#isnt it about old friends like all of it

[myrmeraki]

the poem ends, soft as it began,— i loved my friend.

maurice 1987 / magneto: origins, unprod / x men first class 2011 / x men days of future past script 2014 / x men 2000 / for M, mikko harvey / x men days of future past 2014 / x men dark phoenix 2019 / planet of love, richard siken / x men days of future past script 2014

#web weave #web weaving #x men #old friend #old friends #isnt it about old friends like all of it #answer is yes #friendship #passage of time #cycles #circles #charles xavier #erik lensherr #magneto #professor x #cherik #maurice 1987 #richard siken

[cozylittleartblog]

had a(nother) nightmare

#deltarune #rouxls kaard #lancer #queen #art #lancer had a bad dream. rouxls comes in to fall asleep in the floor like he always does. queen followed because she needs to #Familiarize Herself with The Rituals and also hey her boy is sad #and then they ALL fell asleep in the floor literally right next to his bed #-- i had tire marks on the bedsheets but they vanished somewhere. damn it #this one isnt old btw i just drew this This Morning HEHEHEHE #its kinda scrungy but thats ok #ok 2 tag ship but not explicitly ship either if ur not into it #i love that half my 'qk' art can very easily be read platonically #i think thats an important aspect of their relationship is that they are good friends and coparents. and THEN they're kissing sometimes #this is hardly the first family cuddle and or sleep pile ive drawn. i never posted my favorite i dont think #i am just all about sleep and cuddle piles. did u know swatchlings love to sleep in piles (headcanon) #if one bird falls asleep in the cafe the odds are very good that one or two more will join them #theres a pile of birds in booth 4 all shoved in there haphazardly and eeping. swatch is coming with pots and pans.

[elfcollector]

I feel ill. All the fools and villains who ever fell for my ploys, they're — they're here!

#gamingnetwork #vgedit #videogameedit #gamingedit #dailygaming #gameplaydaily #bg3edit #bg3 #bgedit #bg3 astarion #astarion #astarion ancunin #:( #i think this scene is so interesting and speaks to why i get so annoyed by the 'any portrayal of astarion #as having an degree of a conscience or goodness in him is stupid and woobifying. hes chaotic evil and thats IT' thing #the grief and guilt. the way he tries to talk himself into it. the way he removes HIS OWN autonomy to do it. pretends theres no other choic #esp in the context of other moments where he preens when hes called good. he LIKES being smth other than what cazador made him #but hes so SCARED. he spends this dialogue talking himself into killing them and he HAS to talk himself into it BECAUSE this kind of evil #isnt easy to him despite it all. theres still scraps of a conscience there yknow? and he hides it from himself by pretending hes less free #astarion is fun BECAUSE hes weird and contradictory and a bad person with the capacity 4 good. BECAUSE he doesnt know what he actually want #also i love the idea of him in this moment rly thinking abt the player....like whether theyre friends or romances #a player whos been really kind and loving to him...kept him safe....trusted him.... #thinking about how they let their guard down for him and how in his old life THIS would have been the life #hed been damning them to....years and centuries in a tiny cage somehow even worse than his

[tru-daddy]

aint no way theyre already nerfing dante because people are tweaking over not dying in a game

#this is bc everyone seems to be whining about the 20k overguard like what you hate being immortal? when trinity does the same shit 💀 #mind you when you have a coked out saryn you dont even get to play the game. not even mentioning other worse offenders #the nuke isnt that much more op and you need hella expensive shit like all builds have arcane energize and it SHOWS bc my unranked energize #ass is gobbling pizzas all the time bc i just run out of energy 24/7 #warframe #YES i am mad bc i spent like 10 forma and a potato on him 😭😍. rip my friend who used an umbra forma LMFAOOO #like 5 on dante himself and 3 or 4 idr on his noctua 😍 #i mean they said theyre tweaking him but look what happened to chroma. they took him out back and shot him like old yeller

[marblerose-rue]

click for better quality!!

