#ALSO the emphasis to the twins that he is the reason for their sibling being alive

[tobluesunday]

Yes finding homeless orphans about to be murdered and saving them just so that they owe you their lives and must repay that debt by joining your terrorist organisation is the same as becoming an adoptive father

[hp-confessions]

I really don’t agree with the view of the Marauders as an unequal or imbalanced friendship. Shipping and anti-shipping aside, I think that’s a major oversimplification, exaggeration, and unfair to all four characters.

Yes, James & Sirius were undoubtedly the closest to each other. They were a double act, they were inseparable, they had two-way mirrors + matching t-shirts + identical fluid movements, they trusted and adored each other beyond all others. That is perfectly okay. You know who else had a similar dynamic, and who James & Sirius were explicitly compared to? Fred & George Weasley. They were twins and did everything together, but that didn’t stop them from being good friends with Lee Jordan, nor did it stop them from being a sibling-duo within the wider Weasley family. I have never seen anyone deride those dynamics as imbalanced, and certainly not “toxic”, so why are people suddenly obsessed with referring to James & Sirius in such a way? It is very common and very normal for friend groups to have a pair who are the closest to each other, that doesn’t change the fact that the group itself is close-knit. There’s a reason Sirius put up a photograph of ALL FOUR FRIENDS in his bedroom rather than just him and James.

I also don’t understand the fanon emphasis on Remus and Peter supposedly feeling “excluded” from the group and jealous that James & Sirius were so close when canon goes out of its way to emphasize the exact opposite. It’s made clear that Remus and Peter felt happily included in the group:

“To Sirius’s right stood Pettigrew, more than a head shorter, plump and watery-eyed, flushed with pleasure at his inclusion in this coolest of gangs, with the much-admired rebels that James and Sirius had been. On James’s left was Lupin, even then a little shabby looking, but he had the same air of delighted surprise at finding himself liked and included.”

The very foundation of the Marauders is one of inclusion. The whole point of Remus’s backstory is that he found acceptance and comfort with his “three great friends”, that they broke the law and became animagi just so that they could keep him company during full moons, that his otherwise-painful transformations became the happiest times of his life specifically because of their actions to the point. Even when after Remus's death, he looked happy to be back in the Forbidden Forest because it reminded him of their adolescent wanderings together. I don’t understand how people can twist and rewrite this dynamic into one of exclusion and imbalance. What on earth is the point?

I get that fanon often experiments with group dynamics to make them more complex and angsty, which are then automatically viewed as "more realistic" (they're not). But I don’t think the Marauders make sense unless their friendship (rather than its assumed drawbacks – and at any rate, all friendships inevitably have problems, they don’t diminish the characters’ closeness) is given centre stage, because that’s what primarily drives their story. The reason James, Sirius and Peter became animagi is because they loved Remus and wanted to keep him company. They were a little patronizing to Peter, but they looked after him and would have died for him, which is exactly what makes his betrayal so shocking and tragic.

Honestly, the way I’ve seen people call the Marauders “toxic” and “dysfunctional”, it’s like they've forgotten how messy the Golden Trio were and how much they fought with each other in canon, and have instead softened and overlooked all their bad or complicated moments. Paradoxically, they accept the worst possible interpretations of all four Marauders (especially Sirius) to make their claims believable. It doesn't seem fair or logical to me - quite the opposite.

I also think the idea of the Marauders being imbalanced partly stems from perception of James being the central and most-liked friend who kept the group together … even though that is 100% fanon and has no explicit basis in the text (one of the very first things we’re told about the Marauders is that James and Sirius were both ringleaders). It makes no sense to use that perception of James as the base-point of a canon compliant analysis, because it is simply your personal interpretation of canon that others can interpret very differently.

~

[megamindsupremacy]

Stewjon is Space Scotland: Names and Naming Conventions

For context, I designed an entire naming system for my Stewjon is Space Scotland AU. I'm still trying to work out the cultural logistics of it, but the actual practical logistics I have down.

To break everything down:

Stewjon is a clan-centric society, with clans and clan names having a hugely important role in the culture. I therefore had clan names feature in both the first and last name of Stewjonis.

-The last name (Kenobi) is the family/clan name, and is passed down the family paternally. This is both because I'm from a western culture with a paternal naming tradition, and also because I liked how his parents names sounded when the last names transferred paternally but not maternally. "Ken" would translate to "Clan" (I don't know if this is accurate to Scots English or Scots Gaelic, but I'm working from canon Star Wars names and trying to worldbuild from nothing so work with me here), and then the clan name "Obi" is attached, so "Kenobi" translates to "Clan Obi" or "of Clan Obi"

-The given name (-Wan, but we'll get to "Wan" in a second) is one to two syllables. All of these names are (according to Wikipedia) actual Scottish names, which I picked from the list mostly based on how well they'd sound next to the clan name.

-The prefix clan name (Obi-) is the interesting part. All children are given the father's clan name as both their first and last clan name. Therefore, Obi-Wan Kenobi, son of Ito-Benneit Kenobi, has "Obi" in both his first and last name. However, upon marriage, the couple swaps their prefix clan names to signify the tie between their clans. Therefore his mother Ito-Ceit Kenito and his father Obi-Benneit Kenobi became Obi-Ceit Kenito and Ito-Benneit Kenobi upon their marriage.

-Originally I was going to do something with the fact that "Obi" means belt in Japanese, such as making the clan names signify professions in the same way "Miller" or "Smith" would in English surnames, but I gave up because Japanese is so different of a language from what I understand that I would have just made myself very confused and everyone who understands Japanese language and culture very mad. So I just went with a vowel-consonant-vowel pattern for all the clan names and called it a day.

-Remember how I said we would come back to "Wan"? Obi-Wan wasn't born Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was born Obi-Owen (Owen is a whole 'nother thing and I decided to just give myself a freebie on it), and his name was anglicized (basic-icized?) upon being brought to the Jedi temple. Not on purpose, but it did happen. So technically the chart above should have him listed as Obi-Owen Kenobi, but I already took the screenshot so this is what we're working with.

-Culturally, it's respectful to refer to someone by their full name (Obi-Owen Kenobi). The full name stands until two people are fairly close to each other, platonically or romantically. The informal, friendly version would be their full first name (Obi-Owen). So you wouldn't call your new friend "Obi-Owen" until you're quite close, even if you're social equals. Technically you could refer to someone by their given name only (Owen), but it's awkward and Stewjonis don't really see a reason for it. All of this highlights the cultural emphasis placed on clans and clan ties in Stewjoni society.

The Family Tree

THE KIDS

Starting from the bottom, we have the four Kenobi siblings. Obi-Conn is the oldest, and he marries Yana-Eóin Kenyana, becoming Yana-Conn Kenobi. None of this happens in the story but I wrote it in the chart anyways. Obi-Eóin is nonbinary, which is why their square is white instead of blue or pink.

Obi-Mór and Obi-Pál are twins and approximately four years younger than Yana-Conn. Obi-Mór is ambiguously disabled (she has some form of muscular disability, but the specifics weren't relevant to the story). Obi-Pál is just some guy and I love him for that.

Obi-Owen is the baby of the family. He's twelve years younger than the twins (16 years younger than Yana-Conn) and was definitely an oopsie-baby. I don't need to say anything else because he is also one of the major characters of the Star Wars franchise. You know him.

THE PARENTS

Obi-Ceit Kenito and Ito-Benneit Kenobi are the Kenobi siblings' parents. I don't have much to say here other than that Ito-Benneit shortens his name to Ito-Ben, to avoid the repeated "eet" sound in his full first name. I'm sure that doesn't affect Obi-Owen's future nicknames in any way!

It is Ito-Benneit fault, by the way, that I made clan prefixes instead of surnames to be switched upon marriage. Culturally, it would have made more sense for the more commonly used first name to hold your birth clan and your less commonly used surname to indicate your linked-by-marriage clan, but I needed Obi-Benneit to marry into the name Ito-Benneit so that I could shorten it to Ben. Goddammit.

THE GRANDPARENTS

Ito-Ben's parents are entirely irrelevant so they don't exist. Sad!

Technically I didn't have to name Ito-Lili Kenuna, but I felt bad having her up there as an unnamed person. Una-Owen Kenito, as you may suspect, is where Obi-Wan's name comes from. I really wanted to highlight his Stewjoni heritage in this fic, so giving him family ties through his whole name was important to me. Obi-Ceit names Obi-Owen for her father because Una-Owen was a strong fighter, and she wants to pass that resilience to her son. Which, uh. Well he sure is resilient to things trying to kill him!

Feel free to come yell at me in the askbox about Stewjon's worldbuilding!

[unintentional-edgelord]

Okay! For FTGFTF, I would love to know - which characters are…

Your favorite to write?

the EASIEST to write?

Your least-favorite to write?

The HARDEST to write?

I know that’s a lot so please don’t feel obligated to answer all of them!!

Oh nooo... another ask... what shall I do... Nah I love this kinda thing, thank you my good dude ;P

TL,DR:

Favourite is Ashe (Vent and Pandora a close second and third).

Easiest are the Trouble Twins (mostly Prom, but I like fancy insults so Pandora and Aeolus come in close.

Least Favourite is MASTER ALBEEEEERT (followed by the other Masters and Thetis because I can't unsee him as a brat).

Hardest is Aile unfortunately (with Atlas and Siarnaq close behind).

Okay! Let's rock and roll! More detailed explanations below.

FAVOURITE TO WRITE

Ashe! My sassy girl, I love her SO SO MUCH; she's got such a bold and brash personality with a lot of depth to her that every time I take a pen to the page 9/10 times I'm grinning when I write her.

I see myself in Ashe a bit, what with the way I treat her confidence as a bit of a "fake it till you make it," sort of vibe, and her interactions with literally everyone are DELIGHTFUL. She also gets the best lines! And my love for terribly sugary drinks.

Honourable mentions go to My Favourite Himbo Vent because he's so unabashedly proud to be himself, and Pandora for reasons I'll get into below.

EASIEST TO WRITE

To absolutely nobody's surprise, it's Prometheus, with his sister close behind.

I don't know if it's because this bitch has been one of my muses for YEARS, or how long I'd been fleshing him out before I sat down to write the fic, or even because I used to be quite hot-tempered and relate to him like that as a result, but his dialogue seems to flow quite naturally for me. It also helps that A: his Japanese VA will forever have a special place in my heart and did such a fantastic job in the audio dramas, and B: his English VA has such a distinct delivery with odd emphasis on syllables that it's easy for me to hear his "voice" when I write his lines. If it doesn't sound like something I could hear either VA doing, I rewrite the line.

It's probably because I have a sibling myself that I find Pandora pretty easy to write too, and also because I've spent so long fleshing her out. I feel like I'm able to slip pretty seamlessly now between "Pandora The Witch," where she's being cold and terrifying to everyone to "Pandora The Person," snarky to her brother with a GODAWFUL sense of humour. Sibling banter is FUN!

