#yes canon IS a grand romantic arc

[good-chimes]

Proposing:

Grand Unified Scarian Theory

a single, overarching Scarian romance arc across the whole Hermitcraft and Life series as well as a primer for anyone curious about the early seasons.

We start with NEIGHBOR MEET CUTE in early Season 6:

Season 6 begins in a peaceful pirate bay. SCAR, an established hermit just beginning his third season, is happily making pirate caves. Into this tranquil scene comes GRIAN.

Grian, fresh-faced and new to Hermitcraft, picks a sea-themed base location right next to Scar’s pirate caves. He gets himself set up and starts his base. Even someone like Grian can get newcomer nerves, and he spends the first few weeks desperately trying to act like a normal person instead of the horrible gremlin he really is.

(Some hermits are taken in by this. Doc and Xisuma give him pity diamonds, something that—after getting to know Grian—they noticeably never do again.)

The only person exempt from Grian’s just-a-little-birthday-boy act is Mumbo, whom Grian already knows, clearly has a puppy-crush on, and pursues relentlessly.

Grian and Scar don’t interact much at first. Grian sees Scar for the first time while passing by his base. Scar instantly falls in one of his own caves and dies.

Grian panics.

Grian: I DIDN’T DO IT!

Scar, intrigued by his new neighbor, makes some overtures of interest:

1. Scar leaves a fully enchanted trident at Grian’s base as a welcome present. This is a generous gift for the cute neighbor you have a crush on and frankly the most normal thing either of them do in the entire years-long relationship.

Grian goes ‘huh!’ at the trident, never finds out who sent it, and immediately forgets the whole thing.

2. Scar entertains Grian’s traveling-salesman pitch and buys his overpriced armor boxes.

Multiple jokes about the size of Scar’s wallet. Grian clearly pleased by the transaction.

3. Scar makes Grian a complementary in-joke build (Spongebob’s house by Squidward’s house).

This delights Grian immeasurably for five minutes until he turns back to his prank war with Mumbo.

(Poor Mumbo. Clearly immensely fond of Grian but not sure he wants to be in a relationship with a lit stick of dynamite. This is very understandable.)

By this point Scar obviously kind of clocks that Grian is insane about Mumbo. This isn’t much of a leap. The entire SERVER is aware that Grian is horribly in love with Mumbo.

Ah. That’s okay. Scar backs off a bit. He recognizes when he’s not really in with a chance.

Maybe this thing he has with Grian is just going to be a friendship, and that’s okay! Having a crush is fun even if you’re not going to do anything about it. Scar is going to build some shops about it and be normal.

Both of them are going to be very normal.

FLIRTING (First Stages) – mid-Season 6

Both of them immediately forget to be normal.

Grian has started a detective agency and has no mysteries to solve. Scar instantly invents a cookie-based mystery supervillain called the Jangler and leaves Grian a series of tantalizing cookie-based puzzles for enrichment in his enclosure.

Grian has invented a game where you kill people with rockets. Scar volunteers to get murdered. Both of them are delighted.

Scar and Cub’s business empire is incidentally crushing Grian’s startup venture. There is no reason for this to be so flirtatiously charged.

At this point all the hermits move to a new village because of the Minecraft update. Grian starts a who-can-build-the-tallest-house war with Mumbo and Iskall. Scar notices and starts doing the same from the other side of the village.

It quickly gets so wild that Mumbo taps out (Mumbo does not do well with intensity, would rather just not, thankyouverymuch), and it's only Grian, Iskall and Scar.

Scar builds a wild giant plant eating his rocketship, and then a castle in the sky, and an enormous version of himself firing a canon at Grian's house. This is the first time you can really see Grian trying to hold in shrieks when he flies back in to see what Scar has done while he's gone.

Grian’s interest has been caught. He’s gone from barely seeing Scar to checking on him regularly. What’s our good friend Scar up to? What’s Scar done? What is Scar going to do next?

FLIRTING (How To Catch Your Crush’s Interest By Building A Secret Government Facility) – late Season 6

What Scar does next is put on a snazzy military uniform, team up with Doc to steal the time machine Grian invented last week, then, in the most effort someone has EVER gone to to get Grian's attention, spend weeks on end building a fully-functional 'Area 77' military base and containment facility to stop him getting it back.

Turns out this works beyond Scar’s wildest dreams.

Grian INSTANTLY obsessed with breaking into Scar’s base and retrieving his time machine.

Grian persuades Ren into forming a hippie camp with him next to the base and spends weeks entirely fixated on Scar. Meanwhile Scar, who is starting to really understand how to get and keep Grian's attention, builds more and fancier infrastructure to keep Grian out. This is also where Grian really starts looking at Scar's art—the insane cliffs Scar has build around his new hangers—and awkwardly not quite managing words, because it would be very embarrassing to just outright say the word beautiful, and Grian’s a very normal and non-embarrassing person.

In the climax of the season, Grian-the-hippie breaks into General Scar’s base.

Nobody can say that Scar making himself a top brass general and Grian making himself an anti-establishment flower power hippie does not end up with plausibly-deniable not-making-out Grian-provoking-Scar-into-holding-him-against-a-wall.

but.

BUT.

This is Hermitcraft. It’s temporary. Scar and Grian both know it was a bit. A bit they both got super into, sure! But a bit. Not weird at all.

(“Sure, mate, not weird at all,” Mumbo says, after all of this is over. “Then why are you making it SOUND weird Mumbo you’re the WORST”)*

(“Sooo....” Cub says, and Scar says, “I know. I know!”)*

*not canon but you can't tell me it didn't happen off screen

FLIRTING (But What About…) – early Season 7

Okay, so that was weird, but Grian is definitely still in love with Mumbo. The Mumbo pursuit is going great and Mumbo definitely doesn’t look nervous whenever Grian turns up with a new idea. Grian is going to get Mumbo to fall in love with him and they will marry in the spring and have a dozen beautiful children redstone contraptions.

Grian attempts to make it more official with Mumbo. Surely they have been flirting long enough, they are ready for the next stage! This is in no way a reaction to Scar becoming a weird wizard in a way very unsettling to Grian and building the kind of wild organic tangled forest build that Grian is fascinated by but can't even begin to comprehend.

Everything is very under control in Grian's life. He's now official boyfriends with Mumbo. They live together and have a messaging system and everything.

Mumbo announces he’s moving out.

It’s-not-you-it’s-me

You’re… you’re moving out? Grian says, in the smallest possible voice.

We’ll still have the messaging system, Mumbo says, unconvincingly.

FINE, Grian says, I’m moving out TOO.

Mumbo moves out.

Grian deals with this in the healthiest possible way. He invents a mayorship and attempts to give it to Mumbo.

Grian is Mumbo’s self-appointed campaign manager so Mumbo has to be round him ALL THE TIME, it’s for the CAMPAIGN, Mumbo.

Mumbo, a man who doesn’t deal well with pressure or responsibility, is maybe not the ideal choice for mayor, something that has escaped Grian entirely.

Mumbo builds a robot and attempts to palm off all responsibility for decision-making onto it. Grian immediately calls it their son.

Grian puts his moustache all over the server.

NO other hermits support them for mayor (except Scar, from a lost bet, who Grian has continued to have intensely weird flirtations with while all this is happening)

Things reach a fever pitch. Election day arrives. Mumbo doesn’t want this actually but try telling Grian that. The entire MumboGrian edifice that Grian has obsessively and wildly build has reached an unsustainable pitch and finally comes tumbling down around them.

Mumbo votes Scar for mayor.

Grian votes Scar for mayor.

Mumbo disappears for several weeks to do some nice soothing redstone and calm down.

FLIRTING (Civil War) – late Season 7

Everything has calmed down now. Scar is mayor. Mumbo is...somewhere. Grian is going to work on his base normally.

Grian has a new project. He wants to build in the new nether biomes. He builds a huge and echoing and obsessively inverse version of his huge and echoing and obsessively symmetrical mansion base. It's very impressive. It's totally hollow. There's... no one else here.

Grian decides that okay, he is going to bring PEOPLE here.

He invites Mumbo, because he hasn't seen him in weeks. He invites Bdubs, because Grian above all loves genius. And he invites Scar. Because of course. Everything major Grian does now, Scar is an of course.

Bdubs shows up! Generously builds Grian's entire mansion interior. Mumbo shows up. Builds a tiny upside down disco shack.

Scar does not show up.

Scar is being mayor! Scar is a very busy and important man! Scar has spent the last few weeks obsessively replacing every single goddamn mycelium block in the shopping district with beautifully tailored grass and making trees whose flowers are diamonds. He's also got his own megabase going on. For once Scar has so much to do it's even enough for Scar's ambitions, which have never been small.

He does not come when Grian calls.

Grian is Not Happy.

This is the point where Grian starts a steadily more unhinged campaign of leaving Scar invitations. He makes little tailor's dummies of himself and delivers them to Scar's house. He sets up a tea party of three grians in a secret space under Scar's mayoral throne. He hangs himself in effigy on the tip of Scar's megadrill build. Normal behavior.

And then when Scar still doesn't notice, he puts a tiny bit of mycelium back on one of the streets of the shopping district.

This starts… THE MYCELIUM WARS

Scar attempts to contain the growing mycelium patch with warning tape.

Grian spreads more mushroom spores.

Scar brings in his allies to help contain the growing mushroom patches.

Grian digs out an underground rebel HQ, recruits several rebels, and declares himself Motherspore.

Mayor Scar stares into a camera and uses his most velvety baritone to proclaim he will hunt down Grian and the mycelium resistance and bring them to justice.

Grian sets loose mushroom-spreading sheep.

Mayor Scar obsessively searches for his base.

Grian and Impulse build several decoy bases and trap them.

Mayor Scar employs Mumbo to strip-mine every block of the shopping district with redstone tunnel-borers.

Eventually Deputy Mayor Bdubs, having his own thing with rebel Etho, tricks all of the resistance into ender-pearling into jail.

Scar gets to threaten to pour lava on an imprisoned Grian for ten minutes straight and they’re both enjoying this so much.

Grian: Scar! SCAR! Scar Scar Scar no Scar no Scar no listen Scar

Scar: Yes?

Grian: …Let’s take this somewhere else.

They ‘take this’ to Scar’s beautifully-appointed mayoral office. Grian sits on the arm of his chair (I don’t know what to tell you, this is on-screen canon).

Grian: So I know how to end the war.

Grian: We have to play minigames and make personal bets.

Grian: And Scar, Scar, if you lose…

Scar: Yes?

Grian: … you have to help build my base.

Entire room: [stunned silence]

Etho: Is this what it was about the whole time, Grian?

So! That happened. And the thing is, they could both mentally pass off the area 77 general/hippie stuff as Just A Fun Bit That Got Very Intense.

They can't do this with the mayor/motherspore stuff. They are basically making out on Scar’s chair. The resistance have noticed. The mayoral staff have noticed. EVERYONE has noticed.

Scar is into it. Scar is going along with it. Scar knows he’d had a crush for a long time, and he isn't scared of swimming with a huge wave, never mind where it's going to break. Scar has always embraced the rush. With Grian, you never know what’s going to happen next.

Grian has always loved being around Scar because there’s so much going on that you don’t have to think. Grian doesn’t have to think until everything’s calmed down. It's not until now that he stops and realizes… could this be… something.

(Maybe it already is.)

And then, by whatever eldritch mechanic you personally favor:

3rd life begins.

HEAD-OVER-HEELS – Third Life

In the tiny claustrophobic stripped-bare world of Third Life, Grian makes a choice. Grian thinks, for once very, very clearly: what if it wasn't a bit? What if it was real. What if Grian took every explosive piece of who he was and handed it over to someone he's—okay, he'll admit it—someone he's been obsessed with for a long time. What if that heady sparkle he's been seeing in the corner of his vision is true. What happens if you grab it with both hands?

Scar—surprised, bemused, amazed but wrong-footed—almost doesn't know what to DO with this.

Scar is so used to Grian layering all his obsession behind a thick layer of irony and drama and second-guessing and schemes. ‘Sure we can make out but only if I'm trailing mushroom spores and you're wearing that sash.’ ‘I'm only here because Mumbo's not around.’ ‘It’s not a thing.’ ‘It's not real.’

But it is real.

And, for once, Scar hears a tiny alarm go off in his brain. Scar knows Grian better than anyone else does, by now, and even he doesn't know where this ends. Grian is a force of nature and Scar has never been his unfiltered target. But Grian's throwing himself into this, throwing himself at Scar. And Scar always says 'yes.' 'Yes, and.' 'Yes, let's'. Scar never wants less of Grian. Scar has always taken what he can get.

But with that warning bell, Scar does try to keep that slight layer of dramatic distance, even in this new world where you can die and not come back, even if they don't know if they'll get out of this alive. Scar doesn't fully buy into Grian's second-in-command-devotion, he forces a space for Grian to still be the Grian he knows, some kind of safety vent (‘here's a bee on a lead’). And it could be a lot of reasons, but part of it is…Grian's head-over-heels, for once, and Scar has the unfamiliar feeling of needing to be the one to look where they're going.

Because where they're going is: the last two, all their friends dead, not knowing if there's any way to survive but knowing their friends haven't come back, and at that point Scar takes off the very last of his brakes and the very last of his reservations and says:

For everything you've done for me you can kill me.

(I want this. I want it to be you.)

This breaks Grian absolutely and completely.

And not broken in the fun way! Grian is too far in. Grian let go of Mumbo, who was safe because Mumbo never let it get too far, and he took a risk on Scar, and now Grian is discovering that he didn’t even know what risk meant. Grian is in emotional pain he never suspected existed. Grian has let himself put all his gambling chips on someone who wasn't SAFE and he has lost.

Grian has LOST SCAR and he has LOST HIMSELF and he has FOUND OUT HE CAN BE HURT and he is never going to be the fucking same again.

Scar is in the pond with Grian’s sword at his unresisting neck. And Scar is going to die, and Scar (damn him damn him) has turned it into: he's going to die for Grian. Now Grian is hurting, he's complicit, it turns out grief is an inevitable part of love and beauty, this is all it's taken for Grian's worldview to fall apart in pieces he can't pick up, and Grian has no defenses against pain so there's obviously no way to cope except to beat Scar to death in a cactus ring and jump off a cliff.

AFTERMATH – Season 8

They wake up in Hermitcraft.

They wake up in Hermitcraft! Scar is delighted to find out they just reincarnate, after all that!

Sure, they've all got some lingering trauma but Scar has never let that stop him from doing anything. Scar thought that whole thing went well! He just about dares to think...romantic...? Maybe...?

Grian is Normal to him.

Grian is so fucking normal. it's like. s6 normal.

Scar is. kind of. confused.

Grian is NOT acting like someone he had a romantic death match with.

(Grian is falling apart, but if there's one thing Grian has proved in his building it’s that he’s SO. fucking. good. at facades.)

(Don't go round the back.)

