#but i think the character was kind of in a weird resentful place in my heart for a bit

[304wv66]

10.20.2023 // gonna get bit by that thing

also bonus crop from the desktop wallpaper because i liked it, it made me happy 🥺

[ewingstan]

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9-11 for whatever Worm characters come to mind! (Or Sophia/Calvert/Taylor/Krouse if you have any thoughts!)

Fuck it. All of em for all of em.

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

Sophia: I'll be real I don't feel super strongly about her. She's written to be hateable in an effective way, but she's less of a full character than Emma despite being in much more of the story. And her shit kinda gets bogged down by racist writing (a lot of the worst of it happening right before Aisha's introduction, which is also pretty racist). She's involved in a lot of cool and interesting moments but they're rarely interesting because of her.

Coil: Works really well as the first overarching villain in Taylor's story. He's able to sell the "I'm a bad guy but in an excusable way that's not really too bad" well enough, but also has a lot of obvious red flags even before the Dinah reveal. So you can understand perfectly well why Taylor, a kid who really wanted to continue hanging out with the undersiders and do things that made her feel like she had any control, would go along with him. But you can also take a step back and say Jesus, only a kid who really wanted to continue hanging out with the undersiders and do things that made her feel like she had any control would go along with him.

Taylor: Wildbow has a reoccurring tendency to focus on characters who are both incredibly smart and can get an incredible amount of info quickly, but only in specific limited ways. Its true of Taylor, Lisa, Sylvester, Kenzie, Mia—a lot of my favorites. But the interesting thing is that they're never smart in the same ways, never collect the same sort of info. Lisa has general super-induction but no great skill at making plans. Sylvester can read and manipulate people to a superhuman level but is constantly getting blinded by his own resentments and desires. Taylor's hyper-vigilance gave her the ability to see and react to everything external around her, but no means or real incentive to know whats going on internally with people around her. And it makes sense! She's incredibly afraid of letting people in who'll end up hurting her; people who've genuinely been kind to her in the past have used their previous closeness to hurt her later! Knowing that someone doesn't mean her harm now isn't gonna reassure her, so its safer to assume everyone's a threat and not worry too much about what they're actually thinking.

And then there's Rachel, who she not only connects with emotionally, but is the only person who's able to make an emotional connection with her! And since you understand why its not the norm, its all the more incredible to see!

Krouse: oh I'm glad you asked

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Sophia: I like that she and Lung both get wrapped back up in the end for Skitter's Gold Morning missions. I wish she got to do more in those, but I do like it as a story beat.

Coil: How high he got and how far he fell.

Taylor: Man the escape from Coil's trap is a fucking great chapter. She's a one-woman horror movie. Single-handedly sells her as a villain who'd get national attention, and its not even a moment the public knows about. And its in such a great place in the story too, where all the tricks she's using have been established so its not feeling like a weird escalation in her abilities, but she hasn't all employed them at once or to such incredible effect yet. It’s the real culmination of her taking “lessons” from Bakuda about being scary.

Krouse: One of the moments that really sold me on him was when he was getting attacked by Case 53s, and immediately started thinking about how he could take them down, before he interrupts his own thoughts to go "wait, what am I doing, I should just run away." It just sells so much of his whole deal. He's a great on-his-feat thinker, he can be an incredible strategist when he's on his own, but he also doesn't share Taylor's suicidal urge to face any problem head-on. Its kind of the inverse of one of Taylor's early establishing moments: after getting attacked by Rachel, she reaches for a reason to calm down, realizes she doesn't have one, and immediately retaliates hard enough to get blood on her boots. God they're such good foils, its weird that the extent of their relationship is mutually disliking each other. Not even intense dislike in either case.

3. Least favorite canon thing about this character?

Sophia: That the black member of the trio is the one that consistently gets physically violent, is characterized as the athletic one compared to the others in general (instead of "the cute one" or "the prep" she's "the track star"), gets described as being savage multiple times, doesn't have much of a character outside of sucking despite being in a work that's otherwise really good at giving internality to people who act shitty, all that jazz.

Coil: How little sense we got of what Calvert's dominion would really look like. That we didn't get much of his takeover without other disasters interfering actually works—it fits the themes of constant conflict interfering with stability and safety. But I still want more of a sense of what Calvert wanted.

Taylor: I didn't care about her reunification with her mom. I say a lot that the ending of Worm is one of the best endings of any story I've read, and that's true of Gold Morning as a whole, but I don't actually care much about the last epilogue. The Brian reveal certainly doesn't help there.

Krouse: Do you know how much it sucks that when people ask me who my favorite worm character is, the tumblr sexyman is in contention?

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

Sophia: any story that takes her basic parts, gets rid of the obviously shitty stuff, and develops her into a real character.

Coil: Disney Channel sitcom

Taylor: Well I already tried expy-ing Khepri into my tabletop campaign, and that got mixed results, so I'll take TTRPGs off the list. I'd be interested in her getting put in a medium where you'd have to be creative with how to represent the bug cloud, like live theater.

Krouse: I was gonna say Mob Psycho but then I remembered that they already had a guy who teleported around being a jackass. But I would like too see a well-animated version of his fighting style.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

Sophia: I'll Make You Sorry by Screaming Females

Coil: For some reason I get an Everything Everything vibe from him? Maybe Photoshop Handsome or Breadwinner.

Taylor: I don't actually read her as trans but Dysphoria Hoodie is what immediately came to mind. I'm at least theoretically still making a Cicada Days animatic about her. I think portions of BCNR's Sunglasses fits with whats going on internally with her in the Mannequin fight

Krouse: Want to make a Prowl Great Cain AMV for him one day. Lyrics fit perfectly, and the way its sung gets the same otherwise inexpressable intensity of how I feel about him. Darnielle said “This is a song about betrayal. A lot of songs about betrayal are about betrayal and redemption. Not this one.” And yeah, that's Krouse!

9. Could you be roommates with this character?

Sophia: Oh, no

Coil: It would prolly be fine except for how he'd torture a branch of my psychological continuity and then effectively kill it by destroying that reality whenever I leave the dishes out too long. Don't correct me on how his powers work

Taylor: Uhhh probably not. Even if I wasn't much older, I don't really talk to my roommates unless they're the talkative sort. She's been stuck living with clamshells before, it wasn't good for her.

Krouse: I'd have to kill him

10 and 11: alright these are "could you be best friends with" and "would you date" and in both cases the fact that I'm 23 means no. I don't have Blake's ability to form rich friendships with people much younger than me. And I'm not interested in Calvert as a friend or a lover.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Talking about brocons, people being annoying and other stuff.

Anonymous asked:

I’m sorry when did someone call Idia a brocon in canon?!? 👀

Asking for reasons….

It happened in Book 5, Episode 5-13, near the end of the episode! As Cater and Lilia were explaining the Shrouds’ situation to Yuu and guys, Grim commented that Idia is a total brocon, or something among the lines lol

Anonymous asked:

Cater saying he wants to date Vil + Cater's union birthday saying he wants Vil as a brother = canon brocon Cater methinks

Oh my god… Cater really said “but what if Vil is my brother AND we’re dating”. This boy is either very confused or very kinky, probably both 😔

Anonymous asked:

the Asim siblings are so interesting, like, are they close to eachother? how can they keep track when there are so many of them? what do they think of Kalim, do some of them resent him? are some obsessed with him? the latter in particular gets funnier if you have other siblings that instead decided to follow in their big bro's footsteps and joined the Jamil fanclub. the two groups would argue endlessly about who's better. than add in a third group that just likes them both and might even ship kalijami...

now that I think about it, I've seen some fanworks where Kalim tries to convince Jamil to call him onichan. would that make him a brocon? I guess for Kalim it's less about the idea of having Jamil as a sibling, and more about him being someone that Jamil can rely on without needing too many formalities between them, and the first thing that comes to mind is an older brother... Keep dreaming Kalim, the dude literally sees you as a toddler to babysit!

