#they are deeply connected and separating them is generally a bad idea

[the-worms-in-your-bones]

I need to make it clear, I don’t ship time lords in a romantic sense, they are like bonded shelter cats to me

[tempestvista]

I'm basically treating these freaks like barely-tethered-to-canon characters. At least in the case of 007n7, Chance and Guest 1337. I've known of and preferred other characterizations of 1x1x1x1 prior to Forsaken (no shade/not intended to be condescending, just info). Also note my interpretation of canon deviates a lot (to my knowledge).

Anywho, onwards!

007n7 centered headcanons + Some 1x1x1x1 (x 007n7.. hehfhr)

- Transmasculine/Agender. He finds any thought or idea of being seen as a woman deeply unpleasant.. Fortunately passes really well though, in my canon most people (aside from his closer friends / Chance and Guest 1337) do not even know due to how private he is

- - Also adding on/Obvious but I like the idea of Guest 1337 and Chance being the most amiable towards him. Chance because they have a history of being unreliable/flippant at times / truly struggling with a gambling addiction (recovered but still something they're heavily associated w/ by other survivors) and Guest 1337 because he's quite self-sacrificial and cares a great deal for anyone and has the ability to look past 007n7's past (doubly so because of his own demons and guilt haunting him) without excusing him/coddling him. Chance isn't a bad friend here to clarify; They just often used sleep as an escape and previously hid in their apartment or other locations when out of funds in their former life (not doublefedora related here.(not that theres anything wrong w that though lol)).

- Heavily projecting here but 007n7 is Jewish and is fluent in Hebrew, although again, most don't even know this about him. They might hear a slip of a curse or hostile wish if he thinks he's by himself and does smthn . Like stub his toe or whatever. (Or in rounds and gets shocked by a generator, trips, what have you..). C00lkidd has picked up some and speaks broken bits, but due to their current situation (+being separated from his dad for extended periods and not caring or remember to practice) he has forgotten most of it. Knows basic greetings, well wishes, etc.. He picked up on like two cursewords lol

- - It's more of a cultural/ethnic background for him, he's never been able to connect to most religions. I think he'd be a member reform synagogue. He probably stopped going after he got c00lkidd since his hands were full + attendance that progressively got more sporadic.

- A bit random but he likes spiders. Very much against flies / most insects and appreciates that the spiders keep then away. Might get mocked by his 2 bros for having a cobweb in a corner that he's just chill with. I doubt he could perform the upkeep to keep any pets, though. He likes dogs and cats equally, I'd say.

- Actually not a big fan of pizza due to getting sick of eating the same thing no matter what but unfortunately most options r limited.. I like to headcanon that the Spectre does restock their personal fridges at times though and he cooks for himself whenever he can

- - Two notes / piggybacking off that: Survivors have their own separate areas. There is the main/common building, and some do sleep there, but there aren't many rooms upstairs and it lacks privacy + more exposure to noise. Most of them have smaller buildings not too far from the main one, with 007n7's being the furthest possible.

And 2: Enjoys cooking and doing other small tasks because it makes him feel in control of his life. Similar things like cleaning are a comfort to him, shockingly. Most people assume he's a slop and when he's depressed.. it can get like that, however when you have an omnipresent entity tormenting you, you develop interesting/different coping mechanisms.

- Has vague medical knowledge from a previous mild fixation on medicine previously that would go away and come back since his freshman year. (I'm not projecting I swear)

- Actually working on healing himself as a person lol. I do enjoy the concept of him being pathetic and afraid (and I lean into it often) but I also like the idea of him developing some snark. Possibly a reason for 1x1x1x1 to develop interest in him, he jabs at 1x1x1x1 before getting killed /, running away or whatever lol.. he's still a bit of coward who VERY much feels pain, though, and does more running and fixing things in the shadows than direct confrontation. Slippery guy

- Feels guilt for what he did and the isolation he faces doesn't help. But he slowly tortures himself less and less, especially as a means to gain control over his life + a desire to stop constantly dissociating and intentionally triggering himself because he "believes he deserves it"

- Physical headcanons is that he's 5"8 and a bit stocky / broad guy. Sorta muscular dad bod? Hard 2 explain.. used to be insecure, still sometimes is. He has a sleeper build underneath lol

- A little obsessive. Fixates on certain details, sometimes people. Isn't weird about it but he has formed a heavy attachment to his two friends (and subsequently/later on 1x1x1x1.. I imagine 1x is as flattered by this as he is shocked/intrigued)

- Again projecting but big on tea. He's not a connoisseur by any means, however he knows what he likes and what he doesn't. Like some of the big staples (especially for health and herbal medicine reasons, has some books on that, too) such as green tea, lemon (+honey) ginger, chamomile, etc.

- Likes flowers to an extent. Has minor pollen allergies, though. For this reason he tends to favor Fall over Spring, though he truly loves Spring the most. Being out in the sun is a must for him after all the years of being a shut-in and depression. He enjoyed taking c00lkidd out whenever possible, though he stopped hiking (frequently did so before) since c00lkidd wasn't a big fan unless there was more stimulation (i.e racing, tag, constant chatting, etc.)

- His favorite kind of weather is a mildly sunny day with a lot of clouds and a deep blue sky. He doesn't enjoy excess heat or sunlight, though. Burns semi-easily after a bit as his skin never took to tanning, especially after, again, not going outside for periods of time.

- Also fond of those grey-sky days where it might rain some, might not. Slight breeze.

- If he had to pick a favorite natural disaster he would probably gravitate towards whirlpools and large bouts of lightning. Maybe dust devils.

- He likes Silent Hill and most old-style horror games. Gets nostalgic over the old Playstation intro. Enjoys terraria.

- He likes the smell of Wisteria oil if we're talking about flowers still. Fond of dandelions, especially since he carried over the little tradition with c00lkidd of wishing on them and blowing them (also tosses pennies into fountains).

- Likes the smell of smoke, campfires, and sometimes burnt sage. Most incense tends to be too strong for him, sadly.

- If you ask him for his sexuality he'll just say queer or something along those lines since it's too much thought for him. Doesn't have much reason to care beyond that, his preferences are fluid but more masculine and/or androgynous leaning.

1x1x1x1 headcanons (a bit less developed since I'm primarily ill over 007)

- Probably 6"8-6"10. Though imagine it's hard for majority of people to gauge his height beyond "holy shit that tall person is coming at me at Mach 40 with a sword"

- ^ Fast runner, can be silent if he wants to. Yet he can't resist being loud because he likes terrorizing others and being known.

-  Gloats a little. Not entirely undeserved considering his strength but it can be hard for most to tolerate. I think 007n7 may challenge him on some things, yet flatter/agree on others. He does admire him to an extent, after all, especially with his own insecurities and also. Not Being Able To Generally Fight Back against killers 99% of the time

- Struggles with emotional regulation, picks up some skills throughout his time alive but does deal with intense loneliness that is masked as "anger."

- Very obsessive. Not in a gross way, but due to intense loneliness and trauma of some variation, he does not react well to being ignored or being left behind (or the perceived thought of it). Probably also why he is more willing to connect with 007n7 after developing some interest and lowering some walls. Rare is it that killers develop close bonds as they all sorta have their own issues and reside in their own areas.

- The closest "friends" he has would be John Doe and Azure (somewhat). Don't ask me why Azure specifically, ive yet to make a good reason for it aside from vague shared betrayal trauma </3 /lh j. Takes a fondness for c00lkidd in specific due to the small dudes naivety, but doesn't know how to react around kids, so he might appear standoffish.

- He isn't incompetent as far as domestic upkeep goes, but he's not too interested in doing much. Prefers to wander outside and explore, likes forests and the cover they provide.

- ok just hear me out. But if he was a more healthy and unburdened individual, he'd have a generous primadonna/self-assured personality. Think Lottie from the princess and the frog is she was a giant dude instead LMFAOO.. Ik this is irrelevant but I would like to explore a what-if idea someday and that's. Part of it. Lalalala I am cringe and free. I know this is very ooc but Hey.

- Gorgeous black hair.. how does he do it, we may never know.

