#also not even accurate because he IS bisexual this was actually the other way around rcg pushed it in him

[macdenlover]

[lordelmelloi2]

On Hephaestion in Fate

Iskandar’s closest friend…though he didn’t think so himself. While his sister spread such information around, Hephaestion was aware that was simply counter-intelligence. Hephaestion was inserted at Iskandar’s side so as, even if only a little, to reduce the chance of him being attacked. [...]  If alive today, he would no doubt be accused of having a siscon streak in him. In a way, one could say that fear became accurate after his death.

From Hephaestion (person)'s entry in the materials of Lord El-Melloi II Case Files. Very frustrating to read.

I hate what Fate series is trying to do with Hephaestion and Iskandar's relationship, I Know explicitly they're trying to make room for fujo shipbrainrot here by saying essentially that they don't have to worry about it; but there's problems.

Urobuchi and Nasu and etc. have all stated Iskandar is bisexual, there is no way they could've made that judgment unless they explicitly acknowledged the nature of Iskandar and Hephaestion's relationship. The fact is also that the parallels between Iskandar and Gilgamesh and their respective "closest friends" are very blatantly apparent through F/Z and other incarnations that like to put them together and Case Files as a novel itself also hasn't really made any attempt to discredit Hephaestion's importance to Iskandar, either.

It's weird also that they even use the word 'siscon' here because it almost implies that Hephaestion didn't feel anything for Iskandar as much -- which is so fucking bizarre, because Iskandar's love of Achilles and the Iliad has been present during the entirety of F/Z and through FGO and other incarnations, who do you think was Patroclus? Like there is no actual fucking way they could strip that Hephaestion was the Patroclus out. Of course though they have basically all-but erased Patroclus from Achilles' story as well.

The thing though is that this does also imply a lot more Olympias machinations. Because we know Faker was also something that was Olympias' doing, taking Hephaestion's twin sister and molding her into a nameless body-double for curses to be redirected towards in order to protect Iskandar. If that setting is true then yes of course Hephaestion is going to be fiercely protective of her because he's acutely aware that his sister is being used for something so dehumanizing on purpose and she doesn't even care about it; she's also thoroughly stripped of her own mental self-agency in that she's truly devoted to Iskandar and her brother and that's it.

So it can almost be inferred that in the Fateverse that Olympias essentially set up Hephaestion and Iskandar to be best friends rather than it being their choice in Aristotle's classroom -- or perhaps that Hephaestion fit the bill for what Olympias was looking for and so she began manipulating the situation accordingly. Hephaestion has always historically been remarked upon as being the smarter one so I don't doubt he would see Olympias' nonsense with his sister and be upset about it right away. Though, I mean, it's hard NOT to be upset with what Olympias was doing through Alexander's childhood; she poisoned all his siblings, including one that he did care for, she pushed him constantly into the spotlight for the sake of power, she even at one point bought a prostitute for him and begged him to have sex with her because his disinterest in women and sex at that age was something she felt personally concerned with (again, powergrabs, but also, definitely covert incest shit in noble families). The last anecdote I've listed is one that's not stated in Fate series but is something that happened historically.

The question then is whether or not Fate wants to legitimize Hephaestion's feelings towards Iskandar as mutual. It's possible that the phrasing here would imply that Hephaestion merely believed he could not be as close to Iskandar's heart as he truly was; something that, given the amount of personal relationships Iskandar had, isn't a hard thought of self-doubt to keep. Iskandar had many relationships and all were very important to him for many reasons (Ionioi Hetairoi existing makes this obvious). It's just that truly, his relationship with Hephaestion was the Most important, and for Hephaestion to even be relevant in this manner or even discussable in this manner also adds to that.

If Hephaestion was (presumably) opposed to Olympias and protective of his sister, why would he follow Iskandar in the Fate verse, then? The benefit of course being power, which isn't something one would scoff at in this setting, but I truly doubt that Hephaestion would simply go for powergrabs if the whole point is that the people who followed Iskandar did so because they admired him and loved him. But that brings up another point.

Hephaestion has been absent from Ionioi Hetairoi and from character designs or materials despite his significance until the Case Files manga. There has been no depiction of Hephaestion himself in any material featuring Ionioi Hetairoi, the 10,000 strong army of Iskandar, of which features his most important relationships. Faker was also absent. What does this imply?

Faker's absence was due to protest. We know this from information from Case Files. Faker also has the ability as we know from Lady Reines' Case Files to be able to summon Ionioi Hetairoi herself, featuring Iskandar within it. One would presume Hephaestion also has this ability. But why is Hephaestion not there at all?

A few options -

Hephaestion IS there, Waver just doesn't want to talk about him because he's insane in the head or whatever

Hephaestion is there, but in the back or something -- his role being not forefront is the reason why he's in the shadows; something that is remarked upon in historical analysis as to why we know so little about Hephaestion even now. Hephaestion's role traditionally was to do a lot of the "dirty work", and so his position was less favorable to put the spotlight on in comparison to the sun-shining glory of Iskandar.

Hephaestion is not there because of protest, much like his sister.

Hephaestion is not there because he is not that important of a relationship to Iskandar...

Hephaestion is not there because he doesn't truly exist.

I generally feel like I trust Makoto Sanda to not go this route, but there has been (somewhat baseless) speculation that Hephaestion was actually Iskandar's split personality. I Highly Doubt That This Was The Case in Fate series given the way it has treated Hephaestion thus far as a figure, but it would explain why Hephaestion has been a complete phantom in the series and in Iskandar's recollection.

Though I think personally it's more likely that it's 2 or 3, I don't think that it's out of the question for it to be the simply negligent option 1 or the outright ahistorical option 4.

The other question is: why is Fate series so negligent of Hephaestion?

That's easy to answer from certain standpoints -- one is because it gives them more room to make money off of fans that are there from the sheer yaoi market that Isuwei as a pairing as brought in. Like from a marketing standpoint it is blatantly obviously advantageous to simply ignore Hephaestion until the end of time.

The other reason adding on to that is because in terms of representing gay content, Fate series really considers itself to have no liability to do so, especially when there's such a massive fan following for a male/male pairing. The fans make the majority of the content, so TM's work is done, and they can hand off crumbs to people hungry for them and keep fans of the actual historical figures begging for scraps with little things while rewriting it to suit their needs. It's the reason why Achilles doesn't have Patroclus despite the significance. It's also why the genderbends are so predominant; it's what's keeping the money going. In the recent GudaGuda event Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin's historical homoerotic relationship is explored but the weight of it lessened as Uesugi is not just a genderbend but also one of Takeuchi's designs. So the risk of straight male fan complaints about yucky gay stuff is lessened because Uesugi isn't "really a guy" in Fate here.

Type Moon hasn't really been one to look up to in terms of whether or not they will give realistic male/male representation in pairings; either one side of the pairing or both have to be in a female body, thus leaving what would normally be a m/m pairing as a "safer" yuri f/f pairing (which then benefits their marketing as well as the majoritively male fanbase is easier to sell to).

The problem though is whether or not it is going to mesh with the rest of the story.

As I said from a marketing standpoint it is obvious that ignoring Hephaestion is beneficial. But from a narrative standpoint -- and this is Sanda's challenge -- ignoring Hephaestion forever just doesn't make sense.

There is no Iskandar without Hephaestion. It is impossible to write a story about Iskandar that involves ANY aspect of the historical portion of him without mentioning Hephaestion. And the fact that Hephaestion was mentioned at all was Fate series' first mistake.

Iskandar's materials have him listed as Dhul Qarnayn, aka the Great King mentioned in the Quran as one of the ideal ways a King should exist. The reason for THIS is because of the Persian Alexander Romance. The Alexander Romance is basically a legend-version of Alexander the Great's story in which Hephaestion's presence is very little or just outright absent. It is a fantastical version of Alexander the Great's kinghood in which he performs many great deeds. There are Greek, Persian, Syrian, Hebrew, Ethiopian, Nigerian, Indian, Malaysian, Byzantine and even more chrono-regional versions of this story, and each one features that mysticism that made Alexander the Great into such a worldwide figure today.

It is pretty apparent that a lot of Iskandar's characterization comes also from the version presented in the Alexander Romance. His being Dhul Qarnayn solidifies this. It would have been easy to continue to ignore Hephaestion if they simply continued to go down this route -- the Alexander Romance features little stories featuring him, and glorifies Iskandar into this God-chosen figure, and in some versions, even as a prophet of God.

But in Case Files Faker is introduced and so is Hephaestion as a figure that did exist. Hephaestion is given some material, but never appears, except as a version spoken of by his newly-conceptualized twin sister. (Hephaestion did not have a twin sister in history, but that much should be common knowledge).

Hephaestion's absence then becomes this bleeding, gaping wound in the story, where the writing fails to stick to just one version of Iskandar -- and chooses to also associate with Alexander the Great the Historical version. Hephaestion's absence leaves this hole at the core of a lot of Iskandar's lacking characterization, where we see this vibrant, energetic character full of appreciation and care and love for those around him, except the man he was told to have loved and been close to the most.

And again. Hephaestion's importance to Alexander within history itself cannot be understated. I've mentioned before the sheer amount of money that went into Hephaestion's funeral, the fact that Alexander started executing people who had beefed with Hephaestion before (Eumenes was one such person who narrowly escaped the threat of execution because of his poor relationship with Hephaestion), Alexander executed the doctor who was in charge of Hephaestion and otherwise went on a complete megalomaniacal spree in the 8 months between Hephaestion's death and his own. There was no Alexander without Hephaestion. For Fate to come in and say that Hephaestion did not think he was the closest person to Alexander is to understate the megalomaniacism of the later Alexander's historical life, which strips from the character we are also inferred of through Faker's recollections in Case Files.

Faker often warns about getting too close to Iskandar, stating to Gray "The King is like the sun. Its heat burns away anything that gets too close." For the man who was considered equal to this sun, his absence is like that of a black hole where the rest of Iskandar's character is held. I also accept scraps of Iskandar's characterization here and there from various authors and depictions; I'm not saying I'm better than anyone on that note. But the frustration as an Iskandar fan I have at the sheer lack of consistency is what compels me to write on my own.

I generally have been very trusting of Makoto Sanda as an author to wrap up fine details, and he's generally been very consistent -- the inclusion of Ergo as Alexander IV's repo'd body in Adventures is still messy but the conclusion of Case Files was overall pretty decent. But it would still behoove him to write more on Hephaestion as a character or for the developers to genuinely consider adding in Hephaestion and fleshing him out; otherwise we miss so much of Iskandar and so much of what we think is going on in the Fate version of the Hellenic Empire history because that one piece is missing.

[aikoiya]

LoZ - Ganondorf's Sexual Profile

MDNI

I see most of the Ganons as having a similar basic personality with differences based on their personal life experiences.

CoH, OoT, TP, & WW Ganondorf are the same Ganondorf but at different stages of his life & thus, exhibits different levels of maturity based on the external influences in his life.

Tell me if you think my assessments are accurate or not.

For a non-sexual profile, go to Ganondorf's Characterization Profile.

Also, please keep in mind that these ideas are all free to use.

LoZ Linked Universe Masterlist

---

I've just come up with nicknames for the various Ganondorfs in a way reminiscent of Linked Universe.

FS = Sloth

CoH = Ambition (because he's just a kid & is mostly just a rude little brat, so he isn't represented by a sin here)

OoT = Greed

TP = Pride

WW = Envy

FSA = Gluttony

HW = Lust or Lech (though, the only ones able to call him the second one are other Gdorfs)

TotK = Wrath

---

I actually theorize that a new Gerudo-born incarnation of Demise's hatred is born every 10,000 years. If true, then by that logic, it means that around 50,000 years have passed between Skyward Sword & Tears of the Kingdom's presents.

However, I don't think that a Gerudo male still being alive really affects when another will be born. More so, it happens on a schedule. So, it's actually very possible for 2 Gerudo males to be alive at the same time.

Now, Gerudo males are still born every century between, right on schedule. They're just lucky enough to not be Demise's grudgemental stank reborn.

One thing of interest; these Gerudo males are always born on the 12th, though the month tends to change.

The Gerudo males are referred to as Centennial Kings or Mafzīnànkha Voe'attàren. However, those born of Demise's hatred these days are known as the Myriennial Tyrants or Mafzī'àlfankha Sûlfetànïren. They are also often referred to as the Vōton al’Khinzīr’è or Sons of the Boar as they are always born on February the 12th, under the sign of the Boar Constellation. Though, it took a very long time to figure that one out considering there's only been, like, 4 max.

---

Also, to keep track of each Gerudo King, they are given a birth name & a King Name. Their King Name is a descriptor of when & where they were born.

However, every Gerudo King has the same family name: Drāgamīr. From the Gerudan root words, Drāga meaning noble dragon, & Mīr meaning general or ruler. This means that Drāgamīr can be translated into draconian general or tyrant.

---

Kinks:

Fairly Consistent:

Small Tusks - I just sorta headcanon that male Gerudo generally have small, not obvious tusks & even smaller upper canines. This leads to them having very slight underbites.

Straight or Close To It - Just, generally prefers biological women, no matter the iteration. Both romantically & sexually. Will take no substitutions. Even when he does have sex with men, it's generally as a humiliation or dominance tactic as per the old custom of Feminizing the Enemy. As a result, most Gdorfs don't fuck with men often.

Except for Lust, he's borderline bisexual.

Feminizing the Enemy - A sexual war crime where someone rapes their enemy to exert dominance over them or to just outright humiliate them. Used to be a fairly common tactic for the Gerudo back before they stopped thieving. The Vaien (women) especially did this partially as a means to continue the Gerudo race.

In fact, way back when, most Gerudo were fathered by enemies of the tribe or male concubines which are foreign men enslaved to act as studs. As such, not many Gdorfs will see anything wrong with it.

Greed, Envy, Gluttony, & Wrath only seem to do this to their female enemies. This was always considered a boon as a Voe could sire many Vaivïn in very little time. So, in times when Kome & Kotake were in charge, any foreign women that a Gdorf bred against her will were commonly brought back to base, where she'd be imprisoned. If she turned out to be pregnant, they would tend to her until the child was born, & if the Gdorf took a liking to her, he could keep her as one of his toys.

However, a Darling who has experienced such trauma personally might be able to provide him with a different perspective on the subject. Especially if he's at a point where he deeply respects & trusts her. It doesn't negate his crimes, but it does allow him to better understand that these things are not okay.

It wasn't until the Gerudo had a legitimate alliance with Hyrule that they were able to discontinue the practice entirely.

Yandere - Very possessive & can definitely be obsessive. However, to what degree & how evident his yandere traits are tends to vary between iterations. However, whenever he's classified as a "soft" yandere, he becomes far less likely to punish his Darling with physical pain & more likely to either punish her by holding blackmail over her head, by going after her loved ones, or via pleasure & overstimulation. It depends on the "crime." At the same time, that doesn't mean that he won't hurt her as punishment, just that he's much less likely to do so.

However, generally speaking, he'll almost always be very manipulative with her. Or, at least he'd try to.

Paradoxically, he'd actually find a woman who he couldn't manipulate, very attractive.

What can I say, he likes a challenge.

Manipulative - He's just a naturally cunning & manipulative individual with very little qualms with using others for his own gain. He also finds it easy to betray those he sees as less than him. He can even be borderline Shang Tsun (Mortal Kombat) depending on the version of him.

Control Freak - Depending on his iteration, he can have control issues. Part of this is due to having felt powerless as a child as his mothers tended to have him on a short leash.

Naturally Deceptive - A liar. He falls into the role of deceiver naturally & with great ease.

Naturally Dominant - Due to the societal pressures placed upon him at a young age as the Centennial King, he tries to project dominance at all times, especially when near his subjects.

King Alone - Initially doesn't ever intend to marry as that would mean sharing his power. As such, he instead has many concubines to attend to his needs.

However, this changes when he finds his Darling. At least, most of the time.

Machismo vs Caballerismo - Tends to originally classify as misapplied Machismo, meaning aggressive & overly macho. Though, even when he is primarily misapplied Machismo, he is very much not chauvinistic or sexist due to how he grew up, except against weak women. He hates weak women. At the same time, he also isn't chivalrous either. However, real, genuine love & care tends to soften him & he begins to exhibit more correctly-applied Machismo (meaning to project the features of a man, specifically stoicism, strong, dominant, resiliant, cool, virile, ect), as well as Caballerismo tendencies (such as nurturing, being family-oriented, protective, & chivalrous).

Said correctly-used Machismo will eventually become his new public disposition, thus becoming truly masculine.

However, his newly acquired Caballerismo tendencies will generally only come out around those he cares about.

Struggles With His Masculinity - Due to being raised by all women & no other men besides concubini (plural of concubinus; defined as male concubines) being allowed in, Gdorf really only had those very women's understanding of what being a man was & the concubini for examples.

It also doesn't really help that his mothers tend to encourage the more negative behaviors most commonly associated with men.

However, despite this less than ideal situation, he tends to be expected to be this pillar of masculinity for his community without much decent direction, which tends to put a lot of stress on him, especially in his early years. As such, his masculinity is actually pretty fragile & only gets marginally stronger with experience if he never gets better role models.

Even amongst his own race, he is always considered as "other" due to being a male & this results in him feeling extremely alienated as he is always forced to become innately aware of the fact that the Vaien (women) of his tribe tend to talk about & treat men as almost an entirely different, even alien, species.

He was also generally barred from visiting the more populated parts of the Gerudo settlements until after all the Vaivïn (girls) below 18 had been lain down for bed. This way, none of the Vaivïn ever saw him, as per the Gerudo's custom.

However, this results in him never really interacting with other children his age, which results in him being ill-socialized. At least, until he himself had reached 18 as well, but the sudden introduction to peers without any experience with them tends to cause him to close off from them.

In this way, he doesn't really understand what being a man actually means. Though, he manages to hide the fact that he's been absolutely starved of positive male role models, potential father figures, & even male peers, rather well. However, when this fact does show itself, the reality & obviousness of it tends to be staggering; glaring even.

Generally, it just shows itself in little ways. Like not knowing how to shake hands with a firm grip properly while maintaining eye contact or how to be strong & firm, but also gentle at the same time. Or how to be competitive in a lighthearted & friendly way while not letting pride sour things. Or how to not take certain things to heart. How to be resilient in character & not just in body.

It also shows itself in how he feels the need to gain female attention. How he's become codependent of the women around him, specifically depending upon his mothers' approval in order to feel validated.

And when he realizes that his basically non-existant understanding of manhood has been made apparent to someone, he becomes embarrassed & ashamed, then aggressive.

Secretly Insecure - Hides it extremely well.

Flirty & Charming - Part of this is connected to being manipulative. He sees what he wants & will get it by whatever means necessary. Even if it means flirting with the enemy. Likes giving his beloved nicknames.

Endearment Usage - Most Gdorfs are pretty frugal with handing out nicknames & endearments unless he legitimately cares about them.

Extremely Monogamic - The idea of cheating on someone he legit cares about would leave him shocked & aghast. This is due to the Gerudo just being an extremely romantically exclusive & monogamous people in regards to their hearts. Romance is considered something almost entirely separate from, yet still connected to, sex & the Gerudo, just as a people, are very cautious with their hearts. They also, as a culture, value fidelity.

Like, to the point where infidelity is considered a serious taboo. Even a crime punishable by death.

Breast Man - Don't get him wrong. He enjoys flared hips, a plump ass, & shapely legs too & will never say no to them, but he just can't help how much he loves a soft, pillowy bust. Not even just sexually either.

Sometimes when he's overwhelmed or just frustrated, he likes to hold his Darling around the waist & rest his head on her chest & drown everything out.

Part of it has to do with hearing her heartbeat, which helps to ground him in the moment with another part just being the smell of her skin. Especially appreciates it if she begins to pet his head, run her fingers through his hair, or sing quietly to him. It very much relaxes him & may just end up causing him to fall asleep buried in her bosom.

Part of it also has to do with a general fascination because not many Gerudo Vaien have large busts. A shapely lower-half, absolutely, but not very busty.

Now, there's definitely lust to his attraction to breasts, I'm just saying that there's more to it than that is all.

Amazon Chaser - A number loves it when he's beaten, but not all of them. However, fighting him to a stalemate? That almost always catches his attention. He loves that. Especially if she exhibits tremendous skill during their fight.

Now, being beaten consistently will definitely chafe him, but the occasional win? That's hot!

He also loves to watch his Darling take down those who challenge her, proving her right to be at his side. Finds it excessively sexy.

Loves Begging - All of them enjoy it to a degree. Just comes with being an evil bastard. But Pride has a serious problem. He likes it too much. He especially enjoys lording over his conquests.

Yet, when the tables are turned, he begs so prettily.

