duo wanted to get him so drunk, and then left him in her room to wait for her. When she returns, she tells him she's satisfied now. What does that mean? Oh! Is she saying she approves of Maomao?! Then she threw him out. Maybe, so that he could have a serendipitous encounter with his sweetheart? Is Lady Ah-Duo on team JinMao? I am choosing to believe yes!

In any case he's drunk and his will to keep holding back his emotions from Maomao has bottomed out. This one person with whom he feels some kind of connection with just fell into his arms, and no, he's not letting her go right now.

So, he squeezes her tighter and she settles in, willing to tolerate this breach this time. Allowing him to touch her is a line she tried not to cross, but she's not willing to enforce her boundary this time. Her boundaries are there because she's afraid she's unworthy, and she's afraid that getting involved with Jinshi could lead to trouble, and she's afraid to be vulnerable. Those boundaries aren't there because she doesn't care. In fact, it's because she cares, that she breaks her them down tonight. To deny him in this moment would be cruel. And she's not willing to hurt him, even if it means she has to be a bit vulnerable herself. Her boundaries were never meant to hurt other people. They were there to protect herself. If the choice is between protecting someone else and risking herself she will choose to endanger herself every time, she's consistently self-sacrificing.

It's a major step forward for both of them, and I'm extremely interested to see if the boundaries will go back up the next time they meet or if this wall that just came down can't be re-erected.

Also, props to Jinshi for asking for exactly what he needs. Maomao is terrified of being vulnerable, but Jinshi is fearless. They are both such fascinating characters.

Lady Ah-Duo gives back her crown to symbolize her official retreat from the palace. Maomao is seeing Jinshi and Lady Ah-Duo side by side and it hits her that they are mother and son. And boy doesn't that have a lot of ramifications.

Maomao surmises that Lady Ah-Duo's baby was switched with the empress's child. Perhaps Lady Ah Duo did it to ensure her child would be safe. Turns out that was a justified fear since the baby in her care did die. Maomao thinks that someone may have found out about the switch after the baby was dead and held Luomen accountable for not noticing the switch. It also explains the odd position of the emperor's brother. And why Lady Ah Duo stayed around the palace so long despite not wanting to be a concubine. And Jinshi must know too because he stayed around drinking with her.

Maomao: What complete nonsense. I'm disappointed for even thinking of it.

Same, Maomao. Same. It's exactly how I feel about all of my theories, and this blog in general. But unlike me, Maomao is rarely wrong, so I'm counting this as proof!

Lady Lishu is crushed that the only maternal figure in her life is leaving, but it does look like her food taster may be be on her side now.

Maomao walks away from the scene, which is closing out so many of the mysteries that were unsolved. And I can't help but notice that there are clouds gathering on the horizon. Foreshadowing.

I don't know what the last scene between Gaoshun and Jinshi means. But the storm has arrived, so I know this is a turning point.

Gaoshun: Fengming's kin, and those connected.

Jinshi: *sigh* She told me she was kidnapped and sold off, but...

What does it mean that Maomao's name is among those of Fengming's family and associates? I only have one theory and I don't like it. My theory is that the emperor had a relationship with Fengming and that Maomao is the bastard child of that relationship. Hidden and removed from the palace for... reasons. But I don't believe that theory myself, if the emperor hid that, then it wouldn't be coming up now. I'm returning to my theory that "the annex" will hold the answer to who Maomao's parents are. And now that I think about it, why would Jinshi mention the kidnappers here? Are the kidnappers part of Fengming's family? What will happen to Maomao because of this? Is she to be punished? How will Jinshi handle that?!

What I really need are more scenes with the emperor so I can get a sense of that person. So much of this story revolves around him (harem story duh), yet he's not actually around all that often. I'm so intrigued to know how he and Jinshi relate to one another. Let me into that emperor's head already!

At least now we don't have to pretend we don't know Jinshi is a prince. We don't know for sure who is father is. I'm going to guess he's not the current emperor's child otherwise his position in the palace would be as a future heir, and not the ambiguous position he holds now. As it is, he's being presented as the emperor's younger brother, which considering the emperor has no legitimate heirs, I think that would make him the crown prince. At least in name, if not in blood.

And Maomao may think her theory is wild, but now that she's thought it, I wonder how it will affect how she behaves around Jinshi. If she thought he was too far above her as a eunuch official, what will she think now that she suspects him of being the crown prince? Also, surely she'll realize now that he is not indeed at eunuch. The empire would not castrate their prince. Will that realization impact Maomao?

I can tell we are at a turning point in the story. Early storylines have been all resolved, and the characters have completed their first arcs. We're ready to move into the next challenges. Frankly I'm super excited.

To start at the beginning of these blogs:

Chapter 1

Next Chapter

Chapter 12

#the apothecary diaries #apothecary diaries #maomao #jinshi #jinmao

[chaifootsteps]

It’s been going on for a while but seeing that clip of Brandon calling a teen girl character a slut, fat, cockblock…just reeks with misogyny. The fact that he says this as himself and not as a character just gives me the ick.

What’s worse I and friends of mine can actually relate to Octavia to an extent. Children who are either neglectful, self centered, living in a broken home. Joke or not I thought he would be somewhat mature enough not to insult Octavia just leaves me with dread that there’s no hope that the show is going to get better.

It’s no longer Helluva Boss. It’s the Stolitz show.

That's the thing, isn't it? It's not even played as "I'm Blitz and I think Via sucks" all the way through, which would be weird and awful enough because Blitz has never been anything but kind to Via, it's "lol she killed my self-insert, but no really, I genuinely think she sucks and Blitz would hate her."

#Anonymous #helluva boss critical #viv stuff #actual blog post

[myheartismadeofstars]

Man the more I think about it, the more I REALLY wish Durge could be a companion. It would be so cool to have a dragonborn companion, and just...see what Durge is canonly like.

Also I really want to see my Tav adopt Durge!

And it would allow you to see all of the Durge story stuff while playing your Tav!!

I really don't know why Durge is a Storm Sorcerer though? It just doesn't suit his character to me... (I don't know how well white dragonborn suits him either. Cold breath? I think there are better options, though I WILL say that he LOOKS cool AF as a white dragonborn!) I would probably have him as a rogue, barbarian or fighter (or even Oath of Vengeance Paladin!) if we didn't already HAVE companions of those classes please ignore the double druids but I could see him as a Monk if relying on unused classes! (Btw my Sorcerer subclass of choice would be Draconic for funny reasons)

Maybe it could be cool if Durge was multitalented before losing his memory and he could ask for advice as to what path to follow, allowing him to fill any role depending on what you needed. But he himself prefers to be up close and personal, approving if he got asked to be a more martial class (he would also approve if asked to be a sorcerer, implying he already knew he had those powers but would just...not use them lmao).

