#I really think age is a huge factor in that mentality

[restinslices]

Everything

PJO Show Ares x Child!Reader (no gender specified)

Word count: 2459

Summary: Ares supposedly hates kids, so it’s really strange that he comes when you call. (Do not let the summary fool you, this is not fluff. Based on a dream I had a couple days ago. Warning for possible ooc Ares and brief mentions of abuse. Blink and you’ll miss it type shit)

“I don't wanna say”, Grover fingers fidgeted with each other as he purposefully avoided eye contact with you. 

“We're friends, right?”

“Of course!”

“Then you have to tell me! You spoke to my father, I gotta know what he said! What was he like? I bet he was really cool! Man, I wish I could've been there and talked to him”, you looked down at your shoes and added more misery to your face than was necessary. It was extremely childish and petty but Grover kept refusing to tell you what your father Ares was like. You had to know though. You doubted he brought you up, but you still wanted to know what he said and what he was like when he was just out and about. Grover had the opportunity to have a long talk with him and that was something you'd kill and suffer for. 

“I doubt you'd wanna do that” he mumbled, but you heard him. 

“Why'd you say that?” You asked. 

Grover refused to expound on what he meant… at first. 

Everyone knew Grover couldn't hold water so it didn't take too much prodding before he spilled his guts. 

The memory replayed in your head more than you'd like to admit, and if it were up to you, you'd no longer be a half blood. 

It made you feel pathetic. Tons of gods- no. All the gods were shitty parents. After all, they had children with mortals and left the children on Earth, knowing they'd be hunted down. Plenty of half bloods died in a gruesome painful way and at a young age. Plenty of gods never claimed their children, even if they made it to Camp Half Blood. But Ares did claim you, so you assumed that that meant he cared for you in some way. He even gifted you with a double sided sword. Surely, he must've loved you. 

You were foolish and you hated how foolish you were. You should've known he didn't care. He left you here with mortals and watched as your home life got worse and worse which was due to multiple factors including a piss poor mother and step family, the aura children of Ares give off that makes people around them experience rage and of course the random monster attacks that your family blamed you for. It was as if they thought you begged Ares to be his child. As if you'd ever do something as stupid as that. 

The rain soaked through your hood, making your hair all wet and gross. You were an idiot. You tried coming home for the school year, thinking maybe your family changed. They said they did. They tended to lie a lot though. You got into a huge fight and stormed out and you were in such a hurry that you completely forgot to grab your pouch full of drachmas and you didn't wanna step another foot in that house. So now here you were, outside with freezing cold hands that couldn't be warmed because your hoodie was soaking and you couldn't call Chiron. Perfect.

You checked your pockets once again, hoping to find something other than the lighter and fruit roll up that was there but alas, nothing magically appeared. You held the two objects in your hand and an idea formed in your mind. 

You could always set the fruit roll up on fire as an offering. You could pray to your father and hope he hears you and sends you something to help. 

No. That's incredibly stupid. Could you even light a fruit roll up on fire? It didn't matter. Not only was that the stupidest offering ever but you refused to pray to him. You'd rather sleep out in the rain then sneak inside when your family was gone to get your shit. 

You put the two objects in your pocket and let your head rest on your knees, exhaustion hitting. It wasn't even physical exhaustion. It was all mental and emotional. Like a leech was sucking on you constantly. Or a vampire. You'd prefer that. At least you'd die quicker. 

The hum of a motorcycle filled your ears, getting closer and closer. Best case scenario, it was a neighbor. Worst case scenario, it was a murderer. Honestly, you'd welcome both. 

The hum stopped and a familiar voice made you look up, “rough night”. 

It was him. Ares. God of war. Father to who knew how many. It was someone you definitely did not want to see… or so you thought. Part of you absolutely despised him now and everything to do with him and wanted to rip him apart. The other part of you though still felt an immense amount of joy when you saw him and you wanted to cling to him like a child clings to its favorite toy. If you were alone, you would've screamed. 

Then a thought crossed your mind. You didn't burn anything. You didn't make an offering. 

“You were going to” he said, seeming to read your mind. 

“Why are you here?” you managed to get out after some time of just staring at him. 

“Why do you think I'm here?” he asked and you could tell by his tone he meant it sarcastically. Like “the reason is so obvious. Stop being stupid”. 

Something about that sarcastic and irritated tone made you think back to what Grover told you. 

“Why don't you like me?” You asked and you hadn't meant to. It was supposed to stay in your head. 

He squinted his eyes at you and looked you up and down, “what?”. 

You could've let it go. You could've said nevermind, thanked him and let him help. You couldn't though. You didn't know when you'd have this chance again (the camp visited them but damn, there was a lot of you) and if you did something to make him not like you, you wanted to fix it. But that wasn't your job, right? Parents are supposed to care for their kids. 

You did that a lot. Your mind juggled opposite thoughts and it drove you insane. This was just the latest bit of juggling you'd been doing. 

“Grover said he spoke to you-”

“Who is Grover?”

“Percy's friend. The satyr”. A look of anger flashed in his eyes. You knew he remembered Percy. You didn't give him time to start yelling about the 12 year old that beat him in a fight. “Grover said that he spoke to you. I asked what it was like and he said that you said that you hate kids. Even your own. And when we visit, it's the worst day of the year. So, I was just wondering why you don't like me. Is it something I've done?”. 

Ares just rolled his eyes and sighed, “you're taking that personal?”. 

“It's kinda hard not to”. 

“I came to take you back to camp, not talk about whatever crisis you're having right now”. 

You didn't know if you were angry because of what he said, or because of his effect on others. Either way, blood started rushing to your head. “I'm not asking for a lot. I'm asking for an answer. A simple answer. Why don't you like me?”

“I don't like any of my kids”

“And that makes it better?” You asked in disbelief. Ares just stared at you, emotion void on his face. 

“Why do you do this? You keep having kids even though you hate them. Why?”. 

“It's not that simple and I don't have to explain anything to you”. You wished he'd show emotion. Any sliver of it. He was too calm, too numb. You'd prefer him yelling at you but nothing seemed to phase him. He was talking to you the same way you'd talk to a toddler. 

“It is incredibly simple. Just stop having sex with mortals. You already have Aphrodite -who is a married woman but whatever-” you rushed the last part. You didn't particularly care for the affairs between the gods. “How could your eyes possibly wander?”. 

Seeing him show a sliver of anger when you mentioned Aphrodite only filled you with more rage. That’s what angered him? That’s what got emotion out of him? “Really? That's what gets you? What about me being drenched?”

“You chose to come out here” he said through gritted teeth. If you knew Aphrodite was the key to him showing any piece of human emotion, you would've brought her up earlier. 

“I didn't choose this!” Your voice rose, “I didn't choose to be abandoned by my father and be stuck with a dysfunctional family for the rest of my life. You should be angry at that, not me mentioning Aphrodite. You should be enraged at the thought of anyone putting their hands on me and your hands should be covered in their blood! That is how it should be”. 

“Believe it or not the gods aren't too keen on the idea of killing mortals”

“But turning them into various objects and ruining their lives when it's a boring Tuesday is ok?”. His face went back to being blank and emotionless and your plan to stop talking was scrapped. You weren't even sure what you wanted. You wanted him to show something besides anger. Sadness? Regret maybe? Just something to show that maybe, just maybe, he cared deep down and regretted leaving you. 

“None of us asked for this. You all just decide to create and leave us. And you hating the people you created is… I don't know. And it's so stupid that I've spent years of my life trying to get you to be proud of me, only for it to be impossible!”. 

“I claimed you didn't I?” he defended himself, but you scoffed. 

“That's the bare minimum dad! That's like saying your kids should be grateful because you feed them!” You were full on screaming by now and you wouldn't have been surprised if a neighbor came out to see what the fuss was about. “I don't even know why I'm having this conversation with you. You probably hate being called 'dad’ and you don't care. You're never gonna get it”

“I try everyday to make you see me and you do everything in your power to not see me. To not see any of us. I would work myself to death for you. I would betray anyone close to me for you. If you asked me to burn down the world for you, I would. If you asked me to extinguish the sun, I'd find a way to because to me… to me you were everything. You are everything”. 