- He doesn't care much about fashion. He enjoys some styles over others, but his main motive is what is:

1. Easy to move/run in, especially for extended periods.

2. Durable/Not cheaply made.

3. At minimum somewhat flattering on him. He doesn't wear much shirts or arm accessories, prefers range of motion + having his torso exposed.

- If he did wear accessories, he'd gravitate towards specific piercings. Absolutely would go for ear piercings, and the ornate / jeweled ones, too.

- Maybe rings.

- If they did more damage, I feel like he'd enjoy brass knuckles. (Tbf, I think he could do significant harm regardless of weapon type, it just comes down to preference and speed)

- He likes some of the poorly made horror tales that you'd tell to scare your friends at a sleepover. Dude is a fan of Bloody Mary. /pos

- He wouldn't admit it immediately, but he likes libraries, castles and Gothic churches. Very fond of previous Robloxia history, even if he sees unbecoming things said about him. Sometimes it upsets him, sometimes it amuses him. But most of the time he's annoyed (worst case: enraged) over how many details people got WRONG. If you're going to speak of his harrowing acts, at least get it right.

- In spite of this, rarely will he destroy a book. It's just wrong to him. And though he may indulge in the occasional fit of breaking things to cent frustration, something like that is too childish, even for him.

- Once in a rare moment, he will feel a deep sense of mourning and longing for what could've been. In the dead of night, where it's so dark that even his own hands and body are noticeably obscured from his vision, he grieves for a life he cannot even properly envision having. A world where he wasn't created. A world where he wasn't destined to be at odds with Shedletsky, wasn't forced to be a foil for him. A world where he could express emotions as strongly as he did hate and vengeance. Where maybe instead of seeking a false justice that's been beaten into the ground ten thousand and ten thousand more times over, he'd have advocated for something righteous. He doesn't talk or do much for a while after these moments, and does his best to forget they ever occur at all.

What's most hilarious is I'm not even big into the game. I just love the characters + roblox characters as a whole. I tried playing but most servers I joined were pretty toxic </333 and yet.. I still am fixated... I'm a fake fan /j

[echo-lover]

I wanted to share my thoughts about the first three episodes of Bad Batch season 3 immediately after watching them, but I was too emotional about everything I saw that I needed some time to calm down a bit.

It's beyond my expectations, just perfect! From the plot, to the characters, through the beautiful graphics and wonderful music, everything was epic. This season will definitely be much more mature and dark than the others. I love Bad Batch with all my heart and words cannot describe how important these characters are to me. I don't think I will focus on each episode separately, but I will show my general feelings and thoughts.

Something that touched my heart deeply was how Omega becomes so much like Hunter. Her facial expressions, her eyes, tactical skills and that characteristic whistle! I immediately thought of Hunter. She became so mature, strong, decisive and calm in stressful situations. It's clear that she's no longer the same little child we met on Kamino in the first season. She has changed so much... Even Crosshair seems to see this, as he let her lead during his escape from Mount Tantiss. He was her support, did not question her ideas and did not hesitate to follow orders. I love watching their bond become stronger. Every day Omega came to his cell, talked about her day... and he listened... he had no choice because he couldn't just go, but I think they both needed each other's presence. They knew they were not alone and encouraged each other, in some way.

It is clear that Omega still misses the rest of her brothers and strongly believes that she will be able to return to them again, together with Crosshair. She can't imagine leaving him, it's out of the question. No matter how hard Crosshair tries to make her believe that he is not worth saving, she will still be on his side. I think Crosshair realized through her that his brothers never really wanted to leave him and were willing to take him back at any time if he just wanted...

Even though Omega has become more mature, she is still a child. Being locked in a cell, the routine and monotony of life must be very exhausting for her, because she is by nature a lively, active and curious sweet girl. She spent most of her life locked up and the only good memories she had were of freedom and her brothers, even though it wasn't for a long time. She even made herself a doll like Lula, who stayed on the Marauder with Hunter and Wrecker. This parallel symbolizes their connection, despite the enormous distance that separated them. And Batcher... Omega doesn't want to forget, she wants to remember her brothers, the love she had for them and received from them, all those good memories together... Ouch...

Somewhere in another part of the Galaxy, two brothers are desperately looking for their little sister. Their worn armor shows that they have fought hard during this time. Hunter also has different bandana... I've seen a theory that it's similar to the band Omega wore on his wrist in season two. This way, maybe Hunter wanted to always have her close to him, at least a part of her, I wonder if he can smell her scent... Oh Force, I'm gonna cry...

The sight of Hunter having difficulty working with Tech's Datapad, how desperate he is to do everything he can to find Omega, how exhausted he seems... Maybe it's just me, but he looks thinner and has paler skin than before. This breaks my heart. I'm sure he was thinking about Tech who could do the job in a second. The sight of his goggles resting alone, the empty space he once occupied... Marauder never looked so lonely... Let me tell you, I shed a tear.

I really liked how Wrecker was the voice of reason in his conversation with Hunter. It's beautiful how one look, a nod of the head, or a hand on the shoulder can bring Hunter down. They support each other and it is clear that after everything they have lost, they have become even closer. They need each other to keep from going crazy.

Even though they are the only two left, Wrecker still considers Hunter to be the leader and waits for his orders even though he knows he doesn't have to. He remains loyal. When he was talking to the little cadets on the Marauder, I was so happy when I heard his laughter. Honest, loud and heartwarming. I think he's needed this for a long time. He definitely misses the company of a child on board, he loves children so much...

I also love that little scene where Hunter is working and looks at Lula out of the corner of his eye, thinking about Omega. He can't live without her... I feel like if they were separated again, he wouldn't be able todeal with it and would just explode, showing all the anger and despair he was holding, possibly doing something stupid in the process... He loves his little Omega too much that he can't imagine life without her. He is ready to drop everything just to be able to hold her close to him, to keep her safe. I'm so scared for him.

On the one hand, I was surprised that Echo didn't stay with the boys to look for Omega, but I expected him to join Rex. They may also be searching, but I think their main goal is to free prisoners and gather as many allies as possible to create the Clone Rebellion.

I could talk for hours and still not express all my thoughts and emotions that these episodes made me feel. I can't wait for next Wednesday.

[rayshippouuchiha]

I have a JJK x Naruto Crossover I think you'd like

So it's in the Naruto world, but curses and cursed energy exist as a separate thing from chakra. Jujutsu schools are scattered across the Nations, working together to keep the curses from destroying the world.

Shinobi and sorcerers really do not like each other. The shinobi hate how uncertain they are of the sorcerers loyalty as sorcerers consider themselves to be loyal to each other rather than any of the countries they are in. They often refuse to let sorcerers into the villages. The only reason they haven't all been killed is because although chackra can't kill a curse they can see them and seal them like bijuu. Sorcerers hate shinobi because while they're sacrificing their lives to protect the world the shinobi are actively creating more curses with their warfare and preventing the sorcerers from killing the curses in the villages. Also shinobi sometimes use sealed curses as weapons, which is stupid and bad.

Sidenote real fast, Hoshigaki Kisame isn't part of the Akatsuki here because Gojo was like, "hmm. I need a teacher to teach my students shinobi things so they don't get assassinated. I think this weird shark guy would be great!" So Kisame is living his best life getting to be a nice, loyal guy and is one of the only shinobi that sorcerers tolerate.

The main plot of this AU is related to the bijuu. You know how in Naruto the bijuu have the ability to sense malice and sometimes go out of their way to kill evil humans? Well in this AU what they are actually sensing is cursed energy and their job is to disperse large build ups of cursed energy to keep the formation of cursed spirits down. They are deeply venerated and respected by sorcerers for this. So guess who was absolutely furious when the shinobi started sealing them?

The only reason the sorcerers haven't gone to war over the whole thing is because without the bijuu, they're being stretched thinner and thinner as they try to keep the cursed spirit population down. Death rates among sorcerers have easily doubled or tripled, as, even if there's still very few special grades, there's just so many of the weaker ones.

This whole thing makes Geto even worse than in canon.

So in the midst of all this tension, Team Seven runs into Gojo's first year students on some kind of mission involving missing nin creating curses on purpose. Between Naruto's naruto-ness and Itadori's friendliness, they actually manage to work together and are a little friendly by the end of it.

