#bc i wasn't able to make such decisions and it would have ended in a complete mess. but all i can say now is that this time it is final and

[flwrkisses]

tiffany and co. — park sunghoon.

HAPPY HOON DAY! after seeing jakehoon's matching tiffany rings and their cute vlog at the tiffany store, i couldn't help but think... what if sunghoon was shopping for not only friendship rings with jake but also something special for you.

genre: fluff! established relationship. idol!sunghoon. ft. jake! long oneshot.

word count: 1.4k (english)

warnings: kissing.

everyone knew sunghoon was erratically indecisive. he would pick things up and put them back only to talk himself into linking it again and picking it up once more. it drove his members wild, so wild that jay had complained about not wanting to shop with your boyfriend anymore, simply because he took far too long to make a choice. that was where you came in, you never considered yourself to be extremely decisive nor have you ever been as indecisive as he was... but, something about you giving your honest opinion on things made him choose which items to take home way more efficiently. sunghoon would never admit it, but of he liked something and you thought it was lame, he automatically would talk himself into thinking it was lame in first place. making him set the item back on what ever rack or shelf he had originally found it on. so, when going shopping— in his mind— you were an essential factor.

however, on this shopping trip... you weren't able to join, leaving both him and jake alone in a store full of an expensive amount of jewelry. on his way in, he automatically thought about getting you something with his new tiffany brand deal. what kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn't get you everything you wanted within the resources he was given? he couldn't live with himself if he had gotten himself something nice and left you in the dust. so as soon as they entered the store he began looking at earrings. maybe it could have been something you would wear on special occasions like dates or fancy dinners with family... or holidays. he searched for something different, unique, and so delicately beautiful... all words that he often used to describe you and yet nothing bc stuck out to him.

after an hour and a half in the store, sunghoon began to get nervous. both him and jake had picked their friendship rings and now your boyfriend had been mindlessly browsing though the store to find something you'd actually enjoy. any other guy would have just grabbed the first pair of earrings or sparkly bracelet he came across but sunghoon just couldn't being himself to do that. especially with how practical he was. he wasn't going to get you something that would sit in your jewelry box and soon become forgotten because you didn't like it. that would be a waste. so despite his friend's impatience, he continued to look at each and every single piece of jewelry to find you something specifically for you.

luckily, after an additional 35 minutes, he found just what he was looking for. a necklace with a cursive letter 's'pendant. small, yet noticeable enough. after picking it out, he showed it to jake. to which the aussie boy couldn't help but excitedly pat his friend on the back and rave about how you'd love it. now all your boyfriend needed to do was give it to you.

..

after getting home to your shared apartment with a small blue tiffany and co bag in his hand, sunghoon looked for you. "babe?" he called out, as he took off his jacket and set it on the coatrack. "i'll be right there hoon!" you called out from the bathroom. some how your internal clocks always seem to sync. just as you finished your shower as he come through the door as if you had been expecting his arrival. "how was it?" you called out from the other room while getting dressed.

sunghoon loved this, how domestic it felt to know you had been winding down for the day when he got home. and talking to each other from different ends of the apartment as you both went on with your own routines. "it was really nice actually, jake and i got matching rings." he hummed as he walked into your shared bedroom and to the bathroom door which was slightly open. sticking his hand into the now humid room, he happily showed you his new rings. taking his hand, you looked at the new silver pieces of jewelry now adorning his hand happily and opened the bathroom door far enough for you to get through. "they're cute hoon, i like them a lot." you smiled warmly at him. you honestly didn't expect much, you knew some brands were extremely strict about what their ambassadors could and couldn't take and you would hate for your boyfriend to lose his ambassadorship for pushing boundaries. you were happy for him none the less, you knew that if it wasn't for the sponsorship, sunghoon would have never gone out to get himself jewelry like that.

" i got you something." he chuckled, feeling his cheeks heat up in the moment. he was never good at this type of stuff. he usually preferred to leave a gift on your bed or dining table while he was out working. however with this he was so excited to give it to you, that he had to present it to you now. "babe! you didn't have to get me anything." you pouted at him, while gently pushing past him to set your worn clothes in the hamper and hang your towel up. you truly never wanted him to put you over himself even with things like this. "you could have gotten yourself another piece or something , you didn't have to." you added.

sunghoon gently shook his head as he turned to face you again. "no, i wanted to. i spend a really long time looking for it. i want you to have it." he reassured you. something he had to do each time you had told him he didn't have to get you anything. "if it's not your style you can tell me we can exchange it for another." which was again something he would always say when ever he got you anything. the clarification was always for nothing because everything he had ever gotten you had always ended up liking and yet deep within him was a little feeling of anxiousness.

handing you the small bag in the famous shade of blue you had seen everywhere you couldn't help but get excited. "hoon this will probably be the most expensive thing i own..." you chuckled softly before sitting on your shared bed and gently pulling the tissue paper out of the bag carefully. "that just means i need to get you prada next." he smiled softly, taking a seat next to you, only making you blush more at the thought of being spoiled with all these fancy name brand things. "come on- open it babe." he added, encouraging you to reach into the bag to pull out a small bright blue box. as if it would break, you handled the box with care, gently pulling the top off to expose the dainty silver necklace with the small 's' pendant he had picked out, laying on top of the white satin lining. you let out a small gasp as you took in the beauty of the necklace. it was simple yet, beautiful. definitely something you could wear daily without fail.

"it's beautiful hoon..." you said softly with a smile plastered onto your face. "really? i thought getting you my initial might be a little tacky but jake insisted it was sweet." he responded, his lips breaking into a brighter toothy smile at your response. you could only shake your head slightly, you didn't think it was tacky at all. from a far it was hard to tell the pendant was his first initial, making it a bit more special. you knew what it was, he knew what it was. and it wasn't annoyingly in your face either, it was perfect. "it's actually really pretty." you smiled at him before pressing a soft kiss onto his cheek. being with sunghoon for so long, you should have known that one sweet cheek kiss would have turned into sunghoon turning his head to catch your lips with his own, because it did. just like each time you had kissed his cheek before. a giggle escaped your lips between each soft, sweet kiss he gave you making him rumble up a chuckle of his own as well. "you better wear that necklace everywhere." he said while finally pulling away.

"are you kidding? i'm never taking it off!"

"mmmm good~ all mine."

"yep- all yours sunghoon~"

©flwrkisses ; please do not copy, translate, repost and/or reuse my work without my permission. (2023)

₊˚♡ don't forget to like/reblog to let me know you enjoy this kind of content!

masterlist. — requests are open !

[pourstiel-poet]

l feel like bruce wouldn't have no clue whatsoever as to what happened while he was lost in time--by that i mean Tim's Quest to Find Bruce Wayne. Tim's Missing Spleen. Dick's decision to make Damian robin.

when bruce is first rescued by booster gold, he doesn't think much about tim's absence, doesn't think much of anything, really, he was just glad he was home. weeks pass and he's getting to know damian, reconnecting with dick, (and attempting to reconnect) with jason...

he'd probably be sitting at lunch, mid-bite, when all of a sudden, Someone is missing. obviously, damian is at school and dick has his life in bludhaven and jason wouldn't step within a thousand meters of the manor on a good day, so it takes him a few seconds

because it wasn't missing as in he's not present, currently, right now, in this house, missing as in

where did he go?

he hadn't seen tim in...months. when was the last time he'd seen him? probably the watchtower right after booster gold had dropped him off. he hadn't even actually seen the boy. just heard he had found him...

how Had tim found him? how had tim been able to when everyone else thought he was dead? So he makes it his quest to find answers and obviously, he doesn't get it from dick. His eldest clams right up at the topic, refusing to give him a straight answer. the longer it took to find answers, the more antsy he was. what had happened while he was gone?

where was tim? where had he been? so he asks alfred, to which the butler replies with vague, utterly unhelpful answers (he had a feeling that the butler truly, did not know either, and was also at a loss as to where timothy drake had been)

i feel like bruce would be the type to either obsess over it or try to ignore his gut feeling that Something Is Wrong by burying himself under case upon case upon case. then one day, he sees it:

it was obviously meant to be something he'd never find, encased behind password upon password, firewall upon firewall, and when he does break through what he thought had been a rather odd file given all the protection and layers, his heart drops

file after file, report after report, all written by and for one person and one person only: tim. timothy, oh, his son.

fingers pressed to his lips, only dim blue light of the batcomputer, he reads, and reads, and reads

it doesn't end. just when he thinks it's finally done, he stumbles upon the splenectomy

he can't help but shudder a soft sob when he's finished, silently crying into his hands because had he even thanked tim? had he even done anything more than glance at the boy that had sacrificed...everything to find him?

p2 soon bc i have to go!

[vilevampirez]

long list of funny things abt my experience doing emote commissions for mike

first of all I wasn't expecting to get commissioned at all (my commissions weren't even open, I just made an exception for mike) let alone by MIKETHELINK of all fucking people, so I had nothing prepared. I had no portfolio, commission sheet, nothing. I had never made any twitch emotes, so I had no examples to show either. meaning that when barbmine showed up in my dms asking if I took emote commissions, first I lost my fucking shit, then I panicked and rushed to find the most recent emote-like illustrations I had, including animation, and the most recent animation I had on hand happened to be a viewtiful joe one lmao. the animation in question 👇

(the usernames on the watermark aren't even accurate anymore..)