Breeder Balls - And with the kink to go with them. No one will convince me otherwise. Just generally has macroorchidism & hyperspermia, but with an unusually high sperm count, even compared to one without hyperspermia. This is thought to be a blessing from Vah Sāqmàla, being a Gerudo goddess of vivifatility (pertaining to both virility & fertility).

Very few Voen (men) other than the Centennial King are bequeathed with this feature as it wasn't a common thing for Voen before the female-only curse, which theologians theorize to be part of Vah Gela's boon. Which, would make a degree of sense considering Vah Gela is said to have been one of Vah Sāqmàla's many daughters.

However, every Centennial King has it.

This is why the condition is often referred to as Mùta Vallah'jï Shôhxàl (Sex Goddess's Divine Favor).

Long Ejaculation Times - His beast form is a boar after all.

Power Dynamics - Naturally dominant & enjoys asserting himself over others. However, he has a secret submissive streak &, depending on which Gdorf, he'll either be initially uncomfortable with it, embrace it, or reject it entirely.

Thinks that watching his Darling ride him is a thing of true beauty.

Dirty Talker - The mouths on certain Gdorfs can be downright filthy at times.

Partner Pleaser - Most Gdorfs take great pride in his abilities as a lover & won't be satisfied with a lay unless his partner has cum at least twice, if not thrice. That isn't to say that that's all the rounds he can go for. Rather, it's what each one requires before he allows himself to cum even once. Though, when it's just anyone, it's less about being a kind lover & more so for self-satisfaction & to exert control over them. A desire to watch his lover writhe as they come undone due to his ministrations.

Praise/Degradation - Depends on the Gdorf & the situation.

Body Worship - Always initially just receiving cock worship, as it really strokes his ego & makes him feel like a god. However, if he loves his Darling, he'll become an avid giver as well.

Marking Kink - Loves it when his Vai leaves marks on his body & likewise loves to see his own marks on hers. However, if a Voe does it, he'll see it as an act of defiance & an attempt to dominate him. Thus, it'll result in him seeing red & possibly biting a literal chunk out of the offender before spitting it out like trash.

Breeding & Pregnancy Kink - Loves completing inside his partners & hates having to pull out before cumming. However, it's mostly about the feel for him until he's found his Darling.

Afterwards, it becomes a complex mix of wanting to claim her as his in the most intimate place possible & wanting to have her carry his heirs. If he's not careful, he could overstimulate them both with how feral it can make him.

Master Pussy-Eater - I mean, is it really surprising? With time & experience, his skill at bringing women to nirvana is top notch. Though, when he does it to his Darling, he'll have a tendency to get pussy-drunk & could accidentally overstimulate her.

Tsundere Peggee - Would like it a lot when his woman uses his ass (though only his Vai), but initially believes that he wouldn't & would be deeply opposed to trying in most situations, seeing it as a knock at his masculinity. Would only consider it in certain situations. Even after trying it, he'd try to deny how much he enjoys it & it would take time to get him to admit to it. That doesn't mean he prefers it that way. Rather, it's just another fun option for play.

Snarls When He Cums If It's Really Good - Nuff said.

Sealing Balls - Tends to get blue balls something fierce after being sealed away for a long time. As such, it isn't uncommon for him to perform a bit of classic piracy.

Best Match - A strong, honest, capable woman who (quietly) demands respect, sees past all his crap, & doesn't believe his lies, while managing to be respectful at the same time, but also doesn't try to change or "reform" him. Holds him accountable & wont sugarcoat things. A woman who'll enforce rules & lines that she will not allow to be crossed between them if he wants their relationship to continue, but will also respect the boundaries that he puts in place. Who can counter all his attempts to control or manipulate her, whether consciously or subconsciously. Both humble, yet confident & proud in her own, not egotistical way. And, despite himself, he'd be deeply attracted to one with strong maternal instincts. Because some buried part of him desires a family who will love him unconditionally.

He'd be unprepared for someone so direct & unaffected by his tricks. Especially someone able to unbalance him. In this way, he would find himself charmed. These things will cause him to respect her in a way that he doesn't many others.

Which, respect is extremely important for him in any relationship. If he respects you, he is far less likely to betray you. It's even more important for a Darling to have his respect in lives where he's NPD or even just borderline NPD.

He also just very much likes 'em in one of 2 extremes: feisty badass & elegant, yet deceptively lethal badass.

Likes To See Her Angry - Thinks she looks gorgeous with that fire in her eyes. So, he very much enjoys teasing, picking on, & bickering with her.

He also just generally enjoys a good verbal duel of witts.

Wants To Be Romanced - Despite being the dominant sort, he actually really wants to be romanced. He'd legitimately melt inside if a woman tried to woo, romance, or court him. Especially if she does so using things she's learned about his interests.

Not Used To Genuineness - Most gifts he's been given throughout his lives were frivolous & superficial. Just extravagant things that look nice, but really serve no purpose. So, when given something that he truly likes or legitimately interests him or has meaning to him personally, he's both shocked & touched, but also confused. Something high-quality & handmade with care will especially make his heart flutter. It's the effort put in.

Love Language - Gift-giving & physical affection. Initially, most of his gifts will likewise be frivolous & extravagant, but the first time he gets a heartfelt gift from his Darling, he'll honestly feel outdone & will endeavor to improve his gift-giving skills. He wants her to feel every bit as touched by his gifts as he is touched by hers.

Touch Starved - Is initially uncomfortable & unused to positive non-sexual physical affection, but upon getting used to it, begins to crave it like air. Loves having his hair touched or pulled or brushed or his scalp massaged or scratched.

Also, bathing each other is actually an important Gerudo bonding experience for married couples. For Gdorf, it's a very vulnerable & tender time. Is initially defensive & guarded when first doing so with his wife, but will gently unfurl his grip around his heart over time & bare it to her willingly.

He's actually a very warm & tender lover with his beloved wife. Is also a natural romantic at heart, but tries to keep this fact hidden & deeply buried. Loves it when his lover & him brush each other's hair. It's incredibly intimate to him as he takes his overall appearance very seriously. Will even let a Darling with hair-styling skills style his hair.

Actually really loves his hair or head being touched, though he won't allow it unless he trusts her. But when he does & the trust is 100%, massage his head & he may just drift off to sleep in his lover's arms.

Casual Physical Affection - When near his lover & the 2 are close, he naturally draws close to her & rests his hand on her hip or shoulder or lower back. Sometimes even just bumping his hip against hers. Enjoys tilting her chin up as he dips his head down to capture her lips in a sweet kiss.

Cuddle-Bug - Craves closeness. Often wraps his arms around his lover & even curls around her protectively in his sleep. Face pressed into her neck, shoulder, or hair. Sometimes drools in his sleep. Snores, but quietly. Occasionally snorts, but not often.

Loves Kisses & Casual Affection - He often leans down to kiss his lover & thinks that her standing on her toes to meet his lips is absolutely adorable. Will also pick her up by her waist or hold her under the ass or bridal style to do so.

Reciprocal Ownership - Initially, he is the type to want to own people, yet not be owned himself. Until he falls in love. At which point, he takes great pride in being claimed or in any way acknowledged as being hers.

Wears her marks with pride.

Often uses "my" to refer to her & might become inwardly flustered initially if she refers to him in the same way.

FS (Sloth) Specifically:

Don't know much about him. I'll have to play the game or watch a playthrough to get a better idea.

CoH (Ambition) Specifically:

NONE, he's a kid! Leave the boy alone in this regard or I'll break your knees!

OoT (Greed) Specifically:

Tsundere - Wants a genuine connection, but denies it. It isn't that he thinks he doesn't deserve it; in fact there isn't much that he believes he doesn't deserve. However, his mothers, & thus he himself, have convinced him that he doesn't need one beyond Kōme & Kotake. As such, when he has a genuine crush on a woman, he tends to come off as abrasive & a jerk.

Secretly Perverted - Can range from flirty to downright lecherous (but not chauvinistic), however he tries to keep this fact a secret, which results in him being tsundere. Will sometimes stalk his Darling & is prone to apodyopsis through the eyes. Can also be quite the tease.

Very Possessive - Both of people he genuinely cares about & of things he actually likes. In terms of things, this tends to include music sheets, his horse, & books, especially books revolving around cultural anthropology, mythology, & magical practice.

Manipulative & Eliminating Yandere - Gets very jealous & even kinda needy. Wants to be the center of his Darling's attentions & will do damn near whatever it takes to do so. Will take out anyone he thinks might be trying to take his Darling from him.

Secretly Wants To Be Dominated (but only sometimes) - If a woman can kick his ass, instant erection. Literal heart-eyes mofo! Despite being a tsundere, he will quietly crush on her afterwards.

Though, being beaten all-the-time would just make him angry & his insecurity swell. It only needs to be once.

However, it's Gerudo custom that if a ruler is beaten by a member of the opposite sex (so long as they are the relatively same age), they are to be the ruler's spouse. In the old days, the Gerudo ruler was expected to make that happen by whatever means necessary. (This tradition also holds true for the common Gerudo, though to a lesser degree.)

In many ways, as soon as she knocks him on his ass, he mentally begins referring her as his wife or his queen.

Power Dynamics - Naturally dominant & initially uncomfortable with letting go of control. He'd have to be very close to his Darling to allow that, but much like how being dominated can be relieving & destressing for CEOs, so too can it be for Greed. Will absolutely melt when dommed. That isn't to say that he doesn't enjoy being dominant &, in fact, he very much likes it, but the occasional change of pace is also very much appreciated.

TP (Pride) Specifically:

Somnophile - Actually, very much enjoys watching her sleep. He's also prone to admiring her face as she dozes. Will kiss her face sweetly & tuck hair behind her ear & nuzzle her face or neck. However, he'll only do this sort of thing after they're married.

If she wakes, she'll likely catch quite the tender & fond expression on his face. However, he's tsundere af & will get flustered at having been caught like that. He might also get grumpy about it, but he isn't actually angry. Just embarrassed.

He'll refuse to fuck her will she sleeps unless he gets the idea that she'd be amenable to the idea. Though, he'll also refuse to bring up the idea himself due to being both stubborn & embarrassed.

As such, there will be times when she might wake up to find him masterbating beside her with lusty yet sweet praise, whispering past his lips like a prayer. Which, if she reveals that she's awake at that moment, will leave the man absolutely mortified & he may just lock himself away for a while.

However, if he's ever given the idea that she wouldn't mind or might even think the idea hot, Greed will have zero issue with the idea of having sex with her while she's asleep or receiving pleasure as he himself slumbers. In fact, when giving, he enjoys challenging himself to see how long he can breed her without waking her fully. Seeing it as a victory if he manages to get them both to the finish without waking her. (He tends to be extra full of himself & cocky for the rest of the day afterwards. A slight mischievous streak will also have him not mentioning it.)

He'll also whisper some of the sweetest, most honest praises you've ever heard into her ear as he gently breeds her. Unfortunately, if he happens to wake her, he'll kind of panic & stop, even pulling out & trying to hide the fact that he'd done so. And that's even after having gotten direct & open consent. Though only in the beginning. It'll take him time to fully realize that it's okay & even then, he's likely to keep flinching at first for a while.

And, as she comes to completely & wait for her consent. If he's told to stop, he'll get pouty, but he'll acquiesce. However, if she tells him to keep going, he’ll do so… hesitantly, before eventually relaxing. Though, whatever praise he'll give won’t come out quite as raw as while she was asleep.

One great, if somewhat cruel way to get him to stop that is by pretending she’s still asleep & memorizing everything he says then the next morning, use those same words to praise him back.

He'll be shocked & sputter, but she should not give him a direct answer unless he asks a direct question about it. However, she should make it clear through expressions & euphemisms that she enjoyed it. Not to mention, kisses (deep & passionate, yet filled with love) of affirmation as a greeting for the day while she holds his face tenderly. Like he's sincerely the most precious treasure she's ever laid eyes on. This, followed by coquettish behavior throughout the day, will reassure him without pressuring him, that it's okay & that it's very encouraged. Which will allow him to be less thorning & embarrassed by it.

And when receiving, he'll often see it as the most beautiful sight & the absolute best way to wake up. However, he'll try to pretend that he's still asleep.

After that, I'd he realizes that she's woken during intercourse, he'll, unfortunately, begin to pull back on the open tenderness, but will replace it with an edge of seduction.

Will not breed her in her sleep unless she's given him the cues.

Remember that this is the Child Timeline where he was ratted out by a pair of children & was discovered to be treacherous.

However, I tend to believe that the Hyrule King didn't initially believe Link or Zelda &, instead, sent Impa to investigate in an attempt to assuage his daughter's paranoia & prove that her & her new friend were just worrying over nothing.

He didn't expect for Impa to actually turn up evidence of a legitimate coup.

Which, keep in mind that unless Zelda specifically sent Link back to before he even woke up in his treehouse, then at the very least, Greed had still sent Ghoma to infest the Deku Tree, which resulted in him dying.

And depending on whether or not the same is true of his attempts to attain the other Spiritual Stones, then there'd be eye witness testimony to Greed's treachery. Hell, Darunia himself said that Ganondorf told him to "give me the Spiritual Stone! Only then will I open the cave for you!" And, keep in mind that, according to Darunia, the king is his Sworn Brother. So, even though I don't think that the king would believe a couple of kids, he'd likely believe the word of his own friend. Which, all Link would have to do would be to tell the king to "ask Darunia." And, bringing up Ruto could also help, because even though she too was a child, the fact that yet someone else was insisting that Greed was after their Spiritual Stone, would only further cement his suspicions. Hell, the mere fact that Link has the Kokiri Emerald should at least raise a couple of red flags!

And the fact that Greed was specifically after the Spiritual Stones, the keys to accessing a holy relic of the country that he was supposedly trying to form some sort of alliance with, would raise some freaking alarm bells, I'd think!

As a result, the king likely kept the fact that the investigation was prompted by a couple of children quiet as not only would it reflect badly upon the Royal Family for not having investigated until then, but it'd paint a target on both the kids' backs.

As such, no one, not even Pride, actually knows that it was the children that snitched on him. He knows that the princess didn't like him & he assumes that the boy in green was one of her little friends, but thinking that it was them would most likely be a bit of a logical leap for him regardless of whether it was true or not. Part of the reason that he betrayed Zant is due to the mistaken belief that someone close to him betrayed him. As a result, he became extremely paranoid of those working under him.

Anyway, after Greed began to suspect that the jig was up, he escaped before he could be caught. This resulted in a 7 year long war (which is why Pride has longer hair during the execution scene). At the end of those, Link defeated him in battle & took him to face his crimes.

After Greed was sealed in the Twilight Realm, his ardent Gerudo followers (excluding Kōme & Kotake) were all executed while the rest were banished. (Which leads into Gluttony.)

However, he actually isn't aware that the rest of the Gerudo were banished & legitimately believes that they were all killed & thus he is the only Gerudo left. And the state of the once Spirit Temple does not help in any way.

So, despite having not truly cared for them, he's still extremely angry about the believed genocide.

Will Fuck Both Women & Men Whenever - However, he really only finds women to be attractive. He's mostly indifferent to men & generally only fucks men to humiliate them & prove his dominance. It's sort of an expression of how he thinks that he can do anything due to having the blessing of a goddess. So, while he's not attracted to men, he's turned on by their humiliation & gets a bit of a high from dominating his enemies.

Rapist - Very much not a good man & will take what he wants from whoever he desires. A cereal Feminizer of the Enemy. While other Gdorfs do this too, it's mostly seen as just business for them. But Pride has a legit sadistic streak about it.

Worse yet, he'll mock his victims. Especially men whose bodies react despite not wanting it.

So, yeah. Horrible dude.

Isolating & Eliminating Yandere - Due to having been just sort of given the Triforce of Power even though he hadn't gotten it in this timeline, he's gotten a huge ego boost & doesn't take rejection well. In many ways, he sees himself as being chosen by Din & rightful king of Hyrule because of it. This is what spawned his God Complex.

Much like all Gdorfs, he's also very selfish & greedy, wanting his Darling all to himself. It's just to the extreme here. Insanely possessive & jealous. Will punish his Darling physically if he believes she's defied him in any way. Seeks to isolate her from those around her. I can't reiterate more how extremely possessive & jealous this man is. As such, he'll have anyone he views as a threat to his relationship with her, eliminated.

And, in his sadism, if he believes this individual to be someone Darling cares about, he's not opposed to making their death a spectacle.

The Ganondorf most likely to imprison his Beloved in a tower & rape her at his leisure.

Perverted - Not even secretly at this point. Just downright lecherous to the point of chauvinism & doesn't even try to hide it. Will sometimes stalk his Darling & is prone to apodyopsis via the eyes. Makes some downright obscene comments sometimes.

Can honestly be very lewd & crass.

Objectifier - Especially if she's Hylian or Sheikah/Yiga. In such situations, it even takes on a feeling of racial fetishization. Takes simple joy in humiliating her.

Most likely to dress her up all pretty & parade her around as a sort of living trophy.

Endearment User - However, he tends to do so in objectifying, possessive, or mocking ways.

Will often refer to a woman that he's made into a concubine as Bensinï, Benzenï, Kinzanï, all meaning "my treasure." Vesginï to mean "my jewel." Hiahxàlnï, meaning "my prize." Làba or Làbanï, translating to "toy/plaything" or "my toy/plaything." Ghànj or Ghànjnï, for "pet" or "my pet." Morizī, "pretty one."

Or, in the case of Darling being a Hylian or Sheikah, he will regularly use Bensïrénï, which refers to the spoils of war or thievery, thereby giving it a meaning similar to "my trophy."

And, surprisingly, Tzhamdnï, translating to "my sheath." Which, if this was said in privacy, whispered in the ear, or even just said with affection, then it'd take on a very sweet & wholesome meaning. As it can mean something similar to Bayni or Amïnq'tonï, which mean "my home" or "my sanctuary or safe place." Though, while whispering can still have that sort of feel, the act of making it secretive, will cause the endearment to be edged with seduction or promise.

However, because this Gdorf calls her such out loud regardless of someone being present, with an abundance of smugness, & very little tenderness. It actually causes it to take on the more literal & euphemistic meaning due to Tzhamd also being frequently used to refer to a woman's cooch. As such, his use of it would be considered outrageously lewd, very bold, & even just downright shameless to a Gerudo listener.

Strong, But Not Too Strong Women - It's easiest to get his attention if a woman nearly beats him, but not to such a degree that he feels insecure in his position as strongest. If she's able to literally beat him from the beginning, then that'll just get him angry & give him a sort of psychosexual hate-on for her, thus causing him to desire to imprison her & punish her for her insolence.

Possibly even making her his prized concubine. Not even respecting her enough to put a ring on that finger despite the custom that says he should marry her. The reason being that he's become extremely narcissistic & prideful of his power that he openly disregards his people's customs.

At the same time, if she manages to turn the tables on him to such a degree that she is able to imprison him & use him as her personal fuck toy, there will be a part of him that'll marvel & be enthralled by her. Especially if she generally treats him fairly when not having sex. It actually doesn't take long for him to submit & become her loyal concubinus (male concubine) in such a case.

In many ways, he's much like a giant, spicy cat in need of socialization. He butts his head into his mistress' hand like one too. (Though, the grandma rollers have got to go.)

However, it'll take quite a lot longer for him to be able to call her Mistress.

There will definitely eventually be some Stockholm going on for him though as he'll eventually take to referring to her possessively.

Such as "my Mistress" or "my queen."

Unfortunately, he's so prideful & wicked here that the only way to make him better is by breaking him down first. And even then, he'll prefer his new place. This being the ultimate reflection of his Might Makes Right mentality. Meaning that, in his mind, Darling had totally & completely beaten him in every way that mattered, therefore she was allowed to do whatever she wished to him & he was hers to command.

And he's so brainwashed by this belief that he's turned on by her utterly dominating him.

Needless to say, he's a sick mofo.

Somnophile - Actually, very much enjoys watching her sleep. (Just because he's a wicked piece of shit doesn't mean that he's incapable of real affection.) He's also prone to admiring her face in a relaxed state. Those are some of the only times that he allows himself to be truly tender with his Darling as he actually feels safe to do so. Will kiss her face sweetly & tuck hair behind her ear & nuzzle her face or neck.

At the same time, due to how he is, especially when he's still in power, if she suddenly wakes up & sees him, it'll often induce fear as the image is quite creepy. And worse is that he won't even stop. Choosing to instead continue indulging in her presence, though with a more sinister air to it.