rosetail + bonus kits / request

name one thing better than a good story . ill wait . there isnt

#my art #do not copy trace or steal #rosetail #cinderpelt #brightheart #brackenfur #thornclaw #THIS ISNT MY FIRST TIME DRAWING THE FROSTFUR KITS TOGETHER but i think it got deleted with my old art blog #i kept all of the files of course but . i think ive improved a lot in terms of anatomy and design #BUT ANYWAY do you think the elders told kits/apprentices embarrassing stories about themselves to make them feel better about like. how #theyd do in their apprenticeship/as a young warrior #or just embarrassing stories to get them to laugh #LEADING TO THE POINT I WANT TO MAKE my grandma told me she met her life long best friend when they got into a fistfight in high school #idk who won but but ohh my god it was always my grandmas favorite story to tell and she loved her best friend so much #i dont think my grandma would mind me telling tumblr i think shed find it funny . i also was her favorite grandchild so i also get an extra #pass on that . and it was never up for debate either everyone on my dads side knew and when she passed and my grandpa brought her jewelry #up for us to come get he called for me first and said she wouldve wanted me to get first pick #WHICH SOUNDS LIKE I GOT MORE THAN I DID but i didnt i cant wear normal earrings and thats what she had a lot of #this is just me talking about my grandma at this point in the tags BUT its relevant (to me) and she was also a hoot

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

said this to a friend before so apologies for being tacky by repeating myself but consider the doctor's discomfort with being placed in Man as a category as less of a refusal of gender than a refusal of adulthood

because thats what it is, right? the doctor's always been vaguely not-a-man in the same way and maybe sometimes in the same breath as they are vaguely not-a-human and also purposefully childish

Man and Woman are adult categories. you get to be in them by performing gender the right way, but also by being mature. and when youre in them you get a certain amount of respect for being Man or Woman, the respect of doing gender right PLUS being an adult right. degendering and infantilisation and dehumanisation often happen like, together, right?

i think the doctor's refusal of being put in a category of Man is about that maturity thing a lot more than it is about gender. i think the doctor has actual thoughts and feelings about adulthood, or maturity, or Whatever, about Being A Child and Being A Not-Child and Being Not A Child and Not Being A Child. i think they have ACTUAL opinions on that whereas they havent given gender more than a sideways glance. i think it makes a lot more sense and is a lot more true to the text to interpret their statements about manhood through that lense than anything to do with gender

theyre a lot more of a posterboy for children's rights than a posterboy for nonbinariness and i like them way better that way too. if they met a nonbinary person they'd not be surprised or confused it'd not be a deal to them but also i dont believe they'd relate it to themselves at all. when they meet children they do relate, they do place themselves in the same spot, they are on the children's side.

#i dont know why this is so agressive apparently i had some Feelings abt this fhkghjg that i finally managed to articulate #the genderness of the doctor has been frustrating me on some level for like years #like at the same time im like okay yeah obvs trans sort of inherently but also at the samet ime no theyre not???? #like YES they are. i think Renegade is doing trans the gallifreyan way #it's going your own way. it's choosing your own like caste. it's picking your own name #becoming a renegade IS the gallifreyan or A gallifreyan way of transing yourself i do believe that #but also. the doctor isnt trans in a human way at all #and like every statement hteyve made about gender you have to be like. deluding yourself at least a little to take it to be abt gender #in my opinion #like ive done. enough times. sure. it's fun to play with interpretations #but also it deosnt feel honest #it doesnt feel honest to take anything the doctor at least from 9-13 has said about gender to be about. gender #it really isnt most if not all of the time! #an di think THIS is why #and theres also like the... the doctor's concept of maturity and growing up (ive got old meta where i say it's about #dont do genocide = growing up to the doctor and i still stand behind that) #and also all this is then interesting with 13 bc i said to the same friend yesterday (sorry ymae) that 13 is kinda like an anti-coming of #age story to me. but im not putting that in the post bc thats like. reaching i think a little #in the way that im not reaching about this child stuff #but it's interesting how it interacts with 13. this seeming transness that isnt abt transness/gender #bc she transed her gender but she DIDNT. her story was about something entirely else #anyway #if i manage to articulate that in a good way i'll add it to the post for now it's this #theta sigma #also wish i had quotes at the ready abt Man and War and Children but i dont #gotta rewatch #smth smth doctors daugther beast below twice upon a time the doctor dances etc #eaters of ligth also

[tweedstoat]

the smallfolk being horrified at blood and cheese and eventually rioting (in part) because of Helaena Targaryens suspicious death + the smallfolk being one of the few groups of people who still cared about the “butchery of Rhaegars children” years after Roberts Rebellion and claiming that the Lannisters were cursed for what they did like the nobility has been so corrupted by the system they uphold and benefit from that the peasantry are the only ones who have normal reactions to atrocities anymore