I have some experience taking commissions but they'd always been for friends of mine, this was my first time getting commissioned by a real "client" and the client was fucking mikethelink tazercraft of all fucking people . I know he "found" me through Mine, she sent me a dm first asking for commission info, saying she would show it to mike later. the thing is that when she said that she also implied that she was in touch with other artists too, so I was like "oh ok I'll send my stuff but I probably won't get chosen lol" and then a few hours later I got two twitter notifs, one saying that mr. thelink tazercraft was now following me and another was his DM. to say I almost had a heart attack would be an understatement

later I found out Mine had made a tweet asking for artists to reach out/people to rec artists for mike's twitch emotes. that post had around 40 comments. many people had been recommended more than once. I wasn't mentioned by anyone once, and in fact, I had no fucking idea that post even EXISTED until way after the fact. I have no idea how I ended up getting this job

mike happened to contact me on a day where I was severely sleep deprived. our entire business conversation took place while I was half-panicking, half-almost-passing-out. I don't know how I survived

at many points during our conversation I gave a lot of leeway for mike to give up on commissioning me, implying multiple times that he would be better off commissioning a different artist. and it's not because I lacked confidence (though a bit of that too, of course), but because of my lack of experience. I was very open about that to him, so many times I expected him to second guess his decision to commission me. unexpectedly, he was really insistent. I think partially he didn't want to go through the trouble of finding and contacting a different artist, but also I guess he just liked my art that much (??!?)

I definitely undercharged him lol. it's not that I don't value my work, it's just that I was absolutely not prepared for any of this shit to happen and didn't have enough time to think

I use adobe after effects for animating mike's emotes. I already knew how to animate (though I had never animated anything big), but I had never used after effects before. I even told mike this before accepting the commission, but he just said it was easy and I could totally do it, and I was just like "fucking hell. fine". and look, I know my limits, I knew I'd be able to learn after effects with relative ease. if I thought it'be too much for me to handle, I wouldn't have accepted the commission. it just that to this day I'm still shocked that mike commissioned an artist who HAD NEVER USED THE TOOL NECESSARY FOR THE COMMISSION HE WANTED.

due to the point above I was pretty apprehensive about animating the emotes, but now I'm glad I got this opportunity bc it reignited my passion for animation that had been dwindling for a long time and I've been learning a lot while working. also with every new emote I figure out how to use a different feature of after effects and it makes the job a little bit easier

before giving my payment information I came out to him to avoid confusion with my legal name being different from the name on my socials. he was very chill about it and always used the right name and pronouns for me whenever he mentions me on stream

fun fact: I was reached out to by another big (brazilian, not in qsmp) youtuber for a commission but I had to refuse because I had too much on my plate already (still do..)

my favorite emotes are the devil one and the nerd one

I made his twitch avatar and banner too! I'm really proud of the avatar. the banner was absolute hell

I'm a lurker (and nowadays a vod watcher since I've been busy w/ uni work) but I do watch every single one of mike's streams, so just know that I'm always seeing you guys use the emotes :3

[julianalvarez9]

acting on it / martin ødegaard

author's note: been avoiding writing smut for this man for ages. i started this back when arsenal played liverpool so it's been A WHILE. not proofread bc i just needed to get it out quick. needless to say this isn't real, don't know the real reason why they took him out so yeah, fiction :)

warnings: smut with plot. badly translated norwegian pet names (?, kinda hair pulling, kinda choking, kinda public sex (they could get walked in anytime) ¿?

wc: 2k words

summary: suggesting to take martin out of the game to avoid any serious injury backfires when he blames you for being subbed off.

"why did you tell him to take me out?".

you knew this talk would be coming, but still, the loud thud when the norwegian shut the door a bit too hard startled you. the draw was rough for everyone at arsenal, and at some point, felt almost like a loss. the players got into the dressing room with their heads hung low after clapping for the fans, and apart from some encouraging pats on the back, you didn’t really get to talk to anyone in particular.

you saw how angry martin had left the pitch when arteta decided to take him off, but he hadn’t said anything: of course he hadn’t. he was a good captain, and he wouldn’t ever question the gaffer’s decisions. at least, not publicly.

but under the anger, he knew it was a good decision: he wasn’t asking for the ball and leading his team like he used to do at every game. like he was supposed to. he knew his performance was below average, but he refused to attribute it to the minor discomfort he had during the week. he was fine during warm ups and the entire first half. he couldn’t afford to get injured now, at this point.

being seated during the last ten minutes of the match was the worst thing for him. seeing how the win slipped through their fingers felt like a knife being turned on his stomach. and even if martin knew they still had the top position secured, the lead they had against city was cut short, and they hoped it wouldn’t be something they turned to regret at the end of the line.

martin was observant, not only off the pitch, but during games, too. he frequently saw the bench, awaiting for instructions offered by the manager or movement in the sidelines, signaling some players being subbed in. when he saw you, the team’s physio, talking to arteta, he knew he would be the player to be taken off.

“you were only meant to play 60 minutes, martin. you played 80,” you reasoned. before the game, you had been consulted how many minutes was the norwegian able to play, without risking an injury. knowing martin, you were sure that he wouldn't appreciate being subbed off if there was still a match being played, but you were aware that mikel was considering the bigger picture -there were still games that needed to be won, and it would be immensely more difficult if they were without the norwegian on the pitch. you understood arteta's worries about his key player being sidelined for way too long if he were to make the matters worse.

he wasn't happy with your response, but he didn't say anything else: he stayed in the way of the door, impeding the way out, whether intentionally or not, trapping you in the room with him. the frown is still visible on his features, glooming his usual prince charming looks for something darker, almost malicious. you think that he's maybe transported back to the game, reliving again and again what went wrong, and you try to ease his worries. "not everything is your fault, you know? you have to take care of yourself first”.

he scoffed. "i'm the captain. everything is my fault".

at this point, you've grown tired. all you want to do is finish packing your things, and get home as fast as possible. but the presence of the norwegian is stopping you from completing the checklist you have in hand. "what do you want me to do, ødegaard? i’m doing my job, which is to keep you all healthy," you say, while finishing to check the last thing you had on the list, assuring that you aren't forgetting anything. you throw the little notepad to the desk, while sitting on the empty space, as martin watches your every movement like a hunter keeping track of his prey. "you can't play 90 minutes every three days: you need to rest, or you'll get a serious injury. if you have any problems with it, talk to arteta”.

you're mirroring the frown he had for the last five minutes, and martin can't stop thinking about how cute you look while trying to act mad at him. "quit the attitude. i'm supposed to be mad, not you".

now it's your turn to scoff. "you are making me mad by trying to take your frustrations on me, like i'm in the wrong for doing my fucking job".

"if you think this is me taking my frustrations on you-” his blue eyes turn almost dark gray, and martin takes big, rushed steps towards your figure, making his wider frame tower over yours. he lifts his hand, brushing a string of hair that had fallen from your makeshift ponytail behind your ear, and his hand rest softly on the side of your neck, with his palm surely covering half of your skin.

he looks for hesitation in your eyes, something that would tell him to back off, but he can't find any. instead, your breath is ragged, and you're trying really hard to keep eye contact with him while trying not to visibly shut your legs in a way that lets you ease some of the tension. "this would be me taking my frustrations on you," he corrects, now his thumb resting across your neck, restricting your airflow but just slightly.

you're not sure if you feel dizzy because this is what you wanted all along, ever since you've crossed paths with the norwegian, or due to how intoxicating you find his touch: either way, you gasp for air, and it has martin smiling wickedly, in a form you haven't really seen before. "oh, does my pretty girl like being choked?".

the whine you emit is, surely, pathetic, but it fires something inside of him. his grab on your neck is a bit rougher after hearing the sweetest sound he had only dreamed of hearing, but it’s not enough to worry you about the possible marks he could be leaving. still, you can feel it, just as you can feel the desk behind you that would not really leave you any space to escape, if you wanted to. but you don't want to, although you probably should remember where you're at, that you're working and he's a player.

the smallest glimpse of reality comes back to your senses when you hear a sort of commotion outside, and you're cut back from his spell, just barely. "martin, we-".

he hears the hesitation in your voice, and is quick to lure you back in, his kisses leaving a wet trail under his way. "i know we can't. and i know we don't have enough time. but i need this, i need you. will you let me?. the way he's whispering in your ear makes your skin flourish in goosebumps, joined by how he's nudging at your neck, while smelling your perfume, driving you mad. he realizes when the smallest whimper leaves your lips and is proud of his doing, showing by the way it oozes out of his mouth when he whispers "that's my good girl".

your hands are quick to find their way under his shirt, having the chance to feel the toned abs you've never dared to look at before while trying to keep up with the feverish kisses shared between you two. the second his mouth trails down to your collarbone, you slip a playful "eager, aren't we?" when you realize his hard on pressed against your leg. "could say the same about you," he bites back, after his leg graces your center and you're eager to rub yourself against it.

you two don’t even get to take your clothes fully before he slides into you. his right hand is covering your mouth, helping you in silencing the moans that seem impossible to contain, while he isn’t much better at keeping quiet. especially, when your hands are pulling on his blonde hair, driving him crazy. you’re coming undone under him, and martin can’t help but groan at the sight of you, a wreck for him, while taking him so well.

through his grunts, he can barely manage to warm "not gonna last long if you keep on squeezing me like that, kjaere," but it’s to no use, given that you’re still clenching on him tightly, your warm walls swallowing his length fully as he snaps his hips in and out of you in a relentless pace. the desk underneath you shakes with force, given that you’re perched against it while trying to stay on your feet.

it’s not long before your whole body is shaking under his frame, as his left hand lifts your leg up, now hugging him by his waist in an attempt to bring him impossibly closer. you let out another moan that gets muffled by the hand he still has over your mouth, and you’re grateful for it, because in your hazy mind filled with pleasure, you can’t mute your sounds as your orgasm approaches.