Hmm, I think they aren’t super close, but those who are closer in age are more likely to be friendly with each other + those who have the same mom (let’s be honest, there is no way all of the Asim kids were born by one lady). And the younger ones probably love Kalim much more than the older ones, both because he is better at connecting with kids + because the older ones technically still have a chance to take Kalim’s place if they’re lucky. But they’re never openly antagonistic; the “default” state for all of them is that Kalim is their beloved older brother that is always playful, fun and kind.

There absolutely are some of the Asim siblings that are obsessed with Kalim and THERE ABSOLUTELY ARE some of the Asim siblings that are obsessed with Jamil!! Imagine looking at Jamil your whole life and not getting obsessed?? lol Jamil would probably think that his own little Asim fanclub is the worst thing to ever exist (having Kalim only is troublesome enough…), but wait until he learns about the KaliJami fanclub… Kalim’s little sisters watching these two always being together and being closer to each other than Kalim is to his actual real brothers? They absolutely ship them lol

Kalim really is such a toddler though… And while I don’t think his wish to see Jamil and himself “as brothers” is in any way related to anything brocon-like, I do think that he really wants to express that his bond with Jamil is special.

Alright, now we’re entering the people-are-annoying territory.

Anonymous asked:

Normally I'd ignore the "don't sexualize the underage pixels" crowd but I love overanalyzing things and could write a mini essay on them (It's weird but I might do that, could be fun).  The thing that stands out most is the obvious hypocrisy.                                                          Kids kids kids, if you play TWST you don't get to say this stuff.  Even if you don't know it's for adults or who Yana Toboso is, look at the cards!  The game itself sometimes sexualizes its own characters!  Even the first and second years!  You harass the fans but give the creators' a free pass?  You're not saying "it's wrong to sexualize fictional minors!" you're saying "it's wrong to not make money off of your thirst!" and "it's only wrong if I don't like the final product!"  You're not mad that adults are creeps, you're mad that they're not pimps!  If the developers ever publicly distance themselves from certain fans, you guys will be the ones called out, not the people who simp over Ortho and freely admit it

Yeah, Anon, this is one of the most annoying things. When they cancel a piece of media + an author + everyone who enjoys the same piece of media, at least it’s somewhat consistent. Still quite stupid, but it’s not trying to sit on two chairs at once. But when they harass artists and writers that are doing fan-content for a piece of media, but then completely ignore when the said piece of media does it… I always remember that twitter argument about how Ortho isn’t shota-bait and therefore the antis have all the rights to enjoy twst since they aren’t weirdos, plus all the endless talks about how Ciel isn’t at all sexualized in the manga and how there is nothing at all sensual in the way the official manga art for Kuroshitsuji is drawn… at times things that they say sound honestly quite concerning (i.e. things that they consider platonic or fatherly), and if I didn’t know for a fact that these people are just bluffing, I would’ve become worried about their own life experiences. But yeah, thankfully, this is just them trying to punish people for thirsting for twst characters and then somehow do it themselves without being called out for it. They enjoy that piece of media critically, which means they’re off the hook! Not like the “weirdos”!

I had a point to make, but I just got salty lol

Also yep, you’re completely right: the developers/the authors tend to distance themselves from the type of fans that ultimately negatively impact the enjoyment people get from their product, and it’s never the type of people who ship characters and draw smut with them. Really makes you think.

[scarlet--wiccan]

Is it in-character for Pietro to be such a fan of Steve? Bc the recent Avengers issue (#16) made him literally worship him??

I feel like "literally worship" is kind of an exaggeration, so for the sake of clarity, let's take that down a notch.

This run of Avengers-- and to be clear, we're talking the Blood Hunt tie-in arc-- is very invested in propping up the legacy and impact of Captain America as a hero, and the Avengers as a team, in a way that I don't personally find interesting. Pietro is, typically, written as a someone who will challenge authority, so it does feel kinda weird that he's the guy backing Steve up in this story. He's still generating friction, and I actually quite like the abrasive confidence MacKay gives him -- there's a way to maintain Pietro's core personality without making him an outright jackass, and for whatever else you can say, I think that MacKay, Duggan, and Orlando have been hitting that nail on the head.

But I do agree that Pietro's faith in, and overall friendliness towards Steve feels out of place. MacKay's take on their relationship is that Steve has known Pietro longer than most people, and that familiarity lends itself to mutual trust and esteem in the field. I think this is conveyed really well in their dialogue with each other, but Pietro, in other scenes, is a bit too admiring, but also a bit too colloquial, which is part of why his voice feels off to me. I also feel like he gets a little too upbeat and smirky, which undermines the fact that he's meant to be laser-focused on rescuing Wanda.

I think the old-teammates dynamic works well for Pietro and Steve, but it's a fine line to walk for a character like Pietro who still, in my mind, has every reason to resent and mistrust most of the big superhero teams and leaders. Regardless, I don't hate what's happening here, and I think Pietro has a lot of great moments in spite of it.

[daenerysstormreborn]

@cleverelaena88 hi I was the anon in the post this is from. I wanted to start a new thread instead of clogging the notes of someone else’s post. I wrote up an essay explaining it under the cut if you’re interested but it boils down to this:

1. I started thinking for myself about her place in the narrative.

2. I let go of petty feelings coming from my wounded inner child.

3. I realized I could continue to think for myself and that liking this characters doesn’t mean I’m aligning myself with objectionable things other fans of the character have said.

The way I feel about Sansa changed for a lot of reasons. I walked back on my stance that she isn’t important because I realized I wasn’t really thinking for myself and was just going along with the things often said by other fans of my favorite characters. If I remember correctly, she has as many POV chapters as Bran. The Vale plot is important to the story and it’s clearly not just relevant to Littlefinger or else… why would Sansa be involved? She didn’t need to be a POV character for the story to work but she is because she’s important. If Sansa was just supposed to be a “camera” to show the viewer what’s happening in KL and later the Vale, why did start off as a POV character in places where other POV characters were as well? She’s the only POV character in the Vale in AFfC, but if that was her only importance, why was she a POV character prior to going to the Vale?

Currently, she does feel pretty “cut off” from the main plot threads—the IT, the Others, and the dragons. At least where I’m at, halfway through AFfC. And I think that’s what makes some people think she isn’t important. But I kind of thing that’s evidence that she IS. She’s away from all of these major plot elements and is not in close proximity to other POV characters who are involved in these three elements, unlike characters like Arya, who are technically disconnected from those three elements, but are in close proximity to other POV characters (i.e., Arya encounters Sam in Braavos). Given that, why on earth would George continue to feature her POV if her story specifically was not important?

As for why she’s become one of my favorites, that’s a bit different. This is a bit personal, so forgive me for it, but I think it’s interesting insight. I had to get past this wounded inner child aspect of myself, for one. I was an ugly duckling. I grew up being mocked for being a chubby, socially awkward kid with a snaggle tooth and a lisp. I internalized the idea very early that in order to be loved and socially accepted, I must be beautiful. I have auburn hair and amber eyes. I also received this message that to be beautiful, I should be blonde and more importantly have blue/green eyes. Seeing how just about every example of beautiful women in media were blonde with light eyes, and how the vast majority of female protagonists were beautiful, I developed quite the complex about this. It started sending a message to me that these stories were not for me. The romance, the fantasy, everything these characters got was not and never would be for me because I wasn’t beautiful like them. I resented any female protagonist for which their beauty was a huge focal point because of a deep envy. I wished more than anything to be beautiful. Every birthday, every star, every dandelion. What I really wanted was love and social acceptance, but I was too young to understand that.

Then something weird happened as I grew up. I became beautiful. I don’t want to sound vain or self-congratulatory, but it’s relevant here. The vast majority of people now consider me to be extremely good-looking. This started around age 16. I got what I wished for. People started treating me differently. I got what I wished for. And it sucked. I’ll get back to that. But I did and still do feel like that little ugly duckling. I’m slowly healing, but it’s hard. I still felt this deep resentment and envy. It is starting to go away but comes up now and again. And as petty as it sounds, yes, part of me resented this character for being beautiful. Of course, I think every single female POV character is called pretty or beautiful aside from Brienne. Daenerys and Cersei are also considered to be extremely beautiful, but it’s not as relevant to Dany because the whole dragon thing takes more precedence and Cersei’s envy and vindictiveness are more prominent me (plus she’s an overt antagonist, and I don’t mind so much when the character is one of the bad guys, for some reason). But for Sansa, her beauty and grace seem to be major focal points in how other characters see her.