He also has no issue with the idea of having sex with someone while they sleep or receiving pleasure as he himself slumbers. In fact, when giving, he enjoys challenging himself to see how long he can breed her without waking her fully. Seeing it as a victory if he manages to get them both to the finish without waking her. (He tends to be extra full of himself for the rest of the day afterwards.) He'll also whisper some of the sweetest praises you've ever heard while she’s still under. Though even if he does wake her, he'll simply continue unfazed, just without the tenderness. And when receiving, he'll often see it as quite possibly the absolute best way to wake up.

However, due to his nature as a person, he doesn't see a need for permission unless he's been fully toppled from his perch & subsequently ground into the dirt.

As such, he does this regardless of consent.

Bratty Bottom Who Enters Subspace Fairly Easily - Never ever will you find a brattier bottom. Though, if she treats him tenderly while he's in subspace, it'll unconsciously accelerate his transition into the mindset of her as his Mistress.

Bondage or Restraining - Loves to have his Darling helpless beneath him & crying out his name. However, the gander doesn't appreciate its own medicine initially.

Enjoys Toys - By that I mean adult toys.

Harem Owner - Has many concubines that he uses at his leisure. Until Darling makes him hers. At which point, they're all dismissed.

Extremely Touch Starved - Only rivaled by Envy, this Gdorf is unbelievably touch-starved & despite everything, craves physical affection like it's a force of nature. Absolutely melts when given it. However, he tends to be very tsundere about it.

Initially Refuses To Be Dominated - In the beginning, even when acting as the bottom, he needs to be in control. Until he's tamed as mentioned above, at which point he may eventually begin to willingly refer to her as mistress & literally beg to be used like a whore by her.

Praise/Degradation - Mostly degradation & even the few times he praises, it tends to be very filthy & backhanded. Until he's tamed as mentioned above, at which point the praise floweth like water.

Body Worship - Enjoys his cock being worshipped. Especially when he sits upon his throne.

However, once he's broken in, he'll borderline treat her as a literal goddess.

Exhibitionist - Legitimately does not care when or where he has sex &, in fact, sees it as his right to be able to take from others' bodies whenever.

As mentioned above, he especially takes great, sadistic joy in forcing his defeated enemies into worshiping his cock as he sits upon his throne & attends his audience or meetings.

Despite this, is actually deeply humiliated if his Mistress dominates him in front of others. However, despite himself, it actually turns him on more.

WW (Envy) Specifically:

This is the Adult Timeline, which means he experienced being at the top & nearly achieving his goals (even being King of Hyrule for a period of 7 years) before being toppled like a stack of dominoes. This humbled him to a degree & has had a strong effect on him.

Envy keeps his hair short due to perceiving himself as having failed as both a king & a man, thus he doesn't really see himself as a true man, let alone a true king, anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I don't actually think that Greed really cared about his people as much as some assume. Because if he had, then why were the Gerudo still all living in the desert? Why did he have them brainwashed? In this way, I think that he keeps his hair that short mostly due to failing himself & his own lofty ambitions.

As such, if Envy does feel guilty for having failed them, then it isn't for as selfless of a reason as some like to portray it being.

It's possible that he is genuinely regretful, but the likelihood of it only being because of his own personal failure, is actually very high.

Soft, But Manipulative & Unassuming Yandere (Borderline Sane) - Having been humbled so, he tends to have a stronger hold on his yandere tendencies. As such, he is more subtle in his machinations. "Soft" means that he'll often regret or feel guilty over the bad things he does to his Darling, but that doesn't mean that he'll stop.

One of the 2 Dorf most likely to use pleasure & overstimulation as punishment.

Prone To Jealousy - Yet, he also tends to keep it to himself. However, that causes it to simmer until it boils over.

Secretly Perverted - Can range from flirty to downright lecherous (but not chauvinistic), however he tries to keep this fact a secret &, if nothing else, he at least puts in the effort to be polite about it. Will sometimes stalk his Darling & is prone to apodyopsis through the eyes. Can also be quite the tease.

Extremely Touch Starved - Only rivaled by Pride, this Gdorf is unbelievably touch-starved & almost openly craves physical affection like it's a force of nature. Absolutely melts when given it. Whereas Pride is the spicy cat that needs socializing, Envy is the big, fluffy cat that just sorta wanders into your house & decides you're its new family. Loves cuddles & is in no way ashamed of this fact. Might be a bit embarrassed, but not ashamed of it.

Secretly Wants To Be Dominated (every once in a while) - If a woman can kick his ass, instant erection. Though, he'll try to contain his excitement & will find his reaction embarrassing.

Has a greater tolerance for being defeated by a beautiful Vai due to having been humbled so.

Once more, it's Gerudo custom that if a ruler is beaten by a member of the opposite sex (so long as they are the relatively same age), they are to be the ruler's spouse. In the old days, the Gerudo ruler was expected to make that happen by whatever means necessary. (This tradition also holds true for the common Gerudo, though to a lesser degree.)

So, in many ways, as soon as she knocks him on his ass, he mentally begins calling her his wife or his queen & will quietly simp for her.

Somnophile - Actually, very much enjoys watching her sleep. He's also prone to admiring her face as she dozes. Will kiss her face sweetly & tuck hair behind her ear & nuzzle her face or neck.

If she wakes, she'll likely catch quite the soft expression on his fact & a quiet “Sàv'otta.”

He also has no issue with the idea of having sex with someone while they sleep or receiving pleasure as he himself slumbers. In fact, when giving, he enjoys challenging himself to see how long he can breed her without waking her fully. Seeing it as a victory if he manages to get them both to the finish without waking her. (He tends to be somewhat full of himself for the rest of the day afterwards. A slight mischievous streak will also have him not mentioning what happened.) He'll also whisper some of the sweetest praises you've ever heard into her ear as he gently breeds her. And if he happens to wake her, he'll stop as she comes to completely & wait for her consent. If he's told to stop, he'll get pouty, but he'll acquiesce. However, if she tells him to keep going, he’ll do so gladly, though perhaps a bit restrained in his affections as it’s easier to behave so tenderly with one who doesn’t hear. And when receiving, he'll often see it as quite possibly the absolute best way to wake up.

Will not do this without discussing it with her.

Breeding, Pregnancy, & Lactation Kink - He just gives me that vibe.

Reciprocal Parent Kink - Only applies when they have a kid together. It's not even remotely about age-play & is instead about acknowledging each other's domestic roles. It's essentially calling each other mother or father of my child. Takes great, masculine pride in being referred to in such a way. Age-play creeps him out.

Power Dynamics - Naturally dominant, but has discovered that he enjoys switching things up a bit. However, he'd have to be very close to her to allow that, but much like how being dominated can be relieving & destressing for CEOs, so too can it be for Envy.

This Gdorf finds it pretty easy to give up control.

FSA (Gluttony) Specifically:

Don't know much about him. I'll have to play the game or watch a playthrough to get a better idea.

Either way, this is a reincarnation of Pride (meaning, Pride died & was reborn as someone new) & he's affected by the fact that his people were banished from Hyrule, so he likely has ideas of revenge rolling around in that head of his. (Not sure if learning that they were banished because of his predecessor's actions would change anything, though.)

Very Possessive - Both of people he genuinely cares about & of things he actually likes. Even more so than Greed.

Indulgent - He enjoys luxury. Even more so than all the other Ganondorfs. Especially food. He loves food. Actually, a surprisingly good cook. But also a bit of a snob when it comes to what he eats.

Hedonistic - Seeks out pleasure in whatever way he can. This goes hand-in-hand with his indulgent tendencies.

A Pervert - Honestly, can be every bit as much of one as Lust, but he hides it about as well as Envy does. The reason he's a pervert is simply due to the nature of gluttony. It isn't just about eating too much, it's about overindulgence & that goes for everything, including sex.

Ergo, he overindulges in his partners' bodies. He does seem to have an oral fixation though.

Food Kink - Yes, I am playing to the new nickname he's been given. What of it?

Oral King - Look it up. The most liable to get pussy drunk. If his Darling happens to be a Vae, he'll waffle a bit before caving into curiosity.

To his own embarrassment, he'll actually quite enjoy it. Something else embarrassing is that he seems to have a certain talent for it. Even getting very cock drunk from it.

Lactation Kink - Nuff said.

Loves Soft Doms/Housewife Kink - A maternal, nurturing, & doting Dear will find Gluttony quite attached to her. He craves being treated with tenderness. Though, it depends on the energy that Darling puts behind it if he'll respond.

HW (Lust or Lech) Specifically:

Don't know much about him. I'll have to play the game or watch a playthrough to get a better idea. But so far, I'm getting that Hyrule Warriors was the catalyst for the 3 timelines merging by creating an event that was inevitable in all 3. A.k.a the Era of the Wilds.

Straight, But On Thin Ice - Borderline bisexual, but definitely heteroromantic. Has zero romantic interest in men. Mostly fucks men to dominate & humiliate them much like his other selves, but there is a small part of him that legitimately enjoys it & even finds certain men somewhat attractive. As such, he doesn't mind using men to "relieve stress."

At the same time, in Gerudo society, due to their reproductive situation, there is a distinct pressure on everyone to be straight & an overt bias against legitimate homosexuality & even bisexuality.

So, while Lust doesn't consider himself to be legitimately attracted to men, he knows that his liaisons would be taken as such. However, in the old days Feminizing the Enemy was common amongst the Gerudo. Gerudo Vaien especially tended to do this to the males of their enemies. But, before the all-female curse, when Gerudo Voen did it to the male enemies, it was strictly seen as an act of dominance & humiliation against the enemy to break their morale. And the few female enemies found on the battlefield tended to be enslaved & made into concubines.

As such, even though it wasn't as in practice anymore, Lust sort of uses it as an excuse to be able to get his rocks off whenever.

Amazing Kisser - Self-explanitory.

Secretly Perverted - Can range from flirty to downright lecherous (but not chauvinistic), however he tries to keep this fact on the relative dl from his subjects &, if nothing else, he at least puts in the effort to be polite about it. Will sometimes stalk his darling & is prone to apodyopsis via the eyes. The biggest tease with the most perverted mind out of all the Gdorfs.

A Bit Of A Slut - Always up for sex. While the Gerudo tend to be more sex-positive, they believe that there is a distinct difference between just having a bit of fun every once in a while, & outright being loose with one's body & this Ganondorf would be considered loose among them. He knows this &, thus, tries to keep this fact a secret from his people.

Homme Fatale - A seductive & charming, but manipulative & dangerous man. A cereal one-night-stander. Despite this, he's extremely romantic & suave, which is partly how he gets laid so often.

An Incorrigible Flirt - As mentioned above, he's very romantic, very suave, & very charming. Knows that he's attractive & flaunts it. Often using it to his advantage to get what he wants.

Unbothered By Nudity - Doesn't care who sees him in the buff. Absolutely shameless.

A Subtle & Unassuming, But Very Dangerous Yandere - He keeps these tendencies hidden, but doesn't stop from indulging in them. Extremely manipulative & a definite gaslighter. So good at hiding it, in fact, that extremely few would believe his Darling if she were to try & tell anyone. This would result in her becoming isolated & lonely, thus becoming vulnerable to his machinations. Which is exactly where he wants her. Wants her to be dependent upon him. Genuinely believes that he's doing it for her own good.

Lust is most likely to go from simply obsessing over his Darling to genuinely loving her as he gets to know her, thus causing things to become more complicated.

Once he's grown to trust her, he isn't the type to believe that his Darling is cheating on him without some damn strong & condemning evidence. Yes, he'll start off as the suspicious sort, but as he begins to get to know her, he'll begin to trust her more, especially if she's just generally the honest & fidelous type.

Rather, he tends to not like it when she pays other men more attention than she does to him even if she's just being friendly.

Though, he also realizes when she is just being friendly & thus doesn't take it out on her. More so becoming an intimidating presence to the other man by casually, yet not overtly exerting his dominance.

"Soft" means that he'll often regret the bad things he actually does to his Darling, but that doesn't mean that he'll stop. And, he's also the least likely to punish her with pain & the most likely to do so via pleasure, overstimulation, & humiliation.

Wants To Be Defeated - But only by a Vai or Vae. If she's able to put him on his ass? Heart eyes motherfucker! Will high-key simp for her but tries to hide the hearts in his eyes behind a suave, flirty veneer.

Again, it's Gerudo custom that if a ruler is beaten by a member of the opposite sex (so long as they are the relatively same age), they are to be the ruler's spouse. In the old days, the Gerudo ruler was expected to make that happen by whatever means necessary. (This tradition also holds true for the common Gerudo, though to a lesser degree.)

So, in many ways, as soon as she knocks him on his ass, he mentally begins referring to her as his wife or his queen. But he also begins referring to her as such out loud.

Will openly flirt with her & will no longer flirt with anyone else. Also no longer lays with others, not even in acts of dominance. Will even go so far as to outright say that she will be his queen someday to her face. He'll even make little jokes about it when asked.

Someone asks him what he's doing, he might quip "planning my wedding."

Really Wants To Be Romanced - Despite being the dominant sort, he actually really, really wants to be romanced. So, even though he's charming & suave & romantic, he'd actually melt inside if a woman turned all that around on him & tried to woo, romance, or court him. Especially if she were to do so using things that she learned about his interests. May inwardly swoon as a result. Even more than other Ganondorfs. At the same time, he doesn't really know how to pursue a genuine & healthy relationship.

A Sucker For Romance - Most of the novels he enjoys reading that aren't in some way related to cultural anthropology (history, culture, myth, theology, ect) or war/strategy, tends to be smutty romance novels. (If a book has all of those things, though, then he's found a new top pick.) Though, he's a bit of a literature snob as he honestly can't stand badly-written literature.

If he were in any other situation than the one he was in, he'd ship the hell outta Zelink. However, because he is in his current position, this is one instance where he hates the Destined Princess Saved By Her Knight trope.

Craves Love & Affection - More than any other Ganondorf, he wishes to find that woman who he can spend the rest of his life with. In a way that's somewhat reminiscent of Vlad Masters from Danny Phantom. Despite his own tendencies & habits, he's also the one who'd find it the easiest to transition into partner exclusivity. And with the right guidance, he's the quickest of the lot to take up more healthy relationship habits.

Oral King - Look it up. Though, he's only ever serviced women due to fear of being seen as submissive if he were to suck off a man.

Kinky - Self-explanatory. Will try almost anything at least once so long at it isn't absolutely disgusting or unsanitary.

Sensitive Nipples - The one time someone tweaked him, he gave the most whorish moan he'd ever made before. It embarrassed him to a degree that he no longer let's anyone touch them. He'd only let someone he trusts won't say anything to anyone or make fun of it, touch them now. Never had them sucked or really played with before, but it would reduce him to a wanton puddle.

Secretly Wants To Be Dominated - Is able to dominate just about anyone without much effort, even when he bottoms. Weaponizes his natural animal magnetism against certain enemies like it's an actual, physical weapon.

However, he actually wants someone (specifically a Vai or a Vae) to dominate him. Not just that, but to take him "against his will."

Dude's a freak.

Touch Starved - Absolutely craves physical affection & melts when given it. Much like Envy, Lust is the big, fluffy cat that just sorta wanders into your house & decides you're its new family. Loves cuddles & is in no way ashamed or embarrassed of this fact.

Somnophile - Actually, very much enjoys watching her sleep. He's also prone to admiring her face as she dozes. Will kiss her face sweetly & tuck hair behind her ear & nuzzle her face or neck.

If she wakes, she'll likely catch quite the lovesick expression on his face & a quiet “Sàv'otta” & “Rijōnï hō umehéda so.” (My apologies for waking you.)

He also has no issue with the idea of having sex with someone while they sleep or receiving pleasure as he himself slumbers. In fact, when giving, he enjoys challenging himself to see how long he can breed her without waking her fully. Seeing it as a victory if he manages to get them both to the finish without waking her. (He tends to be extra full of himself & flirtatious for the rest of the day afterwards. A slight mischievous streak will also have him not mentioning what happened.)

He'll also whisper some of the sweetest praises you've ever heard into her ear as he gently breeds her. And if he happens to wake her, he'll stop as she comes to completely & wait for her consent. If he's told to stop, he'll get pouty, but he'll acquiesce. However, if she tells him to keep going, he’ll do so gladly. Not even a pause as he continues with the shmaltziest praise. And when receiving, he'll often see it as the most beautiful sight & the absolute best way to wake up.

Will not do this without discussing it with her.

Bondage or Restraining - Loves to have his Darling helpless beneath him & crying out his name. However, he quickly realizes that he enjoys it the other way around as well.

Knife-Play & Vampirism - Uses the claws of his gauntlet to make small cuts on his bed buddies. Then proceeds to lick up the blood. Also files his nails into claws.

Weird-Ass Rape Fetish - Secretly wants to be "forced" into sex by someone (specifically a Vai or Vae) stronger a/o more skilled as a fighter than him.

I did say that he was a freak, okay?

Odd Hermaphrodite Fetish - Secretly reads Gerudo-written Stolkéda (Strap-On) a/o Vae Yūg Voe (Herm-With-Man) romantic smut literature. Like, the really trashy & borderline cliché, but admittedly well-written kind with great characterization, decent plots, & legitimate relationship growth. It's one of his greatest secrets & would commit literal genocide to keep it that way.

Despite his kink, he actually finds the Legend of Talthïrï (click for more info) & the way that the 3 Vaen have influenced his culture to be legitimately interesting from a cultural anthropology standpoint. Like, there's more to his interest in them than just sexualization & kink.

Lust's current favorite is a book series called “The Heart of the North” written by Highland Gerudo author, Rúdja.

It's evidently based off a true story, though embellished.

It's about the Awli (Prime) Vaesitulïxa (A Vae dominitrix that is paid to break in male concubines) of the time, by the name of Nïla, & a new Vo'màzr (Gerudàn word for male concubine), named Thordack, a Hebra-born Ovelian (humans without pointed ears), set in the time before Vaen were allowed to wed.

They fought in battle between the Desert & Highland Gerudo as enemies & Nïla found herself excited by his strength & warrior spirit, not to mention his unusual height (taller than herself). However, before the battle could conclude, her soldiers intervened & he had been captured & she'd raped him in battle.

Wanting him for breeding stock, instead of killing him, she had him made into a Vo'màzr.

But he was fierce & refused to be broken, so she endeavored to break him. Though she was unable, until he was forced to breed a client & he later learned that he'd sired a Vaivï (girl) with her.

Then, his once limitless defiance seemed to falter as he realized that he had a child whose life he was forbidden to be a part of.

Something about that, Nïla found strange, so she endeavored to understand. It turned out that in Hebra culture, becoming a father was considered an almost sacred duty (I mean, so was becoming a mother, but fatherhood would obviously apply to him more) with both a father & a mother being considered essential to the development of children & the idea that he was unable to accomplish his duty, hurt.

In the process of learning this though, she committed a cardinal sin among Vaen. She fell in love.

She then bought him & became his Vaeyïda, his Mistress.

From then on, they got to know each other & when they bred, they made love.

When Nïla became pregnant, she saw a different side to Thordack. One that was gentle, yet still showcased strength & masculinity. He became protective & nurturing in a way that was unique compared to Vaien.

When she had cravings, he went out & retrieved them with little more than gentle teasing.

When her feet were swollen & aching, he rubbed her feet to sooth them without complaint.

He even built the Vehvï'jï (baby's) cradle himself & made toys for her out of wood, with his own 2 hands.

These were things that Nïla didn't understand.

Then, when the Vehvï was born, Nïla finally began to understand. Men… were important.

Not just as breeding stock, but as fathers & guides. As teachers. Having him there just made caring for their daughter so much easier. She doesn't understand how other Vàman (mothers) manage it.

Then again, she notes sadly that not many do. Many Vàman tend to slowly give their Vaivïn over to the community rather than care for them themselves. It's actually become distressing prevalent she notices. To the point that not many Vaien even remember what it was like being cared for by their Vàma. Nïla herself had been all-but abandoned at age 2 which is around when toddlers begin pushing their boundaries to see what they can get away with. It was also the most common age for Vaivïn to begin showing up at the community homes.

So, hearing with how much love that Thordack spoke of his own mother, who'd been such a big part of his life... It made Nïla want to become that warm, beloved memory for her own Vaivï.

That was when she realized that she wanted to take him as her husband & never wanted to be a stud to anyone else. She wanted this!

But the Gerudo custom would not allow it. So, she & Thordack hatched a plan where they sprung as many of the Vo'màzren as they could & took them & their daughter with them north passed Ealiyah into Hebra where they could marry.

There, of course, is a reasonable amount of smut in the series, but not nearly as much as you'd think. Most of the story is actually plot driven & really goes into the Desert Gerudo's sex industry, as well as the adverse effects that such hypersexualization has on a person's mental state & sense of self-worth as well as criticizing the overall misandry of many of the Desert Gerudo's customs & traditions in an intelligent & thoughtful way without bashing the Desert Gerudo culture itself.