Neither of them are ready for the death game to repeat.

DIVORCE (Traumatic) – Last Life, Season 8

Second death game. Grian deals with his trauma super well by isolating Scar, stealing all his friends, tricking a life out of him, dropping his horse in lava, forcing him into an extortion death loop, then abandoning him and—just as a bonus—murdering Mumbo as well.

This time it’s Scar who comes back falling apart.

A theory that seems plausible: Scar’s old friend Cub picks him up, puts him back together, gets him on his feet. What we do know is that Cub moves in next to Boatem, where Scar is still living with Grian, and incidentally builds an enormous dripstone megabiome that is coincidentally very hostile and might murder you upon landing if you're someone who flies a lot, or happens to be a bird.

There’s a hole with an endless dark void between Scar and Grian’s Boatem bases. They built it together. It’s around this time they both keep repeatedly falling in it.

DIVORCE (But When It Was Good It Was So Good) – Season 8, Double Life

Then the moon gets big. Gets close. Gravity breaks down and that should be the end, should be a way out of this terrible spiral they're in, surely they're better without each other—

Grian turns up at Scar's base and says: Scar. Build us an escape pod.

—and Scar does.

They go out together. Both of them can feel the pull back into each other’s orbit but they’ll die if they acknowledge it. At the end of it all, the void, the protective suits, the unbearable gravity of falling into space together, of holding each other until another uncertain end. They're nowhere but they're in it together.

Is this a good time for another death game? Of course. How much worse can it get.

Double Life, and this time Scar keeps his distance. My soulmate is this allay! My soulmate is my cat! I don’t need a soulmate. Oh—it’s Grian? This whole time? Hahaha. How funny.

Grian: Soo… do you want to base together?

Scar: Do we have to?

Grian: It…might be nice…?

Scar is wary.

He has been burned.

But the pull is still there. The pull is always there. You can’t forget Grian, but you can blunt the edge of him on your skin. Scar is here to take care of these cat-pandas. Grian can do what he likes.

Cheated of Scar’s full attention, Grian tries to tempt BigB into a pale imitation of the Scarian folie à deux (BigB is a genuinely nice man who does not deserve this).

The rest of the server turn red, one by one. Grian and Scar are the last greens. BigB is audibly nervous when Grian proposes a red-green alliance, even though BigB is the red, he has the power. But Grian can’t escape the rest of the server, and the red hunt begins.

Grian and Scar, hunted—trapped at the top of flaming towers, jumping from heights, chased down like foxes at bay, crammed into boltholes with their hands over each other’s mouths, Grian shrieks and laughs and falls back on Scar and Scar catches him and they’re both as alive and elated as they’ve ever been. Scar dies once to Ren and BigB’s zombies and Grian murders both BigB and Ren in revenge (BigB was right to be nervous). Grian has another unhinged murder plan underway when he dies for the last time.

This whole time, Grian was hit in the face by remembering that when it's good, it's so good.

Scar isn’t surprised. Scar has known that forever.

Back in Hermitcraft, its not magically fixed. They’re not innocent any more. But every time Grian looks at Scar he remembers: when it’s good, it’s so good.

And Scar never forgot.

DIVORCE (We’re In Love And We’re Not Done Yet) – Season 9, Limited Life

By now we're into Season 9. They’re still alive. They always live, they always start again, and the other one is just there. Being, infuriatingly and magnetically, them.

Grian is thoroughly annoyed by Scar’s new allegiance to King Ren, but he keeps coming back to Scarland anyway. Scar, I made you an obstacle course. Scar, stand here and get squashed by this anvil. Scar if you don’t do something I’m going to start a resistance.

Grian pretends King Ren doesn’t exist and he has more important things to do, and pretends this so hard that he incidentally invents a mad science robot pulls them all through into the Empires dimension.

Scar, assuming Grian is doing his own thing, shacks up with Jimmy.

It takes Grian three weeks to notice and be shriekingly outraged.

Scar we’re doing a project. Scar you can’t spend all your time with Jimmy! Join my cult. Get in my shrinking machine. I made you an enchanted netherite bow. I need your allegiance. (Another real quote).

Scar teases Grian for weeks then instantly abandons Jimmy when the choice comes down to him or Grian.

Fourth death game—they’re used to this, now. Nothing too intense. Nothing too weird. Grian can’t help murdering Scar.

At this point, Scar is starting to read it as: I love you.

And that’s how we get to the current Scarian dynamic we know and love of you're the worst and I'm the worst and we've divorced a few time but we still like each other so fucking much.

It's been years. They've killed each other every possible way. These two characters are in love and they're not done yet.

#scarian #grian #goodtimeswithscar #hermitshipping #yes canon IS a grand romantic arc #to be super clear: i don't think any of this was cc intention #but we can have a little narrative framing fun #as a treat #i think nearly all of this is true to canon except some timing vagueness and the dialogue in parentheses #thank you to the hivemind for theory help #long post #glossywrites

[burst-of-iridescent]

Hi! First I want to say I love your Zutara dissertation. I was in a convo with a friend who said they don’t like Zutara because it hurts Zuko’s arc. I then linked them to part two of your dissertation where you explain how Zuko and Katara getting together would strengthen their arcs and the themes of the show. They then replied, “I see all these points. I just think this can be done via friendship. I think the idea that Zuko heals the world via friendships fits the show more since friendship played a bigger role then love stories.” Do you have any rebuttal argument for this that I can show them?

please give my commiserations to your friend for the frustration they must have felt when avatar: the last airbender ended with a grand romantic kiss because naturally, the all-important question of the finale was whether the hero finally got the girl after spending three seasons suffering in the friendzone. i'm sure your friend, being such a proponent of the importance of friendship over romance, must be just as critical of kat.aang in the finale as they are of a potential zutara relationship (and if they aren't, then you know where this argument is coming from and it's certainly not a place of legitimate media analysis.)

but on the off-chance that we're dealing with that rare breed of zutara anti that isn't a raging hypocrite: i fail to see why there's this weird dichotomy being made between platonic and romantic love at all. what exactly is wrong with zuko healing the world with both friendship AND romance? his platonic bonds with sokka, toph, aang and suki don't suddenly cease to exist just because he's dating katara, so why are we acting as if it's only one or the other?

atla is a story about the power of friendship, yes, but more than that it's a story about the the power of love. love for your family, blood and chosen. love for your friends. love for your countrymen. love for strangers, for enemies, for humanity. at its core, atla is centred around love in all of its varied forms - and yes, that includes romantic love.

or are we saying that sokka's love for yue, katara's romance with jet, sokka's relationship with suki, zuko's feelings for jin all had absolutely no bearing on their individual character arcs and the overall plot of the show? even kat.aang and mai.ko, badly written as they are, were important to aang and zuko's arcs in helping them realize the people they were truly meant to be (at least, before the finale fucked it up).

i, and many other zutara shippers, have always said that we'd have been fine with atla ending with no canonical romances, or with only a hint of zutara. i wouldn't replace the kat.aang kiss in the finale with a zutara one, even if it made more narrative sense, because i agree that romantic love was definitely not the point of atla - but that doesn't mean that it had no significant role to play at all.

given that your friend seems fine with zuko and katara's friendship, i'd love to hear why said friendship turning into a romance would suddenly be detrimental to zuko's arc. was sokka's arc about unlearning his misogyny ruined because he eventually entered a relationship with suki? was suki being inspired by sokka to take a more active role in the war undercut because she became his girlfriend? if not, then why would the zutara dynamic be the only one negatively affected just because they can kiss now?

zuko is a character who is fundamentally defined by love. his love for his people kickstarts his entire character arc. his love for his mother, and her love for him, is integral in reminding him to stay true to who he is. iroh's fatherly love guides him to the path of redemption. the gaang's platonic love, and the love he holds for them in return, gives him the confidence and support he needs to fulfill his destiny. so romantic love, the right kind of romantic love (and notably the only kind zuko never truly receives in the show) would only add to zuko's character - not take away from it.

#zutara #zutara meta #anti kataang #anti maiko #zutara asks

[fanstuffrantings]

Once more thinking about a fairy tail rewrite and how I personally would've handled Juvia as a character. Going to ramble under the cut and I want to note it will be a pretty heavy departure from canon. Also be diving in a bit to my changes for Gray.

I really love the concept of Gray and Juvia not ending up together romantically, instead Juvia and him become ride or die friends. He becomes agitated by her increasing crossing of his boundaries and eventually ends up snapping enough for her to start breaking out of her delusions about him.

During this time of her being down about Gray, Lucy and Levy encourage her to start growing friendships with other people in the guild. That she should pick up some hobbies. This results in an odd friendship with Droy once the connection between rain powers/plants is made. She takes up gardening and becomes incredibly excited about growing crops so the guild can have fresh produce made by her own hard work. Yes, maybe Droy could use his plant magic to move things along faster, but having something to focus on and learn about makes Juvia so insanely happy.

We'd get downtime episodes where you'd see Juvia in the background asking around the guild for recommendations on what she should grow and getting together with Droy to figure out the details on how to make things work. What nutrition certain plants need and how their care differs from others.

Part of the excitement of juvia not being with the main group during arcs would involve wondering what new plant life we'd see outside the guild once everyone made it back.

And as her circle of friends and interests grows, her obsession with Gray starts to subside. She's still a massive supporter of him and all he does, she makes signs and shirts to cheer him on in the grand magic games. He was the one to actually make her feel like a person worth something for the first time in her life, but there's no romance. In fact Gray doesn't have romance with anyone during the series.

Juvia however during her time with other members of the guild begins to acknowledge a good portion of her love for Gray came from him being the first person in her world in so long, and her friendships with other people helps her understand what love can feel like when it's built slowly.

In my rewrite I'd angle instead for her to slowly form a romance with Droy, which I know sounds weird with what the canon is. And fully explaining it would need me to explain how I'd alter Jet and Droy.

Largely I wish there was more focus on Juvia bonding more with everyone, playing into an idea of her and Gajeel having a sibling bond of sorts where he has a soft spot for her that led to him joining the guild. Mirajane giving her a list of crops to grow that would cut down on guild costs for food that often ends up destroyed in bar fights anyway. Juvia and Romeo having little battles where they try to prove whether Natsu or Gray is the superior fighter. Post time skip Juvia excitedly making dolls and toys for Asuka because she wants to give all the love she never got in her childhood.

Juvia lockser growing beyond her obsession.

#fairy tail rewrite #molten rambles #gray ends the series missing an arm and without magic #but becomes a cool uncle who watches over the guild kids

[my-mt-heart]

Hey MT, Marketing anon again.

*sigh*

This was a week.

Carylers have been going through a mixture of feelings all week. What happened two days ago was not okay. I’m going to add some of my thoughts here on a good strategy to implement going forward (+ thoughts on the sneak peek). As always, this is my speculation. Take what resonates <3

First of all, let me say that Melissa McBride deserved a grand entrance with nothing but cheers and high praise. I was personally expecting an official announcement at SDCC or even by AMC. What happened took away that dream and replaced it with fodder for clickbait websites and divided the fandom. As I’ve mentioned before – mixed reactions are the worst kinda nightmares.

So let me take a moment to move the limelight back on Melissa McBride—because that’s where it deserves to be.

It’s more important now than ever to recenter your attention on celebrating Melissa McBride. As I’ve said before—fans have power. If they are not going to give Melissa the attention she deserves. We can do it. I heard she was trending on Twitter most of this week, which shows how many of us are advocating for her already.

Her return is worth celebrating. We’re getting Carol back, and we’re going to get an arc we should’ve gotten in S11. We get to see Caryl together again, and that's a wonderful thing. The more we celebrate her and talk about her, the clearer it is that we’re not backing down.

She's the one that deserves all the attention. Just her.

Which brings me to the sneak peek on Sunday (I’m not sure when you will upload this MT, but hopefully before the sneak peek is out haha).

Best case scenario? We get a teaser with Carol (possible damage control)

In this case, rejoice! Celebrate. Give Melissa McBride the welcome she deserves. But remember to keep your focus on what your expectations are from the spinoff. I noticed many people were confused (as addressed in my previous ask), and they are now even more confused about when Melissa is returning. Melissa is joining in S2. We don’t have any information to confirm she’s in S1. It’s okay to hope that there are Caryl easter eggs sprinkled throughout. But are they enough for you? I know they aren’t enough for me to invest in the show. I hope they prove us wrong, I really do.

Worst case scenario? Shipbaiting (the worst kind)

In this case, take heart. The sneak peek is meant to gauge public interest and reactions. So they will be expecting sharp reactions from their audience. The whole point of emotional marketing techniques is that they are driven to get you hooked. It is tiresome.

If you see something that genuinely troubles you or makes you sad, consider taking a step back and walking away. If you feel called to speak up, go in prepared for it and refocus your attention on what you want to see. If you are excited about the spinoff only because of Melissa’s return in S2 of RTD—voice it. Whether that's more Carol, more Caryl, romantic canon—whatever your expectations are from this spinoff. Spell. Them. Out.

Last but not least.

Whatever you’re feeling is okay. If tomorrow feels heavy and you want to step away, or if you’re too tired to make a stand—don’t be too hard on yourself.

If we know anything about Melissa McBride, it’s that her love and gratitude for her fans isn’t fickle. It won’t crumble because you couldn’t show up as you wanted to on a hard day. She has always treated us with adoration and respect—we can count on her just as she can count on us.

Caryl on ❤️

Just…yes 🔥

#caryl #caryl spinoff #carol peletier #melissa mcbride #darylneedscarol #melissa mcbride deserved better

[verybadatcardgames]

I love your Sightshipping HCs! I have to say, I've never really thought about it before, but it's a pretty interesting ship. ^-^

What about Joey for 002?

Always happy to have an excuse to spread some Sightshipping headcanons around :D

Onwards to the character ask!

Joey

How I feel about this character: I really do like him and think he's complex character. This guy is a true "ride or die" friend, yet he's played often as comic relief among the main cast, and he also gets treated like a punching bag throughout the series despite the hard work, effort, and integrity he puts into everything he does.

Holy shit, the wringer this poor guy went through during Battle City and Alcatraz, then for Mai to fixate on him and blame him for her troubles during Doma because... he can't read her mind halfway across the world and help her?? Yes, we can place some blame on Dartz and the Orichalcos stone for twisting her mind, but there wouldn't have been something to be twisted in the first place if Mai didn't have some sort of grudge towards him. I'm not downplaying Mai's trauma by any means and have many of my own thoughts on her Doma era and the PTSD that was inflicted by Malik, but I don't think it was very fair of her to put all of this resentment and expectation on a 16/17 year old boy who by all means considered her his friend and would have done, and did do, everything he could to help her once he realized how badly she'd been affected by the whole ordeal.

Then everyone (not just Seto!) proceeds to take a shit on him during the Grand Prix arc, like he didn't also help save the world for the third or fourth time in the previous season?? Come on!

