#neither knows who is on the other end

[quicksilverlightning]

The Discord server has added yet another project to my pile, in which Giratina, not to be one-upped by Arceus, also bestows upon his champion... a phone.

#naturally #as the only two people with phones #Volo and Akari can text each other #neither knows who is on the other end #Giratina made sure its phone was better #it has games #the ArcPhone is clearly an Apple product #Android4Life #pokemon legends arceus #legends arceus #volo #akari #pokemon volo #pokemon akari #pokemon fanfiction #crack? #if i get around to this one it will probably be dumb

[arohuacheng]

k sorry i’m legitimately so insane about pei ming and shi qingxuan though. pei ming as someone who’s not just a womanizer but someone responsible and dear enough to shi wudu for That Man to essentially appoint him as qingxuan’s guardian should anything happen to him… for pei ming to take that responsibility on whole-heartedly, trying to protect shi qingxuan and keep them out of trouble and lead them on the right path even from the very beginning of the story… he’s trying to keep her out of the whole mess with pei su he’s trying to make sure that she does what she needs to do to survive in heaven (she has never learned that one needs to be cruel and unjust to advance because her brother has done all the unjust cruelty for her) he’s trying to make sure that he fulfills that trust that was placed in him and that’s all before there’s even a hint of anything that would incapacitate shi wudu. and sqx sees this and she must know at least some of it but she hates him. just doesn’t like his personality. i am out of my fucking miiiind

#and then neither of them end up being able to fulfill their promise to shi wudu. #pei ming can’t protect her. shi qingxuan doesn’t let herself be protected by him. #and then in the very end it’s shi wudu who enacts the ultimate betrayal of his own requests anyway… #anyway. shi qingxuan who loves her awful brother but can’t stand his awful friend. #i don’t even know how to describe shi wudu and pei ming’s relationship but shi qingxuan sees it and goes 🙄 #but goddddd from the very very beginning you can see their relationship! #they are so tangentially related to each other and so important and yet unimportant to each other… #they’re both representations of a part of the other person’s relationship with shi wudu #and like. what do you do when your brother appoints his awful brother as your secondary guardian and that guy starts trying to fulfill that. #and that guy is general ming giang god of the north and god of love and known womanizer. and you are a girl with strong moral values. #i don’t even know how to express what i feel about them it drives me fucking insane though #talking #tgcf #tian guan ci fu #pei ming #shi qingxuan #tgcf sqx #tgcf s2 #tgcf spoilers #i guess? i mean. i tend to think that we’ve all read the book at this point. but perhaps that is not true fjskfjd #beefleaf arc spoilers

[variousqueerthings]

ah yes, the "faith takes buffy out so she can let loose and do their sexy vampire slaying (canonically makes them "hungry and horny") and breaks her out of class via the window by drawing a little heart on it with an arrow through it" episode

#and then it ends badly ofc but for a blissful moment those two were going to have a lot of fun #and by that i mean smooches #i know willow is the character who later on discovers she's queer #but buffy is not a heterosexual lady and neither is faith #and they were into each other in a way that they couldn't categorise #they have that *we'll always be around each other in a way that no one else can be* #faith lehane #buffy summers #im watching btvs #btvs #buffy the vampire slayer

[russellius]

P2 & P1 2023 AUSTRALIAN GP Qualifying © Mark Sutton

#george russell #max verstappen #f1 #australian gp 2023 #*m #*p #23 #aus23 #australia #(they always look like two head boys from rival schools #who know they are supposed to have a beef #but instead they just end up with hilarious and awkward interactions #because neither of them knows how chummy they can be with each other)

[ilovefredjones]

well. on one hand they never got to mutilate mal’s arc even more. on the other hand we’ll never see his and alina’s ordinary life full of ordinary things if love could ever be called that

#the ending of s2 made me SO FUCKING ANGRY #like don’t they understand. mal DOESNT know who he is without alina and that’s the whole POINT #neither of them know who they are without what they can do for others #and that is part of their healing arc at the end of r&r #‘could you love a used up tracker?’ you know. like. it makes NO SENSE for mal to go off and leave alina #when his whole thing is that his devotion and duty to her is smothering them both #grrrrr. anyway #shadow and bone #shadow and bone netflix #mal oretsev

[crescentfool]

with the year coming to a close, i hope that anyone who's reflecting about how the year went remembers to be kind and fair to themselves with how you evaluate the year as a whole.

i think there are definitely times when life throws things that are... Not So Great at you. whether if it's some external circumstance that surprised you, or maybe your mentality wasn't at it's best. i wish for anyone who's encountered those kinds of challenges to be able to triumph over them and be able to say that they got through it.

heck, it might still be a work in progress even though you've kept chipping away at it, and that's ok! the results will show themselves eventually as you work through it! and i hope that we can all remember to be patient with ourselves as we go through these processes (learning, healing, etc.), because damn, it can be frustrating when you feel like you're "not there yet."

