#and knowing how to manipulate lots of interacting factors

[reaj3asa]

wtf why are so many coffee grinders so expensive

[sunshine-zenith]

A thought — Ballister and Ambrosius’s relationship probably wasn’t public in the movie until the end. They probably weren’t secretive about it, given how Todd (someone neither of them like or would confide in) was clearly antagonistic to Ambrosius after Ballister’s jailbreak, but even then that just might be because their connection was well known — they liked each other more than any of the knights liked them, most being neutral overall to Ambrosius and outright bullies to Ballister. No one in the public seems to know about them

Media perception is a reoccurring factor in the movie, with the opening scene giving exposition in the form of a news cast. During it, Ballister is shown to be controversial, with a there being a few comments questioning the Queen’s choices related to him. Ambrosius is also brought up as someone everyone’s looking forward to seeing officially knighted, with no one questioning his relationship with Ballister or even bringing it up

While everyone is fearing and hating Ballister after the Queen dies, Ambrosius is still popular among the masses — people stop him in the streets to get his autograph. Nimona, who admittedly probably didn’t do much digging into Ballister beyond the initial news reports on the Queen’s deaths, seemed surprised that Ballister and Ambrosius had a connection. She even had an “ohhhhhh” moment after picking up on their vibe the first time they saw each other post-arm chop (and yeah she initially calls Ambrosius Ballister’s nemesis, but she clearly clocks that something romantic was going on given the “arm chopping is not a love language!” comment). She also asks if he wants to die in a (literal) closet, which like. Y’all.

Before the Queen’s death, all their PDA is in private (on the catwalk) or subtly around other knights (helping each other put on their armor with lots of heart eyes and lingering hands). Otherwise, their interactions are those of Two People Who Are Close but aren’t necessarily explicitly romantic (Ambrosius wanting to throw hands on Ballister’s behalf, teasing each other, Ambrosius cheering with the crowd). Granted, there wasn’t a lot of screen time for them to just be happy before Everything Went Wrong.

We can’t really judge whether they were private from their interactions after the Queen’s death, since most are focused on a “so this traumatic thing happened and I don’t know where we stands right now” vibe or have them just fighting. The three times Ambrosius says he loves Ballister, one was just the two of them on the catwalk, one was in a mental rant and not actually out loud, and one was while they were trying to hide their identities. Ballister continues to defend Ambrosius, saying he’d believe them if they could just talk and that the arm thing is just “complicated,” “part of their training, up until Ambrosius outright tries to arrest them (which might as well be a breakup without saying “we’re breaking up”).

In the comic, the Director says she knew about their relationship and that she disapproved. Given how much she manipulates things, it wouldn’t surprise me if she knew in the movie, and encouraged them to downplay things at least — “you should keep your private lives private so you don’t taint your public images/yes we support you, obviously, but you’re here to protect the people, not show off to them/you don’t want to overshadow things with more controversy, wait a few years until after you’re knighted/what if this is just a phase, it would be a mess to clean up if you go public now/people will talk if they hear Gloreth’s only current descendant, a promising young man, is being courted by someone they aren’t certain about who comes from nothing and can’t pass your genes on/you have each other, shouldn’t that be enough?/etc.”

We don’t see them be in a relationship publicly until after the wall — the symbol of fear of the unknown, systematic abuse and oppression, refusal to learn and grow, and let’s be real homophobia/transphobia — comes down and the Director — the one going to murderous extremes out of fear of change — is dead

I dunno. This movie is a large celebration of being queer, but it’s also about how queer people are demonized by society to the point of everyone suffering. Ambrosius is the model minority everyone loves but no one knows because all eyes are on him; Ballister is both tokenized and targeted from the moment the public meets him, having to prove himself over and over until the public unquestionably turns on him entirely; and Nimona is called a monster for just being herself. All three already had to hide who they really were. I’m not 100% sure if Ballister and Ambrosius were out or not about being together, but it’s not a stretch to see, and it fits in with the themes/arcs of this movie

[martini-garnish]

So I've been throwing ideas about Vox at @bigfatbimbo for a hot minute, specifically factoring in his relationship with Valentino because they are toxic and manipulative and so incredibly non-exclusive lmao. But some things are too long to be asks and y'all Did vote for freak behavior on main lmao

(Like every other scenario I wordvomit onto the screen this is definitely based around an oc but I'll be generic with it lmfao)

18+! NSFW! Minors do not fucking interact Please!

So Val sucks, we know this, we know. Please note Vox also sucks. That does not get acknowledged often enough he is also an asshole. What I'm saying is there is no way he wouldn't use a side piece to get under Vals skin.

It's word of Viv that outside their relationship they're both very dominant, but with eachother it's a toss up and, inevitably, a fight for power every time.

Here's where this new partner comes in, especially if they're someone petty, vindictive, and or willing to take shots at Val. Because wouldn't he just hate to see something he has to fight so hard for get offered up on a silver platter to some Fucking Nobody? Of course he would.

So Vox let's himself get dommed. Kind of. He plans it, of course, lays out Exactly what's going to happen. He's pulling the strings, he's in control here, he won't let them forget it, but Val doesn't need to know that. The plan of course is to film this encounter and "accidentally" leave it playing somewhere that Valentino will probably definitely "accidentally" come across it. See someone else getting the easy submission he can't have.

The problem arises when Vox, stripped with his hands tied and someone, sometimes, being gentle with him in this state, realizes he likes this a little too much.

A lot too much. He's stopped reminding them to stay on script. He's forgotten to moan instead of whine. They tell him he looks so perfect like this, he's doing such an incredible job. And the scripted scene is out the window because he's fucking whimpering.

The more they praise him the more he forgets what this was for in the first place. That the point wasn't originally being told how stunning and brilliant and gorgeous he is while being touched so softly it almost aches. He didn't plan out begging for more, please fucking more because he's getting close before they even start paying attention to his cock. As soon as they do its practically over, he bluescreens, buffers, glitches, practically sobbing when he cums so hard it knocks out power in the entire section of the building.

Once he's back in his head he can't believe he knocked out the fucking camera, that was the whole point, now they'll have to set this whole thing over again. Friday? Does that work? Maybe sooner? It's really too bad he lost the footage.

(Of course he didn't, it autosaved up until the black out. But they don't need to know that.)

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

aita for kind of manipulating a friend in hopes she'll stay away from my not-so-really partner?

(emojis to find later: 🌸🌸🌸)

ok so this is kind of insane and im very mentally ill (self-diagnosed; done lots of research and have come to the conclusion of bpd, diagnosable according to the dsm-5) so this won't sound very rational or. normal. but here we go

so i (15FTX) have a classmate (15F?) who i've been in a close friendship with for 1.4 years. let's call her vick for this ask. i fell in love with her about a month into our friendship and it grew into her becoming my favorite person. i think of vick 24/7 and i put a lot of care and love into her, we're even planning to move in together into a dorm for university. i confessed to her about my love in october 2023 and she confessed she'd been having "weird" feelings about me since the first month of our friendshsip as well, but she doesn't know if it's anything romantic or not. we have stayed friends due to religious reasons but she has also said she wouldn't have minded us dating if religion wasn't a factor (we're muslim).

i've been pretty committed and loyal to her ever since i confessed and i consider her more important than anything, but i don't get this back and im fine with that. i can deal with it for the most part. it makes me jealous when she interacts with others so casually, but she obviously has the right to have other friends and care about other people and i absolutely know im not allowed to interfere with that no matter how i feel.

enter our other classmate (14F), who i'll call flower for this ask. she was fine at first and had noticed my jealous stares and made jokes about it, saying she had no intentions of "taking my wife from me" and often jokes about being scared of me. we're on good terms and we chat often at school like normal friends.

but recently, flower has started being extremely touchy-feely with vick, taking vick's hand and putting it on her thigh, leaning towards her, making extremely suggestive jokes... and this is a special treatment to vick, too, flower doesn't do this with anyone else in the world. i love vick much more than she ever could and not even i have such confidence with her. beyond that, vick's pretty uncomfortable with physical touch too, so i never risk making her uncomfortable and do my best to not touch her unless she touches me first despite being a very physically affectionate person myself. and there's flower, being all willy-nilly with vick like it's all fine and i feel kind of betrayed seeing flower be like that when i try so hard to accomodate vick's preferences.

you can guess that flower's intimate treatment for vick, who i love with all my heart, has caused me to hate flower with a burning passion. she's like a physical roadblock in my relationship with vick and im tired of it.

so i had an idea.

this merely started the last day of school before the break, and i can't continue it now because i don't have any oppurtunities to see flower, but what i started doing was i would be very affectionate with flower myself.

i would compliment her, make jokes, initiate conversation, it even came to the point flower joked about falling in love with me. i feel scummy doing this because i will never return whatever affection she'll develop for me, but im genuinely tired of flower and this is the most ethical thing i can think of.

by doing this, im hoping flower will see me as the person to pull all her joking advances on. this way, i won't feel like she's taking vick away from me, and i can be sure vick won't abandon me for flower. i also know i sure as hell won't be abandoning vick for flower, so this way my relationship with vick will basically be secured and flower will just be a nuisance that comes and goes and i'll just have to pretend i like it, which will be much easier than pretending to be fine with flower being affectionate with vick.

now i don't even have to type out all the ways i could be the asshole here but this is the most ethical thing i can think of, like i said. it's a win/win situation. vick pays more attention to me so im happy, flower's advances are redirected to me so flower's happy and im not in danger of losing my relationship with vick. i know vick doesn't care much about flower either so she'll be fine too. so everyone's happy! and flower's never gonna know her close friend from highschool actually hated her guts, so she won't ever be sad either.

but um. you know. the whole manipulating out of envy part of it and all.

just talking with vick about it isn't an option because vick already knows how much i hate it, but i guess she's only ever seen it in a joking environment where i was making light of it so she doesn't really know how much i hate it. i also can't just tell her to stop talking with someone because it makes me sad. i guess im being hypocritical because this also means i shouldn't manipulate someone away from her just because it makes me sad but i actually can't stand it it genuinely makes me suicidal and homicidal in many ways and this is the only thinng in my power that i feel like is okay-est to do

therapy is not an option my dad has a degree in psychology so he'd say "just talk to me instead" and he would think im crazy if i actually said anything about all this to him + he's extremely homophobic

ok that was a lot. um.

aita for manipulating flower away from vick just to have peace of mind?