I feel like as a companion his approval would be a bit... weird. He's typically very reserved and cautious, but approves a LOT of you suddenly commit acts of violence (also pushes him towards indulging). But approves a bit if you use guile to avoid violence (pushes him to resist). Disapproves of chaos and often scolds chaotic party members (Astarion, Karlach to a lesser degree) even though he may laugh at their antics. Durge rarely responds to acts of kindness, but responds well to kindness to children (subconsciously reminds him of his foster parents). Mostly he approves of practicality, intelligence and ambition. He'd likely have interesting conversations with Gale about that, get along well with Minthara in general. I feel in my soul that Durge has chronic headaches because of Karlach (not because he doesn't like her, but because she mentions Gortash, and it hurts to think when he can't quite remember). I imagine he has a lot of thoughts that he doesn't act on. (Also I highkey think he'd sleep with Astarion at some point if neither are romanced. Listen... Astarion is dead, guys. He's a corpse that can consent)

If I were to write a companion!Durge story I would show him as canonly killing Quil instead of Alfira simply because it's a unique character and allows you to finish Alfira's quest AND get Durge Action (also I like the idea of her hitting on him). I think there could be some dramatic changes to the scene depending on how high his approval is, and how many times he's been encouraged to indulge (if he has high approval and has been resisting the whole time, he'll outright confess to having killed her, confused and terrified. If you've been encouraging his urges he'll take pleasure in it, it's possible to have a version where he blames Astarion, which Tav could pass a check to point out how nonsensical that is lmao)

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate iii #bg3 #bg3 durge #bg3 dark urge #the dark urge #dark urge #durge

[quiche-draws]

Realized I never posted my new BG3/DnD character!

Meet my "Tav", Lünne Wintercrest, a clanless silver dragonborn and eldritch knight who specializes in ice magic! She's pretty tall, stocky, and packs a mean punch.

She's found all the available companions so far for Act 1, though she only really likes a few people (namely Karlach and Wyll), more neutral towards others (Gale, Shadowheart, Lae'zel) and dislikes Astarion because of how he tried to attack her and then demanded her blood (she gave it reluctantly and then shoved him away, with a threat to punch/kill him if he tries again 😂). She is deeply suspicious of Kagha atm but isn't very keen on interacting with the tiefling children either.

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST! REBLOG ONLY!

#baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate #bg3 #tav #karlach #lae'zel #gale #shadowheart #kagha #arabella #astarion #qooky art #doodles #fan art #original character #oc #lünne wintercrest

[sleepingontheclouds]

i did a rant for Jason, now I’m doing a rant for my favorite superhero and occasionally morally grey person <3

I’m going to put a trigger warning here and now for the majority of this post. Discussing Dick Grayson for me means talking about very sensitive moments for his character, I will be mentioning and talking about some non-consensual events that happened to him in certain comic canons and one underage event. Please if this can/will trigger you, click off or skim over the parts where I mention it. I will highlight the parts where I actively speak about situations like that in red. Thank you.

Titans

I’ve watched to season 3 of Titans so far and I just gotta say, Dick’s character got a downgrade and an upgrade. Let me elaborate.

Firstly, I love what the writers did and how they characterized the boy wonder in season one. He was an authority figure, a protector. Literally the first time we are introduced to Robin and the first time we see Dick in the Robin suit, he’s brutalizing child abusers.

Throughout the entire first season there are multiple instances of Dick being very protective towards children and very aggressive with people he believes to hurt children.

In a later episode of season one, Dick tracks down a man with Kori after Rachel runs away with Gar. Once he realizes that the man has seen Rachel, let alone in the woods, he immediately goes into attack mode. At that point he believed that Rachel was alone, he didnt know about Gar and he didn’t know that she was with anyone. He punches the man and starts asking if he did anything to her, he goes protective and is very close to breaking that guys nose before his daughter runs out of her room and sees what’s going on, making Dick stop.

Personally, I loved that aspect of his character. It’s not only foreshadowing at the fact that he’s going to become an older brother, I personally think it also hints at a very traumatic event that happened to him in the comics.

It made me so sad to see him lose that aspect of himself after season one. I suppose the overprotective violence faded along side his other more regular violence.

I loved his violent characterization throughout the first two seasons, it really helps understand his character and him as a person.

In the first season, whenever he’s wearing the Robin suit he’s physically incapable of stopping himself from getting too violent, no matter how much he may want to without the costume on.

He stabs people, breaks peoples noses, nearly makes people bleed out, stomps peoples faces in, everything under the sun except kill them. That’s the whole reason he left Gotham, that’s the whole reason he held a grudge against Bruce in season one.

The journey we go through with Dick in season two is an amazing depiction of his character.

The literal order of events just screams mental breakdown to me and the episodes following made me think he had a psychological break, then we find out that he’s just like that.

The events go like this. First Dick starts seeing hallucinations of his father figure which he hates and that’s apparently just a normal thing that happens in Dick’s day to day life? Then he goes Robin mode, hurting a man he used to work with because he’s annoyed with the hallucination of his father. Then he goes to a dance club and nearly kills a man that works with Slade because he has a secret he needs to hide?? Then his traumatized nineteen year old brother tries to kill himself and what does Dick do? He trauma dumps all over Jason hoping that it’ll make him feel better and not want to die. (It doesn’t) then everyone he loves leaves him. He then decides to go visit the mother of the kid he thinks he got killed and finds himself talking to Slade. My guy then books a flight across the world because the fucking assassin with one eye who killed his own son said that he needed to repent by being in isolation?? You know what this dude does instead of going to Japan like he’s supposed to? He assaults two police officers to get himself seven years in jail. You know who he doesn’t tell? Gar. The teenager he left in charge of watching Superman’s clone with no other orders than, ‘call Bruce if he wakes up’ when he knows Bruce will not answer.

Then the dude breaks these gang members out of jail so they don’t get deported, that gets him thrown in solitary. You know what he does in solitary? Hallucinates his dad, fights him in his imagination, and then breaks out of jail.

When Dick eventually grows into his own person after all that insanity, when he becomes Nightwing— he forgives Bruce. It’s another aspect about his characterization that I love. Dick is forgiving, in a good and bad way, until he isn’t.

Dick doesn’t care what people do to him, it’s one of his biggest flaws. He lets himself get hurt over and over again and he just takes it. He lets his peers absolutely bash him and openly hate him, but he’s always still there for them. He always still supports them.

He knows Bruce turned him into a weapon, but he still went back. He went back and tried to ignore everything and forget about all the awful things Bruce did to him. He never directly talks to Bruce about it, sure he’s passive aggressive during [redacted’s] funeral dinner in season 2 but he never actually talks about anything.

The only time he snaps at Bruce is after Jason dies.

After his brother, who he didn’t treat like a brother, dies, he’s trying to cope. Everyone is. He knows Bruce copes in a different way and he respects it, what he doesn’t respect is the fact that Bruce is trying to rope in another child to be Robin. He’s trying to replace Jason right after he dies. That’s when Dick loses his temper.