I said before that becoming beautiful sucked. I resented everyone around me for treating me differently because I was beautiful. And I realized that it does NOT offer me the guaranteed acceptance and love and safety that I believed it would as a child. Men will behave in different evil ways to both ugly and beautiful women. Being beautiful started to feel like this curse. It became a performance that I have to maintain because deep down I fear that beauty is all I have and/or that it’s the only reason anyone really values me. I developed an eating disorder about it. I got exactly what I wished for but not what I wanted.

Here’s how that’s relevant. I started drawing parallels and antiparallels between Sansa and Dany. I think it’s very interesting to compare the two but I seldom see that discussed unless it’s to pit them against one another. As I started to make these parallels I realized that many of the reasons I connect with Dany also apply to Sansa and started doing some self-analysis about why I didn’t connect with Sansa in the same way. I started to sort out the whole wounded inner child thing and realized it had been preventing me from acknowledging and appreciating any depth in Sansa’s character and really feeling for her. I realized that she too wished for something so very badly when she was a naive kid. Something she thought she wanted desperately. And she got it, and it was horrible. I found that I can now really emotionally connect with this character. Perhaps she too fears that her beauty and grace are the only reasons people like her. And I can definitely relate to the feeling of being sexualized and objectified by adults and peers alike. I know how it feels to have to smile and nod and lie to appease poisonous men. I really can connect with her emotionally in ways I couldn’t before because of my own personal hangups.

Finally, I just stopped caring about what other fans think. I have seen Sansa fans saying things I find objectionable, like proclaiming that Daenerys and Arya’s arcs are patriarchal or excusing the way Sansa treated Arya (although I don’t think their relationship is as cut and dry as “they simply don’t love eachother”). Plus there’s just a lot of infighting between Sansa fans and Dany and Arya fans and it made me keep my distance. I also am not a Jonsa fan and it seems many Sansa fans are in fact Jonsa fans. I used to hate the ship but was just being immature honestly. I’m neutral now and I think it’s interesting to read Jonsa metas because they present an entirely different way to interpret the story. It is fun for me to see what other people take away from the text. I was also holding myself back because I’ve seen Jonsas misconstrue the text and omit parts of passages and important context in ways that seem intentionally misleading, which really bothers me. But I realized I’m biased. We all have our own confirmation biases when reading the series and I’m sure other fans do the exact same thing. I was just noticing it more with Jonsa because it’s not a theory I subscribe to. But enjoying Sansa’s character does not mean I need to align myself with every single other Sansa fan, which seems obvious when said so plainly, but we often subconsciously develop this sense of group microidentities that we fear betraying.

This is all very specific to me as an individual of course but I had fun with all the introspection and think it’s an interesting case study about why a person may resent a specific character and why they might change their minds. Thanks for reading!

[toon-bunny]

Cathal head canons!!! I'm crazy about this guy so please be warned that there is a LOTTTTT under the cut

voice: Andrew VanWyngarden. soft tone, high pitch, speaks kinda slowly, little bit of vocal fry. breathy/hiccup-y laugh. definitely has that muffled synthetic sound like the in-game voice too

speaking sample (please ignore the weird title, this is just a good compilation)

singing sample (I don't imagine them singing, but I do like the voice effect here and the cadence)

personality: extremely perceptive and smart. friendly, light-heartedly sarcastic guy with a metric ton of non-emotive autism. it's kind of deceiving? because when u think of non-emotive autism u think of a guy who never smiles or changes pitch but Cathal is passively very smiley and has a laid back demeanor. very interesting guy to me. he is VERY passionate about his interests, they just aren't indulged/taken seriously by others so it's believed he just doesn't give a fuck about anything. that and they're still not very animated when infodumping

background…

very alienated from living kind of outside of the cogs lifestyle. not that he should be pitied for not having to work, but how do you live and socialize in a culture completely dedicated to work when you don't Do That. but I think he would have odd friendships with other sellbot managers and probably some others

they have a good relationship with dad of course. I like to think that Allan Gets him and doesn't give him a hard time for his perceived lack of passion or anything like that. but giving him a very cushy job and continuing to encourage him w/ said job that doesn't interest him is just how Allan thinks is the best way to support him. I don't remember where I read this but I love the idea that Allan isn't emotionally getting anything out of his job either BUT he's better at masking that and believes he will if he keeps doing his best - it's "supposed" to feel good. sorry wait this is just me thinking about Allan

I do like the idea that, in addition to this job not really aligning with Cathal's interest, they also dgaf because no one would take them seriously in this position anyway even if they DID try. not only do they look silly and non-serious, they'd still be resented for having this position even if they proved they were qualified for it. so it becomes a feedback loop. I'm basically making a ton of reasons as to why he acts the way he does in canon which might seem excessive when ONE trait would explain it alone, but I really like when there are a bunch of experiences/symptoms/etc that foster a particular behavior/outlook and can't be untangled from each other

I think he likes TV shows because they kind of fill the void of connection with others… cartoons kind of endear them to toons but also whenever a character that represents someone like him shows up, they're 1) malicious and greedy, fat as shorthand for capitalist monster or 2) a selfish, stuffy nerd who's meant to be ridiculed by the audience. so no, liking cartoons doesn't necessarily make him more sympathetic to the toons' cause or push him to help, bc he's led to believe he also doesn't have a place in their society

all of the above points also make them a little intimidated by activism and seeking a better life. I think he got cornered into a particular brand of quiet nihilism. I am definitely inspired by this song

in terms of disabilities and conditions…..chronic insomnia from snoozing and lazing about all day, not getting any energy out when it's appropriate. CFS like crazzzzy. autism of course. and also ADHD's brother, cognitive disengagement syndrome

hobbies/interests…

expanding on their canon interest in TV shows, I'm handing my luv of animation to them, but I also think this is the type of guy who could watch scarier stuff and just enjoy the artistry of it. as in "oh wow those practical effects are so well done" (guy who's unfazed by the horrors). (I'm so jealous of this I want to have this ability)

I think they'd like retro games more than I do, he seems like they'd enjoy a good GBA title. maybe roguelikes and metroidvanias, stuff that could be considered tedious and punishing to some but a really fun and rewarding way to waste time to others. he's got a lot of time on his hands to metaphorically bash his head against the wall with more difficult titles ykwim?

this bit's inspired by my friend's AU Toon After Time, I can't undo the association between them and tech knowledge/know-how LOL. I knowwww he collects VHS tapes and other old equipment and can also troubleshoot anything to do with old TVs, VCRs, etc

other details…

I KNOWWWWW it's so cliche to give the cogs tails but I can't help it I LOVE ROBOT TAILS. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. plus I love the idea that if cogs have tails, they are prehensile, but Cathal can't even be arsed and just lets it drag everywhere so it's all worn out and torn up from getting stepped on/caught in stuff. I also like the idea of it flopping VERY slowly once or twice if they're happy. like a very old dog wagging its tail

inspired by this post by bunglefication, I love the idea that Gizmo is treated well by Cathal and is more like a service animal to them :D so awesomes

bc my friend suggested "closet femme Cathal" once I am now 100% sold on Cathal dressing at least a little more femme at home 🌈 likes to get cutes with it for funsies. other than that, I like the idea of 90s tech guy/TTRPG guy type clothing for them. like imagine a Best Buy employee or Blockbusters employee in the 90s do you see my vision

[gillianthecat]

I have got to get over my grudge against face filters or face-tuning or whatever it's called when they blur the actor's face so their skin is completely smooth and texture free and very pale and has no dimensionality.

I'm watching Light On Me, and I'm charmed by all the characters, but I keep getting distracted by the fact that none of them look like human beings. grrr. Like, it kind of fits the comic book tropey-ness of the story, but I still would prefer to see their god danged faces.