And then it somehow comes out that Naruto is the ninetales jinchuuriki and the jjk kids lose their shit. Even Sukuna's upset, he just found out about the whole thing and his belief in humanity somehow dropped further into the negatives than it already was.

Like, they are genuinely ready to kill Naruto over this, and team seven is so confused because they were friendly a second ago, and then both their teachers show up and everything gets worse.

And the thing is, most shinobi don't know about the bujuu-sorcerer connection. The general run of the mill shinobi barely knows anything about sorcerers, and team seven actually learned more than their teachers ever told them on this mission. And it would be so confusing and stressful for them to realize that the monster that they all fear is a respected colleague to these people, and the bijuus loss is genuinely killing the sorcerers.

Just the idea that the monster sealed inside of him isn't a monster, that it was sealed wrongfully, would break Naruto a little bit.

I don't know where this would end up going. Having Kenjaku and Madara/Obito pulling shit at the same time would be a nightmare. I just really like the idea of sorcerers and shinobi having to deal with each other, and of the ninja having to think about the fact that sealing a living being and using them as a battery and weapon for a century is really fucked up, and it's no wonder they try to kill you every time they get out.

This is absolutely delightful and I need 100k of it stat

[apiswitchcraft]

working with pendulums

now, theoretically pendulums could be anything, however I recommend something uniform (ish) in shape and fairly weighty. you need to be able to discern when your pendulum is just moving because of the wind, and when it's moving to tell you something. some good examples are crystals, raw or cut, and metal. look out for resin and glass dupes as these do not work as well

i've seen a few theories on how pendulums work, whether they have their own spiritual energy to move themselves or if they can stimulate your muscles just subtly enough to move them in the right directions. either way, don't worry too much about your own interference here. more often than not, you'll be able to tell when they're moving on their own and when it's just shaky hands/wind

HOW TO START

first of all, find a pendulum that speaks to you. then ask it if it's willing to work with you

second, i usually like to cleanse my pendulums, but not too hardcore. just some salt, selenite or herbs will do the trick here, we're looking to wash other people's hands off here, not the actual spirit of the thing

then, when you first start speaking with your pendulum, you want to tackle the conversations with something in between a "you work for me" and "you work with me" vibe. still ask permission before someone else touches it, before you take pictures, etc. i've even known people to ask before using them at all. whatever you think is right

it's also important to get to know your pendulum. what direction is yes? what direction is no? not all pendulums swing the same way. additionally, most pendulums i've met have name and pronoun preferences, so suggest whatever calls to you and then ask if they like it

DECIDE THEIR PURPOSE

i've known people to use pendulums for a variety of things. some examples include:

-assistance with tarot

-regular divination (answering the yes/no questions you ask)

-connection to a god (this is what I do)

-talking with spirits (see image below for an alphabet chart)

-and in the darkest of times, it's nice to just to have a friend

again, it's very important you talk to your pendulums before you decide because sometimes they don't wanna be tied down

HOW TO INCORPORATE A PENDULUM INTO YOUR PRACTICE

in tarot:

1) after shuffling, separate your deck into a number of piles, have your pendulum choose which pile you should read from (this is especially useful for very broad or general readings)

2) after shuffling, lay out a series of individual cards that you feel drawn to. then have your pendulum choose individual cards (this is especially useful if you're doing a reading for someone else, since you can have the recipient hold the pendulum that chooses the cards)

with deity work:

1) have them represent an altar or space dedicated to your deity. this might not serve any practical use, but a guardian for an altar is never a bad thing

2) dedicate it to a deity and attempt communication with them. this can be iffy for some people, depending on your beliefs. in my eyes, a god does not have to be one corporeal being, having to dedicate their singular consciousness to a singular task as a human does. gods are multifaceted, primordial beings that have fingers in many different pots, so to speak. therefore, it is not outside the realm of possibility to communicate with a deity in this way, since moving a pendulum to say yes or no isn't all that deeply personal. REMEMBER, if you do this, the pendulum's spirit is still there, and you are more than capable of separating a pendulum from a deity or communicating with the two separately OR harming the pendulum while trying some risky business with a deity

WHAT TO DO WITH THEM IN THE MEAN TIME

when i'm not using them, i like to keep my pendulums hung up on my altar space, overlooking my room. however, i DO NOT keep them in direct sun because the crystals will fade with exposure to UV. sometimes i'll bring them out to the window during a full moon though

some other ideas would be:

-in a window that doesn't receive much direct sunlight

-in mesh baggies (so they don't get tangled or lost) on your altar

-hung on a wall, thumbtacks are useful for this

-if you only have one or two, it's not outside of the realm of possibility to carry them around with you. some pendulums really enjoy this too

-with your other crystals, as long as they're separated enough so that they won't get tangled or lost

happy witching!

[thelaurenshippen]

Hi there! I started relistening to the bright sessions (as one does) and had a random question come up. When did you know that Mark/Sam wasn't going to be endgame (romantically)? I know in s4 they both fall apart separately and together, but even in Safehouse pt 2 (my absolute beloved) they argue about their coping mechanisms. Did you know then that they weren't going to end up together? How did you come to that conclusion?

hey!! this is a great question - I definitely did start the show thinking they were endgame and that's mostly what I was thinking at the time of safehouse too, despite their issues. I think it was really in writing Season 4 actually, when I realized that I was no longer telling a story about two people in love working through their issues, but was instead telling a story about two people who were in love but realized they shouldn't be together in that way. I started to feel those tension points in Season 3 (I would say the safehouse episodes were a true attempt for them to learn to work through their issues), but it wasn't until planning S4 that I really made the decision.

there are a lot of things that led to this that I'll try to articulate, because the honest, simplest answer as to why the plans changed was "because it felt like they should". but if I were think back and pinpoint a few reasons for that...

there was never supposed to be a love triangle. Mark was always bisexual but he and Damien were never supposed to develop feelings for one another. but the first time we got Andrew and Charlie into a room and read through their first episode together it was like "oh, OH-kay" (which, sidebar: clearly I was writing something between them subtextually because it wasn't like Andrew and Charlie were strangers to each other - I'd watched them act ALL sorts of scenes together in acting class but the romantic chemistry popped OUT with Mark/Damien. pretty much from the second motel episode on, I was writing leaning into that dynamic). that threw a lot of spanners into the works because while I never had plans to put Mark and Damien together, I hadn't anticipated Mark grappling with feelings for someone else.

similarly, I'd underestimated just how flawed Sam was. Sam is not a bad person, but she sometimes doesn't really know how to be a person who cares about other people. when you add that to the dynamics of Damien and Joan kind of, like, hovering over Mark in various unproductive ways (for Damien, it's destructive and invasive; for Joan, she's just a too-involved older sister sometimes), Sam becomes another person who is kind of, like...controlling Mark, or trying to, because she loves him and doesn't know how to (I mean, I'm pretty sure I'm just regurgitating actual lines I wrote lol). this is not to say that her flaws make her unable to be in a relationship (Mark is also deeply flawed!) but just that their flaws clashed against each other in ways I hadn't planned.

finally: Joan and found family. in my mind, there was something grand and romantic about Sam meeting Dr. Bright so that she could be led to Mark - like they were somehow always fated to meet. in actuality, it's not that at all - instead, the bond that Sam and Joan have is just as important as the one she has with Mark, albeit different. I don't believe in soulmates personally, but I've always liked the idea that you have people out there. soulmates in a more general sense - people you click with, have a connection with. it can be romantic, familial, friendship, work or creative partnerships, whatever. I think the Bryant siblings and Sam have that. I think Sam and Mark are meant for each other but in a non-exclusive way and in a...maybe not non-romantic way, but a way that doesn't have romance at the forefront. they love each other deeply and they fit, but a romantic partnership might not be the best way forward for them. and Joan and Sam are the whole heart of the show to me in some senses. as I was writing the finale, I very intentionally ended with the two of them - both because the final appearance of every character is in order of when they first appeared, but in reverse and also because the show starts with both of them in dark, destructive places and while there's broken trust between them throughout, they ultimately help each other get better. I thought Sam's story was about finding love and it was, but that love looked differently than I had planned.

okay, god, this has gotten waaaaaay too long and rambly. I hope this answers your question? one of my favorite things/the thing I miss most about making a show like TBS is being able to shift things based on chemistry/what the actors bring/etc. so often now, I'm writing entire seasons of things and then handing them off to production, in which anything can happen! the flexibility of recording episode by episode in TBS is something I took full advantage of.

thanks for listening and relistening!!