What are these acronyms?

[the-bonfires-ember]

Friendship and ASPD

In a cluster b server I’m in, someone asked about how ASPD impacts friendships and I was encouraged to cross post my response on here so here we go.

Firstly, I’m going to go through how I figured out friendship and how to make it work for me starting from my lowest functioning point to where I am now.

So to begin with, I had no true circles. I floated between groups of people who could give me what I wanted in that moment and just manipulated them into giving it to me if my request alone was not satisfactory. Sometimes all I wanted was social camouflage, sometimes i wanted money or food or a distraction. It was arbitrary and there was no real long term plan - at least, when i was no longer in an environment where long term strategies were vital.

Eventually, as I started working on my recovery, I managed to maintain relationships that were exclusively online. The convenience in putting away my laptop and my social obligations disappearing along with it was immensely helpful and it gave me a way of experimenting with being a little more open and a little more attached that had no Real Life repercussions. It was still transactional, all my relationships still are to this day, but they started becoming less Obviously transactional. I was still getting physical, tangible stuff from people, but I was also getting support, a safe space to figure out how to relate to my emotions, and somewhere to practice empathy and other social skills like it. There was a lot of trial and error but when I ruined something in one space I could just start again somewhere else and not have to worry about the two overlapping.

Now that I am Recovered™️ sort of, I’ve developed Exceptions, who have at some point shown that they are trustworthy and nonjudgemental and understand the antisocial side of my personality and are happy to help me work around it. My symptoms sort of change around them. I don’t have remorse but with Exceptions I will feel a kind of visceral disgust directed at myself for how I could have hurt them like that and that will quite often spark a narc crash.

I decided a long time ago what I didn’t want to be, so throughout the entire process I was watching for patterns of behaviour that were harmful for the sake of being harmful. I created a quite intricate set of rules that I couldn’t loophole my way out of and that was very much an important factor in how I continued to develop my skills and ability to interact and maintain relationships.

I am still bad at a lot of stuff though. I don’t reach out to people, I never start conversations so a lot of people just disappear until I’m reminded of them. I’m also awful at vocalising appreciation and while I know logically that people like to help their friends, I constantly have an internal debate about whether I am taking advantage of people I don’t want to be taking advantage of (given that taking advantage of people tends to make them pissed off eventually). And there are days where I don’t want to be around anyone at all and thats ok. It’s better for me to let myself be by myself than to force myself to interact with people when I really dont want to.

Recognising where I lack skills and reflexes prosocials have has been a skill in and of itself and it took a long time to develop it. But it’s been worth it to me, I’m now able to experience and enjoy so many aspects of life I thought weren’t meant for me.

And I’m very smug about being able to get it despite it being implied I never would.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Carpe Noctem 29

Warnings: dark elements, noncon, age gap, gaslighting, manipulation, violence, blood, other dark elements. Proceed with caution. (short!reader)

Note: Please let me know what you think as it helps me a lot with ideas and I love interacting with you all.

Part of The Club AU

“I should go,” you get up as Cole comes back in the back office, “I’m so sorry about today–”

“Go? Where?” He asks as he stands in the door. “Back to that maniac?”

“Well, I…” you swallow and let out an exasperated sigh, “yeah, I have to–”

“You don’t have to,” he insists, “you shouldn’t. Someone that angry can be pretty dangerous.”

“I know, it’s just–” you have no argument, no excuse, just the truth, “I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“You don’t?” He wonders.

You shake your head and grab your jacket from the rack, “I’ll be fine. I’m sure he’s calmed down. I shouldn’t have lied–”

“But you did. For a reason. If that’s how he reacts… you never mentioned a boyfriend,” Cole shifts on his soles.

“Boyfriend?” You almost laugh, “no, not exactly.”

“It’s complicated, got it,” he nods, “well, you were wrong, you know?”

“About what?” You take your pure of a lower hook on the rack.

“That you don’t have anywhere to go. I’m just putting it out there,” he raises a hand to rub the stubble along his jaw, “if you need somewhere to stay, er, my parents’ could spare a guest room.”

“Oh, Cole, no, I couldn’t. That’s too much. I’d hate to impose on your family like that.”

“Uh, you definitely wouldn’t be. My mom would love to meet you,” he lets himself smile, “I brought home some of the extra treats and she loved them. She’s a baker too.”

“That’s— that’s sweet,” you shrug and look away, “I just don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“I wouldn’t suggest it if it wasn’t,” he insists, “but I really don’t feel great about you going back to a man like that. I’m big enough to defend myself, but you…”

You know he’s right. This isn’t the first time you’ve seen Lloyd get violent and just like with Johnny, it’s only inevitable that it turns on you. You’re not exactly excited to go back to that house.

“All my stuff…” you begin, arguing with yourself as much as him.

“My ma has some stuff she can lend you for the night,” he offers, “as long as you don’t mind flannel. And I’m sure you could use a nice warm meal.”

“Cole,” you rub along your jaw evasively as you look away, “I just… I feel so bad about putting you out. Your parents too.”

“You’re not. You know, I think you surround yourself with the wrong people. The sort that make kindness seem like a debt to be paid back. You don’t owe me anything. I’m just being decent, like anyone should,” He turns his hands out. “But if you say no, I’m not letting you walk out of her without my phone number. And you have to promise to call me if anything goes bad.”

You frown and look at your feet. Lloyd could use the night to cool off just as much as you. You cross your arms then force them straight. He’s entirely right. You’re letting all those others people who bargain courtesy like currency colour your doubts. Why should you begrudge him the action of others when he’s only ever been nice?

“Did you ask your parents? I don’t want to be a surprise,” you chew your lip.

He smiles, “I texted ma but I’ll give a call before we go. Trust me, you’re more than welcome.”

☕

The drive is longer than you expect, but not. You should’ve figured that the farm would be out in the country. At the same time, you never factored in the time it must take Cole to commute each day. It whittles another ounce of appreciation out of you. He seems too kind for his own good.

That generosity sees you in his passenger seat. You left your car behind at the cafe to save you gas and the trouble of driving. You didn’t fight too hard. You want to be in one place and still.

He steers down a long dirt road and as the moon disappears behind a thicket of trees, the land turns desolate. Your chest sinks just a little but as the silver light breaks free again, you let out a breath of relief. Ahead you see the yellow windows of the farmhouse and dark colossus of the barn not far behind it.

Cole pulls up behind a big red truck and shifts into park. The motor cranks slightly before he turns it off. You can’t help but wonder how someone like him came to own a cafe in the city. Maybe after so long in the rural desert, the urban sprawl must be alluring chaotic.

He gets out first before you muster your strength. He comes around, startling you as he opens the door for you. You thank him, the gentlemanly gesture almost jarring. You’re so unused to kindness, it unsettles you. That should tell you something. It’s a ringing cry for change.

“Are you sure…” you begin the same question you’ve asked every five minutes for the last hour.

“Sure,” he interjects firmly, “really, ma always cooks too much and my sister’s off finding herself. Again. She’ll be happy to have you around.”

You nod and climb up the wide porch steps beside him. He pulls back the screen door and waves you in ahead of him. A fragrant aroma draws you in; roast beef and roasted veggies. The homey glow embraces you, welcoming you without a word.

“Here,” he tugs on the back of your jacket, “I’ll get this.”

He hangs his own coat as you undo yours and hand it over. He puts it over his own then beckons you on. Hesitantly, you follow his direction, walking down a walnut trimmed hallway to a dining room decorated in faded florals and pine.

“Ethan,” a woman calls through before she appears in the doorway across from you, a large dimpled glass dish in her hands, “oh! I thought you were your father– eee! This must be her.”

She rushes to the table and sets the steaming dish on a potholder. She still has her oven gloves as she sweeps around the room, “Beverly,” she introduces herself, pulling you into a hug, “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Uh,” you gulp as she squeezes you, only releasing you as Cole clears his throat. “I’ve heard a lot about you too.”

“Really?” She nearly squeals, keeping you at arm’s length, “he didn’t say you were so pretty.”

Your eyes round and you let out a nervous giggle. Cole groans under his breath and brushes his hand over his sandy hair. It’s kind of cute when your own parents were never so excited to see you.

“Thanks, that’s too sweet,” you smile, “erm, thanks for having me.”

“Oh, of course, of course,” she titters as she lets you go, “Cole always had a soft spot for those in need.” She turns to him and touches where his cheekbone is still red from his scuffle with Lloyd, “and look at him, my knight in shining armor. How many times do I have to tell you not to fight? You never were very good at it.”

“Ma,” he urges her away from him, “I’m fine.”

A ding chimes from the kitchen and she springs back, “oh, that’s the dumplings.”

She spins and hurries off, leaving you off balance. You slowly face Cole and put your hands on your hips, “so how much did you tell her?”

“As much as I know,” he rubs his neck sheepishly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want her to freak out when she saw my face and– it wasn’t anything that makes you look bad.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about. I don’t want to be a charity case,” you cross your arms.