#the smallfolk are an indictment of the system! they matter! #actually one of my more contraversial asoiaf opinions is that i just dont like ned very much #i fully do not understand how he couldve been all buddy buddy with robert after he saw what happened to rhaenys and aegon #AND HE IS CONCEALING THEIR HALF BROTHER #I get on a human level why ned couldnt let go of his old friend but on a human level i also just dont like him that much for it #actually its quite interesting that basically no one outside of Helaena/Elias family ever tries to get justice for what was done to them #they have to rely on their families/the cycle of vengeance that these families enact on one another for revenge #which still isnt justice because youre just committing worse and worse crimes in an effort to outdo each other #so why ever bother to change the system because youre locked into it #no one is helping or caring about you beside your family #and maybe the smallfolk if they riot for you

[tankgotstuckinthecircusgate]

i could draw anything but i decided to draw this. carlo and rocco in 1932 aka my headache

#^ this isnt real ofc but its what happening inside their heads (well in carlo's at least) #mfs when their old friend doesn't break under manipulation #“Lift up the receiver I'll make you a believer” punching the wall with fist #rocco was the underboss not eddie can u hear me!!!!!!!!!!! HELLO!!!!!!!!! (capo henry situation in terms of complexity) #no m2 did smth to my brain and now im incapable of writing normal relationship between people #anyway. things that makes sense only to me rn unfortunately: #“AND YET ALAS I WELCOME YOU KNOWING ABOUT YOU” its carlo @ rocco but works both ways i think. RAHHHHHHHHH #YET YOU THINK WE'RE THE SAME RAHHHHHHHHH #youre not who u are to anyone these days im not who i am to anyone no not me at all these days not at all RAHHHHHHHHH #carlo who was afraid of rocco (for a reason) when he started to run the family rahhhhhhhhh #“That son of a bitch!.. I fuckin’ knew it!” <-watch me put a lot more meaning into a phrase that shouldn't make so much sense #2kczech need to pay me for developing rocco's character btw if u even care . and for writing this fucking falcone family backstory #“Холодный и острый осколок гранита; Смерть Голиафа в руке Давида” #<- “A cold and sharp shard of granite; Goliath's death in David's hand” #i've listened to this song too much it became certifed rocco song to me #let's say rocco helped carlo a lot w preparing moretti family for a new don. just bc i don't think it was this simple #“your capo killed your don lets all pretend that its cool and normal and it doesn't matter that he ran the family for 23 years😋😘” #avart #m2 #i wont tag this w fandom tags dear god this shit is so delusional #dear god rocco been a gap and a blank spot in this story for so long but now i genuinely like him #tho i'm still not done with his character yet but there's enough for me to like him #sorry. not normal bout them. not at all . #rocco & carlo

[hella1975]

my mum picking me up this morning: you're not as hungover as i thought you'd be

me, just yacked in an alleyway: yeah haha

#it's 3pm now and i still cant believe that happened that was. an experience #basically my mate's 21st coincided with her sister's 30th so they both had this big joint Event last night #where they literally rented out a farm house and the field nearby and set up a whole campsite and barbeque and everything #it was really random but also really good esp bc ive been friends with this girl since we were super young #and our mums were friends so ive just got. lots of connections to her family and it was nice seeing them all again #but there was fully like 60 people at this thing and i DID drink more than i meant to but i wasn't paralytic which is good #and my hangover ISNT that bad in terms of how bad my hangovers can get #it's just that my mate's dad picked us both up at 9am this morning which was already going to be... rough #and then proceeded to do the bumpiest drive down the country lanes ive ever experienced #i was literally grinding my teeth like i am NOT about to throw up in this man's car please if there is a god do not let me throw up #and i didn't! my mum picked me up from this (thankfully very quiet) road that has this rickety old alley coming off it #and i had the very humbling moment of 'im actually going to be sick aren't i' and had to WAIT FOR AN OLD WOMAN #TO FUCKING MEANDER OUT OF THE ALLEY AND WALK FAR AWAY ENOUGH FOR ME TO AT LEAST HAVE A SHRED OF DIGNITY #and proceeded to throw up. in a public alleyway. at 9:30am on a sunday. so of course i needed to tell you guys about it #im now force feeding myself garlic bread. im going to manchester tomorrow. i have a flight at the crack of dawn on tuesday #what is even going on anymore #also fully did just do nos last night with some 30 year olds. i cannot express how fucking odd a thing that is for me to do #actually no i can express it bc youse know that im funny about drugs so for me to not even be that drunk #and get offered a fucking balloon of all things and be like 'yeah why not!' is.... odd #i know i inhaled wrong though bc it didn't do a thing which honestly im happy about <3 #hella goes home

[bugmistake]

i have been thinking a lot about how this is the same guy separated by only 4 years…. hwhat the hail………