[bluegekk0]

For that little ask thingamajig about the assumptions I wanted to put down that I always did noticed and a assume that you put a little bit of self-projection in some of your characters ever since I discovered the blog from the start a while back.

It’s no bad thing at all mind you, it adds a deeper connection with ones characters but that’s something I kinda picked up on.

Yea this is something I did mention at certain points in the past. Vyrm especially is a character I project a lot onto. I think it started back when the AU was still just an idea, I loved the Pale King as a character but I thought a lot of fandom mischaracterized him, so even back then I knew I wanted to make my own AU interpretation to hopefully separate it from the fanon. And as I thought of his arc, especially his backstory, I found myself giving him a lot of my own traits. It made him more relatable to me, and as a result I was able to come up with his story and personality without much trouble, as it came natural. As it turned out, many of those traits were those associated with the autism spectrum, so that also made me do a lot of self-reflection and ultimately suspect I might be autistic as well. Over time the distance between my AU version and his canon counterpart increased to the point I view them as two very different characters, and that is largely because of all the self-projection. Do I regret it? Not at all. I'm convinced that if I attempted to make him very different from myself, the AU wouldn't last even a few months. It does have a slight side effect (which applies to Grimm as well) in that I'm particularly sensitive about seeing interpretations I heavily disagree with, so I tend to stay in my own sandbox instead.

Grimm, funnily enough, wasn't actually part of the AU in its first iteration. I did already imagine him and my version of PK being in love back then (albeit it was very different to what I ended up with), but I thought it would be a bit too self-indulgent to include their relationship as, arguably, the main force of the AU. I'm very glad I changed my mind in the end and included that aspect, as writing them as a "slow-burn friends to lovers" couple allowed me to give both him and Vyrm a lot more depth than they would have otherwise. Romance isn't a genre I'm particularly crazy about (and being aromantic, I can't say I have any experience with romance either), but it was a lot of fun to develop them from this angle, while still making them interesting characters by themselves, and I have no regrets about that.

When it comes to self-projection, I think Grimm's love for Vyrm is part of that, I absolutely love Vyrm so naturally I had to write his husband as completely infatuated by him as well. But it doesn't end there, for instance, Grimm's fear of losing his loved ones and the general view of mortality is something I resonate with deeply. And while this does apply to Vyrm as well, the aspect of Grimm hiding behind a mask and pretending to be someone he might not be definitely has some elements of my own struggles, especially in regards to gender identity and dysphoria, though this is in concept only and not an actual element of his character (he's very comfortable with his male identity, which I suppose could be connected to me being a masculine leaning enby)

There are some small aspects of self-projection in other characters. Hornet's explosive personality does mirror some of my own traits I'm not proud of, and I think it allowed me to do a lot of self-reflection in return. And Holly's interest in art is definitely a result of me loving the process and wanting to have a character who does as well, though aside from that we are very different.

The ramble ended up longer than I anticipated, so apologies for the wall of text. But yeah, you were absolutely right in your assumption, this AU was built with self-projection (and old man yaoi) as its foundation. I'm very happy that it did, and I hope it also makes those characters more relatable to others.

[messengerhermes]

TLDR: Happy pride, please stop shoving trans women and trans femmes through the Whore/Madonna complex.

Hey I know I say this a lot, but it's Pride Month, so--- Please try to find queer community offline.

Specifically, try to find queer community that does not all look, act, and think exactly like you. It wigs me the fuck out to see how often on Tumblr in particular I see what is essentially gender essentialism dressed up in trans language--- ie this generalization of "trans masc" vs "trans femme" experiences. I came into myself in meatspace trans spaces. I was really really lucky for this. Trans women were the first other trans people I met. Trans women were everywhere in my community. Running the annual trans banquet. Riding up on chopper bikes to the monthly trans barbecues. Helping other immigrant trans people get situated in our city. Running clothing swaps, and fighting for BIPOC spaces, and showing up to drag shows. Trans women have never been an "other" to me, or somehow separate in their experience of transness from me. They've always been friends, mentors, allies, respected leaders. And the continuous thing I see online is this sense that trans mascs are from mars and trans femmes are from venus. And I gotta ask, what the fuck is going on, y'all? I've never had a trans woman willfully disrespect my gender. I've disagreed with trans women. I've been annoyed by trans women. But that had nothing to do with their gender, and attributing the very normal human experience of "sometimes you won't like someone, just because they're a bit irritating" to their gender identity is indeed, transmisogynist. I do not agree with every nonbinary person I meet. I sure as shit don't agree with every trans masc I meet. But deciding that those disagreements stem from our perspectives on gender, or our gendered experiences, as opposed to us having different personalities and different lives experiences, means buying into gender essentialism.

Please embrace the idea that you can disagree with other trans people and still be in community with them. Please examine your urge to dismiss trans women as somehow inherently bad????? because of their gender experience. Please consider how trans women are in a vulnerable position that might make them more wary, hesitant, and nervous about connecting with other trans people. Please consider how nonbinary people who get read as "more masculine" or assumed to be AMAB might be harmed by queer spaces hostility towards masculinity. Consider how that hostility has become so deeply rooted, that trans women can be extremely femme as still face that antagonism. We don't need to be doing the work of our oppressors by dividing ourselves y'all.

Someone telling you the truth that you don't experience the same kind of oppression they do is not the same thing as saying you do not experience oppression or hardships. A trans femme or trans woman acknowledging they or she experiences trans misogyny, a distinct form of transphobia, is not saying trans masc and trans men do not experience transphobia. It's acknowledging that she gets a very particular form of violence shot her way, and its roots are different than the roots of the aggression someone taken to be trans masc receives.

Acknowledging difference is not establishing hierarchy. Acknowledging difference creates the opportunity to start addressing the unique ways a problem shows up and must be addressed. Also, you will never find the perfect trans woman who has never done or said something awkward, mean, rude, or harmful. Because trans women are people. Even trans women who are absolute assholes still deserve safety from trans misogyny. Because protection from bigotry should never hinge on whether you have been judged a "good person" by some arbitrary social council. Please stop reinventing Calvinism.

[foggyparadisecandy]

I've come to understand there are two fundamental relationship desires for people:

Authentic Connection

Independence and Autonomy

And in healthy people, those things are kept in a good balance.

I'm not a healthy person lol.

I'm an anxious person and I double-down on Connection and struggle with Independence.

It's funny because, in general, I have my shit together. I have a very successful life by most measures. I think most people would be super jealous of my life tbh.

But I have dysfunctions handed down to me by my parents. It's a hell of a thing but my big core fears are:

Fear of abandonment

Fear of rejection

Those are pretty closely aligned by slightly different.

[BTW - Anxious Attachments have a few other fears including:

Fear of being unsafe without a relationship (btw - this triggers actual survival threats when Anxious people feel a relationship is severing - happened to me!), Fear of not being good enough, Fear of being excluded, Fear of being seen as bad (which for me, ties closely into fear of rejection and creates People Pleasing tendencies in me).]

Fear of abandonment is the overwhelming concern that a loved one or friend will just ... up and leave me. It's a shutting down of future possibilities. It's a closure to whatever form of connection and love I was receiving.

It's why ghosting and blocking hurt me so awfully. I mean ... yeah ... no one likes to be ghosted or blocked. But for me? It hits that core wound of "I'm no longer able to get love from this other person. Who will validate my existence now?"

Fear of rejection is the overwhelming concern that a loved one or friend will not agree with me or that I will make them unhappy. Then, they will figure out that I'm not worthy of them. It's the idea of "I'm not worthy of them unless I please them and make them happy - and forget my own opinions because I don't want them to reject me."

This fear triggers the "I am bad" negative self-talk track that further deepens the other fears. It's a shit cycle to get into, let me tell you.

Look - both of those things are fucked up. But if you struggle with these things, there is hope.

A fundamental path to healing stems from improving self-esteem. Being ok with yourself. Being ok with being your own biggest supporter. Being kind to yourself.