You couldn't tell if your face was wet from the rain, or from tears of sorrow and anger. It could've been both. Your eyes certainly stung and you hated it. You knew you had every right to be frustrated, but you hated how weak it made you feel. The children of Ares weren't supposed to cry. They were supposed to be headstrong and fight their enemies. They were supposed to be fierce warriors capable of bringing armies down to their knees. They were meant to shed blood, not tears. 

You thought for a second you saw an emotion cross his face. You couldn't pinpoint it though. It happened too fast and there was a good chance you were imagining things. 

“You can go. I'd rather sleep in the rain. I wouldn't wanna be even more of a burden” you spat with such venom you didn't know it was possible. Sure, you could have a bit of a temper but this felt different. It wasn't just anger or annoyance. There was a mix of grieving. 

It went silent for awhile, and the adrenaline you felt slowly went down. Reality started to sink in. You just yelled at a god. People who were known to cause destruction for something as small as “I think my shoes are better than yours”. 

“Are you gonna curse me? Or, I don't know, strangle me with my own shoe laces?”. Ares reached into his pocket and you looked away and closed your eyes. You expected to feel a burning sensation. That's what you assumed being cursed was like. A burning sensation and then you'd lose a limb or something. 

All you felt was something land on your lap. You looked down and saw a red pouch with gold string keeping it closed. You looked up at him, but he didn't say anything. You untied the string and opened the pouch and inside laid a pile of drachmas. 

Now he spoke, “call Chiron or whoever else works at that camp. Don't die out here”. 

“You're leaving?” You asked. You didn't know why you were disappointed. You should've been happy. After all, you just went off on him about how shit he was. 

“I have a busy schedule”. You wanted to ask if he'd be seeing the married woman he slept with or another unfortunate mortal, but you figured you pushed your luck enough today. 

“Thanks uhh…” you debated on calling him dad but instead you called him by his name. “Ares”. Then you remembered some gods could be particularly upset when you used their name. “God of war and all those other honorifics”. 

“Yeah” was all he said before he sped off, leaving you alone once again. You didn't know what he was saying “yeah” to but you didn't have enough time to ask and he probably wouldn't even answer. 

You called Chiron and asked to be brought back to camp but you didn't tell him about the conversation you had with Ares. 

You couldn't get the conversation out of your head, even after you showered and laid down to finally get some rest. 

Of course you kept thinking about the conversation and how lucky you were Ares didn't throw you into the street and run you over. 

Another thing stayed on your mind though. 

You didn't give an offering. You were told the gods would listen if you burned something that mattered, like the thickest piece of meat on your plate. You weren't sure they were actually listening and honestly you thought it was a real asshole condition. 

All you had was some stupid candy and you didn't even burn that and the minute you thought about it, he appeared like he was already watching. 

But you doubted he was watching. You doubted he listened to your prayers at all. 

You were one of his children which was something he hated. He'd claim you, possibly send a gift then be done with you. He didn't listen to you anymore. He didn't watch over you anymore. 

It was a coincidence. That's all it was. 

You were sure of it. 

At least, you tried to be. 

This is definitely ooc Ares but YA’LL KNOW I’M A LITTLE FUCKING SLOW! BE PATIENT WITH ME GOTDAMMIT😭 If you saw any errors, no you did not. I already proofread it once and I don’t feel like doing it again like I typically do. It’s 1am. I should be asleep.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

So, I been curious and I wonder if you have answers; how strong is Idia? I know physically that a new born kitten could woop him, while technology wise not even the master control could stand against him, but what about magic wise? And where does he stand in comparison to the other dorm heads? I know in ch 6 he was strong as heck but isn't that mainly because he was getting energy from the blots?

(Thank you for your time)

Mmm, well... I don't think "magic strength" alone accounts for how good of a mage someone is. You could have all the power in the world but could be a terrible mage just because of how you use it (like if you lack control), or perhaps because you can only cast a few powerful spells before you blow through your energy reserves. All spells are also not made equal; there are defensive spells, offensive spells, healing spells, and more! Because of all that, it's hard for us to really quantify how "strong" a mage is, because really each mage seems to specialize in their own skillsets. It's not "which class is the strongest?" but rather "which class fits your preferred play style?" For this reason, I'm not going to be formally ranking the dorm leaders but instead will point out their strengths and weaknesses.

As Idia points out in book 6:

Riddle has an artificially large magic pool because he started his magical training from a young age. He is capable of casting strong spells and favors offense, but also has low physical stamina and tires easily (from blot accumulation) because he tries to brute-force. His mental state is also said to be heavily impacted by external factors.

Leona can cast spells quickly and effortlessly; his magic pool is described to be "huge", but we don't know how this really relates to the other problem children in terms of scale. He also seems to boast precision, as he can "tailor" his defensive spells' strength to counter his opponents. Because of how efficient Leona is, he barely accumulates unnecessary blot. Stress does not have much effect on how fast he produces blot, but intense emotions do cause a significant spike in him. Additionally, Leona is skilled in flight due to playing magift/spelldrive.

Azul is a relatively slow spellcaster but makes up for that with precision and access to a variety of spells. He watches the flow of a battle, keeps cool, and then plays support/heals as needed. Idia also notes that while Azul can cast many different spells, Azul also does not have a large enough magic pool to support them and so has to be more careful about what and when he uses his magic.

Vil is very stable across the board and is quite resilient to blot. Stress does not have a huge effect on him, but the blot does seem to stick around for longer because of his larger magic pool. Something else to keep in mind is that Vil excels in making potions, which is another form of magic.

Please keep in mind that these refer to mainly COMBAT scenarios, which are not the only cases in which you would use magic... so this isn't an entirely accurate assessment; it's just the most convenient assessment since the game blatantly lays the comparisons out for us. Let's now piece together what we know of the remaining dorm leaders based on lore we have:

Kalim does not strike me as someone who has a particularly large pool of magic (it's never commented on, nor shown). I'd place him at around normal until otherwise refuted by the canon. We know he's not particularly proficient in his studies, as he just barely scrapes by in classes with intense help from Jamil. This may not always translate to poor performance in practical settings, but we also have no standout moments of Kalim pulling off impressive spells or being a notable mage. He also doesn't seem to be aware of the practical or strategic uses for his own UM unless others in his immediate vicinity are in need of large amounts of water. It's possible that he's incredibly powerful, but lacks awareness of how to best utilize his magic.

Malleus is stated in the lore to be one of the top 5 mages in the WORLD. He uses magic on a daily basis and barely blinks an eye to when he does amazing feats like STOPPING TIME ITSELF. Book 7 also reveals to us a hypothesis that fae might have access to an essentially limitless reserve of magic because they pull that magic from nature itself. I'd say that this definitively places Malleus at the top of the "magical power" hierarchy--there was never any doubt about that, the problem just comes in trying to sort everyone else under him.

And then there's Idia, whom we don't really see performing magic much by himself. No, he prefers to tinker with his computer parts which, technically, can count as magic since technomancy is the combination of technology and magic. (Does Ortho count as something resulting from Idia's "magic power"??) It's hard to say.

If I had to guess, I would think Idia is another stable user like Vil but is also highly volatile like Riddle (due to his guilt and grief being the main source of trauma). Idia HAS to cast spells or input magic into his devices because of his curse; if he does not accumulate blot, there's nothing for his curse to dine on... so it'll dine on his own magic instead, which can be detrimental to his health and wellbeing. (This is why the Shrouds are perfect candidates to work at STYX and research blot. All the blot present in STYX HQ fuels them and feeds their curses.) This implies Idia has to have output, and consistent output at that. More blot present in the immediate area may be able to power him up more and allow him to cast more spells/cast spells more frequently, but that's again highly dependent on his environment. Idia has the "flexibility" that the other dorm leaders lack, which can be a curse or a blessing given the scenario. Make of that what you will!