Also, Pandora is a whole ass young lady with a body count of the murdery kind, and I've been doing my DAMNDEST to ensure she's not a "cute moe" I've seen so many people turn her into. I think my ensuing spite from that stereotype meant I did what I could to flesh her out and in the process learnt to have fun writing her. Her distinct speech patterns make it easy to hear her "voice", too!

Honourable mention to Aeolus because I get to pull out flowery language and I often find myself pulling faces at the screen to mimic his sneer, lol.

LEAST FAVOURITE TO WRITE

Master Albert, hands down.

He's my third most despised villain in all media ever (Griffith from Beserk and the villain of @dumpsterfirepropaganda 's original work have first and second place, respectively) and it makes me not enjoy writing him at all. My dislike for the dude is that high and every time I gotta write him I want to roundhouse kick him.

In the face.

One honourable mention goes to Thetis. I've not quite nailed down his characterisation and even though he's quite a tragic character, the way he warbles out his line after you beat him makes him come across as simultaneously bratty and hilarious. Which means unfortunately I haven't been able to shake thinking of him as a total brat vs the sad character he actually is. I'll get there I'm sure! Hopefully this dislike doesn't come through in the next chapter...

Master Thomas and Master Mikhail are also in here too because I haven't quite gotten their balance of "Their Job As Masters vs Them As A Person Yet," and also I want to punch Master Thomas.

Very hard.

HARDEST TO WRITE

Aile.

Aile I love you.

You'll always have a special place in my heart as the first ZX character I played the game with.

But by the GODS I struggle to write you.

Aile chilled out so much between ZX and Advent that it's been hard getting a balance with her, even WITH reference notes to flesh her out more, and I also don't want her to feel too similar to Vent. I've said it once and I'll say it again, I treat all the ZX characters a bit like they're friends I can ring up and hang out with; what do they enjoy doing? What trigger points will upset them? What foods do they enjoy? That kind of thing helps flesh them out, and Aile for some reason has been hard for me to do that with.

For similar reasons, Atlas and Siarnaq are also hard for me to write.

I THINK I've got a bit of a handle on Atlas now as a person as opposed to just being "The Model F Chosen Who Believes In Social Darwinism," and it's been difficult to flesh her out because I wanted to be respectful of her military background and PTSD whilst not reducing her to only that.

Siarnaq on the other hand is a bit of a blank slate, which SHOULD be good, except at what point does he no longer "feel" like Siarnaq when you flesh him out? Who was he before? Exploring that has been fun but trying to strike that balance between him being TERRIFYING vs seeing a more human side of him has been REALLY difficult.

Add that to the fact that the OC I created originally to be an old friend of his "felt" more like an ex-partner, and I've been struggling. As a notorious disliker of OCxCanon pairings because I've seen so many of them make the Canon character OOC, I'm really scared of falling into that trap. I like Riquis! He's my cool cyber cowboy man in pining, but I don't want him to overshadow Siarnaq and I'm worried he has. So I gotta work more to flesh them out as a couple AND as individuals!

If you've made it this far, hope you enjoyed it and thanks for having the patience to read!

[javaghoul]

Omg I need your headcannons

Please share

These are very vague because I don't have a lot to go on, but if I think of more I'll post them.

He had a brother and sister. I'm leaning towards Uta being the youngest for reasons I'll talk about below, but yknow what would be interesting? If one of his siblings were a TWIN. It'd add another layer to his fear of abandonment and being left behind.

Since he's powerful even by ghoul standards, I wouldn't be surprised if Uta's family were wiped out in a planned extermination bust. Perhaps Uta managed to escape on his own or had help from another ghoul, but I can't imagine his mum and dad being taken out individually by chance by one or two investigators. It's not outside the realms of possibility, but they created UTA, so I think catching both parents off guard when they're with their kids is the best way to go about it.

I think he would've lost his family at a very young age, before his teens. I don't think he had a lot of stability in regards to a family life.

Throwing this out there: what if Itori and Yomo are "stand-ins" for the brother and sister he lost? There's an angle I've never heard before.

Now for some general ghoul headcanons about family etc.

I think it's extremely normal for ghouls to have lots of kids. Considering the short shelf-life they tend to have, parents want to ensure their kids have a chance of survival should they become orphans. One way of increasing their chances is to make sure there are multiple kids to look out for each other.

It's a benefit to have kids a few years apart. That way the parents can focus on teaching one kid at a time how to be a ghoul and survive, instead of dealing with multiple toddlers. there's also the plus that the eldest will be able to watch over the younger kids whilst food is acquired.

Only-child ghouls are indicators of a cushy life! Think Shuu, Hinami (until...yeah). Not always a hard and fast rule (see:Eto), but there's a ghoul mindset of strength in numbers. If a couple only has one kid by choice, it's probably because they're not concerned about their longevity being challenged. Only-child ghouls have parents that are stable AND tough.

When a ghoul mentions that they "used" to have siblings, in 99% of situations the siblings they lost were older. Like in a lot of of human cultures, emphasis is on looking after the younger ones. It's a given amongst ghouls that it's the older siblings that will sacrifice their life.

BUT! Because of this, there's a lot of stigma (and suspicion) surrounding situations where the OLDER sibling is the one to survive. It's usually perceived as a weakness, or something shifty has gone on, since the "protect the youngest" is so ingrained in ghoul customs and society. Due to this, some ghouls will lie and say it's their OLDER brother or sister who died.

[dre6ming]

Playing for keeps

Chapter I

Masterlist

Pairing: Austin Butler x Y/n

Plot: Austin is the next in line for the throne, but he can’t be king if he doesn’t have a wife. In your country tradition says that a selection formed of 35 young women must be formed for the prince to find a wife. You are obligated by circumstances to participate against your will. What are the chances that you might be the next queen? None right? Right?

Warning: none

Word count: ~4000

"To heal the soul by the means of the senses and the senses by the means of the soul" or something like that, is what Oscar Wilde said to make me really understand why something so simple as feeling the bristles of my brush stroke the rough surface of the canvas. My lines look a little jagged today, my hand keeps shaking and no matter how many deep breaths I take, the rock sitting on my chest hasn't gotten any lighter.

Thirty five, what a strange and odd number, why so many? Why not more or less? Did they have a mathematician who centuries ago did the math for them and concluded that thirty five was the lucky number to find a wife out? I take a deep breath as the word "wife" bounces off of the walls of my skull. It's not just a wife, it's the future queen.

It's been a little more than 30 years since the last selection, when queen Lori was selected out of the bunch by King David and now the result of their successful selection, their son, prince Austin, is about to have his very own selection. All of the girls in the kingdom between the ages 18-22 were asked to submit an entry into the competition, to hopefully end up being the princess of the kingdom and the future queen.

Emphasis on the word "asked" , we were not obligated to do it, at least not by our government, our parents however? Well the forced me to apply, dragged me down to the office where the applications were collected and made me sign up.

"Y/n it's time, come come sit!!" My mom shouts for me and I put down the paint brush, wiping my hands on a rag, brushing back some hair as I make my way to the very small, very crowded living room. My mom , dad and all my 5 siblings are spread around the tv, watching it like hawks. "Come sit!" Mom pats the spot next to her on the couch and I squeeze between her and my older sister.

I can't help but feel angry at the whole situation, my parents live in a poorer side of the country and the fact that they had 7 kids did not help, I'm right in the middle, being the 4th to be born, my older siblings, are married off to their own households where the also pop baby after baby, that is except for one of my eldest siblings, my sister Hannah, who's the reason why mom put me into the selection in the first place.

To back track a bit and explain, my parents met and got married when they were 20 years old, my brother Josh came a year later, he's now 26 married and expecting child number three, his income already stretched thin. Then came Anna, she's 24 she married in a more stable family, but with baby number two, turning into babies number 2 , 3 and 4, yes that's triplets that she's having, money is low. Mark, 22 now, not married, he's actually, well we don't know, he ran away with a girl from around here, we haven't heard anything in years and since we barely have time to live our own lives and win enough for a living, we've put him aside. My sister Hannah, 22 as well, she's Marks twin, she's supposed to marry, but the guy she chose is from a family of twelve and they have little to no money.

Then there's me, Y/n, 20 being auctioned away in the hopes that the weekly allowance my family will get for my participation would be enough for my sister's wedding and some other things for my youngest siblings. After me my parents had kids 2 more times, Kyle 14 and then the other set of twins, this time identical Tana and Lane, 10 years old.

My mom works as a nurse and my dad is a retired guard from our region. Money is low so we all have to work, but with 2 siblings out of the house and one waiting to marry, we lost working hands. I sell paintings on commission and I also work at the local bakery to try and make some extra money, but it's not enough to support me, mom and my younger siblings. Which is why I was forced by mom to join the selection, the family of the girl competing gets a weekly allowance for as long as she stays in the game, not to mention the chance of actually being queen.

As names are being drawn on tv I can feel everyone in the room tense as the 34th girl gets called out and it's not me, I had 34 chances and I lost them all, now I get one more, but I hope I'll lose again. I don't want to go, I don't want to meet the prince or be his wife, I'm not meant to be queen, I'm just not.

My breath gets caught in my chest as the host, Lucas, puts his hand back in the bowl of names. My ears are ringing as he read the name and I almost faint seeing my picture there. "You got it, hon, good job!" Mom says and all of my present siblings start to chant my name, happy for me. I can barely hear them though, so I get up with tears in my eyes, brushing everyone off, walking out, out of the room, out of the house.

My bare feet, touch the sharp gravel, but I can't give into the pain, all I know is I need to run, run for now, or at least until tomorrow when the people from the palace will be at my door to package me up and send me to their prince. Staring out into the midnight sky, I could see everything I had being ripped apart, I didn't have much, but I had enough. Dropping to the ground and letting the cold grass soak my thin cotton dress, I close my eyes, scared to death about the outcome of what I had just gotten myself into.

The next time I open my eyes, two guards from the royal guard stand in my door and my mom hands me a bag I didn't pack, pushing me out the door. I take one last look back at the people I'm leaving behind and I tell myself I have to at least make it a few weeks, so that my sister could use the money for her wedding, then I'd come back and move to a richer part of the country, where I wouldn't be able to ever see my family. Those are the rules, after you get into the game, when you live you have a higher status and income so they move you and you can no longer interact with your past the way you used to.

Watching my step getting out of the car that took me from the airport to here, I take in the palace, with it's high towers and beautiful architecture. People are outside, forming a pathway for us to walk as they chant different names of other girls who also got selected. I am so out my element here, the dress my mom picked for me was too tight and itchy, the high heel shoes hurt my feet and my hands were sweating too much. "Here it goes!" I say under my breath stepping forward and into the unknown building. The inside even more beautiful than I could describe, high ceilings with crystal chandeliers, gold accents and mahogany furniture, underneath my heels white marble floors.

"Ladies! Welcome, I am Silvia and I'll be you're etiquette advisor and teacher, I'll also be your voice here, anything you need, you ask me and I'll make it happen if it within my powers. You will now be less to yours rooms where you will meet your maids, they will help you with hair, make up and clothes and anything else you might need. Dinner will be served in your rooms tonight and breakfast is at 7 am tomorrow, after breakfast you will each get to talk with the prince and get to know him. I've left some pages on your beds with instructions about tomorrow as well as the schedule of our classes. Good evening going forward!" The tall blonde woman left our sight walking gracefully in her long gown. I wonder if I'll ever be like her? Back so straight, shoulders so strong, hair so put together, make up so natural yet so beautiful, voice so clear, everything about her spoke volumes on everything I was not. I don't know how they expect me to last a day here.