Dial back on the Authentic Connections a bit and pump up the Independence and Autonomy a bunch (depending on HOW anxious you are this might be a whole lot of work).

Feel good with feeling good doing things for yourself, by yourself.

These are things I'm working on. I have good days. I have backwards days.

But general progress is forward.

I'm kind of fortunate - I'm only somewhat Anxious - I already lean heavily to being a Secure person. So I see that I have work but a lot of the core pieces are already in place.

My separation triggered both rejection and abandonment (several times over lol) so that made me lean heavily Anxious for the last few months. But I'm getting back to stability pretty fast.

I feel that deeply as a truth. It's not words I'm saying to convince myself.

I still care deeply about establishing Authentic Connections ... that won't go away. But I'm also feeling pretty damn good with Independence and Autonomy again.

Will the two fundamental relationship desires ever be in pure balance for me?

Will I ever heal those two core fears?

Maybe not completely. But now that I understand myself better, I have a better chance of course-correcting and avoiding getting completely out of balance.

[danidoesathing]

(I'm sorry, I just have Too Many Thoughts on S2 Role Reversals in general. I hope you don't mind if I toss some more thoughts (and an idea or two) out.)

-I love how you made it a plot point that Jayce isn't meant to be the Arcane's vessel/champion, and how it would make sense for it to get intertwined with Jayce's "Viktor is the only thing that matters" attitude to make him horrifically possessive and obsessive over his partner.

-Also, I can see why Viktor would start wearing a mask here: Jayce would probably be leading a manhunt to find him, and Viktor hiding his face and altering his voice is almost a necessity. (Ooh, as an idea: maybe his armor has the secondary effect of helping hide him from the Arcane/Hexcore. It doesn't remove his connection, but it does mask said connection enough so that Hexcorized!Jayce has a much harder time finding him.) Also, the more he augments, the harder it is to find him-but the connection can never be completely severed. And that is the bane of Viktor's existence, because it means he's never completely safe.

-Also, what do you think would Jayce's Arcane powers be? I've always seen Jayce as the Paladin to Viktor's Mage-so maybe he'd have a corrupted version of D&D Paladin abilities? (Touch-based healing that makes people more suggestible/slowly removes free will the more times it's used, "Divine"/Arcane Smites, shield spells, and so on. It goes with him being a "Defender", and also relates to him being more melee-focused and more accepting of violence. (Also, he even has a corrupted Paladin oath in his need to have Viktor by his side.))

-Would the Anomaly factor into the plot? If so, I can imagine it would be Jayce's last-ditch resort to force Viktor to come back to him. (Complete with Apex Shimmer/final evolution.) Or would Viktor try to use it to stop Jayce, kind of like how Ekko used the anomaly from the parallel universe in his Z-drive?

(I hope these were't too much, or too word vomit-y. I just really like your Role Reversal idea, and I wanted to offer my thoughts.)

dont apologize i love getting asks i love yapping

-thank you i love jayce being weird and fucked up. the arcane specifically wants it's established vessel, the process has already been started and it wants to finish it. it'll take jayce along with him but it wants viktor. hes already being deeply intertwined with the hexcore, so inherently the hexcore's fixation on him would amplify jayce's already established canonical obsession with viktor tenfold (also viktor's connection with the hexcore extending to him but thats a whole other thing). and jayce's desire to keep them together and keep them safe driving him to make more morally fucked up decisions (it helps that the hexcore fucks with his emotions so he doesn't feel too bad), even though its that very thing that drives viktor to run.

-oh yeah the mask is mainly to hide his identity (and also it's a part of firelight thing, even if he never actively goes on missions. any recs on the animal he'd get is welcome since an owl is already taken. he'd still probably get a bird due to the shape but im so tempted to make it a fox. for reasons <3). i do like the armor idea but arcane vik is a pacifist and would avoid fight at all costs, so if he did it get armor it'd make sense that it would be there for extra protection against the hexcore's influence. maybe he'd even make it for the other firelights in case they come in contact with the soldiers or hexcore (or the anomaly itself, but i havent worked out everything in the story so i cant say for when). though im not sure if he'd got full out like he does in other iterations, if at all

but still viktor can never truly be separate from the hexcore. the transmutations alone sealed their bond but the hexcore and the anomaly still have his blood ingrained in their existences. it still likely would have an effect on his mind, though it can influence him nearly as strong as it did in s1 anymore. he got to keep moving and finding ways to hinder it from pinpointing his location (he's got the sanctuary warded pretty well, but it's still a risk so he has a few different hiding spots)

-Jayce would still have the hive mind influence + healing + transmutation that viktor does. he's also got some minor control over hextech devices similar to how vik does (we really dont get to see much of what the arcane herald would do tbh, only glimpses) he'd also get that hexcorized hammer which would have it's own effects with his shield having the weird metal thing to it and anything it blasts/smashes leaves it floaty and will slowly begin to warp. he's definitely got that oathbreaker paladin type vibe here (which works well with the crown of madness, dominate person and animate dead spells)

-the anomaly is still a big big problem yeah. i dont think there'd be a dimension hopping thing unfortunately. though i can imagine a scenario similar to the commune where jinx isha and vi take vander to the firelight sanctuary to get viktor to help him, now trying to remove and/or modify all the painful metal augments singed left in him (vi and jinx make up, ekko and jinx can make up, vi and ekko can also make up (he has NOT forgotten about her becoming an enforcer), ekko heim and jinx can work together to try to find a way to contain the anomaly and create the z-drive, jinx and viktor can finally have more interaction, jayce could still burst in later on and fucking everything up for everyone, etc). its still at the hexgates and jayce does have access to it, but won't use it yet without viktor (or maybe being intent on fusing it with viktor to try and "save" him from his disease).

im not sure how the final battle thing would go, or if viktor would try or be able to destroy the hexcore with jayce still attached (though the angst potential of him thinking he killed his partner, even if it wasnt really him anymore is SOOOO good). the story/concept is still being work-shopped in my brain. I do like the idea of the final battle being a siege for the hexgates from zaun instead of a defense in piltover. i have no clue how it would end im not even gonna try to figure that yet. i didnt think id get this far tbh

[welcometothevoiddarling]

young royals; thoughts on love and duty

Writing to have a record of what I thought, although I've read some amazingly written takes, I don't know how this will compare.

Only that I think young royals does such an interesting job exploring young love and infatuation alongside, life and duty and experiences. Wille falls in love with Simon because he is outspoken in a school that is scared of him and his presence. Simon is new and exciting. And Simon falls in love with Willie, specifically at the football game, because he's pretty and interested and takes time to know him and see him, in a place that usually couldn't care less about him. They both choose to ignore parts of each other in favour of falling in love, but I'd argue perhaps Simon does more to ignore how Wilhelm represents everything he stands against, because standing against something in principle, and choosing to stand in the way of intoxicating feelings are two different things. For Willie early in S1, loving Simon isn't as radical as it later becomes, he is interesting and new and everything he doesn't get to be. Loving Simon is not a sacrifice of himself yet – at least not until later S1,S2 and now S3.

I see some of myself in Simon, because as a viewer it was easy for me to root for S1 Wilhelm, whilst also being slightly shocked how easily and quickly Simon fell, but reflecting I do the same everytime I get a crush on a white man, someone who represents structures that hurt me in everything I do. Sometimes even the man in question personally upholds them, or has hurt me via them, and yet it doesn't completely quell the society driven desire to be loved by your oppressors. And to seize any sign of love or valuation with open arms, no matter how much you objectively know you shouldn't want to, because being told something is valuable and precious easily becomes subconscious.

It's easy to fall in love, to ride waves of external forces hellbent against you, and to hold your mutual connection to each other as some sacrosanct bond, to forever be unfailing. But all love, adoration, or infatuation is ultimately confronted by time. It was obvious from the start that Wilmon would have to travel very far towards each other to properly understand one another. Both have to unlearn deeply embedded narratives they have taught themselves, something which is deeply painful because doing so necessarily upends the good parts of life along with the bad.