[gasolinerainbowpuddles]

I'm here to share another brave yet controversial take.

(This is strictly about smut in fics - not plot points, characterizations, etc.)

I think there is a fundamental difference in how different ages interact with smut in fics. In my personal experience and preference, the hottest smut I've read has come from writers whose bios say 30+ or from writers who are close to that age. I think there are factors that contribute to this:

LIFE EXPERIENCE — This doesn't strictly mean number of partners (although I do believe that helps). The older you are, the more people you've come across, and this builds a bigger worldview that allows for nuance and a more understanding of how things move and interplay. It exposes you to more interpersonal dynamics, which are a huge part of sexuality imo.

SCIENCE — Our brains aren't done cooking until around 25. This means logic, decision making, patience, thinking things through, not letting emotions be the driving force behind our actions, etc. don't really solidify until we're well into our formative adult years. This ties into my first point in regards to how a person navigates their world, and there is a different level of understanding that comes with a fully developed brain.

SEXUAL PRIME — Late 20s to mid 40s is considered to be the sexual peak for women (I'm focusing on women because fic writing is mostly women). Heightened sexual fantasies and experiences align with women in that age range, and I think that is an essential factor in creating fantasies that are more erotic and visceral through writing. There is also a confidence that comes with knowing what you want, what you like, how to get those things, comfortability in expressing your sexuality and actively utilizing it, etc.

CRAFT EXPERTISE — Many of the 30ish year old writers I have seen have written for numerous other fandoms over the span of at least a decade, sometimes more. When you've been doing something for that long, it makes sense that their works would be more finely tuned in content and prose.

INTEREST — Writing fic takes a lot of time and effort - emotional and mental. If someone is around the age of 30, chances are they've got more on their plate than someone younger. Maybe they've got more job responsibilities because they've moved up to a managerial position. Maybe they've had a kid or two. Maybe they have dogs and a partner they live with and have to tend to those things in addition to whatever else going on. My point is, somebody who has a lot going on in their life and still makes the effort to write and share fic HAS TO have a strong desire to do it because it is very time consuming.

I'm sure there are more points that I've left out, but this is just what came to mind immediately. I've seen a lot of weird ageist takes on who "should be" writing smut, as if you suddenly stop being horny when you hit 24 or something.

In all honesty, maybe readers who don't enjoy smut written by 30ish year old writers just aren't ready for it? Maybe if you're 19, you're not going to resonate with someone who is in a later point in their life because you haven't come to that maturity yet? And, no, that's not me saying you can't enjoy it because you're "immature." I'm saying you're not there in your life yet, so it's perfectly fine to prefer works from someone who is more of a peer to you.

So perhaps if you find yourself age shaming, applying morality to sexuality, and denigrating fic writers who are 30ish+, maybe just stick with reading fic and smut by people who are where you're currently at in life?

[littlefeltsparrow]

It’s really strange that the Inner Circle expected Nesta to recover within such a short span of time when their lifespans are so long, you would think that a clique of immortals might have difference conceptions of acceptable recovery timeframes. 1-2 years is hardly anything when you factor in the centuries that Nesta has yet to live. With the way they act, you’d think they’d never been exposed to the behaviour of a traumatized individual, especially one who’s undergone a HUGE transition.

It would actually be a great opportunity to show the cultural differences between the former-humans and the fae. Mentally, the Archeron sisters are still human and haven’t had a lot of experience in the fae world and don’t have a full grasp of what it’s like. So, you have a vast gap of knowledge between the two groups when it comes to time, milestones, significant moments, etc. SJM doesn’t take advantage of this potential because the ages of the Inner Circle are surface level, really they just act like a clique of college friends and their vast ages don’t really matter that much. BUT THEY SHOULD!

I think it’d be really funny if Cassian was like: “Yeah after the war I knew this one guy who disappeared into a cave for 30 years, but when he came out he was as good as new! Everyone needs a little time.” And then cut to Feyre’s flabbergasted reaction. Instead, they act so impatient about it. Like…calm down you guys, you literally have centuries to work things out, you don’t have to freak out over Nesta not recovering quickly enough.

[nightcolorz]

Hello!

Please, speak more about traumatic age regression in Armand and Lestat- I would LOVE to hear other peoples thoughts on this, because its a theory/interpretation I've also been batting around

thank u for the ask omg!! I would love to talk about this!

In the books especially Armand and lestat show like, text book age regression haha. They both are shown to be below the standard of functionality for both their mortal and their immortal ages, and both struggle with emotional regulation in a way that is explicitly childlike.

Btw for clarities sake, when I say traumatic age regression btw I’m referring to age regression that is triggered involuntarily as a trauma response, when a person will slip into a childlike mindset or behavior due to how their brain functions after trauma. I’m not referring to age regression as an intentional coping mechanism to deal with trauma (though i do think both these characters would benefit from this and I would like to see it explored, I’m just making the case that the former occurs in canon haha)

Starting with Armand, he is often described as having been stunted in growth in a way which causes him to be unable to behave or function as an adult, since he was turned into a vampire as a teenager. This is such a huge deal with him, to the point where Marius literally tells people Armand should have never been a vampire because of how “damaged” he is. This conceptually is like inherently age regression lol, he’s an emotionally stunted 500 yr old vampire who behaves like a child because his brain got messed up. But this isn’t really the case at all with other child vampire characters. Claudia is not the most stable adult, but she’s certainly not immature or childlike in her behavior the way Armand is. While Armand is unable to live independently for the majority of the book series because he panics and short circuits when he is put in a position where he needs to be self reliant, Claudia only needs to have a caregiver because she will be restricted from entering certain spaces and will have trouble navigating the world without an adult since she appears as a five year old.

And characters like Benji are completely stable and functional as adults, and their minds are unaffected by being stuck in the bodies of children. It seems to me that Armand’s stunted growth has more to do with the trauma he’s experienced than the age he was turned (tho it is likely a factor). Armand has a very intense case of identity fracturing during his crucial development, so he can’t remember most of his life and formative memories, and mental health problems like these often cause age regression to come up. Armand was prevented from ever going through the crucial developmental stages a child needs to become a stable adult bcus of the trauma he was out through, so it makes sense that as an adult he still behaves and thinks like a child.

A lot of times adults who experienced intense childhood trauma are forced to be very mature as children to protect themselves, and when they are adults and are no longer in danger the childishness they repressed in childhood presents itself in adulthood, and the adult tries to learn and explore what they lost out on in childhood. I think Armand is experiencing a form of this, which is a form of age regression. An example of this would be how in queen of the damned Armand acts very childish, because as he describes it, he’s “learning about the modern world”, and he’s rediscovering his childhood curiosity bcus he never was able to truly learn about the world and learn how to live as an adult in it during his formative years. The devils minion chapter is very age regressy to me, I mean the whole thing is about Armand experiencing new things and sensory experiences and and trying to learn life lessons from Daniel because he’s never had that before. Daniel gets to see Armand’s mask unveil and discovers that he has a boyish laugh and he likes dumb comedy movies, and blenders, and he has a childlike wonder and desire to explore. (Cough cough age regression). Daniel is able to bring out Armand’s age regression in a positive way by nurturing his inner child in a way no one has before. So Armand definitely I feel like age regresses when he’s happy and letting himself indulge in things that heal a part of his inner child (particularly around someone he trusts, Daniel) but he also definitely age regresses when his trauma is triggered (oof)

Armand goes through mood swings and drastic changes in behavior pretty often. He is usually very good at appearing put together and mature, he speaks very calmly and rationally, he’s socially skilled and charming. But Armand has moments that happen when he is very upset usually, where his mask breaks and he suddenly begins acting like a child, crying and screaming, breaking things, throwing tantrums, stuff like that. It seems like Armand age regresses when he’s in some way triggered or experiencing very strong emotions. I think that his most evil, insane moments r often influenced by age regression. For example, Armand’s behavior in the vampire Lestat comes off as age regression to me. Lestat’s appearance in Armand’s life uproots his sense of security and sense of purpose (and reminds him of his maker), so Armand begins throwing violent tantrums and destroying all of his things and going to nicki’s house and throwing a fit and making his house a mess. Armand has no calculated idea of revenge against lestat for a perceived wrong, he just feels helpless and starts acting out in childlike ways (age regression). It’s even little things. When Armand begins revealing his past to Lestat he holds his arms and appears helpless and lost. When Armand is his most helpless his instinct is to curl into himself in defeat. He almost forgets how powerful he is and reverts to helpless frightened child.