“where?” he asks, looking deep into your eyes to ensure you won’t be too loud, before freeing your lips to speak. your voice comes out hoarse when you reply where you want him to cum. “i-inside, please-”.

the norwegian has to crush his mouth to yours in a bruising, hard kiss, before his sounds are the ones that alert the outside world of what's happening in your little workspace. his bruising pace fails when he's on the edge, and a soft moan that slips out of you and directly onto his ear makes him lose it. he's deep into you, coating your insides which provoques your own frenzy to disinvolve.

everything gets too much for you, and you’re not sure you can wrap your mind around your surroundings, but martin keeps you afloat, holding your figure flush against him. "hey, you're okay, i'm here," he reassures, his soft touch grazing your cheek in a loving way when he sees your eyes glaze over. it's purely because of the mind shattering orgasm you just experienced, but he cares, wants to know you're okay. the gesture is intimate, certainly feels almost more intimate than the moment you've just shared, and once you reassure him that you're okay, he kisses the crown of your hair before proceeding to dress himself properly.

"you like the armband, right? i'm bringing it next time," martin shows his million dollar smile before picking his shirt from the floor, and puts it again in a quick motion, smothering the creases in hopes that no one that sees him leaving your office could figure out what went down between you two.

"already thinking about the next time, ødegaard?".

the door knock startles you both, and breaks the atmosphere previously held in the four walls. his hair is a bit messy after you pulled endlessly from the locks not even five minutes ago, but he makes a quick move to tame it, passing his long fingers through his gold strands and setting it in place, exactly how he likes it, before you open the door to find just the one person that you didn’t want to see.

"oh, i knew you'd still be here," arteta calls upon seeing you, still in the secluded area you work in. he doesn't find it weird that you remain here, knowing that you’re the first one to arrive and the last one to leave, just like he is. instead, his eyes furrow when he sees better into your eyes, still a bit glassy.

"martin, did you make her cry?".

his hands are in his pockets, trying to hide off the tent still present in his joggings. it doesn’t take him more than a few seconds to gather a believable enough excuse, and you’re kinda impressed about it, figuring that he might have thought about this more than you thought. "she was upset about the game" he explained, lips pursed without giving out much emotion, quite like how you saw him answer the interviews he did post-match. "told her to not worry too much. we'll win next time,” martin smiled, turning his stare to you now. “for you, right?".

[bonefall]

OHHH OK now im curious. bc of this ask: https://www.tumblr.com/bonefall/729548700508160000/could-be-like-my-cousin-shes-100-percent-deaf-in?source=share about dovewing being deaf. do cats in the BB AU have a signed form of clanmew? or is it basic gestures/just the written form of clanmew for deaf/HOH cats?

signed,

someone who really loves languages (hoping to god i spelled everything right/actually used the right words. ive been rewatching 3 hour psych lectures sine 6am...)

They have a rudimentary writing system! Clan glyphs be upon ye

It's not phonetic Clanmew, it's glyphs. Snowkit, before his tragic death saving Tawnykit, was actually OBSESSED with these. If he'd survived, he would have built these out into something he could use to communicate with. He was actually a really interesting kid.

But, unfortunately... that passion went with him. Whitewing is the next cat born with a hearing problem, and she's really uninterested in them. She isn't the same creative person that he was, and struggled with the fact that her family seemed to imply she had to "live the life he couldn't."

(note: in BB, dovewing is lionblaze's adopted daughter and bio-niece.)

I think there's going to be a big of a tragedy at play, here. Whitewing has figured out her own methods of communication. It's not a full language, but she's able to communicate basic intent with "rudimentary signs" she's created on her own.

She was only ONE degree of separation away from Dovewing (as Birchfall's, Dove's mentor, mate), but...everyone was forcing Dovewing into what THEY felt she needed. More hunting practice, more glyph practice, more lip-reading. Dovewing wasn't allowed to set her own pace or learn in her own way.

And her response was to bolt, taking all the possibility with her.

IT was the right choice for Dovewing, I think. She thinks that too. But, it wasn't the ONLY choice, you know? There's always things left unsaid and things you'll never be able to try when you make such a big decision. Who knows what could have been?

Maybe Dove and White would have ended up creating the start of a brand new dialect of Clanmew Sign Language, or changed the glyph system in a way that fit them better. Maybe that's not what matters; maybe they would have just been able to make each other feel less alone.

But as it is...

Every deaf, HOH, and mute cat in BB is currently disconnected from each other. They can't pool their skills except at Gatherings.

So Fallowfern, Dovewing, Whitewing, and Stoneclaw all have their own unique way of communicating.

There are tail signs which are used for battle, and glyphs which are used for writing.

Info: Those who go deaf later in life are still usually able to speak. Those who were born deaf often have a harder time. (Clarifying because this is apparently not common knowledge?)

OH! Bonus! Here's how each of those four tend to communicate!

Dovewing

She's REALLY frustrated by everyone forcing solutions on her. I think part of her actually really likes that she can say whatever and then not hear the response. It's like, "Deal with it. Show me you care with your actions if it's so important."

ZERO patience for people who just try to talk over her. She will immediately respect you if you listen to her carefully; only then will she give you the time of day to try and talk back. She kinda treats it like a privilege to talk to her, and she WILL revoke it without remorse.

People who have earned this privilege;

Heartstar. Naturally. And all of their children.

All of the Guardian cats, especially Antfur who is her best friend.

Violetshine, weirdly enough. She visits ShadowClan now and then and Dovewing is very fond of her and her wife and husband.

Strikestone and her new family

Squirrelflight

Briarlight

Alderheart and Sparkpelt

Twigbranch

Fernsong (BUT HE IS ON THIN. ICE. As Ivypool's husband.)

Her preferred method of being talked to is glyph writing. Heartstar is really creative with them, and it's super endearing. She improvises signs a lot and draws full pictures, making whole "doodle pages", even writing little "love letters" in the dirt before Dove wakes up. Literally peak romance, Dovewing loves her wife so muchhh

Whitewing

Also has low patience, but in a more "quick" way. She doesn't like people who take a lot of her time trying to phrase something simple and act awkwardly around her. Time is prey to Whitewing-- cut to the chase and communicate what you need her to do.

Interestingly, this leads to her really disliking Bramblestar as a leader. He's very inattentive to her needs when he organizes patrols on his own. She has very strong opinions and bad synergy with some of her Clanmates, and if she's forced on a patrol with them it ruins her day.

(She's really relieved when Squilf is reinstated post-BOTTE, Squilf knows about this quirk and accounts for it.)

Her love with Birchfall was actually a long time in the making. He really sees her, and something about the way they communicate just clicks. It's easy. They were friends, then partners, and then eventually mates and have been close their whole lives. Their body language just makes sense to each other.

She's been deaf her whole life and only knows a few very important words, but won't "speak" words if she doesn't have to. She does have a habit of making noises when she's happy though, beeping, meowing, and meeping when she's surprised and "not in work mode."

Whitewing is the kind of deaf cat in those videos who sees their human is home and goes "MEEEEEEEEEA." She would walk into a bathroom and wail so she could feel the vibrations on her paws. Vocalizing feels good. She is NOT a quiet person unless she's hunting.

Her preferred method of communication is mostly modified tail signs, but ThunderClan broadly uses glyphs, but she doesn't want to correct them on it. She feels bad telling them it's frustrating that they take so long to draw.

Stoneclaw

She has selective mutism. Her vigil was the night of the WindClan Massacre, and while sitting outside the camp with her temporary silence, ShadowClan attacked and killed her sister Thrushwing in front of her.

At first, WindClan thought it was nobility, that she'd "carried out her vigil to the bitter end." But it never healed. It's not a choice, it's trauma. She can speak when she's extremely relaxed but it's a really rare circumstance.

But, the legacy is to her benefit. She's the granddaughter of Tallstar (through Flylight, his adopted son), has an honorable story, and is a strong and confident warrior... in the daytime. She never hunts at night, when the sun sets, so does she.

(Clan cats are crepuscular, working in the morning and in the evening, but Stoneclaw only takes daylight shifts.)

Glyphs serve her fine, but she really dislikes using tail signs to communicate... brings up really bad memories.

She would REALLY benefit from someone making an effort to "legitimize" some sort of CSL, it would be like a support club to her. SO if it ever happened, Stoneclaw would jump at the chance to join. She's probably friends with Fallowfern though, once SkyClan arrives. Stoneclaw lives to become a very old girl.

Fallowfern

Mom of the Road Safety Man, guy who knows a million words for vehicles, Rabbitleap, and best friend and co-parent with Hawkwing, Plumwillow, Fallowfern is an old cat who ends up losing her hearing later in life like Dovewing!

I'm actually not entirely decided on her personality, but I'm feeling that she'd make a really good "glue" to hold everyone together. Like some kind of organizer-type person, someone who's very good at networking. She's really upset to be losing her hearing, it signifies a lot of really negative things to her.

She suddenly can't talk with a lot of people... even the ones who are reaching out to her are doing exactly that. Reaching out to her.

She likes being the reacher-outerer. It feels like being old and washed up.

SkyClan is a very good, connected Clan, with bonds notoriously VERY strong in comparison to the other Forest Four because of shared persecution... but

She's got this awful feeling that everyone's just coddling her, being nice to her, sending her to the elder's den like a trinket on a shelf.

"Does this mean... does this mean I'm going to lose music? Will anyone dance with me ever again? Do my babies want me to join them, or... or are they just tolerating stinky old mama <:( ?"

They're NOT, btw. Of course not. She's Fallowfern and she means a lot to them.

So I think at the VERY least, she finds a fondness for Stoneclaw at Gatherings. Elder friends, girlies who bond over making little grandma bracelets, but I'm not sure if it's HIT them yet that they can do something very cool together.