The institutions of love and marriage within capitalist society are so interesting because they perform dual functions. On the one hand, we marry, signing ourselves up to the state as partners, in order to create orderly separation between the private and public sphere, which conveniently creates a new generation similarly engrained in this ritual. It's a religious turned economic institution that whilst I haven't researched it thoroughly, evidently doesn't escape the underlying foundations of control over female bodies and minds, and subsequently children, and now also economic and class control too. It's a formality, a structure designed to profit those who control it. But then we tell the story of love over the top of it. Real people fall in love, and experience something tangible. Humans necessarily need community and connection to thrive. It's no accident that marrying and creating family and community, deriving from such, has sustained human life. Love is real. But the narrative love is given, the way it is taught, doesn't do it justice. We expect to fall in love and marry, and love will carry us through the duty and obligations of marriage. Love acts as the plaster we put on top of the harsh realities and difficulties of the institution of marriage. When traditional ideas about virtue, class, childhood etc. remain and fester longer than they should, it's because the story of love is doing all the work. When more and more marriages break down in divorce or abuse and trauma, it's because the narrative of love failed to hold strong enough. We are trapped in systems, kept there because we think they're the only way to access this wonderful human experience, but in reality, it was the faint truth of the human experience which allowed those systems to flourish in the first place. It is humanity which came first, not the systems it created.

This is a long tangent to say that the depiction of young love is media always frustrates me, because it's always all consuming and inevitable and wonderous, but never realistic about difficulty and strife. Often we only see the story of love, and not the structures underneath it.

Wilmon is fumbling in the dark, trying to hold onto the human connection which saved each of them in moments of darkness, and having some finally caught hold of each other, it's only now clear how painful it is hold anything different to yourself. They are opposites in every possible way, right down to the experiences they have as siblings. In the way that kathony-bridgerton found connection in their shared familial roles, Wilmon have only ever know what the other never knew.

It's never left me, the idea that people stay in your life so much as you remain growing in the same direction. Committing to a person feels like a lie on one hand, because how might you ever guarantee to grow such a way. But I guess committing, is deciding that the experiences that shape you from here on, will be chosen by you such that you mould so that your partner may still hold you. Of course one can never know what may come, but where there is choice, there can be commitment. Really where love and duty intersect is when you can say that you will try and do all in your power to keep choosing someone.

In the same way it's difficult to choose to ignore feelings for a Prince, even when feeling anything for a Prince misaligns with everything else you feel, it's equally hard to choose to continue to experience things that make you holdable, when they also change you, and hurt you in the process. But also, to be loved is to be changed, hopefully for the good.

I guess what my thoughts are, are that young love is usually all about love. It ignores that one ever needs to change in order to love and be loved. It pedals the same story that allows marriage and family to be regarded as natural, irreplaceable manifestations and not constructs ultimately benefitting a societal purpose. Duty and obligation seen harshly through the monarchical/class/ LGBTQ+ narrative, which is a love story at it's core, shows how love is won and lost without winners or losers.

A good ending to this story now, isn't just one where love is won. I wouldn't feel satisfied currently if Wilmon simply stayed in love, ignoring the difficulties in their relationship. A good ending would be one where the characters confront their agency within their own love story and acknowledge and choose the people they become when they choose to love.

(Of course there's also the fact that this is not even a full year on from Erik's death, major mental health issues, grief, trauma, abuse, all play a part in masking and impeding agency, so perhaps understandable if one episode doesn't succinctly conveniently package that all up......but yanno.......maybe?........)

[autisticcassandracain]

Honestly I feel like Kori’s characterization would be infinitely better in both canon and fanon if people realized that her hatred for and ruthlessness towards her enemies flows directly from her love and compassion for others. These are not parts of her characterization that you can separate.

I feel like people who write Kori always tend to focus on either her strength, royal sense of responsibility, and ruthlessness, or her kindness, compassion, love, and passion. And that leads to an incomplete Kori who is either written like a naïve sweetheart or a ruthless warrior princess who’s constantly in a bad mood. 

Kori’s whole Thing is the fact that she doesn’t censor or restrict her emotions. This doesn’t mean she’s incapable of putting them second, she can and has done that, but it doesn’t come natural to her and she usually see any reason to do it. This means that she doesn’t temper her hatred for her enemies, yes, but it also means that she doesn’t disguise her love for her friends or life in general. 

Reducing Kori to just her hatred for her enemies forgets a core aspect of Kori’s character. Kori is an extremely loving person, in every sense of the word. She’s open sexually, she falls in love hard and fast, she’s deeply loyal to her friends and loved ones, and she’s in love with life itself. Kori has a natural strong sense of justice, and she finds joy in helping others, especially her friends. She’s extremely emotionally perceptive and usually wants to talk through any issues she has with friends and family in a mature fashion, because she doesn’t want to fight with them. She’s very forgiving of them as well, due to this.

But likewise, reducing Kori to just her loving nature, strips her of another core espect of her character. Kori famously hates her enemies deeply, and does not understand why people refuse to kill their enemies. Kori hates her enemies as deeply as she loves her friends, and is unwilling to compromise with them. The only reason she holds back from killing people is because she knows it’s against the law on Earth, and because it would upset her friends. 

I think her relationship with Komand’r, specifically in The New Teen Titans, is a great microcosm of this duality. Despite Komand’r consistently hurting and trying to kill her, she’s shown to love her deeply. She’s saved Komand’r’s life over and over again, even after Komand’r tried to kill her, and after Komand’r enslaved her. All because Komand’r is her family, and despite Komand’r never having been shown to be anything but horrible to her, Kori loves her. And Komand’r knows this, and openly and actively takes advantage of this, and mocks Kori for it. 

It takes a long time before Kori finally stops trying to save or make amends with Komand’r, but once she does stop, she’s entirely unwilling to believe anything Komand’r says or give her the benefit of the doubt. It’s why she leaves Tamaran after returning there initially: she cannot accept the idea that Komand’r, her enemy, leads the planet. She fully and 100% commits to trying to kill Komand’r.

This shows both how deep her love runs, and how steadfast her hatred is. Once Kori loves you, there is very little you can do that will make her abandon you. But likewise, if you’ve managed to establish yourself as her enemy, there is very little you can do to change that. 

Like - I don’t quite know how to get my point across, and this is long and rambly, but these two parts of her character can’t be separated! They are connected! The reason Kori hates her enemies is because she loves her friends! They are both connected to her freedom with emotions, and her refusal to censor them!  Portraying one without the other shows a shallow and incomplete version of Kori! 

And I feel like people just can’t wrap their head around this for some reason, because most portrayals of Kori I’ve read focus on one or the other. Kori is both a regal warrior princess with a deep hatred for her enemies that makes her ruthless, and a deeply loving friend whose loyalty is almost unshakable who loves life with a fierce intensity. 

I’m just repeating myself bc!! Just don’t know how to explain that you can’t separate these two!! And I don’t understand why people keep doing that!! Kori’s character is interesting because of this duality, the depth of both her hatred and her love is her defining feature! Everything about her character flows from it! Stop erasing it because it’s easier to write her as either or!

[onewomancitadel]

Another small similarity I noticed. Emerald & Mercury are not only reflections of Cinder's childhood self but she also took up the parental role for the both of them and even refers to them as her children. While Jaune's story has him taking care of kids in Atlas and learning not to be a helicopter parent with the paper people. The story highlights both their flaws in dealing with their metaphorical children. Am I crazy? Because it kinda feels like the show is setting them up to be parents.

I have made the case before for them having children on a few different occasions, but not with this specific evidence. (I don't usually bring it up because I feel like this end of the fandom, and fandom in general, gets a bit touchy around it - including me honestly, because I've had some real misogynistic freaks message me about it). Thanks for your ask though, because you've made a good point here. I don't think you're crazy.

I have separately discussed the false mother role Cinder took on with Emerald (I can't recall her referring to them as her children, do you have an episode citation for that? I'm going to assume that was in an earlier volume) but I never considered it in the context of actual children lol. The separate thing with Jaune and kids is very weird (and I am sincerely surprised that they actually did genuine helicopter parenting characterisation with the Paper Pleasers).