#and i will chalk some of that up to the fact that i’ve been off t for like 9ish months #but idk the difference between 19 year old bunny and 23 year old bunny. couldnt be any bigger #and yet the difference isnt so vast at all. #still the same body still the same brain. to an extent #but such different friends such different habits #some of the same desires but manifested in different ways…… idk #wish i could talk to him. in person #ALSOOOOO I KNOW. IVE BEEN POSTING A LOT OF SELFIES LATELY. BUT IN MY DEFENSE. i have been feeling #very good about my appearance lately and im trying to appreciate that before it wanes again

[thebirdandhersong]

Hm

#i think im being taught a lesson about how to deal with loneliness #was i alone today? no. technically not. but i certainly felt lonely even with my friends #a feeling i wish id left behind in high school #i was like AH. I understand now. this is loneliness ive been feeling all week #anyway what is the point of this post? i am simply tired of being medium miserable and am oddly glad to understand WHY i feel so out of #sorts. it isnt just the hormones lol its the general loss of community post old church #and the continuing revelations that things were NOT okay in fact were even worse than i thought at the time #like 😭😭😭 we do live in a fallen world. still. hate to see it

[sonknuxadow]

why are there people tagging spiderverse posts as miles prower.. begging for people to stop spamming random tags on their posts for clout Please its so annoying to every person whos not actively seeking out whatever youre posting about

#i dont wanna see your weird x reader fanfictions about a 15 year old get out #its not even sonic crossover stuff ?????? its completely unrelated to sonic ?? no need to be putting it in sonic tags.. #i guess theyre getting it confused with prowler miles ?? because all the posts that are being incorrectly tagged are about him #but i feel like even if you know nothing about sonic or spiderverse ''miles prower'' and ''prowler miles'' read as different things #again. its just people spamming random vaguely related tags or tags with similar words for clout. so annoying #like this post isnt about my friend tails . where is my friend tails #atsv spoilers #tagging just in case idk if anyone who follows me would care about spoilers for that but whatever

[youssefguedira]

Yusuf is there when Nicolò enters the old temple, not a vision of him, no portal behind him that will take him somewhere Nicolò cannot follow yet again before he has the chance to reach him, just Yusuf. He's alone, his head tilted upwards and eyes closed, illuminated by the shafts of sunlight that fall through the cracked ceiling. The sight of him - here and safe and whole, finally, after everything Nicolo's fought through to reach him - takes his breath away.

"Nico," Yusuf says, and opens his eyes to look at him. He smiles, and he's still Nicolò’s Yusuf, even after everything that's happened.

Nicolò can't wait another second, then, sheaths his sword at his back and walks up the stone steps towards him. Yusuf's smile widens, and then he's stepping into Nicolò's already open arms, laughing. "I missed you."

"Missed you too," Nicolò says. He kisses Yusuf's temple, holds him close. "So much, Yusuf, you have no idea-"

Yusuf leans back, cupping Nicolò's face in one hand. "I know. It's okay. I'm here."

But Nicolò knows him well enough to know something's wrong. "What is it?"

"It's not over, yet." Yusuf steps out of Nicolò's arms and back a few steps, leaving him cold. "There's so much more you don't know yet, but we're running out of time. He will return, soon, and we're not ready."

"Tell me what I need to do," Nicolò says immediately. He can't bear the idea of Yusuf disappearing again, not now when he's finally here, when every other time Nicolò has tried to reach him he's been a second too late. "Anything, and I'll do it, whatever it is. Just tell me what you need."

Yusuf smiles again, sad. "It's not you, Nico. We need more time. And I can buy it, but-" He cuts himself off.

"Then I'll help you."

Yusuf shakes his head. "You don't understand. For this to work, I need to reform the seal, and I can only do that by" - there are tears in his eyes, now, and dread running down Nicolò's spine - "by sealing myself away along with it."

Nicolò realises just a moment too late what that means. "Yusuf-"

"If I seal myself here, in the past," Yusuf continues, "when you return to our time, it will be just strong enough to hold. You will have the time you need to finish this. And once all this is over, the seal can be broken in our time."

"I can't," Nicolò says. "There has to be another way. This can't be it."

"It's the only choice we have," Yusuf says. "I cannot - this was always my path, Nicolò."

She's manipulating you, Andromache had said, the goddess. She's using Yusuf to make you do what she wants, can't you see? If Nicolò hadn't understood then, he does now - neither of them ever had a choice in this. Yusuf was chosen because Nicolò would follow him anywhere, and Nicolò was chosen for the same reason.