Even after everything, it takes someone else being hurt for Dick to speak his mind. He never really stands up for himself, he stands up for other people and bottles in his emotions.

Comics

In the comics, Dick is much similar. He bottles up his emotions until he physically can’t.

He’s always trying to be happy, even Nightwing isn’t serious. For Bruce, Batman is a way to let out his true self. Batman is the real Bruce, Bruce Wayne is the mask he hides behind.

It’s exactly the opposite for Dick. Dick Grayson is the caring older brother who has no trauma and exists to help, Nightwing is the funny vigilante, he’s the protector of Blüdhaven who cracks jokes and never breaks a smile while fighting. Either way, Dick just trades in one mask for another.

The only times it’s genuinely him, is when he’s at his most vulnerable. When he isn’t around his family, his brothers, Bruce. That’s when the real him can come out, his real genuine emotions.

In a certain comic run that I’m unsure if it’s still canon or not, Dick gets assaulted. It’s before he has his facade, it’s right when it’s starting to develop. He’s sixteen.

Dick gets in a horrible fight with Bruce, it results in him either running away or getting kicked out, either way he isn’t with Bruce. The sixteen year old is left to fend for himself, then a 21 year old woman who’s targeting Wayne enterprises comes along.

She manipulates Dick and takes advantage of him (along with her husband I think) all to get to Bruce.

He never talks about it.

!! I WILL BE REPLYING TO THIS IN A REBLOG CAUSE THIS IS GETTING VERY LONG AND TYPING IS GETTING SLOW !!

#dick grayson #nightwing #trauma #dc titans #dc comics #dc universe #dcu #batman #batfam #jason todd #He’s so traumatized #:( #I love him #i love him so much #My poor boy #<333 #SORRY THIS IS SO LONG

[orionsangel86]

You know, I thought we were done with the ageism in fandom thinking that its purely for teenagers? Because it doesn't help anyone to have the attitude of this (now blocked) anon. People don't stop having passions and being fans of things just because they get older. Fandoms thrive BECAUSE older people put in the effort to MAKE them thrive. Do you really think that 100k word perfectly written epic fanfic that you adore so much was written by a 16 year old? Because I guarantee it was more likely to be written by a 35 year old mother of 2.

That amazing cosplay of your fave character you saw at a recent comic con that took phenomenal skill and probably a good deal of expense to look perfect wasn't put together by a 17 year old high schooler, it was perfected through years of passion into a hobby that more than likely required a full time job and a savings account to afford.

That amazing fanartist who has the BEST art of your OTP that captures their likeness in a really gorgeous style? They weren't born with that talent. It takes years to develop a personal art style, and capturing a persons likeness in art is a skill that has to be nurtured. The best artists are the ones who've had years to develop their skills. They aren't school kids. I have had mutuals on this site for a decade now and I have seen how much their art has improved and become absolutely beloved. These are people who at their youngest are in their late 20s now. Most of my mutuals are in their 30s, some of the best fanfiction writers I know are in their 40s and 50s. The meta writers I know are also in my age group. Hell, do you think teenagers run AO3? You'll be surprised just how many "old people" make the best fanworks. If you removed them from fandom spaces, I guarantee you would remove most of the talent, because no offence to you kids, but that talent is something that is nurtured over time, and time and aging go hand in hand i'm afraid.

The people who make fandoms what it is, the ones running events, pouring themselves into analytical posts, providing the best fanart, coming up with the amusing memes and textposts that go viral? Do you REALLY think they are all school kids? Fandoms are made up of PEOPLE, and newsflash assholes, people AGE.

This attitude always amazes me. There isn't an age limit in fandom. This isn't fucking Logan's Run (bet you the kids won't understand that reference) and honestly if these kids genuinely think they need to give it up and quit at a certain point in their future I just pity them.

Fandom thrives because of the older people that have nurtured it for years and carved out a space where younger people can enter in comfort and safety. Which are only possible BECAUSE older people built online fandoms and continued to put in the work to keep them going. If we all had to stop caring and leave fandom at some specific cut off date, the fandom landscape would be a vastly different space - and probably a lot worse for being predominantly run by hormonal teenagers - heh, I guess it would be a lot more like TikTok and we all know how dreadful TikTok has been for fandom so far. If nothing else that alone proves my point.

At the end of the day, no one can stop the passing of time. Even the horrible children who send adults nasty anons. Eventually, they will be the "fandom elders" and receiving their own anon hate from a future generation of brats, I personally can't wait to be the very old lady laughing at them when that day inevitably comes.

#fandom #ageism #respect your elders #fandom problems

[marvelfanfn2187a113]

God, it's true and I think the problem with the "I'm not just a mom" line is that it seems like she's not even trying to be a “mom.”

I think Mary could have been a character with potential and interesting without having to leave out Sam and Dean. And I need to complain about a lot of things about Mary now that I'm re-watching season 12:

12x12: Mary is working with the British Men of Letters even though THEY KIDNAPPED HER SON but the worst of all was that she lied to her children to get them to help her and when she stole from the demon (also without telling Sam and Dean) and Ramiel told them that they had 30 seconds to return what they had taken, she did nothing, she was willing to risk the lives of her children and Cas (who was already dying) to give the Colt to some people she works with just a few months ago

Also when Dean and Sam are arrested for the president and Mary was upset with Cas for abandoning them 💀

Girl, at least Cas was there, where were you? and she still asks why her kids didn't call her 😤

and I have another one, the chapter where they are trapped in a house with a demon, Dean himself tells Mary, quite rightly, that she traveled hours for the funeral of someone she hasn't seen in years but she sends her own children one text message a week, SOMETIMES

In that same chapter Mary has no problem killing Jody even though she probably has the notion that she is someone important to Dean and Sam.

Anyway, I'll stick with the scene where the boys travel to the past and Sam meets his mother and just sits down and tells her that she's beautiful.

I like what you pointed out at the end because that’s been in the back of my mind for a bit; Young Mary is not the same character as old Mary, not even a little. The writers changed her character so much, young Mary (1) didn’t want to hunt and (2) cared so much about her boys. Old Mary seemed to want to hunt so that she could ignore the problem that she thought Sam and Dean were.

Honestly, it’s like when she found out they were adults now she just didn’t want anything to do with them. Like she took one look at them and thought “well I missed all the interesting parts so why bother trying to know them now.”

And I get that she would want to grieve the life that she missed; raising her two sons with John. I just don’t see that as an excuse for cutting out the boys who are very much alive, even if they don’t need raising anymore.

And it definitely doesn’t excuse her using and betraying them. If someone she had really, truly cared about been tortured by the MoL, she wouldn’t have worked with them. But it was just a stranger. Just a guy that happened to be her son, but who wasn’t the baby she wanted.