Which is partly why Lust is so invested in it.

Breeding, Pregnancy, & Lactation Kink - He just gives me that vibe.

Predator/Prey Kink: Sometimes, he gets into a certain mood. Where he wants to pursue his Darling. Chase her down. Hunt her. And when he catches her, he wants to fuck her hard & fast & rough. Like animals.

He's not hit with this urge often, but whenever he is, he thoroughly enjoys the chase.

His Darling will know he's in that sort of mood if he watches her from a distance with that look. Eyes sharp & fixated on her like she's prey.

In these times, he'll especially enjoy a Vai who'll tease him just a little but not too much. One who has actual survival skills & can really test him.

In these times, Lust will stalk her & she knows it's go time when he creeps up behind her & whispers into her ear seductively, "run..."

That's her queue to book it. And fast.

TotK (Wrath) Specifically:

Soft, Manipulative, Unassuming, but Eliminating Protective Yandere (Borderline Sane) - Very possessive, protective, obsessive, & is prone to jealousy. However, he's extremely unassuming, even to his Darling. As a result, there's a possibility of a real, healthy relationship growing between them if he's careful. And, once he's grown to trust her, he isn't the type to believe that his Darling is cheating on him without some damn strong & condemning evidence. Yes, he'll start off as the suspicious & paranoid sort, but as he begins to get to know her, he'll begin to trust her more, especially if she's just generally the honest & fidelous type.

Rather, he tends to not like it when she pays other men more attention than she does to him even if she's just being friendly.

Though, he also realizes when she is just being friendly & thus doesn't take it out on her. More so becoming an intimidating presence to the other man by casually, yet not overtly exerting his dominance. He also doesn't tend to be anywhere near as overt in his yandere tendencies as most in the trope are, being an overall duplicitous individual & thus, being the sort to instead try & subtly manipulate his Darling into loving & trusting him. If his Darling reciprocates, then his yandere tendencies will tend to only make themselves known occasionally. However, this can change relatively quickly if he's repeatedly rejected.

As a result of this, Wrath is most likely to go from simply obsessing over his Darling to genuinely loving her as he gets to know her, thus causing things to become more complicated.

Also not the sort to hold his Darling captive specifically unless he's rejected too many times. He will, however, quite readily eliminate anyone who tries to get between them, even if it's a woman who wants to get rid of his Darling so that she can be with him. Especially then.

"Soft" means that he'll often regret the bad things he actually does to his Darling, but that doesn't mean that he'll stop.

Very Possessive - Both of people he genuinely cares about & of things he actually likes. In terms of things, this tends to include his horse, his weapons, & books, especially books revolving around cultural anthropology, mythology, & magical practice.

Gambling Man/Calculated Risk Taker - Recall the fact that this Gdorf sent a swarm of Molduga to attack Hyruleans... who were standing on a mountain... So, they wouldn't have even been able to get to them, most likely.

However, instead of being a dumbass, I think that he actually used them to get information.

The fact that Hyruleans & the Gerudo were at odds with each other at this time, it's likely that not many Hyruleans traveled to the desert during this era. Thus, it's possible that the fact that Molduga can't swim on solid earth might not have been common knowledge within Hyrule.

If so, then Wrath was probably using them as cannon fodder by using their big & intimidating appearance as well as their large numbers to bait Rauru into showing his trump card.

This is very much a possibility due to the fact that not only did he not in any way seem surprised by the fact that they were taken down so easily, but also the fact that he said "the Zonai's Secret Stone." Meaning that he knew about them beforehand.

However, the fact that he was willing to risk looking like an idiot says that while he's a good strategist, he's willing to take a certain degree of risk.

As such, I'm gonna take this & run with it.

He actually very much enjoys both strategy games & luck-based games that involve bluffing or maintaining absolute control of his visage.

Because of this, I actually think that he might be a bit of a card shark & that he actually doesn't mind cheating every once in a while. Like, he'd rather not (because where's the fun in that), but he will.

Because of this, I see him being good with sleight-of-hand.

He'd probably enjoy playing strip poker with his Darling. Would also absolutely teach her how to hustle people.

Also enjoys making bets. And while he's okay with cheating, if he makes a bet & he loses, he's actually very firm on keeping to said bet. Though, he may use loopholes in the wording used, whether his or theirs.

Breeding, Pregnancy, & Lactation Kink - He just gives me that vibe.

Strong, But Not Too Strong Women - If she's able to literally beat him from the beginning, then that'll just get him angry & make him hate her. Occasional wins are fine, it's beating him consistently that would chafe him.

If she ever does beat him, even if only briefly & due to surprising him, it's best if it happens after he's grown at least somewhat attached to her for things to turn out well between them.

At which point, he may simp slightly, but not a lot. Not even any Gerudo women can boast such a victory against him.

He's alive long after the flood of WW, so a lot of the old Gerudo customs have been lost. Including the custom that demands Gerudo of age marry foreigners of the opposite sex who defeat them. As such, he doesn't have that influence to shape his views.

Size Difference Kink - A petite Darling is perfect for him. He loves how delicate she is.

Power Dynamics - Naturally dominant & initially uncomfortable with letting go of control. He'd have to be very close to her to allow that, but much like how being dominated can be relieving & destressing for CEOs, so too can it be for Wrath.

Loves to watch her ride him.

Predator/Prey Kink: Sometimes, he gets into a certain mood. Where he wants to pursue his Darling. Chase her down. Hunt her. And when he catches her, he wants to fuck her hard & fast & rough. Like animals.

He's not hit with this urge often, but whenever he is, he thoroughly enjoys the chase.

His Darling will know he's in that sort of mood if he watches her from a distance with that look. Eyes sharp & fixated on her like she's prey.

In these times, he'll especially enjoy a Vai who'll tease him just a little but not too much. One who has actual survival skills & can really test him.

In these times, Wrath will stalk her & she knows it's go time when he creeps up behind her & whispers into her ear seductively, "run..."

That's her queue to book it. And fast.

Reciprocal Parent Kink - Only applies when they have a kid together. It's not even remotely about age-play & is instead about acknowledging each other's domestic roles. It's essentially calling each other mother or father of my child. Takes great, masculine pride in being referred to in such a way. Age-play creeps him the eff out.

---

Anyone who wishes to use these ideas for their own content is free to do so, so long as I get a link to it & a brief, unintrusive mention. I'm not picky. Or I try not to be anyway.

---

LoZ Linked Universe Masterlist

[belindarimbi13]

updating my ship chart: doramitsu ドラみつ edition 🐉🍯

draken definitely loved to cuddle mitsuya and there's no place mitsuya would rather be than being in draken's arm. also fun fact, by being the big spoon, there's lesser possibility for mitsuya to hog the blanket and leave draken out 😂

anyway, mitsuya! in! oversize! tee! of course he would wear draken's clothes like he owned them himself. his excuse? 🍯 "I'm the one who's doing the laundry" while they literally shared house chores. draken absolutely didn't mind though.

pet names as sarcasm lmao. anyway, there's nothing more intimate than just being "ken" and "taka" for them <33333

both are extroverts. but sometimes, I feel like mitsuya is way more reserved than draken. they are pretty socially active and quite comfortable among the crowds though.

affection through actions!!! i've written enough doramitsu fic to know how sometimes words couldn't contain the magnitude of their love towards each other. so, act of service it is! as simple as, draken preparing snack when mitsuya's staying up late, mitsuya fixing draken's d&d uniform~

mitsuya had always loved draken but never acted on his feeling for the fear of ruining their friendship. draken took his time, but once he realized his feeling for mitsuya was actually wanting to be some much more than friend, he immediately acted on it. he didn't wanna lose him.

either squashing bugs with shoes, or bare hand on reflex. it's not even questionable. they would just casually killed cockroach, and picking it up to show how dead it is. like, "guys, why are you screaming, i'm just gonna throw this out."

they definitely knew their way around vehicle. and yes, they're specialized in bikes but cars were no big deal to them, even if they didn't drive it all the time. draken learned to drive because it was bound to happen, and mitsuya learned to drive because well, it's useful skill.

coincidentally, one of the form for their act of service was cooking for the other. mitsuya had done this even before he and draken were together, of course it continued. while draken, he learned and tried his hardest, to do the same. mitsuya honestly was proud of his progress.

showing people that mitsuya was his had become draken's life mission. he loved PDA. absolutely enjoyed watching the other suitors backing away, while mitsuya's blushing profusely. mitsuya wasn't against it, because despite the grumbles, he secretly loved being claimed like that.

draken's bound to be overprotective, it's part of his personality. sometimes he forgot that his partner used to lead his own division. mitsuya was more easy-going, he knew draken could take care of himself. although, if it's a must, he won't hesitate to be overprotective as well.

i'd like to think that draken's bisexuality was found through a series of failed dates. of course the only thing that didn't fail had been beside him all along. meanwhile, mitsuya was quite picky, and he was actually too hung up on draken, to build a relationship.

horny level

🍯70% at best, 🐉90% most times

draken just couldn't keep his hand off mitsuya😂 especially when they were alone. lucky for him that mitsuya always indulge him. and maybe, mitsuya's percentage was not entirely accurate considering how easy he caved in.

awkwardness level

🍯45-50% 🐉30%

their transition from friends to lovers was actually pretty smooth. it was just like their usual friendship with additional intimacy in between. mitsuya definitely took more time to get used to it, especially because he never dared to dream it.

jealousy level

🍯60% at best 🐉80% minimum

despite the high level, draken never actually acted rashly. he would gladly showed them, that mitsuya was his.

mitsuya knew draken was attractive & he got tons of admirers. sometimes he let it irked him, most times he just ignored it.

will add more if I have more thoughts

[valleyfthdolls]

Tell me about Rian :0

There is a LOT to say about Rian.

Rian o’Broin is the protagonist of a fangan I've been working on with a Discord friend, and the Ultimate Horror Novelist. From his personality segment of my comprehensive lore doc:

Rian is best described as eccentric. He has a very passionate love of horror and prefers stories over people, and tends to lock himself away in his writing. In fact, he’s highly socially awkward and very bad at talking to people. He is very emotionally driven, but seems to lack much confidence and prefers to protect himself from harm. He believes he is below the others at the academy and doesn’t deserve his success. It’s clear he suffers from an inferiority complex and sees things in a very black and white way. Not only does he view himself and his talent as completely separate entities, his talent good and himself bad, he similarly tends to idealize those he cares about and completely turn himself off to others he feels hurt or threatened by. This, along with his strong sense of a need for self defense, causes him to overreact in anger to situations where he feels attacked."

"Despite that, though, Rian is undeniably passionate, loving toward those he cares about, and over time, he shows himself to be very gentle with people who need help and extremely dedicated. Despite the personality he sees as unbearably awful, he has a very sweet side, a desire to look out for others, and he will do anything for those he loves. He simply fails to see it due to his black and white worldview and the way he emphasizes the negative aspects of his personality- poor social skills, emotional behavior, etc.- in his own mind."

In his eyes, he isn't really a person. He doesn’t feel like he’s on the same level as the people around him, and so he doesn’t really feel like he himself is a person. He feels like he doesn’t belong, and he views himself and his talents as two separate entities. Or maybe more accurately, like his talent was something bestowed upon him that he shouldn’t have, or something he stole from someone more deserving. The ultimates are special, they're better than everyone else, but he's not like them, he's not even as good as most normal people. Therefore, he is less than a person, and his talent doesn't belong to him.

He has hypoesthesia thanks to an injury he suffered as a kid, and almost his entire body is partially numb. As such, he's really vigilant about being touched, because the idea of something as simple as being touched happening to him and him not knowing freaks him out. He's very protective of himself and always wants to know what's going on if it involves him and keep himself safe and strong if anything happens.

This is in stark contrast to his love interest, Alice Aldaine, the Ultimate Psychologist, the girl next to Rian in the drawing I submitted for @gayestdangantourney. Alice is avoidant, and feels pressured to overperform and be easy on others. She doesn't know how to protect or fight for herself, so she withdraws, retreats, and stays away from any dangerous situation. In this way, they balance each other out, looking out for each other's safety and wellbeing. She tends to hide herself away for safety. Rian is very protective of Alice, but it takes him a long time to understand that she likes for who he actually is because of his struggle to actually understand himself as a person.

I submitted him for the gayest dangan character tournament despite having a female love interest because Rian is canonically a trans man, which is part of his idea of how he perceives himself and the world, and is also bisexual- having a long term romantic development with Alice as well as being both implicitly and explicitly attracted to other characters, male and female. Alice is revealed in chapter 1 to be trans as well, though she's more secretive about it because she passes easily as a cis girl. While it's not stated explicitly at any point for either of them, Alice is also bisexual.

Fun fact about Rian: his favorite breed of dog is samoyed, but his design is modeled loosely after a doberman. Dogs are a continued motif through Rian's character. Part of his backstory actually includes him having had a dog in his childhood.

[paintedkinzy-88]

Ok, since we're almost halfway through Pride Month, I feel like I should ask this: what are your sexuality headcanons for the Sans AUs, and how do you think they would act at a Pride Parade? Anyways, have fun, and Happy Pride Month!

Ahhhh I hate that it’s already almost done and I’ve done nOTHING. I was going to draw something, but we’ll see if I have time to before the end of the month. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

But but but I can do this much. Probably. XD

I’m only gonna do the main AUs cuz that’s a long list as it is, so apologies but I’m not adding like Razz or Sci or anything dhsjbfjsbd. But anyway since I know this will get long I’m cutting it off here. If you want my Pride Rambles heckin take them:

Going off a semi-peaceful multiverse of course, cuz I like everyone kinda getting along—

Classic: personally always seen him as Bisexual, but more leaning towards a masculine attraction. So like a 4-5 on the Kinsey Scale huehue. Honestly don’t think he’d go to a Pride Parade unless someone dragged him there cbsjfbjsnf, so he’s probably just lazing around/being carried the whole way, and wearing a million Pride accessories cuz his friends/brother just keep piling them on while he’s sleeping lmfao

Red: Mostly the same as Classic, tbh. Though he’d probably be picking a lot of fights with anti-protestors outside the parade ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Blue: Pan, he likes anyone and everyone! As long as you meet his taco standards, gender plays no role. He’s definitely the energetic, supportive one at Pride that’s trying to make sure everyone feels happy and involved. He’s usually at the front of the parade, but also weaving through the crowd a lot. Someone says their family doesn’t support them?? Blue’s there to make you feel welcomed and valid no matter what. (ง’̀-‘́)ง

Lust: Demiromantic, Pansexual, and maybe Genderqueer. As in, he usually goes by he/him but doesn’t mind other pronouns, and will typically dress more feminine or masculine depending on however he feels. If he looks good, he looks good, gender expectations be damned. And I just think sexual attraction is one thing (kinda an important thing for his world, too), but being romantically attracted is rare. ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ He be the one that’s always friendly-flirting at Pride, and complementing absolutely everyone. He’s totally dressed up with flare, but still stylish and in the colors of one of his flags huehue.

Ink: I go back and forth with Ink a little?? I kinda go by partial canon, seeing him as Asexual and Biromantic, but he’s not sex repulsed. I feel like with him making so many worlds and so many Lust variants, it’s more of a “yes this person is aesthetically sexy” rather than any actual feeling attached to it. XD He goes to Pride in a l l the colors. He’s probably passing out face paint and confetti poppers and other Very Messy Things too. Maybe he’s even painting people’s faces himself before the parade, honestly.

Error: Maybe Demiromantic, but otherwise boi be like Classic, just more grumpy and prone to anger. XD Idk if he’d really want to go to a Pride Parade, because of the crowds, but I suppose if he was he’d likely be in the waaaay back where no one else is, just people watching, maybe enjoying seeing a partner having fun themself and that’s it. … Or he’s on the sides of the parade threatening anti-protestors too, that’s probably a thing.

Dream: HMMMM thinking long and hard about the Dreamtale duo ngl. I just felt like they don’t really. Care about gender or anything at all, and probably didn’t have any of this in their village. I guess I can see Dream as questioning, but leaning towards Pan??? He’s probably been to so many Pride Parades though, let’s be honest. Soaking in the positivity and doing his best to cheer up anyone who’s scared or uncertain in themselves. I can see him educating himself in all the stuff he missed out on so he could lend semi accurate advice to anyone still questioning themselves. He be the therapist wherever he goes smh, but I’m sure there’s been multiple occasions that his friends have pulled him into the festivities as well. I can definitely see Lust and Ink making him dress up a bit. XD mayhaps…. 👀👀

Nightmare: mostly the same as Dream, but he’s had a lot more time to think it over. Idk, I’ve always seen him as Demiromantic, and then just not caring about gender at all. It’s the one thing he always respects in others because he just doesn’t understand mortals’ obsession with gender roles. He’s a murderer, but he’s a murderer that will get your pronouns right. He likely only goes to Prides because his boys go, lmao. He’ll do whatever they wanna do at the parade, within reason. That means no, he will not get his face painted, but they’re definitely able to throw some rainbow accessories and shit on him, even if he’s not happy about it. XD Gonna be washing the rainbow glitter out of his goop for MONTHS…

Cross: He be Bi, just like canon huehue. I’ve also been reading a lot of Trans Masculine fics lately, and I can see that. Idk if I’d ever outwardly mention it in a story, since I don’t personally know much about that kind of experience and don’t want to represent it wrong, but hey if you wanna see it in my fics go right ahead, I’m not against that at all! Cross probably swapped out his cape for a bisexual flag at Pride lmao, but he’s mostly there to accompany friends and/or partners, so he’s not super social with others unless they come up to him. A good guard against creeps though!

Horror: I was going to say Bi, but honestly, nah I think he’d be Gay. I just don’t see him being very interested in girls at all??? Femininity is fine, just not girls. He’s the big burly scary guy at Pride, I feel like he’d be getting a lot of attention he doesn’t know what to do with wheeeze. Might have also brought cupcakes or cookies tbh. Gotta make sure everyone isn’t skipping lunch and passing out during the parade.

Killer: Definitely Gay. The gayest of them all and he’s not ashamed of it. He’s probably causing a lot of chaos and arguments with anti-protestors or just general creeps, mostly cuz he finds their reactions funny. Otherwise he’s a flirty bastard and probably hanging off of Cross and/or Nightmare most of the day. Idk if he’d be wearing much flag/color wise, but he’s definitely trying to put stuff all over everyone else.

Dust: I’ve always seen Dust the most Classic like, so he’s Bisexual too for sure. He’s likely right beside Killer in causing chaos and threatening assholes, but he’s also staying by Horror so the big guy isn’t overwhelmed in the crowd. I’ll bet that Killer convinced him to make little poppers and actual fireworks, too wheeeze. Used safely, of course. Mostly. Probably. Sort of.

Fresh: AroAce. I just don’t see him as very interested in having partners honestly?? Doesn’t mean I haven’t liked some Fresh ships, but for the most part he’s chill being single in my AUs lmfao. Fresh probably brought so many things to the parade. He’s got huge rainbow flag that the crowd can carry over the top of them, a bunch of glow sticks for necklaces/bracelets, balloons, wigs, light up glasses, flags galore, anything and everything, all of questionable origin ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Honestly, I’m not usually a fan of having an entire group of characters identify under LGBT, because it’s not very realistic to me. Not that I’m against the people that do, of course! Do what you want, I don’t care. It’s just not how I roll ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

But, all the Sans AUs are based on one dude, so it kinda makes sense that they’d all reflect him in some way, some more than others. And since I’ve always seen him as Bi/Pan, ya bet a lotta the AUs are kinda the same wheeeze. There are a lot of UT characters I see as straight, Sans just isn’t usually one of them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe that’s just me projecting onto my fav, but whatever, it’s fictional characters, why the heck not.

ANYWAY these are just my headcanons. It’s not usually a thing I pay much attention to, especially when reading other’s fics. I feel like it’s really up to interpretation most of the time, and that’s one of my favorite parts of fandoms XD

[heart-strong]

the list of men i have shouted "i love one man" to during the shows

1. my cat, not from a tv show, but i love this cat so much hes a pretty cool cat his name is kylo ren and has the facial structure of kylo ren and he really is the vibe

Sits around all day watching twitch streamers and anime with my sister all day and when I say all day i mean all day 10 am in the morning to 10 at night.

2. dr spencer reid

do i need to explain my whole blog was based on him for over a year. also he's just like me a small (i do still love him when he thickness in the later seasons) anxious bisexual nonbinary with a hyper fixation we decided to go to college for and no ability to do sports. Also neurodivergent and childhood trauma.

3. amajiki

this my hero acidemia boy just radiates the same energy I radiate. have you seen him in the entirety of season 5 episode 1 he is too precious for this world.