The age regression angle definitely applies to show Armand too. Show Armand wasn’t even turned as a child, so all of his regressive behavior is rooted in regression exclusively. I get the impression that amc Armand, because of his isolated upbringing where he was raised to be obedient and reliant before he was raised to be a person, causes him to age regress since he was never raised to be an indecent adult. Amc Armand age regresses most often by perceiving himself as much more helpless and constantly victimized than he is, and acting accordingly. He’s like a big dog that thinks it’s a puppy so it sits on its owner lap and crushes their bones 😭. I could elaborate on amc Armand age regressing for sure, but I don’t want to make this post all Armand lmaooo. A post for another day

NOW LESTAT LOL! Lestat absolutely age regresses in the books, in a similar way to Armand where it is almost explicitly acknowledged lmao. The biggest example I think of when I think of lestat age regressing is a small scene in the vampire Lestat, where after almost getting himself killed when he plays the violin for akasha, Marius saves lestat and berates him for being stupid, and instead of taking on his usual defensive cockiness Lestat breaks down in hysterical tears and begs Marius to forgive him. It’s incredibly childish in a way that’s kind of heartbreaking, he’s saying stuff like “i didn’t mean to, please don’t be mad”, and it’s such an abused child reaction. Lestat most often age regresses when he is in the presence of someone he perceives as a mentor/parental figure. Lestat was turned young, not as young as Armand but young enough to not be entirely mature or self sufficient. And lestat was pretty seriously abused and neglected, and combined with how young he is he has a complex around older people where he sort of clings on to somebody to be his parental figure and reverts into a childlike mindset in their presence. Like Marius, lol (this also happens with David talbot). This is also definitely due to Lestats maker trauma, where he as a person with already bad abandonment issues, was very seriously abandoned and in the process seriously abused, and so part of Lestat always holds onto the trauma of loosing his maker and is always looking for someone to fulfill that mentor role for him that he was deprived of.

As a child Lestat was neglected so bad that he never had his bad behavior “corrected”, bcus none of the adults in his life cared to teach him how to be a good person. He was only ever beaten for the satisfaction of his abusers, he was never corrected or punished for his sake. This is why lestat often does reckless, stupid things purposefully, bcus he is looking for someone to tell him off. He wants someone to care about him enough to try and teach him how to be good. So, Lestat age regresses by acting out like a kid and doing things he hopes will get him scolded at 😭. Which earns him the brat Prince nickname from Marius, which is just so age regressy it’s insane.

The way Lestat expresses his hysterical emotions def comes off as age regression to me sometimes, specially when he hysterically cries and laughs. Louis describes Lestat in iwtv as immature and stupid, and I think the reason Lestat often behaves this way around Louis is because Louis’s emotional callousness reminds him of his mother, and triggers his age regression reaction where he acts out to get attention.

what I love so much about Armand and lestats dynamic is that they have sooo many of their major issues in common. Lestat and Armand hate each other, but they also love each other bcus in a way they r the only people who understand each other. Ughhhh they r so good.

thank u SM for the ask I love talking about this!!!! I hope I’m making sense here I feel like I didn’t do my thoughts justice cuz I’m recovering from a massive migraine rn 😭

[pathetichimbos]

Hey! How do you think Thomas would deal with a reader slowly becoming blind or deaf in their later years of being together or in old age?

I haven't really had the time or energy to go through my asks but this one hits close to home. f!reader

So, everyone knows that as one gets older, their hearing, sight, and pretty much everything naturally deteriorates as their body begins to decline.

But for some people, it gets worse. Blindness, Deafness, Amputation, Dementia, Parkinson's, the list is rather endless.

It's a daunting thought, knowing that it could happen to you. Sometimes there are warnings. A familial history, environmental factors, medical tests... There's time to prepare, come to terms with your fate, learn to live with it.

Other times there's nothing.

One day, you're a healthy adult, your aging body functioning to the best of it's abilities, working despite the slow tick of time that's flown by.

The next, you're gripping railing at the top of the stairs, shaking and afraid because you can't see the steps in front of you.

There's a couple of different reactions Thomas could have to this.

If there's a warning, a time to process and accept what's going to happen, a former knowledge of what's to come, he'll do his best to take care of you. He goes out of his way to learn about things he can do to accommodate you, to make your life easier when it begins. He's no carpenter, but he'll do his best to accommodate the house to the best of his abilities. It's your house as well, after all, and he wants you to be comfortable in it, at any age.

If there isn't, it's panic. He's confused, and he doesn't know how to help. Thomas is a man who thrives on being helpful, and suddenly he isn't. He's worried about you, and rather than having time to come to terms and accept this new world, you're both simply thrown into it, and it makes him spiral. It's a huge adjustment, but he does his best to take care of you and accommodate the house the best he can. In this situation, he's much more likely to accidentally baby you, not understanding how to handle your sudden disability, so it's important to teach him how he can best help without being overbearing.

...I know this ask was specified to blindness and deafness, but I'd also like to touch on the mental and personality aspects to this as well.

His reaction will tract close to the same for things like dementia and parkinson's, specifically if he has a warning, but if he doesn't, things are very different.

He notices the tremors first. The way your left hand seems to tremble, and the way you seem to stand just a bit differently.

Well, that's not entirely true, really, he noticed you becoming more forgetful ages ago, but who wasn't forgetful these days?

Neither of you really think much of it, after all the two of you are getting older, the grays in your hair as present as the ache in your back when you play with your grandchildren.

So, it's forgotten, the shakes and poor memory swept under the rug until it becomes a normality, the progression leaking in at such a steady pace neither of you really notice the way your right hand begins to tremble as well.

"...Is mom okay?" Your daughter finally asks on one of her frequent trips in from the city, "She seems... different."

Thomas gives her a look of confusion, Of course she is, why wouldn't she be?

"Dad... Look at her."

And for the first time in a long time, he really does.

He watches the way you sit, hunched in your favorite chair by the window, arms tucked closely to your chest as you stare out into the yard, a sort of distant, absent look in your eyes.

You're interrupted by the squeal of children running towards you, yelling 'grandma!' to the top of their lungs.

He watches your face light up with a genuine surprise and delight, struggling to lean down and greet them with a hug.

"Oh, how wonderful!" You tell the children with a great, big smile, "I didn't know y'all were coming to see me!"

But you did. He watched you talk to your daughter just a few hours ago on the telephone, telling you she'd be bringing the kids fown for the day.

His chest aches as for the first time, he sees how much you've really changed.

He's more attentive, finally noticing full extent of the tremors, how you can barely move your arms, how with everyday, more and more of you begins to fade from your eyes.

You start getting angrier, snapping easily over small things that would have never bothered you before. You can't stop shaking, constantly taking in your surroundings as if seeing everything for the first time.

You lose the ability to do certain things, your movement much to jagged to brush your own teeth, to comb your own hair. All of those responsibilities falling on Thomas' shoulders, as well as many others.

You spend most of your time in your favorite chair, watching the TV, or listening to the radio. You can barely stand on your own, your legs shuffling and unstable when you do manage to get up.