#the winchesters #dean and sam #mary winchester #another rant #supernatural #dean winchester #dean winchester x reader #supernatural dean #dean winchester x you #winchesters x reader #sam winchester #sam winchester x reader #winchesters x sister

[blepsweirdfandomthoughts]

Something Something about Odysseus

Now that we got everybody's favorite nobody in the game (Odysseus), I’m expecting his own arc to go through with one or more of the following peoples, in terms of likeliness

Penelope. The plot of the odyssey is literally him going back to her,so where is she? Did my boy put in all that effort for NOTHING? (granted he had some affairs along the way but uhhhh)

Circe: Witchcraft! Specifically the plant moly is in the game which directly connects to the time OD used it to evade her pig spell. Also the romantic drama (cos they did have children together) that somehow leads to his death (either way, it’s a long story). Maybe she could act as a support character?

diomedes: it’s the Athena bois back together! Basically the other Trojan war bromance that still falls under “Ancient Greek sexuality is pretty fluid and doesn’t fall under modern terms”. So MAYbe there’s a chance for Supergiant to play with the fluidity of sexuality here yanno? Because yes Penelope is his one true love but uhhhhhhhhh…yeah that’s a lot of affairs and maybe more than a bromance?

Telemachus: This could be more of a mention within the games dialogue, but cmon man OD’s gonna have to mention his family and if they’re in asphodel or not.

Telegonus: speaking of family….it would be really funny if telegonus was included (considering that he killed his dad, in one way or another depending on the myth), which means more drama between OD, Circe, Telegonus, Telemachus, AND Penelope (trust me the family tree gets weird)

Argos: Let us pet the good boi.

#hades 2 #hades supergiant #odysseus #I’m just dropping the Greek myth lore instead of studying for exams lmaooooo.

[moodyseal]

I was poking fun at how unexpectedly silly the CHB kids looked in armour in the first two episodes of the PJO show (acting like an almighty army and all) and then it hit me. This is exactly how some of them will look like when they will be dying in the final battle. Silly. Tiny. Literal children

#i'm sorry i always knew that they were children but #when i read books the characters' ages. idk. don't really register completely #maybe it's because i know their internal pov and don't hear their voices or see them #but these are. 12 y/os #fighting things #and only now that i see an actual live action rendition of pjo do i realize the weight of it all #they're so young oh my god #percy jackson #pjo #pjo tv show #lonely thoughts

[watcheraurora]

First Flight

New installment of the Unintentionally-Adopted-a-Kid AU! Direct continuation of "But For This? Absolutely" 5.2k words (almost exactly!)

—

Jimmy woke up to a cold bed. Which was weird because Tango's Blaze blood kept the bed almost uncomfortably warm all night. He rubbed his eyes. There was gold light beyond his closed eyelids, but it wasn't the weak gold of dawn—at least, he didn't think it was. He hadn't felt like he'd had a whole night sleep.

He peeled his eyes open after rubbing the sleep out of them.

Through the windows and balcony door, the light flickered chaotically.

Jimmy bolted up, flung the covers off, ignored Revenge's yowl of protest, and leapt toward the balcony with half-extended wings to keep him slightly aloft. If the ranch was on fire he'd have to grab Skye and Revenge and get out. Tango could walk through fire without getting burnt but he'd need to find him too—

He froze when he saw the source of the flame.

The outpost. Across the wheat fields and animal pens. Across the gorge. The pillar of cobblestone and dark oak inhabited by Illagers.

The whole thing was on fire. Jimmy could feel its heat from the balcony.

He stared with a dropped jaw.

The outpost was far enough away that the burning Illagers running around were tiny, barely visible.

Something bright and blazing swooped in circles around the outpost, little meteors of light shooting from it and hitting the outpost, expanding the flames.

"Tango..." Jimmy breathed.

He climbed up onto the balcony railing, just in his pyjama shorts and no shirt. His wings loosened behind him, tilting like he was going to takeoff. He glanced back over his shoulder into the master bedroom. Revenge was pouting on Tango's side of the bed, grumpy that he'd been woken up by Jimmy's movement.

For the first night in a while, they'd left their bedroom door slightly open to listen for Skye.

He crept back inside, tiptoeing to Skye's new room. He peered in through the tiny gap in the slightly-ajar door.

She was asleep, her ravager plushie clutched in one arm. Lying on her side to keep her wing from further injury. The other side from the one she'd been lying on when Jimmy tucked her in, but she seemed to still be tucked into the blankets.

Tango.

Jimmy's heart melted.

He snuck back, away from the door, and back into the master bedroom. "Keep an eye on her for me, Rev," he whispered to Revenge. Who Mrrped grumpily in response.

Jimmy went back to the balcony, hopping the railing, and hurled himself into the air. His wings beat at the smokey atmosphere and carried him high up until he could dive straight for the outpost, wings tucked in like a bird of prey hunting a target.

"Tango!" he shouted as he plummeted.

His soulmate pulled up short, hovering in the air, Blaze Rods orbiting his head rapidly.

Jimmy twisted and flared his wings, braking. Canary wings couldn't hover like hummingbird wings. He wasn't built for it. So he flapped as slow as he could in a circle around Tango, reaching out and resting his hands on Tango's burning hot shoulders. Tango rotated in place, synced with Jimmy's moving.

"Tango," Jimmy pleaded. "Tango, you have to stop."

Tango's breathing was heavy and his red eyes were glowing, not just reflecting the flames. His jaw was set and his teeth were bared. Illagers were screaming. Jimmy tried to ignore it.

"Tango, look at me. Please," Jimmy pleaded. He waited, flying in slow circles until Tango's gaze fixed on him. "You have to focus. We need to leave. Come on." He slid one hand down from Tango's shoulder to take his hand. His skin was even hotter without his shirt to block the heat—but something in their SoulBond helped Jimmy not get burned from it.

He twisted and shot back toward the ranch house with a beat of his wings. Tango kept up easily, leaving a trail of firelight in their wake.

Instead of landing on the balcony, Jimmy touched down on the rooftop and sat down. He tugged on Tango's hand until the latter sat too. But Jimmy kept tugging.

Tango shook his head. "If I sit in your lap, I'll burn you," he protested softly, reaching a hand up to run it through his hair. It was still flickering bright and fast. A bonfire trying to turn into a wild forest fire.

Jimmy tugged again, insistently.

Until Tango relented and crawled onto Jimmy's lap. "What happened, Tango?" he asked gently, rubbing Tango's arm.

"I... I woke up because Skye was crying. Her grief hit her, I think. I hugged her until she cried herself to sleep. I barely even said anything. I didn't know what to say. And it just hit me how wrong it was for the Illagers to keep a child in a cage and... and I saw red. You know how I am. I had to... I had to..." His red eyes flared with light. "She didn't deserve that. And they didn't deserve to get away with it."

Jimmy took a breath and sighed. "I can't condone what you did. But I do agree with why you did it." He ran one hand up and down Tango's arm.

Tango's hair simmered down to a manageable level and he snuggled himself under Jimmy's chin, closing his eyes. Jimmy held him close, resting his chin in Tango's warm hair. The soft flames licked at his jaw and cheeks, but wouldn't burn him anymore.