In fact it would be kind of funny if they weren't even aware of each other's disabilities at first, like they just started hanging out quietly. Fallowfern assumed that Stoneclaw just doesn't have anything to say and Stoneclaw figured Fallowfern was respecting her silence.

Like something just gravitated them to each other in the most natural, orbital way.

And then Snapstorm, Stoneclaw's wife, bumbles up like "Hey babe who's your friend :) ?" And Stoneclaw smiles, nods at Fallowfern to introduce herself, and then Fallow's like... "Oh I can't hear you, honey."

Stone: !!! (Taps self and makes a crossing motion over her throat)

Fallow: O_O "Ohhhh"

BUT, anyway,

Her preferred form of communication is unequivocally glyphs. I imagine SkyClan might have more written characters than other Clans, simply because they used them a LOT during their time apart under Spiderstar's Plan. Plus, they used to see a lot of road signs which they may have just adopted as glyphs.

Hmm... yeah, seems very cute that The Road Family's traffic theme continues, lmao

[therealvinelle]

wait tell us more about the deleted fic where the professor who is more competent than Tom (and capable of breaking the curse) gets fired bc Dumbledore hates him

Asker is referring to me mentioning a deleted fic I cowrote with @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin.

It was one of those failed ventures that had a great many wonderful things in it, but it ultimately wasn't... good. We chose to scrap the project, and the things we liked in it have been recycled in other fics, with that one big exception of the DADA teacher storyline.

To get ahead of follow-up questions:

Mine and the Muffin's approach to writing is to always outline first. We start with the premise, and let the idea play out in a bullet pointed play-by-play synopsis. This way we know where we're headed when we write, and even if we end up completely disregarding said outline we have the benefit of having thought things through. We sometimes do outlines for chapters, and while writing a fic we will frequently write new outlines as we write (first outline described the path from A-F, we get to C then write C-H, if that's at all illuminating - marking out the path as we go).

The whole point of this is having thought the fic's progression through before writing. It has helped us make important decisions regarding the plot, as an optional path wouldn't actually go the places we want it to. More importantly, it has sometimes revealed to us that a fic that was in the planning stage should never be allowed to get further. (This was actually the case with a recent Rank Heresy writing competition, as we confidently set about to outlining our idea only to realize that it wasn't... good...)

The big scrapped fic stands out in that this process failed us, we outlined up until a point and set about writing, getting several chapters in before having a sudden "Wait a minute, where is this going?" moment that led to a "How can we salvage this?" crisis mode that turned into the horrible realization the fic as a whole could not be saved as the idea itself was bad.

Absolutely tragic, but very educational and has led us to asking far more critical questions ahead of writing (such as "Can we actually write this?", "Do we want to write this?", or "Is this something we've already written, or that could be incorporated into an already existing fic instead?") rather than just plunging in.

The volume of Twilight fics, many of whom wound up extremely similar and treading parallel ground, is also a lesson in that we learned to think very carefully before launching a new one. Is this an original idea, or did we just repeat a previously written fic?

Thanks to the outline, and seeing a suggestion to how the fic would play out, we've been able to say early on and before actually writing anything that "Yes, this is just (insert fic name) with (insert small tweak). YIKES" and scrap the idea.

So with that, know that the deleted fic was scrapped with good reason but that the best parts of it live on in fics that are available on our Ao3s.

[bobbimorses]

Real reasson about Clint and Bobbi's divorce? I tough because Bobbi cheated on him, but not sure

absolutely not! i think that misunderstanding is likely from the end of the mockingbird solo in 2016, which decided to go ahead and try to retcon a very key event. let's get into it...

in west coast avengers, the whole team time travels to the old west. their time machine is broken and can only travel backwards. while trying to time travel back further, the phantom rider punches bobbi and takes her off the machine, separating her from the team (in space and time)

phantom rider takes bobbi to his cave and concocts a drug to convince her she's his wife

eventually, the two-gun kid (cowboy friend of hawkeye) tracks them down and is able to snap bobbi out of her drugged stupor. she realizes the extent of coercion that's occurred. clint is trapped in ancient egypt (and also dying), so he's not around for what comes next; during a showdown with bobbi, phantom rider falls off a ledge.

because fuck this guy, bobbi makes her choice: that is, choose to do nothing.

phantom rider's spirit actually just gets reincarnated when he dies, which bobbi admittedly didn't know about at the time, but fuck that guy.

when clint and bobbi are finally reunited, she doesn't divulge the sexual assault that occurred. several issues later, phantom rider's spirit in the present tells clint bobbi killed him and doesn't say why (bc fuck that guy). in what is notoriously the most dickish response (and writing) possible, clint goes "that's not what he said!!!!!!!" when bobbi tries to tell clint why she let phantom rider drop (bc, again, fuck that guy). and so, a rift is born.

clint's whole motto is "avengers don't kill," so his contentions are: you killed someone, you lied by omission, you betrayed my trust by not telling me. bobbi's are: that doesn't count as killing, that guy was a rapist, you are being a shitty husband. also fuck that guy.

the ensuing issues are a bunch of "pick a side" bullshit with the team and squabbling. which was ridiculous. clint's stance was so ridiculous that while all their acid and strife in west coast avengers continued, clint and bobbi would constantly be trying to reconcile and acting tenderly toward each other in concurrent issues of solo avengers. bc other writers thought "yeah fuck that guy."

so that's why they broke up. but also they didn't bc they got back together? but also they didn't get back together bc that was a skrull. but that wasn't supposed to be a skrull at the time and was only one retroactively. but then they got back together anyway. i digress.

ANYWAYS this brings us to mockingbird #8 (2016), which attempts to retcon all that in a way i can only describe as insulting. first of all, phantom rider's described as an ex of bobbi's, which is a terrible start.

then this happens:

yeah. whether the writer was trying to retcon the reasoning behind the divorce, bobbi having been sexually assaulted, or whatever aspect of the entire storyline, what instead comes across is that the writer decided "woman who survived sexual assault and asserted her agency in letting perpetrator die" should be "so like, bobbi cheated on clint, bc she makes her own decisions!" while we have panels of a man drugging her. ???? the only way you could potentially reconcile this is bobbi is lying to phantom rider to get him to fuck off (bc fuck that guy), but as i mentioned, she also calls him her "ex" in her internal monologue earlier in this very same issue, so that definitely didn't seem to be the writer's intention. sooo. we should all collectively ignore this retcon attempt.

there's also the added complication of whether their divorce was finalized during west coast avengers what with bobbi being presumed dead but then not dead, and then clint actually dying and then undying and then dying and then undying again, bobbi confirming they were divorced in new avengers reunion, but then hawkeye v4 later having clint sign divorce papers...but that's not the crux of the issue at hand. leave that for a wills and trusts probate hypo.

SO in summary: not really. if you found this obnoxiously long, enjoy this even longer text post i once made summarizing their relationship, kind of!

[smokestarrules]

hi! i wanted to ask u a question abt gwitch if that’s okay. during That episode 17, before miorine does the cruel/idiotic betrayal breakup she tells guel that she’s the same as him and also doesn’t want to lose her precious things. obviously she meant suletta but i was always confused, bc she’s still going thru with the backstabbing and pushing her away so she IS losing her precious thing unlike guel who with this deal is preserving his precious thing which is jeturk company by partnering w her. so they’re not the same in that sense OR did she mean 2 other ways: that she doesn’t want to lose the precious suletta she knows and loves to prospera’s manipulations that’ll turn her into a murderer, or that she means it like suletta will surely die on this path if it continues and she doesn’t want to lose her literally.

sorry this got long but i’m v curious how u interpreted that, like she said that and then goes and gives up her precious thing- unless it was the latter reasons i mentioned. also i’m realizing now it sounds like i hate miorine, i don’t, i get what she did and im nuetral/like her character but i never got the catharsis and resolution from that act bc of the rushed ending, and now i have this unresolved frustration and anger towards her that pops up sometimes when i think abt the 2nd cour.

i rly rly wish they’d gotten to talk abt this more during their reunion than just the one line “pulling u away from ur mom, it was all a mistake” like i desperately needed the words im sorry. i KNOW she probably said it offscreen but maaaan, i know u like this trope but break your heart to save them gets under my skin so badly i just want to shake the character!

this got long again i’m so sorry for the rambling, like i said i’ve got baggage from ep17 that imo didn’t pay off well enough to justify doing that. i still ship sulemio tho and am so happy they’re married, it just breaks my heart that we didn’t get more episodes to unpack that miorine acted exactly like her father. have a good day! thanks for reading all this if u did

To me it was both of the reasons you yourself mentioned: Miorine weighed her options, and ultimately decided that Suletta would be worse off if she didn't cut ties with her in the worst possible way. As a result, Suletta would be taken out of the most dangerous areas (re: Prospera also giving her up, as was the deal) and she wouldn't be further corrupted by Prospera either.

There just really wasn't any good decision to make. I love that episode because I think it's incredibly good character development for Miorine to be able to make that choice; she's always been somewhat of a selfish character and that's been shown alongside her protection of Suletta, so obviously this is a huge decision for her no matter what.

I would have also loved to see an apology, but unfortunately it's pretty clear that the tail end of the show was pretty rushed and while the scene we did get of their reunion was done incredibly well, there's a few things that they simply ran out of time for. In the end, I think I would have loved a true season 2 where they could flesh everything out more slowly and thoroughly, but I am happy with what we were ultimately given. You are absolutely valid to have some misgivings about how it all went down.