Thomas does his best to take care of you, to watch over you and make sure you want for nothing.

It's a taxing, and exhausting job, but he can't imagine not doing it.

He's tired, his own body aching and sore from his own old age. Your children begin to visit more often, just trying to help out as much as they can.

"Grandma!" Your grandson calls out for you as always, running up to your chair to greet you as soon as he comes in the door.

"Jacob!" Your son follows his child close behind, "What did we just talk about in the car?"

Your once excited and delighted expression at seeing your grandchild is gone, exchanged for one of confusion as you seemed almost frightened.

"Nicholas..." You ask, shaking as you hold your arms close to your chest, "...Who is this...?"

Thomas has to leave the room.

He's heartbroken, slowly watching the love of his life become a shell of herself, each day slowly becoming worse and worse.

"Thomas, honey, what's wrong?" Shaky hands cup his face when he finally comes back into the room, eyes red and swollen from crying.

He shakes his head, holding your frial wrists as he kisses your cheek.

Within that same week you lose the ability to climb the stairs, and Thomas begins carrying you.

It doesn't take long after for you to become completely bed ridden, unable to recognize either of your children who have practically moved in to help care for you.

Thomas is the only one you don't forget, even if you can't manage to remember the year, your wedding, or even the fact that you're married.

You never forget Thomas.

It's a warm, April Tuesday. Clouds dance across the blue sky, inviting the singing birds to swim in the cool breeze of a rain storm that'll come in the afternoon.

It's the first time you've been this coherent in months, managing to recognize both of your children and your eldest grandchildren.

It's a good day.

Thomas sits in a chair beside your bed, something he put there so the two of you could still sit together, like you used to, when you could walk to the porch and drink your coffee in the early mornings.

He holds your shaking hand, rough hands rubbing soft circles against your skin.

You've become weak with time, barely managing to give his hand a small squeeze to catch his attention.

There's a knowing look in your eyes, and he lets out a shaky sigh.

"...Will you forgive me...?" Your once lively and full voice is small, and broken, shaky and devoid of life.

He squeezes your hand, leans onto the bed and presses his forehead against yours. A silent answer, an understanding sense of relief that you can finally be at peace.

You let out your own sigh, leaning against his warmth for one last time.

It was a good day.

[joanofexys]

gimme the Jude lore

okay okay Jude Reyes lore incoming

little breakdown first:

26 years old

he/him, pansexual, cis

played for the Trojans for 5 years

graduated with a degree in sports journalism

has adhd and depression (in the rambling bit tw right now for mentions of self harm and suicidal thoughts tying into this)

only child and still upset about it

does the most out of all my ocs to work with college players, spends a lot of his free time flying out to different colleges to work with coaches and teams cause he likes and he enjoys it (gets a lot of teasing about becoming a coach in the future)

knows english and spanish

and oh yeah he's a dealer who will play as an extra backliner if needed

blonde, 6'3, big brown eyes

got his ears pierced cause Mara said he'd chicken out

So yeah Jude graduated from USC at the age of 23 and he was recruited for olympic court when he was 25. He considers the Trojan's his family and still keeps in touch with all the upper classmen who he used to play with. He's very much taken the Trojan attitude into his professional career. He's known as a team player on the court and also a huge activist off the court. He's now involved in presenting the Day Spirit Award every year and he's incredibly proud to have been apart of the team consistently winning it. While Ilya falls into the Just Some Guy category, Jude really takes it up like 10 levels into Golden Child territory. He's the favored one for press duty and is most involved with his teams social media. He's usually the one to sit down for the little games or the ask me anything's or the interviews everyone else deems pointless.

tw for self harm and suicide mentions, you can skip to the next bolded line if you need to

Jude was diagnosed with depression when he was 19 after he came to Rhemann confessing that he had been self harming for a few months after the workload with his class got more difficult for him to manage and he started thinking about committing suicide. He was diagnosed with adhd a few years later when he was 22 and now he now manages both with a mixture of therapy and medication. He's not perfect and obviously that didn't get rid of his depression but he has always had a safe space to talk about it and to get the help he needs. He advocates a lot for mental health in general but especially where athletes where it tends to get ignored with all the pressure put on them and he brings that into all of his relationships with his teammates trying to create a safe space for them. He is a huge factor in actually getting Em, Mara, and Florian to see therapists and he's who Florian calls after his 5th attempt and takes him to the hospital.

okay heavy bit over

I need y'all to know that Jude popped into my head literally today. He was named like 3 hours ago. So this is all just kind of developing as I yap about him. He's big on team inclusion. Doesn't want anyone to feel left out. At first Ilya really butted heads with Mara and Florian cause they were Raven's and Jude was basically the one to get sick of that and tell them they needed to shut the fuck up and put on their get along t-shirt

He's generally pretty outgoing and he loves a good party. And by party he means hosting his team and having some food and drinks and visiting with every one. Though he does go a little crazy after a win and he will probably not get home till like 6 in the morning and then will sleep for a full 24 hours

He comes off as very loud and flirtatious to most people, most people will think he is flirting even when he isn't and he has accidentally agreed to multiple dates before realizing they were dates and having to awkwardly let people down. He doesn't really date much, not seriously, largely because of how involved he is with the media portion of his job. If he does end up dating (and I don't have anyone set up for him yet) it'd most likely be another exy player who is also super involved with the media and interacting with the press

and yeah that's a little bit about Jude

[childotkw]

Also this is a bit random but can I just tell you how much I love your portrayal of Ginny in ybtm? It’s rare to find a fic where Harry actually puts value into their relationship and mourns the loss of that when he gets sent back in time or something like that. And also doesn’t immediately go after someone else (like *cough* Tommy *cough*)

In Dora the explorer voice: I love it!

Ahhh thank you!!! 🥰🥰 I’m not super into Hinny normally, but I’ve never disliked their relationship when it is in a story. I think Harry, wonderful, loving, kind and mildly possessive man that he is, would not be the type to move on quickly or easily. Once you have a portion of his heart, you have it forever. Once he lets you in, once he loves you - there’s no taking that back.

I really wanted them to have that easy but deep love for each other, and I wanted to highlight the importance of their relationship to him through Harry’s grief.

The mental age difference is also a factor for Harry in this. He looks at Tom, at Orion, at all of the students and he sees them as kids. He’s not attracted to them. He doesn’t even register them as potential partners - and he won’t for a while. Yeah, he was only nineteen/twenty when Death scooped him up, and that’s not a huge gap, but Harry was (and very much still is emotionally) in a committed relationship.

Tom has some growing up to do, and Harry needs a mourning period, before anything would be able to happen between them.

[starburstbubbleswitch]

MINORS OF THE TICKLE COMMUNITY!

Gather 'round if you please children, there is yet another announcement for you. Whether you read or not I can't control, but at least it's out there and ya hopefully realize we ain't trying to be jerks for no reason. ANYWAYS!

When we, the adults of the community, tell you "Do not interact/follow"(DNI/DNF) IT'S NOT BECAUSE WE ARE TRYING TO BE RUDE OR PUT A DAMPER ON YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE. It is 1000% a SAFETY ISSUE.

What some of y'all might not realize is that, interacting with adults this way can be SUPER HARMFUL in more ways than one. Let me explain:

1. POWER IMBALANCE:

Now I'm sure y'all have seen this a gazillion times over but may not fully understand what that means. As much as y'all may disagree and say "I don't bend to peer pressure so this doesn't apply to me." You're right, partially, because we aren't your peers. We are older, by society standards we are your elders, those you look up to and, like it or not, we are those you are swayed and influnced by. You try to fit in to appear grown or mature. I'll say it now:

Hang onto you're childhood for dear life because honey the struggle doesn't get easier just cuz you're older; quite honestly IMO it's worse because the consequences are worse and society has less sympathy for you. That phrase "They're just a kid" saves ya more than you know.