I know he started out as Yuugi's bully and antagonized him, but he's long since paid his penance and he deserves more respect.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I'm an old-timey Polarshipper, though I vastly prefer this ship when Jounouchi has some more life experience under his belt as an adult and can approach Mai from that growth and life experience.

Wishshipping is cute, and I also like Buddyshipping. I'm a sucker for friends to lovers sometimes.

Can't remember the ship name for Rishid/Joey but I like that as both romantic and/or platonic friendship.

I also like Puppy/Violetshipping, because I am also a sucker for enemies to lovers. Or just enemies to enemies who fu

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I bro-ship him with Vivian Wong. I know it makes no sense but hear me out

They're both athletic jocks who are hot tempered and are wholly capable of throwing hands and holding their own if a fight were to break out in a bar. They'd be right at home in a John Woo flick.

And I ship them both with Mai so they can bond over their impeccable taste in the same woman.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I just said I polyship Joey/Mai/Vivian. That's about as unpopular of an opinion as it gets.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: A whole episode where he gets separated from his group during the Ancient Egypt arc and meets a woman with red eyes that turns out to be the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, but she's more well adjusted and has a sense of humor compared to Kisara. She's aware of the stuff going on, but she actively makes an effort not to get involved because who wants to deal with that? But she ends up getting dragged into world altering situations anyhow because sometimes life just be like that and you gotta roll with the punches. Amiright?

my OTP: *points to everything above*

my cross over ship: He would totally fawn over Kumiko Yamaguchi from Gokusen.

He would also fear her, immensely.

a headcanon fact: He still likes to dress up as Marylin Monroe when he's by himself.

He would like to get a gig singing covers of his favorite songs at a classy night club in a sparkling sequin dress, but he's low-key haunted by the poor reception he received from the popularity contest in high school and talks himself out of it every time the thought crosses his mind.

#ask #joey wheeler #jounouchi katsuya #jounouchi #joey #yugioh #ygo #toei #dm #duel monsters #mai kujaku #mai valentine #vivian wong #gokusen #crossover #season zero #season 0

[curiosity-killed]

Have you considered the possibility of Hualian with ace Hua Cheng and celibate (at least previously celibate) Xie Lian? Like Hua Cheng who just always understood that Xie Lian wouldn't be interested in a sexual relationship and was like, "sure, no problem here!" And then they reunite and Xie Lian is like "ah, this is awkward, about that actually 😅" before they communicate and learn what works for them? I usually really prefer their canon characterization but I think it would be a fun way to explore parallels and contrast between asexuality and celibacy (and actually wait. What if Hua Cheng we as aroace actually, wouldn't that do something cool to his obsessive devotion?) I'm not a fic writer but I know you've written asexual Xie Lian so I thought maybe you'd be ok with me rambling a little. (Love your fic by the way, thanks for writing!)

(I am always down with rambling!! :D)

i have not! but am intrigued abt the possibility

tbh I do usually headcanon both of them as ace-ish (varies between demi and asexual, mostly) but can definitely see this going down a fun path!

I am of the opinion that romance has relatively* little to do with Hua Cheng's devotion, so I'd still largely see his devotion as manifesting in similar ways to canon** (more or less—probs less kissing, but honestly possibly still flirting bc there's a thin line between flirting bc ur serious abt it and flirting bc hey it's sometimes kind of fun to flirt with the homies).

all of that to say I think it would be a really interesting continuation of their character development for Xie Lian to come to accept his worth and importance to someone while also being told 'no' in a way he is used to telling other people***. Meanwhile, fun time for Hua Cheng to actually say no to Xie Lian, which would go against so much of him!

As always, my great love of hualian stems in part from their manifestation of queerness outside of societal norms/expectations, so navigating "You Are The Reason I'm Alive" (for both of them) without the trappings of society's expectations that the Most Important Person in ur life is a romantic partner, is rlly interesting i think!!

*Yes, in canon it is romantic and I do enjoy the combo of his obsessive devotion + hualian romance but ppl who think Grand Devotion is exclusive to romantic love bore the shit out of me

**I touch on this in til my feet are memory (tho Xie Lian is aroace in that), in that Hua Cheng's devotion is devotion without expectation of reciprocation (this is a fandom hill i'll die on lol) and that it isn't diminished by lack of romantic/sexual potential with Xie Lian

***Yeah yeah I maintain my lack of emphasis on romance/sex as defining their relationship but I do think, as written, the romance is pretty important to XL's arc—which is not to negate the possibility so much as emphasize the opportunity for continued and different development

#admittedly i'm also biased toward any ace/aro hualian content #in part bc i get very annoyed about fandom's whole shtick around aCe ChArAcTeRs CaN hAvE sEx ToO #yes they can! also where is the media where they get to be whole damn humans without the sex #point me to the fucking wealth of representation y'all seem to believe exists #wow this is getting saltier than anticipated #sorry it's 1 am and i'm watching spn for truly ungodly reasons #also obvious caveat that i too have written hualian of various queernesses (this is a word stop looking at me) #but there is a pervasive attitudes in fandom that i find. irritating. #ANYWAY this was a v nice ask sorry for the salt in the tags i will send myself off to bed now #asked & answered #anonymice

[mcsshead]

 welcome to london, RORONOA ZORO! did anyone ever tell you that you look just like MACKENYU? well, no matter, we hear that you are TWENTY-FIVE and working as a KENJUTSU INSTRUCTOR. we also hear that you currently HAVE your memories from ONE PIECE and have a tendency to be DEDICATED as well as SERIOUS.

FULL NAME: Roronoa Zoro   NICKNAME(S): Pirate Hunter Zoro, Moss Head (Sanji) AGE:  25 BIRTHDAY: november 11th PLACE OF BIRTH: East Blue CURRENT LOCATION: London, United Kingdom ETHNICITY:  Japanese GENDER:  cis male PRONOUNS:  he/him SEXUAL ORIENTATION: heterosexual ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: heteroromantic OCCUPATION:   Kenjustu Instructor, Swordsman, Pirate, Bounty Hunter (former)

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE, ETC.

FACECLAIM:   Mackenyu HAIR COLOR:  Green EYE COLOR:  Brown HEIGHT:  5′ 10″ BUILD:   athletic

HEALTH.

SLEEPING HABITS: heavy sleeper, enjoys naps  SOCIABILITY: selective ADDICTIONS: alcohol   DRUG USE: no  ALCOHOL USE: yes 

PERSONALITY.

LABEL(S): the demon, master swordsman, the fighter POSITIVE TRAITS: honorable, loyal, dedicated, goofy, self-sufficient NEGATIVE TRAITS: serious, reckless, ruthless,  LIKES: alcohol, his swords, his friends  DISLIKES: clowns  FEARS: disappointing Luffy HABITS: never forgets his black bandana, keeps forgetting that its not normal to just walk around with swords on his hip GOALS AND AMBITIONS: become the world's greatest swordsman, reunite with his crew, find a way back home ASTROLOGY: scorpio PERSONALITY TYPE: ISTP MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good HOGWARTS HOUSE: slytherin  ELEMENT: water  WEAKNESSES: directionally challenged, short temper  STRENGTHS: swordsmanship, fighting, drinking contests COLOR: black BEVERAGE: anything with alcohol in it  FOOD: rice balls  WEATHER: thunder storms

FAMILY, RELATIONSHIPS, ETC.

MOTHER: Roronoa Tera FATHER:   Roronoa Arashi SIGNIFICANT OTHER: None BEST FRIEND: Monkey D. Luffy EXTENDED FAMILY: Straw Hat Pirates (adoptive)

canon memories:

zoro's memories stop at the Loguetown/Polestar Islands Arc, right before the crew was due to set sail for the Grand Line and after the Straw Hats' ceremony of placing one foot on a barrel and reciting their dream. i plan to have his memories expand further, remembering their adventures in the Grand Line and new members of the crew joining them along the way. if more characters from the fandom join, this could trigger those memories! interactions with characters from other fandoms could also potentially trigger memories.

#wal: intro #tw alcohol mention

[dumblesbiansworld]

hey, i just finished stranger things. and i need to say i liked plot itself, i just enjoyed the action and general story line quite a lot. it wasnt revolotionary but it was pretty good and even sadder and creepier than i expected it to be like.

when it comes to the characters...idk. something felt off. i liked the jonathan/will scene (even made me sob) but i dont understand the way they set off byler and especially mikes character. i mean, i am not completely delusional when i say there were many many signs pointing towards him being gay and specifically liking will romantically. i understand that i say that about some characters jokingly but in this case i really thought it was gonna be canon.

nevertheless, i need to say that the way melvin became actually canon (mikes monologue) was the best way to do it and i hate the ship a lot less now than i used to. i mean the monologue itself was great. just not considering everything that has happend before.

but yeah, idk. it still felt out of place. a lot of the characters were greatly set up before ep.9 but that episode just lowkey ruined them.

i also think it sucks how queer people (*looking at will*) never seem to be able to become happy on screen.

maybe theyre gonna do byler in s5 cause all there were too many signs that mike was gay and even think that there were some in the last episode.

at the end of the day, i feel like my entire perception of the show and the duffers as writers has completely shifted with that one episode. mostly in a negative way. yes, they can still write intersting characters and scenes. i mean just look at the lumax scenes this season.

maybe theyre going for the grand reveal at the end that mike was gay all along. but i also wouldnt be a huge fan of that for some reason. idk. because then bylers relationship would not really develope in itself. meaning we wouldnt have that much time to see them as an actual couple.

at the end of the day, i want to see the show for what it is. not for it could have been or what it might possibly one day be. as i said there were also great scenes and good character arcs even within that last episode. for that reason, i might distance myself from tumblr in the next time. its been an incredibly great expierence with all of you (i wouldnt have traded it for anything).

Maybe i will still be active on here, i just genuinely dont know where to go from here.

#byler #stranger things #stranger things 4 #will byers #mike wheeler

[emmacornell]

Dragon Ball Z Ask Game!!!

all the numbers.

all of them.

GO!!!

@sonikkuruzu i've combined your ask with the anon it's @beegl isn't it you're the only person i could think of that would tell me to do all of them 😹that asked for literally all the questions lmao

Which series is your favorite (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, etc.)?

Aight if I have to pick one it's probably Z just cause that's the one I remember rewatching the most (mostly cause thats what tv liked to replay the most back then), but OGDB is very close to my heart and GT is great in both good and bad ways. Super exists i guess idunno

Who is your favorite character?

Oh wow hm I gotta think about that I wonder who could my favorite character possiblRaditz i love Raditz I love him so much y'all don't even know I love Raditz so much don't get me started I won't shut up about it

List your top five favorite characters in order of how much you like them.

Okay Top 5 gotta make me actually think lets go

Raditz

Yamcha

S. Broly

Gogeta (specifically SSJ4 but Z is also fantastic)

Cooler

Who is your least favorite character?

Everything related to Buu. I can't stand Buu.

Who is your favorite villain?

OOOHOHOHO I had to think about this one cause I honestly love a LOT of DB villains. I guess if I had to pick one I'd pick Cell! I've always thought he was a super fun and terrifying villain and I love his design all forms of him.

Which saga is your favorite?

Namek Saga my beloooved

Which saga is your least favorite?

Buu arc.

Do you have a favorite episode from the anime/chapter from the manga?

Aside from the Driving episode because that episode is *chefs kiss* my favorite is that like one or two episodes that take place between Goku and Gohan getting out the HTC and the Cell Games where Goku is just spending time with his friends and family. Those moments are so damn sweet and wholesome and make me cry because Goku is such a good man and a good father for choosing to spend what he'd figure to be his last moments on earth with his loved ones.

Also that bit with Krillin full force chucking a rock at Goku makes me wheeze.

What is your favorite fight?

Can I say every bit of fighting from DBS Broly cause that movie means a lot to me.

The Dragon Ball series isn’t exactly known for being consistent with its story, its characters, and various other things. Which inconsistency irritates you the most?

The completely out of nowhere character assassination of Yamcha at the beginning of Z. I'm supposed to believe this man who couldn't be in the same room with a woman without straight up dying turned into a homewrecking womanizer after having a solid relationship with ONE woman?????

Have you seen any of the films? If so, which one is your favorite?

Yes almost all of them (I haven’t seen Super Hero yet I’m waiting till after finals) and DBS Broly hands down zero hesitation no questions

How long have you been watching/reading the Dragon Ball series?

Since I was like 4 so almost 22 years ayooo

Have you played any of the games?

I have played so many DB games the Tenkaichi games and Budokai Tenkaichi games are my childhood also please if anyone plays DBXV2 on PS4 or DBFZ on PS4/Switch hmu play with me I also play Dokkan and DBLegends and I do my best not to whale too hard I swear. Also yes I will be playing Breakers.

Do you own any merch?

SHFigs and FRS kits are my life. (NYCC exclusive S Broly SHFig i am CRYING i need you in my life to add to the Broly Shrine)

Do you have any favorite ships (canon or otherwise)?

I don't ship things ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I just like seeing art of characters I like being happy together

Which anime opening is your favorite?

I love so many bruh I can't pick ONE. Makafushigi Adventure, Cha La Head Cha La, Dragon Soul, Rock the Dragon, Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku, Welcome to the Grand Tour, Chouzetsu Dynamic they all slap

Which anime ending is your favorite?

Again so many of them SLAP. Romantic Ageru Yo, Zenkai Power, We Were Angels

What is your opinion of GT?

GT is good it's just really dumb and slow. I know that doesn't make any sense but GT isn't god awful just because it's stupid. There's a ton of good bits in GT and SSJ4 is absolutely incredible.

What is your opinion of Super?

I have mixed emotions about Super. A good amount of it is not bad! There's parts I can enjoy. But the character assassination of Goku is just bruh why c'mon it's so painful that is not my boy

If you could hang out with one character, who would it be?

You're expecting me to say Raditz aren't you?

Well you are correct.

Which Bulma hairstyle is your favorite?

THAT CUTE AF POST NAMEK FRO SHE HAD THAT LOOK WAS SO CUTE

Do you prefer the sub or the dub?

I love the sub for OGDB but for everything else I have to do dub

What is your favorite technique?

Alright this one might be controversial but Mafuba is a great technique I would put all of my enemies in jars if I could.

If you could write your own episode, what would it be about?

Ok hear me out we bring back Raditz and-

What would you wish for with the dragon balls?

If we're talking post Dende-ification of the balls then I get three wishes lets go.

Shenron give me top surgery so I can finally be free of my tits

I want a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath Capsule home

Gimme $1 mil

#asks #ask game #sonikkuruzu

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

what do you think about people saying aang and katara wouldn't work because katara has abandonment issues and aang first instinct is always to run away / flee? (you don't need to answer if you dont want to ofc)

I’ve been pondering over this ask for a few weeks now (I think it’s been a few weeks? Time is a lie and I’m bad at answering asks in order lmao) and honestly, anon? I don’t think it’s worth it for any of us to acknowledge this particular rhetoric regarding Kataang’s relationship. Why? Because it’s a perfect example of a bad faith argument. People who offer up this as “evidence” that Aang and Katara wouldn’t work romantically do not care that what they are saying is untrue. Thus, they are not seeking to find compromise or common ground, and you shouldn’t feel bothered to entertain them.