[kindlespice]

🍉 actual hiatus 🍉

hi hi! so... it's been a while! *checks notes* i have not posted since august... of last year x.x i've been lurking around a bit occasionally dropping likes here and there, but for the most part been entirely absent. i feel like it's wayyyy past time for me to check-in, let everybody know i'm okay and all that jazz. but i am declaring this an actual hiatus now

tl;dr

i lost the simblr itch, i thought "surely it will come back" but it never came back and now i'm hyperfixating on other things.

i'm gonna put specifics under a read more if anyone's that interested in what i've been doing, what i will be doing, where i'll be hanging out now, etc. but it's really nothing big or major--just interests changing.

⭐ my content + patreon

(since it's kinda important and i want everyone to be able to see this) i'm not deleting this account and i'm still keeping my content up both on patreon and sfs! you will still be able to download things for free!!! i will be deleting my patreon tier! even though it was basically a donation tier, i feel bad keeping it up knowing i'm consciously not making more sims content (or being really active in the community) for the foreseeable future i'll be reaching out to existing patrons and making a similar post over there as well about the tier change!

i also wanna say thank you to everyone who's ever followed, donated, liked, commented, messaged, lurked or just been sweet and kind to me ❤️! simblr will always have a special place in my heart, so i don't think i'll ever leave leave, but i owe it to you guys to let you know that i'm making the conscious decision to be inactive for some time.

as a closing statement, fk isr*el and i am absolutely 100% without a doubt full stop

AGAINST GENOCIDE AND FOR A 🍉 FREE PALESTINE 🍉

you should be too if you're any kind of decent human being :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

⭐what will happen to my account?

nothing really. or at least nothing different from how it's been for the last year and some change XD like i said, i'm still keeping my blogs up, downloads won't move, etc. i am just committing to not actively posting content or really being on simblr that much. maybe i'll drop some likes or comments when the mood hits (like i have been), but not really much else. i guess if there's any questions about this i'll answer them since my active attention will be back on simblr for at least a few days while i clean some things up. i would like to do one last thing as a kind of parting gift at some point... i never did end up cleaning up my downloads page or organize the thumbs/sorting for my cc like i said i would so maybe i'll do that before it gets away from me again but i'm not making any promises

⭐why am i on hiatus?

nothing bad happened or anything, i just.... lost interest. I already wasn't really playing the game that much even when i was super active; i mostly just took pictures and did edits. but i just wasn't having as much fun as i used to, opening the game started feeling like a chore, i wasn't all that inspired to make content, etc. i've burnt out on simblr on many an occasion so i just took a break like i always do but it kept going...and going.......and going.........until i realized it had been FOREVER and i hadn't really felt the itch to create here during that time, it wasn't coming back, and i was having much more fun doing other stuff. the times i did consider coming back it was more bc i felt bad about not creating rather than any actual desire to create. so i had to think long and hard about whether or not i even really wanted to come back. and i flip-flopped for probably 6 months--trying to drum up creative projects and never committing--before coming to the conclusion that i think i just need to call it a hiatus XD

⭐what have i been up to?

annoying my family with boycott lists and making them buy alternatively :D bouncing back and forth between many different hyperfixations... i fell back down the skyrim rabbithole several times, genshin, stardew, acnh, made a million notion pages i'll never use--the usual suspects. BUT BG3! at one point i swore i was gonna come back end of july/early aug but then BG3 dropped early and it was over... i definitely did A LOT of heavy lurking here when the girlies were all posting GORGEOUS tavs omg... i spent a while getting ts3 up and running, even made a sideblog thinking "maybe i'll come back with ts3 content that would be cool!"... just to not end up playing and not using the sideblog and not coming back -.- 4LIENS were supposed to have a comeback like... 4 separate times and it just did not happen... i've been making a concerted effort to get back into drawing and art. i've been in a kind of... depression? slump? with it for years now; always feeling like it wasn't good enough, that i should be better since i'm so "gifted and talented", i should be monetizing it and not "wasting" all that skill, blah blah imposter syndrome blah blah getting frustrated when i'm not 100% perfect all the time blah blah feeling like a disappointment to my family blah blah... but i am HELLA sick and tired of having all this anxiety and fear surrounding something i used to love so much so i'm pushing through! i've been trying out lots of different mediums and actually using my sketchbooks and just generally trying to introduce more fun into the process and stop being so hard on myself all the time. i picked up crocheting for a bit. at this point i haven't touched it in so long i probably forgot how to do it but... maybe one day i'll make a blanket or smth I started journalling (relatively) regularly for a bit. i was feeling really down at several points throughout the year and i thought having daily entries would help combat the feeling like every day was just absolute shit. on the contrary, the majority of days are good--at worst mundane--the bad ones just tend to stick out more. trying to get back into reading again... i miss doing it for leisure and taking notes bc i want to and not because i have a 300 annotation school assignment :P and a whole bunch of other stuff probably but it's hard to remember every single thing that's been on my mind for 16 months lol

⭐what will i be doing / where can you find me now?

i'm hoping to start a webtoon/build up art socials in the new year as a part of my "reconnecting to art" process. i made some art socials @kbearie-art here and @/kbearie_art on insta, youtube, tiktok, and twitter; they're empty for now though bc i got scared the minute i made them and never posted anything -.- but i'll be real with you... twitter is a cesspool, and im not fond of tiktok so i think tumblr, insta and youtube will probably be where i'll dedicate my time i've been thinking about getting back into posting videos on youtube again just in general. in fact this thought was the final push for me to make this post bc i was like... if i post a video out of the blue with no word to simblr that would be fked up XD i play games all the time and i had such a fun time recording, learning to edit and stuff that i think i'd like to pursue that further. i wouldn't be doing sims related stuff though bc...well... i don't play anymore XD but other games ya know. my other youtube is kspice (the same place with my tutorials, speed edits, the acnh vid, etc.) if you'd be interested in that

and i guess that's pretty much it!

again, for at least the next couple of days i'll probably actively have my eyes on this post/simblr in general (and i am gonna clear out my inbox hopefully) so if you have questions i'd ask em quickly before i go back into hiding XD

thanks again, i love you guys, free palestine, and have a good new year! 🍉⭐💖

[cleromancy]

an underexplored aspect of red robin 26 (the one where he sets up a weeks-long rubes goldberg scheme to kill captain boomerang only to choke at the last minute) to me is the impact tim thought this would have on his place among the bats. like what he thought would happen *next.* because he absolutely did consider it and wasn't at all surprised by dick and bruce showing up afterwards to talk to him about the choices he made that day.

to start with. why now? there was no particular event that made him decide to do it. tim does say he heard harkness was trying to regain lost power, but in context its not reasoning behind his decision, it was an opportunity to kick his plan off.

and i think its fair to say tim was never gonna be able to go through with it. that was never gonna happen. but he *thought* he could, and he decided he was going to, despite repeatedly questioning what the hell he was doing. he explicitly makes the points that he thinks its wrong, he knows his dad wouldn't want him to, and he doesn't believe itll even be more emotionally satisfying than bringing harkness to justice. and yet thats still the plan! for weeks!

and he does set up an emotional failsafe for himself which he calls plausible deniability, where all he did was manipulate events so that he expects harkness to be killed by victor fries by the end of it.

except ofc when it comes down to it tim cant let fries kill a guy, which he takes to mean he wants to do it himself. any interesting moral questions here about who would potentially be at fault are very tidily sidestepped as irrelevant. bc i mean to tim they kind of are. his veneer of plausible deniability was always an excuse. the interesting thing here for the character is that this means he's willing to do away with that plausible deniability, and intends to follow through regardless. (i went back to delete some images bc i ran out, but he does explicitly say theres a change of plan and he's gonna kill harkness himself.)

this is the point he dispatches dr fries, which he calls in to 911, and follows harkness. bla bla confrontation bla, and harkness fuckin trips off the edge of the roof.

the implication here to me, with the way tims flashback is framed as an interruption and the way harkness goes from saying he has no idea who the hell tim is to saying tim doesn't have the stones, is that harkness was babbling this whole time, and that's just what actually makes it through to tims ears. and i also think the implication here is tim being like ".......heartbreaking: the worst person you know just made a great point." hes like shit! hes fucking right! i *dont* have the stones to do this!

anyway. the next page we have dickie and damian show up. hi boys!!

so to recap. tim decided he was going to murder harkness himself rather than using a proxy, *called 911 knowing the other bats would hear it,* and went off to do the deed.

(side note its always dickie loving hours in this house and. you just know dicks thinking of blockbuster here. oughe.) .....i also get the impression that dicks "timmy down the questionable-choices-well" senses were tingling somehow from the 911 call (which, i cannot stress this enough, only even mentioned fries), and i think him and damian most likely fucking hauled ass to get there, which is also fun to think about hehe

i have a lot of thoughts about whats going through dicks and tims heads here lol. but i want to get back to the point. this is the segue into the reveal that bruce was also there the whole time, he knows what tim had been planning to do, and now hes yelling at him for thinking about killing harkness at all.