They stayed like that as they watched the outpost burn. The cobblestone left behind and the wood absolutely gutted. Dawn was minutes away by the time the biggest flames were truly dying down.

"Grian and Scar are going to be furious," Jimmy mused. "They rather liked the outpost."

"They can deal," Tango growled.

"Whatever happened to rebuilding the ward around the ranch so they couldn't disturb us?"

"This required less magic."

The sun broke over the horizon, just the first peak of its shape. Jimmy sighed again. "Come on. Go catch a little nap while I get breakfast started. We've got a big day of work ahead of us and a new mouth to feed. We better make sure we're prepared."

Tango burrowed deeper into Jimmy's chest. "No nap. Just cuddles."

Jimmy snickered. "I need to go get breakfast started. At least for the little one."

Tango groaned in complaint. "Fiiiiine."

Jimmy laughed softly, scooped Tango up, and fluttered them both down onto the balcony.

Revenge was still asleep on Tango's side of the bed, so Jimmy set Tango down on his own side and slipped out of the master bedroom. He checked on Skye—also still asleep—and headed downstairs.

—

Weeks passed. The Illagers moved on, finding another place somewhere far away to build a new outpost. Ranch work never really stopped, but Jimmy and Tango always took time out of every day to make sure Skye was well cared for. Jimmy worked her up to strengthening the muscles in her broken wing as it healed. Tango taught her how to read and do tiny magic tricks like sparks—with the rule that she wasn't allowed to practice fire magic in the house or the wheat field.

They didn't go into the nearest town often, but supplies sometimes needed to be fetched when they were running low. Every time Jimmy went into town, he took Skye. Just to acclimate her to being around people again. She seemed to handle it well. He bought her a handful of toys so she wouldn't be so bored at the ranch, and took time to whisper to other grownups about whether they knew anything about her parents or guardians. White hair and wings like hers were distinct and genetic. But no one ever seemed to know. Not even Grian, who seemed to always have his fingers in every pie in town.

Usually on the long walk back to the ranch, Jimmy would have her practice her wing strengthening exercises, helping her build up. Often he'd carry her and whatever they'd bought that day most of the way. But he always managed.

Before any of them knew it, Skye had been living on the ranch for six weeks. And according to Tango and his magic, her wing was fully healed and ready to remove the splint for more than just cleaning and preening the feathers. He'd been using his tiny healing spells to assist her natural healing along, since he couldn't do it all in one go.

"Hold still, kiddo," Jimmy said soothingly as he circled around to her back. But he knew better. In typical Avian fashion, she was twitchy and fidgety. He was too. He could remove the splint even with her movements as long as he was careful and gentle.

They both did their best. Skye to stay still, Jimmy to undo the string and sticks that made up the splint. Tango did his best to distract Skye so she held still by doing magic tricks—having discovered Skye was particularly partial to the way he made little candle flames change colors.

As the splint fell away, Jimmy felt his heart twist a little. The wing was atrophied, despite him helping her with exercises to build its strength back up. He sighed.

"Is it bad?" Skye asked quietly.

"Oh, sweetheart. No," he replied warmly.

"Why'd you make that noise then?"

"Just because the muscles still need a lot of work before you'll be able to fly. I'm just sad because I wanted to teach you to fly once the splint came off, but your wing isn't ready yet. And that's fine! We'll keep working on it, yeah?"

"Okay." Skye nodded, small and timid.

Tango tripped forward and crouched down to be on her eye level. "Don't worry, Skye," he said. "Jimmy's good at this. He'll have your wing ready to fly in no time. And he's gonna be the best teacher ever."

"Really?"

Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck, ready to try to set more realistic expectations, but Tango cut him off. "Really-really. I've never seen someone fly as pretty as he does. And he's really sweet and nice and paaatient. Especially with me. So he's gonna be a great flying teacher! And you're such a smart girl—you're gonna learn how to fly so fast." He ruffled her hair.

Skye giggled.

"Are you ready to start making your wing stronger, sweetheart?" Jimmy asked, kneeling beside Tango in front of her.

She nodded enthusiastically.

"Yay! Just follow after me, okay?" Jimmy asked.

Tango got to his feet as Jimmy stretched his wings, moving out of the way. Despite Skye's youth and small size, her wings were big too. Avian wings tended to take up a lot of room when they were unfurled. And Jimmy was so tall that his wings were enormous. So Tango figured it was best to just stay out of their way.

—

Every single day, Skye and Jimmy practiced the exercises. Every day, Skye could do them a little bit longer. Jimmy would even hold her back lightly against his chest and take off flying so that her wings could get stronger from the pressure of wind beneath them. They spent an hour or two every single day building her strength. And when Jimmy needed a rest or a break but Skye was still energetic, Tango would take over with magic lessons.

As time went on, it was hard to remember or even imagine life without her at the ranch. She chased Revenge and played in the wheat and really loved Tango using magic for little fireworks. She smiled big and hugged bigger. A lot of her fears and grief slowly ebbed away.

A few months of exercise every day after her splint came off, Jimmy deemed her ready to fly on her own.

The day before that, he sent for Grian.

Tango could fly as well, of course, but he didn't have wings. And Jimmy insisted that two adult Avians teaching a child to fly was probably for the best. Tango would fly below in case she started to fall so he could catch her, but Jimmy and Grian would be her primary instructors.

Or rather, Jimmy would. Grian's reply to Jimmy's request more or less said if Jimmy would teach, Grian would be there for support.

Which was fine with both Jimmy and Tango.

Jimmy woke bright and early. Moments before dawn. He slipped out of bed—Tango was still asleep—and changed from pyjamas to everyday clothes. He chose a T-shirt instead of a tank top so he could fly without an overshirt on without burning his shoulders. His jeans slid on next.

Tango groaned from the bed.

Jimmy turned.

Tango had rolled to be able to see Jimmy, one arm behind his head, propping it up.

"What?" Jimmy asked, voice shaking in a laugh on the word.

"It's always criminal for you to cover up," Tango said, voice slurred from sleep.

"You couldn't even see anythin'. My wings were in the way."

Tango shrugged. "Still criminal," he said.

Jimmy chuckled, shaking his head to tame his hair and then raking his fingers through it. Tango's red eyes tracked the movements as his tongue poked between his sharp teeth. "Careful," he said. "She's got really keen ears."

"She's young and wouldn't pay that much attention." Tango shrugged. He swung out of bed and approached, folding himself into Jimmy's arms. His skin was unbelievably, comfortably warm. "Why are you dreeeeessed?" Tango complained into Jimmy's chest.

"Because today's the day I teach our girl how to fly."

His wings went stiff as he straightened his spine.

"What is it?" Tango muttered, face still buried in the soft fabric of Jimmy's shirt.

"Nothing, it's just... She is, isn't she?"

"She's what?"

"She's our girl. Not just a... guest."