knowing that life can be rough at times, i think it's unfair to yourself (and others) to discount and downplay any progress you've made this year- whether if it's something that you did for the first time, or maybe you came to a new understanding and insight that you didn't have in the previous year.

it's not to say that you should undermine the validity of your experience with hardship, but to take the time to remind yourself what makes life worth living. to recall what moments were the most satisfying to you- and use it to strengthen your resolve for the next year and beyond. no amount of hardship will ever take away from the fact that you deserve to have hope that things will get better.

i hope that looking back on the year, you don't leave out the things you cherish. that you can remember the good that came this year. whether if the small victories are things like meeting someone new, trying something out for the first time, or making some strides in a long-term project/obligation...!

i wish everyone a happy new year! may it be prosperous, and that your life can move in a direction that's close to what you want out of life. you're all going to do great! remember to congratulate yourself for what you did well! despite everything, you're still here, and that's wonderful. never forget that!

#lizzy speaks #hello everyone. i know that there are *checks calendar* still 20 days left of december and 2023 #but i've had a lot of strong emotions and feelings i've had to sort through as i've been thinking about how 2023 went for me #so a lot of what i've written here comes from the perspective of someone in their early 20s #it's like... a crash and burn from when you were a teenager thinking that you know everything #and realizing how big the world is and how many responsibilities there are #all while a feeling of overwhelm looms over as you try to sift your way through the world and adjust your understanding of it #for me i've definitely had an underlying thought that 'you should have your shit together by now why aren't you there yet' #and it's! not motivating! at all! to think that way. and it's made me more than ever want to be a friend to myself. to extend a patient- #kind voice to myself that reminds me that others are also trying to navigate these feelings and to accept that i'm not going to have an- #instantaneous understanding of how one goes about adulthood. and neither will they. even if they look 'put together.' #like... these people have also undergone similar stresses and along the way figured out how to navigate through that space #and personally i've found peace in knowing that there are people who are older than me. trusting that they've dealt with these things too i #some shape or form and that them living... being here.. is proof that we shall be fine in the end and that we will move past what plagues- #our mind. there's definitely been some... anger i've had this year that. school didnt teach me these things or skills!! i was so mad lol #but hey if we are little guys who are living on planet earth for the first time we shouldn't condemn ourselves to an unrealistic standard- #of going through life and being able to instantly do everything 'correctly' and know how everything works #i'm still working on improving that patience... and also trying to put in the work to understand these things. #in the midst of a very tough week for me i was tempted to say that 'nothing happened this year it was not productive' #but then i was like. that's. objectively not true if you just look at other things. also theres worth in life outside of 'productivity' #...i think i passed 20 tags at this point. but like. my favorite thing about 2023 was meeting so many cool awesome people! #who would've known that funny lil squid game could bring so many connections and friendships i cherish! #thank you so much! for being a part of my life and changing me for the better! for giving me many fond memories! #and i'm very grateful to anyone who supported me and my art this year... for sticking around even though i wished i could do more #it means the world to me knowing that there's proof that i exist and have touched someone's life in a positive way! thank you! truly! #ANYWAY. happy early new year. i hope everyone can nourish a friend in their head that extends acceptance and patience to themselves #as we try and make sense of the world together. there will be things that we don't understand yet! but one day we will! and it'll be like #wow! look how far i came! i'm okay! i'm alive! yipee! thank you for reading this post i made to get my feelings out! have a nice day!

[theredcuyo]

Okay, i just thought

Kay wanted two girls her age to be the new yatagarasu

We don't have that, but, personally i headcanon she'd become a detective, so-

Sebastian is her age, a prosecutor and her friend adoptive brother

Apollo is kinda her age too, and an attorney you could say step adoptive brother

And if she really wants a girl Franziska is a prosecutor too and kinda her age

Can someone make a fanfic were they actually become the new yatagarasu

And Kay keeps a secret whom the other people are, and they resolve cases together like her father used to

And then some of the evidence they steal is actually because Miles/Phoenix need it

#ace attorney #kay faraday #headcanon #sebastian debeste #yatagarasu #apollo justice #i want them to be friends and do dumb stuff together #apollo is gonna be the mom of the group but hes used to it bc he has a younger sis #aai #aai2 #also very worried dadworth who doesnt want his kids to end up in jail #but cant really stop them #he figured out franziska or sebastian were helping kay #but didnt realize the anxious ball of an attorney phoenix has as protege is the other #Trucy knows everything tho #So does phoenix #he saw apollo sneaking off #neither of them is telling miles tho #just because he wont admit he doesnt actually know

[aeoris4lovers]

watching ofmd and thinking about the potential parallels between ed and izzy’s relationship and astrid and eadwulf’s. the leader and the dog that follows them around. the one all the good guys reach out to, who they make a connection with, and the one who represents everything they want to leave behind, who’s only really allowed to stick around because you can’t just ask a person to give up their shadow. the way eadwulf always looks to astrid, always follows her lead in the end even if he disagrees. “i have love for you.” the way astrid doesn’t notice wulf dying on the ground. “i loved you best i could.” two people who have watched each other being molded into what they are now, who have been through hell together, who love each other as much as they hate each other as much as they don’t know how to be anything else to each other, who can’t stop hurting each other can’t stop betraying each other can’t stop running back to each other, who are fused to each other like a cauterized wound.