Nicolò realises something else then. "If you seal yourself here, you'll be trapped for thousands of years."

"I'll be asleep," Yusuf says, soft. "It'll be like the blink of an eye. So when this is all over, you'll have to come wake me up." He smiles, then, even through his tears. "Just like old times, no?"

And before Nicolò can say anything else, the air around him begins to glow gold, condensing around Yusuf, who tilts his head back and closes his eyes, and Nicolò cannot move, frozen in place by something beyond his control. All he can do is watch as the light gathers around Yusuf, blindingly bright, until Nicolò cannot see him anymore. Whatever's holding him releases, and he runs towards Yusuf even though the light hurts his eyes, and just as he reaches out the light fades.

Before him is what looks like a crystal, tinged orange, clear enough that he can see Yusuf inside, his eyes closed. He looks like he's just sleeping, like this is one of the mornings Nicolò had had to wake him but had paused for a moment just to watch him.

Nicolò lifts his hand to the crystal. It's freezing cold when he touches it. Yet again, he's too late.

"I'll come back for you," he tells Yusuf, even though he knows Yusuf can't hear him. "I swear it. I'll finish this, and I'll come back for you." His voice is trembling, but he can't let himself break down now, not when there's still work to be done. The faster he finishes his task, the sooner he can wake Yusuf.

(Nile is the first to ask when he returns through the gate, waiting for him with Andy, Quynh and Sebastien nearby. "Where's Yusuf?" she asks, looking behind him - the plan had always been that Nicolò would bring Yusuf back with him, after all.

Nicolò can't bring himself to say it out loud.)

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

It feels like an age before Nicolò returns to the temple, now in the present. It's over, finally - the five of them have sealed the demon king away for good. The others are outside.

The crystal is overgrown with vines, now, just like their old favourite meeting place on the island where all of this had started. Its surface is scratched and clouded with age, but Nicolò can still make out Yusuf inside it, looking exactly as he had when Nicolò left him in the past. He hates to think of the crystal here, alone, for so much time.

There's a glowing mark on the crystal's surface that hadn't been there before. Nicolò approaches it carefully and places his hand over the mark.

Almost immediately, glowing cracks begin to grow from where his hand touches the crystal, spreading across the whole thing until it's glowing as brightly as it had when it was formed, but he can't look away. When the light dies down, Yusuf hovers in the air for just a moment before whatever spell had held him there finally breaks, and he collapses, but Nicolò is there to catch him, sinking to his knees and cradling him close. He doesn't move for a moment, and Nicolò is terrified, because what if something had gone wrong-

Yusuf gasps awake, his eyes fluttering open. He looks around frantically before catching sight of Nicolò above him, who nearly sobs with relief, holding him impossibly closer.

"Nicolò?" Yusuf whispers, his voice hoarse. Nicolò nods, unable to speak just yet, blinking back his tears and brushing Yusuf's curls away from where they've fallen into his eyes.

Then Yusuf asks, "Did I oversleep?" and Nicolò has to laugh even though it comes out sounding more like a sob, kisses his forehead and smiles. "It's over, then?"

"It's over," Nicolò confirms, and then, "I love you."

Yusuf sits up and wraps his arms around Nicolò's neck, buries his face in Nicolò's shoulder and holds on tightly. "I love you too."

(When they return, Nile is the first to them, hugs Yusuf so tightly he laughs, and then it's Sebastien's turn, then Andromache and Quynh both.

They choose to stay on the surface, all six of them. And neither Yusuf or Nicolò are the same people anymore - sometimes Nicolò wakes screaming, sometimes Yusuf gets a distant look in his eyes and it takes a worryingly long time for him to come back to himself. Sometimes there are things Yusuf still can't tell Nicolò, and vice versa.

They make it work, though. They find a quiet place in the woods, far away from the temple and any danger, and they're safe, and happy, and together.

It's all Nicolò's ever wanted, really.)