Anyways back on track here; with tickling, it IS an intimate thing, whether most believe so or not. Now I don't mean intimate as in "sex related". A lot of people try to slap "intimacy" and "sex" in the same box when intimacy itself is the umbrella subject and sex is a subcategory. Just because someone doesn't view tickling in a "arousing light" shall we say, does not negate the fact that it is INDEED an act of intimacy.

So this is clear: INTIMACY. IS. NOT. JUST. ABOUT. SEX.

DEFINITION OF INTIMACY:

Intimacy: a close, familiar, and usually affectionate or loving personal relationship with another person or group.

While this may seem fairly innocent in definition, with online strangers you don't know and have never met, this can be highly dangerous for both parties.

2) LEGALITY ISSUES:

Minors y'all might not realize this, but if something happens to y'all because of "online interactions" with adults, y'all get abducted/run away/ just flat out disappear, we could end up on that suspect list.

We could be jailed and stuck on a "child predator" registry without even really talking to you. But because we didn't block you, or we might've been unaware of the fact we were talking to a minor when there's no age in your bio anywhere, or heck even if we were unaware ourselves of the intimacy/power imbalance issues, we are in the running for being someone that influnced you or could've taken you. Bottom line: WE COULD GET IN HUGE TROUBLE.

3) MENTAL HEALTH:

As I said before, we are adults and not your peers. Because of this factor, we could seriously influnce how you view yourself and how you let others treat you.

We could have a certain control over you and you wouldn't know, you could take it as someone just being friendly or someone who is finally treating you "like a grown up" and not think twice. They completely alter your thought process and self esteem without you being aware of it.

Obviously you could say "that's not everyone". Again you're right it's not everyone. But the problem is, you don't know which ones have nefarious and disgusting intentions and who doesn't. Your parents/guardians can protect you from a lot, but with most of y'all having cellphones/internet access from the time you're like 5 years old, there's not much they can do to protect you from the online world. So you need to protect yourselves and one way of doing that is not interacting with adults.

We know y'all just wanna be included and ya want validation that your not "a weird kid" for liking tickling or that you aren't "childish" by getting conformation from an online community or adults that like it as well. But in the end, stick to interacting with your peers for those things. I know it may not seem like a big deal when your friend on here is only 5 years older than you at 20 or that at 17 it doesn't seem like such a problem when your chatting with an 18 yr old but the reality is that, it is. It's a giant problem and can cause a world of hurt for all involved.

THIS GOES FOR THE ADULTS TOO, BUT MOST OF YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER BY NOW AND IF YA DON'T, NOW YOU HAVE AN EXPLANATION TO DERIVE FROM.

So in summary:

MINORS: Don't interact with adults/ageless blogs

ADULTS: Don't interact with minors/ageless blogs

[rays-of-fire-and-ice]

One thing that always hit me in Bleach fandom is that some people see Hitsugaya as a literal child in the main history, even tho we get glimpses of his childhood - and a lot of Hinamori haters use that as an argument of why hitsuhina would never happen. I particularly see him as a young teenager with an obvious problem of aging (😂) and I’m glad to see blogs just like yours that perceive his youth, but doesn't put him as a kid and also explore his feelings towards things and people who are dear to him in a way really loyal to the character (because putting him acting as an adult also give me awkward vibes, you know). Just a thing I was minding, you can take it as a compliment, I guess.

Sorry for the late reply anon!

I want to start off this response by saying for anyone who does see Toshiro as being a child, more power to them if it helps appreciate his character more.

I have to admit one of the main reason I saw him as a teenager in the beginning is because I was a teen myself when I started reading BLEACH and assumed any character who didn't obviously look like an adult/child/elder or had an ambiguous age was probably a teenager. That's probably a weird reason, but that's how my brain worked while reading BLEACH at that age ^^;

There were other factors too, like his reactions to others referring to him as a child, the flashbacks to his childhood, and that he was able to pass as a student at a high school.

His reactions in particular are what convinced me he's not a child, they struck me as not just someone who was demanding respect for his high ranking position but also as someone who's sick of people thinking he's a child because of his appearance. I've always seen it as because of his short stature and maybe a baby face, everyone mistakes him for being a child when he's actually a teenager.

As for the flashbacks, when I compare his appearance from back then to the one in the main story, to me there's a noticeable different. As a child, his eyes and face are rounded and he's obviously shorter. In the main storyline, his eyes shape changed (perhaps to reflect the change he underwent as a Shinigami), making them look more narrow and sharper, his face is slightly sharper, and he's taller (not by much but).

Then there's the recent revelation from Kubo that Toshiro is actually older than Momo. I've seen most people take this to mean he's literally older than her, which would strongly suggest he isn't a child, because then how old would that make Momo (who is definitely not a child)? If this interpretation is the correct one, then I'm okay with that. However, as I've mentioned before, I've actually taken this to mean he's been in the Soul Society longer than she has (if you're interested, you can read more on it here).

In the end, as stated many times on here, aging in BLEACH is weird. How come Unohana isn't as old looking as Yamamoto if they existed together long before the Soul Society was established? What the heck is going on with Kyouraku and Nanao's families? The list goes on.

Also, thank you for your kind words too, I'm glad that's how my writing comes across for him :D I find it interesting to explore how someone like Toshiro reacts to things, whether they're mundane or life and death situations. While not a child, he's still a minor who has put himself in a world of huge responsibility, and death and violence. How does someone that young, despite being a prodigy and having a mental maturity that's suitable for the role, think and feel about what he does? How does he view those around him? How does it affect his relationships? What kinds of memories does he keep from his past and how are they different someone else his age? It's all interesting to me.

Anyhow, I'll leave it here. Thanks for sending this in! :D

[mayakern]

hello ! i know this blog is mainly for the store, but i Also am a big spitfire fan whos decided to try to learn to draw in my 30s lmao, so I'm curious — did you struggle with Being Bad At Art at first?? i know it's definitely a Learned Skill, but I'm....understandably terrible, since I JUST started, and I know I get discouraged easily when things don't come to me easily (part of why I'm challenging myself!) so I was just curious if you also struggled with it and if so, how you maybe fought against it. I've seen a couple artists I love talk about it, but you're a personal favorite so lmao

apologies as well if this comes across as intrusive or if you just don't wanna talk about it, which are both fair! i just thought I'd ask 🥰

first off, i’m so happy to hear how much you love spitfire! i’m always happy to get spitfire messages, i just haven’t been posting as much content for it because i’m busy editing and, well, that’s not so easy to show off haha

also this blog isn’t dedicated to any one of my pursuits, it’s just kind of where i put all my stuff (to some people’s dismay and others’ enjoyment)

ANYWAY onto the real question: yes. i think almost everyone struggles with issues of skill and inferiority regardless of their field of study and their skill level.

i first started drawing when i was around 5 and while i don’t have any art i can share from that age, i do have a time capsule of my work that goes all the way back to like 2004 or 2005. i was like 13-14 at this point so i’d already been drawing for like 9 years so this isn’t my starting point, but even still you’ll be able to see a big evolution in my work.

and ironically, the time when i felt worst about my work isn’t when i first started, or even as a teen. it was right around 2013, after i graduated from college and simultaneously had had my first really huge increase in online audience and when i was trying to find an art job. there are other contributing factors, like over all mental health, but how you feel about your work does not directly correlate with skill level.

learning anything new is a humbling and vulnerable pursuit and it’s easy to get discouraged. drawing is an exercise in training both your eye and your hand: training your eye to see more keenly so you can make good judgements in your work, and training your hand’s muscle memory.

[navree]

Do you have any headcanons for our golden boi sunfyre ? 🥺

Sunfyre my beloved I'm so sorry all this happened to you in my perfect world absolutely nothing goes wrong with him whatsoever and he gets to live a long and happy life being the prettiest boy in all of Planetos.