(Fun fact: Shin Woo's actor's face is the reason I started watching Light On Me in the first place. Kang Yoo Soek has a small part in Beyond Evil, and within a minute of his appearance on screen I was like, who is THAT???👀, and immediately went to MDL to see what else he was in. Turns out he was in a BL! so I decided it was finally time to check this one out. Maybe I'm just resentful about them hiding his face from me. On the other hand, Beyond Evil and Light On Me are from the same year, and he looks a decade younger in the latter, so I guess the filtering helps with that? idk, I'd prefer everyone's real faces. But I realize that with this, as in many things, I am not the target audience.)

My thoughts on Light On Me so far (im on episode 3 oops, actually it was 4): It feels like a high school romance comic book aimed at 12 year olds come to life. Which is not at all a criticism! But the aesthetic—bright, flat lighting, wide open spaces, saturated pastels and primary colors, the aforementioned face filtering—along with the trope filled, bare bones nature of the story give it this artificial feel. I don't read comic books, manga or manwha of any genre, so I could be wrong in this comparison, but it does tell like it exists outside of the real world in the same way that Disney Channel kids shows do (though not in the same world.) The characters, so far, don't feel like they exist outside of the story, not shallow, exactly, just that the rest of their lives and relationships are a vague blur, and the initial conflict—Shin Woo doesn't want Tae Kyung to join the student council!—feels like the sort of artificially induced high stakes of a kid's show. The—gasp—pratfall with a dildo.

I probably sound judgmental, but that's partly because super fluffy shows aren't my thing in general, and partly because I'm in a weird mood right now where even the real world doesn't feel all that real to me, but I reiterate, this is not a criticism. The show is creating a certain feel to tell a certain story, and (so far at least) it's doing it effectively.

And I am intrigued by the story, and the characters! Tae Kyung who has been convinced by the wise teacher to try making friends. Da On, the student president who is so kind and can't say no to anyone. Shiwoon, the class clown who can see what's happening but won't get involved. So Hee, the girl from the sister school, persistent in her three year (!) crush. And of course tsundere Shin Woo, possibly with some internalized homophobia, and who we know, based on Shiwoon's hints and the laws of Romance Tropes, must have a crush on the new boy and can't handle it.

The taundere seme is a trope I love when it works well, and loathe when it's bad, and I think it's working here for me because Tae Kyung is such a weirdo. He's no blushing maiden uke, he's blunt and doesn't care that's he's awkward, and still not sure if he wants to even bother with other human beings. It makes Shin Woo's attraction to him more specific and real, and makes me curious to see how their dynamic develops.

So even though the character don't feel anchored to any reality outside of what we see on screen, in the small slice of a tv world they do exist in they seem complex and worth getting to know.

(They also intrigue me enough that part of me wants to see these same characters and conflicts, but framed in more gritty realism style, like that of Weak Hero Class One. I think there's enough there to make it work! But that's more about my personal taste than anything else.)

edit: not that Weak Hero Class One is exactly realistic. But it's a different kind of fairy tale atmosphere. One that sometimes gets called "gritty realism."

[clay-cuttlefish]

I am still on my bullshit about the Vic + Renee + Helena + Jean-Paul + Ted teamup. Here are three unrelated character elements I have been rotating in my mind for it.

Thing 1: Helena's Thoughts on Jean-Paul

Azrael: Agent of the Bat #63-65 and Cry for Blood came out right after each other and reading them back to back fills me with Helena Emotions. It's been a while, but as far as I'm aware this is the most Helena and Jean-Paul ever interact?

Gesturing at these. You get it. How has this never been explored in more depth.

I'm attached to the idea that Helena's resentful of Jean-Paul for getting the benefit of the doubt and a second chance when she didn't, and it would only make her more frustrated that he barely remembers her and would be genuinely apologetic if she brought it up. It's not cathartic to yell at someone who gets weird and self-deprecating about it.

It'd be especially frustrating because it's not like her concerns about JPV are unfounded, but also she is 100% aware that if she went "I am not going to hang out with him, he's killed people" Vic and Renee would be insufferable about it and they wouldn't even be that wrong.

Thing 2: What The Questions Are Actually Good At

If Vic and Renee going to be active together, it'd be nice to flesh out their respective skills so they don't feel overly similar, ideally without pinning them down into their 52 roles (since Renee's evolved a fair amount since then) or making them excessively competent.

To do this, I want to contrast how Vic is generally pretty grounded and city-level while Renee's out there chasing cults across the world. Partly because I think this is really core to what makes them distinct and has been overlooked in both of them recently, partly because I don't like Vic's conspiracy theorist characterization and want to push back on it because I'm petty.

For Renee, I'd lean into the "witness to the bizarre" angle. She's found a space at the edges where the weirdness of the DC universe blends into the day-to-day - the places where multiversal skeleton assassins are a job risk for reporters, or where chasing organized crime sometimes leads her to Vandal Savage.

I'm pretending she last appeared in Lois Lane because making her the commissioner sucked and I can ignore a few years of appearances without breaking anything. In this version of reality she got her private investigator license as part of working with Lois so that she can operate semi-above-board, but she's mooching off of Tot (and maybe Lois still) so she doesn't have to take on real jobs. Anyways she's actually A Detective who has real investigative skills.

On the other hand, Vic's primary methods of investigation are asking directly and eavesdropping. A lot of what he does best relies on him either being recognized as a local reporter or being supernatural, neither of which I want to do, but I think it could be fun to take elements from the "city emissary" version into the "guy who has really strong opinions about municipal safety inspections" side of his writing.

What I'm saying is: let him get into a building by pretending to be a fire code inspector and then listen in on the employees until he figures out what he's looking for.

Thing 3: Ted and JPV Do Not Have to Be In Costume

This is just a kind of story I want to see for them tbh.

Ted does not need to be out there in tights at all. He's bad at staying retired, but that doesn't mean he has to be doing the legwork himself, and this is a group with minimal expectations for what he should be doing. Let him be the tech guy/world's least subtle getaway driver!

JPV enters the story in armor since he's trying to investigate, but once he's out of that first sequence, he doesn't have to suit back up. This being a heist/investigation focused group means that Azrael's skillset isn't super helpful, and they're working on their cooperation so he can actually try using his own skills.

He doesn't have, like, great skills for vigilantism, but half a comp sci degree and some medical training is more than Vic had. Depending on how much Azrael's able to dip into deeper System knowledge without freaking out, it might also be able to apply some of its engineering skills to things other than edgelord weaponry, or at least understand what Ted's showing off better than the others.

He can have an adventure where he gets to make a friend and be a nerd and not maim anybody. As a treat. He has more than enough unresolved emotional hooks to play off of already.

[summerkoya]

the next right thing

She became the blessing he never wished for, his damnation. She became the living, breathing proof that Aemond Targaryen carried his heart outside his body. 

But when has any of that ever been powerful enough to endure a conflict of principles? 

Chapter 1

aemond targaryen x original female character , aemond targaryen x wife!oc

summary: Myria and Aemond welcome their new little dragon into the world

warnings: fluff, angst, childbirth (not explicit though)

(all characters portrayed are aged up from original ages in the book/show)

****

Myria sighed in relief as she sank in the comfort of the tub full of lukewarm water. She dismissed all the maids in the room, wishing to enjoy what she felt would be the last few days just between her and the baby, before they were born. Eyes closed, she placed a hand on her heavily swollen stomach, and delicately started caressing it. 

“Ah, you can’t join us fast enough, my little dragon.” She whispered, with a smile on her lips. It was a bittersweet feeling, given that she did desire to cherish the end of her pregnancy, yet she was rather eager to gain once again freedom of her own body, instead of being bound by, not only Maesters’ orders, but her own scarce mobility due to her enlarged frame.

She was enjoying herself for the first time in a while, as she had been feeling nothing but extreme discomfort all day, everyday, when she heard the soft thud of the door being opened. The silence that followed afterwards was all she needed to figure out who it was. 

“Hello there.” Myria muttered, as Aemond settled a stool right next to the tub so he could sit beside it. “Where are the boys?” 

“They’re with the Septa.” He answered, gently resting his hand on her belly. “They were covered in dirt from head to toe after our ‘quest’, as they called it, to the dragonpit.” 