“Trust me, you’re far from it,” he assures you, “really. I want you here.”

You don’t know what to say. You don’t trust your own judgment. Whether he means it or not, it hardly matters. You’re just grateful to have a night away from it all. Some time might be just what Lloyd needs to grow some common sense.

[david-talks-sw]

For a lot of fans, the "Jedi lost their way" take really comes down to:

"I never saw the Jedi Council genuinely be kind to Anakin in any meaningful way, so I just filled in the gaps and assumed they were dicks to him".

From there you get the myths that the Jedi manipulated him, only cared for him because of his power, forbid him from seeing his Mom, Mace in particular hated him, etc etc.

Well, quick reminder: in George Lucas' script, Anakin refers to the Jedi as his family.

But hey, if "not enough evidence" is a factor, how would we fix that?

PITCH: A five-issue comic book miniseries, featuring self-contained tales of young Anakin's interactions with various Jedi - seen from their POVs - about how they all come around to liking him, only to epilogue each issue with events from Episode III.

Not all of these are fully developed, but just to give you an idea...

Issue #1: Yoda.

Lesson: "letting to of what you fear to lose"

Set only months after Episode I, Obi-Wan is off on a mission, and Anakin is shadowing Yoda, for the day. Both are reluctant...

Yoda is still grappling with Anakin's uncertain future, maybe reeling from Qui-Gon's death and Yaddle's disappearance.

Anakin misses his Mom, and the last conversation he had with Yoda was the elf telling him he shouldn't be scared for his mother (or so Anakin thinks).

Throughout the day, shenanigans ensue.

Yoda takes Ani to a Council meeting and he keeps interrupting by asking Yarael Poof why his neck is so long, or asking Oppo Rancisis if he ever trims his hair. Giggles from all but Yoda.

Yoda mediates a negotiation between Senators and the subject of Malastare podracing comes up, so Anakin hijacks the meeting.

Yoda goes to Thustra to fight off mercenaries for the King and Anakin tags along, seemingly becoming a burden for Yoda.

However, despite their bumpy start (Anakin being a brat and Yoda being a grump) Anakin and Yoda bond and Anakin's input seemingly becomes the key to the mission's success.

Yoda discovers he admires Anakin's outside-the-box thinking and finds kindness deep in his heart. The issue's narrative voice is Yoda talking to Qui-Gon, noting how similar Anakin and Qui-Gon are.

Anakin realizes that Yoda trained the master who trained the master who trained his master... so that makes him his sort of grandpa! That's so wizard!

Once the task at hand is over, Yoda and Anakin have a moment and talk about the idea that Anakin misses his mother.

Yoda comforts Anakin, explaining that his mother let him leave the nest, and in life things come and go, things which they may grow to care for. But as Jedi, they must be able to let go of these attachments, when the time comes.

Anakin asks if Yoda ever lost someone he cared about. Yoda answers that he's almost 900, by now. A lot of loved ones of his came and went. Qui-Gon was one of them. Yaddle, too. Another one (thinking of Dooku)... still hurts to this day.

One day, it'll be up to him to be as strong as his mother, who Yoda adds might've made a wonderful Jedi. And who knows, maybe he'll see her again, once Anakin becomes a Jedi himself.

Anakin smiles.

Epilogue:

Anakin scowls.

We're seeing Yoda's scene with Anakin in Episode III through Yoda's POV. As he did years ago, Anakin still has problems with attachment... but in this case, he doesn't even tell Yoda anything. So Yoda can only give a general answer.

As Anakin refuses to elaborate on his premonitions and leaves, Yoda feels powerless, and can only hope he was able to help this troubled young man who, day after day, reminds him less of Qui-Gon and more of Dooku. Dooku who died yesterday.

Issue #2: Kit Fisto

Lesson: "don't try to be some 'Chosen One', just be yourself"

Anakin undergoes a trial that involves swimming. And he grew up on a desert planet. So of course, he fails. At night, he steals Obi-Wan's breather and sneaks out of their quarters to go to the pool and train.

He puts the breather on wrong and is about to drown but fear not! Jedi Knight Kit Fisto and his dashing smile are here to help!

He shows Anakin how to put his breather on right and shows him how to swim and fight underwater.

Now, this isn't just a pool. It's a pool in the Jedi Temple! So it's filled with a whole lot of marvelous fluorescent flora and fauna, I'm taking Avatar-style stuff.

So the swimming lesson becomes a lesson about the Living Force (who said it should just be Qui-Gon's thing? Lucas certainly didn't), using water as a metaphor.

The overall idea of the issue is that Anakin is concerned... he left his Mom behind, hoping to make her proud, make Qui-Gon proud, make Obi-Wan proud and live up to this expectation of being the Chosen One... but he's struggling at basic stuff like swimming! How's he gonna be this big time Jedi, one day?

Kit reassures Anakin: he shouldn't aspire to be a "Chosen One". All any Jedi should aspire to be is the best version of themselves.

Next day: Anakin passes the trial, Obi-Wan congratulates him, and Anakin completely misinterprets what Kit was telling him in a hilarious way by saying something silly and cocky like: "I just had to remind the water that I'm the best me there is so it better let me float or else."

Which gets an eye roll from Obi and a giggle from Kit.

(BTW, maybe we can have Nadar Vebb help Anakin swim too! Maybe even set him up as passing that trial the first time round with flying colors to contrast with Anakin, maybe he's an antagonist that comes around by the end, I dunno)

Epilogue:

As Mace battles Sidious in the other room, Kit Fisto, still breathing, rises to his feet and takes a few steps, intent on helping his friend despite his wound, but collapses... he's not gonna make it.

He turns around, stares at the ceiling. Is this how it ends?

Anakin appears in his line of sight, looking around at the dead Jedi, shocked. Kit smiles (ROTS novelization reference) as Anakin rushes into the adjacent corridor.

His last thought is the knowledge that everything's going to turn out alright, now that the Chosen One is here.

Issue #3: Mace Windu

Lesson: Control your feelings, don't let them control you.

Simple story. Obi-Wan was captured by a bunch of IG-11 assassins, allowing Anakin to escape and rescue a Senator's daughter. Now, Anakin and Mace are on a mission to get him back.

They make their way through a jungle filled with traps. Anakin is rushing, he's angry at the droids and afraid for Obi-Wan and it's making him do dumb stuff. After it happens a second time, Mace scolds him.

Around a campfire, Anakin apologizes for his impulsive behavior.

Mace comments that it's understandable. He only started being a Jedi, like, 5 years ago. Mastering your emotions isn't an easy thing to do, and in Anakin's case it's twice as hard. Anakin pries: is that why Mace didn't want him to become a Jedi?

Mace hesitates. Then says it, point blank: "yes".

And while he's sorry for being blunt, the fact remains that last week he threatened two of his fellow initiates with a lightsaber to the face.

Anakin points out that they were bullying him because they were jealous of his skill.

Against all expectation Mace smiles and reveals that he can relate to that. His own classmates would bully him for the same reason. You know who'd step in, in that situation? Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon was like a big brother to Mace, always had his back.

After sighing, with a calmer tone, Mace says he'll have a chat with those students. But Anakin needs to double his efforts to keep his feelings under control, lest he become enslaved by them.

The way he went about it was by developing Vaapad. He demonstrates it to Anakin, whose eyes are filled with stars.

Mace concludes that while he did have misgivings, he has faith that Anakin can find the way to do it.

In the morning, Anakin and Mace storm the castle filled with assassin droids. One of the droids sees they're losing and electrocutes Obi-Wan, hoping to unbalance them. Mace orders Anakin to stay focused, Kenobi can take it! And Anakin does!

Once the courtyard is cleared, Mace lifts the remaining droid torturing Obi-Wan with the Force and crushes it into a ball of metal.

As they walk away, Mace lets out a "good work, Skywalker."

Anakin asks Mace if he can teach him Vaapad-- Mace cuts him off with a "Nope".

"C'mooon!"

"Don't push it, Skywalker."

Epilogue:

In the Chancellor's office, Mace reflects the lightning back onto Palpatine's face.

The Sith seems out of commission.

And Mace is scared shitless. He almost died, a few seconds ago. His instinct is to run. He uses shatterpoint, tries to sense the future because Force knows he's got no idea what the hell he should do next. And that's when he sees it:

The various ways Sidious can kill him and Anakin.

Stop Mace's blade mid-air and Force Push them out of a window,

snap their necks with the Force,

crush the crystal in his lightsaber and let it blow up in his face.

Palpatine is faking and there are barely any scenarios in which Mace and Anakin are walking out of this room alive. And even if they do capture him, then

Sidious can bribe judges and Senate officials and supposing that doesn't work either, he can

escape any prison, kill thousands of clones in one night and

set up a new power base, starting from scratch.

This either ends now or the galaxy is doomed.

For a full second, the gravity of it all terrorizes Mace... then he chases his fear and musters his courage.

Anakin argues but Mace knows what he must do. He prepares to end the conflict once and for all, like a true Jedi would.

Anakin argues again, and Mace detects something else. Wait, why is Skywalker scared?

As he falls, Mace realizes the very thing that he feared would happen, a long time ago, has finally come true:

Anakin let his emotions rule him... and it doomed them all.

Issue #4: Shaak Ti

I was thinking for this one, we can have Obi-Wan bring her in as a sparring partner so she can demonstrate Jar'Kai to Anakin.

I haven't thought of a deeper lesson for this one, I just like Shaak Ti, folks, she's awesome :D

If anyone has suggestions, put 'em in the replies.

Epilogue:

(This one will definitely age poorly when The Mandalorian Season 3 comes out tomorrow!)