I think it's, like, basically canon but technically not confirmed, that Sunfyre is a hatchling from Dreamfyre, given the name similarities and the fact that Dreamfyre is much older (my pet theory is that Sunfyre's egg is Thee Egg that Rhaenyra chose for Baby Baelon and that Daemon subsequently stole).

Sunfyre was not a cradle hatchling. It appears that none of the (on screen) Hightower-Targaryen children had cradle hatchlings (given that Helaena claimed an already old dragon between episodes 6 and 7 and Aemond of course claimed the oldest dragon), either because none of their eggs hatched or Alicent just wasn't placing eggs in their cradles for it. Around when Aegon was two or three, still very young, he somehow got his hands on Sunfyre's egg, and soon after Sunfyre hatched. Sunfyre has never known a life without Aegon in it, and Aegon barely remembers a time where he didn't have Sunfyre. They practically grew up together, though Sunfyre at a much quicker rate.

Seeing as dragons are meant to have an intelligence level on par with humans (even tho ASOIAF and all related media kinda seems to forget that and has relegated them to the role of "cats" but with nukes attached), Sunfyre is aware that he is The Hot Girl. Sunfyre is ridiculously vain, any time he's flying with Aegon on him to command him, he's primping and preening and deliberately flying into as much sun exposure as he can so everyone can see the glint of gold off his scales.

Sunfyre and Aegon are ridiculously close. Far closer than any other dragon and their rider that we've seen in the entire franchise. Yes, even closer than Dany and her children (Dany would have won out but being the first person to raise dragons in over a century means that she clearly doesn't have the right tools for it which is why the kids get rascally in ADWD in a way we didn't see at the Targaryen peak). Like, however close you think they are because of the canon stuff (Aegon's grief when he died, Sunfyre literally dragging his broken body to Dragonstone because he sensed Aegon was there and needed him, all that horrible stuff), that's the tip of the iceberg. They're close not just emotionally but honestly to the point where it's almost like they have a psychic bond. It's rare that Aegon even needs to speak commands verbally, he and Sunfyre know each other incredibly well, almost as if they can literally just sense what's in each other's heads, feel each other's emotions incredibly keenly (that thing dragons and dragonriders have where they can physically feel each other's pain, but multiply it by one thousand). It's borderline mystical, especially when factoring in that both Aegon and Sunfyre only seem to start really recovering from their respective Rook's Rest wounds after they've been reunited on Dragonstone, as if they literally needed each other's presence in order to heal.

Stolen from Twitter (can't remember which account but I saw it and I wept like a baby): Aegon sings to Sunfyre sometimes. Sunfyre really, really likes it. Like, basically turns into a huge overgrown kitten when that happens, tries to get all cuddly even though he knows that Aegon's too small for it now that he's gotten big.

Sunfyre does have a certain amount of affection that extends to other members of Aegon's family, his mother and siblings in particular, and even to their dragons. Yes, even Vhagar. Doesn't matter that she's ancient and bigger and dragon mee-maw, he'll still go into attack mode if someone attempts to fuck her up. Also, a bit cracky considering we don't technically know the full mental faculties of dragons, but he's closest to Tessarion, given that they're closer in age and also Daeron's apparently a natural sweetheart and that temperament might extend to Tessarion as well. (Addendum to this: Sunfyre spent a lot of time flying with Aemond and Vhagar when Aemond was recovering. Not even just when Aegon was babysitting and making sure Aemond wasn't at risk, but literally just if he was out around the same time as Aemond and Vhagar, he hovered a lot, just to be sure. Aemond has never talked about it but he thinks of it sometimes, when he sees Aegon drunk and wet eyed and feels that twinge of disgust and envy that he tries to push down, when he remembers there's more to Aegon than seen by the naked eye)

This is less about Sunfyre himself and more about his relationship with Aegon, but the bond Sunfyre and Aegon have was Aegon's first real taste of feeling unconditional and requited love. The bond with Sunfyre was the first time in his life Aegon felt that the love he was giving out was being returned to him, and that he wasn't at risk of losing it, the way he's afraid he's done with his siblings and with Alicent. It's why, even above everything else they share, Sunfyre is so important to him, and why he's gutted and griefstricken to the point of kinslaying when Sunfyre dies.

Aegon calls Sunfyre almost primarily by pet names, even when giving verbal commands. And like, really intimate pet names, the kind of pet names you save for, like, your kids. He calls him "sweetling" and "my darling" and "golden boy" and things of that sort all.the.time. Why do I think this? Because my brain spat "Sunfyre sniffs at the blood in the air. Aegon knows now is when he says the word, the fateful word, but he cannot speak through his heart pounding in his throat. Kill her, beloved, he thinks. Kill her for what her ambition did to us. To you. Even to me. Sunfyre shifts, and a keening growl rumbles low in his ruined chest." out at me and I have not known peace since.

When Sunfyre was still small enough and Aegon's siblings and Hell, even the Strong kids were still little, they all adored Sunfyre. They coddled him relentlessly and basically cooed over him 24/7, and both Aegon and Sunfyre were absolutely thrilled with it. Even when down in the Dragonpit with them, before shit started going sideways when some people had dragons and others didn't and the bullying and all, Sunfyre would still put on a bit of a show (as I said, vain) before Aegon would make him behave, which was Aegon's own version of his own show in displaying the bond and mastery he and Sunfyre have with each other.

Aegon had Sunfyre's skull prepped to line the walls of the throne room in accordance to House Targaryen traditions. Aegon III did take it down eventually (obviously, given the memory association), but he only took it down after Alicent Hightower had died and that last shredding of her children's legacy wouldn't hurt her anymore.

[charmac]

Part of why I love ur fic so much is that Mac and Charlie fit so well as millennials/gen z without changing too much of their characters but Dennis and Dee could never!! Crotchety middle aged trash twins for life!! Idk if this makes sense but you just nailed it man

Yes! 100% makes sense and also why I feel that it works so well as an AU that can stay more-or-less close to current canon.

When you take a character out of their time, de-age or whatever, it sometimes comes at the cost of their character development as we know them, since time and aging is a pretty huge factor in evolution, but Mac (and Charlie) are weird exceptions to this, because their character development has very little to do with their age (they really haven't aged in their own minds) and almost everything to do with how their circumstances change over the course of the show.

Mac didn't have to get older to come out. There was nothing about him maturing mentally or physically that cause him to accept himself. It only took him so long because the Gang enabled him for years, let him hide and pretend because they didn't want to deal with it. So if you speed up that timeline, face Mac with the fact that he's gay early on (make it so there's a reason he can't run away), you can basically take any plot from S1-16 and apply it to a young Mac and find that it's pretty much in character.

I think with Dennis, it's clear why if you de-aged him you wouldn't be able to achieve canon Dennis past a certain season. So much of his character development and evolution is based in him grappling with growing older. Physically being older hurts him in a lot of ways, but it also helps him grow and understand who he is and how to mask himself even better (which could be for worse).

Dennis has to age to face his demons, Mac has to be taught to face his. Though, does facing their demons mean they concur them? Or are they devoured to become worse?

[itsclydebitches]

I swear to god, they better not shipbait with Jaune at this point. The fact that he retains his mental age is just courting disaster! Especially after Weiss expressed the hots for him when he was "mature". The fact remains that there will now always be this odd little elephant in the room that Jaune is objectively mentally older than all of his friends, and that bugs the hell outta me. At least it's not quite as bad as Marco Diaz from Star Vs., where he and Star are physically teenagers... =~=

I've never seen Star vs. the Forces of Evil so I can't compare the two, but yeah, this is going to be a really awkward and likely unacknowledged factor moving forward. I already dislike how Jaune's age was a non-existent aspect of his trauma and the group's reunion in Volume 9. You'd think they'd care that their friend was suddenly (from their perspective) in his (presumed) 40s, but they brush right past it. You'd think Jaune's personality and concerns would change after that much time in the Ever After, but he's identical to the Jaune we've known since Volume 5-6—explosive anger included. You'd think that his age would impact the development of these scenes. Though I personally believe Ruby holds too much responsibility in all this for the narrative to try and present her as just some targeted victim, fans aren't wrong to ask, "Why did they decide to have the grown man screaming at the clearly traumatized teenager?" Especially when that feeds into moments like Jaune slamming Oscar up against the wall. It's consistent, but like Yang's anger that's an unsatisfying trait to see on screen when it continually goes unacknowledged.