“Thank you, Aemond.” She opened her eyes, and stared at him with a loving expression on her face. “You know how important it is to me that the boys spend time with us and are taught by us; raised by us, and these past moons the entirety of that responsibility has fallen upon you.” She placed her hand over his, skin hot as he had been training right before, and immediately felt the baby kicking against her abdomen. 

“‘Tis the least I can do,” he murmured, in a heavy voice. It was weird, that not even feeling the baby’s kicks, something that usually guaranteed would put a smile on his face, managed to tear down the aura of unsettlement that surrounded him. She raised his hands, and held them against her chest.  

“What is it, dear husband?” She asked, with a chuckle. “Have the two little monsters we have for sons terrorised you enough for the day?” 

He bit down on his lips, as if he didn’t want to speak the words he was thinking, dreading they would become true because of it. 

“The Velaryon are coming,” he finally muttered, dryly, “Vaemond has requested an audience to discuss Driftmark’s succession.” 

Myria knew about the animosity there was between the two families. Although Aemond and Rhaenyra’s children were raised together in the Red Keep, he didn’t have many fond memories of their shared youth. The further the Velaryon kept away from both their lives and conversation, the better it was for his already short tempered and resentful persona.

“Oh,” she breathed, “I believed that matter was already settled. That both your father, and most importantly Lord Corlys had proclaimed Luke as his heir.” 

“They did, yes. But I suspect that the King’s growing inability to sit the throne has built some courage on Vaemond, and now he’s pushing for the Driftmark seat again.” 

“Under which pretexts?” 

Aemond looked at her with an incredulous look on his face. As smart as he thought his wife to be, she did have plenty of painfully naive moments, on account of her foolishly trusting and kind nature. 

“What?” She snapped, her tone got defensive. “Is it only because they don’t look like their father that their titles are being questioned?” 

“Vaemond is just trying to protect his house’s lineage, dearest.” 

“By calling Rhaenyra’s children illegitimate!” She complained, harshly pushing his hands away from her. That was precisely the reason why she hated whenever the subject of Rhaenyra and her children worked its way into their conversations, she knew it was an issue upon which they would never reach any sort of mutual agreement. 

“You can’t deny… they do have a very strong resemblance to a certain late commander of the City Watch.” He sniggered, letting an all too familiar malicious grin claim his features. “She should’ve given more thought before bearing Strong looking children.” 

Myria’s eyes started to swell with tears, and she protectively covered her stomach in a hug. “That’s a despicable thing to say, Aemond. Especially when she’s your sister.” 

“‘Tis only the truth.” He continued to argue, and although he was usually the kind of person to savour a victory with no remorse and a smug expression on his face, he couldn’t help but to feel his gaze soften at the sight of such an upset Myria. He’d like to know which part of his words had caused that profound of a reaction on her, but he was never one good with emotions. 

“I don’t like it when you make such comments, Aemond.” She explained in a weak voice, roughly cleaning up the tears streaming down her cheek. “This whole… obsession you Targaryens have with looking a certain way”. 

Aemond felt his heart shrink in his chest, as a veil of shame started looming around him. What kind of man allowed himself to be the reason behind his beloved wife’s tears? The wife that had already gifted him two healthy, beautiful children and was enduring the hardships of having another in the way? No honourable one for sure.   

“I apologise dearest, I didn’t know this matter distressed you this much.” 

“So far I’ve been lucky, Aemond,” she whimpered, knowingly looking at her stomach, “for both Trystan and Griffin look like you, but what if this baby takes after me? What if the baby is born with my dornish looks, instead of a dragon’s? What kind of comments will I have to get used to hearing?” 

Aemond felt a twinge of guilt on the depths of his stomach, given that he could recall a few instances when both him and his family had gloated on how much of a Targaryen both his sons took after. On how the dragon blood was a strong one indeed. 

“None.” Aemond answered, almost shivering with fury at the thought of someone making such insinuations towards his wife. “If anyone dared making such remarks, I’d have their tongues.” 

Myria, who had failed to realise their talk had reached such an intensity her husband had a murderous look on his face, decided to back down and let her lips curl into a soft smile. Besides, she had another difficult topic of conversation she needed to bring up, eventually. She had to preserve some of her husband’s patience for that. 

“I apologise, my love, for speaking such dreadful words,” she mumbled, placing a reassuring hand on his cheek. “We shouldn’t let words born out of anger rot what it would have otherwise been a joyous moment, should we?” 

Aemond took a second before nodding, and deemed the discussion over by once again laying his hand over her swollen stomach. 

“Who do you think the baby will look like, this time?” 

“I wish for the baby to look like you.” Aemond smiled subtly. “Girls always take after their mothers.” 

“We don’t know if it is a girl yet.” Myria chuckled. “It could very much be another boy, you know. Will you be happy if that’s the case?” 

“Of course I’ll be, I only pray to the Gods for a healthy child.” He explained. “I just have a feeling it will be a daughter.” 

“But if it’s not?” She insisted, with a wary leer on her lips. 

Aemond stared at her in confusion, failing to understand Myria’s persistence on the matter. He believed himself to be a good, present father to their sons. He cherished them deeply and, because words of love didn’t come easy to him, he made sure his actions were a testament of such affections. He wished for a daughter, sure, but he found it hard to believe Myria would ever think he wouldn’t adore another boy just as much. Besides, they could always try again. 

And, as if she had read his mind, Myria turned her face towards him, letting a gloomy semblance cover her usually cheeky demeanour. “I too wish for a daughter, but I hope for you, my love, that indeed it’s one. Because this is the last time, Aemond. I do not wish to do this again. I’ve already given you two sons, and we have another babe in the way, I think I’ve already performed my duty. Even if this one is another son, I do not wish to get pregnant again only for the yearning of a daughter.” 

The princess remained in silence, assessing her dear husband’s reaction, but there wasn’t any. He simply stared back at her, with a frivolous mien on his face. 

“Are you mad at me, dear?” She asked, holding tight on his hands.

Aemond took a deep breath in, and then spoke: “If it’s indeed anger what you make out my feelings to be, rest assured they’re not because of you, dearest, for they’re directed at me.” He sighed, refusing to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry that you’ve felt as if having my children were a duty to you, rather than a choice. And I’m even more ashamed that you believed I would ever force that on you.” 

“No, Aemond, please.” Myria said, straightening up. She stretched out towards him, placing her palm on his cheek, and softly pushed his face towards her, pressing him to look at her. “Our kids, all three of them, are a blessing to me. And they were born out of love, not duty, believe me. I am not telling you this because I fear you will force children on me, I am letting you know this will be our last baby so you can get used to that idea. I know you wanted lots of children, and I wouldn’t want you to feel as if our family was incomplete.” 

Aemond reached for her hands, and held them against his lips, so he could leave a mellow kiss on them. He then placed them over his chest. 

“I’ve considered our family to be complete the moment I married you, Myr.” He said, gently.  “Don’t ever worry about that.” 

And she knew he meant that, for he rarely called her by such a name. Maybe it was because of how flustered she felt, or how strongly she felt about her husband, or maybe it was just a coincidence, but right at that moment the baby started to kick again. 

“Feel that,” she said, beaming, putting his hands over her stomach, “I think the baby is eager to come out. They’ve been kicking so much lately, and with such strength, I wouldn’t be surprised if I genuinely gave birth to a dragon.” 

Aemond promptly looked at her, his face turning into a grin one could find in a child when they’re being asked about a subject they’re very interested in. “As a matter of fact,” he rushed to explain, not being able to conceal his excitement, “there’s a myth that Targaryens are first conceived as dragons when they’re in the womb, and eventually develop into humans, right before birth.” 

“The matter is settled, then,” she chuckled, “neither a baby boy nor a baby girl, a baby dragon.” 

“Īlva rūs zaldrīzes.” He affirmed proudly, to which the baby started kicking again. 

“I think they like that.” She giggled. “But you better not say that word again, it hurts when they get this excited.” Myria groaned. 

Aemond let a little smile cover his face, and drew his face closer to her stomach. 

“Sagon sȳz naejot aōha muña, ñuha zaldrītsos.” (Be kind to your mother, my little dragon). 

• • •

Aemond stayed with her until the sun set, and helped her back to their chambers, where their two boys were expecting them, jumping up and down all around the room in excitement. 