Tango finally leaned back, a thoughtful quirk to his brow. "Yeah. I guess she is, at this point. No one in town knows anything about her parents. And by her story, it's more likely that they're dead. I doubt they escaped."

"I'm sorry."

"For what?!" The thoughtful look on Tango's face vanished, turning confused and shocked.

"You said you didn't want kids. And we've gone and taken in a six-year-old orphaned Avian."

Tango sighed and rested his cheek against Jimmy's shoulder. "You have nothing to be sorry for, rancher," he said softly. "Life has twists and turns that we never see coming. I didn't want kids. I was happy to just spend my life with you and our friends. But now that she's been here for so long and we've made space in our life and our home for her, she's just part of it. This place wouldn't be complete without her anymore." He sighed as Jimmy ran his hand through Tango's hair. "And I'm happy with that. Gosh—I can't even put into words how much I love watching you interact with her. You're such a good dad."

Jimmy's wings twitched. He hadn't even thought of himself as a dad. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Tango sucked in a deep, reluctant breath. "Time to get ready so the lessons can commence?"

"Time to get ready to get chores done before lessons can commence," Jimmy replied.

"Oh, right. Silly of me." Tango backed up toward the bed, away from the wardrobe. Before catching Jimmy by the shoulders and pulling him back down onto the bed. Jimmy managed to suppress a startled squawk. He always forgot how strong Tango's slight frame was.

"Wait—Tango—I just got dressed—" Jimmy protested as Tango crawled up the bed so their heads were even.

Tango smirked, teeth glinting in the light of his fire hair. "And you can get dressed again in a little bit," he whispered. "When I built her room, I double-lined the walls so we could make noise without disturbing her."

The door to their bedroom clicked shut quietly with Tango's red magic swirling around it. A sound dampening spell.

Jimmy smiled. "If you insist," he said.

Tango hesitated. "If you really don't want to, we don't have to. I just—"

"No, no. I've changed my mind. Get down here and kiss me."

Tango's lopsided grin grew wider. "Don't have to tell me twice," he said lowly.

—

"Right. Are we getting started?" Grian asked, looking a bit impatient. He stood on the front path with his hands on his hips and his parrot wings fluffed up behind him.

Tango looked normal as he exited the ranch house with Skye on his shoulders, but Jimmy was rapidly trying to straighten out his shirt and jeans. Grian's dark eyes flicked between the two of them, bounced an eyebrow, and looked toward the sky while Jimmy fought off a blush.

"Yep-yep," Tango said, hauling Skye off his shoulders while she giggled. He set her down on the ground.

Grian knelt to be at her eye-level. "You're Skye, right?" he asked.

She nodded, her white hair in its pigtail braids taking on a warm gold sheen in the sunlight.

"I'm Grian." He smiled gently. "I'm Jimmy's, er, brother." He wasn't, but it was easier for her to understand that. "I'm going to help him teach you how to fly." He ruffled his own wings. Skye peeked at them and gave him a timid smile.

"Alright!" Jimmy exclaimed, clapping and rubbing his hands together. "Shall we get this going?" He smiled at Skye and knelt down. "Ready to fly, sweetheart?"

She nodded.

"Tim, our wings are too long. We can't hold her hands for this," Grian said.

"I know. I'm going to hold her to my chest. And slowly loosen up. You and Tango will keep an eye on her from below in case she starts to fall. I'll hold onto her from above."

"Better than how Jimmy learned," Tango muttered under his breath sarcastically.

Grian had essentially pushed Jimmy off a cliff to teach him how to fly.

Jimmy held Skye's hand. It was shaking a little. "Okay, kiddo. We're going to teach you how to fly first, then how to land, and then how to take off. And it's not going to be easy. And it might take a while. But you're such a strong, smart girl that I know you're going to be okay."

Skye nodded.

"You wanna hand Mr. Snuffles to Tango?" Jimmy asked.

Skye looked down at the ravager plushie in her arm, up at Tango, back at the plushie, and then held it out.

"I'll keep him nice and safe for you, Skye," Tango reassured her. She nodded.

"Okay." Jimmy stood up. "Come stand on my feet and spread your wings like we've been doing for the last couple months."

Skye went over and did as instructed. Jimmy bent down and put his arms around her middle, minding her wings to not crush the feathers but holding her tight.

"Grian?" Jimmy invited.

Grian turned around, bent his knees, snapped out his wings, and flapped them down, hurling himself into the sky.

Skye's deep blue eyes widened as she watched. "Wooow!"

"You'll get there too, Skye. I promise," Jimmy said. "Now hold on tight."

She grabbed onto his arms with her little hands. He hoisted her up against his chest and ran down the path, his wings and hers gathering air beneath them.

Jimmy swept his wings down. The downdraft sent wheat in the field rolling away as he launched.

Skye squealed. Usually on takeoff, her wings were furled and Jimmy held her protectively. This was the first time her wings had been extended for takeoff. Jimmy smiled. She seemed okay—excited, even—which was good.

"See how my wings are moving?" Jimmy called over the wind. She nodded. "Try to move yours the same way!"

Grian swooped around the two of them. Tango flew along below, a soft trail of fire left behind him.

Skye moved her wings, face scrunched as she tried to copy how Jimmy flapped. Grian angled and came to rest in formation just below one of Jimmy's wings. Which prevented Jimmy from flapping if he didn't want to smack Grian, but he could glide for a bit. "You can't just move your wings up and down," Grian instructed. "You have to push the air with them."

Jimmy peered around Skye to check her facial expression. She looked confused.

He squeezed her around the middle. "Remember when you climbed onto the kitchen counter yesterday? And you beat your wings down to help boost you up?"

She nodded.

"That's what he's talking about. We've got instincts for flying—for how to flap our wings. You gotta listen to those too."

She nodded again. This time when she flapped, there was real intention behind the power of the movement.

"Yes! That's it!" Jimmy praised.

She squealed. "I felt something!"

"That's the wind in your feathers, for real!"

She beamed at Grian, then twisted to look at Jimmy. "Am I flying?"

"Not yet! You have to keep doing that in order to stay in the air."

"But you're not?"

"No. I'm gliding. And that takes just as much strength to hold your wings against the wind like this. But if Grian would move—" the comment was directed in Grian's direction, "—I'd be able to flap and get higher up."

Grian twisted his head and stuck his tongue out. Jimmy did the same. Skye laughed.

But Grian took the hint and dipped one wing, sweeping away from the path of Jimmy's wings and then churning the air hard and shooting higher.

Jimmy flapped much softer, gaining altitude slowly. "Follow what I do, Skye," he instructed. "Feel the wind beneath your feathers!"

She flapped in sync with him, gasping each time the wind filled her wings like sails. They climbed higher, nearing the clouds.

"Alright. I'm going to loosen my hold around you. But I won't let go. I just want you to feel what it's like to keep yourself aloft on your own," Jimmy said. Skye's eyes widened. "You'll be okay. I won't let you fall. I'll still hold on to you."