Like, let’s be real. Aang runs away a grand total of… twice in the show? Once technically prior to the present storyline itself? Correct me if I’m wrong in my counting, of course! But I cannot think of any time Aang runs away that a) happens outside of Book 1, b) he doesn’t accept the consequences of and/or impose unnecessary guilt on himself, c) is in regard to his relationship with Katara. To my knowledge, Aang ran away:

Pre-canon, fearing separation from Gyatso because of his status as the Avatar (provided in a flashback in “The Storm”)

From the fisherman’s criticism that is ultimately linked to the same issue as above (which makes sense, because this instance also occurs in “The Storm”)

I suppose a case could be made that Aang was “running away” post-DoBS when he temporarily delays getting a firebending teacher, but like. Extenuating circumstances (he blames himself for the mission’s failure and for their friends’ capture, not to mention he’s back at an empty Air Temple - intense mixed feelings, you know?). Also, it’s not like he “runs away” once Zuko becomes his teacher, and in fact Aang both very eagerly accompanies him to the Sun Warrior “ruins” and is the one to originally allude to why Zuko’s firebending is off in the first place (“Maybe your firebending comes from rage and you just don’t have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to”). So I find it hard to categorize this instance as “running away” when arguably it falls more in line with hey, Aang was stressed and guilty and re-encountering memories of his people, so it’s not exactly a surprise he needed a moment to himself.

Furthermore: I also do not count Aang “running away” in the Book 3 premiere because to me, it’s pretty clear Aang was actually running towards his responsibilities as the Avatar there both out of obligation and to grapple with what he deems his own failure (running towards his responsibilities too soon, as it happens, hence why he reunites with his friends after the fact). I also don’t count his “running away” in the series finale with the Lion Turtle because he was a) clearly in some kind of trance jfc and b) again, he was trying to face his responsibilities as the Avatar. Literally the opposite of running away and also entirely out of his control because yk. Spirit World powers, lol.

So Aang ran away twice, thrice if one is feeling really harsh. Even taking into consideration the latter two examples (that again are really not him running away), it’s clear that none of his motives are ever related to Katara. It’s always about his being the Avatar. Fearing his duties, accepting his duties, facing his duties, etc. etc. So trying to overlay that theme with his and Katara’s affections for each other seems pretty nonsensical, lol. And besides - a major part of Aang’s arc is him reconciling that he is both the Avatar and the last airbender. His transition from running away to running towards (to kind of meeting in the middle) these parts of himself is demonstrative of his growth as a character. Like,, sorry Aang has solid and nuanced development??

In other words, there is no canon basis to the idea that Aang’s “first instinct” is always to run away. Yes, he runs away a couple times, but it’s never related to Katara and is only a significant struggle for him in the early days of Book 1. Thus, when people try to use it as “evidence” against Kataang, it’s a clear red flag that they don’t care about taking canon at its own merit. They simply prefer fanon. To each their own, ofc! But again - watch out for the bad faith argument. Ain’t worth your time.

Regarding Katara’s “abandonment issues”: I don’t think it’s untrue to say that Katara struggles with people leaving her, and she definitely struggles with Aang’s brief disappearance in the Book 3 premiere (also related to how her father had to leave during the war). But Aang proves time and time again that he always comes back to her. To name a few: they reunite at the end of “The Awakening.” Aang returned to her after the Siege of the North (Koizilla, lol). Aang came to find her in CoD. Aang found and helped in her “The Painted Lady.” When Aang disappears during the series finale, Katara trusts - even though she is understandably anxious - that he will return to defeat Ozai and that he will succeed (“Aang won’t lose. He’s gonna come back”). So it’s clear Katara doesn’t see Aang as a “flight risk,” lmao - why should the fandom? Once again, it all returns to the notion of bad faith. People who adamantly believe in the rhetoric you present, anon, do not care about canon, which in itself is totally fine, but it is oftentimes important to distinguish between canon and fanon. If someone outright refuses to do that - major red flag.

In sum: this argument is 99% of the time not worth engaging because it is a blatant misinterpretation of canon. We all have better things to do! (Like prepping for Kataang Week, am I right?)

#this was a spur of the moment answer lol #aang #katara #kataang #atla #avatar the last airbender #kataangtag #aanglove #amy answers #anon #amy analyzes

[traincat]

I feel like I've read a ton, but I'm honestly still pretty new to comics rn. That being said... What is one more day? Ik we don't like it and it happened a while ago, but that's about it [,=

Time for Spider-Man History With Traincat: Highly Controversial Storylines! And that feeling is totally normal with comics with huge canons -- you can read a ton and still have some fairly big blindspots in your understanding of the total picture. That being said, this is kind of a big one, both in terms of Spider-Man history/canon and in terms of how Spider-Man fandom functions. I would say probably no other storyline has had quite as much impact on how the fandom views and interacts with the source material as One More Day/Brand New Day. It's been the Wild West out here ever since it happened. (Which was in 2007, so like, yes, fairly long ago, especially when you look at how Spider-Man canon has evolved since, but in the grand scheme of things, also kind of recent. One More Day is not old enough to rent a car.)

So when people talk about Spider-Man's One More Day, they're usually actually talking about two related arcs: One More Day and Brand New Day. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to be covering both. For the sake of transparency, I am going to admit that I think One More Day, as a self-contained story, is good, actually. This is controversial! I admit that! But I stand by my stupid opinions on this blog, for some reason. I think One More Day when you examine it on its own, by which I mean you ignore the decade and a half worth of canon that came after it, as a Spider-Man story and as a PeterMJ-centric story holds up under scrutiny and that people who don't like it don't like complicated love stories and might actually throw their own mothers under buses. No offense to the OMD haters. Little bit of offense to the OMD haters. Brand New Day, which is the continuation of One More Day, on the other hand -- largely bad. Very largely bad.

But let's backtrack. One More Day is a four issue crossover storyline that takes place directly after Civil War, during which Iron Man and Captain America got divorced and divvied up the superhero community and Spider-Man made some startlingly bad decisions and made a fugitive out of himself and his family in a manner that got Aunt May shot, and Spider-Man: Back in Black (Amazing Spider-Man #539–543) which examines Peter's actions immediately after Aunt May is shot and ends with him humiliating the Kingpin in front of an entire prison. One More Day consists of Amazing Spider-Man #544 -> Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #24 -> Sensational Spider-Man v2 #41 -> Amazing Spider-Man #545. In One More Day, Aunt May is dying, all of Peter's efforts to save her have thus far failed, and, consumed by guilt, he is rapidly running out of time. Approached by Mephisto, a literal demon from hell, Peter is offered a deal: Aunt May will live -- and Peter's identity, which was previously revealed to the world at large during Civil War, will once again be hidden from the memories of all but a select few -- if Peter trades him his marriage to Mary Jane. Peter and Mary Jane struggle with this, but eventually both agree to the deal. The clock strikes twelve, the deal is done, and Peter and Mary Jane's marriage fades into history.

(ASM #545) A reasonably simple premise for a story that caused so many problems -- most, I would argue, not actually the original story's fault. So obviously, this was an unpopular move -- Peter and Mary Jane had for a long time been a fan favorite Marvel couple, and in a fictional universe where most relationships are doomed as soon as they begin, the enduring Spider-Marriage was sacred ground. And then, with a snap of its fingers, it was gone: Peter wakes up in Aunt May's house, no longer married, with Mary Jane out of the picture. (She would not return to the book on any sort of consistent basis for over 50 issues.) In the wake of One More Day began Brand New Day, which is basically what it sounds like: a promised "brand new day" of "exciting" Spider-Man content and a publishing schedule where Amazing Spider-Man came out three times a month. (Which sounds good on paper but I think in practice caused more problems than it created good storylines.) Peter, newly single again, had new love interests! And also Harry Osborn was alive again for some reason! I generally like Harry's post-BND stories so that part's fine with me.

But overall? Brand New Day is a mess. It knows it wants to tread new and exciting ground with Peter -- tell new stories! ensnare new readers! make them fork out for a book three times a month. -- but it doesn't know what those stories should be. Readers who were invested in Peter and Mary Jane's relationship -- a major facet of Spider-Man comics for decades at that point -- felt rightfully betrayed that the marriage could be so easily traded in and that Mary Jane herself, perhaps the second most important figure in Spider-Man comics after Peter, could be tossed aside. From a personal point of view, I think Brand New Day fails in large part because it abandons what has always made Spider-Man such a compelling series, and that's the mix of Peter's personal life with his vigilante life. BND sees Peter with new friends, new jobs, new love interests, etc -- it is very much a brand new day! But it isn't a better day compared to the stories that came before it. I do like some post-BND stories, especially American Son (ASM #595-599) and Grim Hunt (ASM #634-637), but compared to pre-BND where I think the majority of canon is good, it's a very lacking body of work that is hurt by the way it divorced itself from the PeterMJ marriage as Spider-Man's central relationship.

"But Traincat, I thought you said you liked One More Day?" Yeaaaaah. I do. This is why I keep saying I like One More Day on its own merits, and not on the merits of the stories it opened the doors for. I like a good romantic tragedy in fiction, and the way Peter and Mary Jane's final scene in One More Day plays out is beautiful. I like the idea of Peter caught in this impossible situation, being asked to choose between two women he loves more than his own life. A really common criticism I see leveled against One More Day is that Peter should have chosen his relationship with Mary Jane over May's life, which is -- okay, I think it's weird that people keep insisting on this, not in the least because by asking Peter to sacrifice his aunt's life they're essentially demanding he commit a callous, out of character act in order to further his own interests. It's also weird because the thing is, Peter already chose Mary Jane over May -- that's what gets them into this situation. It's literally in the scene where May is shot:

(ASM #538) When the gun goes off, Peter's spider-sense kicks in, and he covers Mary Jane, leaving May in the path of the bullet. He does choose Mary Jane over May, regardless of whether he realized what he was doing. And that's why he can't make that choice a second time. His actions in One More Day do make sense for him as a character, whether or not any individual reader likes them, and Mary Jane's actions make sense, too -- after all, she's the one who ultimately tells Mephisto that they agree to the deal when Peter can't bring himself to voice it.

A lot of people also like to nitpick One More Day by going, well, why could (x) or (y) with life saving powers save Aunt May which is like -- yeah, I guess, but if we're going to ask that about this specific comic book near death setup, you kind of have to do it with every single one, and I'm not going to stake every single moment of comic book drama on whether or not that gold kid from the X-Men was busy at the time. Comics are soap operas in flimsy paper form: serialized longform storytelling that relies heavily on melodrama. Sometimes you have to go with things. Sometimes you sell your marriage to the devil. Stuff happens. That in and of itself doesn't make One More Day a bad story -- and while some people blame the Spider-Marriage's dissolution entirely on One More Day, I think that's a little shortsighted when you look at the history of Spider-Man since the turn of the century. It's clear -- and Marvel themselves have been perhaps a little too open about this -- that Marvel in the past few decades has had trouble with the direction they want to take Spider-Man. They WANTED Spider-Man to appeal to a distinctly youthful audience that they didn't think they were actually reaching -- understandable, considering that Marvel nearly went bankrupt around 2000 and was saved by Ultimate Spider-Man, an out of main continuity series which retold Spider-Man from the beginning and focused heavily on Peter as a teen -- but the problem was Spider-Man in the main continuity was at that point in canon a happily married man who was pushing the dreaded 30 whether or not they wanted to admit that. This is also why Marvel has continually pivoted away from Spider-Man having kids, because they feared that making him a dad would age him too much and make him unrelatable to their coveted audience of Teens. (This is also why almost every new Spider-Man property, especially the live action movies, perpetually stick him back into high school, despite that occupying a very small slice of 616 canon.) So around the year 2000, they started trying things in relation to the Spider-Marriage, which was viewed as a major problem -- after all, what's more adult than being married and liking your wife. First, they had Mary Jane presumed dead. Then, they had Mary Jane and Peter separate. Then, when Mary Jane and Peter had only recently gotten back together, One More Day struck. If One More Day specifically hadn't gone the way it had, it's pretty clear that the Spider-Marriage was going to go one way or another -- it's a little bit of a shame it happened when it did, because OMD is the end of J Michael Straczynski's run, and JMS wrote a really beautiful Peter and MJ relationship. But Marvel as a company and especially editor in chief at the time Joe Quesada viewed Peter and Mary Jane's relationship as a major problem in how they wanted to portray Spider-Man and thought that striking the relationship from the books would allow them more freedom in their portrayal of him as younger and more relatable to their Desired Audience of people who I guess really wanted to see Peter sleep with characters who weren't Mary Jane.

(ASM #546. Younger! Fresher! Less attached! Kissing random women in the club!)

The problem with One More Day has always been in the follow through -- from the content of Brand New Day to the pacing of events to the fact that Marvel withheld key information for such a long time that it allowed misinformation to thrive. After all, what does it MEAN to trade Peter and Mary Jane's marriage to the devil? It altered the events of canon in Peter and the majority of other characters' memories so that the marriage didn't exist, but it left people wondering -- did the relationship as they remembered it existed? How much of Spider-Man canon was altered? And the answers didn't come for over 100 issues of Amazing Spider-Man. One Moment In Time or OMIT (Amazing Spider-Man #638-641), which revealed that while Peter and Mary Jane never got married in the altered canon they did continue their long committed relationship up until just after Civil War, was published in 2010, so essentially readers were hung out to dry without answers for three years. That's a long time to string people along, but not as long as it took Marvel to confirm that the popular fan theory that Mary Jane retained her memories of the original timeline as part of her own deal with Mephisto was also true, which happened this year. I would say, at least from my perspective, a lot of the frustration doesn't come from the individual One More Day storyline so much as how Marvel has continually dragged out the aftermath, using the promise of a Spider-Marriage return to keep fans on the hook. Which is why One More Day continually comes up in discussion of current Spider-Man, because Spencer's run has relied very heavily on imagery from that period with a serious question of whether or not there actually was going to be payoff, something which is still up in the air.

This has been Spider-Man History With Traincat, brought to you by anonymice like you.

#traincat talks comics #long post #*replies

[moribundanchor]

The Pelle/Dani Receipts, Post 11: The May Queen

The last lap of the film is the culmination of two separate tracks: one, Dani breaking with Christian, coming to terms with her grief, and sloughing off her old life, and two, Dani being embraced by her new family and, with that final, slightly-mad smile, finding joy with them. Much as in the “Do you feel held by him?” scene, Ari masterfully keeps the final scenes of Midsommar walking that tightrope between validating the Pelle/Dani romance and minimizing it in order to center Dani’s broader character arc and story, and to that end, he doesn’t even wobble. Still, he can’t get out of this without some explicit (though not explicit) mushy stuff for the OTP, and that, of course, is why we’re here.