4. finn hudson

this man is just a giant dork, and glee was never the same I genuinely will rewatch his little expressions and one-liners during season 3 because it is so good. I mean go and watch season three of glee and watch Finn the whole time

I would like to say that kurt is my favorite male character but i am not sexually attracted to him.

but I will be a happy person if you just give me the hudson-hummel boys

5. leo roth

if you saw red band society you would understand but also he is sometimes a dick but i'm not anything if i'm not attracted to slightly toxic men

this man is so sweet and I just dream about how he would of grown if the show was picked up for a second season. if you havent watched red band society i recommend it.

6. stiles stalinski

ill point you to the god-awfulness that is season 6 of teen wolf dylan obrien and stiles made that show and i would like to cuddle

when this man is on the screen the eyes go to him and he is just so funny the show just got bland when he left and when he show up with lydia in those last few episodes it was perfection.

but also I would never take him away from lydia they are perfect for each other and I love them, can I have a threesome, please?

we also ignore the shit show that was the movie.

7. shoyo hinata

this little ginger fireball has my entire heart and I would like to lift him above my head for him to win even though it is definitely against the rules

8. Camoron Goodkin

yo stichers was this weird show that I didn't think anyone watched and then jake or logan paul showed up and I stopped watching but before that cameron was my everything. I have since finished it and feel the same feelings for cameron.

camoron goodkin has a heart condition just like me and it's actually kinda accurate and he had a scar like mine and the younger me was like “oh my god i can find love” because Cameron got a sexy blond and i wanted a sexy blond.

9. Bow

I love how he’s so smart and dumb at the same time. Also his shoe tread is little hearts I mean that’s everything. Go watch she ra all of the characters are adorable and I would take a fucking bullet for them.

10. nick nelson

I read the comics way before the show and then the show came out and I was a goner. he is everything and kit Connor deserves so much better.

11. the greys anatomy boys(and kai)

alex and mark are my everything. complete dicks, or you're supposed to hate them when they come in, and then you fall in love. even though mark comes in on season 2 his time felt so quick this time around I miss him. and alex, come on he's a peds surgeon who is amazing with kids and parents I can definitely understand why the single moms soon.

I'd like to also mention kai bartley but they are not a man but I still love them so much. and I'm counting it because they get to kiss amelia shepherd and I'd like to kiss amelia shepherd. but do not think that just because I'm mentioning them on this list it means I'm ignoring their identity because i am not. i'd just like another threesome or poly situation with them.

that's my last one for now. i might add later.

[fictionfixations]

Twitchcon LGBTQIA+ Panel ( <3 )

Got around to watching Twitchcon finally. LOVE it.

I just. Scott explaining that sexualities are a spectrum and etc etc [go watch it yourself I'm not gonna repeat him]

I've just come with a realization.

Cause. So. I'm Pansexual but I kinda used to think of myself as more of Straight since I found myself more with an attraction to males than females, but Scott pointed out that it doesn't have to be a 50/50 and I just

woah. I mean the answer was probably right in front of my face and I kinda just didn't notice until someone pointed it out and I appreciate that.

Although I now know that I'm Pan even if I have more of an attraction towards males than females, I didn't really had that then and kinda just thought it was one way or another.

Because then I thought 'I mean I don't think I'd mind being in a relationship with a girl', but then it felt kinda wrong to label myself as Bisexual and so on if I like boys more, and I just kind of struggled with that for awhile.

I think that it might've been better if there were more representation over this kind of thing in a positive way and explaining it, because honestly I think I misunderstood the labels and took it way more seriously than I should've.

Like even when debating my gender, if I was nonbinary, but that was no gender and I was leaning more towards being male, but it's more like you don't have to fit an expectation for a specific label, because it's your own thing and there's kind of a spectrum. While there is technically I believe some sort of term for where I am on the gender side of things, I think that honestly, I fit more with the term nonbinary despite my pronouns being He/They when I think the common thought is that nonbinaries are They/Them.

Honestly it was because of that that I kinda just felt uncomfortable including it in my bios that I was nonbinary if I went by He/They, because then technically I wouldn't be nonbinary if I was going by he, because then I would be male since that's kinda how people think of pronouns, and I don't think pronouns have to reflect what gender you are though. You could be a female but go by they/them, he/him, she/they, etc etc. Atleast that's what I'd like to think?

I do struggle with that still though so I usually just settle on either referring to myself as nonbinary (they/them), or just he/they without the nonbinary label.

Honestly a lot of this has been about myself, but I do appreciate that there are a lot of creators nowadays who are in the community or are allys that are willing to help with the confusion, and able to explain in a way that just kinda makes you realize something.

It's done in such a positive and casual way that it's not like a big deal, and I think that's what a lot of us need in our lives.

I have also only just realized that sexualities and assumedly gender stuff is on like a spectrum, and you don't have to strictly fit the label to actually be it. Like you could label yourself as gay but you're bisexual or something. Technically you would still be gay, but a lot of people like to think that if you label yourself gay, then you are only gay and nothing else.

I like the freedom that you can be able to express yourself without having to worry about if it's accurate to you, and if other people see that as accurate. I do also like that so many people have spread information about this kind of thing around the internet so that if anyones having these questions or need to be more informed can easily find a website or something that talks about it and helps them get a better understanding of their own.

I love this community and I loved the panel. Sorry for pouring my heart out on this and getting a bit personal, and this also isn't actually fiction, but this is the blog where I kinda post my thoughts over things, and this is a better place for me to honestly put it, because in a way it kind of fits still. Or at least I hope it does.

[theredarrowsystem]

Hey there! North here (I’ll sign my messages like this: ~ ❄️)

I should warn you, this post is a very long one 😅 we tend to be very thorough with things. I’ll try to make a shorter version after I finally post this.

After doing a lot of research, I’m starting to suspect that what I thought were personas I made to understand myself better are actually alters. I have suspected for awhile that I had alters, but thought that since I never had amnesia or blackouts (at least as far as I’m aware) just emotional detachment, and a feeling that those memories happened to another person. Now we believe we're an OSDD 1b system.

I decided to make this system blog so we can explore our individual identities. This is an introduction post where I’ll introduce each of the alters, including myself.

My name’s North, I guess I’m kind of a host? Though I don’t know if I feel comfortable referring to myself as a host because even though I’m the one fronting most of the time, I think I only existed for about a year, and for most of that time I’ve been working with the others to run the body. So I’m not really the host, but it’s easier to say that than to explain that I’m usually fronting but the others help me.

I’m still figuring out who I am, but here’s a Picrew that I think looks like me.

I’ve made many different Picrews of myself, so it changes, but usually what stays the same is having elf years, double buns with my hair parted in the middle, and clear pale skin. Sometimes I have blue eyes, sometimes I have gold eyes (the body has hazel eyes) and I change between plus sized (the body is plus sized) and the ‘traditional feminine body’ (its hard to find a variety of plus sized Picrews and other things for designing ones appearance).

I’m a Demi girl, I use She/They pronouns, and tend to shift between feminine and androgynous traits. My colour scheme is usually blue/grey/white/cream, and I like to wear loose, comfortable, and graceful clothing. I enjoy writing, learning, exploring, interacting with the world around me, listening to music, and spending my time online. I’m still figuring out my sexuality, it’s hard when I’m influenced by the other alters. I think I’m somewhere on the ace spectrum, and I tend to be attracted to women or Nonbinary people. For now my identity is abrosexual. I am Autistic, as is the entire system, and I have ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression.

Now I’ll have someone else come into co-consciousness or front with me so they can help with/type their introduction.

~ ❄️

Hey, Rose here. (I'll sign my posts with ~ 🥀) I usually just come to the front when we're drawing or writing. Also I come into co-conciousness to tell North what to do sometimes lol. She's not a little but she might as well be, same maturity as the body (20) but still pretty naive. She has all our memories, kind of, but she's very detached from them.

Anyways, here's what I look like I guess.

Appearances change depending on the Picrew or whatever else, but usually long brown hair, brown or red eyes, a green dress with a corset, a frown or a smirk, and tanned freckled skin stays the same. Sometimes I might appear more masculine or androgynous (had to steal this from North's thing cause I forgot how to spell XD) I just felt more feminine when the Picrew was made.

I don't really have a role in the system, I'm just kinda here. I think North made me to help her on her whole figurine out who she is thing, but it's hard to tell. I usually help her with creative stuff, I'm also pretty resourceful and can suggest different ways to solve a problem. I doubt I've ever fronted on my own, I think I only front with someone else. Lucy and North usually help me with keeping things accurate or whatever. If it were up to me I'd throw grammar and rules out the window and just do what I want but the others think no one will know what I'm talking about if I do that so yeah.

I'm Genderfluid, so I use She/They/He pronouns (I'll specify when I post), and I identify as bisexual. I like playing Minecraft, drawing, reading, writing, listening to music, acting, theatre, designing, making things, and I'd really love to learn archery or sword fighting or things like that but the body doesn't have very good motor skills. My colour scheme is green, white, red, brown, and gold, and I usually carry a bow and arrow or a sword in the inner world.

Ight, I'm tired and that's everything I think so someone else can co front.

~ 🥀

Hello lovelies, Magie here.

I am very proud of my Picrew so I'll post it right away for you.

(The badge didn't come with the Picrew, I had Rose and North draw it for me. 😏)

I want to show it off but North says not to show the pic. 😒 Guess I have to stay on topic. 😔

Anywho, my hair is usually darker than in the Picrew, and has pink streaks in it, but I like it. Also my body is usually curvier and more feminine (more accurate to the system's body) but you win some you lose some. Oh, and my cat ears are usually fluffier, and leopard print like the sweater, and a darker pink. I also have a cat tail that's quite soft if you'd like to feel it 😉

I kid of course. The body doesn't have a tail so tragically you cannot feel it.

Anywho, my colour scheme has a lot of pink, purple, and bright colours. I like things to pop! I also love to wear comfy clothes and I love to be warm and cozy! For formal occasions I'm a sucker for a big a** ball gown.

I used to be a host, believe it or not. They decided I was too 'risky' to have fronting though 😒 I'm too much for people, too extreme. 🙄

The others would like me to add the disclaimer that I have a nasty little habit of pushing people away then having mental breakdowns and making reckless decisions because I become desperate for human interaction or what not

But hey doesn't everyone?

Look, all I want is to find true love, a soulmate to live happily ever after with.

Unfortunately, humanity is full of s*** and everyone just hates us automatically. So, if we're too extreme on purpose, at least we know what the hell everyone's problem is.

The others are telling me to get back on track. 😤 (Been waiting to use that emoji in my little rant so it's going here)

Fine then. I use all pronouns but He/Him, She/They are default but I wouldn't mind it if you used Neopronouns or it/its. I'm Pansexual, and a hopeless romantic.

Oh, silly me, I forgot to tell you how I'll sign my name. ( ~ 🌸 Magie Magic)

Now, back to our

✨ regularly scheduled program ✨

I started out as the host when the body was 13/14. I was replacing the old host because this world was too much for her, and I was sort of out for vengeance. I mean, can you really blame me? Well, you don't know the details, but still 🥺

The Mediator (you'll meet her later) kept a close eye on me to make sure I wouldn't get us into any trouble, and was there to help me navigate things. Course, I didn't know yet I was an Alter, I just started to become way more fed up with the world than normal, and at the same time, more desperate to be loved and accepted for who I really am.

I crashed and burned a lot, so the Mediator created Lucy (you'll meet her later) to reel me in more. Lucy and I agree on one thing, the world being broken and stupid, but on literally everything else we seem to be at war with each other. Lucy always has a stick up her a**. We were co-hosts through High School, but then that mean ol' control freak took over and forced me to stop fronting.

Oh hey this is a good place for the emoji: 😤

Like, can you believe that? The nerve. We were supposed to be working together.

Then that b**** burnt herself out ☺️

So now we have North.

I like North, she's really nice, and makes everyone feel included! 🥰

Lucy and Rose think she's a pushover, but hey better a pushover than a dictator like Lucy 😒

I think I said everything, right?

Lemme just scroll to make sure...

I haven't shared my interests like the others did, Lucy and North don't want me to. 😔

But I'll do it anyways 😁

Cause 🎵They don't own me🎶

Don't worry I'll keep it 'appropriate' and 'serious' 🙄

No war crimes included! 😁 /j

I enjoy role playing, dressing up, pretending to be animals (especially a cat), listening to stories, flirting, watching people's drama, messing with people, paying attention to politics (our lives kinda depend on that thing), playing Genshin Impact, Undertale, and other video games (but I like to play video games the 'wrong way' where I just do what I want and give characters aesthetically pleasing items.), playing games in general really (and whatever Lucy tells you I totally don't cheat. 😉), advocating for Human Rights (especially disabled rights) and lots of other things too.

I think that's everything! It was lovely to meet you!

~ 🌸 Magie Magic

I shall go next, so that you can better understand mine and Magie’s story. In case you need it spelt out for you, I am Lucifer, otherwise known as Lucy Fern, or simply Lucy. (I sign my name as ~ 🔥 Lucifer

I identify as a gender nonconforming Demi woman. I use She/They pronouns. I believe I’m somewhere on the aro/ace spectrum, but it’s hard to tell whether the system’s feelings for anyone in the past have been my own or another alter’s, so I may be incorrect. I personally would prefer to have a life without romantic or sexual relationships, it’s more stress than it’s worth as far as I know.

Magie believes that I was created to keep her in line, and while that has been one of my many jobs, I believe I was created around the same time she was. I was the host that replaced Tasha (our body’s name and the ‘original host’ and Magie was an unfortunate side effect of our trauma.

Technicalities aside, I was the host before North. I was too burnt out due to many issues in my life occurring at the same time to be a host, so I became a guide for the new host. North. I believe I have done well at guiding North. I do, however, feel regret for passing onto her the wreckage that my time as host ended in. However I believe we are finally starting to move on from that.

I am currently trying to guide the System to living a healthier, more independent life. Unfortunately, North likes to include everyone. So I can only get us so far with my goals. Lisa, my sister, who you’ll meet after I’m done, is helping me with the goals for healthy living, so at least that is covered.

My colour scheme is red, white, gold, dark blue, and black. Here is a few references for my appearance.

(These images aren’t entirely accurate, the Picrew was made with Rose’s help but it does capture the vibe I had back when I was a host. (I was a teenager then. I have matured since.) The Gacha character is more accurate to my current appearance, but again is flawed due to Rose’s input.)

This image, however, is more accurate. It could use a few updates, however, since it was made with the idea of myself being a ‘side’ of Tasha rather than an alter. Specifically, her logical side. We also weren’t aware at the time that there were rules with the design of Gacha characters.

My hair is usually either short and loose or long and pulled into a ponytail. My eyes are usually red or brown. I used to have horns but I got those removed so that North would feel less intimidated by me.

Rose would like me to note that the others find me intimidating regardless.

North doesn’t feel comfortable assigning us ‘system roles’ because she considers us all to be our own people and none of us should be required to serve the system in one specific way. However, if you asked my opinion, I believe that;

- I am a protector and gatekeeper

- Lisa is a caretaker and gatekeeper (she is also the system’s leader

- I’m not sure what role Brianna (who you’ll meet later) would have. I believe she was created due to the fact that Magie and I were pushing people away. Her goal is usually to make sure we maintain friendships. I have yet to know if there’s a title for that.

- Austin (who you might not meet but I’m sure North will inform you who he is) is an avenger, possibly an introject? He is sourced from someone who caused a negative impact on our lives, however whether or not that source contributed to our trauma is debatable. Others in the system may disagree, of course. Though if introject doesn’t necessarily need to be an abuser or causer of trauma, just a real person, then both Austin and Brianna are likely introjects. I’m sure Brianna will explain what I mean by that.

- Teresa (again, you won’t meet her in this post, but she’ll likely be mentioned.) is most certainly a trauma holder. There’s also four fractures of Tasha, one age 3, one age 9, one age 10, and one age 13. dormant personalities that serve to hold the memories of the ‘original host’.

- Magie is a persecutor (she may disagree, but this is my opinion.)

- Rose is a… Well, to be honest, I’m not sure. Like North she hasn’t been here as long as the rest of us have. I suppose she’s a host as well? We’ll have to look into that.

- Stacy (who you’ll meet later) is a protector, I believe she’s the combination of two alters that are now dormant. A protector named Penny, and a persecutor that we don’t remember the name of, we just know it started with a K.

- And then of course North is the current host. She doesn’t agree, but again this is my opinion.

Now, to describe the things I enjoy. I enjoy analyzing the world around me and the inner world, analyzing fictional characters and the stories they reside in, watching tv, working on projects, working on self improvement, working alone, achievement, competitive activities, and productive activities. I’m the one that makes sure things get done, which… Is causing Lisa to suggest I may also be a caretaker…

Perhaps, but I’m definitely not skilled at comforting people like my sister is.

As for clothing, when I was a host I usually just put in whatever was easiest. I didn’t care as much about our appearance as Magie did. For formal clothing, however, I’ve always enjoyed suits, or anything that makes us look professional. I did, however, often have to compromise with Magie when we were hosts.

I believe that should be anything.

~ 🔥 Lucifer

Hello my darlings! Lisa here. I’m not sure if I’ll be talking much here, I’d prefer to help from behind the scenes, but North does want us all to express ourselves, so I’ll try my best! I’m not sure how I’ll sign my name. Lisa is a name the ‘original host’ gave me, but I also go by The Mediator, Mother, and other titles. Perhaps “Love, Mother 💖” could be how I sign them. Or perhaps a simple “~ Lisa” would do. I might not sign things I post unless the others ask me to, but if I do I’ll make sure you know it’s me. ☺️

I am one of the oldest alters, both in maturity (I’m in my late thirties despite the body being twenty) and in time being here (I believe I was the first alter created. The ‘original host’ needed someone more mature and reliable than the people in her life to guide her in childhood. At first I believe I was more of an imaginary friend, but due to traumatic experiences I became an alter. I have always helped Tasha to manage her emotions, imaginary friends, ‘alter egos’, daily tasks, and other things. That’s why they call me the Mediator.

I use She/Her pronouns, and identify as a cis woman. I am a trans ally, of course. As for sexuality, I’m not sure. I’ve always been more focused on platonic and familial connections, especially connections with the system, and I only front to provide self care for the body or to comfort whoever else is fronting when they need it. I’ve never thought about my sexuality, but I don’t think it’s necessary to. Perhaps I’m aro/ace.

I enjoy animals, creating/designing areas within the inner world, spending time with children, spending time with my family (the system), singing, dancing, listening to calming music, and listening to the other’s stories. I hope that the system will be a parent one day, but North and Magie are neutral to the idea (leaning towards okay with it), Rose and Teresa are also neutral but believe we wouldn’t be capable as a parent, Lucy, Stacy, and Austin are against it. Brianna’s the only one that’s all for the system being a parent one day, so we’ll see. I know Tasha wanted to be a parent one day, but she’s sadly dormant now.

Oh, I almost forgot, here is what I look like!

My appearance is the most consistent in the system. I’m tall, somewhere between skinny and plus sized, I have long wavy black hair, and brown eyes. I like wearing medieval styled dresses, and I try my best to keep my appearance warm and comforting in any way I can! My colour scheme is lavender, maroon, brown, red, purple, black, and gold or silver accents.

I think that’s everything about me, dears. While I may not post often, unless it’s to reblog things I think you’d all like, I’m more than happy to talk to any of you if you’d like! Just know that the system is my priority. If anything anyone says or does is hurtful to my family, we will make sure to block you. I hope there are no hard feelings, but it’s important to protect ourselves.

I look forward to getting to know you, and for you to get to know us!

Love, Mother 💖

Hullo everybody! I’m Brianna!

It’s wonderful to meet you all! How are you? Let me know in the comments!

That is, if you made it this far. This post is really really long 😅

I’ll try to keep this short and sweet for you guys, okay?

Even though there’s lots about me to tell, I’m sure I can always tell you guys another time!

So, Lucy said earlier I might be an interject. We read somewhere that interjects are alters that come from abusers, but we’ve also seen the word used for alters that are just based off real people, I think.

I guess I’m kinda a mix of an interject and a fictive in that case? Maybe? I’m based off of a friend we had named Brianna when we were little, but my appearance is based off of a humanize version of our comfort item. Our comfort item is a beanie baby bunny that we named Bunny! Rose probably never would allow such a name now but we were… Hmm… I dunno how old because we remember everything from six to nine as happening when we were nine and everything we remember before that we remember happening when we were three. Somewhere between 3 and 9, so uncreative names can be forgiven.

Shoot, I rambled didn’t I? I promise I am trying to keep this short.

This is what I look like, only I usually have pigtails.