He adjusted his grip so he was no longer using his arms to keep her against his chest. Instead, he wrapped his hands around her ribs and extended his arms a little so her wings were no longer touching him.

Skye screamed.

Tango's fire burned brighter and he shot up to them. "What's going on?" he called.

"She's flying on her own, sorta!" Jimmy shouted back. "I'm holding on so she doesn't fall, but she's keeping herself up!"

Tango nodded and slowly lowered to be about halfway between the trio of Avians and the ground.

Skye had stopped screaming and started concentrating. Jimmy could feel in the way she frantically flapped that she actually was keeping herself aloft. His grip was loose enough that he wasn't actually maintaining her, more meant to tighten if she started to fall. He kept his own flapping minimal. The size and power of his wings compared to hers meant one wingbeat from him would send him another ten feet up in the air while she only gained maybe two. And he didn't want to drag her around. So he did barely enough to keep himself consistent above her.

Grian noticed. He swooped and came to a glide directly above Jimmy. "Pass her to me," Grian called. "My wings are smaller."

Jimmy's face blanched.

"Tim, I won't let her fall. I promise," Grian said.

Jimmy sucked in a sharp breath. "Skye!" he called, gathering her close to him again. "Tuck in your wings. I'm passing you to Grian."

Her wings furled closer to her back. Grian held his arms out, hands splayed to take her.

Jimmy hated lateral passing of anything in the air, but given it was Skye—he was terrified. He kissed her hair, snapped his wings inward, and rolled so his back was facing the ground. Immediately he started to plummet. Skye's braids dangling above them. She screamed again.

Grian swooped and snatched her out of Jimmy's arms, tucking her against his soft red jumper.

Jimmy flipped back around and snapped his wings out, letting them fill with air and stop his descent. With a whoop, he rocketed skyward, tucking his wings halfway in a spin.

Grian assumed the same position with Skye that Jimmy had done once she got her wings sorted out, holding her by the ribs.

"Watch how he flies," Grian said to her, his own dark eyes tracking Jimmy as his smaller parrot wings swept through the air in perfect sync with Skye's. "See how he doesn't think about it too much? We have to let the wind take us. Tango can fly in a different way. The wind doesn't really affect him. But for us, the wind is everything. We have to ride it. Let it guide us."

"Tango said Jimmy flies pretty," Skye said to Grian. Her voice was quiet over the wind, but Grian could hear her.

That made him actually smile. "He does," Grian agreed. "See how big his wings are?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded.

"That's because he's tall. Big and strong. His wings have to be really big to get him off the ground. And despite that, he's still really good at moving in the air. Look at the way he spins. He doesn't need to, he just likes the feeling." Grian's grip on Skye loosened a little more. "Close your eyes, Skye. Just for a few seconds. I've got you. Feel the wind in your wings. Feel how it moves through your hair and flutters your shirt. Focus on just the wind. Hold your wings nice and strong. Flap up and down. That's it. You're doing great. Breathe, kiddo."

Grian let her go, but kept his hands hovering inches from her to snatch her if she started to dip.

"Open your eyes, Skye," Grian said.

She opened them again, not seeming to notice he wasn't holding onto her anymore. Far, far below, the ranch had been left far, far behind. The burnt husk of the outpost was a speck on the horizon behind them.

And Skye was flying on her own. Completely.

Grian knew Jimmy. His heart was so full of love and care—and fear of losing those he cared about. He never would have released his hold on Skye.

But Grian knew she had to spread her wings and fly on her own. It was the only way to really learn for an Avian child. So he'd had to take over. And give Jimmy just enough time to see him holding onto her that he'd trust Grian enough to look away long enough to show off. Tango was also correct: Jimmy did fly pretty. Enormous gold-yellow feathers shimmery in the sunlight—he flew like a dance.

Jimmy's flight feathers had matured late. He hadn't learned to fly until he was maybe twice as old as Skye. He hadn't learned how to fly the traditional way, since he'd been strong enough to do everything on his own from the get-go. And he still flew like he'd never learned to take it for granted.

But Grian had been young. And he remembered learning with his dad letting go of him midair. His own flying was far more practical and less pretty.

Still, watching Jimmy fly was always fun. He took such joy in it.

Grian's eyes snapped to Skye's wings the moment he saw their flapping weaken. He scooped her ribs back into his hands and brought her a little closer to him. "Getting tired?"

She nodded.

"Alright," he said. "I'll teach you how to land. You're going to want to hit the ground running, okay? It'll hurt your knees less until you learn more advanced techniques."

She nodded.

Grian held her tighter, but still let her glide, as he beat the air and pulled up alongside Jimmy. "Tim! Landing time!"

Jimmy looked at Skye's glittering white wings, then Grian's eyes, then nodded. "I'll tell Tango." He twisted into a sharp dive, wings held close.

Grian talked Skye through angling her wings to start descending. The loose hairs that had escaped her pigtail braids were snapping with the wind as they turned back toward the ranch and started a long, slow descent. Tango stayed below them, but Jimmy shot up to brush wingtips with Grian the whole way down.

They took the descent angle so shallow that they were nearly over the gorge between the ranch and the outpost when the ground seemed near enough to touch.

Grian helped Skye slow down by angling her wings upward to fill with air and brake before gently running into their landing together. Jimmy dropped out of the sky and landed before just running after them down the path.

Tango swooped overhead and dropped to the ground in front of Grian and Skye. She squealed and ran at Tango, Grian letting her go, and threw her arms around him. "I did it! Did you see me? I did it! I flew!" she exclaimed, her wings fluttering behind her, half-furled, as Tango held onto her.

"I saw, I saw! You did so good!" Tango replied.

Jimmy stopped right next to Grian, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulders. "Thank you," he said softly.

Grian smiled. "Of course."

Jimmy's hold tightened. "If you ever let go of her again—"

Grian laughed, not surprised that Jimmy had noticed after all. "You'll what?" he challenged. "She needed it, and she was fine. She was safe. I'd never let her fall." His own wings twitched. "You learnt late, Tim. I learnt when I was her age. I knew she'd be fine. Avian children all have to learn to fly on their own eventually. Our parents aren't always there to hold onto us."

Jimmy glowered, but there was a softness to his eyes. "I know. She's just... she's so precious."

"And because she is, I'd never let her fall."

Jimmy gave Grian a proper hug. "Thank you."

"Sure. Now I've got to get back before Scar burns down the Keep." Grian hugged Jimmy back, and broke out of the embrace. "Skye? I'm going to go. Can I have a hug goodbye? It's okay if no."

But Skye let go of Tango and ran at Grian, her wings flaring out to give her a little boost to jump into his arms. He laughed and held her tight.

"You did so good today," he said softly into her hair. "Tango and Jimmy are very proud of you. And so am I."

She smiled. "Thank you!"

He ruffled her hair. "Get some rest so you can keep learning tomorrow." He let her go and backed up a few paces. "Don't have too much fun without me!" His wings snapped out and he launched skyward, disappearing over the horizon.