We already mentioned the dance competition in the context of Pelle and Team Hårga winnowing Christian real good so he can be Maja’s baby daddy, but this is yet another opportunity for Pelle to demonstrate to Dani the contrast between him and Christian. As Dani begins to dance, Pelle is right up front, attentively, patiently, smilingly watching. She has every bit of his attention and support. Meanwhile, Christian stumbles into the audience late, burdened and internally roiling after his meeting with Siv. 

Now, we don’t know how Christian ultimately answered the Matriarch when she asked if he would mate with Maja. Ari, the imp, cuts away. Not to taint our favorite scene with comparison, but very like Dani’s protests in “Do you feel held by him?” Christian’s evasions, more pronounced in the Director’s Cut (“I’m here with somebody,” “We haven’t even talked.”) are frail, toothless things against the truth joined with temptation. He doesn’t love Dani. And he does want Maja. By the time he comes to watch the dance competition, Dani dancing is the furthest thing from Christian’s mind, even though betraying her is the crux of his dilemma.

And do please remember that Siv proposes this ritual snuggling to Christian as something Dani will not know about, so he really is contemplating betraying her, as opposed to what Pelle suggests to Dani. 

This is the contrast that waits for Dani during a break in the dance. Pelle smiles at her flirtatiously, even proudly, and silently applauds--totally here for you, Dani--while Christian is literally looking the other direction, back towards where Maja--oops, I got myself eliminated, teehee!--has taken her seat. During the dance, Dani is, yes, tripping balls and speaking gibberish, but she is still having the best time ever. So, initially exhilarated, Dani wilts the moment she sees Christian, and if we were going to argue that Dani doesn’t reciprocate Pelle’s feelings, the visible heartbreak on her face here would be Exhibit A. Except people are more complicated than that. Relationships are more complicated than that. Dani is definitely more complicated than that. Letting go still can hurt long after you know it’s over.

All that being said, even the most complicated relationship stuff can get simple real quick with a grand, unambiguously romantic gesture, and as Dani is crowned May Queen, finally, finally, finally, we get one. No evasions, no apophasis. Stunned, still kind of high, Dani’s new family washes her away in a tide of congratulations. Odd welcomes her home again, in Swedish this time, and it’s just a lovebomb lovefest all the way down. The only ones who don’t hug and/or paw at Dani are hallucinations (or are they) of her parents in Hårgan garb, her mom laying one surrendering caress on Dani’s shoulder as she passes by, and, of course, Christian, poor dope, standing by the maypole, looking every bit as alone and lost as Dani probably has felt up to this point. The Fire Temple is a ways off, but he will never again be allowed close to her. They are over.

At the end of the procession, for maximum dramatic effect, Dani’s happy Hårgan sisters tilt her toward OHAI PELLE. As Pelle bends down to her, initially he appears to be in supportive friend mode, (“My God, Dani! May Queen!”), but then he just sweeps Dani up in a kiss that isn’t long enough to stop the ceremony, but just long enough to be undeniably romantic. In the script, the kiss is actually described as a “blunt, passionate kiss.” While so much of the Pelle/Dani ship is not scripted, here it is plain: Pelle, now wearing the Wunjo rune, is Dani’s wish for an understanding, loving partner come true, and for the minute she can be spared from the procession, he is kissing her for all he’s worth. Let’s just watch this on a loop for a while.

This is the moment that has launched several thousand “Did Pelle like Dani?” Google searches, and it looks like a freaking wedding because it kind of is. Look at all the Hårgans bursting with happiness, not just for Dani, but for them. We are all Hårgans because all Hårgans are clearly Pelle/Dani shippers. (Okay, there’s something going on with Inga, but that’s a different analysis post.) Dagny in particular looks like she’s going to cry. My sweet brother birthmate found him a newblood and they are the cutest. Both Pelle and Dani are in full Hårgan dress for this kiss, as though their relationship always had to be consummated with Dani fully planted in the fifth panel of the spoiler tapestry. Also note that the pink flower in Dani’s crown reflects her heartbeat. Notice how it speeds right on up while she’s in Pelle’s arms. At this point, Dani might yet equivocate--not that she’s very equivocal in the moment--but crown flowers don’t lie.

Christian probably doesn’t see this moment. In addition to succumbing to “the tea with special properties,” he’s watching from the maypole, and Dani and Pelle would have been obscured from that vantage by a few dozen white-clad bodies. But if he cared enough about Dani to celebrate her triumph instead of blankly witness it, if he had been able to refuse the tea...but then, if he cared that much, we wouldn’t have had a movie.

Once Pelle surrenders Dani, the happiest and proudest of all possible soft cult boys, she’s urged toward a litter in the shape of the sun and lifted high off the ground. The Hårgans serenade their queen in a procession to the dinner table, Pelle prominent among them, his hands arranged in a cradling gesture previously seen when the Hårgans burned Dan’s body. This is an assumption, but it seems a fair one, that the gesture conveys Pelle bearing Dani’s spirit, even if he’s not one of those physically carrying her litter. In the wide shot, you will notice they are sailing Dani right past an image of Terri hidden in the trees. In this scene, Dani is very literally leaving her birth family and Christian behind. When Dani takes her throne at the head of the mirrored banquet table, Pelle will placidly sketch the moment, and as previously mentioned, we’ll see him reflected in the table surface, indicating how he’s still plotting even in that idyllic moment which would seem to be the culmination of all his hopes and dreams. After all, Christian’s still breathing.

Sadly, this concludes the dramatized Dani/Pelle content. We know. We’re sad, too. In the major scenes around the kiss itself--the serenade, the photograph, the dinner after her crowning--Pelle is near Dani, but not next to Dani. No more close communicating reaction shots. We can see Pelle enthusiastically toast Dani at the dinner table, and she seems to trade a sly, flirty smile with him immediately afterward, but that’s it. We can’t even see Pelle’s reaction when Dani gags on the pickled herring. In the final ceremony, Pelle’s crowned, too, just as the movie has been promising all along, but he and Dani don’t share the stage or even a single shot. Blocking and camerawork, so suggestive of their love story up to the point Pelle lays a good ‘un on her, suddenly becomes a blue-nosed chaperone. But consider what the film would be like, what it would have to become, otherwise. Midsommar isn’t primarily a romance anymore than it’s primarily a horror movie. Nope, it’s not a horror movie either, not really. It’s Dani’s story; it just happens to have smooches and blood eagles in it. So the kiss is a great moment, but it’s going to have to last you. (Hey, would you like to see our fanfics?) 

Green Man/May King or not, it would appear there’s more post-canon wooing for Mr. Pelle to do (though Ari has confirmed more than once that Pelle has an excellent chance with Dani, wink.) The script specifies that Pelle is one of the Hårgans that bears Dani’s throne to scoop her up after she stumbles in her May Queen raiment before the film’s final shot, but like so much Dani/Pelle content in the script, that doesn’t actually end up on film. The last we see of Pelle, he’s on his knees scream/crying as the Fire Temple burns, and the last we see of Dani...well, the last we see of Dani is the final, iconic shot of the film. Insane? Eh, maybe. She’s synced up with her new family and having her unholy affekts burned away. Probably should check back later for that one. Happy? Definitely. Ever after? Sure looks like. And why not? Girl got her wish.

Oh, but there’s one more topic we have not quite explored. The writing on the wall. And the ceilings and the tapestries and the clothes and the footwear and the decorative flourishes and the furniture and the tables and plinths and the...

For more, click on The Pelle/Dani Receipts Masterpost

#the pelle/dani receipts #pelle/dani #dani/pelle #pelle x dani #dani x pelle #pellani #midsommar

[symphonyofthewrite]

Okay, I just need to get something off my chest here.

…Am I the only one who…honestly disliked the romance between Greta and Alucard?

Don’t get me wrong, she’s a lovely character, and I don’t think she would be bad for him. I think they did a good job with her overall. And I didn’t think the romance was poorly done or anything. I am also glad they didn’t go overboard with it.

And this is a very small thing in the grand scheme of a great season.

But nothing about her character made me go “ah yes, she’s the one. The one for my boy.”

She was just a cool side character to me and that’s about it. I myself would have preferred it if they left it there.

I would have ADORED their relationship as just a really nice friendship. All their meaningful dialogue and teasing would have resonated with me personally a lot more without the romantic undertones. I would have been so delighted that he made a great new friend.

Im very picky about romance, and not an avid shipper, so maybe it’s just me and most people liked it.

Im just not really a fan of “everything’s gotta be wrapped up neatly with a bow so that means Alucard’s gotta have a romance, and oh whoops it’ll be with the first and only new female character introduced in his arc.” …It’s something I see in a lot of media and I really don’t like it.

I personally don’t think his character needs a romance, and I like his character better without it. (But again, I’m picky. (And have a preference for asexual characters which, yes, I know from season 3 that Alucard is not)).

Plus, if they didn’t put that there, shippers would have free reign! (I mean, not that shippers don’t already always have free reign, just…). I would have been much happier with “hey Trephacard could be canon!” “hey Alucard x Greta could be canon!” Whatever you want! It works in canon! I think Alucard x Greta would have been a fun fan ship. Just not a necessary thing in canon.

I feel like the themes of him remembering what he loves about humanity and learning that he can live with them, and that they’re not bad, and he’s not bad, etc would have come through much stronger if he experienced it with regards to Danesti as a whole. And yes, he does. But every time he does something with the people of Danesti, Greta comes over and feeds us the moral. Again, I don’t think that was poorly done, but I personally would have been much more impacted if I just heard the kids calling Alucard “father” and Alucard’s eyes widening and then a smile crossing his face when no ones looking. I would have loved to see him forming relationships with many people of Danesti, including, as well as separate from, Greta, showing that the growth and healing he needed had to do with his relationship with humanity as a whole, not just him needing a romance. I think seeing a bunch of interactions with the people of Danesti and how he’s opening up throughout the season would have made me so much more emotional.

I don’t know. Again, maybe it’s just me, and again, the season overall is AMAZING. Im not intending to be super negative, I just needed to get it off my chest since I’m not seeing people talking about this. It just really bugged me personally that they felt the need to stick a romance in his arc, when I feel the relationship, arc, and characters would have been much more delightful and powerful without it.

#alucard #castlevania season four #castlevania s4 #castlevania #castlevania Greta #castlevania spoilers #castlevania s4 spoilers #castlevania netflix #castlevania meta

[kanohivolitakk]

Alrights so

Going to list all the major changes Im doing in my fancanon and my goals with it (things I want to expand on, work differently as well as make better hjan in actual canon). My main goal w my fancanon is to make the world of Bionicle as vast and complex as I imagine it to be and my changes reflect this goal. I love the world of Bionicle for having duch a vast and interesting world, but a lot of the issues I have with the overall story prevent the world from being as good as it could be. So my changes will mostly be about that than any major story fixes.

Worth noting out that this is moreso an extended headcanon universe with a spoonful of fix-it than a complete reimaging/retool of the canon(although some parts are like a reimaging, esp the Bara Magna stuff). Were it a reimaging I would do things differently and take more creative liberties with the source material. Also most major plot beats will stay the same. I cant go "Web of Shadows, Bohrok Kal arc and Brothers in Arms are removed because I dont like them". Same w characters. I may not like Lesovikk or most of the minor OOMN agents due to finding them pointless and boring but Im not going to remove them because of that, that would go against my Modus Operandi of making the world feel as vast as possible.

A more clearly defined world thats still vast and engaging but feels more cohesive.

More detail into worldbuilding, making the world feel more vibrant and alive. Trying to get the amount of detail the first four years had in its world into the larger world/the lter years as well.

Making the non Matoran species feel better implemented into the story and more clearly thought out tham in canon. (looks at my meta series that I still need to continue) Also making the Matoran world and the non matoran aspects of the worldbuilding feel more cohesive and in same setting than two different places pasted together. (worth noting that most of my rewrites are aimed at the non Matoran parts of the universe because tjey are simutaneously more interesting but also WAY MORE FRUSTRATING to me)

Making the world and story feel cohesive, streamlining stuff thats too convoluted or has contradictory information (cough the Barraki lore cough).

On a related note, making the Big Twist feel more natural and like it fits for the whole world rather than it feeling it only fits for half of tje world.

A rich history with lots of detail put into it. Some changes to the timeline either to streamline it or make it make more sense for x thing happening before y (ie TAKUA SHOULDNT BEEN THE FIRST BEING CREATED IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE. He cam still be one of tje first if not first Matoran But not the first being)

Attempting to make the antagonistic characters/villains more complex than in canon and make them feel like actual individuals rather than just cliche bad guys w the same few archetypes pasted over and over again because Greg can only write one type of villain lmao.

Certain characters are utilized more than in canon (Lariska, Ancient, most non TSO Dark Hunters, Krakua,) Most notably Nektann is vastly more important than he is in canon.

Actually utilizing characters w good intro arcs who are tossed aside (yes this is about Karzhani, yes Im still bitter what tjey did to him)

OCs!!!!! Because I like making ocs.

More female characters as well as genderless and nonbinary characters. This includes both making new characters as well as headcanons

Love is canon to an extent (MU individuals can feel romantic love but are compldtely unable to feel sexual love dye to being made asexual.) SOME canonical romantic relationship (most notably yes, Im making hewiki/macku canon.)

Some plotpoints are slightly retooled to make more sense

Serials starting in 2006 rather than 07 and serials in 2007 that took place outside Mahri Nui. Serials should be gaiden stories that happen alongside the mainstory/meanwhile in another location.

Ancient isnt killed off/dies differently (also posibly he isnt an order double agent dunno yet)

Possibly having Icarax kill off TSO instead of Botarr since I really dont like how Destiny War made TSO a Teridax clone and Reign Of Shadows did barely anything with him.

Massive retool of Reign of Shadows to make it feel like the Destiny War/Dwellers in Darkness of 2009, feeling like this grand story of every major party fighting against Teridax.

Massive retool of the Bara Magna storyline, changing the tone to more serious rather thn the kiddy "power of friendship yay!!!" Legend Reborn was, making the Bara Magna storyline 2 years instead of 1 (one tjats setting up the world, second w Mata Nui stuff) and having the scrapped stuff w the elemental lords and robot dinos and what not. Mata Nuis charcter is also reworked.

The ending is MOSTLY the same, but slightly retooled to feel like a true climax and whole series coming together.