I am bisexual and one of the other alters is my girlfriend! You’ll meet her after me. 🥰

I love stuffed animals, role playing, hanging out with friends, going to new places, meeting new people, tea parties, dancing, and singing! I wish we could do professional dancing, figure skating, and/or gymnastics because I would love to do that, but the body has a difficult time with that and we don’t have the money for classes, which is sad, but like Rose I can just do that stuff in the inner world.

My colour scheme is aqua marine and pink. That’s about it, I’m a simple girl. 😊

Alright! I hope I kept this short enough for you! I hope you have a really amazing day, and if you don’t, that’s okay too! Be patient with yourself, Lisa says that’s really really important!

~ Brianna 🐇🐬🦋🐦🦕🪺 (Okay I have to stop there are too many amazing emojis)

Oh I didn’t say how I’d sign my name

Maybe just “~ Brianna 💙”

No that’s too dark of a blue.

Oh well I’ll figure it out. Maybe a different emoji every time? I’ll still sign it Brianna.

Okay, now I’m done for good this time.

~ Brianna 🐰

North here,

Stacy has more severe anxiety than the rest of us, so she’s probably not going to give as much information as the others have.

Just thought you should know!

~ ❄️

Uh… Hi?

I really don’t know why we’re doing this…

Uh… I’m Stacy…

I like quiet spaces and sitting on the couch doing nothing.

I don’t like crowds or drama or conflict or anything like that.

I try not to get in the way though.

Uh… North says I should tell you what I look like.

Don’t worry she’s not forcing me, just…

Well she’s kinda forcing me…

More peer pressure than forcing?

Uh… Anyways…

Here.

This Picrew’s kinda accurate, except I wear a beanie.

I probably look the most different from the body out of all the alters… There’s a reason for that but I won’t go into it.

I like the aesthetic of the city but I’d rather die than live there.

I like making mood boards, talking to the other alters, listening to the others talk or sing or whatever, spending time with the system… uh… My job is usually to get us out of bad situations and cut people off if needed.

So, yeah... that’s me.

Colour scheme dark blue and black, I kin Virgil from Sanders Sides, I have two Moms that were also alters and are, like, dormant now I think? Idk. Oh, and I enjoy coffee and memes.

North says I’ve done enough so I’m going now. Bye.

~ Stacy 🏙

North here again! That’s everyone that’s usually active. There’s also two alters that aren’t dormant that usually stay in the headspace. There’s Austin, he’s based off of a very close friend in our childhood that turned against us. That’s a story for another day of course. He might post here but not as often as the others. Then there’s Teresa, who we can’t really let front because the body enters a severe depressive episode when she fronts, but we can still talk to her without there being any problems. She might post vent posts here if she does post anything, we’ll see what happens and how safe the system feels on this account.

I’m hoping that by writing about this and talking about it with others we can all understand ourselves and each other more, and maybe find a way to balance out our contradicting goals. At first I was very hesitant to identify as a system, I was saying things that people had said to dismiss us in the past, and afraid that I might be faking it or wrong and I might be invading a community I don’t belong in. However the more research I did and the more I thought about it, the more I believe that is the case! We are an OSDD 1b system, which explains the way I view our memories, the way I talk to/about myself, the way we work through problems, and so much more!

Thanks to things like Inside Out and Sanders Sides, we were able to get a pretty decent understanding of each other and we managed to communicate really well with each other. However, it was always with the idea that we were all parts of Tasha, which now I’m realizing isn’t the case at all. We all have very contradicting goals and personalities, so it now makes a lot of sense why we always had so much trouble understanding our identity and what ‘Tasha’ wanted from life. Because we aren’t just one person.

I’m really excited to learn and grow more with the others, and to share my experiences with others who may be interested in them! I hope you’ll be patient with me though since many of us tend to overshare and infodump, so this blog will probably have a lot of long posts 😅

We might try reading posts out loud and put them on YouTube as well, but I don’t want to put too much pressure on the system and most of us are better at writing than communicating face to face.

Writing this post has already helped us a lot to understand each other’s goals, histories, and perspectives, I’m hoping we’ll continue to grow from here!

I’m repeating myself a lot so I should probably end the post here. Welcome to the blog!

[musclesandhammering]

Every Single Issue I Have With S*lki (It’s Not Just The Selfcest)

Here goes. I threatened to post this a few days ago and never did, but I just saw a s*lki stan Twitter account claim that Loki caring about Sylvie more than the whole multiverse was a Good And Romantic thing and it pushed me over the fucking edge, so now you all have to read this. I’ve divided it into categories cause there’s just THAT much.

OOC Bullshit

• First and foremost, no amount of mental gymnastics you do will ever make me believe that this specific Loki- the one that just invaded New York, that just came off a year of Thanos Torture, that just got done being influenced by the sceptre, that was literally in the middle of a crisis already, and then on top of that went through all the trauma of Ep 1- would even be worried about a romantic relationship. That would be the furthest thing from his mind. Go back and watch how he acted in Avengers- you think that guy would abandon his previous mission to become a snivelling simp for a girl he’d just met 3 days prior? Yeah, there’s no universe in which that makes sense.

• “It’s very in character for Loki to fall in love with himself lololol-“ NO, it’s literally not. Out of all the characters in the mcu, I don’t think I can think of anyone that genuinely hates themselves more than Loki. He even referred to all his other male variants as “monsters” and said meeting them was “a nightmare” in this series. He’s got so much self-loathing, plus the fact that he genuinely thinks himself to be an evil backstabbing scourge- so there’s no evidence at all suggesting that he would ever develop a fondness for, or even be inclined to trust, another version of himself, after only knowing them for 3 days.

• Building on that, the whole concept of Loki falling in love with a version of himself just feeds into the annoying ass misconception that he’s a narcissist. No matter which way you stack it, he’s not. If you’re referring to NPD, he doesn’t fit the criteria, and if you’re saying “narcissist” just as a slang term meaning “selfish and arrogant”, that still doesn’t accurately describe him. But when creators like Waldron and Herron do things like having him fall in love with himself, it makes it so much easier for casual viewers to think that he is.

Shitty LGBT Rep

• It’s kinda sus that Loki’s are allegedly genderfluid and yet the only female-presenting variant we see (and apparently the only female-presenting variant there is, cause the male Loki’s all seemed unfamiliar with the concept) is treated as some kind of mind-bogglingly special paradox. Also very sus that, out of all the Loki variants, the one our Loki falls in love with just so happens to be the only female one. What a coincidence.

• The fact that the creators of the show went around bragging about Loki’s bisexuality and Marvel purposefully (lbr) allowed stories about Loki possibly having a male love interest to circulate, specifically enticing queer viewers to watch the show (you know, the definition of queerbaiting), and then instead of having a male love interest (Loki was the first queer main character, so it was the perfect opportunity) they gave us *gestures to this dumpster fire* this… it’s just a middle finger to LGBT fans. The fact that they would rather have this relationship with all its myriad of problems than have a gay relationship is just……. Very telling.

• While him being with a woman obviously doesn’t refute his bisexuality, the fact that they showed/talked about him being interested in 3 different women (flight attendant, Sylvie, Sif) and never even hinted at him being attracted to a man, definitely makes it seem like they were trying to cover up his bisexuality to smooth things over with the more homophobic viewers. You know? It’s like “I know you’re pissed that we sorta confirmed Loki as bi, so we promise we’ll never mention it again! Or even hint at it! As a matter of fact, we’ll give him lots of female lovies and make him seem as straight as possible! That’ll take your mind off of that horrible crumb of queer rep, right? Please please please keep giving us your money!!!”

• Aside from all the other issues, at its core, the biggest reason why I think I’m so irritated with s*lki is that it took one of the most interesting, complex, and diverse characters in cinema atm and squished him into a tired ass unnecessary heteronormative subplot…. Like literally every. single. other. protagonist. ever. Loki is such a unique character, and it’s so so so incredibly disappointing that they stuck him into that same boring cookie cutter romance that happens to every other character in every other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s a disservice, and it’s honestly just not compelling or entertaining at all.

Thematic Issues Galore

• His arc didn’t need a romance. With anyone. It was unnecessary and it didn’t make sense plot-wise. In fact, one of the reasons he was my fav prior to this was because he was the only big-name mcu character whose story wasn’t muddied-up by a romance that didn’t need to be there. So much for that.

• He wasn’t emotionally ready for a romantic relationship with anyone. Hell, just a genuine friendship would’ve been pushing it for him at this point. He was in such a bad state that any relationship he got into would’ve been toxic and unhealthy for both him and the other person, and it doesn’t make sense why the writers would want to put him in one when there were so many cons and essentially no pros (other than “Uwu aren’t they cute together”).

• Sylvie’s character in general was unnecessary and Loki’s character was robbed just by her being there. The whole show became about her post-Ep 2. They spent most of the time giving her backstory, building her up, telling us how awesome she is, trying to convince us to like her, etc when what they really needed to be doing was building Loki up- cause I gotta say, if I had to describe TVA!Loki in a few words, they would be Flat, Boring, and Weak.

• The romance overtakes the plot. They spend time portraying their supposed connection that could’ve been spent adding depth and complexity to literally any of the characters. They make the big Nexus Event them giving each other googly eyes on Lamentis when it could’ve been so many other way more profound things that speak to the fundamental nature of Loki’s. They have the climax of the finale be “oh no she betrayed him to kill He Who Remains” when it could’ve been something way more compelling (Loki having a moral crisis over whether or not to kill HWR, Loki contemplating the state of the multiverse and weighing the pros and cons of freedom vs order, Loki looking into some What If situations and getting emotional about what could’ve been regarding his family, Loki realising the gravity of HWR’s offer and finally coming to terms with how important he is to the universal cycle, etc etc). The entire plot suffered in favour of a romance that half of us didn’t even want.

• It essentially reduced all of Loki’s potential character growth down to “He did it for his crush.” He seemed to at least have some motivations of his own in Ep 1-2 (feeble as they were) but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, literally every action he took was just him being a simp for her. Why did he lie in the interrogation? To try to protect Sylvie. Why did he fight the minutemen and Timekeepers? To survive kinda, but mostly cause it was important to Sylvie. Why did he get pruned? Cause he got distracted trying to confess his crush to Sylvie. Why did he try to get out of The Void? Cause he thought Sylvie needed him. Why did he stay in The Void? Cause Sylvie was staying. Why did he try to enchant Alioth? Cause Sylvie told him to. Why did the multiverse get cracked open, leading to an infinite number of Kangs waging war on all of existence? Cause Loki didn’t wanna hurt Sylvie in their fight at the Citadel and then get distracted by her kissing him. It’s uninteresting and honestly pretty embarrassing.

• Throughout their “relationship arc” the writers do their absolute damndest to convince us that we should like Sylvie more than Loki. And you know what? It’s the most hypocritical shit I’ve ever seen. They preach and preach about how Sylvie’s life has been so difficult/we should feel bad for her/she had it so bad/poor poor sylvie/she had it SO much worse than pampered prince Loki…. But then they never even touch on any of Loki’s trauma of hardships (the ones that have been ignored for literally 3 movies now). They frame Sylvie as a good person and a Freedom Fighter after she spent literal decades/centuries mass-murdering brainwashed TVA agents and showing exactly zero remorse for it….. but then they make it their mission to constantly remind us that Loki is a terrible person and constantly put him in situations where he’s forced to acknowledge his wrongdoings/show remorse/admit to how “evil” he is for being a mass murderer for like 2 years. They show him on-screen having a wider range of powers than her, and perpetuate his whole shtick of being a “master manipulator” or whatever….. But then they make Sylvie “the brawn” more competent, intelligent, and physically capable than him. Tell me how it’s a good thing for a ship to be so narratively biased toward one character.

Missed Opportunities

• If they absolutely had to have a romance subplot, then they could’ve paired Loki with one of the characters that have already been established OR one of the characters that were a big part of the whole TVA storyline anyway. It would’ve been so interesting if they’d revealed that Loki had a history with some of the players from previous films (Sif and Fandral both come to mind). It also would’ve been really interesting if they’d given Loki a love interest that actually had some allegiance to the TVA as a whole (Mobius maybe, but not necessarily. It also could’ve been Renslayer or B-15). Hell, imo it would’ve been cool if they’d followed through with that “See you again someday” line that he said to the flight attendant in Ep 1. ALL of these characters have way more chemistry with him than Sylvie, and they were also already relevant to the plot without wasting half the show to give background info on them.

• If they absolutely had to have a hetero-presenting love story involving an enchantress-type figure, then there’s a whole Enchantress (Amora) that was actually Loki’s love interest in the comics. Plus, fans have been screaming for Amora to appear in the mcu for years. Plus, Tom literally pitched an Amora/Loki storyline way back in 2012-13. Also, Lorelei (another enchantress) is also one of Loki’s love interests in the comics, and she already exists in the mcu (she was on Agents of SHIELD). There were several different established characters for them to choose from. Creating a whole knew amalgamation of a character and going with the “she’s a Loki variant” storyline was just completely unnecessary and made no sense.

• They completely robbed us of a Chaos Twins dynamic. Had they handled Sylvie better and not forced her and Loki to smooch, the two of them could’ve had a really really complex and interesting sibling relationship. Loki could’ve stepped into Thor’s shoes and sort of used that new role to gain some self importance, and Sylvie could’ve finally had somebody to look out for her/teach her magic/be there for her. It would’ve been very aesthetically pleasing, the vibes would’ve been out of this world, it would’ve been way more profound than this bs, and frankly it would’ve been much more entertaining to watch.

• Loki’s relationship (read: obsession) with Sylvie completely overshadows all Loki’s other relationships in the show. Loki and Mobius were literally the focal point of the series in Ep 1-2, but after Sylvie showed up in Ep 3, they barely had any interactions with each other, and Mobius pretty much faded to the background entirely. Loki had the beginnings of a pretty interesting antagonistic relationship with Renslayer (with her wanting him pruned, then arguing with Mobius that he couldn’t be trusted), but after Sylvie showed up the dynamic shifted to focus on the history between her and Ravonna. Loki and B-15 started off very badly and openly disliked each other throughout Ep 1-2, and then in the end of Ep 2, Loki showed a little bit of concern for her when she was possessed, hinting that they might be inching toward a reconciliation- especially considering how obvious it was that Loki was gonna uncover the TVA’s sins eventually. There was so much potential for him to be the one to give her her memories back and convince her to change sides, but no, of course that honor went to Sylvie. In fact, after Sylvie showed up, Loki and B-15 never even spoke to each other again.

Various S*lki Fails

• If they were trying to convince us that this affection was mutual, they completely failed. There’s nothing I’ve seen that even hints at Sylvie feeling the same way about Loki that he does about her. At most, I’d say she has a slight endearment to him. She finds him likeable and she’s grudgingly fond of him, but she definitely isn’t in love with the guy. Maybe she thinks he’s cute and hopes that he gets out of this mess alright, but her mission obviously comes before him- whereas, it’s been confirmed multiple times that Loki cares about her above anything else. She doesn’t trust him, she looks at him like he’s an incompetent fool half the time, she shows little to no reaction during most of his confession moments, and she kissed him as a means to distract him so that she could get him out of her way. Look, all I’m saying is, when you get into a relationship where one of you is way more invested than the other, it never ends well.

• This goes without saying for a lot of us, but the selfcest is just straight up odd and cringey. If you’re cool with that sort of thing, fine! People can ship what they want! But don’t pretend it’s not at least a little bit uncomfortable. Yes, I know they’re not technically siblings so it’s not technically incest, and they’re also not technically the exact same person, but they’re similar enough that it makes things weird. And yes I know selfcest can’t happen in real life, so there’s no way to judge it morally, but neither can most of the other stuff that happens in these shows/movies (the Snap, Loki destroying jotunheim, superhero with powers being held accountable, mind control) and yet we still find ways to judge their morality, because they all mirror real-world events. (The snap= genocide; Loki destroying Jotunheim= bombing other countries; superhero accountability= weapons accountability; mind control= grooming and coercion). And lbr the closest real-world mirror to two versions of the same person (who may or may not share DNA, family, backgrounds, physical and emotion characteristics) being romantically involved with one another is incest. And you can be ok with that if you want- that’s your prerogative- but don’t get pissy just cause a lot of us are squicked out by it.

• The whole mirror metaphor (learning self love via each other) thing just fell completely flat. First of all, having Loki learn to love himself by looking at someone who mirrors him did not, in any way shape or form, require them to be romantically involved. But they were. Of course. Secondly, the creators have contradicted themselves so many times on whether Loki and Sylvie are the same or not, that it doesn’t even really register to the viewer that the mirroring thing was what they were going for. Finally, Loki and Sylvie are shown to have so little in common- and to have only the most bare minimum of similarities personality-wise- that it doesn’t even make sense that Loki would “learn to love himself through loving her”. Like? They’re nothing alike. So how would he make the connection that he himself is actually pretty cool, based on her alone? There’s virtually nothing in her that reflects him.

• I know the objective of the entire show was to convince us of how awesome and unique Sylvie is, but honestly her relationship with Loki just did the opposite. A hallmark of a Mary Sue is having her constantly upstage the male lead, and then having him instantly fall madly in love with her anyway. And that’s.. exactly what happened here. Everything they’re doing to try to force her character to be more stan-able is really just forcing her to look more like their self-insert OC. Which is exactly what she is. It would’ve been so much more satisfying if she didn’t have to try so hard to look cool, if they didn’t have to try so hard to make her backstory tear-inducing, if they didn’t have to turn our protagonist into a snivelling simp just to prove how incredible she supposedly is. Very much #GirlBoss energy and we all know how performative and cheap that is.

• The entire thing was too rushed, there was too little build-up, and it was nowhere near believable. As stated above, it’s ridiculously unlikely that Loki would canonically even be interested in Sylvie, and this show did nothing to explain why he was. He just suddenly was. There was nothing they showed us as viewers that would justify a guy as closed-off and preoccupied as Loki falling head-over-heels for a girl he just met. Their was no explanation, no big revelation, no reasoning, it just… kinda happened. And I’m also severely skeptical of any love story that has the characters go in this deep after only 3 45-minute episodes of exposition.

I’m sure there’s other stuff, so if anyone thinks of anything, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to add it. Tagging @janetsnakehole02 @raifenlf @natures-marvel and @brightredsunset800 for expressing interest. This is all your faults.

[maxknightley]

It might just be me as a trans woman reading this in a trans way, but when Henry Day-Eastman talked about how every mirror he saw he was a guy and unhappy and alone. Big trans vibes. Am I reading too much of my own experience into that or was that intended? Love our vampire boy!

This is going to be... a somewhat complicated question to answer, and it'll deal with some spoilers for Eidolon Playtest Season 2, so I'm going to post my thoughts under a readmore.

For those who don't know: Eidolon Playtest is an actual play podcast I'm on where we're testing out a game a couple of my friends wrote. It's very good, you'll like it a lot if you enjoy things like "psychic battles against the President of the United States," "accidentally unionizing a demonic underclass" and "arguing about whether Adam Sandler's Click is a masterpiece in this universe or not." Also I made the soundtrack and people say that it whips ass so who am I to say otherwise?

I think you should listen to it, ideally before reading the rest of this post, because the post is going to make things sound a lot more confusing and unhinged than they actually are. I promise that all this shit makes sense if you're caught up.

So to get into Henry Day-Eastman and Harvey Stoker, I first want to touch on Harvey Godlove.

Originally, I didn't think very much about Harvey Godlove's gender or orientation very much. He started out as a very simple, straightforward character and sort of accumulated more meaningful character traits as time went on. Around 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through season 1, I decided he was bisexual because of dynamics on the show.

1. Harvey Godlove is a trans man, a decision I made in part because I saw a few people in the Discord chat who interpreted him that way, + a close transmasc friend of mine felt like it was a good fit. At first, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to make that Explicitly Canon or not, but as we got into season two, I came to the conclusion that it made a lot of sense, and that it dovetailed well with the other plot beats I wanted to hit for Henry/Harvey's character arc.

2. So, Henry Day-Eastman was created from parts of Harvey Godlove's soul and parts of Dracula's soul; the remaining parts were combined to form Harvey Faustus Stoker.

The Neighborhood works in such a way that their shared universe was created based on both Henry and Stoker's desires and beliefs. You could easily say that this implies Henry is cis; he has the body he "wants," the social role he "wants," other people see him as he "wants to be seen," etc.

But, of course, the whole point of Season Two is that the Neighborhood houses are false utopias. Henry isn't really happy with his life; he's just comfortable enough not to question it, even when he feels like trash.

3. Lisa Fratelli, an alternate version of Harvey created from his friend Christina's mental image of him, is transmasc - or maybe it's more accurate to say she "will be transmasc once she figures shit out?" It's something I don't think I've said explicitly on any of the episodes that have gone live, but I've definitely dropped some Very Heavy Hints. There's a reason she talks about hating the roles her parents pressured her into, there's a reason her Eidolon - the manifestation of her psyche - looks like a man, there's a reason she gets fixated on thoughts like "there's a version of me named Harvey" or "what if I became a cowboy."