AND THE COWL COMES OFF WHEEEEEEE :elmofire:

(ok actually i am going to derail here for a minute i gotta spell it out. tim kept it on when he was talking to dick bc he was lying to dick by omission. he wanted dick to think well of him, and he doesn't believe he earned the praise--most likely thinks dick would think less of him if he knew the extent to which tim had planned the whole thing. the end result--not killing harkness--does not, in tims mind, count. what dick was saying was "I understand how hard it was to not let him die, and i love you," and what tim heard was "i know you were always going to make the right choice, because you care about doing the right thing." and when you interpret it the way i do--that the deciding factor for tim was actually that he *couldn't* do it, not because he changed his mind? yeah, tims not gonna be looking dick in the eye anytime soon.)

but anyway. buce:

and the thing is that if you don't look at it from the *batshit* bruce-and-tim-mutual-god-complex perspective... tims actual non-thoughtcrime actions began and ended with a series of misdemeanors, no matter how successfully he arbitrated the end results. again any actual moral questions around hand crafting a bespoke scenario tailored to end in a mans murder by inciting another to kill him are completely sidestepped, bc to both tim and bruce its cut and dry; its just murder using another person as the weapon. tim never once actually believed the plausible deniability thing and there was no tangible difference to him btwn manipulating an intermediary, doing it himself, or even *just letting harkness go splat.* it was all fucking talking points for the sake of argument, he was preparing to play devils advocate against bruce to defend his own choice bc. this was always the endgame.

and

which like. i cant help but think of batman 424 bc, well, im the jason todd think-abouter:

and im officially out of images for this post but what happens next for tim is bruce flying away vs in jasons he tells bruce "i guess i spooked him. he slipped." and flies off in the back of a big silent panel of Angst Buce. i love how completely fucking opposite these scenarios were for the both of them but ykw actually thats its own fucking post.

all this just to say tim planned to murder a man in cold blood *fully knowing* dick and bruce would find out. tim can't even face dick when dick tells him he did good, and the confrontation with bruce feels almost like tim did the whole damn thing just to prove a point to bruce which is. hilarious bc it WORKED to that end even though tim did not actually kill anybody at all. like that was a pretty significant thing that happened. tim very much did not kill digger harkness.

(i also think its significant that this issue is like immediately after tim tries to give cass her batgirl outfit back and shes like "...No." and hes like "please i miss you so much 😭 just come back to gothammmm i dont care what name you go by you could even be black robin if you want that would be fun right cass we could be red robin and black robin together? no? what if we put your name first? ....no? .....okay just promise youll think about it... bye............" [paraphrased])

anyway. *holds tim drake up under the arms like simba* Perceive him

[corviiids]

I saw your post about Achilles and Patroclus (the one for the ask game) and it was really interesting, I like the points you made and I enjoyed reading it, but I have a question about Achilles' bloodlust before Patroclus' death: what about what he did to Troilus? This happens before Patroclus' death in most accounts, so Achilles is very brutal with it for someone, who says he prefers to ransom the Trojans rather than kill them.

Yes, Troilus had to die, if the Achaeans wanted to win the war, but his death didn't have to be so brutal. Furthermore, Achilles kills him in a sanctuary (Apollo's temple) with no regard for the consequences, and then throws the kid's head to Hector and a few other of his brothers (there are also even more severe versions about what Achilles did to this kid before and/or after killing him)

And then there's Polyxena, who usually is accompanying Troilus and gets kidnapped (and most likely r*ped) by Achilles after he kills her brother. In some versions she was partially the cause of Achilles' death, setting up his ambush by her brothers in Apollo's temple (which in my opinion seems like her way of avenging Troilus' death).

And then the ghost of Achilles demands her sacrifice (either as revenge to her revenge or because he still wants to have her, or both, 'm not sure), otherwise the Achaeans wouldn't be able to leave Troy.

I'm really curious about your thoughts on what Achilles did to these two.

(The argument about the Iliad characters is never ending and there are tons of different takes and opinions. I'm not trying to pick up an argument, I just want to hear you take on this, maybe what versions of these myths you prefer, why do you think Achilles acted the way he did and how does it fit in his characteristic you wrote previously?)

hellooo yeah so first and foremost obviously due to the nature of mythology it's always going to be kind of impossible to have, like, one unified "version" of a character that brings together every depiction of them throughout history, as you said. i think every storyteller is going to add something to a figure that doesn't necessarily mesh with every other depiction. it's like spiderman. it's for that reason that in that post (i had to go read it again lol i forgot exactly what i said but im pretty sure) i only talked about events that happened in or were referred to in the iliad. i.. clearly.. dont have a very good memory so i could very much be wrong about this but i dont think polyxena is mentioned in the iliad and troilus is only mentioned by name, i don't thiiiiiink the story of his death is relayed? i could be wrong! but yeah all of which is to say if my characterisation of achilles seems inconsistent with other myths, it sometimes might just be because it simply is. i dont try to account for every myth bc i would explode into a shower of snails

that said though i think in this instance we can find a compatibility. my point in that post wasn't that achilles isn't ever bloodthirsty or brutal, only that he shouldn't be defined by his bloodlust. quoting my own post bc again i had to go reread it

it's not that he isn't violent or hasn't killed or that he has reservations about taking lives

it's uncontroversial that he committed a lot of pretty heinous acts and clearly has the capacity for great cruelty and does not really weigh kindness or compassion or charity as a major factor in his decision-making. from my post again

he doesn't fight to kill, he fights to win. that's not hugely different in terms of the outcome, given it is in a war context where defeat and death tend to mean the same thing, but it IS different from a personality and character perspective, because it tells us achilles is at worst indifferent to human life rather than actually being driven by a desire to take it. better? worse? doesn't matter, not my point - just different.

achilles is more than happy to commit atrocities. it doesn't bother him to do so, morally. indifference to human life is sometimes indistinguishable from being outright driven by a desire to kill first and foremost. sometimes it's worse. achilles kind of does what he wants - he enjoys excelling at things - he excels at killing. so, stands to reason he might take a particularly brutal or bloodthirsty action if he feels like it. im putting the rest of this under a cut because it got long again

achilles choosing to ransom lycaon isn't proof that he is a merciful soul. it's just that he isn't at war for the love of making war and ending lives in and of itself. he absolutely does not give a shit about lycaon at all as an individual. if someone doesnt have to die, he might decide to let them go (vs someone who's in this because they love killing and therefore would just kill anyway). or he might kill them. if someone DOES have to die, achilles wouldn't go out of his way to make it a kind end. he might if he feels like it. but he might not. the bottom line is he can be bloodthirsty, but that's not his core driving trait. he's not in this to kill, he's in this to win and to be remembered for it. the killing is incidental (if he wins enough then it doesn't matter if his victims survive or not), so it'll happen or it won't and it doesn't really matter to him. so yeah, a plea for mercy might work on him better than it might work on someone who really actively wants to kill people because maybe he has no particular stake in killing them, which is why ive said he isn't fundamentally driven by bloodlust. but like if achilles thinks it might be fun to kill someone in a brutal way, no voice in his head is gonna be like Whoa there champ! How about not doing that? bc his reasons for not killing aren't ethical concerns, it's just a byproduct of what drives him. this is a fine distinction i know but i think it's important. again im not arguing (and wont ever) that achilles is a good moral figure, it's more just about understanding who he is. the killing isn't his goal hence why hes willing to ransom trojan soldiers moreso than the other greeks but if he DOES kill he's probably also going to do it more brutally than others again because his reasons were never rooted in morality to begin with

basically in terms of how im able to marry my view of achilles not being driven by bloodlust with the fact that he does objectively violent and brutal acts, i think those things are compatible with each other bc he can be bloodthirsty without that being the core driving force of his character and the thing that makeshim what he is. does that make sense? the issue i was railing against specifically w that post was that he tends to be depicted as a guy who just wants to fight kill bite kill blood blood blood and i think he DOES act like that guy but that's not the be all and end all of him. killing is incidental to winning, but he can take it or leave it - what i refer to as the breakdown of achilles' character following patroclus' death is the transition in achilles from "i want to win, and i'll kill to make that happen" to "i want to kill for the sake of killing" it stops being about glory and starts being about destruction and pain

[padfootastic]

Hey padfootastic,

Was scrolling through hp posts and saw a post where people were fighting over Remus situation. So just wanted to know your opinion bout it. Do you think Remus could have done better in PoA? He was a professor, responsible for the safety of others.

No matter how much I love Sirius but at that time he wasn't innocent in others mind, so hiding a big detail that could have affected the whole situation, hell, had Sirius really had been behind harry, he would have been dead cause our little innocent Remus here thought that it was a good idea to not tell them how Sirius had all the resources at his disposal. How easy it was for him to sneak into Hogwarts and harm harry and others.

It really was dangerous and well indirectly he did prove Snape right no? What do you think could have happened had Remus had guts to tell Dumbledore about Sirius being an animagus?

On the other side, oh man! I can imagine Sirius being all furious and depressed at the same time. He'd need to go for another plan, he'd think that now he won't be able to even see Harry easily and many more difficulties. Ugh

Imagine the angst after after innocence thing, Sirius letting go any single drop of love he might have had for Remus and treating him like a any other person. No different. Remus hating himself more and more and Sirius just. Not. Giving a. Single. eff. About the whole damn thing. I cant-

Please tell me what you think bout the whole situation.

yoooooo

i love this lol people asking me for my remus opinions never gets old bc i have endless salt to provide. i will never not be annoyed by that cretin.

okay so. PoA. i don’t often focus on that part of his whole arc (which is, funnily enough, one of the only concessions to remus’ ‘flaws’ that i’ve seen the remus fans give lol) but it’s honestly so??? like it’s literally one of the best examples we have of how self preservation is literally built into his core. iirc he doesn’t do it bc he’s afraid of how dumbledore would perceive him? doesn’t want him to know how they (he) broke his trust? and he’s willing to damn an entire school of students PLUS his best friends son to an alleged mass murderer for it. he will have that on his conscience rather than self introspection a bit and get thru the hard part.

i’ve seen people call him brave for a variety of reasons which all begin and end w his lycanthropy but i’m gonna be honest, he’s one of the most cowardly characters in the series in my opinion. every single time he has to make an active decision that might compromise his sense of self/perception or even just his peace of mind, he backs off. retreats. runs the fuck away. attacks outward. doesn’t take responsibility.

i think snape was both right, in that remus was helping sirius but wrong, because it wasn’t out of any friendship or responsibility. it was just a way to save face for himself. also probably him not wanting to confront any difficult feelings or memories.

wrt if he had told dumbledore? man idek. i literally can’t imagine it and surprisingly, haven’t read any fics exploring that option either 🤔 sus, that. also very telling lol maybe tightened security? disappointed dumbles? i cant see any major changes tho bc even sirius as a grim was pretty well hidden except maybe anti animagus wards if those r a thing?

also yes!!! i think sirius should be allowed to be angry and disappointed more often. he should be spitting mad about the fact that not only did remus not care a lick about harry, he also gave up so easily on sirius. i think he should be allowed that space.