The thing you have to remember (and I have to remember) is that this isn't really just there for fluff - as joyful as that can be - but it is genuinely thematically motivated. I have elaborated on this topic in the past a few times, but Ozlem lost their children. There's an ongoing idea of creators/creations and how to control them (or not control them) and let them grow (literal garden metaphor here). Ozma saw his lost daughters in the Maidens; Salem literally went and got an all-in-one daughter (Maiden vessel) replacement. Salem as a bearer of life who killed her children is something very deeply symbolically twisted (this is why Medea is so notable) basically asking to be redeemed.

Note that Ozpin controlling the Maidens - specifically trying to control the transfer with priming Pyrrha for Maiden candidacy, and Ironwood likewise emulating this process - is categorically a bad thing. Those sequences where Cinder stops this happening is a twisted good thing (even if her motivation happens to not be altruistic, but this is why calculatedly I think reforming her attitude towards the Maiden powers makes sense because she's already demonstrated, to some degree, this idea. Take that idea a little further...)

Recall that Jaune took on the role of the Old Man in the Four Maidens fairytale. Jaune is repeatedly connected to Maidens or would-be Maidens in pretty significant ways given that he's not a possible candidate - like, seriously significant, given that he was taken down to the Vault where Amber was and the whole thing with Pyrrha, then Penny, and his enmity with Cinder. The only other Maiden he hasn't had much to do with is Raven, but given Raven may at some point make a return, there's no saying what could happen. So, that he's got this direct relation to Ozma (when he's an old man) is pretty telling because we're being told to directly think about the way Ozma related to his daughters... contrast against Cinder with her Dark Curse - like Salem's own Grimm poolification - and the Ozlem of it all starts getting weird pretty quickly.

But it's such an enduring idea in the show (Ruby's mother wound is a whole thing in her Heroine's Journey) that it's no surprise it's come up over and over. Evil stepmothers and fairy godmothers and growing up and disillusionment with the parent figure are fundamental to these sorts of stories, lol. You can read redemption of a character like Emerald or Winter as escaping arrested development encouraged by various figures in their stories. So if you were to, say, write a character escaping arrested development from their evil stepmother/fairy godmother, 'growing up' and making her own actual family when she's never had any at all is a pretty organic way to convey that entry into adulthood. I don't think this is going to be true for every character, but if they've specificallllyyyyyyyyy done this in a particular way with Jaune and Cinder, it's very weird.

I don't know what else they'd do the dad characterisation with Jaune specifically for once it's moved past a joke into serious thematic territory. Similarly with Cinder I initially always wrote it off as merely Cinder emulating her stepmothers; I would never expect them to follow through on that in a serious way. But in R/WBY, it's not like children were a wayside issue for Raven and Summer; that actually has a significant plot impact (as well as character) on their stories. If there's one show where I wouldn't expect mothers to become nonentities, admittedly R/WBY might be one of them which I'd point to.

I'm still not totally sold on the idea of it happening in canon - like yeah, would it be the epilogue treatment? Is that what full Ozlem resolution looks like? It does work thematically, it does work storywise and for what their characters need/want (either for Cinder with no family or Jaune with a family name which has hurt him, so what can he do to self-determine lol) and yeah, there is some particularly... interesting characterisation. Of course your average detractor would say, 'But she's evillllll' like come on, think for a minute about full character development and transformation and like, life which comes from death. Eyeroll. (Yeah, ironically redeeming the pretend mother role she took on with her acolytes is pretty good... I didn't think of that before).

Let me put it this way: I'm not looking to form-fit a married-with-kids ending for any given female character. I'm only really interested in it if it makes narrative sense. It is very peculiar how it redeems Ozlem in an actual reverse/literal way (this is the specific point I made the case on) and how with what you've laid out here it is actually supported with given characterisation. I wouldn't say this is the case for every character at all.

I'm trying to think of counterpoints, and if you read it specifically in the context of Ozlem (because this is where it's doing so much work) it's hard to read Jaune's characterisation in response to a different character. It really only works if it's Cinder in this case. The counterpoint would be that Jaune answers Weiss' need to continue on the Schnee legacy, but we don't really have much in that direction, and to be totally frank, very little of Weiss' character suggests 'continuing the Schnee legacy', or redeeming it, necessarily involves children. It depends whether they positively answer Jaune's whole identity Arc Huntsman thing or they affirm that actually he was meant to be tied to that and kill himself with expectations or whatever. My problem is that like, the ostensibly bad Huntsman who is romantically tied to Cinder (famously failed by a really bad Huntsman) is the most dramatic and wonderful narrative development possible.

I'm attempting to entertain different perspectives here but yeah I didn't expect to get serious textual justification for Jaune and Cinder having babies. Definitely not on my bingo, and definitely not Jaune characterisation in V9 I'd ever dream of getting canonically.

Basically they need to have sex.

[professor-glasses]

give me all your svern facts NEOW !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

Send !! to learn about an OC

Svern (which is of course not his birth name) is a genius prodigy who was born and spent much of his childhood growing up in the Unova region. His identity as Svern and his birth identity are two severely different people and if you know him as either one or the other, you are extremely unlikely to know or connect him to the other.

Although he likes to act like a rambunctious and annoying, reckless guy, he is actually very quiet by nature. He's very analytical, cynical and smart, which is part of what makes him feel alienated from other people. The other thing that separates him is he doesn't experience the same normal emotional range as others. So he has trouble feeling things deeply, which means he's constantly bored and detached. He won't show this side of personality unless he really trusts someone. He doesn't consider his masking to be totally "fake" either, though, and if you try and suggest it/pick one as "real" and the other as "fake", he'll probably laugh at you, because that's a simplistic viewpoint.

He is not a natural redhead, he wears a wig and he changes it often, that one just happens to be his favourite and trademark look. After all, why wait for 6 months for your hair to grow out when you feel like having it long for one day when you can just Make it longer. Or change the colour twice a week. (Also his natural hair is black which in general would make dyeing it a bigger than usual pain anyway.)

Similarly, he wears coloured contacts all the time. The amber/yellow is his favourite again although he does use other colours if he feels like it. His natural eye colour is a bright turquoise.

He likes trying out a lot of different outfits, and since he's naturally very confident and doesn't really feel embarrassed about anything ever, he can summon the charisma to rock pretty much anything.

His brain is extremely big so he knows a lot about a lot of things, learns more easily, and remembers everything always. This can be good and bad (for other people, for himself it's fine and useful). But it's important to note that this is another reason he struggles with being bored all the time! His brain chews things up too quickly. He doesn't particularly value his huge talent. Again, he is apathetic about it, like about many other things. It's just the way he happens to be. He doesn't use it to be ambitious, he uses it to be a silly & annoying guy.

He likes bugs a lot, for some reason.

He also likes a lot of science stuff and technology stuff.

He's 164cm / 5'5" tall, so he's a bit on the shorter side. That and his face make him look cute and Little Guyish (I think...).

Please be careful about the Whimsy. The Whimsy often fools people. If you think he is a cute little guy, or an adoptable rascal, you have been fooled by the whimsy. He will take advantage of this.

He dabbles in crime things and he's very good at parkour. He did gymnastics in school. He did theatre as well. He was supposed to be learning violin, but he got tired of it since it wasn't his idea, so later his Ditto did his lessons in his place. She can play very well now.

He illegally modded his Porygon-Z to be able to change type and boost its stats at will, access all 3 potential abilities at once, as well as learn any move for which there exists Technical Machine data.

Without giving all the full names, his birth name is Sylvester V.E. Rey-Nellson. His parents are rich and into business. He doesn't like them very much. The only family member he likes is his paternal grandpa who I keep thinking about the possibility of being a trans man even though I don't think I'm adequately able to implement that right now. Babey Svern hit all his milestones early and everyone would have loved him very much if he wasn't a weird kid and they weren't jerks.

As an adult, he joins a criminal organisation for funsies and pretends to be mediocre, before coming into contact with a very strange rock that would take way too long to explain here. I have many thoughts on this rock which I have written meta posts about on his rp blog. Svern thinks it's very cool and on a conceptual level it is but he will unfortunately end up regretting it when it's not fun anymore later.

His favourite kind of food is spicy. The spicier, the better. If it makes him cry that's great. If he gets used to it he has to seek spicier food.

He can't cook much. He doesn't know how. He could learn very easily if he tried for even a short time but he's lazy and impatient.