The mirror conversation takes place between Henry and Lisa, so there's definitely transgender vibes, if that makes sense. The monologue as I conceived it was "about" a more general sense of depression, purposelessness, and being alone in the world - but like, at the end of the day, I'm a trans woman writing a conversation between two different "reflections" of a trans man. I think a transgender reading of that scene makes sense.

4. Henry ultimately decides to become a part of Harvey Godlove again, but at the end of the day, he still lived a different life. His desires were derived from Harvey's, but they weren't the same as Harvey's. Because of this, I think there's a few different ways you could read Henry!

You could read him as a cisgender man, or as "a trans person's fantasy of being cis," living out an idealized life in which his AGAB matches up with his lived experience - and yet, this life feels emptier than the one in which he transitioned, with all the challenges that entails.

You could read him as a trans man, whose obsession with "normalcy" is partly related to a desire to pass, for nobody to question who or what he is. If he doesn't stick out too much, maybe people will fucking Be Cool about it.

Or you could read him as a trans woman, someone whose desires are at once aligned with and opposed to the desires of the person he "was." Someone trapped in a role that, on paper, provides him with a lot of benefits and security, but in practice just makes him miserable.

TL;DR - I didn't necessarily intend for Henry's mirror vision to carry trans vibes, but I think it makes sense to read it as such. I'm a trans woman, Harvey's a trans man (as are all other versions of him seen in S2), that kind of subtext is going to crop up.

I hope that makes sense and I'm sorry for being so long-winded, lol. This is something I put a lot of thought into and I like to think it shows.

(P.S. Either way, Count Dracula was definitely cisgender, so Harvey still gets to make dumb jokes about how he's technically genderfluid because "sometimes he's a trans man and sometimes he's a cis man")

[uridealbf-cb]

❤︎ Your Perfect Date ❤︎

Disclaimer: This is not an actual or accurate representation of Kim Jongin, Lee Taeyong, Kim Taehyung, Kim Seokwoo, Jung Jaehyun or Cha Eunwoo in any way possible. This is purely fictional and for entertainment purposes.

❤︎ Meet The Boys ❤︎

Name: Kim Jong In (김종인)

Birthday: 14.01.1994

Zodiac sign: Capricorn

Height: 1.82 m (5′11″)

Personality:

He's considered to be "the dad" by the others since he's the oldest and likes taking care of people.

He's overprotective.

He can be strict in general, but he's also a big softie.

He's a dancer; he studied ballet and jazz.

He likes bears so he's collecting things with bears on them (teddies, clothes, cups etc).

He likes spoiling others.

Shopping is one of his hobbies.

In NSFW: He's pansexual and a dom. More of a soft dom, worshipping his partner and taking care of them. But he can also be a hard dom, depending on the situation/his partner.

In MxM he's a top.

Name: Lee Tae Yong (이태용)

Birthday: 01.07.1995

Zodiac sign: Cancer

Height: 1.75 m (5′9″)

Personal info:

He has a warm personality that make people feel comfortable around him.

He's a natural flirt.

He enjoys teasing as much as being teased.

He's a good listener, willing to help others however he can.

He's hot tempered and too honest. The one to often start an argument.

He enjoys dancing and cooking. He has a chef's license.

He knows taekwondo and he often practices with Rose (@/uridealgf-cb)

In NSFW: He's bisexual a switch. Depending on the situation/his partner he can be anything (soft/hard dom, obedient/bratty sub).

In MxM he's a switch.

Name: Kim Tae Hyung (김태형)

Birthday: 30.12.1995

Zodiac sign: Capricorn

Height: 1.80 m (5′11″)

Personal info:

He's very sweet and playful.

He has a 4D personality.

He's a social butterfly, making friends easily.

He's a photographer. According to him every picture is a moment that can stay in our memory forever.

He enjoys teasing others and is described as childish.

He has an extreme duality. One moment he can be playful and the other can be extremely serious, even scary to an extent.

When in relationship, he can be extremely possessive.

In NSFW: He's bisexual and a switch leaning dom. More of a sadistic dom, even though he can be soft depending on his partner and a bratty sub.

In MxM he's a bottom/power bottom.

Name: Kim Seok Woo (김석우) / Rowoon (로운)

Birthday: 07.08.1996

Zodiac sign: Leo

Height: 1.91 m (6′3″)

Personal info:

He's very polite and well mannered.

He's quiet and is often mistaken as someone who's cold, but that's because he prefers to listen and observe rather than talk.

Ha has a psychology degree.

He's a mediator. The one to break an argument between the boys.

He likes things to be clean/hates disorder.

He's a perfectionist.

He enjoys staying home and reading books.

In NSFW: He's pansexual and a soft dom. He can be strict about certain things and wouldn't hasitate to discipline his partner when he thinks is needed.

In MxM he's a top.

Name: Jung Yoon Oh (정윤오) / Jaehyun (재현)

Birthday: 14.02.1997

Zodiac sign: Aquarius

Height: 1.80 m (5′11″)

Personal info:

He's serious in general but can be softer and playful with the people he cares.

He's very honest. He wouldn't hasitate to say his opinion even if that'd hurt someone.

He's overprotective.

He's possessive to an extent.

He plays piano since he was seven years old. He's dream was to become a pianist.

He's close to Eunwoo and Yiren. (@/uridealgf-cb)

He's athletic. He likes playing basketball.

In NSFW: He's bisexual and a soft dom.

In MxM he's a top.

Name: Cha Eun Woo (차은우)

Birthday: 30.03.1997

Zodiac sign: Aries

Height: 1.83 m (6′0″)

Personal info:

He's very kind and polite/respectful.

He can be shy at first, but once he feels comfortable, he comes out of his shell and becomes more open about himself or his feelings.

He wants everyone around him to be comfortable and happy. Always trying to help others as best as he can.

He's the one with the most empathy towards other people. Not only he understands other people's feelings, but he can be affected by them. He'll laugh when they laugh; he'll cry when they cry.

He's very affectionate when comfortable and he loves skinsip, especially holding hands and cuddles.

He's studying to be a teacher.

He's close to Jaehyun.

In NSFW: he's bisexual and a sub. In some occasions he can be a soft dom.

In MxM he's a bottom.

SERVICES

Interactions through asks: interact with the boy of your choice through asks. You can choose what type of interaction you'll have with him (~him checking up on you, asking about your day, flirting etc)

Interactions through dms: interact with the boy of your choice through dms.

Actual dms: He will dm you to check up on you, to listen to your problems, to give you advices, to keep you company etc without any physical interactions.

Role-play /dms with physical interactions: He will come to keep you company, spend time with you, go on dates etc [it can lead to NSFW at some point, but it's not just about NSFW. The boys aren't sex workers, so do not treat them like they are.

GENERAL INFO

In case someone wants to activate and use one of the services with a boy, they can send an ask or a dm with that boy's name and the service they want.

To deactivate just send him that you do not want to continue anymore and that you want to stop any type of interactions you had with him.

-> Each service is available for y/ns, but also cbs and oc's. In case a cb/oc wants a service they should dm the name of the boy and the service they want. Otherwise, any interactions with any of the boys is considered casual and not part of a plot for role-play.

Casual interactions can be done through asks, dms and the dash.

Interacting with the boys can lead to an official relationship at some point. Making it official comes after discussion with that certain member so do not claim to date any of them before that.

When there's an official relationship, they will discuss with their partners about what services they can continue offering to others or if they need to stop offering other services in general. [The boys wouldn't want their partners to be uncomfortable.]

Admin can be busy throughout the day so the boys might not be active all the time. They're not ignoring you.

Admin is 21+ so no NSFW interactions with minors, only SFW. Please do not lie about your age.

Any kinks or no's will be discussed in dms. They boys work with the traffic light system [green: keep going, orange: slow down, red: stop]

Please respect the boys and admin's headspace. Don't try to force them in a different headspace.

Inspired by the movie "The Perfect Date".

Og cb: @yanlee

Og Jongin: @/yandere-kai

Og Taeyong: @/yanderetaeyong

Og Taehyung: @/mythtaehyung

Og Rowoon: (lmk)

Og Jaehyun: @mafiajjh

Og Eunwoo: (lmk)

The girls: @uridealgf-cb

[beepboop358]

A Prom in S4 Theory & Music Coding Predictions

Some leaked set pics indicate that there MAY BE a junior/senior prom at Hawkins High, which they are calling the "Lover's Ball". It's unclear if this prom will be included on screen, or if it will just be mentioned as an event coming up at Hawkins High because this flyer could just extra set decor. Regardless if the prom happens on screen or not, there will probably be some tension about 'who's asking who' to the prom that we will see in s4. Given that this picture was just leaked a few weeks ago, it probably falls closer to the end of the season sequentially.

Having a big school dance in s4 is suspiciously close to how they had the Snowball scene in s2. This would certainly follow the even/odd season patterns, (and actually add to the list of the patterns), which kind of makes me think we will see this prom on screen, or at the very least it will be mentioned in the course of the season.

The Duffer Brothers love Steven King and reference his work and especially 'IT' a lot in the show, but they haven't done anything with Carrie yet so maybe we will get a Carrie moment this season at the prom...

Carrie was on the video store fridays movie inspiration board for ST4.

At the "Lover's Ball", there will be definitely be some music coding relating to Byler. Since music coding is kind of a key thing in the show, I've been rifling through 80's songs to try and find some that may fit with s4's themes/character storylines (and I may do a seperate post about that later), but for this post I'm just gonna focus on what they might use at the prom for relating to Byler.

Since the season is most likely going to take place in 1986, I only selected songs that had a compatible release year so it would be historically accurate. (these songs would also be great for a byler playlist!)

Some strong contenders for the songs that might play at the prom to reference Mike and Will's relationship could be:

"True Colors" by Cyndi Lauper (1986)

This song is honestly too good of an option for them not to use. I'm reallllyyy crossing my fingers for this one.

It's hard to take courage In a world full of people You can lose sight of it all And the darkness inside you Can make you feel so small

"And I see your true colors Shining through I see your true colors And that's why I love you So don't be afraid (don't be afraid) To let them show your true colors True colors are beautiful (you're beautiful, oh) Like a rainbow Oh oh oh oh oh like a rainbow"

If this world makes you crazy And you've taken all you can bear You call me up Because you know I'll be there

"Heaven" by Bryan Adams (1984)

This first verse is literally just the story of Byler... 😭 The rest of the song applies but that verse verse is just sooooo accurate. (I'm crossing my fingers for this one too)

"Oh thinkin' about all our younger years There was only you and me We were young and wild and free Now nothing can take you away from me We've been down that road before But that's over now You keep me comin' back for more

Baby you're all that I want When you're lyin' here in my arms I'm findin' it hard to believe We're in heaven And love is all that I need And I found it there in your heart Isn't too hard to see We're in heaven

Oh once in your life you find someone Who will turn your world around Bring you up when you're feelin' down Yeah nothin' can change what you mean to me Oh there's lots that I could say But just hold me now 'Cause our love will light the way"

"Take My Breath Away" by Berlin (1986)

This song is on Will's Spotify playlist, and I thought it could also be used at the prom since it's a romantic song. I see it as an 'entrance to the prom' moment song, almost like a 'first look' - like the Mike and El moment at the snowball when she first walks in, but with Mike and Will this time. I think the lyrics clearly hint to this kind of 'first look' moment as well.

"Watchin' every motion in my foolish lover's game On this endless ocean, finally lovers know no shame Turning and returning to some secret place inside Watchin' in slow motion as you turn around and say...take my breath away"

Watchin' every motion in this foolish lover's game Haunted by the notion, somewhere there's a love in flames Turning and returning to some secret place inside Watchin' in slow motion as you turn my way and say...take my breath away"

"In The Air Tonight" by Phil Collins (1981)

This song was originally meant to be included in the snowball scene from s2, but it ultimately was not used and "Every Breath You Take" was used for this scene instead. Since it was intended to be a part of the s2 dance, that's why I think it may be used at the prom this season. (you can read the scripts on 8flix)

——— I forgot to include this explanation originally BUT, I think this song might be used to show some anger/resentment between the two, and to show a decent amount of tension, depending on their development this season. Like maybe Mike is kind of leading Will on in private by continuing to initiate intimate scenes between them, but in public Mike is still trying to put on his “straight boy act” and kind of being a jackass about it, and this song could be used to show the tension between them that has caused.

"And I've been waiting for this moment, for all my life, (Oh lord)

Well, I was there and I saw what you did I saw it with my own two eyes So you can wipe off that grin, I know where you've been It's all been a pack of lies.

Well I remember, I remember don't worry How could I ever forget It's the first time, the last time we ever met But I know the reason why you keep this silence up

No you don't fool me The hurt doesn't show, but the pain still grows It's no stranger to you and me"

"In Your Eyes" by Peter Gabriel (1986)

Some of the lyrics in this song just SCREAMS byler, just look at the 1st, 2nd and 4th paragraphs. I would be suprised if they didn't use this song in either s4/s5.

Love, I get so lost sometimes Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart When I want to run away I drive off in my car But whichever way I go I come back to the place you are

All my instincts, they return The grand facade, so soon will burn Without a noise, without my pride I reach out from the inside

In your eyes The light, the heat (in your eyes) I am complete (in your eyes) I see the doorway (in your eyes) To a thousand churches (in your eyes) The resolution (in your eyes) Of all the fruitless searches (in your eyes)

Love, I don't like to see so much pain So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away I get so tired working so hard for our survival I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive

"Heroes" by David Bowie (1975)

David Bowie was bisexual. A cover of his song “Heroes” is used in the show twice already, sung by Peter Gabriel. The song plays when they pull Will's fake body out of the water in season one and Mike cries in his Mom's arms, with some very queer-coded lyrics in the background, and after Hopper's letter in s3 (which is very Byler-centric)

"I will be king. And you, you will be queen 'Cause we're lovers, and that is a fact. Yes, we're lovers, and that is that. Though nothing will keep us together. We could steal time just for one day We can be heroes forever and ever. What d'you say? I, I wish I could swim, like dolphins, like dolphins could swim I, I can remember (I remember) Standing by the wall (By the wall) And the guns shot above our heads (Over our heads) And we kissed as though nothing could fall (Nothing could fall) And the shame was on the other side. Oh, we can beat them forever and ever. Then we could be heroes just for one day We're nothing, and nothing will help us Maybe we're lying, then you better not stay But we could be safer just for one day"

I just thought the above songs might be some highly likely possibilities given that they fit the year of the s4 and also make references to not only love, but the idea of hiding, pain, shame, longing, etc., and can make some (partially stretching here) references to other things in the show such as:

RAINBOWS and TRUE COLORS, SHINING THROUGH (rainbows imagery is always associated with Mike & Will in the show and a is symbol of lgbtq+ pride, True Colors shining through = who you really are on the inside finally coming out)

IF THIS WORLD MAKES YOU CRAZY ("crazy together", "only love makes you that crazy" and references the "world" motif in the show)

YOUNGER YEARS, ONLY YOU AND ME, YOUNG, WILD AND FREE (references "not wanting things to change" and wanting "to make things go how they were" part in Hopper's letter, and the "But we're not kids anymore" comment during the Byler fight)

ENDLESS OCEAN and SWIM, LIKE DOLPHINS (references water's significance in the show)

FLAMES (Will in front of the burning car in s4 teaser?)

LIES and LYING (Mike lying to El about how he feels)

INSTINCTS RETURNING, FACADES BURNING, WITHOUT MY PRIDE, I REACH OUT FROM THE INSIDE (Mike's feelings for Will are his instincts, the facade is the act he put on in s3 to seem straight, burning could reference Will & fire, and I think the last 2 lines of that 2nd verse reference vulnerability- perhaps in an apology/confession)

I GET SO LOST (confusion about his sexuality, feeling lost without the other) and SO MUCH WASTED TIME (known each other since kindergarten but were unaware the other felt the same way/was dealing with same things, they could have been even closer)

KINGS and QUEENS (the d&d game mike wrote where he has king Tristan give him a medal in s1)

STEALING TIME (references "turning back the clock, to make things go how they were" part in Hopper's letter and the time theme in s4 and time is central to the s4 plot)

AND WE KISS - AND THE SHAME (references the shame they both feel about being gay since it was so stigmatized in the 80's)

Byler @ Prom Possibilities:

If Mike and Will did dance together at the prom, they will probably get bullied because they live in a small conservative town. They will probably either run out, upset, or Eleven will step in to protect them which could lead to the Carrie moment.

Or Mike and Will will not dance together in the actual dance room, but instead sneak off to somewhere else in the school and have a private Byler dance moment where they can't be teased and it's just them together.

OR Mike and Will are still acting weird at this point in the season because neither of them is communicating what needs to be said out of fear, or one of them has confessed or done something to indicate how they feel, but the other hasn’t so everything is weird between them. There would be lots of tension from this and we would get lots of longing looks and adoring moments between the two of them from the sidelines. (I think this one is the most likely)

[variousqueerthings]

Daniel LaRusso: A Queer Feminine Fairytale Analysis Part Two of Three

Part 1

Part 3

6. Sexual Awakenings part 1: Love, Obsession, & Size Differences

[Insert that post talking about the creators making sure that Daniel’s antagonists were much bigger than him so that the audience would sympathise, spawning 10000 size kink fics]

I’m sure this won’t awaken anything in Daniel

Corporate wants you to find the difference between these two pictures

The hallmark of feminine fairytales tends to be growing into womanhood, with all those symbolic sexual under/overtones, searching for a prince, encountering monsters (or evil stepmothers), on the surface tending to be quite passive/reactive, but actually being about young girls and women getting out of their environment and choosing to tussle with those deep, dark desires – monsters. They’ve got to function within the limitations of power that they have – escaping an abusive situation through marriage, chasing forbidden desires under the guise of duress, asking questions about sexuality through things like symbolic plucking (flowers) or consumption (fruit) or pricking (needles), etc.

Daniel isn’t striking out to find his fortune or win a girl or a kingdom Like A Man, he’s not a threat to Silver, who – like Jareth in Labyrinth – is in control for almost the whole of the narrative, he’s not actually able to do much more than react until he makes the decision to stop training, and even then he’s immediately ganged up on and assaulted, needing to be saved by Miyagi while he stands and watches, bloodied and bruised. 

Daniel’s journey in the third movie is to be forced into an impossible situation, seduced by Silver, and then prove that whatever violence Silver did to him isn’t enough to destroy him. It is incredibly similar to Sarah’s in Labyrinth, who by the end declares: “you have no power over me,” and that’s her winning moment. Not strength, not wits, not a direct fight, (although Daniel does fight Barnes and gets beat up again – only winning in in the end by taking him by surprise, unlike in TKK1 or TKK2 where you could argue that he proves himself to be a capable physical opponent to Johnny and Chozen), but by declaring that whatever power was held over her is now void.

Daniel’s narrative isn’t satisfying in the same way, because the dynamic of Silver and Daniel only accidentally emulates this - it’s not an intention on the side of the film-makers.

When Miyagi tells Daniel that he has strong roots, when he tells him not to lose to fear and Daniel wins over Barnes (in an almost fairytale-esque set of events), on paper he’s defeated whatever hold Terry Silver has over him. In the film itself though, Daniel never defeats Silver (which will likely be confirmed once he returns in Season Four). Daniel cannot simply say “you have no power over me,” and see Silver shattered into glass shards. 

The film is a contradiction: It wants to be a masculine sports film, but it exists in the same realm as Goblin Kings seducing young girls with the promise of: “Just fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave.” Unlike Sarah, Daniel doesn’t claim the power that’s been promised to him on his own terms. His subtextually sexual awakening is so corrupted that all he can do is pretend it never happened.

Still, Daniel proves in the film that his strength is not in his fists. It’s in his praying to the bonsai tree that’s healed despite a violent boy brutally tearing it in two.

These looks on Daniel and Silver though?

So why does Silver become obsessed with him? What’s up with all those red outfits (that he doesn’t wear in Cobra Kai)? What does the temptation reveal about Daniel? How does it recontextualise TKK1 and TKK2? Is Daniel bisexual? (yes).

Ah, beach-Daniel, in your red hoodie and your cut-off jorts. Iconic hot-girl summer vibes. 

If you didn’t want me over-analysing this, you shouldn’t have put him in so many red outfits and then have this man leering at him like he wants to eat him alive.