Myria loved her children. More than anything in the world, more than anything she had ever loved before. But she couldn’t deny they were a handful. They were nice and kind boys, but very vigorous ones indeed. She didn’t have enough fingers in her hands to count the times she’d had to catch them mind air before jumping into something dangerous or forbidding them from waking up a very much asleep Vaghar. So when she saw their mischievous little faces smiling at them with a grin so big it went from ear to ear, she knew better than to ignore that. 

“What have you been up to, little dragons?” She asked, awkwardly bending down and opening her arms so they could hug her. 

“We have a surprise, mama!” Their eldest, Trystan, cheered. He was four years of age, and was very much Aemond’s twin. He had silvery blonde hair, and big, crystal clear blue eyes. Yet he had rather inherited her mother’s cheerful and loving character, much to Aemond’s liking. 

“You do?” She asked, with panic in her eyes. Her boys’ surprises usually consisted of messes, mostly. “What is it?” 

“Come see!” Griffin, aged two, grabbed her hand and started rushing her towards the fireplace. He too resembled his father, pale blue eyes and silver hair, except the latter one had a few hints of red, much like Myria’s. 

She looked over at her husband with an inquiring look on her face, wondering if he knew which surprise the children were talking about. Did she need to brace herself for absolute chaos?

“Don’t worry,” he chuckled, placing a hand on her lower back to help her heavily pregnant body follow the rushing steps of the toddlers. “‘Tis indeed a nice, harmless surprise.” 

And it surely was. She glanced over the fireplace, and found a golden, shimmering dragon egg laying over the flaming firewood. 

“Dreamfire brought a fresh clutch!” Trys squealed in happiness. “Aunt Helaena let us pick one for the new baby! Now Rhaexar and Maelar will have a little brother!” 

Myria smiled at the boys, and squeezed her husband’s hand. She knew seeing his children get dragons from the moment they were newborns must’ve been a bittersweet feeling for him. Both Trystan and Griffin’s eggs hatched within their cradles, and had grown into strong, healthy young dragons already. She knew he hadn’t been as lucky as a child. She knew how much pain it had caused him not having a dragon as early as his brother and nephews, and how much it had cost him to finally claim one. An eye for a dragon. 

“That’s incredible, sweethearts.” She smiled, ruffling Trys’ hair. “Now, will you be taking care of it? Making sure there’s always fire burning under it?” 

“I thought you didn’t let us play with fire.” The boy objected, with a playful grin on his face. He was a master in finding loopholes to help him get away with his shenanigans. 

“And you’re still very much not allowed, but you’ll be the ones in charge of calling an adult to rekindle it if it's needed, alright?”

“Alright, mama.” The boys agreed, and then kept on loudly marvelling about the beautiful egg. 

Aemond then proceeded to sit by the window, after intentionally pulling out a big book from the shelf, which catched the kids’ attention. Both of them ran towards him, and hopped onto his lap. 

“Could you read it to us, father?” Trystan requested. 

“All of it is in High Valyrian.” Aemond warned them. 

“That’s alright.” 

“Sure then, we’ll see how much you’ve been practising.” He teased them, with a devilish grin on his face. 

Myria chuckled, grateful her husband was entertaining them, and seized the opportunity to prepare herself for bed. She leisurely changed into her nightgown, and undid her hair. She brushed her teeth and applied a few drops of perfume on her wrists. 

After taking care of herself, she came back into the room, not surprised to find it in chaos once again. The boys were running all around the room, recreating scenes of the book as their father read them outloud. 

Myria hated being the one to burst their bubble of fun, but she was eager to get a very much needed rest, and the boys would behave like demons the following day if they didn’t get any sleep.

“Okay boys, let me get you to bed now.” She called, but was unsuccessful in getting them to listen. “Trys, Griff, come on!” She asked again, with a tiresome frown. 

“Boys!” Aemond was the one to notice her protests, and called them out sternly, which made them stop jumping all around the room. “Rȳbagon naejot aōha muña, and do as she tells you.” 

Myria mouthed her gratitude and walked the boys towards their room, just across the hall. She set them in their beds , and slowly started to put out the candles inside the lamps around the room.

“Mama, will the baby be born tomorrow?” Trys asked her. 

“I don’t know, bee.” She said, sitting by him. “Maybe, maybe not. Are you excited to have a new baby brother or sister?” 

“Yes!” Both kids nodded enthusiastically. “Mom, can I name the new baby when it comes?” 

“We’ll see about that, love.” She exhaled, too exhausted to argue with a four year old on why they couldn’t name the new baby ‘Balerion’. “Now, go to sleep. You need your rest to go spar with your father tomorrow, alright?”

“Alright mama.” 

“I love you.”

“Love you too.” 

Myria kissed the boys goodnight, and returned to her chambers, where she found Aemond undressing for the night. She walked towards him, and gently started to help him get his clothes down. 

“So, that was what you were doing with the boys all afternoon, fetching the dragon egg?” 

He simply hummed in response, but Myria was used to it. Her husband was a man of few words, after all. 

“Sometimes I’m jealous of you three.” She admitted, as Aemond turned around. She placed her hands on his cheeks. “For having dragons. For being dragon riders. For having dragon blood.” 

Aemond stared at her with apprehension, and put both his hands on her swollen stomach. “You are more dragon than any of us, my lady.” He replied, enjoying his wife’s caresses. 

Myria’s face scrunched up in confusion. “What do you mean?” 

“You’ve given birth to two dragon children. You have yet another one in your belly. You’ve been tending to Rhaexar and Maelar ever since they hatched, I would be surprised if they didn’t trust in you enough to let you ride them, once they’re older. And you already know, whenever you wish to go for a ride on Vaghar, all you need to do is ask. She likes you.” 

“Hm, I know my darling.” She dreamily smiled, thinking about the times she had ridden the ancient dragon with her husband, and his strong grip on her waist and thighs as he sat behind her. “But I’m afraid that in this condition, the only place where I find some comfort is in a tub full of warm water.” 

“I can call for another one if you wish, dearest.” 

“No need for that, just come to bed with me.” 

“As you wish.” 

Both of them laid in bed, and as they were putting the candles on their nightstands out, she noticed something. 

“Aemond.” She breathed, and reached out towards him. “You’re still wearing your eye patch. Here.” She gently undid the tie behind his head, and let the patch fall onto the bed, revealing a blue sapphire where her husband’s left eye should’ve been. 

She stretched out and left a kiss right over his scar, as she always did after taking its cover away. And because words, especially those born out of sincere, loving feelings, didn’t come easy to him, he resorted to grabbing her by her back, pulling her close to him, so he could kiss her on the lips. 

“Goodnight, my love.” She called, and after one last kiss, both of them fell into their pillows, closing their eyes, hoping it wouldn’t take long to find some sleep. 

But that wasn’t the case for Myria. She was uncomfortable. If it wasn’t the position that bothered her, it was the fact that she felt too hot with the covers on, but too cold without them, or then it was the weight the baby made on her belly, which made her want to pee at all times. To make matters worse, every time she felt herself drifting away, into the blissful abyss of slumberness, the baby felt it necessary to kick, as hard as they could. Maybe she did truly bore a dragon inside. 

She turned around to look at her husband, and felt a pinch of unjustifiable annoyance at the sight of him peacefully sleeping, with no uncomfort whatsoever depriving him of rest. 

“Aemond,” she whispered into the man’s ear. She saw his lips press together into a line, and his eyebrows furrow into a frown. “Aemond, I can’t sleep.” 

Judging from the way her husband’s breathing paced up and how his position shifted, she assumed she had awoken him, but he still refused to open his eye. 

“Aemond,” she repeated, in a louder voice, “Aemond, I’m afraid your baby is very much awake and won’t let me find some sleep. Can you do me a favour?”

“Hm.” 

“Talk to them in High Valyrian. That always manages to calm the baby down.” 

Aemond grunted, and immediately afterwards straightened up, and placed his lips against her belly. 

“Ivestragī aōha muña rhaenagon mirri ēdrugon, zaldrītsos.” (Let your mother find some sleep, little dragon).