#neon writes #posting this separately in an attempt to unbury it a little #the old guard #kaysanova #ANYWAY guess whos playing skyward sword. thats right folks this is ANOTHER different zelda au #ive condensed the entire thing into this because im not going to write much else for it #but. the plot: #nicolo and yusuf are childhood rivals-to-friends-to-lovers. at the time when Shit Goes Down they're coming up to the point where they have #to pass a specific test to become soldiers/knights/whatever. the wing ceremony if youre a zelda fan but theyre both participating. anyway #they both win (andromache and quynh are two years ahead of them nile and booker are the year below but they're all like. adults. not 17) #anyway they win and go on some kind of flight around the clouds because the kicker is that this takes place on a sky island and they get #around by riding giant birds i love ss. anyway while they're flying around (victory lap or something) yusuf mentions weird dreams he's been #having. then a giant tornado appears things happen yusuf falls below the cloud barrier separating the land from the sky nicolo is thrown #from his bird. wakes up explains this to andy who is like Well Shit. cue epic quest to find yusuf who has some destiny shit to do #gods and all that. its not important #but theyre trying to defeat an evil demon king before he comes back. merrick with horns can be the visual for that. nicolo spends half of #his time chasing after yusuf who always has to leave before they can talk. maybe quynh isnt with them on sky island and is the one guiding #yusuf instead i dont know anyway eventually nicolo has to do some hero stuff and all that. and this happens when theyre running out of time #as a kind of last resort. but then nicolo nile booker andy quynh defeat The Evil and rescue yusuf and its all good #the plot of this isnt very well thought out. i just thought about that scene with zelda and then about them and had to make this about it #enjoy #the reference to yusuf oversleeping is bc there's a bit in skyward sword abt link always sleeping in and then having to wake zelda and it #causes me 10 psychic damage so i had to adapt it here. that line is the whole reason this fic exists

[bluejaybytes]

@snowshinobi Hiiiii :3 I'm responding to your tags on a new post and not the original since the original was already somewhat lengthy, and I plan on being LONG and RAMBLY, but I have sooo many thoughts on what you said and I'm going to say them. Also my browser crashed TWICE (TWO TIMES. 2) when trying to write this post so I'm really fighting for my life out here to get my silly little OC posts done. Also it's under the cut because it's looooong as hell LMAO

Firstly, you're so nice to me forever <3 Secondly, I think you've basically hit the nail on the head. The majority of the issues Maggie has coming back from death and her 9 years gone are really tied almost exclusively to her close family, because she... never really had anyone else. While in-universe it's only 9 years, realistically the jump in technology and culture is around ~20-30 years (Maggie died in the 90s/early 2000s essentially, and wakes up in a just barely futuristic city), but... the most jarring thing to her in terms of what she missed out on is just. Flipphones are no longer popular. Other than her family, she's only close with one other person... who just so happens to be a ghost, and therefore both 1. Wouldn't change much over the timespan due to how long she's been a ghost and 2. Unlike her family, was aware that something happened, since she could see the ghost-of-a-ghost Maggie left behind (The ghosts name is Opal, she positions herself as a sort of "guardian angel" figure, though she's not actually, and serves as just another parental figure for Maggie while also getting after the ghosts that constantly harass her to pass on messages to the living). Maggie has no real relationships outside of her family, and while her relationships with her family are massively impacted by her unknowing death, other than that... the timeskip itself doesn't weigh on her because she had no one regardless. Her struggle to adjust to everything thats happened would've happened regardless of the timeskip for her, because she was such an isolated shut-in that it's the same whether it happened the next day, or nearly a full decade later

So another very interesting thing is that you've actually completely seen where I was going with everything, in spite of everything I said being very surface level and not actually delving into the plot at all. I completely skimmed over Jenna (She's very important to the plot, but she's by in large a regular person as opposed to Maggie's... everything), but for some additional context, Jenna has a horrendously shitty homelife, so her moving in with Maggie is both a gradual process (It goes from spending time there, to spending nights, to eventually just never going back home and moving in fully), and also serves as an escape for her. Part of that is also, so vitally, the food aspect. For some additional additional context, souls essentially serve as a persons lifeforce, practically every bodily function is improved by a soul that's stronger, though the "strength" of a soul is essentially entirely random, and not dependent on the individuals actions of any kind. Maggie had a generally weird soul before (Seeing ghosts inherently means she has to have something going on with her soul), but when she wakes up after her death, her soul is now even weirder, and part of that is that it essentially lets her get away with bad habits she absolutely should be seeing more consequences for. She barely eats, and when she does, it's basically exclusively crackers and whatever other safe foods she has around the house, because actually making food is a level of care and effort she just... doesn't give to herself in the slightest. Part of Jenna staying with her is that Jenna, without really discussing it, entirely takes up the mantle of caretaker of the apartment, with the biggest task being food prep, Jenna sees Maggie's unwillingness to take care of herself and silently steps up and starts making her actual meals so she's eating properly.