Surface-level it’s not hard to read into a Dude Story: Masculine power fantasies are about strength in a very direct way. Fighting, control, suaveness – and if you’re not the most traditionally masculine of guys, asserting dominance through being a good lover or intelligent or overcoming that unmanliness in some way through beating the bully or convincing the hot girl to go out with you, levelling up in coolness. Being A Man. It’s not too dissimilar from Daniel’s arc in the first movie, if you watch it without taking later events into account, although Daniel is never interested in proving himself as a man, and more in making Miyagi proud. Still, he does win and gain respect, and arguably “get the girl,” although Ali’s interest in him was never dependent on the fight.

7. Sexual Awakenings Part 2: Sexual Assault, Liberation, and Queerness

Feminine power fantasies are often about sex. Metaphorically. More accurately it’s “owning sexuality.” Even more accurately: “Freedom.” They also inhabit a fluid space in which empowerment through monstrous desires and non-consent can happen at the same time. And on top of that, many of these “fantasies” are actually being written by men, so whose fantasy is it really? A lot of them are based in oral traditions so presumably they were originally from the mouths of women, even if modern iterations (starting with Grimm’s collections) are filtered through cis men’s perspectives.

All of that being acknowledged: In Angela Carter’s “The Company Of Wolves,” Red Riding Hood unambiguously sleeps with the wolf. Belle discovers her freedom from expectations and unsuitable suitors (and in some versions, evil stepsisters) by falling in love with a Beast (the original novel was written by a woman, the 18th century Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve). Jareth informs Sarah of his obsessive devotion to her in Labyrinth. To lean into horror for a moment – Buffy is stalked and eventually has relationships with both Angel and Spike, Lucy in Coppola’s Dracula (which I have mixed feelings about) is raped by the werewolf and Mina is stalked by Dracula, The Creature Of The Black Lagoon kidnaps Kay (the lead’s girlfriend) – subverted in both The Shape Of Water in which Eliza forms a consensual relationship with the amphibious sea-god and in the short-lived horror series Swamp Thing, in which the connection is purposefully framed as seductive…

and in The Karate Kid Part Three Daniel LaRusso punches a board until his hands bleed because an attractive, older man tells him to and in this moment he gives in to what he (thinks he) wants.

Not all of those examples are equal. Some are consensual, some are hinted as abusive and/or stalkery, all of them have large age gaps, and a few are outright non-consensual.

But they’re all fantasies.

They’re all power-fantasies.

Except for Daniel, because he’s a man and the idea that being obsessed (lusted) over by an older man who keeps you in his thrall, specifically because you tickle his fancy for whatever reason, because you’re beautiful, breakable, different – could in any way be considered empowering is a difficult concept to wrap your head around. It doesn’t contain that “but I’m a good girl, I’d never go off the path and pluck flowers if a bad wolf told me to, honest,” societal context or the social context of rape culture. It’s closest comparison is closeted (perhaps even unknown until that point) queer identity.

There have recently been some comparisons of Daniel LaRusso to Bruce Bechdel in Funhome (and everyone who says that Ralph Macchio ought to play him in the upcoming movie: you’re right and I’m just not going to enjoy it as much without him). I’ve written a post about Sam being the heir to his legacy and trauma, specifically as a queercoded man. It’s not dissimilar to the plot of Funhome in a lot of ways.

The other interesting source that’s been going around in connection with Daniel is the essay “The Rape of James Bond,” which discusses the use of sexual assault as a plot device for women and not for men: “About one in every 33 men [in the US] is raped. … [your statistically average, real life man] … doesn’t have a horde of enemies explicitly dedicated to destroying him. He doesn’t routinely get abducted, and tied up. Facing a megalomaniac psychopath gloating over causing him pain […] is not the average man’s average day at the office.” That last bit is just a descriptor of Terry Silver, (although I take issue at the blasé use of psychopath).

The two part youtube essay  Sexual Assault of Men Played for Laughs posits that there is nothing more de-masculinising than the threat of sexual assault and therefore any narrative that features this “rightfully” must mock any man who has been a victim or who fears being a victim of sexual assault. It is feminising. There is nothing more humiliating – and therefore unheroic – than a man dealing with sexual assault.

So what do we feel when we see an attractive young man being put into a vulnerable position by an older man? A trope associated with female characters, a trope that is considered unpalatable for men (see reactions that happened when the hint of sexual assault was introduced in Skyfall).

Was it the fact that he was being threatened, or the fact that James’ next line is: “what makes you think this is my first time?”

Some thoughts added by @mimsyaf​ are around the idea of safety in how a lot of cis women might relate to this narrative through Daniel’s eyes. He’s not a woman, he has – societally – more power than a girl or woman would have, which makes this a different watch to, say, if Danielle were to go through the same narrative. Daniel doesn’t carry that baggage of rape culture, or of the male gaze that you might find in a similar scenario of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Christine in Phantom of the Opera (and once more the age differences between these characters and the men who love/lust over them are substantial), which makes the narrative “safer” to engage with.

I agree with that, although as a transmasc person I also come at it differently. I specifically like to headcanon Daniel as a trans guy and find his fraught interactions with masculinity through his own non-toxic lens relatable, as well as the way other boys and men react to it – also I think Terry Silver is hot. I know there are people who write Terry Silver with female OCs, which is also a form of empowerment.

On the flipside putting Daniel in this space runs a risk of fetishising him as a queer youth who is either Innocent and Pure, or a bisexual stereotype that deserves to be assaulted for not being a real man. After all, Real Straight Men don’t run the risk of sexual assault.

 Alas, the road to empowerment never did run smooth. 

The comparisons between the way Daniel is treated by the text and how female characters are often treated in texts are undoubtedly there. Through Ralph Macchio and TIG’s casting and the direction and acting, but also within the text itself. 

It might not be with the same purpose as Neo’s symbolically trans journey, but it puts the whole narrative that Daniel’s going through from TKK1 under a different light than if there had only been one movie that ended on a triumphant sports win and a girlfriend.

Johnny’s masculinity and the use of tears as liberation, now that’s a whole other analysis….

[thealexchen]

i’ve actually read both of the articles that you mentioned earlier! I could see where both of them were coming from at varying points, though shannon liao’s struck me as a tad harsh, as someone who felt very seen by Alex, particularly with regard to her asian-american identity, and the cultural details and familial attitudes you see displayed throughout the game (especially in episode 5.) I could see why others would like them to be more overt, but they’re still present & relevant as is, imo.

I'm happy you read and enjoyed them! Well, since we’re on the subject, I might as well give my fuller thoughts about all this. This answer got horrendously long, so I'm putting it under a read more. I really wanted to talk about this more fully, so thank you for sending this ask!

I definitely see Robert's point in his article. Alex didn’t need to be Asian for the story of True Colors to be told, but it’s still meaningful that she is so that Asian fans and fans of color can look up to her and feel represented. The Chens buck a lot of stereotypes too: Mrs. Chen was not a “tiger mom” and her kids and husband remember her fondly. Mr. Chen doesn’t push Alex and Gabe to excel in school, and in fact neither Alex nor Gabe went to college, but they still had happy futures. Alex isn’t the best friend or the Asian schoolgirl or the dragon lady or the Asian nerd. But at the same time, when Robert says "Alex never really talks about her thoughts on Chinese culture,” that’s like— well, what’s wrong with talking about it? Why not talk about it more explicitly? The words “Asian” and “Chinese” and “Vietnamese” aren’t even used in the game when "gay" and "lesbian" were, and that's a little disappointing.

I figured people would figure out Alex was at least Chinese because of her last name, but I saw some streamers unsure of what Alex’s ethnicity even was (“Alex is… Chinese, right?”). That was disappointing because Asians tend to be treated as a monolith when we’re so internally diverse. Also, it’s completely possible to miss that Alex and Gabe are also half-Vietnamese. Their mother’s name is Giang “Wendy” Chen, a Vietnamese name, but that’s only in the credits. There’s far less Vietnamese (and Southeast Asian) rep than Chinese, so I wish that had been made more explicit.

In Life is Strange 2, Sean and Daniel’s struggles (personal and institutional) were centered around their identity as half-Mexican boys. True Colors almost seemed to be going in the opposite direction in that Alex’s Asian heritage never really becomes plot-relevant, but Alex and Gabe’s background comes into focus in the last chapter.

Part of Shannon’s critique was that because Alex’s parents aren’t in the picture, the game can’t explore Asian culture through a familial lens. There is some truth to that: for children of immigrants in particular, their parents are their strongest (and sometimes only) link to their race and culture. I thought a big missed opportunity was exploring Alex’s possible sense of isolation and struggle to reconnect with her Asian heritage after being separated from her family.

After growing up with two Asian parents, eating Asian food, celebrating Asian holidays, likely speaking Asian languages, etc. it would have likely been disorienting and lonely for Alex to suddenly be raised by non-Asian foster parents and lose all those traditions all at once. Possible comments like “I really miss Mom’s pho” or “Do you know how difficult it is to find hoisin sauce in the stores around here?” could have inferred more at that specific kind of loss and isolation in Haven Springs. The game touches upon this very briefly when you look at Gabe’s shrine, and Alex does comment “I don’t even know if I’m doing this right… but I felt like I had to do something.” In this way, I find it especially poignant that she still held onto cultural traditions after so long.

But I still thought Shannon’s critique was overly harsh. The little details really do add up, like in Alex’s childhood home, and meant a lot to me too. And most importantly, there was representation behind the scenes too: Alex was voiced by two(!) Asian American women and the lead writer, Felice Kuan, is Chinese. I think Alex naming her mouse Shu-shu was my favorite detail. Because it’s the one detail you can’t miss. Every streamer remembers Shu-Shu’s name and loves how cute she is and they can probably infer it’s a Chinese term. It just is so visible and empowering in that way and my heart felt warm every time I heard someone say “Aw! Shu-shu!"

But that doesn't mean Alex's Asian heritage didn't matter at all. I really appreciated that Alex's backstory still mattered because she came from a poor, working-class immigrant family. Her life circumstances were used for drama, but none of Alex's suffering was racially motivated and that felt tastefully done. I’m gonna paraphrase a comment I saw on alliebeemac’s playthrough of episode 5: "It's no coincidence that both Alex and Ryan lost their mothers at a young age, but because Ryan's father was a military veteran and had a high-paying job as a Typhon foreman, he got to keep his childhood whereas Alex's entire world was torn apart... And if you want to look at it even more metaphorically, the white patriarch Jed was able to preserve his own image as a hero and 'good old boy' of Haven by literally sacrificing an immigrant family to the mines with the expectation that nobody would come looking for them. Whether you're an immigrant or whether you're a foster child, the system is saying 'we don't care about you.'"

And at the end, Alex tells Jed, "You want to look away and pretend the men you hurt weren't people. But I won't let you.” It's a deliberate stand against Jed (a white man)’s dehumanization of poor laborers, including her Chinese immigrant father. Jed isn't explicitly portrayed as a racist, but his actions come from a privileged, and subsequently racist and classist place. For me, it worked better than LiS2's portrayal of racism because it was subtler and more personal. Alex stands up against Jed out of a personal sense of justice for her brother (and her father).

Do I wish we had more? Yeah, absolutely. I wish Alex got to actually speak Mandarin or Vietnamese in the game because that's so rare in games, even though I knew that would be unrealistic because Erika Mori is Japanese. I wish the character artists had at least made a version of Alex and Gabe’s models without shoes, because it just didn’t look right to see them wear shoes in the house (especially in bed??) and even LiS2 had Sean and Daniel in their socks in some scenes. I wish Alex and Gabe talked more about their family while Gabe was still alive and Alex could have had that comfort of someone who misses the food and customs they used to celebrate. But like I said, one piece of media isn’t gonna please everyone. And Asian representation in particular is so tricky because not only is there not enough of it, but Asian Americans are so diverse and come from so many different backgrounds. Children of immigrants are going to feel more connected to their Asian heritage than third or fourth gen kids or mixed race kids for example. Everyone is going to have a different definition of “Asian culture” and “accurate representation.”

But on a meta-level, it really means so much to simply have an Asian face on the box of a major Western game ❤️ Like even just seeing the way Alex's eyes crinkle when she smiles or how other characters find her attractive (like Steph’s note during the LARP preferring Alex’s natural black hair), it feels so affirming. It’s incredible to see an Asian girl be called the hero of her own story, to see her succeed and fail and cry and laugh and fall in love and kiss another woman and be comfortable in her bisexuality. It acknowledges that the queer community includes Asians, that Asian girls can also be curvy, that Asian girls can and do struggle with mental health. And like Erika Mori said, Alex is a fully-realized character and that’s what makes her so compelling, first and foremost. She also has a strong moral compass and dreams and fears and is such an incredible role model for people of all backgrounds, and that’s what makes her identity as a queer woman of color so much more meaningful.

[simonsrosebud]

the one where someone doesn’t know who kevin day is, pt. 2

part one three four five

dalton’s apartment becomes a common occurrence over the next month.  kevin kisses dalton into the couch cushions, and then the bed.  and this one time it’s almost the same, except dalton interrupts.  “oh, hey, i’ll be at your game tomorrow- ah,” he breathes as kevin kisses down his neck.

kevin doesn’t like that.  no- he likes that, that dalton is willing to see him  do what he loves and all, but not that he told him right now.  because now he has to stop what he’s doing and explain.  explain that he’s pretty fucking famous in the exy world, that his mother is the creator of the sport, that he’s kevin day- what that entails.

but dalton takes it surprisingly easily.  he thinks it’s because he’s not invested in the sport in the way almost everyone else kevin knows is and just doesn’t get it, or maybe because he actually likes kevin for kevin and just doesn’t care about his past and the weight of his name.

because after kevin’s done dalton kisses away his frown and climbs onto his lap.  “don’t worry, hot shot, you’re still just a history nerd to me.”

kevin upgrades dalton and his friend to his family seats.  his friend seems to know exactly who he is when he goes up to them before warm ups, and by the guys face kevin realizes that dalton definitely didn’t tell his friend who they’d come for.

kevin hugs dalton.  “i’m not out yet,” he whispers.  “otherwise i’d kiss you.”

dalton grins like a child.  “later.”  he shrugs.

andrew mocks him in the car to fox tower after their win.  “invite your boyfriend?”  and he freezes.  “fuck you for thinking i’m an idiot.”

kevin thanks god that nicky rode with matt.  aaron and neil both look at him, though.  “you’re dating someone?”  neil will never not be oblivious.  aaron just sneers.

kevin stays quiet.  he should’ve known better from andrew, after all.  but he pulls out his phone.  come pick me up?

be there in 30, we're walking home from the stadium LOL

it's enough time to go hang out with the rest of the team and the vixens in the lounge, dan would kill him if he didn't show at all.  but he must lose track of time because eventually the door opens and instead of another fox it's dalton.  it's not enough to pause conversations, even though kevin is sure they all at least notice.

when kevin follows him out dalton knocks shoulders with his and smiles.  “are you drunk?  i noticed they were drinking.”

“no.  i’m um, i’m-i’m four months... sober.”

dalton is a pure angel because he smiles at kevin as he drives.  “that’s good, kev, i’m proud of you for that.”  and he doesn’t make him explain, or ask questions.  he takes it at face and lets it go, and it makes kevin want to bask in the feeling he gets from it.  it’s a different kind of trust than he’s used to.

he texts andrew that he’s not coming home for the night.  as soon as they get inside dalton’s place he has his lips on kevin’s.  “looked really hot tonight,” he mumbles and lets kevin walk him backwards towards his room.  “wish you still had your uniform on.  so strong,” and squeals when kevin picks him up.

“stop talking, d”

the next morning dalton drops him off at the stadium for training.  he doesn’t see anyone else there, so he lets dalton grab his face and kiss him before climbing out with a smile.

it fades when he sees nicky and allison staring at him as they exit the stadium.  he forgot it was therapy week for the team.

kevin freezes up.  nicky’s grinning, and allison continues walking to her car.  “wait!”  nicky wiggles his eyebrows when kevin grabs his arm.  “for once in your life, nicky, please don’t tell anyone.”

and it’s weird, because nicky kind of loses his smile.  “are you gay?  or bisexual?”

shrug.  “second.”

“are you serious about not telling people?  you’re obviously not out yet.”  kevin nods, and nicky smiles.  “i won’t tell.  i can keep secrets, you know, when they matter.”

kevin looks to allison, who looks to nicky.  “we’ve all noticed you hanging out with that guy lately.  if a bet about you two boning comes up we’re splitting the pot.”  nicky nods.  “secrets safe with me, then.”

kevin doesn’t tell them that andrew and neil know.  allison’s stubborn and he’s lucky he got her to keep her mouth shut on the first try.

he’s still moody during practice, though.  on their way back, andrew drives right past fox tower and to dalton’s apartment.  kevin doesn’t even realize until the car stops.  “what are-“

“get out.  you’re not allowed back until your mood is gone.”  and kevin could just walk back.  it’s only a fifteen minute walk, honestly, but he doesn’t really want to.  he wants dalton to wrap his body around him so he can take a nap and he wants to just hug him.  he’s realized over time that he’s been incredibly touch starved, and he’s become a fan of bear hugs.

he could feel himself distracted during practice, worrying himself over if he should tell the public that he’s bi to get ahead of it and worrying over what he and dalton are.  if it’s going in a direction that would even give him reason to come out.

so when dalton lets him in with a smile at the unexpected visit, kevin kind of falls into his arms and hugs him.  “can you hold me.”  it’s a different type of vulnerability, but dalton takes it with grace.

and eventually, when dalton’s lying on him with a hand in his hair, he asks, “do you wanna be my boyfriend?”

kevin snaps his head to look at him.  he runs his hand up dalton’s bare back.  “i’ve never been in a real relationship before.  my last one... she was toxic for me.”  triggering would be more accurate.

“that’s okay,” he whispers, his hand slides down to kevin’s face and he drags his thumb down his lip.  “just want you, kev.”

it’s the first time he thinks he’s ever heard something along those lines, and it hits so deep.  he rolls over dalton and kisses him into the mattress.

the foxes have a field day with it.

kevin doesn’t tell them, but he realizes two weeks later that allison was right when she guessed about them starting bets, and it doesn’t help when kevin brings dalton back to the suite only to find the upperclassmen and cousins all spread out on the couches and floor- minus renee and aaron.  he freezes and starts to walk backwards but andrew steps in front of him.  “stay.”

“why.”  but andrew doesn’t answer because he’s already said his piece, and kevin almost ignores him until neil pulls the vice captain card and forces him to stay.

kevin wants to hit him.

“it’s fine, kev,” dalton practically pulls him to the group.  dan greets him first and introduces herself.  “we’re playing never have i ever, drinking edition, if you wanna play, but you’ve got to drink for kevin, too”

and dalton’s wanted kevin’s friends to like him ever since he first saw them, so he doesn’t really want to say no.

“this is a bad idea.  they don’t play nice,” kevin says to dalton.  and he’s right.  the foxes don’t really play the game right, and all they do is go for each other.

kevin starts.

never have i ever payed a guy to knock me out:  neil takes a drink with murder in his eyes.  andrew’s behind him and flicks the back of his head.  he isn’t playing, but he’s not letting neil get wasted without being close by.  and also, he kind of lives there.

never have i ever gone to a peaceful exy banquet:  no one drinks, and for some reason it makes them all burst into laughter.

never have i ever done cracker dust:  dan says that one with a drunk pointed look.  the cousins, neil, and dalton for kevin all drink.

never have i ever had a panic attack over getting a phone:  neil

never have i ever kissed the same gender:  neil, nicky, allison, dalton takes two swigs.

never have i ever dated someone outside of exy:  nicky and dalton for kevin.

never have i ever broken a bone:  kevin, matt, aaron

broken a hand:  kevin

witnessed kevin having a meltdown:  everyone

lived with my dad for two years without telling him he was my dad:  kevin shoots daggers at allison.  dalton drinks for him.

had to get shitfaced to get a tattoo:  kevin

sent neil to west virginia:  kevin

seen kevin’s real smile:  dalton, neil

dated kevin:  dalton.  it settles a few bets all at once.

given kevin a blowjob:  dalton laughs before taking a drink, but that’s the last straw for kevin.  he’s sober as all hell and not letting them take the piss out of him and dalton like this.  “we’re leaving.”  he pulls dalton up.

dalton has an arm around his shoulders and his head ducked by kevin’s.  “s’fun, hm?”

kevin’s not having it.  it was not fun and he had reasons he didn’t want dalton meeting the foxes yet and the whole thing was fucked over because neil pulled the VC card and dalton was too nice to decline it.

neil says, in french.  “you knew he’d find out at some point”

kevin is furious.  “none of you had the right pulling the shit you did tonight.  i’ll fucking kill you.”  and he grabs dalton by the waist to escort him out.

all posts/updates relating to this au can be found in the “OC: dalton miller” tag!