Order 66 rages as Shaak Ti protects a group of elderly Jedi in charge of the babies. She takes clone after clone down as she escorts them to an escape room the notices one baby left in the infirmary: Grogu.

Suddenly, she senses an overwhelming darkness approaching this wing of the temple. She thinks fast, she takes Grogu, crosses a corridor where 2-3 Jedi are killed (which is what Grogu remembers in the flashbacks)...

... and goes to a meditation room nearby. The shadow closes in and Shaak Ti realizes who it is: Skywalker.

We catch her moments later as she finished recording a message in her Holocron (the one from Star Wars #9)...

"It's up to you now. Don't let our deaths have been in vain. Don't let this be the end of the Jedi."

... then places it in Grogu's pod and hides him in an air vent. She sits on the chair, pretending to meditate.

The door slides open. Anakin enters the room, senses something in the air vent. Shaak Ti realizes he's about to find Grogu and distracts him: "what is it Skywalker?"

He stabs her. She falls.

He picks up her saber as he prepares to engage Cin Drallig and his apprentice with two lightsabers, just as she showed him.

A tear rolls down Shaak Ti's eye.

She looks at the air vent, sees Grogu's wet eyes peer through the grate. At least he's safe.

Issue #5: Obi-Wan

Lesson: Be less cocky, beware of Palpatine, ffs

Obi-Wan and Anakin are on a mission, maybe they're being chased by monsters, maybe it's in the middle of a firefight, maybe Anakin is trying to stop a train.

Bottom line: Anakin gets cocky and tries to do something incredibly stupid, thinking he can pull it off... and almost dies.

Obi-Wan manages to save him, but that hits him like a ton of bricks.

"I almost lost him."

Anakin's justification? Something along the lines of: he told the Chancellor he'd manage to do a triple flip next time he's on a mission, and that he'd try to catch it on a holovid.

So Obi-Wan loses his shit on Anakin, takes his saber and grounds him for a friggin' month.

Privately, he feels guilty. He almost lost Anakin and it would've been on him. His promise to Qui-Gon would be broken, Shmi's sacrifice, wherever she is, would be rendered pointless... and Anakin would be dead.

He talks to Mace and Yoda, who tell him not to blame himself. Obi-Wan takes this to heart and realizes who's to blame.

He goes to see the Chancellor.

And it's awkward af.

Put yourself in Obi-Wan's shoes. How do you tell your boss, the leader of the free world, to back off because he's a bad influence on your kid, in the most diplomatic way possible?

But he somehow manages. He puts his foot down and asks Palps if he wouldn't mind being a bit more hands-off.

Note: for one page, we're on Palpatine as he remembered every time he undermined everybody else's lessons. "Don't listen to Windu, your emotions are what make you human." "Still, a bit heartless of Yoda to not even send someone to free your mother. I'm sure they had their reasons." "Trust me, you're definitely a Chosen One, even if Jedi like Master Fisto don't see it."

Then Palpatine smiles. "Of course!" He even apologizes and agrees to step back for a bit, he understands that he may have inadvertently undermined Obi-Wan's authority. My bad, Master Kenobi. My bad.

Back in Anakin's quarters, Obi-Wan enters and sits next to Anakin on his bed. Silence.

What follows is a scene like this one in The Lion King:

Obi-Wan admits that Anakin really scared him today.

Anakin is sorry, but at the same time, he knew Obi-Wan would be there to save him in case he failed.

Obi-Wan explains that he won't always be able to be there to have Anakin's back. Anakin dismisses that, saying he trusts him.

"As long as we're together, it'll always turn out alright."

Epilogue:

As their dialog from the previous scene continues, Obi-Wan watches as his Padawan, his ward, his brother, his everything for the past 13 years, kneels in front of the Chancellor on a hologram recording.

So yeah, that was my attempt at writing Star Wars ^^' Thank you for making it this far!

Why only 5 issues? Well, it could be 6 issues. Could be 12, released monthly. I focused on 5 because I didn't wanna spend too much time photoshopping collages. Other scenarios could feature:

Saesee Tiin teaches Anakin flying maneuvers and finds he also has much to learn.

Quinlan Vos and Aayla Secura partner up with Obi-Wan and Anakin. Anakin initially finds a kindred spirit in Quin, even wonders if it would be possible for two knights to do a "Padawan swap", but eventually he sees that - as cool and laid back as Master Vos is - maybe he needs a Master who'll give him a bit more structure than the guy who'll let him stay up late.

Anakin and A'Sharad Hett going through a trial together. #Tatooineboys #arooo #kraytdragonsounds

Here's why I wrote these story ideas down:

There'll always be fans who see the Prequel Jedi as corrupt and arrogant, regardless of how much evidence from Canon or Lucas you provide to dispel the notion.

But sometimes, Star Wars transmedia content is used to fix inconsistencies or bolster ideas that were only alluded to in the films, or show a different point of view.

We got this recently with Shadows of the Sith, for example, which helped smooth some plot-holes from the Sequel Trilogy.

Sometimes, the material around the movies manages to re-contextualize and make the characters or the film itself more endearing, to fans. I mean, that's what The Clone Wars did for a lot of Prequel haters.

And I'm just disappointed this approach wasn't used to help the Prequel Jedi's perception among the fandom.

'Cause these are characters that have slowly been reframed as "the corrupt/complacent establishment" by authors who didn't find them likeable when they watched the films, when they were originally supposed to be "the underdogs who're doing their best".

An approach that was being taken during TCW was "let's question whether the Jedi are really all that good and moral and pure".

Nobody ever said they were, it's just that they tried to be their best selves, but whatever, let's play "devil's advocate", sure. Let's get some new points of view.

But skip to almost two decades later, and Star Wars has played "devil's advocate" with the Prequel Jedi so much that seeing them in a negative light is now mainstream.

So, now... how about we explore:

The trauma Mace Windu felt when he was actively seeing people he grew up with get shot to shreds by battle droids on the daily.

The ex-Jedi Knights who come back to the Order to help their former family, instead of focusing on the ones who left.

Rael or Sifo-Dyas calling Dooku out on his ideological bullshit and forcing him to face the fact that he's just a crook who talked himself into betraying his brethren.

The young Padawans whose masters went to Geonosis and never came back.

Plo Koon being attacked by a mob because he "looks evil" and both the Republic and the Separatist's war propaganda reflects badly on the Jedi, framed as “baby-snatching warmongers in their ivory tower”.

How about - instead of focusing on a series set 200 years prior, y'know, Back When The Jedi Were Great™ - we roll up our sleeves and question whether or not the Prequel Jedi were all that bad?

Just a thought.

[bibibbon]

Hi, so I was thinking about and as much I think shig and Izu are underveloped as fuck...I was thinking...what if the saving arc thing was in reverse?

Shig sees how the heroes mistreat Izu, who in his eyes must be the most innocent person in all this mess, and decides to save him?

Sure sure it would need some tweaks as Shig needs to stop being all destruction and be afo's bootlicker.

But imagine the idea

Shiga, a villain, is set to save a hero.

Imagine of the possibilities. And if we want a war...why not Izu and Shig against the hero society and the status quo?

Hi @mikeellee 👋

This is an interesting route to take shigaraki and izukus characters and dynamics in.

While I do perfer the idea that both izuku and shigaraki want to save each other believing that the other needs to be saved and that their method is the best.

This is an equally interesting scenario that would add more development and interest to just izuku wanting to save shigaraki because he saw a crying kid.

For this scenario to occur there will be some adjustments required such as shigaraki coming to the conclusion that he wants to actually save something or someone instead of destroying everything. This can be easily achieved by having izuku and shigaraki interact more with shigaraki coming to know and understand izuku better as a person and vice versa. Shigaraki needs to understand izuku to a deep core level to even understand just how mistreated izuku was in the past and is kind of now.

You can start with shigaraki in the mall going to izuku for advice and have the interactions build up from there. Izuku won't tell anyone due to a variety of factors like not fully trusting adults and believing that its better if he were the one to talk to shigaraki since he isn't being harmed by him.

Ultimately, the closer they grow the more they share to each other and the more they see each others lives in different lenses which has shigaraki helping izuku see that the way he is being treated by bakugo is wrong and that all for one is just manipulating shigaraki.

Obviously, it would take a lot of development to even come to this point and it would be interesting to add obstacles within their paths whether that be the downfall of all for one and all might, the overhaul arc and the rise of the MVA , etc.

Finally, moving back to the first point the series would have an interesting irony in where a villain wants to and is willing to save a hero. Where a villain manipulated for the means of evil breaks that structure because he wants to save a hero, where a villain becomes more humane and heroic than the others, where a villain understands and develops helping change society for the greater good with the resources he has due to the MVA.

The same can apply to izuku but in the opposite way.

[paeliae-occasionally]

Strands and Simple components

Thank you @satohqbanana for asking about this!

Ok so it has come to my attention that I have a lot of strand and simple components lore that I have not fully explained so let’s get on that.

Alright so firstly:

In my world magic acts essentially like a different form of matter. It has no physical mass but can be measured and quantised like a particle. Creatures with a soul can interact with this matter, creatures without a soul cannot.

So what are strands and simple components?

Ok, so imagine the air around you. It is everywhere but if you zoom in close enough, you can see it is made up of compounds like N2 and H2O

Strands are like compounds.

A bunch of magic atoms with bonds between them form larger molecule called a strand.

In the same way, simple components are like elements. They bond together to make strands, and you can imagine the table in the magic systems post here like the periodic table of elements.

You can also think about it like a strand of DNA and the simple components are like bases.