#read a fic where essek said something to wulf about how he doesn’t like how she uses him #and ive never stopped thinking about it since #how the flip side of his loyalty is that she doesn’t have to try to get him to stick around #she can treat him however she wants #use him however she needs #and he’ll still be there because where in the world else could he go #who could he go to if not her #and she knows that and he knows she knows that #and neither of them know how fucked up it is because they never learned to be any other way #they just keep going like that forever and ever #hurtling toward an inevitable explosive ending that would have come a long time ago if they were anyone else #GOD i can’t stop thinking about them they make me insane #bonded pair do not separate. do not bother separating. even if you try you won’t be able to find where one ends and the other begins #blumenduo #astrid becke #eadwulf grieve #astrid beck #eodwulf grieve #cr headcanons #critical role

[genderkoolaid]

transmascs you know you are allowed to talk about your experiences without adding "but of course transfems have it worse!" right. that is oppression olympics you are playing. you can just say "this is a thing i struggle with because of transphobia" and leave it at that. i promise you there is a transfem out there who would look at your situation and go "oh my god thats awful, i've never experienced anything like that" and there is a transmasc who would look at your situation and go "yeah i've gone through that and much, much worse", because neither transmascs nor transfems are a monolith and neither one is privileged over the other.

free yourself of the need to constantly downplay your suffering from oppression. you are suffering and you deserve not to be, that's the end of the sentence. stop playing the sick game of comparing suffering, whether you are favoring yourself or not.

#saw a tweet (yeah i know) that was talking about expensive T is for this person #and how he isnt going to be able to afford it #and it ends with ''transfems have it worse because their HRT is much more expensive'' #yeah and getting on T without a scrip is ILLEGAL. that doesnt mean transmascs have it worse either!!! #neither of us have it worse!!!! there are many variables at play in how you are affected by transphobia in your life #and also just because YOU PERSONALLY feel you have not been as affected as some transfems you know/have seen #that does not mean there are not transmascs who have suffered horrifically in ways that SOME transfems have not. #just stop the comparisons of who has it worse and focus on HELPING EACH OTHER when we say we are suffering #anyways. how are yall doing today #m. #transandrophobia

[mwagneto]

the only thing i hate more than ppl who lie is ppl who lie in a way that forces you to go along with it like ohhhmy fucking god do whatever the fuck you want if it's only yourself you're embarrassing but why would you bring ME into this. lord

#just tell the fucking truth!!!!! it's always so fucking obvious too like omg 😭😭 shutthe fuck up #anyway guess who has to make like 5 extra trips across budapest coz their father is insane (me) #no reason!!! no reason whatsoever!!!!! literally could've just told the truth!!!!!! #him and another man both expect me to lie to a bunch of people but they're also #lying to EACH OTHER and i know they're lying and they know i know but they dont know the other's lying #AND FOR FUCKING WHAT!!! YOU COULD JUST BE HONEST. IT'S SO EASY. #i literally dont give a shit if it's just his lies he's a /redacted/ it's literally his job to lie. BUT LEAVE ME OUTTT OMGGG fuck #also they didnt explain to me that I'd have to lie and then got mad at me for not lying. LIKE GIRL . WHAT ♥ #ended up calling other guy's secretary coz i literally had noone else to talk to abt it and i was abt to have like a #full nervous breakdown in a public square. poor woman #she was very nice tho. thankfully coz that would've been the last straw for real #barking #also i tried soooo hard to get clear instructions from either of them and neither of them told me Anything #LIKE BRO IM GONNA BLOW UP. TELL ME EXACTLY WHAT I NEED TO DO. STEP BY STEP

[chirpsythismorning]

Just realized reading the piggyback script that the Jonathan and Nancy scene at the cabin, with them covering the window with the wood, parallels to the Steve and Nancy scene at the end of s2 where they’re hanging up the blanket to make the shed look indiscernible for possessed Will… both conversations involve her saying she was impressed with them caring for the kids… and both give the vibe that they’re not exactly not not together with it sort of being up in the air 👀