Either retooling or outright removal of the post canon storyline. Most of the stuff introducrd in this part can stay ((really the only thing I consider removing is the Golden Skinned Being as well as Velika having like 50 double agents on Bara Magna since that was kinda stupid)) not just sure Im gonna keep the actual events

But yeah these are my main goals/changes w the bonk

#kirika talks #bionicle

[clearsky]

My Top Comfort Characters/Kins and My Main HCs For Them

(Note, not all my kins/comfort characters are on here, just the ones I have more than 5 hcs for)

CW: Korekiyo Shinguji (DRV3), Himiko Yumeno (DRV3), Shinsou Hitoshi (BNHA), Kyoko Kirigiri (THH), Tsuyu Asui (BNHA), Entrapta (Spop), Ibuki Mioda (SDR2), Celestia Ludenberg (THH), Funtime Foxy (FNAF), Peril (WOF)

Korekiyo Shinguji (DRV3)

Nonbinary

He/They pronouns

Autistic

Chains and loose accessories are for stimming

Likes the feeling of silk and cotton

Can't stand the feeling of anything rough or bumpy

He likes collecting small trinkets and the bones of small mammals

Can't stand anything salty. He'll eat it but he certainly won't enjoy it

Dating Rantaro

Can flirt, but only if he doesn't try

Petnames are a hell yea

Gets sunburnt really easily

Group dates with Celesnaegiri and Ikuzono

Can't cook for s h i t

Had a scene kid phase in middle school

Went to the same middle school as Celeste and Maki

Knew them when Celeste went through her "I'm not like other girls" phase and Maki was a Band Kid™

Himiko Yumeno (DRV3)

Female

She/Her pronouns

Lesbian

Can force herself to fall asleep within seconds regardless of where she is

100% forces herself to fall asleep when she doesn't wanna listen/talk to someone

Himiko/Angie/Tenko relationship. I'm calling them the Traffic Light Trio

She likes taking naps in the forest

She prefers enclosed/tight spaces more than open ones

Has several hundred stress balls and squishies laying around

She overheats easy

Shinsou Hitoshi (BNHA)

Questioning his gender, but goes by any pronouns

Knows he's Asexual, at least

Has no clue what his romantic orientation is though

The kind of person to carry treats in his pocket just in case he runs into a cat

Will stop to pet literally every cat he comes across

Great at reading people

Doesn't talk unless it's 100% needed

Hangs with Tokoyami, Jirou, and Denki most often

Aizawa has 100% unofficially adopted him

Fosters kittens

Not a big fan of physical touch

He is 100% in the bakusquad. Anyone who says he's in the Dekusquad is a c o w a r d

He and Tsuyu vibe

Knows a bunch of random facts

Dark humour? Dark humour

*skates backwards into his therapist's room slowly sipping from an absurdly huge cup of coffee* Candice you're not gonna BELIEVE the shit I just went through

In case I forgot to mention it, he skates

Kyoko Kirigiri (THH)

Mtf

She/Her

Bi with female preference

Burns go up to her shoulders/collarbone/chest

Prefers to just listen as opposed to saying anything

Knows a ton of random trivia about everyone else in her class

She keeps a notebook she fills with all the trivia

Doesn't celebrate her birthday. She just doesn't see the point of it

Doesn't hate sugar/sweets, but if given the choice she would choose literally everything else

Cuts her own hair

A cat person

Permanent dark circles

T-Tall 😳

Like,,, 6'1 at LEAST

Only person taller than her is Yasuhiro (6'3)

Canon no longer exist

Ahahaha healthy life habits? What are those?

Can't handle horror games

She's the kind of person you'd go to if you needed to rant but didn't want any advice

Polyamourous yo

Celeste/Kyoko/Makoto

She's a dom yall are just scared to admit it

Tsuyu Asui (BNHA)

They go by They/Them

Lesbian

They and Ochaco are dating

They like to hang with Shinsou

Which mainly just means the two sitting in one of their dorms in near total silence doing whatever

Can speak English and French as well as Japanese

Learned English from cartoons

Picked up French bc they thought it'd be fun

Prefers to stay neutral in the whole Bakusquad / Dekusquad thing

They're invited to all outings/events by/for both squads

They like puns

They're a dumbass but willingly, and for fun

Like "someone says they like dark humour and they'll turn off the lights before telling a joke" kind dumbass for fun

Great at poker

Likes Disney Movies

Very touchy once you get close enough

Not in a sexual way, just likes physical contact

Especially fond of piggyback rides and cuddles

Extreme fear of needles

Entrapta (She-Ra)

She/Her or It/Its

Doesn't bother trying to figure out whether she's cis, trans, nonbinary, or what

Was AMAB though

Short as fuck (4'7)

Strong as fuck though

Cuddle game strong

Physical touch is a fuck yes

Cuddles

Piggyback rides

Hugs

Anything where she's touching someone is wonderful in her book

As long as she's the one that initiates it

Anyone else touching her without her permission makes her freak

Prefers being high up

Makes it harder for anyone to sneak up on her

An ace at video games

When it comes to sexuality she just says she's Questioning

Ibuki Mioda (SDR2)

Any pronouns + Pup/Pupself + It/Its

No idea what their gender is otherwise

Biromantic Asexual

Just likes sexual jokes

Gets distracted easily

Has severe hearing problems

She's plays her instruments as loud as possible, with the amp right next to her, without ANY ear protection

It's caused some damage

She talks so loud bc she has no idea how loud is considered acceptable

Wears hearings aids most of the time

Several piercings and tattoos

Likes hearing things jingle

She has a bracelet with a few bells hanging from it

She'll shake it whenever she's bored

LOVES hair accessories

Ribbons are a particular favourite

Occasionally she'll hang little charms from her hair "horns"

The kind of person who never takes any pills/medicine bc she keeps forgetting she has to

Frequently uses emojis

Skates everywhere but she isn't very good at it

She keeps crashing into everything

Has broken every bone in her body at least 3 times

Most of which was bc she keeps trying to kick in doors and skating down the stairs

Celestia Ludenberg (THH)

Nonbinary

Any pronouns, mainly goes by She/They

Bi, 70:30

Collects mini hand sanitizers and can tabs

Has single handedly gotten Mario Kart, Mario Party, Monopoly, Uno, and Clue banned a grand total of 17 times (and counting)

The kind of person to purposefully target someone regardless of what game was being played

Favourite victim is Byakuya (bc he gets so upset about it and she finds that hilarious)

Mains Waluigi

Celeste/Kyoko/Makoto

Has several banned Twitter accounts bc whenever she's bored she'll start discourse on purpose

Hangs with Korekiyo, Ibuki, Byakuya, Yasuhiro, and Leon most often

It's a weird friend group but everyone's sorta gotten used to it

She and Byakuya gamble together occasionally

She tries to avoid it bc he'll willingly blow his entire fortune in an attempt to beat her

Autustic

Can't stand the feeling of water

Mainly bc she can't swim for shit

Horror movies? Hates them

Gets flustered super easily

Taka is her twin brother

Kotoko, Kokichi, and Gundham are their half siblings (Same father)

Peko and Toko are their cousins

She sucks ass at go fish

Fuck canon she's 4'11 now

C h u b b y

Freckles

Once she gets comfortable enough with herself she dyes her hair in the peekaboo style

Either black and red or black and blonde

Haven't decided yet

I'll be doing Celesnaegiri hcs as a seperate post but I just feel it's important for you to know that she expresses her affection verbally and is a very touchy person

Went to middle school with Maki and Korekiyo

Has horrible eyesight

She wears contacts most of the time but she always puts off buying more

After the 5th or so time she ended up blindly stumbling around a week after her contacts ran out Kyoko convinced her to buy glasses as well

Religious accessories yo

Like chokers and dangly earrings with crosses and pentagrams and shit

Likes wearing wacky earrings

Can run and do all sorts of tricks in heels

She and Mukuro are exes yo

Keeps her hair short so it's easier to manage

Hair never gets longer than her shoulders if she can help it

She seems like the kind of person who'd keep her bangs grown past her eyes regardless of how frustrating or inconvenient it is

She's a sub yall just don't wanna admit it

Funtime Foxy (FNAF)

I'm going on the record to say this

Funtime Foxy is genderfluid and that is that

Goes by Funtime

Any pronouns, They/Them most commonly

Plays music (keyboard and guitar mainly)

They and Funtime Freddy (Freds) mainly play with the kids

Freds mainly tells stories with Bonbon while Funtime more so plays one-on-one

Has nicknames for everyone

Circus Baby - Ringleader

Ballora - Bells

Funtime Freddy - Partner

Bon Bon - Bun

Peril (WOF)

I like both Nonbinary She/They Peril and Mtf She/Her Peril

They're both such good concepts

She's a lesbian, Harold

She only had a crush on Clay bc he was pretty much everything she was supposed to like in a guy

Gimme a moment while I force all my mental disorders onto this poor child

Autistic, Anxiety (Social anxiety, mainly, but she has most types), Adhd, PTSD

I'd like to reiterate yet again that She's a lesbian

Sunny and Glory were her gay awakening

Peril in Book 1: Damn, Sunny and Glory sure are pretty. Anyone would be lucky to date them. Clay would probably go for them over me. He would be stupid if he didn't. I myself would willingly date them over someone like me. They're just so pretty :(

Peril waking up in a cold sweat in the middle of arc 2: WAIT-

Rarepair alert but Peril/Sora

Peril meeting Sora: "Hmmm She's attractive. I would love to date her. Too bad I'm straight and in love with her brother lmao :P"

Peril, a mere month later, waiting for Ruby to leave Jade Mountain, pacing in her cave, running face first into a wall: WAIT-

I remember reading this one amazing story where Sora taught Peril to read/write and Peril found out she set off the bomb and comforted her/convinced her her run so that's canon now

Btw if anyone can remember what that story was called/what platform it was on and could tell me I'd appreciate it very much

I'd even be willing to draw a character of your's or make you an icon or something

I usually don't accept requests bc I get burnt out easy but this is a special case

She runs into Sora again sometime between the beginning of TOP and the end

I like to imagine she just goes wandering around

Anyway she confesses like a mere few minutes after running into her again bc Peril is just subtle like that

The actual confession takes 15 minutes and the entire time Sora is just sitting here like "👁👄👁 sure"

Bam Peril/Sora

Peril plans to keep it a secret for a little while longer but she spends 3 seconds around Clay and pretty much blurts it out

Clay, who wasn't even aware that Peril was a lesbian, is just "👁👄👁"

I wanna say Clay doesn't know what a lesbian is but in my canon Sunny is a lesbian so Starflight has already told him

Anyway he's super supportive

From that point Peril is sorta open about her sexuality?

Like, she gives Clay permission to tell the rest of the D.O.D bc she isn't about to risk being in front of them when they hear the news

(When Sunny starts actively seeking her out as a hang out buddy and Tsunami, Glory, and Starflight appear to tolerate her presence just a bit more afterwards she pretends she isn't confused by the change)

She's pink, white, and blue bc I said so

If you look at a certain angle in the right lighting her eyes, mouth, fire, and under her scales all look purple

But her fire is normally white and blue bc I said so

Also she pale as fuck bc in my canon their fire just sorta burns their colour away

You know how you leave something outside for too long and it gets sunbleached? Where it gets all washed out?

Like that but more extreme

By the age of 10-12 firescale dragons are just white with pale eyes

That's right not even the eyes are safe

Ram horns :P

I'm also fond of Peril/Sunny

Or maybe Peril/Sora/Sunny

But Peril/Sora is the main thing

On the topic of that bringing in my hc that if one sib in a sib group is fire resistant all of them are

She,,, She can change her scale colour

But only slightly and only if her emotions are strong enough

Bc I don't give a fuck about Darkstalker's scroll we were robbed of hybrid Peril

Unfortunately all of Peril's emotions are strong

Rainwing ruff along her head and neck

It's like a hood

It's mainly smoothed to her sides but when she's startled it flares out

RAINWING PUPILS

Y'all will know what those look like as soon as I get off my ass :P

She,,, She can mimic bird cries

Hates the summer

She has more than enough body heat already and the outside is just hot enough to add on and make her feel sick

She can somewhat control her heat but most of the time it's based on her emotions

It can go from standing-in-the-middle-of-a-burning-building-cant-see-your-nose-smoke-is-so-thick heat (Strong emotion) to Hey-thats-a-nice-cozy-campfire heat (Calm/"weak" emotion/Sleeping)

I'm just gonna make a different post with all my Peril hcs cuz there isnt enough room for all of them here

#Danganronpa #danganronpa trigger happy havoc #trigger happy havoc #danganronpa goodbye despair #goodbye despair #danganronpa v3 #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #fnaf sister location #wings of fire #she ra #bnha #my hero academia #headcanon #korekiyo shinguji #amaguji #himiko yumeno #shinsou hitoshi #kyoko kirigiri #Celesnaegiri #Celesgiri #mha tsuyu #ochatsuyu #ibuki mioda #entrapta spop #celeste ludenberg #peril wof #Sora wof #Sora/Peril wof

[carewyncromwell]

[Ficlet] How to “Get” a Quidditch Tryout in 10 Days

...I have no excuse for this. None at all. 😅 But I never ended up doing a play-through of Quidditch season 1 for my OG girl Carewyn Cromwell, so I just decided “what the hey” and wrote this part out, which is based on the beginning of Quidditch Season 1, Chapter 5, AKA MC first meeting Orion Amari. (I may or may not add another part or two to this later.) 

A few things to keep in mind about Carewyn’s canon regarding both Quidditch and where she is in her character arc at this point --

Carewyn is in her third year. Her hair, which was a very short pixie cut in her first year, has now finally grown long enough to be tied back in a short ponytail only a little longer than Charlie’s. After having dealt with the Ice Vault the previous year with Bill Weasley and Ben Copper, Carewyn has just started to get some confidence, but she’s far from the poised, collected Mama Bear most of you might know her as. At this point, she still has some trouble keeping a lid on her sensitive emotions and is more likely to lose her temper and get impatient. This year, however, she’s started to get both into Quidditch and fashion, thanks in large part to her new friendships with Charlie (who she’ll become very close to and eventually see like an “unofficial twin” in their later school years) and Andre (who she’ll nurture a romantic crush on as this year goes on and eventually date in fourth and fifth year). It’s after Carewyn’s returned to school in her fourth year that she makes the most strides in her dramatic transformation and becomes much more sophisticated and cool. 

Orion, Skye, and McNully are all Slytherins one year ahead of Carewyn. Orion is the oldest, having been born in early October, so he’s newly 15 even if he is a fourth year. (And, naturally, he’s incredibly mature and wise for his age, hence why he was picked to be the new Slytherin captain at all!) Erika Rath is in their year too, though in Ravenclaw. 

Carewyn ultimately will only play in one match this year -- the match against Hufflepuff -- thanks to a falling-out with her teammate and “coach” Skye Parkin surrounding the whole “Rath rumor” fiasco. If you’d like, you can read about Carewyn’s “grand return” to the Slytherin team in the Quest for the Quidditch Cup gameplay I did, set in Carey’s sixth year and Orion’s seventh!

As many of you probably know by now, Carewyn and Orion -- post Hogwarts -- actually end up in a committed romantic relationship. With these two being at ages 13 and 15, though, one can expect there won’t exactly be a lot of romantic sparks just yet, especially since I headcanon both these two as being on the asexual spectrum. 