————The types and mechanics of bonds are still under development. ————

So to recap, Magic is everywhere but at a base level it is made up of strands (compounds) and simple components (Elements) .

Refined and Unrefined spells:

So Unrefined spells cast full, naturally occurring strands (Druids)

Refined spells perform a ‘Reaction’ first to break off either a portion of a strand (Mages) or an individual simple component. (Runics)

Ok, so going deeper into the lore:

What makes an ability require less or more power?

This is actually a really interesting one.

It depends on 3 factors:

weight of the components

stability of the components

The strength of the bonds

Weight

Ok so when I say weight in reference to magic, I don’t mean physical as they have no mass, it just means how that component reacts to magical fields.

So in the ‘periodic table’ weight increases down the group and across the period. Particles that have a higher weight are more likely to exist in shorter strands or alone. It is easier to break bonds between heavier components to remove them from their strands.

It is however harder to cast heavier elements as they are harder to manipulate with your soul.

Stability

This means how likely a component is to decay. Stability decreases with weight, so the heavier a component is the more likely it is to decay.

Heavier components are usually more powerful because they release energy when they break down which can add power to the spell.

Less stable components are much harder to cast as you need a lot more control so they don’t decay when you interact with them.

The strength of the bonds

Typically lighter components form stronger bonds. Bond strength only matters for the types of casters who break bonds. (Mages and Runics)

Again the details of bonding are still under development so I will leave it here for now.

Mages usually only break 1 or 2 bonds to get a specific section of a strand. They don’t have enough power to break every bond in the whole strand.

Runics use runes as a sort of catalyst so they can break every bond by an alternate route that requires less energy.

Hope this answers the question. Let me know if anything doesn’t make sense.

@thelovelymachinery, @an-indecisive-nerd, @the-letterbox-archives, @oliolioxenfreewrites, @winvyre

@happypup-kitcat24, @wyked-ao3, @leahnardo-da-veggie, @alnaperera, @dearunreliablenarrator

@rumeysawrites, @urnumber1star, @seastarblue, @thecomfywriter

[nthspecialll]

hi! it’s my very first time submitting an ask, I’ve been following your blog for a long time and I love your analyses! I also love to do my own analyses, I have lots of thoughts and I love to seek out the small details and symbolism of the game. this is a question I’ve thought about for a while, why do you think it was so easy for Dutch to be manipulated by Micah? (I’m very sorry if manipulated is the wrong term by all means correct me on anything I just finished my first play through a week ago and I’m currently looking through analyses and other things!)

Well firstly, I am honored to be your first ask and thank you for following along for so long! If you want to share your own posts, I would love to see them.

Either way, to the question, the biggest factor is timing and well... Hosea.

Dutch is in the timespan of the game in a very vulnerable position, Hosea himself says "Dutch is getting more unhinged again" "I got a feeling that he finally lost his mind", essentially that he was not quite well and hinting at that this is something they have had happened before. That means that Dutch is not thinking clearly.

He has good and he has bad days, but Hosea is a big stablizer for Dutch, he knows how to handle these breaks and Dutch knows he can trust Hosea, thus when he is around there isn't the biggest problem.

Micah is trying to sneak his way into Dutch's ear as early as chapter 3 when he returns from Strawberry, there are a full three interactions (i think from the top of my head) with Micah trying to sweet talk Dutch and Dutch taking none of it.

So at first, chapters 1-4 when everything is semi normal, Micah can't get into Dutch's head, not properly. Dutch has the support of his gang, he has his stablizer Hosea and he can see when he does wrong, such as appologizing to Arthur after he got kidnapped, but then things go wrong.

Hosea dies, they get trapped on Guarma, unease and doubt begins to rise and trust turns to blame, people are now wary of Dutch, they question him and in a sense they push him away, and as they do so Dutch is desperately trying to gain that trust back, he is trying to get validated, and there is one person who does validate Dutch, Micah.

Micah has always said to Dutch that he was amazing, but early chapters everyone said Dutch was amazing, but now in the later chapters Micah is the only one. No matter what Dutch does, Micah is there to support him.

I want you to imagine that everyone turned on you except one person, you are automatically going to get pushed to said person. I also have a bit of a suspicion that Micah is playing a big role in the planning but doing in the a way that makes Dutch think he came up with it. There is also Micah splitting Arthur and John from Dutch, taking away the last few people who has experience with Dutch's breaks.

That is how I see Micah being able to get into Dutch's head.

[spaceorphan18]

So, as a comment to my Season 1 meta, @mathgirl24 gave the interesting response of ::

I agree with the Lord Featherington stuff. It seems like he had zero connections to his daughters. In fact, with him and Portia as parents, and her sisters being how they are, Pen must have had a really kind governess as a child because I don't see how else she could have learned any goodness.

Which led to some fascinating thoughts!

It started me thinking -- how did Penelope become 'good'? But even -- is she 'good'? Does the concept of 'good' even matter?

Okay, so I'm prefacing this with -- Penelope Featherington Bridgerton is my FAVORITE character on this ridiculous show, and I adore her. But one of the reasons I adore her is that she can be a morally gray character. (Also, for clarity, I'm talking about show Penelope, and not book Penelope.)

So, let's talk about her parents and her possible, probable upbringing. It's probably to say that Lord Featherington was neglectful at best and possibly humiliating at worst. He never seemed to interact with any of his children (or his wife whenever possible) so I doubt he was much of an influence. If anything -- had it not been for the kindness of other male influences on her life (and I'll get to that in a second), I don't think Penelope would have had many positive thoughts concerning men.

Then there's her mother -- whom we know can be gossipy, catty, manipulative, and sometimes just mean. But... I would argue there's a difference between Portia and, say, Cressida's mother. Portia, despite doing so in the worst way possible, does actually love and care for her children. They (though you should put an asterisk possibly on it that 'they' are tied to status, and Portia does want status) are what she pays the most attention to, because she wants them to have a better life than she does. -- She doesn't believe it'll be through a loving means -- because she didn't find security through a loving means. But she does care enough about her kids, and she's not a doormat to her husband, that she would not do what Cressida's family does.

So here's the thing -- Penelope was mostly neglected by her father and while probably bullied a bit by her mother, was mostly neglected for her sisters from her mother, so Penelope was left to her own devices. (Which -- part of what's at play here is personality, too. She prefers the comfort of her books and her solitude -- and in a positive and warm environment, such as the Bridgertons, she might be like Francesca -- needing to step away and be on her own because sometimes it's too much.)

So, her sisters were raised in the shadow of her mother, and are dumb and sometimes cruel. But you know what Season 3 taught us? That even they could be redeemed. And as broken as their family unit seems to be at times, they do care for each other, and have a stronger sense of family bond than, say, the Cowpers.

My long winded first point is... that there is some family love there (even if you can categorize it as an abusive household) so, Penelope isn't completely devoid of all familial affection. But also -- leads me to, her family is an influence on her, and I think that she's (again) a much more morally gray character than so easily fits into a 'good' or 'bad' characterization.

Okay, so... we know her home life isn't great, how come she isn't as terrible as the rest of her family?

First of all -- her being the one being bullied all the time can push one to either conform (like her sisters did) or retract and go the other direction. On top of that, she recedes into books -- where there is often a more firm sense of right or wrong. Penelope, in a lot of ways, is self taught, and I think she's naturally smart enough to intuit 'good' and 'bad' just by the power of observation.

Secondly, there's always the argument of nature vs nurture -- and I'm of mind that both play a factor. And I do think that Penelope is, by her personality, a kinder person than her mother and her sisters.

But she does have a vicious side... (more on that in a moment.)

Thirdly, I do think there are some formative outside influence. Before I talk about the biggest and most obvious one, let's talk about the staff -- Rae seems to be a nice person. Varley, while I'm sure has a devious side because she's Portia's right hand man, is always kind to Penelope. And yes! I'm sure, there was a kind governess or teacher in her young life that did help teach Penelope what kindness is (at the very least).

Alright, so let's talk about one of the most influential aspects of Penelope's life... the Bridgertons. We don't know when exactly Penelope's family first moved in across the way, but we do know, as Colin puts it, they were literal children. (Unlike the book -- where Pen was 16 when they met -- it's a big difference.) So, Penelope grew up, not only having a BFF who adored her, but having a surrogate family around her, who loved each other and who were good to each other.

But it's also interesting -- Eloise, as her closest friend, is not the 'good' Bridgerton (of the girls, I guess you could say Daphne or maybe even Francesca would be better candidates for that title?). Eloise has her own dark and trouble making sides, and the two of them are nefarious influences on each other.

Also interesting is the thoughts of the Bridgerton boys, all of whom, are nice to her -- (Which, omg, I need to put a pin in the side tangent of all of them represent different forms of good.) Anthony probably would always make sure she got home safely. Benedict would always be charming in her presence. And Colin is a kind soul all on his own. (Also should put a pin in this, too, cause there's another tangent about how a) Colin can have a dark side and b) Pen's corruption is good for him... but that'd be totally digressing.) And even little Gregory, I'm sure thought of her as a fun big sister.

My long winded (again, sorry) point is that the Bridgerton family did show her what 'good' can be -- and since she was a child when she met them, she effectively grew up as one of the family.

But all of this brings me to the point of -- is she 'good'? And does she need to be?

I think one of the most interesting scenes of Season 3 is in Episode 8 where she and her mother kind of come to an understanding. And it's acknowledged that they're more alike than either realizes. I don't think that the conception and execution of Lady Whistledown comes from someone who is fully 'good' (and well adjusted). There's so much morally gray there, and so much of LW that is selfish on Penelope's part. It is her way of dealing with a cruel world, but it's also reflecting some of that cruelty back out on other people.