The problem is is that this also kinda... just straight up sucks? Jenna doesn't think much of it, it's something that needed to be done so she's doing it, she wants Maggie to be well fed even if she won't do it herself, and she's already been responsible for making all of her own meals for years prior anyways, so it's just another thing she does. Except that's shitty! Maggie's seen firsthand how terrible her homelife is, and it really weighs on her how even in her escape from that, Jenna's still being put in a position where she feels like she must care for her or else she just won't eat properly. So food is such a massively important thing to both of them, it's this symbol of love for both of them, it's love on the part of Jenna, for stepping in and taking care of Maggie when she can't do it herself, and it's love on the part of Maggie, for realizing how her own bad habits impact the people she cares about and wanting to lift that weight by taking care of herself better. It's also very vital for Maggie because she just... doesn't... have hobbies. Learning how to cook becomes really her only hobby and she puts all of her love and care into it, because for the first time in a long while she's actually passionate about something! ...Unfortunately she also is very very bad at it. She's inventing new dishes like "Burnt Salad" and "Please Help I Fucked Up Kraft Mac N Cheese" and still having to have Jenna come in and help her. But it's the thought that counts, and it'll only be a matter of time before she can make something vaguely edible.

And finally, the stuff about names! I didn't post it here, but while idly talking about her in a Discord server I'm in, I definitely think that had I made Maggie like even a few months later than I would've done she would've been nonbinary. As it stands right now though, I'm saying she's probably some form of genderweird but too busy trying not to die to think about it <3 Growing up knowing that ghosts are real and routinely being shut down by authority figures in her life about it has made her very aware of how bullshit a lot of things are and how the people who claim to be knowledgeable tend to not know what they're talking about (Beyond just the "people don't think ghosts are real", she's also got ghosts willing to tell her when people are lying because they've got nothing better to do than just gossip) , so if she spent even just a moment thinking about gender as a social construct she'd instantly recognize that and probably take up some form of genderweird label, but as it stands she's just too stressed with Being The Protagonist to think about that

Now, the thing with Margaret. I'm not even going to lie to you, I think you made a better connection to how a name connects with community in terms of the narrative themes than I did. The thing with Margaret denying the name "Maggie" existed for two reasons, the in-universe explanation is that, with the little scrap of soul Margaret has leftover from Maggie, it's essentially working overtime just to keep her vitals working, it can't dedicate time and energy to making her an individual with preferences and a personality, so part of that is that she doesn't respond to "Maggie" because ultimately, that is not her name. Her name is Margaret and she's not going to respond to "Maggie" because "Maggie" isn't her name. Of course, out of universe the reasoning is that I wanted an easy way to distinguish between Maggie as she is the protagonist, and the version of her that lived in the years she was gone, so different names makes the most sense.

I think your connection to how name relates to community genuinely works on a level I hadn't fully pieced together myself yet and I really love that because I think that absolutely works with everything. One of the main conflicts of the plot is how Maggie is entirely disconnected from her family thanks to the years she was gone, with Margaret having no priorities beyond "survive", she basically never spoke with her parents or brother for years. While her family tried to reach out to her repeatedly (Especially given that, while they're unaware the truth of what happened the night Maggie was murdered, they do know something happened, and they believe that whatever it was severely traumatized her, and that's where the sudden and drastic shift in personality came from), there's a point where they just... gave up. She wasn't trying to talk with them or contact them in the slightest, so around a year or two after Margaret moved out, her parents gave up on her. Her brother would still be there a bit, but he also didn't really... try... anymore.

When Maggie wakes up, she tries to call her parents... and they don't pick up. They'd grown resentful over the years, and now that Maggie wants to talk to them, they don't forgive her for the years of not speaking to them, and aren't interested in whatever she has to say after nearly a decade of trying to reconnect with her and being met with nothing. It's her insistence that she wants to be called Maggie that actually gets her brother to realize she's telling the truth and that something happened. She shows up at his door, already something that Margaret wouldn't have done, and that combined with her being visibly upset when he calls her Margaret and tells him that's not her and that she's Maggie, it signals to him that whatever's going on is real (...though he would've figured this out eventually, given that she also literally 17 again and not in her mid-20s, and has a giant glowing stab wound in her chest). I think it works absolutely perfectly as being a symbol of community, her disconnect from her community is what led to her being called Margaret, and her desperation to be returned to that community is when she's Maggie again. So uh. Congrats on getting the themes of my OCs better than I did <3

And uhhhh closing thoughts! I honestly did still skim over the majority of the plot (Literally never even mentioned Eli or what's going on with her stab wound </3), but I think you reeeeally hit the nail on the head with everything I'm kinda getting at with these OCs, which is... frankly wild given how little main plot I actually got at. Basically everything I mentioned in my original post was the setup, not the main plot. But waaaaugh thank you for being so niceys to me and also giving me another excuse to ramble endlessly <3