Jimmy scooped Skye up, cradling her to his chest. "You did it!" he said. She squealed. "You flew! You're such a big girl!"

She giggled. "Did I do good?"

"You did great!"

Tango laughed. "Shall we head inside and get something to eat to celebrate? I might make a cake."

Skye gasped. "Cake? Please? Please? Pretty pleeease?"

Tango kissed Skye's hair. "Yep!"

"Yay!"

The three of them went inside the ranch house, laughing the whole way.

#trafficshipping #solidaritek #jimmy solidarity #Tango Tek #TangoTek #Team Ranchers #Team Rancher #Rancher Duo #Aurora Writes #Rory Writes #it's funny because in my other big fandom I'm known for an AU where I gave all the main characters kids #and yet i don't actually really get baby fever #like my husband and i don't know if we want kids but I keep giving fictional characters children lol

[soupmanspeaks]

something something glammike thing where annoying ghost hunters come to the pizzaplex and ask questions about william and the MCI and the hauntings and some influencers rent the place from time to time for that sweet sweet fazclout and this really peeves glamfreddy because Michael knows firsthand that this isn't something you really want to poke about (maybe for the fun of it, and CC's personal suggestion, Glamfreddy makes a snide comment about biting the ghost hunters lol)(they probably know what it means lmao)

#alright #huh? yeah-(someones gotta fix that robot) anyways- #“Did you know it was actually in the safe room where the original missing children incident victims where murdered? They were stuffed in-” #fnaf #michael afton #five nights at freddy’s #glammike #glamrock freddy #I have this thing where the influencers are trying to do a video and glamfreddy was temporarily reprogramed to move stuff around for them #But Michael just really isnt having it so in the character of glamfreddy he just starts spewing cryptic shiz because haha funny #just stuff that the in-character-preformer robot REALLY wouldn't know lmao #“Freddy can you move that box” #“Certainty!....” #You know #O-KAY! THANK YOU #Idk why I put all of this in the tags lmao itd be much easier to just....put it in the post buuuuuut im too lazy teehee #anyways maybe when some especially annoying ghost hunters/influencers come Michael calls in reinforcements (lizzy Charlie and CC) #you know #to give the lads some spooks #Listen my mans is so tired and he has to be forced to be still and play the same songs since that day let him have some shenaniganry #no guys its okay he secretly likes performing trust #sigh im mischaracterizing my pookie so bad im so sorry #Anyways rememeber to Glive Glaugh Glammike chat 🙏🙏🙏🙏

[another-miraculous-ladyblog]

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ON LUKA AS A CHARACTER AFTER WISHMAKER AND I’M GONNA DUMP THEM HERE

Luka is such a cool character and he has been a rock for marinette when things got rough for her, but beyond just being a really good and supportive friend I’ve gotta say that if anyone was going to find out both ladybug and chat noir’s identities, luka was definitely the best person for the job. like Marinette better be happy she was basically stuck giving that boy the miraculous of the snake because he might actually be the only one who can handle that level of responsibility.

First of all, he’s ridiculously level-headed until it’s his friends or family who are threatened. I don’t think he’d be akumatized unless someone came directly after his family or friends instead of him- the dude’s ridiculously patient and even-keeled, and as we know from Silencer, a gentle soul. Still though, this guy handles the information of who ladybug and chat noir are ridiculously well.

Like ignoring the weight of the responsibility for a second, just look at how hard it’s got to be to keep his mouth shut on a frustration level- he’s got so much on his plate already and now he’s got to watch these two knuckleheads be the level of oblivious and awkward that they are as civilians knowing full well how close they are as superheroes and how in love both of them are with each other (without knowing it) with a patient smile? The frustration we feel from watching the love square? This boy is living it.

Plus we know from Truth just how important that honesty is to Luka- he values it so so highly and holds himself to such a high standard, but when ladybug asks him point blank to his face whether or not he found out their identities, he lies without hesitation. He literally says that they were never hit (side note: why would he have used second chance then? idk ladybug didn’t ask so she probably assumed something else went wrong or they got stuck since he did seem to let her know that they had used multiple chances so whatever).

He lied to this girl who he cares about so much and compromised his own principles so soon after them being emphasized in Truth without questioning it because he

1. obviously cares about marinette/ladybug and chat noir/adrien and wants to protect them but also

2. because he understands that the responsibility that has been given to him as Viperion has to come before his own principles for the greater good.

He takes his hero-ing seriously, which is what you need from someone who’s going to be given the ability to play with time and potentially be your last resort if everything else fails. He’s known this, but I think after having that responsibility really play out in this episode at the expense of his own principles, he probably understands Marinette and the pressure she was facing and the weight that comes with being a miraculous holder even better than before. He probably went home and rethought everything, especially what happened in Truth with Marinette.

And speaking of the RESPONSIBILITY? All that while trying to not get akumatized and not hint EVEN TO LADYBUG/MARINETTE HERSELF (his friend and the guardian who trusted him with that miraculous) that he knows her identity or chat noir’s? And not hint that they really know each other in real life? And not slip at all even though he hangs out with both of them as civilians all the time?

Like he’s just gonna sit on that information and that responsibility of being the only person in Paris who knows both of their identities and not physically implode from the stress or tell anyone? Knowing that if anyone finds out he will become Shadow Moth’s number 1 target? But he won’t jeopardize his friends by even letting marinette know that he knows so he can talk to someone about it? Like I know he isn’t getting paid but someone get this boy a raise 😭

#he’s not paid enough for this shit #all these children have too much responsibility but this child is insane #I’d start twitching having to watch Marinette fall all over Adrien and then be cool and confident as she rejects chat noir #same for if I had to watch adrien’s oblivious ass ignore marinette as he makes heart eyes at ladybug #the patience on this child #too much responsibility I might implode #I’d have to tell her because I wouldn’t trust myself to know how to handle that without discussing it #it was a bold move on his part really to not tell her he knew #luka couffaine #mlb luka #miraculous tales of ladybug and chat noir #miraculous ladybug #ladybug #mlb marinette #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #mlb adrien #chat noir #mlb spoilers season 4 #mlb season 4 #mlb season four #wishmaker #mlb wishmaker #lukanette #character analysis #mlb character analysis #Luka character analysis #my thoughts

[clarablightt]

i want to write a billion different stories about aromantic and asexual characters because i simply do not have enough time in one story to accomplish all that i want to discuss!!

like, having the majority of my oc’s be aspec in some way isn’t enough, i need more!!

#this is probably because there’s like… very little representation in media for this stuff #especially when it comes to qpr’s #so i’ve just… written my own?? #i’ve come to realize i find it really hard to write characters that aren’t aspec in some way?? #either way i love my aro characters my ace characters my aroace characters #they’re all my beloveds my children i cherish them #aromantic #aro #asexual #ace #aroace #queerplatonic #qpr #clara says stuff