And she does learn her lesson, and she does try to use it for the greater good (and there are sometimes when I don't think it's bad/evil in the way people sometimes use it to justify her being a /bad/ character).

So, I mean, I think Penelope is a fundamentally kind person, more so than her mother or sisters or even Cressida Cowper. But I don't know that she's 'good' in the way that, say, Francesca is more so a 'good' person all the way around.

But that's really, okay? Because Penelope is interesting, and human, and fascinating as a character. And the fact that she is so well rounded and gets to be messed up and make mistakes and not be good at times makes her all the better. At least in my opinion.

So yeah, idk if this stream of consciousness made a whole lot of sense, lol! But I just liked the thought of -- well, how did Penelope turn out the way she did. :)

[eli-am-confused]

please tell me more about your au with Wiley, Sheila, Duke & Holloway :0

The general idea is that they grow up together and solve Hatchetfield “mysteries” which mostly involves throwing hands with cultists and saving people from becoming another missing persons case. I can see them solving smaller problems to, but I just can’t get the image of them punching cultists in the face out of my head. I imagine they’re also discovering stuff about Hatchetfield along the way.

This au is based on Scooby Doo and Solve It Squad with hints of Gravity Falls because of some obvious reasons. Basically, childhood friends from mid-elementary to the end of high school who get up to some serious hijinks. They split up after high school due to a multitude of factors but specifically after the Accident™️ which causes Holloway to make her deal. They do end up back in Hatchetfield and as a group in adulthood but that takes time and a LOT of stuff happens before then. I’m mostly focused on them as kids and teens tho because that’s when most of the au stuff actually happens.

That gets me to some miscellaneous thoughts, that you probably weren’t asking for but I don’t exactly have a lot of people to talk to about this, over the au in no particular order and with no particular significance. (Keep in mind that not everything is quite set in stone and I love hearing other ideas.)

- Duke is the youngest, then Holloway, then Wilbur, and lastly Sheila is the oldest. Sheila likes to shove it in everyone’s faces that she’s the oldest but Wilbur’s the only one who ever falls for the bait. The other two just roll their eyes and go back to whatever they were doing prior to it getting brought up.

- The whole group has a tendency to banter and pick fights with each other. Sheila is especially bad about it and Wilbur is really bad about always falling into her traps. The only person in the group who is constantly good at shooting down someone who’s trying to pick a fight is Duke, he’s also very efficient at ending fights. That, of course, doesn’t mean he isn’t prone to getting into some mischief of his own from time to time.

- Believe it or not Wilbur has the capability of being the most serious of the group. He can get really into a case and is very protective over his friends and “civilians” that accidentally get caught up in the supernatural. He has the uncanny ability to flip from childish to serious, as he grows older he uses this to his advantage.



- Ok so I’m sure you’re all aware of my Jon Matteson (+Curt Mega) character family tree head-cannon/au. Well, that is also a part of this au because I’m in love with them being the biggest, most confusing family in Hatchetfield.

That being said, Duke is the oldest brother of like 5 and takes his job as oldest very seriously. Despite being the youngest of the friend group he is a professional mother hen and is always carrying medical supplies, water, and snacks in his backpack (plus some important case files and books on the weird and unusual). He also has a very “no man left behind” mentality but I think the whole group echoes that sentiment.

- Wilbur may be an only child but he’s grown up pretty close to his cousin Ted. They have an almost sibling relationship, but are much meaner to each other so a lot of people assume they don’t get along. But a lot of people also have the tendency to assume they’re twins so what do they know anyway?

- Sheila is an only child rich kid. Her parents are also a part of a cult but she doesn’t realize it or get involved with the cult until her senior year of high school. She is a confusing case when it comes to sociability because on one hand she can be absolutely terrible about interacting with others but on the other she knows how to manipulate others into doing the things she needs them to do.

- Holloway is an orphan who didn’t know her parents. Despite growing up around a lot of other kids she’s always felt like an outsider. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t look out for the other kids tho, she’s just more of a cool cousin than an older sister type. Holloway is the worst at social interactions, but she is very protective of those around her and will do basically anything to make sure they’re ok.

- Something I totally didn’t almost forgot to add is that their favorite hangout spot is Wilbur’s house; it has been for about as long as they’ve been friends. It was really just the obvious choice for them. Holloway can’t host for pretty obvious reasons. Duke would like to host but his house is always full of people of all ages and he doesn’t want his friends to feel uncomfortable while he takes care of a younger brother that wouldn’t sit still for anyone but him. Sheila may be rich but she’s all too aware that her parents are weird and they wouldn’t like having her friends over anyway. Wilbur’s house is just, unfortunately, the best place to be.

- an idea I’ve been throwing around in my head is that Holloway could be in contact with Webby. The main groups that this au is based on (Scooby Doo/Solve It Squad) both have an animal companion (talking dog really but in Mystery Incorporated the group before the Scooby gang had a bird so I think any animal would work) and I think Webby could fit that spot in her spider form. I don’t want her to be all that involved though, just giving little hints and suggestions to the group (specially Holloway) when they need it.

- @/thearcanecat mentioned in her reblog of the first post about this au that she imagines Sheriff Keane would be worried about the kids at first before realizing that they’re doing a better job then his own police force and then he would sneak important files in Dukes bag to get them on a case/help them figure some stuff out and I really like that idea! Originally I had imagined Sheriff Keane really not being involved in what the group was doing but I think this makes sense for him. Like obviously he would never do anything to endanger the children but I imagine he’s very proud of the work they’re doing. They are, after all, doing a lot more for Hatchetfield then his men ever have.

- No one can stay mad at Duke. It’s just a way of life. Duke of course doesn’t abuse this power but it does come with some perks. He can easily make witnesses feel comfortable after tragedy, he can talk the groups way out of trouble with the cops, and on the more rare and bizarre occasion he can make a cult member rethink all the bad things they’ve done in the name of whatever dark god they follow. He’s particularly good with younger kids and has a big soft spot for them. Dukes main motivation in life is to help others and make the world a safer place for everyone.

- another thing I’m kinda thinking about is possible shipping? Like obviously this wouldn’t come up until they’re teens but it is an idea I’m juggling with. Specifically wine and dine is something I think can only really come together as adults but I think it could be a very interesting concept post Accident™️ (I am still planning on actually writing it out but if you wanna know the gist of what happens there it’s in the reblogs of the first post for this au). I’m also particularly attached to teen Wilbur dealing with the most obvious and embarrassing crush on Duke. This is all just a thought tho and I do not plan on them getting crushes on each other until they’re older.

Sorry this took so long to answer it’s just been a busy week. If anyone has questions about this au I am very happy to talk about it.

(Also I’m really bad at naming things so if anyone has any idea of a name for this au I am taking suggestions because all I have is the Hatchet Catchers and I’m really not sure about that one)

[emin-folly]

Thank you for your answer! I was the one who asked about what Eobard's doing earlier haha

I also have this other question, but do you think he's able to get attached to someone else to the level he is to Barry? Since it's an obsession from his childhood, I imagine it would be hard to replicate, but I would love to see how his character plays out with others outside of the Flashfam, as much as I love them already

Hey! Welcome back! And you are very welcome~! I hope it was helpful to you lol

Excellent question! To really properly answer this, I'd like to briefly break down Eobard's relationship with Barry, if you don't mind! Now, for characters like Eobard and Barry, trying to accurately and fully explain in depth their dynamic in just a paragraph or so is basically nigh impossible lmao. These two just have such a rich and multilayered relationship that I can really only give you the bare Cliff Notes lol. Also, I just want to apologize because uhhh. I get really kinda rambly here haha oops

Okay so, let me first preface this what exactly the core of Eobard's whole character is: Love.

Eobard just wants to be loved. That's it. That is the root of everything he does.

To explain, we gotta go all the way back to Eobard's childhood. From what we see in the comics, Eobard is a very abused and neglected child. His parents wanted a gifted and successful child so they handpicked all his skills and made him very good looking. Unfortunately, they didn't get the memo that they still had to actually show love to their child for him to be successful. Ignored and shunned by his parents, baby Eo was very depressed and extremely desperate for any kind affection/attention. That's when he discovered the Flash. And I think the fact that it was Barry specifically played a major factor in his obsession with him.

Of course the Flash is very important to Eobard but something deeper that really resonated with him was Barry's ultimate pureness and unconditional love and compassion.

Eobard looked at Barry and saw someone who would love him unconditionally and without hesitation. In every sense, Barry really is pretty much the only thing that got Eobard through the dark times in his young life. The older he got, the more and more his parasocial relationship with Barry and the Speed Force began to consume him.

Eobard is very capable of love. The problem is, he's never been taught how to actually express it in a healthy, normal way so he lashes out, violently and obsessively. Because that's the only way he knows how. I think he definitely, on some level, recognizes that he is unlovable that's what drives people to reject him. To deal with this, he just retreats back to his fantasy; "Barry would understand, Barry would love me."

Sooo, yeah, you can imagine when the fallout eventually happened, you can see why it would utterly break him, emotionally and mentally.

To answer your question of if he would be able to love someone on the level he loves Barry, I would say definitely no lol.

Barry is just so, SO deeply intertwined with Eobard at this point that you can't really tell where he begins or Barry ends. It also has a lot to do with his obsession being formed during the most vulnerable and formative years of Eobard's life. Even if you hard set restarted the universe, these two would always have a cosmic connection with each other that you just can't erase.