In my room, I stand and wonder how can a place for one person be the size of my home which currently houses 7, now that two of my siblings had moved out. "Lady Y/n!" Two petite women curtesy in front of me, they look like sisters, about the same age as me, but one of them looks a bit older. "Just Y/n" I lick my lips fiddling with my fingers. The older one nods, smiling. "A-and you are?" They seem confused by my question. "Your maids lady!" The other one explains in a sweet voice.

"Yes no, I know, I meant, your names, what are your names?" I ask again hoping I'm not making them uncomfortable. "I'm Jules and she's my older sister Jane, we're very happy and honored to meet you, lady Y/n" I nod, smiling as well, as they start pacing around the room fixing things up. My eyes watch them move, mesmerized by how synchronized they are. "Can you stand and turn around lady Y/n? We have the water running in the tub, so you can take a bath."

I stand and turn so that Jules could undo my dress, then sliding my arms through the silk robe. "Just Y/n please!" I ask again, all these official things making me uncomfortable. "Lady Y/n, if I may-" I open my mouth to correct Jane, but she puts her hand up stopping me. "You are now a lady, his majesty will refer to you as such and you have to keep to these titles, at least until you get to know him better." I nod at her kind advice and follow her into the bathroom, where she helps me step into the tub, taking my robe away and checking the water temperature one last time. "Well relax lady Y/n, when you're ready, call for us and we will get you ready for bed."

Before she leaves me to my own, I dare to ask her one more thing. "Jane, is he nice?" I ask, this being the first time I actually my curiosity about the prince, spiked ever since I was selected. Jane gives me a soft smile, fixing the creases on her apron. "That's for you to decide lady Y/n, but his majesty, prince Austin has always been well liked by the staff." She leaves before I get to asks anything more and I take that as her polite way of saying that's how much she's allowed to say.

The bed here is so much softer than the one at home, the one I uncomfortably share with my twin sisters. The sheets are so soft and silky, it feels like I could turn to fast and fly off the bed. Jules and Jane left shortly after, brushing my hair back and helping me into my silk night gown. Even in this big room, air feels compressed and I want to walk, so I find myself putting on my slippers , taking a moment to look at them, I've never had slippers before. I the dark of the room I make out the location of the door and I turn the knob slowly, trying to make no sound.

I feel a cool breeze brushing my bare legs and I follow it thinking this could be the way to find a door leading outside. Only thing stopping me are the two guards standing in front of it. "Miss are you lost?" One of them asks, making me blush, finally so aware of the fact that I left my room wearing only my thin silky night gown. "N-no, I was wondering how to get to the garden." I say hoping my voice didn't sound too shaky. "No can do miss, you need to get back to your room." The guard tells me, his eyes staring straight ahead. "Please, I, I just need a moment." I beg, taking a step closer and that's when they both move their eyes to look at me, their mean stares making me shiver. "Not allowed, back to your room miss!" The other guard speaks.

Suddenly another set of steps are heard and the guards stand straighter. I don't dare to make a move and look at who it might be. "Your majesty!" They say in unison and the blood freezes in my veins. I've never heard him speak before, his voice sounds so clear, a bit raspy, but still sweet, like warm honey. "Lay her be!"

"Your majesty, we can't-" the guard protests. "I said let her be, open the doors!" They do as he says and I don't wait to walk out, the cold air hitting my warm skin leaving goosebumps. "Stay 5 minutes, then back to your room, if you won't go willingly they have my permission to drag you there." I stop and without turning around I say. "Thank you, your majesty!" My voice sounding like it's under water.

I didn't stay too long after I heard him walk away, running back to my room almost immediately after. Sleep came to me easily after that, but I still felt restless now as Jane brushed my hair into a braid. They put me into a floor length light green dress, with beautiful lace details all around the corset. I looked like a princess this morning when I looked at myself in the mirror and I couldn't believe it and then for just a moment too long I had questioned why I pushed this competition away so vehemently. That last thought however got send back to the depth of my mind and I was now patiently waiting for my turn with the prince, tormented by the wonder of whether he would recognize me from last night or not. 

At last my turn comes and I get up from my seat, fixing my dress as I walk with my head down toward the table where he awaits for me. Sitting down, I still keep my eyes on the ground scared to look at him, feeling my heart thudding against my corset concealed chest. "Y/n? Right? Pleased to meat you, I do hope you're feeling better." His voice comes out first, breaking the silence and making me finally look at him. I had seen him on tv, but the screen did him no justice, the blue in his eyes is so electric, the gold in his hair, is so endearing, my fingers itched with the wish to have a feel at it, his pink lips look so soft and warm. Everything about him is inviting and the way he seats in his chair, leaned back with his legs crossed, his chin in his hand, makes him look so young and careless, which he is, being only 22 and a prince. 

"Yes, your majesty, I'm quite well, thank you!" I blush deeply, my hands clutching the material of my dress in a stupid attempt to calm my nerves. Austin's eyes move to my hands and back to my face, a concerned look painting on his god like face. "Are you all right? Lady Y/n?" He asks, changing his position in the chair, leaning towards me. "If you're not feeling well, I can have for the doctor to come and see you later Lady Y/n." He says in a whisper. The word doctor makes me immediately let go of my dress and smooth down the creases, breathing deeply. "I am fine your majesty, it's all nerves." 

Austin hums and I expect him to go back to his previous sitting position, but he doesn't, he actually leans a bit closer if that were possible. I can now smell his woodsy cologne and a warm fuzzy feeling takes over my body. "You don't need to be nervous, I'm just a boy, just as you are just a girl-".

"But you're not" I find myself rudely interrupting him. "You're going to be king some day and 35 women were randomly chosen to come here and allow you to peruse them. 35 is a strangely small number compared to all the women out there that could be potentially way better for you than any of us."

"Then why come here? Why put your name in the ballot in the first place?" He asks and I can't read if he's been offended by what I said or not. "Your majesty, I apologize!" I look away from him and I can't help but notice that the other girls are all watching us, just like I had watched the previous ones when they were up here. I can only imagine they are analyzing if he likes me better or not. 

"Don't apologize, keep talking, I feel you have a point." Austin urges me and I bite my tongue. "Lady Y/n, my situation is unique, but I have no choice, it does not matter if the love of my life is someone outside these walls, I am not allowed to meet them. So please keep talking!" I feel sad for him, it's clear he's thought the same thing as me, what if his one true love is not one of us, but he's obligated to choose one of us either way. 

"My favorite book, "Withering highlights" the protagonists were not allowed to love each other but they did and the impossibility of being together killed them, had they not ever met, they would've been able to love someone else and live. I think what I said is quite wrong your majesty, maybe neither of us will be the love of your life, but with time you might find someone among us, that you could learn to love and survive." 

Austin opens his mouth to say something, but he doesn't get the chance, since it's announced that our time is up and I must go in order for the next girl to come. I get up breathless and do a very bad curtesy. 

The rest of the day I can't help but feel like I'm sitting on egg shells, I knew I had let my stupid mouth speak before I gave to much thought, but something about him made me feel like I could speak my heart. Jane brushes my hair, as Jules arranges things around the room,  taking the pillows off the bed and putting in place the last things for me to go to bed. 

A knock on my door makes Jane jump as she brushes my hair and Jules goes to open the door. "Your majesty!" I hear Jules say and so I turn to see him, in all his glory, wearing the same dark brown suit from breakfast, only he's discarded the jacket and the tie, a few of the buttons from his shirt being undone and revealing some of his chest, the sleeves are rolled up and this look suits him much better than the previous. Realizing I was just sitting and staring, I quickly get up and curtesy. "Your majesty!" 

"How would you like a stroll out in the gardens, Lady Y/n?" Austin's voice is calm and my ears are ringing, so I barely make out what he's saying, but I nod. "Yes, um Jules, my robe please!" I say, remembering I'm just wearing my night gown, which was very inappropriate. "Lady Y/n!" Austin extends his hand and I walk the few steps over to him, putting my significantly smaller arm around his. 

He takes the lead and walks us out of my room and to the gardens. My thoughts are racing, I'm not stupid I know he could have every advantage right now to try and make an inappropriate move onto me, but he doesn't seem like that kind of guy, but how does that kind of guy look anyway. 

"You're awfully quiet." He says as we walk through the dimly lit gardens. "I was waiting on you your majesty." He stops and turns to look at me. "Why so?" Austin asks blinking. I simply shrug my shoulders. 

He sighs and licks his lips, walking further into the gardens without another word. The whole situation is rather spooky and I can't help the anxiety building up inside me. Soon we get to a table, decorated with candles and flowers, steaming cups of tea resting on it. "I thought we might enjoy some hot tea, it's a bit chilly out." He pulls my chair out for me and I sit down hesitant. 

"Tell me more about you, your favorite book is "Withering highlights", what else do you like?" It takes me a moment to realize that he is being serious I can't stop the giggle that comes out. Confusion is once again shown on his face, but this time is accompanied by something else, the corner of his mouth slightly pointing up, he's amused too. "You really want to know?" 

"Well I must find a wife somehow." The breath gets knocked out of me by his statement, for a split second I had forgotten why I was here, to play in the game of selection. 

"I like to bake and knit, I make clothes for my siblings all the time, but by far my favorite thing is painting, there's something so strange about being able to use my own hands to capture a moment I time li you would a picture." He looks at me as I talk and something in his demeanor tells me he's actually interested. 

"Picture, I, well I don't paint, but I do enjoy photography." He admits, his eyes glimmering with excitement. "Really? And what do you find best to photograph? Objects, humans or nature?" I ask, Austin blushing slightly. "All, I can't say I'm that good, I don't have enough time to dedicate to the hobby, but I enjoy it." 

"I don't believe that you must show me one day, any kind of art is good art. I don't have any of my paintings here, but perhaps if I got the supplies I could paint you something!" I propose, trading the experience of showing off our works of art. "Perhaps one day." Austin says absentmindedly, clearing his throat before getting up. "It's late, I should escort you back to your room!" He says hastily. 

I don't bring up how neither of us even touched the tea or what a short time had passed since we got here, the tea still steaming in the cups. Something about him has changed, he's much colder, stiffer if you may. No more words are exchanged between us, except the good night he rapidly wishes me, before walking away.

I'm left confused and with another feeling stuck in my heart, because for a moment there I actually let myself go and I got happy? Maybe, I don't know. 

Sleep came to me very difficult and when I woke up this morning I had a headache, I didn't want to see or talk to anyone. As Jules is complaining that I had tangled my hair so bad in my sleep another knock is heard and my heart stopped. Is this hope I'm feeling? Hope that is Austin? 

"Lady Y/n, a package for you!" Jane announces. 

I get up taking the note from her hand, looking at the huge box that bigger than her. I open the small envelope and the first thing I notice is the very clean and neat handwriting. 