Hope you enjoy! 💚

x~x~x~x

The first day was bright and sunny, without a cloud in the sky. A perfect day to make a good impression. 

Carewyn felt like her insides were tied up in knots as she took her broom out to the Quidditch Pitch. Even though she’d gotten plenty of bumps and bruises practicing with Skye that last week and had stayed up almost all night reviewing the Quidditch strategy playbooks McNully had lent her, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was still a longshot, to be considered. She wasn’t a traditional build for a Chaser -- she and her school rival Merula Snyde were the shortest kids in their entire year, and Carewyn herself wasn’t exactly the traditionally toned Quidditch player. Not to mention she struggled with a lot of the strength exercises Skye had thrown at her. 

‘You’ve prepared for this,’ she reassured herself. ‘You put in a lot of work. McNully and Skye can see that. Hopefully Slytherin’s Captain will too.’

Carewyn had yet to meet Orion Amari, but she’d heard plenty. It had been a little hard to believe that a boy only one year ahead of her could already have become Quidditch Captain, but Carewyn knew Snape well enough to know he wouldn’t have trusted their house team to just anyone, so he no doubt had to be talented. From what McNully said, Orion was the youngest Quidditch Captain in over a century (exactly 104 years), and from what Skye said, he was an oddball sort that didn’t let just anyone join his team. 

Steeling her nerves, the third year Slytherin looked around the Pitch. Within a moment, she saw that a young man with shaggy dark hair and dressed in worn brown robes, pants, and fingerless gloves was already there, hovering on his broom in mid-air. 

‘So that’s the Slytherin Quidditch Captain?’ Carewyn thought. 

Upon getting closer, she gave a visible start. 

 ‘…How is he balancing on his broom like that??’

For Orion Amari wasn’t just hovering there -- he was actually standing on top of his broom on one leg, his eyes closed and his hands clasped in front of him as if he were meditating. 

Feeling a bit intimidated despite herself, Carewyn nonetheless put on her bravest expression and flew right up to him.

“...Orion Amari?” 

The Slytherin Quidditch Captain slowly opened his eyes and looked down at who had interrupted him. His face was rather mask-like and calm, but his black eyes ran over her face, examining her critically. 

“Forgive me for interrupting,” Carewyn said quickly. 

Fortunately Orion didn’t seem perturbed. 

“All things have their time,” he said in a rather mellow, pleasant voice. “Clearly my meditation’s time has come to an end...though for what reason, I’m not yet sure.”

‘Great, so he was meditating,’ Carewyn thought guiltily. ‘Way to muck up that first impression!’

She swallowed, but kept her face as stoic as possible. 

"My name’s Carewyn Cromwell -- I’m here to ask about tryouts, for the open Chaser position?”

Orion’s face didn’t shift, but his eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. Sensing that he was sizing her up, Carewyn pressed on with as much assurance as she could manage. 

“I may not have that much experience in Quidditch yet...but I’ve been practicing hard in Quidditch friendlies with Charlie Weasley and Andre Egwu. And Skye Parkin’s coached me on improving my physical skills. And Murphy McNully gave me a crash course in Quidditch strategy too, so -- ”

“Neither physical nor strategical skills will ultimately determine which way your path will wind,” Orion cut her off very cleanly without raising his volume or hardening his tone at all. 

Carewyn blinked. ‘Path? To a Quidditch tryout, I suppose...’

“What will, then?” she asked.

“Balance,” said Orion simply. 

Carewyn frowned in slight confusion. “Balance? You mean between my studies and Quidditch, or...?”

“Balance,” Orion said again, very coolly. “On one leg. On your broom.”

Carewyn felt like her stomach had crumpled up in her chest. 

Oh, great. She knew she had adequate reflexes and she’d always felt rather comfortable on a broom, but balancing on her broom on one foot? She’d never once thought she’d have to do something like that! If she had, she would’ve practiced ahead of time...

Carewyn looked from her splintering Shooting Star to up at Orion. His expression had not shifted once. 

‘This is a test,’ Carewyn thought to herself. ‘If I back out now, then that’s it.’

She hated the thought of doing this without having practiced first. She just knew she was going to make a fool of herself in front of the Slytherin Quidditch Captain, and she absolutely dreaded that. But, it seemed, there was no other option. 

So, taking a deep breath, Carewyn inched herself off of her broom, little by little, and tried to just stand on it.

She lost balance and fell right off, landing on the ground a few feet below with a painful THUMP. 

Carewyn winced as she eased herself up. 

Fortunately Orion hovering overhead didn’t look at all amused or derisive. His eyes were locked on her, as unreadable as ever, but he made no move as if to help or even ask if she was all right. 

The ginger-haired Slytherin averted her eyes, flushing in humiliation. She knew she’d look completely incompetent!

Exhaling through her nose, Carewyn mounted her broom, flew back up into the same position she’d been in before, and tried again. 

She wobbled for only a few seconds before falling off again. This time she scraped her fists when she threw them up in front of her face to protect it from colliding with the ground. 

Her third time, she landed face-first in the dirt. Her fifth time, her Shooting Star went flying and she had to dash across the pitch to get it back. Her tenth time, she cut open her chin and had to force back tears of pain and shame. 

‘This is impossible!’ Carewyn thought furiously. 

She couldn’t even look at Orion Amari anymore. Part of her hated that she’d even bothered coming at all -- hated that she’d wasted her time on any of this, just to look so pathetic -- 

‘Jacob would never have had so much trouble,’ she thought bitterly. ‘He never struggled with anything at Hogwarts -- he wouldn’t be getting himself hurt over something so stupid -- ’

As soon as she thought that meaner thought, however, she faltered. 

Sure, this exercise seemed stupid...but what it was for was not. 

The devastated face of the wounded Slytherin Chaser in the Hospital Wing when she failed to convince Madame Pomfrey to let her play in the upcoming match rippled over Carewyn’s mind again.

‘Slytherin can’t win the match against Hufflepuff with only two Chasers,’ she thought to herself. ‘Maybe I ultimately won’t be good enough, but...well, how could I live with myself, if I didn’t at least try to help? Especially with how much help everyone else has given me...’

Just thinking of how disappointed Andre, Charlie, Skye and McNully would be, after how much faith they’d placed in her...it made Carewyn feel sick. 

So clenching her teeth and avoiding Orion’s eyes, she powered through, got up, and tried again. 

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again. 

It took over an hour for Carewyn to just stand on top of her broom without falling off. It took longer still for her to do it while standing on one foot. Several times she managed to catch herself before she fell off completely by snagging the broom with her ankle, leg, or hand in mid-air, but other times she fell back or face first into the dirt. She had to take out her wand and use Episkey and Scourgify to clean herself up several times, as well as fix her ponytail once or twice. But she kept getting back up. 

‘Now that I’ve pushed myself this hard, I can’t stop now,’ Carewyn thought fiercely. ‘The only thing worse than looking like an idiot would be to fail after looking like an idiot.’

The entire time Orion watched her in silence, his face impossible to read and his own balance never shifting. Carewyn avoided his eyes the entire time -- she hated feeling his judgmental gaze on her when she knew she wasn’t at her best, and she worried that if she looked him in the face or spoke to him, her temper would get the better of her and she might snap at him. 

At long last, when the sun was starting to set, Carewyn finally managed it. She kept her arms out on either side of her rather than clasped in front of her, balancing as if she were a circus performer on a wire. 

Breathing heavily, she finally looked back up at Orion. His lips had spread into a very small smile. 

“You have achieved balance,” he said. “Congratulations.”

He spoke as patiently as if the last three hours hadn’t even happened. 

Despite herself, Carewyn felt herself flushing with some pride. 

“...Thank you,” she muttered.

‘I wish I didn’t waste so much time, but...at least I finally did it!’

“Now we can communicate on the same level,” said Orion. 

“Then...does that mean I can get a Quidditch tryout?” Carewyn asked, sounding a bit more hopeful than she’d intended. 

“Can anyone really get a Quidditch tryout?” asked Orion in return.

Carewyn considered this. 

“...Well...no, I guess not,” she said sheepishly. “I mean, you’ll need someone to fill your Chaser’s spot, of course...but one would have to earn the chance to prove themselves first. Right?”

Orion’s face flickered with some interest. 

“Your mind works in complex ways,” he said, and he sounded rather pleased. “A Quidditch tryout is not something one can ‘get.’ It is something one...experiences. And yes, as you said, not everyone earns the privilege of that experience.”

Carewyn straightened up slightly, and her broom wobbled a bit under her. She quickly corrected her center of balance by pretending there was a string tied to the top of her head holding her up like a doll, like she used to when she was first learning how to hop on one foot when she was in grade school. 

“What must I do to earn such an experience, then?”

Orion’s black eyes sparkled with some mischief. “Let’s just say that when we next meet, we shall meet again.”

Carewyn frowned in confusion. “What?”

Rather than answer, Orion deftly leapt off his broom down to the ground, hoisting his broom up over his shoulders. 

“H-hey!” said Carewyn, as she quickly tried to get back on her broom and land properly. “Wait -- ”

But Orion had already strode off the pitch and disappeared. 

~~~

The second day was a bit more cloudy, but the same mild temperature. 

Carewyn once again found Orion balancing on his broom. He had his eyes open this time and his arms resting on either side of him absently, so she flew right up to him. 

“Good afternoon, Orion,” she greeted him politely. 

‘At least he’s not meditating this time, so I’m not interrupting anything.’

Orion didn’t respond. He seemed to be waiting for something. 

Carewyn felt a prickle of discomfort settling on the back of her neck. “...Orion?”

He once again didn’t respond, his gaze still almost expectant. 

Carewyn glanced down at his single leg balancing on his broom and then back up at his face. 

“Do you...need me to ‘communicate on your level?’” she asked. 

Orion’s eyes grew a little smaller, but remained rather pleasant. “Not my level -- our level. We are all equals on the Quidditch Pitch.”

Despite herself, Carewyn couldn’t help but smile a bit. ‘Well, that’s a nice attitude for a Captain to have, not to be condescending to the people he might lead.’

Taking a breath, she eased herself up onto her feet on her broom and carefully balanced. She wobbled slightly, trying to correct her posture so that she was standing up straighter. 

“It’s rare that someone shows such fire, when trying to balance for the first time,” said Orion.

Carewyn blinked. “‘Fire?’”

“Yes. You fell off many, many times yesterday. And yet you kept getting back up and trying again.”

Carewyn glanced away, off toward the stands. 

“...I probably wouldn’t have fallen off so many times, if I’d been able to practice ahead of time,” she muttered self-consciously. 

Orion’s lips actually spread into a very small, wry smile. “Ah, but would that have taught me anything about you?

Carewyn frowned deeply. “I think so. Hard work always shows through.”

“Naturally -- but you already stated you’d worked hard at your Quidditch skills, before balancing. And given that you led others to successfully break the Ice curse last year, it’s already quite clear that you both work hard and are a planner. What I did not yet know, however, was how you respond under pressure.”

Carewyn tilted her head slightly to the side. “...I see. And...did my response meet your expectations?”

Orion’s black eyes sparkled with slight amusement. “I think the better question is whether they met yours.”

Carewyn couldn’t stop herself from scoffing. “Of course not. I fell off my broom over a hundred times in the span of three hours.” 

“Many others gave up long before you did.”

“It doesn’t matter what anyone else did -- I know I could’ve done better, and I should have...”

Carewyn caught herself. She probably wasn’t making the best case for herself right now.

“...That’s why I’d like to have a chance at a tryout,” she said firmly. “I’d like to make up for that first impression and show what I can do.”

Orion’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, losing their amusement and becoming much more placid again. “Interesting. Your posture is modest, and yet your expectations seem to rest somewhere in the stratosphere.”

Carewyn wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, but she felt that she’d opened herself up to Orion more than she’d intended. It made her instantly feel uncomfortable, and she once again found herself wobbling slightly on her broom as she avoided his eye. 

“...I suppose so,” she muttered. “So...will you tell me what I have to do, to earn the chance to ‘experience’ a tryout?”

Orion closed his eyes. 

“Find your center,” he instructed her. 

“My center?”

“Your emotional and physical center. Find it and hold onto it -- make it your anchor, and let all imbalances and distractions fade away.”

“Will that earn me -- ?”

“There will be time for questions later. For now, we’ll find our center.”

~~~

The third day the clouds had darkened and a slight drizzle had started.  

Carewyn found Orion balancing again, and didn’t even speak to him until she was already balancing on her broom the way he did. 

“Hello, Orion.” 

“Your balance has improved,” commented the Slytherin Quidditch Captain. 

Carewyn nodded. “I practiced some more on my own time.”

“Such tenacity is to be commended.”

Orion closed his eyes and started to meditate. Carewyn once again felt uneasy, not wanting to be rude and interrupt him, but feeling like she didn’t have much choice. 

“...Should I...come back another time?” she asked.

“Now is the time,” said Orion patiently without opening his eyes. 

‘So he wants me to meditate with him some more,’ Carewyn deduced. She couldn’t help but feel slightly frustrated. Was he ever going to tell her what she needed to do to earn a tryout?

But she thought to herself, maybe this was the point. Orion was still clearly testing her -- not in the way Skye or McNully did, with shows of physical strength or recitations of Quidditch facts, but from an emotional perspective. He’d commented on her “fire” and “tenacity” -- therefore what seemed to matter most to Orion Amari wasn’t physical skill or Quidditch strategy, but one’s emotional state while flying. 

‘If that’s the case,’ Carewyn thought gloomily, ‘losing my temper or getting impatient would probably be the worst things I could do.’

Inhaling in through her nose and out through her mouth, Carewyn closed her eyes. The silence irritated her like a fly, so she soon started singing a song to herself in her own head, to pass the time. 

‘Here comes the rain again...falling on my head like a memory...’

The drizzle soon came down as a fuller rain, and Orion put an early end to their session and headed indoors. 

~~~

The fourth day, it rained all day. 

Carewyn didn’t find Orion near the Quidditch Pitch at all that day, nor in the halls of the school. Naturally he was a year ahead of her, so they had no classes together, but they were still both Slytherins, so she would’ve thought she’d see him at their table during mealtimes, at least. And yet, no. No, she did not.

'Does he do anything the way a normal person does?’ Carewyn couldn’t help but think to herself, baffled. 

~~~

The fifth day, the rain had cleared, but the sky was still very cloudy. 

Carewyn came to the Pitch and balanced alongside Orion as usual. What was not usual, however, was the swarm of Pixies that appeared out of nowhere and flew right at them while they were meditating.

Carewyn wobbled around on her broom, trying to whack them away without falling off. Orion, however, didn’t move an inch -- instead, all he did was recite random magical creatures under his breath. 

“Fire Crab, Flobberworm, Kneazle, Niffler...”

Although Carewyn just barely avoided falling off, it required all of her concentration. It was only once she’d finally managed to shake the Pixies off of her back that Orion spoke to her. 