As for other people, he is shown to have definitely gone back into other peoples' past and altered them drastically to suit his needs, ex: Hunter and August. But it's really only just more or less the one time and for certain reasons like he either wanted to manipulate events to play out a certain way (Hunter) or because he also saw a little too much of himself in them and was extremely jealous of their relationship with Barry (August). But honestly, most of the time when Eobard interacts with others, it's always either because he joins a supervillain group or he just happens to run into them coincidentally (like with Hal, the Justice League, Wally, etc)

Except for Thomas Wayne. Specifically the Flashpoint version.

I know I already talked about him but his and Eobard's relationship is really kind of unique and bears going more in depth.

Long story short, their whole thing started in Flashpoint, when Thomas killed stabbed him through the back. Then, in the Button storyline, after Eobard is revived (by the power of gay) and broke out of prison, he decides to immediately go and rough Bruce up as a kind of "gotcha" to Thomas. In the middle of their fight, he comes across Thomas's letter to Bruce and then he just?? Starts waxing poetic about "Oh Thomas, Thomas, did writing this make you feel better? As you burned with your world?" etc and it's like b r u h

This is literally the only interaction you had!! You just beat him up, mocked him and then he killed you. Why are you acting like you suddenly have a deep history together asjdgfsKJLGK

And it doesn't stop there. In a one off comic Tales From The Dark Multiverse Flashpoint, Barry dies and so to cope with this, Eobard tries to turn Thomas into his very own "Eobard Thawne", a ruthless stalker who would obsess over him. Because in Eobard's mind, to be obsessed over is the same as being loved, it means attention. Which is, notably, pretty much exactly what he wants from Barry. In the end, Eobard even went so far as to give Thomas a gift, what he so desperately wanted: his son and his family back. Whether Eobard did this out of any kind of sense of generosity or a more selfish motive is up for debate but it definitely says a lot.

In a following comic that's a prequel to the Button storyline, we see Eobard actually saves Thomas from the death of the Flashpoint universe and pulls him into the main timeline.

This is really significant because who else do we see Eobard go through this much effort to torment them? That's right--Barry. Now, of course Thomas isn't close to being on Barry's level in Eobard's eyes, far from it. But it's really clear that Thomas has become such a fixated point of interest for Eobard. By pulling Thomas out, Thomas essentially becomes a paradoxical being, and I think Eobard is really fascinated by that. He really likes having someone else on the same playing field as him. It's like Eobard, Barry and the other speedsters are playing a game of invisible chess which pretty much everybody on Earth is oblivious to, except for Thomas. Thomas is the only non speedster who actually knows the scores.

Could you argue that Eobard is just doing all of this for revenge? Sure, I suppose you could. But knowing how Eobard works, it doesn't feel quite accurate to just leave it at that. There's just too many little hints and cues of Eobard's love languages at play to just ignore that. Also like, Eobard doesn't like talking about his (true) feelings hardly ever, instead he wraps them up and disguises them with pretenses. He will say one thing while doing a completely different thing, a lot of times you can't take Eobard's words at face value.

As it is, Thomas seems to have become pretty synonymous with Eobard to the point now, whenever you see Flashpoint Thomas, it's very safe to assume that a certain yellow rat isn't too far behind~

I definitely agree with you~! I also absolutely love seeing Eobard interacting with other characters outside his scope of obsession, but sadly, Eobard doesn't really? Have much in the way of dynamics with other characters, as he really doesn't do people and people also tend to kinda hate him? But! There are a few exceptions, off the top of my head:

Eobard and the Rogues from the Justice League animated comic

Eobard and Poison Ivy's interaction from the Injustice 2 game (bow chica bow wow)

He and Superman actually have a brief but really poignant moment in the Tales From The Dark Multiverse

He and Al Desmond also had a brief partnership in the Sliver Age comics which basically consisted of Eobard mind controlling and pressuring Al into a life of crime, but I did definitely get the vibe that Eobard liked him--tho again, he has a very horrible way of showing it LOL

Also in the Silver Age, he had a brief dynamic with Star Sapphire (not Carol tho unfortunately) He was very flirtatious with her (he was like that with a lot of other women too--which definitely comes back to him being desperate to be loved) Anyway, uh wow, I didn't mean for this to be this long?? LOL If you'd like more concise, shorter answers in the future, just lemme know~!

[yesimwriting]

For what i gathered from your style of writing (immaculate btw) i think reader would not responde to nates advances, because contrary to billy, stu and felix he doesnt hide his asshole ways.

So i think the main thrope would be groveling from his part

omg this ask feels like such a cross over!!

you're so right and i love the way you're thinking through this, but let's break down nate's character a little more (and reader's)

one of the major takeaways from that scene where everything that nate looks for in a girl is laid out and the scenes that explain what he liked about maddy is that there's this theme of being drawn to traditional feminity/someone that can play a traditionally feminine role

i think there are a lot of factors that play into him wanting that-- it reflects what he's familiar with, a more feminine partner will push back less/be easier to manipulate (in his head at least), and maybe a smidge of comphet depending on how you read his sexuality

one of his main fantasies is saving maddy from another man and when maddy was trying to win him over, she played into her femininity (and cassie kind of did the same)

and when you think about these reasons and the kind of girl he'd want to go for (and you look at the way he treats maddy when he apologizes and when they first started dating) it's natural for him to have some kinder qualities that come from the instinct to fill that traditionally masculine role in a relationship

so, when considering all of that,, i think nate can be really charming, maybe even a little chivalrous when he's really trying to win someone over

i also think nate's relatively good at reading people, and he can clock that the reader from that last blurb is trying to be a party girl more than actually being one, he knows that reader would never want to be around him if he's openly an asshole, so he manipulates subtly (telling reader to keep their interactions a secret from maddy for her own sake, all while knowing that the sooner he breaks that 'secret keeping' barrier, it'll only get easier to get reader to keep more and more from her friends)

i also see nate as someone who is very capable of being likeable when he wants to be, and reader being kind of sheltered/"innocent" and maddy's friend and being so determined to not like him makes him want to put in the work,,

so he's going to make a point of being soft spoken and nice when he has to see reader, and the harder she tries to dismiss him, the more he's going to commit bc it becomes less about getting maddy's attention and a little more about his ego,, and then finally, about reader

and if we're comparing this reader to final girl!reader or best friend! reader,, (you guys have no way of having known this, i barely referenced it in one sentence) i see this reader as being less looked out for

i picture her mom as one of those moms that wants to be "the cool mom" so bad so that she can pretend her daughter's friends are hers too, and she's so excited that reader is being more social/popular that she's a little lost in it

and i see reader's dad (not me finally giving readers a dad) as being almost the polar opposite, strict and traditional,, so reader still feels the need to hide going out and drinking bc it starts arguments with her parents and that makes her feel guilty

i'd really love to write a fic explaining all of these dynamics and how they overlap with the same style of narration that euphoria episodes that center a specific character's background story are,, i love mimicking niche voices like that it's so fun

anyways this was really long for no reason <3

[fangsforiris]

I was thinking of this for a while, We know canonically that Yui is actually perceived as a tomboy in japanese standards but what about Subaru? He was conditioned to believe he was a monster, but before Yui there was brides right? What would other brides think about Subaru if he didn’t have that image of himself? Is Subaru even considered attractive to japanese standards?

Iris: Ahhh I'm excited about this one!! THANK YOU NAT <33

Mirrors & Mothers; How Christa’s narrative haunts Subaru’s psyche.

Subaru, as introduced within the Diabolik Lovers franchise, is a temperamental tsundere with a lot of self-loathing and self-esteem issues. He is considered to be the ‘gentler’ and ‘nicer’ one of all the 6 evils we are introduced to at first, whilst still having his own level of fear factor to consider.

Due to the complications and bias surrounding his birth, he was constantly conditioned and fed a certain narrative by those around him that he was nothing, and simply a waste of a life. Many of the routes with him and Yui/MC/Player are built with one thing in mind, for Yui to act as a saviour towards Subaru and to see the ‘good.’

To start, I’d say that Subaru’s unhealthy, self-loathing, and overall suicidal mindset is a direct by product of what his mother, Christa, unintentionally forced down. Without her large involvement towards Subaru’s established mistrust in females, self-loathing behaviours, and borderline suicidal tendencies, he most likely would’ve only been seen as ‘gentle and kind Subaru.’

Let me explain. Christa’s role in Subaru’s life served as a direct catalyst for all his emotional turmoil and inner traumas that he tends to pin and overwhelm Yui/MC/Player with. Due to what Karlheinz did to Christa (assaulting her, which resulted in Subaru’s birth,) it set the framework for how her mental state would deteriorate over the years, especially in care of her child.

She canonically wasn’t allowed to attend most events after giving birth to her assaulters child, as she found herself going mad beyond comprehension. Even during the pregnancy, it’s hinted that she was already having mental breakdowns, and small fits surrounding the actuality of her child [Subaru.]

So from going to someone who was once (or still is) very revered and beloved by all, someone who’s sweet as sugar and everything nice, to a fragile, nervous, and almost borderline hysterical woman, is a large change for someone to cope with. Most likely, if not entirely, it changed Christa’s views on herself. Which would later on effect how she’d be able to find control within herself and how she’d conduct herself in a larger area, especially around others of high nobility class.

With that being said, when Subaru was around, mainly during his youth (5-8, perhaps even older,) he’d take the initiative to ensure that his mother was kept out of trouble and in ‘good graces’ with all that she interacted with. Truth be told, to deal with a ticking time bomb for a mother was proved to be a lot of stress and constant worry for Subaru. So much so, that he’d take it out on himself for being so powerless as to not offer any good or substantial aid to his own mother.

Christa and Cordelia would normally get into arguments at these large events, where Christa’s momentary sweet demeanour would change into that of a venomous viper. The topic of their arguments? The love for Karlheinz.