 <Lady Y/n,

I hope you will forgive me for leaving so hastily as I did last night, but I figured that our encounter wasn't quiet up to etiquette and in fear of damaging you or me, I thought it better continue some other time. Please forgive me and accept this gift, I hope you'll have a painting to show me soon enough

A.B>

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[nasuversekinkmeme]

Weekly Roundup (25/12 - 31/12)

TSUKIHIME

Some honestly sweet holiday fluff with the tsukihime cast of op's choosing

FATE/APOCRYPHA

In an alternate world, rather than summon Astolfo, Celenike summons servant Rider Goredolf Musik, driver of the Shadow and Storm Borders, he who's driving skills escaped the apocalypse twice. While everyone else is reeling from the implications that not only was a modern mage able to enter the Throne, but that said mage also was of the Musik line, Goredolf is panicking because if he, a member of Chaldea, was summoned, things are about to get very bad very fast.

FGO

Foreigner's New Years party, go as insane, as horny or as wholesome as you want

Hello fellow enjoyers of FGO! For No FGO January, I present to you all a very simple prompt. Show me your mastersonas! I don’t care under what context, how they’re doing, who they’re fucking, whether it’s wholesome, angst, whatever, I just want to see artworks/stories/whatever of your own original characters. Take this month of No FGO prompts to share what you already have, I look forward to seeing what you all have in store!

as a harmless prank, Mash and a few other servants (can be anyone like habetrot, caster cu, etc) dress up as caterpillars. It’s up to the writer/artist to decide how Morgan reacts to seeing mashu and co. in caterpillar suits.

If there was one place Ritsuka Fujimaru never expected to end up after everything with the Lostbelts and Ordeal Call was well and truly over, and the Earth was back to the way it was supposed to be... it was finding work at NFF Services, working directly under both Koyanskayas, no less. They were expecting to be worked to the bone, given their past interactions, but weirdly enough, they've been just... nice to them? Ritsuka keeps suspecting some kind of sinister plot, or cruel joke, but apparently the Koyans are just THAT invested in the well-being of their employees. Even more so in Ritsuka's case, given that they answer directly to both Light and Dark. It's still weird... but in a good way, they supposed.

Guda twin! Au where Gudako and Gudao meet once a week at Moriarty's bar to just hang and talk. Often these conversations end up being about their individual harems. (Whoever is in each harem is up to the writer but preferred that both are bisexual harems)

ranmaru x takes ritsuka back to her planet, and it’s up to the gudaguda gang to get ritsuka back!

so I found out by a yt short that takeda likes boys and writes passionate love letters to them. how about Kagetora and/or Nobunaga making fun of him for his passion for boys

thanks to the event I need some Ibuki x Habetrot for no reason other than major size difference makes brain go brrr. Smut is optional but there's gotta be emphasis on how wide the height gap is.

smut, While he mostly feeds of dreams. Merlin does occasionally need sex as every incubus does. Being one of the only human's alive, Gudako agrees, thinking that it's just gonna be a quickie. Cut to hours later. Gudako's mind has turned to mush and she's super overstimulated, begging Merlin to stop but he just. Keeps. Going. (yes I'm very horny for Merlin if you can tell)

I just finished LB6 and I have the BIGGEST Mélusine brainrot right now! I would appreciate anything about Mélusine x Female Ritsuka! Thanksss

taigong trying to have a peaceful fishing day but weird shit keeps happening so he says screw it and proceeds to annihilate anything that tries to fuck it up

Koyanskaya of Darkness is perusing her catalogue and pondering what new creatures to add to it when a flash of inspiration comes to her; what better way to add to her wares than to collar her own Light form? (smut is optional but recommended)

smut, Castoria x Tonelico sloppy sex. If they use Merlin's magic dick(tm) or not is up to the author

Agravain, despite what others might think, loved his siblings. He always had difficulty showing it, its true, but he never hated them or anything. This is why he would always send them out on missions. He believed in them that much. And so, Agravain awaits two of his siblings at the execution grounds for the traitor Guinevere when a scout arrives.

ANY

Write the killing blow your servants performed on a boss of your choosing. To give an example, here's mine. It was close to the end, Ritsuka could feel it. The immature Evil was worn down and she had only one retainer left, the other recently slain by Lobo before he was taken out. Taigong Wang and Mélusine fired off their noble phantasms, killing the last retainer before revealing that the immature Beast yet lived. She retaliated with her own, forcing Taigong out of the fight as Mélusine was the last one standing. Ritsuka used her last two command seals to heal Mélusine and give her one final order. "By my command seal, Mélusine, unleash your noble phantasm!" She took to the sky chanting. "My name is Albion. The last dragon who opens the boundary! From Geoffrey to Fromont! Show us the time, Tukedight!" Not taking any chances, she struck while Koyanskaya was still reeling from the blow. Koyanskaya retaliated with devastating strikes as the two realized something. Both were close to death and their next clash would be their last. They pushed themselves to their limit but unfortunately for the immature Beast, Mélusine was much faster. With energy from her weapons forming a dragon's maw, she crunched down on Koyanskaya, finally putting their battle to an end.

CROSSOVER

After Mirei Park's offer and ultimatum, rather than go to Fukuoka, Kiryu goes to Fuyuki and starts a new life there. He becomes intertwined with the local Yakuza and, by extension, the participants of the 5th Holy Grail War. When the events of Yakuza 5 begin, Daigo makes an alliance with the Fujimura Family, and soon, all hell breaks loose. The conspiracy is expanded in scale due to influence from magi seeking to claim the Grail for themselves, and Kiryu must work together with Rin, Shirou, Sakura, and Rider to keep the ones they love safe.

[symphonic-scream]

hi I am thinking about niijima twins

goro should go to a school other than shujin because I would personally find it funny. shujin wants him to be the guy for the festival and so makoto just casually lets it slip that she can get goro-nii to come. no one is aware of them being siblings just for the funny factor

Hi! Thanks for your input, but I'm keeping him at Shujin, since I had many reasons for it in the first place

I will be explaining them all.

Okay so firstly, it's a known point that they're siblings. Goro rarely is at school due to being a detective, but it's still a point that most teachers and third years see Makoto as "Goro's younger sister"

Cause. There's a greater emphasis on her feeling subpar in this au, from her amazing big sister and genius twin brother. She finally had student council president, which she won and he didn't have, and suddenly he's the second Detective Prince? Shattered.

Having him known as her brother also adds an extra layer of tension for him being close to their secret. The one trying to arrest them is literally always a breath away, that's a lot of added tension

The bit of him being a guest at the festival? Removed. He doesn't have that big speech in front of the school. Instead he finds his sister and her friends during the event in a crowded hallway and loudly answers that he has his beliefs about who the thieves are

He's challenging her in that moment. He called her a pushover before, told her all she was to him was a stepping stone towards his great destiny. She meets his challenge head on. Asks why he's telling her and not the police. He smiles, and mentions it's just a, shot in the dark. Offers to buy the group something from a booth

Then he forces his hand, makes the deal.

Anyways, I find it funnier for him to be a Shujin student :) and I, put effort into some of this,

MY MAIN POINT of this au was challenging myself to do a Goro redemption sort of thing, and to beef up Makoto's arc. She's my favourite besides Haru, and I felt the game really undersells her and then TURNED HER INTO A COP??? Fuck no. So, two birds one Megidolaon, as it were

Again, thank you So much for the ask,

[bl-bracket]

Best Siblings Round 1: Cher & Thoop (A Boss and a Babe) vs Aek & Tho (Don't Say No)

[Submitted Reasons Under Cut]

Cher & Thoop: "Though they aren’t technically related, they consider each other to be brothers, particularly after the loss of Thup’s older sister and Cher‘a best friend/first love. Though they aren’t always on the best terms, they do eventually come to an understanding, and Cher always does his absolute best to take care of Thup no matter the personal cost to him, being his only source of support a lot of the time. I just love the concept of two characters who decide to choose each other and make each other their family in a time of great loss, especially considering how shitty Thup’s biological family is in the show. Also, the emphasis Cher puts on the fact that he doesn’t love Thup solely because of the connection with his sister, but he loves him for HIM, as his own person, is very important to me."

Aek & Tho: "They’re twins but have completely opposite personalities, and yet they support each other and look out for each other."

[ab-art-07]

Warning for spoilers for EMESIS BLUE.

1. Since the Respawn Machine is a big reference to The Jaunt by Steven King, we can assume it works in a similar way- but instead of shooting the user forward in time, it pulls it backward, restoring it to the state it was in before extreme trauma (I.E, being attacked or shot). Since this does meddle with both time and space, and the Respawn Machine at the Slaughterhouse is incredibly overused and overworked, time loops and physical space warping occurs. That’s also one of the reasons for all of the clones/respawned REDs being deformed.

2. Dell and his siblings don’t have eyes likely due to an aforementioned malfunction of the Respawn Machine (also demonstrated in the prelude of the film). Demo’s eye returns in the bar because Dell’s is a form of purgatory/afterlife. In that scene, he is dead or actively dying from frostbite. The emphasis on eyes and their destruction/nonexistence could also be a form of allegory for the damage caused by ignoring the issues caused by the RM, or an allegory for how Mann Co. and Helix Technologies intentionally hides the RM and its ethical/functional issues from both the public and their workers- a form of “blinding them” so to speak.

3. “M” is a movie also shown in part in the early stages of the film. It’s an older German movie about a serial child murderer who was identified by a chalked-on M on his jacket. When he’s revealed, he claims that he isn’t in control at those moments, and is piloted by something else (possibly an alternate personality/identity or something supernatural, though it’s left ambiguous). This movie, and the scenes it’s played in certain parts of the film, are connected to the story. When Jeremy’s mother is murdered and he’s kidnapped, the movie has just started, with the silhouette of M approaching and taking a child (who he later murders). Meanwhile, Scout is approached by and taken away by a mysterious figure. Later on, when Medic decides to investigate Jeremy and his Ma’s apartment, the end of the movie is playing- where M is revealed, and he explains his “situation”. This is when Fritz sees the corpse of Jeremy’s mother, and faints with his eyes switching between blue and red.

4. Probably, that makes sense. No other comment.

5. The briefcase contains a Respawn Core, which is what powers the Respawn Machine. Fritz revives after being shot by one of the Twins due to the Core being inside of the nearby briefcase. I also believe that his increased strength and abilities during the short period of time after reviving are due to the fact that the Core is emitting a less diluted form of energy, which gives him a temporary boost.

6. The Laboratory, which Cyclops/Demo entered when Soldier was talking to Archibald, was used for cryogenic storage of clones. I believe whatever was regulating the temperature had broken for one reason or another, causing him to freeze to death. You see the sign flicker from “Bar” to “Laboratory” when he enters.

7. This was also before he got shot by who we can presume to be The Smoker, or who I like to call “Crispy Spy” or “Crispy Jacques”. He, and Mann Co., are ultimately the greatest enemies to reveal themselves. We could also say that maybe the greatest enemy was Fritz after respawn, but I doubt that he is the one Cyclops was talking about, considering he and Jane (Soldier) team up against Mann Co. in the end.