[nono-uwu]

(Reupload bc a whole 20 hours later and no notes?? Is it that bad)

Anyways, 2nd ons oc yippeee

Lore utc yea

So this time our story starts in 80s japan! Where, for lack of a better word, a very average girl was born. Or is she average? Well,,,,,

Anyways, Yua had a normal upbringing. Two loving parents with stable jobs, rich overseas relatives that spoiled her rotten whenever possible (ok that's not that normal but whatevs) and a few friends in school.

Things changed when in her last year of middle school her parents announced that they were moving to their relatives overseas. Yua did not want that. At all. While she tried to convince them, the move has already been planned and plane tickets were about to be purchased.

Two days later, in a moment of intrusive compulsion, Yua pushed her father down the stairs. It was supposed to be just a little push, maybe to sprain his ankle and to delay the move but as fate would have it, her father almost died in that fall. Her mother, obviously horrified, declared then and there that Yua wasn't her daughter anymore. Her father ended up in a nursing home due to lasting damages after the fall and her mother moved and left Yua alone.

Yua's living expenses were afterwards payed for by her overseas family and she could stay in Japan.

Come high school, Yua was once again a normal student who happened to live alone, the accident having been buried and chalked up to an unlucky slip. She was decently popular thanks to her good grades and outgoing attitude but somehow never made any lasting friendships. Except that one time...

Yua noticed a rather peculiar classmate of hers. He had ginger hair, always wore a hood and barley ever spoke to anyone. If he spoke he was generally rude, wasn't in any club, every break he'd disappear onto the rooftop and bolted straight home at the end of each day. He never did any homework or participated in projects but still passed each class. She was intruiged. How could such an asshole exist?

To investigate, she examined every nook and cranny of the rooftop and stumbled upon the tight space between the back of the little building door thing that leads up to the rooftop and the fence which was the ginger's hiding spot. She tried to strike up conversation until the guy had enough and rudely told her off. "You're better off not talking to me. I'm always alone for a reason." Oh great, he's fucking emo. Though this didn't dissuade Yua, if anything she was determined to get this guy to talk to her. As a fun experiment.

A few months of constant perstering later, she finally got his first name (because just looking at the class list would have been too easy). Literally Mistake. No wonder he's like that.

Almost half a year later, Yua got Machigai to open up a little and the two hit it off. They ended up very close friends, some even assumed they were dating (they're both gay so they just found it funny).

At the end of high school, Yua was terrified. Terrified of losing the one friend she had, terrified of all the change that was inevitablely going to occur. Her fear got even worse when Machigai straight up disappeared after graduation. She didn't know what to do. She hasn't applied to any colleges, she hasn't thought about her future at all.

In a slight crisis, she visited her relatives overseas, maybe make amends with her mother. Unfortunately, her mother was unwilling to see her, believing her to be a ruthless monster. Yua continued to travel around for a bit, in a desperate attempt to figure out her future. When she returned to japan, she was just as lost as when she left.

A few years and multiple jobs later, she accidentally stumbled upon Japan's undergroung magic government (or something like that, I only skimmed cat16 lol) and it suddenly hit her. She doesn't have to accept change or make rash decisions about her future if she's immortal, right? Plus this way she might be able to seek out her old friend again (because there is no way that guy is just a normal human).

Some convoluted shenanigans later she struck a deal with the Hiiragi family. She would offer herself up to be experimented on for the development of cursed gear (they were working on that right) for a chance at immortality (except she just gave some vague reasoning on what she wants lol). And once again, as fate would have it, she would get her wish fulfilled in probably the worst way possible.

One of the demons up for grabs (lol) was one nobody was really sure of how it got there or how it precisely worked. It was a set of 6 rings and it was supposed to be a very furios demon, as it possessed and killed anyone who tried beforehand.

Yua took the gamble and she was greated by a... kid? The demon had the form of a human, probably around 11 years old. "Hello, human. Lemme just...", before Yua could react, the demon had already pierced her heart and looked inside.

"So you want immortality? Wow, super original. Scared of change? Boring! Oh well, you do have some amazing greed so I'll consider it. Tell me, what will you give me in return?"

"Huh?"

"hUh? I was crystal clear. But since you're stupid, I guess I'll give you a hint: Your desires and greed alone aren't enough to satiate me if you want to be immortal. You have to give me another thing for that to happen"

"...like what?"

"Ugh, isn't it obvious?! Your sanity, your emotions, your eyesight! Anything goes!"

"Then... what about my tears?"

"Tears? Oh like your abilty to cry... that should work. So deal?"

"What would happen to me if I accept?"

"How should I know?! You'll just have to wait and see! So are you up to it? If you say no you're dead anyways."

"Fine. I accept."

And thus, Yua's new life began. The demons powers granted her some sort of razor sharp physics-defying, almost spider web like, string that would become uneffective against anyone wearing one of the rings allowing for a more supportive use. She spent god knows how long training with and without the rings (that's how she got those scars) and any time not spent training was spent studying magic n shit. She became highly proficient in spells and yeah. (Muh brains dead rn i'm sorry)

As for the no tears thing... it's not great. Her eyes still self-lubricate to get debris and whatnot out of there if needed, but no tears for anything else. But to still process intense emotions, Yua has different reactions. If she's sad/angry/[other negative emotion] she feels physically ill. Sometimes to the point of having to throw up. If she's very very happy/relieved, it makes her unable to stand still. So in order to avoid the more negative effects, she learnt to surpress most if not all negative emotions, at least to the point where she doesn't feel ill anymore. Unfortunately, this led to all her emotions getting dampened which leads to her coming off a insensitive sometimes. She also often forces a more positive emotion out of negative ones or straight up ignores them to avoid feeling ill.

Fast forward to the apocalypse and Yua was promptly put into the JIDA. During the first-ish years she was often sent out to rescue people and to help train up soldiers. During this time she rescued and pseudo adopted a boy who miraculously survived the initial catastrophe (he is the 3rd major oc. I lied her and his demons are also more fleshed out but ahem anyways more on the lil guy later).

During all this she was still determined to meet Machigai again, if possible. She went digging in the army's archives and lo and behold, she found the ginger. In the documents he was classified as M.I.A., namley kidnapped and held captive by vampires. Yua brought this up with the top brass and they allowed her to conduct a search and rescue mission for Machigai since the JIDA realized he'd be a useful asset. Except she had to do it alone.

So Yua yolo'd into vampire teritory up until Nagoya, making sure to draw enough attention to herself without getting caught.

The sudden disappearance of soldiers was obviously enough to draw the attention of the ruling vampires in Nagoya, namley Crowley Eusford. At the mention of "a woman with long dark hair" Machigai uncharacteristically volunteered to take care of the disturbance. While it was highly unlikley that it really was his friend from over ten years ago, he wanted to at least make sure it's not really her.

Aaaand they meet again. Dramatic reunion ensues. Machigai is so confused and shocked and Yua couldn't be more relieved at the sight of Machigai in that uniform. She gave a very simplified version of how tf she looks that young and is still alive while Machigai also fessed up about what is up with him.

Machigai broke down a little and pleaded with Yua to run away with him and to leave everything behind. Unfortunatley she couldn't agree but she promised to visit again, consequences be damned.

Yua stuck around the area for a little more to hopefully lure out the big fish himself. Crowley did show up (for reasons that I'll expand on later adnwgjnhr) and in Yua offered her deal (see doodle page): Crowley let's her, yk, live and in return she gives him some key information about the ginger enigma (Machigai). Crowley accepts (reason will be explained later. again. I'm sorry) and Yua gets to live. Hurray!

Once she gets back to the JIDA base, her 'treason' gets exposed and she is thrown into jail! Except she manipulates her way out of severe consequences and the lil guy she helped vouches for better treatment.

Yua keeps her promise to Machigai and a few weeks later she shows up in Nagoya again! Except this time in her fresh new outfit (it's literally the demon army uniform without the coat and like, 10% more sexy. slay.).

Some shenanigans later and she is now a frequent guest at Nagoya City Hall and everyone just kinda got used to her, especially since she often brings some juicy intel with her (and snacks for Machigai). Hell, even Ferid got aquianted with her and let her be because she's fun.

I honestly don't knew where to put this but anyways, Yua develops a massive crush on Horn. Yea

[welcometogrouchland]

"Hunter should have gotten to kill Belos" I get the instinct and I think his desire for revenge was an important part of his development this season (learning that the things that happened to him were wrong and he's allowed to feel angry about it and want justice) but ultimately for the future showed that Hunter isn't happy when he's seeking revenge. He's angry, unlike himself, so wrapped up in his own grief that he can't reach out to the people he loves. Hunter never needed revenge. He needed a support system, closure for his loss and the promise of people who love him and a future where he can finally be who he wants.