“You did not ask me about Quidditch tryouts.”

Carewyn couldn’t completely fight back a frustrated glare. 

“Well, I was a little preoccupied,” she said sarcastically.

Orion raised his eyebrows. “Really? I didn’t notice.”

Carewyn felt her temper steaming. She was reminded of when Jacob would tease her about being a long-lost kelpie who their mother found and adopted as a baby, just because she put salt on everything. 

‘Even then, though, you knew Jacob only said those things because he wanted to get a rise out of you, not because he didn’t care,’ Carewyn reminded herself. 

Her heart ached at the thought of her brother. She would have him tease her for the rest of her life, if only he, she and Lane could be a family again...

Taking a deep breath, Carewyn fixed Orion with a more stoic expression. 

“...I’m surprised you didn’t. The Pixies were flying around you too.”

“Yes,” granted Orion. “But when focus meets balance, one can let Pixies be Pixies.”

Carewyn’s expression grew more thoughtful. “...I see. You need to block out all distractions and focus solely on your goal, if you have any hope of achieving it.”

Orion’s lips spread into a pleased smile. “Indeed. Playing Quidditch in its purest form means leaving one’s personal ‘Pixies’ off the pitch.”

‘I think I understand now,’ Carewyn thought. ‘This guy is a philosopher. He doesn’t want me asking about what I have to do to earn a tryout -- I have to find that out for myself.’

Carewyn’s eyes narrowed slightly and she nodded.

‘All right, then, Orion Amari...I’ll prove myself on your terms. Or rather, ours.’

~~~

The sixth day, there was a notable chill in the air. 

Carewyn bundled up in one of her warmest sweaters and found Orion at the Pitch balancing on his broom, his eyes closed while he meditated. Once she was balanced too, she tried a different tack. 

“Orion...what helps you balance?”

Orion smiled without opening his eyes. 

“Fire Crab, Flobberworm, Kneazle, Niffler,” he answered vaguely. 

Carewyn was baffled. “...Magical creatures?”

“Yes. You’ll want to remember those magical creatures.”

“What makes those creatures significant?”

“All creatures are significant.”

“Well, yes,” said Carewyn begrudgingly, “but what do they have to do with Quidditch?”

“What do any of us have to do with Quidditch?”

Carewyn just barely fought back the urge to sigh in frustration. ‘Now he’s just being obstinate!’

The memory of her brother Jacob’s cocky smile as he backtalked a wizard who had referred to him and Carewyn as “the bastard Cromwells” when they were in Diagon Alley hovered over her brain. The image oddly soothed her temper. 

‘All right, then,’ she thought decisively, ‘if he doesn’t like giving straightforward answers, then I’ll twist around him.’

“Fire Crabs, Flobberworms, Kneazles, and Nifflers, right?” she recurred. 

“Yes.”

Carewyn considered this. Then she smiled. 

“...Nifflers are like Seekers, aren’t they?”

Orion actually opened his eyes, tilting his head slightly as he considered her. 

“Nifflers can smell out gold from a mile away -- and Seekers have to be good at that too, if they want to go after the Snitch. And Fire Crabs...well, they’re aggressive and fierce. Sort of like Beaters! And Kneazles...well, they’re protective of any owner they’ve got, kind of like a Keeper protects their hoops. And Flobberworms...”

She trailed off with a frown. 

“Yes?” Orion prompted. He actually sounded very curious to hear her answer. 

After a moment, Carewyn deduced that she had no idea how the Hell a Flobberworm related to a Chaser. So, feeling at a loss, she nonetheless put on her bravest, wryest smile and channeled her brother as best she could. 

“...Well, I suppose we’ve moved about as far as a Flobberworm, whenever we’ve been balancing together.” 

Orion blinked. Then he actually laughed. It was a very quiet sound in the back of his throat, but a warm one -- it kind of reminded Carewyn of her mother Lane’s soft-spoken voice. 

Carewyn bit her lip to hold back a self-conscious giggle of her own. “...Did I...that is, did our thought processes match up at all?”

Orion smiled fully, his white teeth very bright. “No.”

~~~

The seventh day was even colder. 

Once again, Carewyn met Orion at the Pitch, this time wrapped up in her Slytherin scarf. Even when a rogue Bludger almost whammed into them, Carewyn was able to stay balanced enough to shimmy her broomstick out of the way with just her foot, taking out her wand and pointing it right at the Bludger.

“Finite Incantatem!”

A blast of white from her wand slammed into the Bludger and made it stop abruptly in its assault, hovering helplessly in mid-air for a few seconds before it dropped like a stone to the ground. 

Orion smiled, clearly pleased. Carewyn glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Was that another ‘Pixie,’ meant to distract me?” she asked him.

Orion’s black eyes twinkled. “Perhaps.”

Carewyn smirked broadly herself. “At least you only threw one Bludger at me -- Skye once surprised me with three.”

“Really?” said Orion amusedly. 

“Yes...though I daresay she would’ve seen me using my wand as cheating.”

“You will not be able to use it during a match,” Orion reminded her.

“Of course not,” said Carewyn. “But you already lost a Chaser thanks to a rogue Bludger -- I wasn’t going to just let it take you out too.”

Orion actually looked slightly taken aback. Then his expression softened. 

“...You express a lot of loyalty, for someone not even on the house team,” he said lowly. 

Carewyn sniffed in mild disapproval. “It was the right thing to do. We’re both Slytherins, aren’t we?”

Orion’s smile broadened, becoming more wry. “Indeed we are.” 

~~~

The eighth day was just as cold as the last. It was also the day that, once the two started balancing and meditating in silence together, Orion initiated conversation first. 

“Tell me, Carewyn Cromwell,” he said pleasantly, “what helps you balance?”

Carewyn blinked in surprise. Then she looked away, suddenly very uncomfortable. 

“Well...” she mumbled, “I sort of just...sing in my head.”

Orion raised his eyebrows. Carewyn felt her face flushing in embarrassment. 

“...Music helps me think,” she admitted sheepishly. “But well, radios and cassette players don’t work here -- so I’ve gotten used to just singing songs in my own head, whenever I’m working on something.”

It sounded really stupid when she said it aloud. Orion, however, considered her answer carefully. 

“...Will you sing the song you’ve been singing in your head aloud?”

Carewyn knew her face had to be a bright pink by now. Closing her eyes, she held her head up high as proudly as she could and, once she’d taken a breath, sang quietly aloud. 

“We...can never know about the days to come... But...we think about them anywaaaay... And I wonder...if I'm really with you now... Or just chasin' after some fiiiiner day...  Anticipation -- anticipaaation is makin' me late! ...Is keepin' me waaaaitin'... And I tell you...how eaaasy it feels to be with you... And how right...your arms feel around meeee... But I -- I rehearsed those words just late last night... When I was thinkin' about how right tonight might be! Anticipation -- anticipaaation is makin' me late! ...Is keepin' me waaaaitin'... And tomorrow...we might not be together... I'm no prophet -- and I don't know nature's waaaays... So I'll tryyyy...and see into your eyes right now... And stay right here 'cause these are the good old days!  These are the good old days! And stay right here...'cause these are the good old days! These are the good old days...these are the good old days... These are the good old days... These aaaaaaaare...the good old days...!”

When Carewyn finished, she waited. She didn’t know if she really wanted to open her eyes -- her breath control and pitch were hardly her best, considering she was doing it while balancing on one leg on her broomstick.

She was a bit surprised, therefore, when Orion responded,

“...In the future...please feel free to sing whatever song passes through your head, when we balance together.”

Carewyn opened her eyes. Orion had also opened his eyes and was smiling. 

She smiled back wryly. “Any song?”

“Preferably something to encourage peace and serenity,” Orion corrected himself coolly. 

Carewyn giggled. “No Bohemian Rhapsody, then.”

~~~

On the ninth day, the sun had peeked out of the clouds in a vain attempt to warm the Pitch. It was just as well, as it was filled with far more people than normal. 

Carewyn came to the Pitch as usual, only to instead find it swarming with other Chaser hopefuls, all practicing for and likely seeking out Orion to request a tryout. 

‘Orion wouldn’t be able to meditate at all in this mess,’ she concluded. ‘And knowing him, he’d probably want to dodge anyone who came just to ask him for a tryout, like he did me.’

She sighed. There was no way he’d have stuck around, seeing the assembled crowd. Still...she knew she really aught to practice. So she got her broom out, stood on top of it, and balanced off to the side, being careful to dodge any players working on the Porskoff Ploy and Reverse Passes. Once she’d taken some time to find her balance and focus, she felt better prepared to jump into practicing the Parkin’s Pincer and Thimblerig Shuffle with some of the other Chaser hopefuls.

Little did Carewyn know that Orion was there at the Pitch that day, watching from the commentary box out of everyone else’s view.

~~~

The tenth day -- a sunny day with a biting wind -- was the official day for Quidditch tryouts. 

Orion arrived at the Pitch a good hour before the tryouts were supposed to be held. He honestly didn’t like the thought of even having a specific date or time by which he had to select a candidate -- it had been Snape’s determination that Orion had to have a full team line-up ready five days before the next match, and even though Orion wasn’t much one for deadlines, he had to agree with the sentiment behind it. After all, a team couldn’t hope to strike a proper balance and fly as one without at least a little time to practice. That didn’t mean that Orion didn’t dread the flood of pushy students that would no doubt arrive even without an invitation to try to pressure him to pick them for the new Chaser spot. 

When Orion arrived, however, he found that he was not alone, as he had both expected and hoped. 

Standing on one foot on her broom was Carewyn Cromwell, her ginger hair up in a ponytail as usual and dressed in her Slytherin scarf, a collared shirt with her Slytherin tie tied neatly under a buttoned-up black cardigan, and a pair of jeans tucked into a pair of thick brown winter boots. She was already balanced perfectly, and at the sight of Orion flying up to her on his broom, she smiled.

“Good morning.”

Orion kept his face very neutral as he inclined his head to her. “Greetings, Carewyn Cromwell.”

He thoroughly expected her to ask about tryouts. She had met with him just about every day with the expectation of earning one, after all. But instead, she merely looked from his hands on the broom to up at his face with a small smirk, almost expectantly.

Orion, his face breaking into a wryer smile himself, nimbly leapt up onto his broom, balancing on it with ease. Carewyn beamed. 

“I’m sorry you weren’t able to meditate yesterday,” she said sympathetically.

Orion clasped his hands in front of him and closed his eyes. “Everything has its time. That time was simply not the best one for meditation.”

Carewyn nodded. “That’s why I thought you’d probably want to meditate a little earlier than usual. If it was that bad yesterday, I can only imagine how crazy it’s going to be today.”

“Like a flock of Snallygasters stalking prey,” said Orion very coolly.

“Mm...”

Orion opened his eyes. Carewyn’s eyes had drifted away, but her expression appeared oddly sad. 

“Your eyes have become rather cloudy,” said Orion curiously. 

Carewyn looked up, blinking in surprise. “Huh?”

“They’re swirling with thoughts. Might I know what they are?”

“Can you truly know another’s thoughts, even if one tried to describe them?” said Carewyn with a smirk, unable to resist the urge to poke fun. 

Orion fortunately took it in stride. “Can one truly know anything at all, description or not?”

Carewyn giggled behind her hand, before speaking more seriously.

“It wasn’t much, really, it’s just...I’m sorry you’ve been put under so much pressure,” she said quietly. 

Orion gave a mild shrug. “Three Chasers are needed, in any game of Quidditch. Where else must the pressure of those decisions fall, if not on one’s Captain?”

“Well, yeah, of course it’s your responsibility,” said Carewyn, “but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I mean...Skye was really upset, when your Chaser got injured. She was really upset too. I heard her in the Hospital Wing, talking to Madame Pomfrey, and...she just sounded heartbroken. Like she felt like her injury was going to let you all down.”

Her blue eyes grew more solemn. 

“And...well, you don’t feel like that unless you really, truly care. Unless there are people who really rely on you and who you really don’t want to let down...because you know they’d feel the same way, if your places were switched.”

She couldn’t meet Orion’s eyes, but her expression was rather self-assured and confident as her gaze rested on his shoulder. 

“So I reckon you must have been really upset when she was hurt too. And if you were...I honestly don’t blame you, for not wanting to pick someone to replace her, even if it is only until she feels better. It’d probably be hard to find anyone who could take her place.”

Orion found himself feeling oddly speechless. He hadn’t expected to hear something like that. He certainly hadn’t given any indication of how upset he was about a member of his Quidditch family having been injured, not even to his own teammates, as he knew he’d have to put a strong face forward for them. For Carewyn to think so deeply on the matter and try to place herself in his shoes...it was a mark of remarkable empathy, something he had little experience with, but picked up from her very quickly, when she immediately caught on to his way of thinking and actively tried to speak in a way he understood. 

“She’s the one you should pick, Orion,” Skye had urged him the previous week. “I trained her myself. She’s resilient, she��s capable, and what’s more, she’s really determined. She might get all sappy and sensitive sometimes, but well, I reckon I’m not the best judge of that...” 

“She is a rather sensitive sort, Carewyn Cromwell,” McNully had commented to Orion earlier that week. “I’m about 95.5% sure that’s why she’s so determined to be Chaser at all. When we met, she said to me, ‘They’ -- that is, the Slytherin team -- ‘probably were really shaken about having lost their Chaser right before the match.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I suppose so.’ And then she said, ‘If Orion cares so much about loyalty, then I reckon he probably cares about his teammates just as much as I do my friends. I don’t know if I’ll be good enough, but well, I’d like to help them if I can.’”

After a long moment, Orion’s face broke out into a full smile. 

“...You are the very first person who has ever expressed such a concern. And after how much I’ve dodged your pointed questions from the start...that takes a respectable amount of patience.”

Carewyn laughed. “Good of you to notice! Patience isn’t always easy for me...”

“You’re well on your way to mastering it,” said Orion, and his black eyes flickered with approval. 

He lowered himself back down onto his broom, his eyes never leaving her face.

“Meet me in the Changing Room. I believe I owe you something.”

~~~

Carewyn thoroughly expected some sort of note or invitation which would maybe give her a different location and time for tryouts or something. What she found instead, lying on the bench in front of the lockers, was a folded set of brand new, unworn, emerald green Slytherin Quidditch robes. 

Carewyn stared at them. When she turned around, she found Orion striding up behind her, beaming from ear to ear. 

“Congratulations, Carewyn Cromwell,” he said proudly. “Welcome to the Slytherin Quidditch team.” 

#hphm #hogwarts mystery #orion amari #carewyn cromwell #my writing #quidditch season 1 #skye parkin #murphy mcnully #charlie weasley #andre egwu #YEEEEEES #turns out you already passed your 'tryout' carey #now you're in orion's quidditch family forever even when you do leave #also yes he ended up testing her on all of the basics! patience tenacity loyalty and fire!! #god I love these two even when they're babies with no idea of how 'meant to be' they clearly are 83 #caps cw