The most frustrating part was that there were SO many ways they could have done away with the age aspect if—as is clearly the case—they didn't want to engage with it. And given that lack of engagement + the insta-fix from the Blacksmith, I can only conclude that they made Jaune older solely so Weiss could be attracted to him. That's the only thing his age actually did for the story and at this point I'm not sure which would be worse: for the story to capitalize on that with a Jaune/Weiss relationship (which is personally not my cup of tea), or drop it entirely, saving me from having to watch that ship, but leaving another giant hole in RWBY's story that asks, "Why did you even bother?"

Obviously though, even taking that joke in a more fulfilling direction won't change the fact that, yeah, Jaune is mentally in his 40s and still hanging out with his 18-20ish team. There's nothing wrong with that, but that HUGE change should influence the story and their relationships in some way... and likely won't.

[starwalker03]

Interested in the idea of Slade teaching Dick or someone how to use and fight with a healing factor. Not in the edgy ‘let me show you how much you can survive’ way but in terms of combat strategy and pragmatism. They probably have to dodge and block with different priorities. Slade’s larger organs can take a lot of damage but he doesn’t seem able to grow anything back. Not losing a limb is a bigger priority then getting stabbed in a major organ. Dick would need to learn how long injuries take to heal and how to set his own bones so they don’t heal wrong mid combat. There’s strategy in learning how much damage you can reasonably take and decide what injuries are worth what. in planning how when stall to heal and when to fight throw the pain and risk worse injuries. Slade has definitely put thought into it. I also think if WMLP Dick lost his healing factor it would messed up his fighting style.

Oh for sure! Having a healing factor completely changes the priorities when fighting.

Dick goes from Bruce to Slade, which is already a huge shift but it's visible in all the small parts too. especially in something like this. Bruce is a tank of a man, but he's teaching Dick how to fight from a young age and utilising his strengths as a gymnast and acrobat. That means teaching him not only how to dodge but how to focus on using the strength of an opponent against them. Because he's also teaching him how to conserve his strength! They go for long patrols and are often put in situations where they will be forced to function at their peak for hours as they deal with goons before they get to the bigger fight. And then on top of that, they need to be able to shape up and keep stride with their team mates. It's a lot of strategy, a lot of thinking, and for it to be effective it needs to become instinctual.

That's probably one of the first things Slade needs to train out of him. There's no point dancing around an enemy to conserve strength and stamina, because Dick has plenty of it, all he's doing is dragging things out and allowing the enemy a chance to find a way to escape. He needs to teach Dick to be able to simply take a punch square in the face without faltering in his step. Moreover, Dick would have learnt to conserve his energy and avoid injuring himself by never putting his full weight into a hit, especially because he can't kill anyone. That's another thing he has to learn, his knuckles won't really bruise and his legs won't snap if he roundhouses a particularly brutish enemy.

But it's a double edged sword, because you're right. they can't really hope to grow a limb back. They might be able to heal from it if it is stitched back on and everything, but if they lose their limb in battle, as far as they know it's gone for good. And setting bones mid-fight! jesus that's a mental image.

I'm imagining Slade picking some big two-handed sword, a claymore or executioners blade or something, with real heft and a sharp edge, and telling Dick to defeat him without risking amputation, but also without relying entirely on dodging. Dick having to crush the urge to dance around and flip and duck as he looks for a weakness and instead force himself too close for the sword's range and fight Slade for control of it.

Slade purposely breaking his leg and then throwing himself at him with a punch, forcing Dick to find a way to reset the wound mid-fight without opening himself up for an attack.

mmmmmmm...

Dick finally seeing Bruce in battle. Bruce trying to simply get him to stop, stand down, let him talk. Knowing he has a healing factor and deciding it is worth the pain to resort to simply shattering Dick's knee and breaking his femur.

Dick screaming, Bruce feeling the need to throw up as Dick is forced on hands and knees from the pain. But he doesn't lie down, doesn't stop when Bruce tells him to, that they can talk about this. No. He clenches his teeth with something near a growl, grip on his sword still string through it all, and forces himself to his feet. Eyeing Bruce, who is wavering and concerned but not taking a step forward. sheathing the sword, holding eye contact as he resets the bone with a sickening crunch, storming forward again with murder in his eyes.

delicious.

[daubigny-stan]

i watch a lot of youtube because i do not like having nothing on in the background lest i consume myself with my own thoughts. one of my most watched genres is fashion youtube. i've been watching fashion youtube since highschool, back in 2016-2017. and from watching all those yearly trends, thrift flips, and hauls, i've come to the conclusion that if i ever want to do youtube, i would not start until ive got a dayjob and like... robust self-esteem. age 27 AT LEAST.

so let me take you through my thought process. the queen of fashion youtube at the time was Ashley bestdressed. she did thrift hauls, thrift flips, outift inspos, the whole shebang. i think she was college - fresh graduate age when her channel was at peak popularity? and in 2020 she just dipped. disappeared. she makes content for ig only now and is working for many major fashion houses (good for her!). she vanished for a variety of reasons, in her videos she has always talked about her mental health struggles, having a stalker so she had to move a couple times during covid nonetheless, and honestly having the worst fanbase. i was on bestdressed reddit and discord at the time, these fans were horrible.

now, the most popular girlies on fashion youtube are kathleen illustrated, beepworld, mina le, and steal the spotlight (although im sorry to say in numbers not doing nearly as well as ashley; give em a watch if you're into fashion!). many of them started around the same time citing Ashley as a big influence. here i want to compare these creators to Ashley, not to incite hate but to understand what makes a healthy and sustainable content creator career.

I think age and career are a big factor because although social media content creation is usually a young man's job (because young people can keep up with trends and what not), the social part of social media is grueling. the horror of being known times like. a million. in ashley's case she had 3 million subscribers. and when you're around 21-25 ish you are the most insecure you will ever be. at least for me, i hope (im 22 now). so not only was ashley most likely struggling (she was very open about it, she made a lot of self deprecating jokes) but her biggest demographic was people her age who's insecurities were probably fueled by her content. like i will stress, im NOT blaming ashley, but like. 20 year olds watching another 20 yr old live her best life? oh my god the jealousy. the insecurity. it didn't help that she was so relatable and humble about it, i think we get more jealous of other people's success the closer they are to us (why i dont look at my personal instagram anymore lol). badabing badaboom parasocial relationship and 3 million people watching your every move and critiquing every bit of it. her fanbase had THE most baseless critiques. disguising her rich background or whatever, hating on her for being privileged (which she recognized a lot btw), literally going incel mode and making comments about every inch of her body, the only critique that holds up is prob the amazon video which she deleted. also she was not white which i think people were very weird about. i cant deny that her white contemporaries got much less hate.

what works with the creators now is some of them have careers outside of youtube and are also less personal with their content. for example, kathleen illustrated has a career in the creative industry which means she mostly does youtube for fun. you can tell it's not a source of stress for her, from the way she is in her videos. they also don't really talk about their lives in a personable way which separates them from their audience. now i know this point in particular in contentious, authenticity and relatability are huge selling points on youtube. but i guess it's more of analyzing the costs and benefits of it? is it worth to put your whole life out there? showing your boyfriend, your girlfriend, your friends? what if you split up? you can have a personable aura without revealing private details. in mina le's videos, since most of them are video essays she has the opportunity to show off her personality without revealing private details.

i hope the creators i mentioned and others don't have to go through what ashley bestdressed has gone through. i know content creation is a very passion filled career and to end up in circumstances where you lose your love for it sounds awful