So he doesn't.

If he has to do something he doesn't want to anyway, he'll complain a lot about it very loudly, and then escape when you're not looking.

Find images of him here on my Brand New, Organised Art Blog.

[aeide-thea]

[cw for mention of rape, Consent Issues]

prefatory acknowledgment that my thinking here is prompted by (1) an unrebloggable post i will therefore not cite (2) my own experiences growing up (3) olreid's ongoing theoryblogging abt Childhood Power Dynamics—

but like. thinking abt 'oh of course kids shouldn't read abt Bad Things bc they'll upset them omg!!!' discourse and like. as per (1) i agree that like. actually kids probably should experience getting upset by art sometimes and learn how to handle it, if nothing else because at some point their own life will upset them and they won't be able to step away from that nearly as easily as you can from a book?

but also like. as per (2) i read a pretty infamous series of historical fiction/romance books in first grade that notoriously feature (a) rape and (b) a lot of explicit consensual sex, and like. as far as the sex went, i was already reading about magic and dragons and aliens—lots of stuff happened in books that wasn't happening in my own little life! that was why i was reading them: for visions of other experiences!

and as far as the rape—i honestly don't remember being especially struck by it? which i'm sure makes me sound bafflingly callous, but like. the reality of (as per 3) childhood in general and also of (2) my ~neurodivergent~ childhood in particular was that my autonomy was overridden all the time in unpleasant if nonsexual ways, and i was being taught not to exhibit or even register distress at this, so like. in what world was a rape scene going to stand out to me as something unimaginably shocking, after that? life had already taught me that social norms, and the desires of those around you with power over you, mattered more than what you personally wanted, every time.

so i guess i just think like—a bad thing did happen to me growing up, but it wasn't reading about bad things in books; it was the socialization that taught me not to be bothered by bad things irl.

also i think—kids are generally curious about the world, and a lot of the time that includes being curious about sex, and i just—it's a normal part of development to seek out information about things! information itself isn't harmful: information is what enables you to identify harm.

also there's this idea that like. sexuality is somehow a whole other level separate from anything else, and i just think. i don't know that i agree. you can be very deeply, intimately, traumatizingly wronged in ways that are totally nonsexual, and things can happen to you sexually that don't really feel like a big deal! slash like—the sexual experiences i've had where my partner was worst about soliciting my consent didn't register emotionally as violations, because i'd already learned in a nonsexual context that it was fine when people who nominally loved you were careless with you! so i really struggle when people want to position rape+ as inherently separate from, and worse than, any other overriding of autonomy because it's sexual, when in my experience—it all connects.

[idealisticrealism]

Where do you think the writers are going with the Nadia & Arman & Robert triangle? Arman seemed jealous of Nadia last ep but the writers also fired up Armony again. (loved those Armony moments!!) I think Eva D said in an interview that Nadia won't betray Arman but tensions seem to be rising for sure. I can't see him walking away from Thony at this point.

You'd think that after the insane amount of words I just wrote for my 2x04 recap that I'd try to keep this short... but apparently I am just literally incapable of that when it comes to this show.

But anyway. I have no idea if this will really answer your question, but I'll give it a try. Just bear in mind that I don't look at spoilers so I have no idea what actually lies ahead in this show, I'm just going on what makes sense to me based on what we know of these characters and what we've seen so far in the season.

So, the way I see it, this season needed two things:

a Big Bad with an interesting arc

a way to separate Nadia and Arman, to create room for Armony

What better way to achieve those things than with the same person? Enter Robert, who (at least, as it seems to me) is the linchpin of the season: he's Nadia's ex who clearly still desires her; he has forced Arman into business with him, and now has power over this choices and actions; and he is apparently deeply involved in the drug ring that Garrett is trying to bust, which means Thony is connected to him on two sides-- through being Arman's life business partner, and through Garrett forcing her involvement with Maya.

So, for Robert's plotline to be high enough stakes, it needs to seem like he will actually destroy Arman and everything he's built; and for that to happen, it would likely require a betrayal from Nadia, who knows where Arman is weakest. Which means that we as an audience need to feel that there's actually a genuine possibility of her doing that, and the way to do that is to have her pull away from Arman and move towards uniting herself with Robert.

How perfect, then, that this also allows for the other main plotline of the season, and the one we're all here for: Armony.

I think the writers know that in S1, we viewers were able to put aside the discomfort of the infidelity angle to an extent (I know I absolutely did, and infidelity is usually one of my total deal-breakers)-- and they aided us in that in a few ways, like by making Marco an absolutely terrible husband, and pretty much making it clear that his and Thony's marriage would have already ended before she left for the US if divorce was legal in The Philippines; by having Nadia and Arman's relationship often being portrayed as somewhat businesslike, or even tense and antagonistic at times, where even the more tender parts were generally from Arman reacting to Thony being unobtainable; and by having Armony be just so damn entrancing, but also having them be (relatively) restrained, both of them almost always hiding their emotional connection behind other things, like saving Luca or dealing with the FBI.

After Arman almost being blown up, though, and then being thrown in prison with a man who wanted him dead, and then having to put everything on the line for his freedom, it forced he and Nadia closer again-- partly because yes, there is genuine love there, but also because Nadia knows the life she adores depends on the money and power Arman possesses, and without him she risks going back to having/being nothing; and also partly because Arman feels honour-bound to her, not just as his wife, but as someone who helped save him and who now relies on him for survival.

So how the hell do you make Armony happen in the face of all that, without making Thony look like a homewrecker and Arman look like a dishonourable, ungrateful asshole?

Easy. You have Armony do their best to keep their distance for a few episodes, while still demonstrating Arman prioritising Thony's needs even at the detriment of his and Nadia's own situation-- and all the while, having Robert shower Nadia with respect and appreciation, reminding her how it feels to be desired and adored above all others. Before long, you have Nadia-- proud, self-respecting, slightly spiteful Nadia-- deciding "Alright Hubby, you want to put this other woman's needs above mine? Well, two can play at that game" and cozying herself right up to Robert again.

And ta-da! You suddenly have a marriage where both parties are pulling away from the other in favour of being with someone else, which is so much more comfortable for viewers than seeing Nadia as the loving and dedicated wife who is trying to cling to her husband while he ditches her to get it on with Thony. It's more comfortable for both Arman and Thony, too-- Thony genuinely likes Nadia and doesn't want her getting hurt, hence why she has always stopped things between her and Arman before they could go too far (and of course in S1 it was also because of her own marriage, though that is obviously no longer a factor, thank god). And Arman himself will definitely be relieved to feel the grip of his marriage loosening, though tbh it's still going to be complicated for him-- he'll be stuck between wanting the freedom to be with Thony (and respecting that it's absolutely Nadia's right to leave him), but also feeling like he needs to keep her from allying herself with Robert because of the serious consequences it could have for himself in terms of his business/his debt (and subsequently, the consequences for Thony, who won't be able to run her own cleaning business/clinic without him and his money/connections).

That struggle is going to be a central theme of the season, as is the question (like mentioned above) of 'will Nadia betray Arman and help Robert destroy him?'. And tbh, I don't think she will-- it might look like it, right up until the end, but she won't. Honestly, my dream is that she will fulfil the role of Robert's pretty little plaything until the time is right, and then she'll turn around and betray Robert, taking his entire empire out from under him, and proving she was never just a prize to be won or a possession to be owned. Then the season can end like a matching sequel to the first-- with Robert (like Hayak) either dead or in jail, and Nadia taking her rightful place on his throne, finally getting all the power and respect she's always wanted, while leaving Arman and Thony free to run their own little medical enterprise and live happily ever after like the two idiots in love that they are.

Is that what will actually happen? Probably not, sadly! But still, there's always hope lol-- and honestly, whatever does happen, I really do believe Armony will get through it just fine.

(Whether we fangirls survive is another matter entirely).

Well, anyhow, there's my thoughts lol. I guess the TL;DR is that Robert exists as a romantic counterweight to Thony, and that this season we will see Nadia/Arman turn into Nadia/Robert and Arman/Thony, just as we'll see all the complications that come from those complex connections and interactions and loyalties-- and damn if that ain't gonna be great to watch.