Christa’s entire ‘bipolar mood’ or instability comes from a split of love/care and hatred/loathing for a being, none other than her assaulter, Karlheinz, the king of vampires and her first cousin. Christa saw Karlheinz as an older brother figure if anything, so after he had manipulated, coerced, and assaulted Christa, her mind started to slowly shatter due to not being able to distinguish a select role for Karl.

It’s hard to bear with something as life ruining and petrifying as such an assault, but from someone you trusted, cared for, and possibly even looked up to? That’s another thing on its own. Which would lead to Christa and her select moods. Perhaps as a way to cope, would Christa still at times see Karl as her ‘older brother figure’ and call on him as ‘Nii-Sama’ (Brother.) And at other times, completely lash out at him or anyone else [Subaru] that looks even remotely similar to Karlheinz, lest she’s attacked once more or even reminded slightly of what had happened.

She often corrected herself as ‘pure’ and in a sense ‘holy,’ mainly due to her reputation within vampiric society as the ‘Fairest of them all’ and ‘The White Rose.’ Named for her unremarkable beauty, it would become Christa’s staple for a pure, almost haunting look. All of it would change, however, when the vampire king would lay hands on her. That would send her, someone who was known for their vanity and ethereal beauty, into a complete state of ruin as she could no longer consider herself as ‘pure.’ Instead, restoring to stating that the child inside of her is the reason for her ‘impurity’ and thus, shall be subjected to the cruelest of punishments for ruining her so badly.

That’s where a lot of Subaru’s mental health issues, especially regarding self-esteem and self-worth would stem from. From the moment he was born, he was subjugated to Christa’s double sided personalities. At one end, she’d call him ‘gentle, pure’ and an overall ‘sweet beautiful boy.’ On the other, she’d remind him of how much of a hideous monster he was, someone who’d been the exact epitome of impurity to walk the planet.

This was all occurring due to Subaru’s looks. As Christa heavily claimed that Subaru looked almost identical to how Karlheinz looks as of current. Which would be a further drive to her instability within the future. This would even go as far as Christa begging Subaru to kill her, putting her out of her own misery. And when he’d rejet, she’d instead, attempt to murder him, claiming that he’s a disgusting creature that should be killed for his sins.

Subaru would be conditioned to agree with the bad, choosing to reinforce the horrible feelings within him and isolate himself from the world as a result, lest he hurts his mother or anyone else even more.

His looks played a big role in how his mother chose to perceive him, as at times she’d mistake Subaru for Karlheinz, whilst others she’d state that Subaru looked so much like her.

For someone who valued looks as much as Christa, it’s no wonder why she lost her mind after the attack. She had major trouble in differentiating the two, which only added on to Subaru’s equally fragile psyche.

The Big Question…

Has any sacrificial bride found Subaru to be attractive, even with his overbearing mental distress? And is he even considered to be attractive, despite his attitudes and pre-established reservations?

In terms of who Subaru is as a character, he comes off as a loner, shut in, and somewhat angsty classic teenager. He’s known to drift towards alternative fashion, mainly dressing in black and in a ‘I don’t care about the rules’ punk kind of look. I wouldn’t say emo, however his closet heavily relies on black to show the trope of a boy defying the set authority and regulations set in place. Basically a ‘bad boy.’

Without his personality taking over, along with his short temper occurring due to small sparks of subtle humiliation directed at him, just based off of looks we can make these main assumptions.

A) His broad shoulders, and sharp features are mainly glamourized by Westeners instead of the continent of Asia.

B) In Japan, someone like Ayato, who had the dual of a baby-face and the subtle sharper, more masculine features, is the ideal standard for men.

But for Japanese Beauty Standards, Subaru fits into these select ones:

Facial Features:

Clear Skin: Smooth, clear skin is highly valued. Subaru is seen to have clear skin, any headcanons depicting otherwise are just that, headcanons. ☑️

Sharp Jawline: A defined jawline is often considered attractive. Subaru does have a sharper jawline in comparison to the other boys, curtesy of Karlheinz. ☑️

Double Eyelids: While not universally desired, double eyelids are often preferred. Subaru's eyes are double eyelids, so it aligns. ☑️

Symmetry: Symmetrical facial features are seen as a sign of beauty. Subaru's face does seem/come across as symmetrical enough, despite his hair. ☑️

Body Type:

Slim and Fit: A lean, well-toned physique is generally preferred over overly muscular builds. He is lean, and does have a toned physique. ☑️

Height: Taller stature can be considered attractive. Subaru is 5'10, which is considered to be tall. ☑️

Hair:

Stylish Haircuts: Well-groomed, styled hair is important. Trends often include natural, slightly tousled looks or more polished styles. Subaru wears his hair with one side covering one eye, and it's sometimes tousled. I'd like to say that his hair is a bit unconventional for everyday. ❌

Natural Colors: While hair dye is common, natural hair colors are often preferred. His hair is white, for the fantasy element, but Japanese fans seem to enjoy it. ☑️

Fashion Sense:

Trendy Clothing: Keeping up with fashion trends and having a good sense of style is important. Subaru's clothing is made for functionality, whilst staying with neutral colours, which is heavily appreciated. I'll give it a checkmark, despite his ripped and trashed shirts, only due to the main colour pallet in general and his overall simple style. ☑️

Attention to Detail: Accessories and well-fitted clothing are key components of a stylish appearance. He does have some accessories, such as his bracelet, his white boots, and his key necklace. They are more alternative if anything, in terms of taste. So we'll give him a checkmark, only on that basis. ☑️

Grooming:

Minimal Facial Hair: Clean-shaven or well-maintained facial hair is typically preferred. He doesn't have facial hair, so it works. ☑️

Neat and Clean Appearance: Overall grooming, including trimmed nails and good hygiene, is crucial. Despite his ripped up clothing and whatnot, he keeps his room and personal affairs clean enough. ☑️

Personality and Mannerisms:

Politeness and Humility: Being well-mannered and humble is highly regarded. He'll be polite when he can and cordial, however if he finds himself quickly embarrassed or in a situation that upsets him then he will stray from it quickly. His anger does seem to take up a lot of who he is at times, so for that reason, no checkmark. ❌

Soft-Spoken and Considerate: Gentle, kind, and considerate behavior is often appreciated. Subaru can come off as gentle and kind once he lets down his walls and breaks through his self-inflicted unhealthy persona. ☑️

In terms of anyone finding him attractive?

Since it’s been established that the Sakamaki’s and Mukami’s have their own harem of fan girls/boys (?) within the school, mainly the Sakamaki’s, it wouldn’t be so far off to have some individuals take Subaru as their preferred boy of choice.

Seeing how every boy has their set profile, and some people will drift towards whatever aesthetic or feeling suits them best. It really comes down to ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder.’

However the type of crowd Subaru tends to attract in terms of ‘fans’ or potential love interests, are those invested in the ‘bad boy’ image and loners who keep to themselves. In their heads, having someone who’s quiet, and sometimes known to be around shadier things, can be a marker. Since a lot of people do enjoy that certain trope.

I’d like to think that out of all the boys, he may have a moderate standing. But due to his own insecurities, he’d think otherwise or would find it awkward— especially with the constant comparison towards his older, more established, and almost genius at their own craft, half brothers.

Some sacrificial brides may have chosen Subaru in the past, based on the premise that he seemed the least harmful, but could have died due to his own excess of strength. (Mainly him not knowing how strong he accidentally is, and lashing out.)

[dragonkeeper19600]

volo isn't a sociopath he's a victim of colonization 😭 yeah he did bad shit in his grief but like. Can we have some nuance here maaaaaybe

First of all, we don't actually know Volo's backstory. The game deliberately chooses not to reveal it, so we don't know if colonization plays any factor in his worldview. It's possible given what little we know about him—that he's apparently the last of the Celestica people and that there's some sort of trauma in his past—but it's by no means the only possible narrative. We have no idea what happened to the rest of the Celestica. For all we know, Volo himself could have wiped them out. Yeah, there's no evidence of that, but there's also no evidence that he's a victim of colonization. That's pure head canon at this point.

Second, there is plenty of evidence that trauma in someone's developmental years can potentially lead to sociopathy. There are other factors of course, such as genetics, but trauma is a recognized risk factor for sociopathy. With that in mind, Volo being a sociopath and having some sort of tragedy in his past are by no means incompatible character traits.

The same source I linked above lists personality traits that are often lacking in individuals with sociopathy, and Volo matches all of them:

Now, there are a few signs that Volo might not be a complete sociopath. Three of the Pokemon on his team evolve through high friendship despite him outright saying he only sees them as tools, and fans have already formed all kinds of speculations and theories on how that could be. After his defeat, he also comes clean about what he did to both Professor Laventon and Cogita, which is an unexpected thing for a sociopath to do.

However, he shows enough of the behaviors listed above, manipulation, lying, impulsive decision-making without any regard for others' wellbeing, for me to confidently say that he has a lot of sociopathic traits, even if there is something resembling a moral code inside him.

I am by no means trying to imply that sociopathic characters can't be tragic or deserving of empathy (even when they can't feel empathy themselves). In my, admittedly nonclinical view, sociopaths are handicapped in a very tragic way. They're fundamentally lonely individuals, since they can't really connect to anyone, and most real-life advice you'll find on how to interact with sociopaths is just to stay the hell away from them. Not only is this not helpful at all to either sociopaths or the people who love them, it's also rather dehumanizing and forces sociopaths to mask their symptoms, which only feeds into the paranoia-driven narrative that sociopaths are sneaky deceivers who hide their true natures from innocent people. But, like, when everything about how you think is so vilified and there's such a stigma against you that even the word "socipath" is treated like a foul accusation, what else are sociopaths supposed to do?