8. Shortly before the release of Emesis Blue, Fortress Films released a short titled “Spy’s Disguise”. This takes place before the events of EB, but are just as important. Basically: a BLU spy gains the ability to shift into Engineer’s creations, allowing him to become partially machine. The opposing RED Engineer, Dell, decided he had to get rid of this overpowered son of a bitch permanently. So, he goes and destroys the map/warzone’s Respawn Machine. Ultimately, Dell and the rest of the RED team is killed by the BLU Spy, who has an existential crisis over his being now being fused with being a machine. Dell haunts the Spy, and is basically a ghost/hallucination. Now, in EB, Maynard is informed of his little brother’s death just as Fritz arrives to save Jeremy, though he is unsure if his brother is actually dead or MIA. The Dell we see in Spy’s Disguise and the Dell we see in EB are one and the same. Demo even mentions the incident to Dell when at the bar.

Hope this helps- I can also link the analysis video I got most of this from.

EMESIS BLUE QUESTIONS AND DISCUSSION! LETS TALK!

HI I REALLY WANNA HAVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT EMESIS BLUE WITH PEOPLE. I have lots of theories about certain things, and i reckon I can explain quite a bit, so if you have questions about the movie I could provide some ideas and theories! But also, I have my own things that I CANT decode and I’d love to hear others thoughts. I would love to write an essay explaining the whole movie as best I can. Here’s my questions: 1. Time Loops – whats going on with that? It’s to do with the respawn machine of course, but I don’t get it. 

2. Maybe characters have something wrong with their eyes. Maynards eyes are missing, so i assume it’s the same with Zed and Dell. Demo/Cyclops has his eyepatch of course, but you see his eye in his purgatory hallucination scene in the bar with Dell. does this mean something? Also, theres a couple times where another version of medic is seen with his eyes ripped out. AND ALSO after he dies in the crash. One of these people have to do with the quote “My eyes hurt.”

3. The ‘M’. – assumed to stand for Medic or Maynard. I don’t think it’s Medic, and Maynard I feel is too irrelevant? Idk. could be to do with the RED medic seen a few times.

4. The wheelchair – maybe irrelevant, but i find it curious that a wheelchair rolls across the floor when Soldier saves Archibald, but also, Soldier ends up being in a wheelchair at Archibalds funeral. Interlinked?

5. The briefcase – I got nothin. I’m so confused.

6. Cyclops’ death – frozen?? What happened there?? 

7. “A greater enemy has yet to reveal himself.” – said in a few seconds where Cyclops suddenly appears on screen during the scene where Soldier is in the giant thing with all the past clones, just before Heavy appears. What does this mean? I feel like it’s not to do with heavy.

8. Dell – there is so much mystery behind his character. He’s obviously dead, i don’t think that needs to be explained. Why is he the one to show up in both Cyclops’ and Medics purgatory hallucination things? Is he somehow linked with the respawn machine? Why wasn’t he ever respawned either?

Please share ideas, and if you have questions, ask too! I’d love to have a big discussion.

[bbygirl-aemond]

Ch18 Spoilers: What the Hell Happened with Aemond

Hehe okay I don't have the patience to wait until the explanation fits into the narrative, because it won't come up for a while. Daeron's gonna have to do a lot of digging back at the Citadel before anyone in-universe finds this out; until then, they're all going to treat it a bit like a miracle since they won't know any better. But y'all know me, and y'all know that if I do anything I make sure it's canon compliant in like ten different ways haha. I've put a ton of thought into this and didn't write this plot point just for funsies!

Also, if anyone wants to wait to find out, by all means do! But the reveal won't be treated as a huge plot twist, so you'll still be able to enjoy Stormbreak with all of the expected amounts of suspense if you want to read further! So if you want to know how Aemond pulled off what he did, or exactly what he pulled off, read on!

Before you read this post, read this one here because otherwise parts of this will seem like they come out of nowhere.

Basically, if a rider comes across a dragon who is directly related to their claimed dragon (parent/child/sibling), there's a possibility that they can claim that second dragon. I got this idea from all of the emphasis of the phrase "blood of the dragon," because it was interesting to me that the only bloodlines that seemed to matter were the Targaryen ones. But what if the ability to form this bond was inherited on the dragon side as well? Remember that every single dragon in Westeros is a descendant of the first dragons who came over from Valyria with the Targaryens, all of whom had this type of bond.

But a rider can ONLY form a simultaneous bond with another dragon if that second dragon is currently unclaimed. Remember that in my lore, nothing can replace or break an existing bond. And I maintain that! So RIP Joffrey, and please don't try to get on Syrax, she already has a rider and she won't accept another; no dragon with a rider ever will. This is also why Rhaenyra didn't bond with any of her sons' dragons, even though I think most of them probably hatched from Syrax's eggs: They were all placed inside her children's cradles, and basically bonded the second they hatched.

Since it's canonically really difficult to get an egg to hatch, even if you're a Targaryen, I also think that an egg is unlikely hatch for a rider who already has a dragon; if they want a second one, they'll have to claim an adult, "widowed" dragon rather than hoping that one will hatch for them. For example, if Rhaenyra wanted to claim a second dragon, she'd need to wait for one of Syrax's eggs to (1) hatch on its own and grow a little, or (2) get and lose a rider before trying to claim it.

How does this fit into canon? Well, if you check all of ASoIaF canon (I don't recommend it, since it takes forever, but I did), there is no instance of a Targaryen coming across an unbonded dragon related to their current dragon, aside from possibly Daenerys, who does succeed in forming a relationship with her three dragons. I've described here that I think Daenerys's bond with her dragons is meant to be a bit unique, but I acknowledge that the vast majority of the fandom considers her to be a rider of three dragons, not just one. And Daenerys's dragons are all siblings, and all of them were unclaimed when she came upon them! You can believe this without contradicting the idea that she was only able to hatch them because of a blood sacrifice. So it works for the same reasons that Aemond claiming Vermithor works, while preserving Daenerys's narrative importance as being different from all who came before her! She's still the first Targaryen to ever hatch and claim multiple dragons at once, and she's still the first Targaryen to have three dragons at her beck and call.

This adds more nuance and emphasis to the focus in Valyria on twins, siblings, and family. If bloodline matters on both sides of the dragon-rider bond, it's a great thing for dragons to be related to each other, since it increases the likelihood of a rider being able to claim multiple dragons. It's also going to help me play a ton more into the narratives that I've been setting up of the rule of three ("the dragon has three heads, and all that").

Finally, this lets me pay homage to how Aemond actually claimed Vhagar in the books. I understand why they did it differently in the show, and actually have no complaints about the scene where he claims Vhagar; I think it's one of the best scenes of season 1. But in the books, Aemond scrambles up Vhagar's side and into her saddle so quickly he doesn't even have time to worry about possibly dying:

And I love that this moment allows me to parallel what happened in the books, and stay very true to his actual character and personality. For all that bloodline is important, I also didn't want to ignore that the personality of rider and dragon do have to be compatible. I think Vermithor was probably pretty impressed at Aemond's sheer audacity, just like his mother once was. Plus, we know that in the Dance they specifically only let men try to claim him because it was suspected that he'd only tolerate male riders because of Jaehaerys.

Anyways, as always I've put way too much thought into this haha. But this is part of why I've been emphasizing the phrases "blood of the dragon" and "the dragon has three heads" and why I've written the dragon bond in general as almost a familial bond.

TLDR: Any dragonrider, not just Aemond, would be able to claim a second dragon, ONLY IF that dragon is a direct relation of their first dragon, and ONLY IF that dragon does not have a bond already in place. There are just so few dragons that this opportunity has never presented itself before in Westeros, but I think it was probably common back in Valyria, hence the focus on the "blood of the dragon" and the symbol of three in Targaryen culture. This also helps to explain why Daenerys was able to bond with her three dragons, if you subscribe to the belief that she's got an equivalent type of dragon-rider bond.

[sevenkittensinatrenchcoat]

Cast Interviews From 1986 vs. 2016

So, I’ve found a podcast that’s been interviewing various Cats cast members and superfans. Most of the interviews come from the cast of the Broadway Revival, but there are also several interviews from US Tour III which went from 1986 to 1988. So we’ve got a bit of both old and new. Here’s what I’ve learned about how things have changed over the years and why the Broadway Revival is such a confused mess:

In the interviews of US Tour III cast members, it seemed like everyone was told the story of the play and had a pretty clear idea of what was going on. Some actors were given backstories for their characters, but the amount of detail varied. Actors cast as Munkustrap and Tugger were told that their characters were brothers and the sons of Old Deuteronomy. Actors cast as Demeter were given a full backstory for the character. However, Grizabella’s story remained vague. Bombalurina, Mistoffelees, and Sillabub also had no confirmed backstories, and most of their characters were improvised during rehearsals. Also, since this tour was from 1986-1988, a lot of cast members don’t remember a lot of what they were told. It’s been a while.

Out of the backstory and character information provided, Demeter’s was the most consistent. She was kidnapped by Macavity, escaping shortly before the events of the play. She’s an outsider to the tribe, but she knows Bombalurina and stays close to her. Bombalurina also had some experience with Macavity, but she enjoyed it more than Demeter did. This lines up with what Jacob Brent said about Demeter in the 1998 version.

Some character dynamics are different from more modern versions. Alonzo is Demeter’s love interest, as was typical with Broadway-based productions. Also, in most productions, Alonzo doesn’t get along with Tugger, but he’s a fan of him in this version.

Outside of Alonzo, it was made perfectly clear that Mistoffelees was played as a full adult, the same age as Munkustrap. The actor who played him throughout the tour, Randy Slovacek seemed to have made up most of Misto’s characterization in that production by himself. Misto was friends with Grizabella in the past and wasn’t upset by whatever she did to upset the others. When she first appears, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, taking the place of Coricopat and Tantomile, who were cut for the tour, run up to her and try to chase her away. Misto calls them off, but Munkustrap won’t let him do anything else to help her and he respects his authority too much to try anything.

The interviews of the Broadway Revival cast tell a very different story of what was going on behind the scenes. Apparently, they were rushed for time and there weren’t as many rehearsals before the show as there usually are. That, combined with the new choreography meant that nobody really knew what they were doing. Munkustrap and Tugger were confirmed to be siblings, but very little backstory information was given outside of that. The few cast members who worked with Gillian Lynne seemed to have a better idea of what was going on with their characters. Andy Blankenbuehler was still figuring things out and wasn’t able to offer similar clarity. The few times anyone was told anything, it was usually by Trevor Nunn.

Basically, Nunn and Lynne invented Cats, and nobody else seems to know how the fuck any of it works.

Tyler Hanes and Sara Jean Ford knew each other before being cast and they came up with a lot of backstory for their characters, which everyone else got drawn into. Ford played Jellylorum as the same age as Tugger. Since the actors are best friends, so are the characters, even though that makes little sense with their personalities. Jennyanydots, Bombalurina, Demeter, and Grizabella were in that same age range as well. It appears that nobody was anywhere between Munkustrap and Old Deuteronomy in age, for some reason. Jenny and Skimble are a couple in this version, so Skimble’s probably also in this group. They have kittens together. Electra and Rumpleteazer are among them, though nothing was said about Mungojerrie. The merge with Coricopat and Tantomile in the US Tour implies that they’re twins in that version. In the Broadway Revival and the tour based on it, they’re apparently unrelated.