#my OCs #uhhh MAGGIE FUN FACTS: #Animals can tell when a soul is weird so she has a colony of stray cats that hang around her apartment door #she doesnt even LIKE animals that much (She barely takes care of HERSELF shes not taking care of any animals.) #but they all like her weirdass soul and keep hanging around because of it #When the plot ends she gives one of the stray cats to her parents as a 'sorry i died' gift #The cats name is Marge- named by Jenna and also specifically its 'Marge' said in a Simpsons impression. any Simpson #It's Jennas FAVORITE cat out of the strays bc she says she looks like Maggie. also Marge is a male cat #Neither Jenna nor Maggie know how to tell the difference between a male and female cat reliably so they assume Marge is female- hes not #Also Eli's the closest to the 'main antagonist' the story gets. hes an old coworker of Margarets and basically her only friend #and Maggie's too scared with her whole 'is actively dying' thing and doesnt know how to tell him 'hey im not your friend- she died' #ELI thinks that Margaret is essentially have some sort of extreme mental breakdown and is trying to get her help bc he cares about her- #-unaware that Maggie is essentially a different person and doesnt know him #anyways uhhhh Maggie attempts to beat him to death with her laptop once. sorry Eli. luckily shes 17 and scrawny as fuck- #-so he's able to throw her off of him but its still. BAD #Maggie's got INSANE insomnia for a large variety of reasons- and falls asleep on the floor one night while on her laptop #Eli- having gotten off work late and going to check on Margaret- who hasnt shown up to work in weeks and isnt answering her phone #-spots Maggie passed out on the floor and assumes shes having some sort of medical emergency #Margaret had left her spare keys at work which he'd grabbed- so he lets himself in to get her to a hospital #Only for Maggie to wake up. With a strange man in her apartment in the middle of the night. Wuh Oh ! #THIS time however- when she's home alone (shes not alone Jenna's asleep in the other room) and she spots a stranger in her house- #-she ends up with a fight reaction and NOT freeze <3 #also her full name is Margaret Elisabeth Newell and her brothers name is Hawke #one of the very few times i will give my OC a full name- and entirely bc my friend suggested her last name LMAO #also she believes in bigfoot. GHOSTS are real and theyre WAY less believable than 'big ape' so she fully believes it #Opal keeps trying to tell her no that ones ACTUALLY not real and shes like uh huh. sure. ill believe it when i see it

[the-apocalypse-is-cancelled]

The horrifying ordeal of showing someone your favourite scifi

#something something vulnerability #this is about trip watching farscape but it applies to any scifi ib like honestly #a friend who isnt into scifi at all found out i loved star trek and was like hey let's watch it together :D and i was just like💀💀💀 #listen unless youve watched old scifi before im not willing to be your first djsbzjsbzjnx find old scifi on your own #this doesnt apply to you trip i like watching you suffer its okay

[maddy-ferguson]

not saying i love you is a crazy fight to have at 14 when you think about it

#i mean i wouldn't know because i didn't date at 14. because no one wanted me not as a choice #i'm sure 14-year-olds actually have that fight. but it's like...very unserious #crazy: funny like it's a funny situation when you don't think about like...anything else about the show #i'm not even saying you can't be IN LOVE at 14 either it's just...but you don't love me anymore and then love declaration with such #severity...it's funny when you think about it #when i was 13 and she was 14 my friend dated a guy who was 15 (we were all in what would be freshman year in the us for us it's the last #year of middle school and then high school is 3 years) the girl was one of my bffs (the one who ghosted me in 2022 remember) and the guy #was also my friend very rare because i've had very few male friends in my life i'm kind of a religious fundamentalist that way. anyway #we talked on facebook like every night and he told me he was gonna buy her a ring for christmas or for her birthday i don't remember #(her birthday is in early january we had this conversation in late november) and i was like...this ring costs 120€ that's like a lot #then he didn't even have time to buy the ring because they broke up WAY before christmas it was very funny #like she broke up with him on a wednesday and the day before that he was like i can tell she's gonna break up with me i KNOW she is and i #was like whaaat she isnt...(i didn't know) he told me he had cried for THREE HOURS thinking about the fact that she was gonna break up with #him like CALM DOWN? #but like he was right ig. they dated for maybe 10 days and it's very possible that he had a new girlfriend by christmas so he was fine... #and like i say: brf slt