• • •

Morning came, and Myria felt as if a miracle had happened. She had been able to sleep all night long, and for the first time in months, she hadn’t woken up completely exhausted. She didn’t know how much time Aemond had spent talking to the baby in High Valyrian, for sleep found her as he kept on telling stories about grand cities and immense dragons. By the time she opened her eyes, Aemond had already left towards the training area, most probably with both their boys following from behind. 

She got up, and with the help of her maid got dressed for the day. She and Helaena would visit the King in his chambers, hoping to break her fast with him as they did every other morning, and then spend the rest of the day relaxing in the bath. 

But by the time her meeting with Viserys was put to an end, she knew she had some issues to discuss with her husband. Pressing ones. Myria knew the wise thing to do would be to remain silent, to avoid putting herself in danger, but the blood of the dragon growing inside of her ruled over her, making her fiery, volatile, and determined. Hence her hurrying towards the training yard, against her wisdom. 

She spotted Ser Criston Cole right away, sparring with some nobleman’s son, but she couldn’t find Aemond and the boys at first. That is, until she glanced towards an isolated corner of the patio, where she saw three silvery heads, side by side. Aemond was kneeling down, explaining something to the two little boys. 

They were each holding small swords, ones most probably Aemond had requested were made for them. Their father was teaching them how to properly hold the handles, and they were fairly focused on him, until they spotted their mother walking towards them. 

“Mama!” The boys’ faces lit up with delight. 

“Hello darlings!” She tried to bend down in order to pick Griff up, but felt a strong throb on her stomach as she was doing so. She let out a faint “Ouch!”, and bolted back up with a smile, to avoid worrying Aemond.

“Is everything alright?” Her husband asked, not being fooled by Myria’s cover up. 

“It is. I just hadn’t realised I am already at that stage where I can’t bend down comfortably, don’t worry.” She lent him a reassuring smile. “Am I interrupting something?” 

“We were just having some fun, right taobi?” 

“Mama, kepa said that we could sōvegon isse Vaghar later if we behaved!” 

“You’re more than welcome to join us, if you wish.” Aemond’s smirk reached her eyes. 

“Actually, my prince, I was wondering if you wished to go for a walk in the gardens with me, if that’s alright.” She hurried to ask, with a knowing look on her face. 

“Of course, my lady. Cole!” He screamed, looking for the knight. 

“Yes, my prince?”

“Could you keep on training with the children? I’ll escort my wife to the gardens.” 

“Certainly, my prince. Princess.” He added, bowing his head towards her. “Come here, you little monsters.” The man addressed the boys with an affectionate expression on his face. Although Myria felt as if there was something off about Ser Criston, she couldn’t pretend he didn’t absolutely adore her children. And he had always been not only a friend, but a father figure to her husband, and she respected him for that.

The couple left the yard, and walked towards the beautiful, blooming gardens. If Myria weren’t in her condition, she would spend most of her day there, gardening, with the kids. She had always adored being surrounded by flowers and trees and insects, and there were few activities she enjoyed better than taking care of them. But the swollen belly made such a task an impossible one. 

As a matter of fact, if it wasn’t for her husband's strong grip on her waist, she wouldn’t be able to walk down the stairs that led to the grounds. Aemond rather enjoyed that outcome of her being with child, if truth be told. He would never admit it, but he liked having excuses to touch his wife like that, and always seized the opportunity to let his fingers linger around her for far longer than it would be considered appropriate to do in public. 

They walked on silence for a few minutes, admiring the beautiful flowers and the stunning views of the ocean, until Myria raised her voice: 

��I visited your father today, I broke my fast with him.” 

“That’s nice.” Aemond lied, forcing his lips into a smile. Over the years, he had grown resentful of his father and he wasn’t fond of the apparently great relationship his wife had with him. 

“He didn’t know Rhaenyra is coming tomorrow.” She said, dryly. 

“Hm.” He nodded, glancing towards her. 

“Apparently no one in this family thought it necessary to tell the King his daughter and grandchildren are coming.” She added, in a condescending tone, feeling fury starting to boil in her blood. 

Aemond abruptly stopped on his tracks, and Myria would’ve tripped forwards if he hadn’t grabbed her by the waist, rather harshly. She felt another pinch on her stomach, but because of the adrenaline she was feeling, she didn’t find it hard to ignore it. 

“And what exactly do you want me to do about that?” 

“And I didn’t even get to explain to him the reason they’re coming, because the moment he seemed to start understanding what I was talking about, a maid came rushing and drowned him in milk of the poppy.” She added, through gritted teeth. 

“I don’t think it’s your place to be informing the King on such matters, my lady.” He answered, eyebrows furrowing into an angry frown.

“And I couldn’t help but wonder,” she ignored him, “who would try and hide this away from the King? Who indeed would want to avoid having your father speak on such matters?” She continued, raising her voice. 

“Careful.” Aemond whispered, discreetly looking around, worrying for his wife, for not even their titles would be able to protect her if such words were heard by the wrong ears. 

“And then I realised: why would they not want your father ending once and for all these treacherous claims? What’s in it for them, if Rhaenyra’s son is declared unworthy of the Driftmark throne? And what consequences would that bring to other claims, by extension?” 

Aemond shortened the space between them, and gently placed his hand over Myria’s mouth. 

“What are you implying, my lady?”

“I think you know exactly what I’m implying, Aemond.” Myria hurled back, firmly hitting his hand down. “I know your whole family, yourself included, like to think of me an idiot, but I am not. And I listen to the whispers, we all have. Everyone knows it’s been moons since the King last attended a council meeting, let alone sat the throne, and who’s been ruling in his name. And if one is to believe in whispers, then very corrupt conversations are being held right now, as we speak, in that very same room.”  

“You could get your tongue cut off for making such allegations, did you know?” 

“I don’t blame your mother, I don’t think she’s taking any part in it. But I think you know very well about the Hand’s intentions, for when the inevitable happens.” She sneered. Myria spoke words of truth yet her lips were laced with poison. “And I believe you condone them.” 

Hearing those words, spoken in such a reproaching manner by his wife, was the final straw for Aemond. He felt his nostrils flare up with fury, and decided she was no longer worth the kindness of being reasonable. She chose to anger the dragon— then she could face the consequences. 

“And would it really be that bad, huh?” He roared. “That a trueborn Targaryen sat the Throne?”

“Rhaenyra is a trueborn Targaryen.” She argued back. 

“Her children are not.”

“Even if Laenor weren’t their father, they’re not Targaryens because of him, they carry the dragon blood because of her. And Jacaerys won’t inherit the throne because of Laenor, he will inherit the throne because of his mother, the legitimate heir.” 

“There is not one place in the whole realm where bastards aren’t stripped of all their titles. Explain to me why this is any different.” 

Myria was about to answer with rage, when she felt a scream get caught up on her throat. She felt as if water were running down her legs, and she lifted the skirt of her dress to find a pink, gooey liquid covering her thighs. She looked up towards Aemond with dismay in her eyes, which managed to make him forget about any sort of anger he might have had towards her at the moment. He ran towards her, just in time to prevent her from falling as another cry left her lips. 

“Wh—what’s wrong, dearest?” He asked, worried. 

“Nothing is wrong I— I just think the baby is coming.” She answered, with a smile caused by both joy and pain.

“Are you sure?” 

“I’ve done this two times already, Aemond, I’d know if something were wrong.” She clinged on his arm, as another sharp ache invaded her body. “This simply means we’re going to meet our baby soon.” 

“That is good news, my lady.” He grinned. 

But not everything went as smoothly as they believed. 

• • •

It had been hours since Aemond called the Maester, and some more since night had already fallen upon the castle, and the baby had yet to arrive. The prince could hear his wife’s screams from the hallway, and each one of them felt like he was being pierced through the heart. 

“What is wrong, Maestre?” He asked the old man, concerned. 

“Nothing, young prince.” He replied, with a shrug. “It’s just a long labour, that’s all. So far, Princess Myria has been blessed with rather quick, smooth labours. This one will simply be more challenging, my prince.” 

Another bawl broke the silence, and Aemond felt his heart sink on his chest. 

“Isn’t there anything you can give to her?” 