#byler #Whats does it mean? #idk… #i just want Nancy single atp 😭 #like she’s got not only Steve and Jonathan having feelings for her #but also Fred 🙄 #like this girl does not need to be juggling all of these guys who can’t grasp that she is more than something for them to win over #and it’s also funny bc upon Nancy insisting that things between her and Jonathan are going perfect #(we know they’re not) #and Fred makes a joke saying #‘im still rooting for my alt’ #with implications there is an alternate option in this scenario #i just hope her choosing any which way isn’t partly decided by Jonathan dying and him not being an option anymore #like it took 4 seasons for Nancy to mourn barb #imagine Jonathan dying in the last season with no time for mourning for the characters #especially Nancy and his family?.. #and that’s not even considering how it would make his whole arc of having others rely on him even if it means sacrificing what he wants #just disintegrate #it’s just bleh #but if they all stay alive and she chooses neither of them and it’s implied in the future she might end up with Jon #i could get with that

[drawredasdawn]

Day Five -> July 20th: Role Swap, Secrets, Trust

Read More For (Very Tame) Nakey Ladies (Coriane Jacos/Elara Merandus)

I, your best kept secret,

Whisper into your shadows

With heated breaths, gentle sighs.

You, my best kept secret,

Moan as I enter

Eyes roll back, muffled cries

-Onur Taşkiran

#I did a much more realistic style so you cant tell who is who #but Top is Elara and Bottom is Cori #Coriara #coriane jacos #elara merandus #red queen #rq #rq series #rq rare pair week #I dont know how to tag 18 + art without being smited. so hopefully this is fine #Also. Little backstory. I think in this one Cori and Elara have been involved *wink* for a while. but Cori just announced that Tibe has- #-proposed to her. And they get into not quite a fight over whether she should accept. Elara says she should since it would be good for her- #and Cori is like nooo. I'm not betraying you like that #anyways somehow they end up naked <3 #I have had the worst week btw. So I had neither the will nor energy to ruin this piece by coloring or shading it. #If you want to color it go off #One day I might go back and shade it or even color it #I did do a whole other draft btw that had much more exposed that I thought about doing but sounded exhausting erjkgkjergn

[natasha-in-space]

Why am I suddenly thinking about a butler!SE Saeran/princess Natasha au.......

#mia babbles #god this might be my next fic after i finish my current one for a different fandom #i have..... thoughts...... #natasha treating him as an equal and a friend despite her status #saeran knowing things about her that nobody knows because he is always by her side #and yet they are miles apart #her feeling so trapped in her life with people who never accepted the real her #feeling like she will never be accepted or loved for who she truly is - forever stuck upholding the status forced upon her #like there is something inherently wrong with her #and saeran who has given up on his life and is just going with the flow apathetically #he knows his place in life and he doesn't care anymore to be angry or upset about it #he just does his job #he is assigned to her since he is good at what he does - he is expected to keep her in check #but they end up relating to each other in a way neither of them expected #the fleeting touches... the hidden glances... OUGH #thinking of him doing her hair and tying her corset around her waist #his fingertips ghosting over her skin in a way that probably no one but him has done #a forbidden thought that they both stiffle as soon as it appears #GOD I AM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH

[gophergal]

I was thinking about this weird body horror bastard earlier

#gopher art #sketchbook #mortal kombat #mk monster #*twirls hair* girl he is so cryptic. love a mysterious guy #for those who dont know him: he's one of the last fights in deception's konquest mode. you arent warned about him. he isnt explained after #it is literally the hardest non optional fight in that game mode. he claims to be the champion of the elder gods. this is unconfirmed #its bizarre and i fucking ADORE it #my theory doesnt really go any further than as its written. other than the idea that Monster has been the champion for a long fucking time. #and that he was once normal (or what passes as normal for whatever realm he's from) but being influenced by the elder gods for so long has #had a sort of... corrupting effect? their power has rubbed off on him and altered him #when Scorpion is chosen as their champion (mkd ending especially) he hasnt been under their influence long enough for it to change him #i have another unrelated theory where he's an alternate timeline version of scorpion who- due to Fuck You I Said So logic- #has been snatched up by the elder gods. and hes been in their service for so long he doesnt know who he is #hes simply Monster. Champion of the Elder Gods #neither of these have evidence btw. i just think it would be neat

[bobbinalong]

i'm gonna miss jon lewis writing steph, he seemed like he actually cared about her outside of tim. and he wrote them together very sweetly.

#cleared up the drama got rid off the jealousy had them support each other #steph dealt with her father's death and her feelings about her mom's reaction to it off-screen #but at least it was her thing y'know. tim helped reconcile them in the end but she had to get to a point of being ready for that herself #and now there's bill willingham. who i know writes her robin stuff and i know probably didn't have a choice in killing her off #but like. mh #and i read steph's robin run before and it's weird how distanced she is from tim in that time #they're past keeping secrets at that point #but i digress #reading through all of steph's appearances is just an endless excercise in misery #because neither the characters nor the writers respect her much

[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