Grizabella ended up with a far more detailed backstory, all made up by the cast. She’s Jellylorum’s sister and she stole a man away from her and Jelly never loved again. None of the kittens are Jelly’s, though she’s sort of the nanny to all of them. Griz also had some sort of affair with Tugger and broke his heart, which is why he doesn’t do commitment. Then, Griz ran off with Macavity, got dumped for Bombalurina, and then she got dumped for Demeter who decided that Macavity was bad news pretty early on and ditched him. The relationship was abusive, but no one mentioned a kidnapping. After leaving Macavity, Griz was no longer welcome in the tribe, even though Bomba and Demeter were because Reasons. Forgetting that these characters are not human, she then got addicted to drugs, was driven to prostitution to support her drug habit, had a bunch of kids, and then left those kids to be raised by Jenny, who resents her for it. Nobody says which kittens are Grizabella’s. Portions of this backstory were used in the 2019 movie.

Also, I can say that some of the characterization issues with Tugger were, in fact, a direct result of the choreography changes. Tyler Hanes wanted to play up the sexuality of the character in a way that the new choreography didn’t allow. If Gillian Lynne’s choreography had been used for the number, Tugger’s characterization probably would’ve turned out very different, but the changes meant that what Hanes knew about the character, and how the audience perceived the character, were altered by the new choreography putting emphasis on vanity instead of sexuality.

So, that’s the story so far. Compared to at least one early production, the Broadway Revival was rushed and poorly thought out. The actors were given little information and left to fend for themselves, and they prioritized their bonds with their irl friends over what made sense for their characters. Interviews of cast members from both the revival and the following tour reference Andy Blankenbuehler as the one who had all the information, who the cast looked to for instructions. But, he had no idea what he was doing and couldn’t really help them.

Most of the problems can be traced to Blankenbuehler not knowing what he was doing and never really figuring it out. Though, some blame has to be placed on the cast who, left to their own devices, had a lot of bad ideas. Hanes and Ford in particular, though it was good that someone was trying to take charge, created a bit of a mess. None of Jellylorum’s character resembles any other Jellylorum characterization I’ve ever seen, and it doesn’t even come across clearly on stage. The young cast all seemed to struggle with the idea of playing older characters and nobody told them that they couldn’t age them down. The generation gap between Tugger and Jenny and Jelly is character information that’s now completely lost on the audience. You need older characters disapproving of Tugger to show that he’s a controversial figure to the tribe, not just an annoyance to Munkustrap.

But, some of the worst characterization problems were not entirely the fault of the cast. As I mentioned before, Tugger’s characterization was changed by the choreography. Grizabella had already been aged down by her redesign. Since Demeter’s kidnapping backstory wasn’t explained, this affected how Demeter was portrayed. Her sympathy for Grizabella came from having been on that side of town as Macavity’s prisoner and seeing the condition she was in. Without that backstory, Kim Faure may have not known that Demeter was supposed to have sympathy for Grizabella and interpreted her part differently. This was the result of unclear direction.

What We’ve Learned Today:

1. In the 1980s, Mistoffelees was, in fact, played as older than Jacob Brent played him in the VHS.

2. Munkustrap and Tugger (and not Mistoffelees) have pretty much always been the sons of Old Deuteronomy.

3. The backstory Jacob Brent gave for Demeter was the standard backstory for the character well before the VHS was filmed.

4. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were considered twins in the 1980s and most likely continued to be seen as such until the revival era, though I haven’t exactly checked in with every single production.

5. The Broadway Revival was a behind the scenes and nightmare and it’s mostly Blankenbuehler’s fault.

6. Gillian Lynne wrote Cats. Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote a concept album.

7. There are no middle-aged cats in the 2016 revival. I think Sara Jean Ford started it.

8. The idea that Grizabella’s backstory involved Macavity started with the 2016 cast improvising.

9. Kim Faure’s Demeter was most likely OOC due to a removal or lack of explanation of backstory.

10. Sometimes it’s okay to do things the same way they’ve been done before.

[whatudottu]

Certainly a little out of the usual, I’ve been thinking about Ectonurites a bit, and I wanna talk about what I’ve come up with.

So, y’all know about Zs’Skayr’s nieces? If you do, no issue, if you don’t, it’s not required reading. It wasn’t his family that made me think of the idea but it certainly helped reinforce it.

What I’m trying to say here, is that I believe that Ectonurite families stick together like glue, and often… haunt a full house. Pun aside, I find it both hilarious and cute that these families would pick a place and linger, yada yada.

This also sorta means that they are naturally family oriented, with mega-sized events for gatherings and hangouts, super emphasis on marriages and relationships, as well as a lot of expectations for children. It can get to be a lot, especially if you’re the unlucky only child who’s solely put under the traditions of the house, so going off on your own isn’t unheard of.

In fact, it’s probably the reason why quite a few live on Anur Transyl (and perhaps other Anur System planets), they get away from the house and it’s gawking eyes and settle someplace where it doesn’t matter. One can simply lay low and relatively alone, with maybe a few friends and odd family, or they can even feel more free to make a family of their own, now under their own roof and time.

Zs’Skayr seems to live relatively permanently on Anur Transyl, and it could be because of political reasons being High Ectolord and all, but it could also be because yada yada, I don’t feel it necessary to make a family, yada yada, sibling comes with because same. Following the previous paragraph, however, Zs’Skayr falls into the former while his sibling can probably be in the second. The stitching and hair on the twins seems like something Transylian DNA may be more the result of, hehe.

Zs’Skayr may be annoyed at the twins’ tricks but he very much loves them.

And yeah, you can still love your family even if you’re away, even in Ectonurite culture. It’s just different strokes for different folks, people can stay and people can go.

I will say, found family is rather common. Be it with an established Ectonurite family welcoming another into their own, them welcoming another species into their haunt, or even a single Ectonurite forming a found family, anything can happen.

I suppose a positive to all this is that it’s absolutely abhorrent and universally unacceptable to harm anyone in the family. Straight up exile for it, booted straight out of Anur Phaetos and no coming back. Don’t know how the government system for Anur Transyl works, whether it be counsel or held under the rule of High Ectolord, Zs’Skayr is certainly one to advocate against domestic violence.

Now… what sparked this whole post?

…

hrnn assistant ghostie helping mummy seamstress get sales through family’s nepotism after move from anur khufos to earth

[notfreetoday]

Dear Luta, I'm going to take the liberty of hopping in on this one since I was tagged in the ask 😁😁 I hope you don't mind! (thanks @bloglouuniverse-blog1, glad you liked it!)

This got long - tl;dr at the end!

I just want to emphasize again that many aspects of East Asian culture will appear to the Western eye as something different than what it really is because we have grown up internalizing different societal "truths", and some of these are so fundamental that we do not realize how they shape our view of the world. (This post is going to go back to that independent vs interdependent self construal)

It is not uncommon to see the comment that one partner "infantilizes" the other in East Asian dramas. Amongst mixed race couples from Western & Eastern cultures - it is also not uncommon to hear the complaint that the Western partner felt like they were "being babied" or "had to baby their partner".

The reason this happens is because Western society, in general tends to have a very flat hierarchy. As such, many people do not have much of a frame of reference when it comes to close relationships in which there exists a power imbalance, except for the parent/child dynamic, or the teacher/student. Even then, many Western parents and teachers want to "become their child/student's friend". There is nothing wrong with this - along with individualism and independence, these are aspects of Western society and culture. All it is, is different.

But when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. So when you introduce power dynamics into a relationship, many people automatically think "who are you to tell me what to do? My parent?". And because of that link to parental relationships, power dynamics in any other kind of intimate relationship can feel, well, uncomfortable.

In East Asian culture, power dynamics are introduced to you before you can even talk. Between you and your siblings, you and your cousins, you and your uncles, aunts, your neighbours, the old man down the street, the random kids at the playground, your seniors in school and your teachers. Even twins less than a minute apart, will still be referred to as "older/younger". Literally with every other person besides you, exists a power differential, and you will be taught to recognise and navigate that differential, because it is a fact of life. Again, there is nothing wrong with this - along with the emphasis on the group and on interdependence, these are just aspects of East Asian society and culture. It is just different.

I must also stress, that power imbalance =/= abuse of power. Yes it happens, but it happens when things go wrong. The reason for this confusion is again, the lack of a reference frame. The parent/child and the teacher/student dynamic in Western culture, is linear. The parent/teacher holds the power, and the child/student is relatively powerless. When the child comes of age, he leaves. There is no expectation nor obligation for the child to return, because the role of the parent and teacher is generally seen as temporary. They are there to help the child survive, and when the child grows into an adult, he makes his own way.

This is not so in East Asian relationships, which are bidirectional and reciprocal. This means that both partners have a role to play and obligations to fulfill, no matter their position in the hierarchy. Those roles and obligations may change as both parties grow - for example, the child is expected to care for the parents in their old age - but both parties will always have something they are meant to contribute. It is easy to see that the older/more experienced person will care for, guide and correct the younger/less experienced person - but most people miss that, in return, the latter not only cares for the former, but also offers their respect in learning and their humility in receiving guidance.

You might be wondering how those things are important, given that they aren't even tangible objects to begin with. Remember when I said relationships are co-created by 2 interdependent individuals? This is what I mean. It takes 2 hands to clap - there is no "higher position of power" if the "lower position of power" does not exist, and vice versa. The existance of one justifies the existance of the other. It is the existance of the child that turns the person into a parent; it is the student that turns the person into a teacher. We are all defined by who we are in relation to one another. It's all very yin and yang isn't it? 😁

Tl;dr:

What this all means is, in the West, to love someone is to preserve their independence and individuality, because it is their uniqueness that gives meaning to who they are.

In the East, to love someone is to reinforce the relationship you have with them, because it is the relationship that you both share that gives meaning to who you both are. This is why amae is so important.

In other words, there is a lot more going on than just Segasaki leading/correcting/guiding Yoh (and part of Yoh's growth is his realization of how he too brings meaning to Segasaki's life).

Dear Lutha,

Thank you very much for your kind and quick response to my previous (and very first) question, which was about 'caging' in D/s relationships. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading your post on the topic.

Since I appreciate your thoughts so much, I am writing to you on another topic. In some dramas with strong D/s elements (such as Cutie Pie, Love in the Air, My Personal Weatherman, You are mine and even sometimes in KinnPorsche), infantilization dynamics are to be seen. This element is all the stronger as the age gap is marked, even though it can still show up anytime.

I'm not necessarily talking about the Dad/little dynamics, but of a more general Adult/minor type relationship, where the former leads and protects the latter through the usual parental tools (like scolding, giving lessons, correcting, punishing, rewarding etc.. .).