His powers provide closure for his loss (flapjacks sacrifice wasn't for nothing, he'll never forget his first friend who's now helping him out from beyond the grave, always a permanent part of him), has a support system (first the hexsquad/Nocedas and then Darius and Eberwolf) and knows what he wants (his speech at the end of thanks to them). Whatever happened with Hunter after the scene in the detention pit where he's finally able to admit how much his friends mean to him is inconsequential, because that was the crux of his arc.

Hunter doesn't like revenge. I'm not even sure Caleb and the golden guards were ever anything other than a figment of Belos' imagination (although I love the golden ghosts concept for fanfic purposes) meant to represent the one thing that could make Belos feel guilty. And then he bullheadely ignores them, because he refuses to ever admit that he could be wrong.

This show has also rarely (if ever) championed revenge. It just hasn't. On a petty scale, yes, characters are allowed to get intentional and unintentional revenge. But this show is fundamentally very big on restorative justice and sticks to it's guns on this theme even when traditional western storytelling would deem a punitive approach the most satisfying. Because punitive approaches historically are bad at inducing change and growth (which is what this whole series is about)

It would've been a whole other can of worms to have the extremely kind boy that is hunter succumb to his most belos-like instincts (bc Belos thinks he's getting revenge for himself and for (his own, twisted idea of-) his brother for most of the series, I think) in the final minutes of his arc that's otherwise been dedicated to healing.

I get it. It's one of those things where, because of human nature (but also western nurture) and the general trends of stories like these. We want Hunter to kill him. But I honestly don't think that was ever on the cards, no matter what I may have wanted/thought before. It makes sense in retrospect to me. And it feels like this was always what the crew had planned.

Again, you don't have to like it. It's okay to like vengeance in your stories! I love a good old fashioned vengeance storyline! (though I think it's wrong to say that toh is a story that, based on what we knew before WaD aired, promoted or venerated vengeance). But I don't think it's fair to act like the writers are unintelligent for this decision. They're not. They're just coming at the scene with different priorities

[onehundredandeleventropicalfish]

this might be a controversial opinion idk, but i feel like a lot of people assign more intent to dream's ending than was actually there

like. yes his death was in part a suicide, i'm not saying it wasn't, and i've talked a lot about the reasons and motivations behind that already. but i've seen a lot of responses to my posts lately talking about how dream knew this would definitely happen and he had a plan and was doing [x] thing because he knew it would lead to his death (or the more gentle version that he didn't plan it, but saw it coming and did nothing to stop it)

which. doesn't feel like an accurate description of what happened?

because he tried to stop the kindly ones plot. he genuinely did

he knew that the furies wouldn't be persecuting him out of nowhere, that's unlike them, there's enough nuance in this situation that something else has to be spurring them. which is true. lyta invoked the furies for revenge against dream, and the blood debt is enough of a technicality that they had the power to back her

so dream goes after lyta - stop her, stop the furies. but he's met with thessaly, who predicted this, and has protected lyta inside a ritual circle, which dream can't cross. she taunts him about it (bc this kind of magic is one of the few places mortals have more power than endless), and when he asks why, she says she wanted to hurt him

alright. no stopping the furies. but dream knows they will have to meet him face to face if they want to do anything about this, so as long as they meet him in the dreaming, that's his seat of power, they won't be able to act against him in any real capacity. he'll just have to wait them out, until they tire of this or something happens to lyta

there's one more caveat though - if he leaves the dreaming willingly during their attack, he cedes that seat of power, he won't be the master of the dreaming anymore, it'll belong to them. and that's the last thing he wants, so he tells delirium when she asks that he can't go with her, he has to stay here

nuala is the breaking point. because he has still been dealing with suicidal thoughts for centuries, they're not new and they didn't go anywhere, he's just really good at ignoring those thoughts in favour of his actual responsibilities. and while he didn't intend to die here, he's more exhausted than ever, he's lost in grief over his son, and for the first time, doesn't have the strength to push those thoughts down. nuala calls him from the dreaming, because he promised her any request, and it's a good enough excuse and he's tired enough that for a moment his subconscious wins that battle

and from there he's stuck. he tries to go back to the dreaming and fix it, but it's not his anymore. so he's left with only two choices - leave, abandon all this, go somewhere far away and stop caring about everyone you left behind and what the furies may do to the dreaming in your absence - it's no longer your problem. or he can acquiesce to their demands, lyta's call for revenge

and given who dream is, that was never any kind of choice.

i think people assume he planned it all because of one of these lines

but that's the thing. when the only thing keeping you going is the fact that suicide would be the most terrible horrible act you could possibly commit (this is someone who values his responsibility over anything else! he is dutiful! the whole point is he cannot willingly abandon his post!), you definitely haven't made a plan, and you're never going to. it's an escapist fantasy that sits at the back of your mind, that's all

the things death is drilling him about here are his decision with nuala and the fact that he never chose to leave, even when he got in way over his head, that's all she questions him about in this conversation

and i don't think he's lying in his response to her

yes, he's been 'making preparations' for a while, but those are things like ensuring daniel's ascendancy, tying up loose ends with people, actions that don't lead to anything. he doesn't have to die just because he did those things, those are just emergency precautions. and they make him feel better to do, because he gets to indulge in that fantasy without doing anything about it. he can't be blamed for this, they don't mean he wants to leave, he's going to keep doing his job forever because he has to

but you know. just in case. he's just being smart about it. that's what he can tell himself, anyway

and the reason why this distinction matters so much to me is, dream really tried. we see as early as season of mists that this is what his internal monologue is like so much of the time, given the slightest excuse to give up, in this case literally just the journey between the dreaming and hell, and some part of him yearns to just abandon everything

but he tells it no. he's been telling it no for centuries. this has been a constant fight to stay alive and he's been doing it! it's not been easy, but he's been putting in so much unnoticed work to keep everything going, to not give up. and one moment of weakness that ended up being his downfall shouldn't get to erase that

and when we say that he planned this the whole time, or that he knew this would happen and let it, we're not really appreciating just how much he tried

[anniflamma]

Headcanons! Could I please ask for your headcanons on how David would have been like if Jonathan had lived!

(or, for the sake of not deviating the whole story altoghether bc either way David was meant to be king at some point. What if like, Jonathan had gone into hidding like what happened to Mephibosheth and later on met with David to tell him that, hey, he's actually alive so :D. Honestly im just asking bc the idea of Jonathan teaching Jedediah/Solomon how to court and judge others got stuck to my head when I was writting my Testament of Solomon rewritte and that got me to think even more like, would Jonathan get along with Abigail, would David had stopped seeking out women to marry if Jonathan had run away with him, would Absalom or the other childre of David had confided secrets in him more than with his father because they trusted him more, or would the court had tried to make Jonathan guilty of a coup at some point, maybe a lot of times, due to his past royal background, and ofc how would Jonathan have raised his son?)

Sorry if this was long ᓚᘏᗢ boop!

You are giving me food and being able to talk about it!!! :D

My headcanon would be if Jonathan had lived, his and David's relationship would have continued to be romantic and supportive!

I think Jonathan would first go into hiding and try to find his son first. Mephibosheth would still become disabled due to all the chaos when the news comes to the palace. But I don't think they would go into hiding for too long. Abner was supportive to Saul’s family first, heck, he probably would see David as a threat towards Jonathan instead.

And when they reunite, Jonathan would have either stepped down from his role as the next king or maximized David's status, so they would essentially be two kings ruling one kingdom. He did give an oath and his title as king to David when they last met each other, so it would make sense that he kept his word.

David would still pursue other marriages for political alliances, likewise Jonathan too. However, I do believe that David wouldn't take Michal back because the only reason why he forced her to be his wife again was that he pretty much wanted to secure his political position as a king. Having Jonathan there on his side already supporting him, it wouldn't be necessary to marry her. All his other wives, I think he would still marry them for political reasons. Bathsheba though… I don't think he would seek her out… Or maybe David would. For me, he is a bit promiscuous. But I do like the idea that he wouldn't be as interested if Jonathan were still around.

There is a scene in The Prince's Psalm where David and Jonathan talk to each other about their boundaries in their relationship. Jonathan wants children, but he doesn't want to pick a random woman only to discard her after giving birth to a child, he wants to honor his children's mother by marrying her and taking care of her. But also secured David by saying that it's okay for him as well to marry and love another woman too, but ended with the decision that they are not allowed to take any male lovers.

It sounds fun that Jonathan would be friends with Abigail. Maybe they are two peas in a pod because David picked Abigail for love, unlike the other wives. And Abigail is the same "type" as Jonathan. That would be cute.

I do think that the majority of the royal drama would be more about people not trusting David. The second book of Samuel is just David getting rid of all his political enemies and marrying every high-royal-woman to secure his position. The reason why Saul's other family members, such as Jonathan's half-brothers, revolt against David is that they are the "true" line of the royal lineage. So if Jonathan was still in the picture and became king, then that drama of power wouldn't be so much on the nose.

Absalom and David's other children might have indeed confided in Jonathan, finding solace and other stuff when David wasn't emotionally available. Especially when Amnon attacks Tamar and everything just crumbles. Maybe the situation would look different when David forgives Absalom for killing Amnon, and by having another parental figure, maybe Absalom wouldn't decide to revolt against his father?

And if Absalom still decided to revolt against David, Mephibosheth would still be left behind in safety in the royal palace. And I don't think that the servant Ziba would be able to trick David into "disowning" Mephibosheth when Absalom takes over the palace. I don't think Jonathan would ever let that happen, but also David and Mephibosheth's relationship would be different in a way. I have a headcanon that David is very overprotective of Mephibosheth but he also puts him on a pedestal, so when someone lies about him, David immediately believes that lie because he actually doesn't really know who Mephibosheth actually is.

But that is all I have to say for now! I probably missed some thoughts I would like to bring up. But my brain is empty at the moment!