For me, this pattern is for example very strong in a series like My Personal Weatherman, where Segasaki assumes a parental role towards Yoh, who often acts and speaks like a child (either spontaneously or in reaction to his partner's attitude). If I understand them correctly, @notfreetoday's detailed and fascinating posts on language(s) in My Personal Weatherman tend to validate this impression.

So, I wanted to ask you a/ if you would also describe parts of these relationships as consensual infantilization and, b/ if so, if they are in your opinion different from common D/s dynamics. Or whether they should be seen as a particular expression of a mere D/s dynamics.

If you have time, I would be happy to read your thoughts on this matter. Thank you once again for your delightful posts.

Best,

Yassa

Hey Yassa!!!

I'm so glad you enjoy my writing. It means a lot!

"Where the former leads and protects the latter through the usual parental tools (like scolding, giving lessons, correcting, punishing, rewarding etc...)."

Labeling discipline as infantile is limiting. We use corrective tools even in the work place. If you mess up then you get scolded, given a lesson, correcting, and so on. We all need correction at any stage of age. It just depends on your hierarchy on how that correction is given. With a D/s relationship, the hierarchy places the Dom at the top. Therefor, if a Dom just like a Boss is found to be wrong, the consequences will be far different from those given to a sub or subordinate. It's an imbalance in power control.

However, I think I'm capturing what you are really trying to ask. All the shows you just mentioned are BT/b relationships. Which is a D/s relationship involving a Brat Tamer Dom and a brat submissive. This is the type of Dom that I am. We are typically very cool, calm, and collected. We are protective but much more loose on the leash than other Doms. We will often engage in romantic play or play fighting, but push us too far, and you will see an intensity in us that will send shivers down your spine. Regardless of how gentle we seem, we will gladly give it to you if you deserve punishment. Due to our submissives liking to push our buttons, you'll see a more tug of war relationship. Depending on if we want to get ahead of it or let it play out is how you'll see us lead. Which is why you see more disciplining in a BT/b relationship.

The Brat Submissive - Brats in general are overly-aggressive, sarcastic, sassy, and your general coyote. They have no intentions of submitting to anyone's authority or discipline if you have not earned their respect.

The SAM Submissive - The SAM is a type of brat. A SAM type submissive, also known as a Smart-Assed Masochist, is just that, a smart-talking submissive with a quick tongue. Usually, their Sammie behavior isn't actually a cry for attention; it's just their way of being playful. In fact, most SAMs when actually threatened with punishment will back off, saying that they were only playing and that they didn't mean anything by it. Occasionally, this behavior can be incredibly frustrating to their partners, but the rewards far out weigh the negatives.

My Beautiful Man: Starts out as M/s which is Master slave and moves into a deep D/s. No BT/t in this relationship.

Not Me: This is a soft D/s relationship, but it's there. White is a little bit of a brat but much more subservient.

Love In The Air: Very much BT/b relationship. With a Primitive Brat Taming Dom and SAM submissive.

Until We Meet Again: I recommend this one for seeing the difference between a deeper D/s relationship that is Dean and Pharm. In comparison to Win and Team who are BT/b.

Between Us: WinTeam's story. Brat Tamer with a SAM submissive. The difference in Team is that he is a Dom outside of their relationship. So what is called a Sexual Submissive Only.

I Will Knock You: Deep D/s with large age gap. The youngest being the Dom.

Stay By My Side: D/s relationship with a stricter Dom but a brat of a sub.

My Personal Weatherman: A Deep Brat Tamer with a brat submissive.

Hope this was helpful! 💜💜💜

[twdmusicboxmystery]

How Scars MIGHT Relate to Leah and Daryl

Okay Everyone, this is a post that I wrote like 6-7 months ago. It was after we learned about Leah and 10x18, but before the episode actually aired. It was really just conjecture on my part. Me, trying to connect patterns and similarities I was seeing.

Why didn’t I post it back then? Because we decided we thought Leah was a hallucination, and at that point, I thought this less likely to pan out.

What I’ll say now is that, if she IS real, this may still be true. And if she isn’t, this pattern may hold but it might be about some other character, other than her. 

Even if it turns out to be completely untrue, just see this as patterns I’m seeing that may come into play in the future. And I wanted to post this today, before ep 1 airs and ep 2 shows up on AMC+.

Also, someone sent me this yesterday:

Norman saying there’s some double agent stuff going on DOES suggest she might be a villain. It’s hard to interpret exactly what he meant by that, but this is one possibility. So here’s what I wrote to my fellow theorists several months back:

Here’s what I have to say about Scars, and I’m still grappling for how best to frame this, so I’m sorry if it meanders a bit. And honestly, it’s nothing super ground-breaking. It’s a lot of what we’ve already talked about concerning Leah, and it comes from what you found about the “masks” lines in the Michonne/Zeke convo, as well as between Daryl and Michonne in Scars. I’m really just giving more evidence for this and predicting a future storyline. You know, like I do. ;D

And one thing I will say is that, while I WANT to tie this to Leah because both her storyline and Jocelyn’s happened during the 6 year time jump, I’m not 100% sure this even has to do with Leah. It might, but it also might not. So, I think this is a coming storyline one way or the other. But it may have to do with Leah or may be completely independent of her. No way to tell, yet.

So, in both conversations (both between Michonne and Zeke and Michonne and Daryl on the swings) they talk about people wearing figurative masks. Daryl specifically talks about someone who has so much evil in their hearts that they actually lie about who they are and present themselves in one way, as one type of person, when really they’re the opposite. 

We see this theme played out all through Scars, because obviously Jocelyn did that. But now that I’m alert to it, I’m seeing it a lot. Even in 10x17, the Sniper fell under this theme. Mostly literally in his case because he was wearing camouflage (a kind of mask) to hide out and kill people. But figuratively, that’s kinda what Jocelyn did, too.

Okay, so let me start at the beginning. I’ve watched Scars twice now and I’m thinking more and more that the thing with Jocelyn happened BEFORE Leah. Now that we know Daryl’s story spans 5 of the 6 years, I think Leah must happen after Jocelyn. Michonne is big and pregnant, so Scars can’t be more than 6 mos after Rick disappeared. 

Michonne asking Daryl if he’s okay being alone definitely hints at the Leah storyline (another reason to link Leah and Jocelyn). But I think it’s a jumping off point for his story. Because he tells Michonne he’s okay being alone, and in that moment, I think he really is. Or at least he really believes he is. The story with Leah will be him realizing he really doesn’t want to be alone. Romantically or otherwise. Which pushes him back toward TF when Carol comes knocking with Henry.

But let’s get to the good stuff.

After Jocelyn shows up, she tells Michonne that some of her kids aren’t with her and she wants to go get them. Jocelyn is hurt and Michonne’s about to pop, so neither of them go. But this is interesting. The three people who go to get her kids in the one building are Gabriel, Aaron, and Eugene.

It was Eugene that really caught my eye. I started going, “hmm. What could this foreshadow?” And I don’t know the answer in detail, but I think it may foreshadow his entanglement with Beth’s return in some way. And of course Aaron and Gabe are both major proxies for Beth, with Gabe being the resident Sirius character. So yeah, kind of side-eyeing that.

The next thing is that we see two hand-drawn posters detailing, through pictures, how to skin and drain both a deer and a rabbit. These are things Jocelyn has obviously made to teach the kids to survive. And I know we noticed them before, with the deer and rabbit being big Beth symbols. But I’m seeing a much bigger theme, having watched the episode several times.

The poster of the deer shows the deer strung up by its legs (head pointed down, I assume). Then, after they bring all the kids to Alexandria, we see several deer strung up this way, and Michonne comments that Jocelyn’s kids are amazing hunters. So, we learn that two of them, Winnie, the blond, and Linus, one of the boys, killed the deer and even prepared them for everyone at Alexandria.

But here’s where it gets more interesting. When Jocelyn captures Daryl and Michonne, she strings them up over pipes in exactly the way the deer being slaughtered are strung up. And of course she brands them like animals. So, in a way, they’re meant to be the deer that she’s going to slaughter.

And I’m not even sure exactly what to make of that where the deer symbol is concerned. I thought about how killing the deer does keep people from the danger of starving to death, so it fits with Deer = Tractor = getting rid of the threat, as I discussed HERE. But I also wonder if deer is synonymous with captivity in some way.

Then there’s the rabbit. I have less to say about it except that the biggest place we saw rabbits were around Lizzie and Mica. And the poster specifically lays out how to kill a rabbit, which is what Lizzie did to Mica. And I think it works here because we’re dealing with evil kids. Like Lizzie. (I will have more to say about the rabbit theory next week. We’ll see them in a big way in 11x01.)

This is where I’m going to link it to the good twin vs evil twin theme. Remember I talked about this with Noah’s twin brothers and of course Lizzie and Mica, even though they aren’t twins. I don’t think we have to have twins or even siblings for this theme, though it’s common for them to do it with siblings like Lizzie/Mica and even Daryl/Merle. Back in S4, there was Pete and his brother as well.

It occurred to me that we have a representation of it here, with Michonne/Judith on one side and Jocelyn/Winnie on the other. Sorry to go racial, but even the ethnicities match up. Michonne, a black woman with a Caucasian daughter (Judith) who isn’t biologically hers (good). And Jocelyn, a black woman with a Caucasian daughter (Winnie) who isn’t biologically hers (evil). See what I mean?

One scene that really jumps out at me is when Michonne and Jocelyn talk in the kitchen. Jocelyn goes out of her way to REALLY earn Michonne’s trust in that scene. Michonne even says, “I’m so glad you’re here,” so she’s obviously fully trusting and loving having her friend around. This is the biggest place where we see Jocelyn’s “mask.”

Then, when Michonne and Daryl are on the swings, Michonne says, “she was a friend. Like, a real one.” She talks about how they’d been through a lot together before, like heartbreak, losing parents, etc. And then she says, “I wanted it to be that way again. I believed her. I let my guard down. I should have known. Should have sensed something.”

Okay, so many ways I could go with that. First of all, it’s REALLY close to what Carol said about Lizzie. “I should have seen it. It was already there.” So, another link to Lizzie/Mica.

But I was also thinking that I can see Daryl thinking this about Leah. Like, he wanted to believe that she would stay with him, that he could love her, but it was all just a mask.

Okay, that may feel like it came out of left field, but it’s essentially where I’m going with this. Let me keep going and I’ll circle back.

When Scars first aired, I said I thought Jocelyn was an anti-Beth parallel. I don’t think many people agreed with me, but I believe that more than ever. And @wdway​’s X/Chevron stuff actually backs it up. My biggest reasoning, originally, was just all the child/baby stuff around Beth. I can see her doing something similar to this—raising an army of mini-Daryls—but of course she would be good and raise them with good values. Jocelyn will be a foil to her.

Watching it again, there are SO many Beth symbols around this Jocelyn story. There’s the deer and rabbit, which I’ve mentioned. At one point, Gabriel is telling a story to all of Jocelyn’s kids, and he covers one of his eyes, showcasing only his Sirius eye. We have Eugene going to find the kids. And of course, the X-shaped brands in Michonne and Daryl’s backs, which is where the Chevron stuff comes in.

So, one way or the other, I feel like this is a foreshadow of something to do with Beth and/or her return.

Then, at the end, I paid close attention to what Michonne says to Judith, and I picked up on a few things that had never registered for me before. Remember that, in this episode, they juxtapose these Jocelyn flashbacks with Daryl coming to Alexandria with Lydia and Henry, and Michonne doesn’t want them to stay, but Judith does, etc. And at the end, Judith takes off on her bicycle and Michonne has to go find her.

So, at the end, they’re sitting on the rock together and Michonne is telling Judith about the Jocelyn situation. She says that when Judith came out of the trailer, it “was like you were looking right at me and didn’t know it was me. I thought you’d changed, or that I’d lost you.” (Emphasis mine.)

Think about that. It’s a really odd thing to say about a two- or three-year-old kid. Like she thought Judith had turned evil or something. And I think plot-wise, she means that she thought Judith would think differently of her because she’d just killed all these kids. Michonne had a lot of guilt about that. But it’s a really odd wording, and kind of hearkens back to the mask symbol. People wearing masks, appearing to be something they aren’t.

We’ve also discussed extensively the idea of Beth’s memory loss: (X, X.) Maybe her seeing Carol but not knowing who she is, or Daryl seeing or hearing Beth but not believing it’s really her. It just sort of plays into the whole hallucination theme obliquely.

Judith then says that Michonne just didn’t look like herself because of all the blood, but after a moment, she saw it was her. So, more masks. And Michonne was kind of right. At first, Judith really didn’t recognize her, or at least thought she looked like someone else. More of the same theme.

But that bicycle is a big deal. It’s showcased obviously in the episode, and bikes almost always represent kidnapping or captivity. We saw them around Glenn in S1 when he was taken by the Vatos gang. We saw one outside the Claimer house when Rick got away. I feel like this foreshadows Judith being kidnapped. She already was once by Jocelyn. But Michonne sees that bike in the present-day scenes, which makes them a foreshadow, not a callback.

So, I’ll be the first to admit that this is mostly speculation and at least half head canon, but I’m really wondering if Leah and Beth will be the good and evil to one another. (This is obviously going to be the case in terms of a good/healthy vs unhealthy romantic relationships. And if Leah is a hallucination, and Beth will obviously be real, you can already see how they’re doing this with Beth and Leah.)

Leah is wearing a mask when Daryl is with her. And once again, she may not be totally evil like Jocelyn was. But she may be misrepresenting herself in some way. Toxic at the least, evil at the most. But maybe the reason she’s practically wearing Beth’s clothes is that she’s a foil or anti-parallel to Beth.

And you see what I mean about how, if Leah turns out to be a hallucination, clearly this won’t apply to her in a literal way.

I still think there’s a good chance she’s a hallucination, but I think this still applies. It wouldn’t be literal or physical if that’s the case, but she’s still the “bad” relationship as opposed to the good one Daryl will have with Beth. We all talked extensively about how unhealthy the relationship was right after 10x18 aired. How Leah gave him an ultimatum, didn’t seem to want to meet his family, etc. So, you can see that, real or not, the relationships will be juxtaposed, with one being good and the other, bad.

The other thing want to mention is that it’s interesting that they did this story (Scars) with Michonne instead of Daryl. It makes me think that something about Michonne and Rick’s reunion story might follow this template as well.

We’ve discussed how Leah might be part of the New Mexico symbolism, and I’ve had people message me that they’re afraid that when Daryl and Carol take off together for the spinoff, he’ll be looking for Leah. Now, I obviously don’t think he would be looking for her in a romantic/looking-for-Beth sort of way, but it’s possible that she may be involved.

And like I said at the beginning, I think there’s a good chance of parallels between Leah and Jocelyn, because they both happened during the 6-year time jump, and then there’s all the other ties like, “are you okay being alone,” the mask theme, and that Carol knew about her/the acorn conversation.

I’m actually thinking this less and less, now. I really don’t think the New Mexico symbolism will be fulfilled until the spinoff, and we already know Leah will be in s11. So, I suppose if she survives S11 (and depending on whether she’s real or not) she COULD still be involved, but the timelines just don’t seem to match up to me. At least, not right now. This may change depending on what S11 brings us.

So, total conjecture here, but I’m really wondering if Leah (or if not her, someone else Jocelyn foreshadowed) will kidnap Judith, and that’s why Daryl and Carol leave to go after her. It would fit with the TWB template for Daryl and Carol (Felix and Huck on TWB) to be following Judith (Hope and Iris on TWB). If so, Daryl might really might be following Leah to New Mexico, but not out some romantic inclination, but rather because she took the kids.

Another possibility, of course, is that Leah is real, but Daryl was drugged or is just remembering things wrong. If that ends up being the case, then this could still happen. But again, we’ll just have to wait and see.

So yeah. Let’s just say I have plenty of head canons filed away in which Beth kicks some evil Leah butt. I would enjoy that very much. :D Granted, it probably won’t play out quite that neatly for us, but that’s what head canons are for, right?

And as I said, I can’t be sure this has to do with Leah. It’s possible this storyline is completely independent of Leah, and she’ll be something else entirely. But I think something like this will happen either way. And I’m sure I’ll recognize it as fulfillment when it does.

Any thoughts?

[9h4mn]

because it's love | oneus

➞ oneus as side characters that likes the fl

➞ angst, one sided love

➞ side characters, at times they bring more light to the show then the mcs themselves. how are the 6 guys of oneus as side characters that likes the fl?

note:

mc - main character

fl - female lead

ml - male lead

warnings: constant switching between stage name and real name, overly possessive mls, terrible fls, sad oneus

ravn:

the pretty boy type

i mean look at him and tell me he doesn't fit this trope

this type of side character is too pretty to be one. many would even argue that he looks better than the ml. he is also portrayed as somewhat vain and plain out confident in his looks

as this is youngjo, he doesn't come out as cocky. he really should be confident because he has the looks to match

so girls (and some boys) confessing to him weren't that much of a surprise. whats surprising however is the fact that not once had he accepted their confessions

people would try to solve the mystery between ravn and his muse but alas it was a mystery better left unsolved

his muse comes in the form of the fl. same neighborhood, same schools all their lives but there was never a chance for them to get close

and his only notable appearance in the fl and ml's story was the time a pissed off ml had punch youngjo to warn the others who stares far too long at the fl

that day ravn didn't knew what hurt more; his face, his ego, or his heart

deep inside that wasn't his concerns. he simply hoped that he wouldn't see fl's scared expression ever again

but how was he to know when the ml used his parents' influence to drive ravn away?

seoho:

the comic relief type

(|||❛︵❛.)

this type of side character has a life where its basically treated as a comedy. whether or not he's doing things intentionally, it will always be treated as a joke and yes it includes him feeling actual pain

seoho had liked his life where he could make everyone smile

he hated seeing sadness or frustration clouding a person and even if he isn't close to them, he tries his best to cheer them up

and while there are times it brings so much humiliation for seoho, their smiles are more than enough

that was what he had thought before he met fl

the fl was the apple of his eyes and that one thing that makes everything better

yet...

why was she laughing at him?

why was she not laughing with him?

how come she never takes him seriously?

he had tried so hard to change his approach or demeanor for even just a second of her stopping with that sneering look but it never happened

he was treated as a joke, he is just a joke for her

but at least she's smiling — he had tried to reason out with himself

true enough if he was in some romcom, a laugh track would insert itself as he was hurting

seoho was there for everyone but who was there for him?

leedo:

the caring type

he looks scary but we all know that isn't the case

this type of side character is just so nice and caring. they might not outwardly say they care but by their actions you could tell that they do

gunhak seriously looks unapproachable but the way he smiles and moves, it erases all the prejudice you had at first glance

that and maybe because he works with children

(yes its kindergarten teacher! leedo time)

parents had thought that their kids would have feared him but now he is their favorite teacher

listen he's just soft for the kiddos and the parents could see that

the fl is also a teacher there and her cubicle is even just across gunhak's

the way how he hovers the fl like some mother chick was not seen as suspicious. almost everyone got that same treatment

it seriously had hurt when the fl has just brushed off his efforts as him being nice. it wasn't that noticeable but he gave the fl more effort than he does to everyone else

though it didn't compare when fl got a boyfriend. it hurt really bad for leedo especially when he sees how well the ml treats her

that should have been him if only he had the courage

keonhee:

the loud type

not to be confused with seoho's

this type of side character is just loud. happy? he screams. sad? he screams. scared? he screams. surprised? he screams. basically screaming is almost his natural response

he tries to control his volume but seriously it is out of control

its a miracle that he still has friends that has no problem being out with him

keonhee is that loud

nearby his university was a cafe that he almost always frequent at

the food and drinks there were really his style... that and it was affordable for a college kid

what connection does that cafe have with the fl? she works there

originally keonhee had thought nothing much of the fl but when she pulled "oh, keonhee right? same order as last time?" he was gone

such simple thing and yet it had managed to steal his heart

that was the beginning of many more mixed signals from fl and keonhee naively thinking of it as a good sign

and then he had witnessed fl running up to ml's — a well known playboy if i may add — arms and kissing the living daylight out of him

fl was just being nice, he shouldn't have assumed

he cried himself to sleep that night

hwanwoong:

the "gay" best friend type

note: emphasis on the air quote ""

this type of side character is the fl's best friend. he is rumored to be gay — the fl herself thinks he's gay — but the truth is he is just one effeminate guy

and what was the problem of being more feminine? hwanwoong saw nothing wrong with it

unfortunately he has to deal with how people treats him with the assumption that he's gay

such a backward society. he could only imagine how much worse it is for those who are truly part of the lgbtq+

no wonder he became known as some social justice warrior... and truthfully it was quite a good distraction to reality

yes it deepens his gay rumors but it was a reasonable excuse for him to not see the fl and ml being lovey dovey with each other

his duo with fl turned into a trio but unlike her promises — and hwanwoong himself did knew better than to believe her — he was an outsider

maybe it was just wistful thinking when back then he believed she'd end up liking him back

even the ml isn't threatened by his presence and every day hwanwoong had hoped it wasn't that cause

maybe by then she'd realize that he too is a man in love

xion:

the ml's brother type

i apologize in advance for the dong twins enthusiast

this type of side character is the brother of the ml. him and the ml are typically seen bickering childishly but they in fact cares for each other

basically just dongju and dongmyeong being true siblings

growing up with his twin had meant a lot of shenanigans — good or bad who cares it was the two of them against the world

around middle school, they both had began having their own crowd and it even reached to high school

they were still brothers but it doesn't necessarily mean that they are close

enter fl. dongju had always told himself that he didn't trust fate but the day he met her he had hoped that they were fated for each other

unfortunately he didn't have that much chance to approach the fl. not only was it hard but it was also because he kept on hesitating

crushing on someone that badly was just new to him

but of course there is no happy ending here

dongmyeong had introduced fl as his girlfriend and the inferiority complex had really slapped xion on the face

he found himself constantly asking why that even he no longer remembers what he's been asking for

whether or not fate is real, it works quite mysteriously

©9h4mn | all contents belong to me. do not modify or repost.