“When the time comes, we’ll provide her with the milk of the poppy. But I’m afraid it’ll be a long time before it comes to that. I trust you will be in the chambers with her, as you were the last two times?” The old man asked, with a bitter look on his face. For some reason, he had always been disapproving about Aemond’s decision on being with his wife during her labours. 

He straightened his posture, and put on a threatening mien. He didn’t like it when being questioned. 

“I think that’s your cue, my prince.” The Maester backed down, as Myria’s screams reached them once more. 

Aemond rushed towards the door, and he opened it to find his wife holding onto the bed frame for dear life. 

“Here,” he said, offering his arm, “lean on me.” 

“What is wrong, Aemond?” She grunted, pressing her nails against his flesh as another contraction hit her. “And why is it that you two find it righteous to speak behind my back when I’m the one agonising? When I’m the one bearing the pain of being in labours?”

Aemond hid a smile, for he would be lying if he said he wasn’t fond of the fire that seized over his wife whenever she carried one of his children. Ever too kind and gentle of a woman, it was rather amusing seeing her snap like that. Aemond liked it when she was fiery. He found it alluring. 

“The Maester says nothing is wrong, we are simply unlucky it’s a long labour. We can only endure it.” 

“Easier said than done.” She grunted with a muffled voice, given that she was harshly pressing her face against his chest to avoid screaming her lungs out. “And why is it exactly that you aren’t groaning in pain with me?” 

“My lady?” He asked, confused. 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she scoffed, with an insolent look on her face, “I just heard you said that ‘we’ have to endure it, so I seem to have made the mistake to assume that ‘we’ were indeed suffering the same torture.” 

Myria felt a contraction so agonising, she couldn't help but to cry out tears of pain while leaning towards her husband. She pressed her forehead against his chest, bending down, while he caressed her arms. 

“If I could take any of the pain away, I would, dearest.” 

Hours kept passing by, and it wasn’t until sunrise that the midwives declared the baby would arrive briefly. She was sat on the bed, Aemond holding tight on her hand, and so it started, the moment Myria dreaded the most. 

It was known that pushing was the most dangerous part in any birth. Myria thought about the baby she wouldn’t get to know, her boys, and everything they would be losing if something happened to her. She felt her chest hastily pounding with panic, and her skin breaking out in sweat. Her vision became blurry, and she had trouble hearing what was being said to her. 

Aemond seemed to be the only one to detect her panic, and so he softly grabbed her chin, and forced her gaze into his. He gave her a nod, one filled with encouragement and love, and the barriers of reality became solid once more, as her senses came back to her. Nothing could happen to her as long as Aemond was there, we would never let any harm come her way. 

Two excruciatingly long hours later, Myria sobbed in relief as she heard a baby’s cry. Her face was covered in sweat, and she felt as if she were about to pass out. But the babe was fine, she was relieved to hear. 

“It’s a healthy, strong boy, Princess.” The midwives chanted, as she was handed the newborn. She cried tears of joy as he was placed in her arms. The baby had a very fine layer of golden, copper blonde hair and beautiful brown, honey eyes; a spitting image of her. 

She looked up towards Aemond, beaming. He pulled himself closer, so he could leave a kiss on her forehead, an action which everyone took as a signal to leave, and let the new parents enjoy some privacy. 

Myria urged him to sit by her side, and she handed the baby to him. He delicately took him in his arms, despite how many times he had already carried his newborn children, he never got past the feeling of them being the dearest, most fragile thing in the world, and started rocking him gently. 

“Don’t you wish he was a girl?” 

“No.” He said, with a very subtle smile on his lips. “He looks like you.” 

“Does that upset you?” 

“It is a blessing he is as beautiful as his mother.” He said, smiling broadly at her. The kind of smile she was rarely granted, the one he reserved for special occasions such as their children’s births, when he felt each of their first kicks, or when their dragon eggs hatched. So she tried to soak up as much of it as she could, and decided to seal the moment with a kiss on his lips. She wouldn’t dare to say it— for she knew her husband felt uneasy about showing affection, but she hoped he could understand the words hidden behind that kiss. Avy jorrāelan. I love you. 

She could feel a smile on his lips, and, even if she needed any further proof that he had understood what laid underneath it, she got that as he mumbled his next words:

“Thank you, Myr.” 

She bit on her lips, to avoid any sort of doting words coming out of them, and left one final kiss on his cheek, before returning her attention towards the cooing baby. Whether it was normal for newborns to do so, she didn’t know, but the baby boy wouldn’t stop energetically kicking his legs.  

“You’re a strong one, huh, ñuha zaldrītsos?” Myria commented lovingly. “No wonder I felt my insides bruised!” She giggled, laughter laced with overwhelming affection. 

“He’s very much welcome to bruise me, now, for a change.” Aemond chuckled, as the baby hit his chest with his legs. “‘Tis only fair, my lady.” 

“I quite agree.” She smiled. “He’s precious, isn’t he?” 

“Hm.” 

• • •

They enjoyed a few hours of privacy, doting on their newborn, before they decided it was time to bring the children so they could meet their baby brother. Aemond entered the room, with the two boys bouncing up and down with excitement. As soon as they spotted the little baby in their mother's arms, they began rushing towards the bed. Aemond bolted towards them just in time to pick them up before they could hop onto their mother. 

“Boys, what did I say on the way here?” He scolded them. “You’ll have to be gentle towards your mother these days. No crushing her.” 

“It’s alright, bees, you can come, but carefully.” She said, staring lovingly at them. “Come meet your baby brother!”

“Is it a boy?” Trys squealed in excitement, sitting by her side, while Aemond laid Griffin down on her other side. 

“He is.” Myria ruffled the boy’s hair. “Do you want to hold him?” 

“Yes, yes mama, please!” Trystan perked up with enthusiasm. 

“Be careful with his head, alright?” She said, settling the baby in the boy’s arms. For such a wild child— he remained unusually still, which was a testament on how much he cherished his new baby brother already.

“Alright, mama.” Trystan answered, delicately holding his head, and Myria could feel her heart expanding at the sight of them together. 

“I want too!” Griffin complained, climbing onto his mother’s lap. 

Myria grunted in pain, still pretty sore from the birth, pretty sure the Maester would advise her against such gestures, to help the stitches cure quicker. She noticed Aemond was about to pull Griff away, but she motioned him it was not needed. She could handle it. 

“You’ll get to hold him too, after your brother, my love.” She soothed him, leaving a kiss on his temple. 

“Mama, can we name him Max?” Trystan blurted, out of the blue. 

“Where did you get that from?” Myria chuckled, with her eyebrows furrowed. 

“It’s from one of the books father reads to us before bed.” The little boy explained. 

Myria looked over at Aemond, since they hadn’t discussed names yet. She was planning on letting him choose, especially since he had very kindly allowed her to pick the first two in traditionally dornish names. 

“Ser Maxen Uller of Hellholt.” Aemond nodded, smiling softly at the toddler, proud of the little boy’s attention to his teachings. “Esquire of Princess Nymeria during the war. Grand name fitting of a grand warrior.” 

“Does that mean we can name him Max?” Trys asked, eyes filled with hope. 

Myria looked at Aemond, and shrugged. She quite liked Max. And, truth to be told, as the high from meeting the baby started to wear off, she began to feel tired and sickly, and not at all fitted to endure an hour worth of name discussion. So she looked at Aemond, and nodded. 

“Prince Maxen of House Targaryen it is, then” He announced, cheerfully.

****

a/n: please forgive any mistakes, english is not my first language! i had this idea for a fic ever since i first watched the show, about aemond marrying a dornish heiress, and finallt got around writing it. i hope you enjoyed this! thinking about turning it into a series

[bandtrees]

tell me about milton the presidential pool boy

SEND ME A CHARACTER AND I'LL...

OFC <3 i will do these solidly in uh... the order i remember to :D yay. milt is the perfect character to do this with though because my highly specific headcanon realities for him in particular are UNMATCHED. UNDER A READMORE—

Sexuality Headcanon: BISEXUAL ICON. also polyamorous of course, and objectum - which is obviously not a feeling he has words for but it’s part of what drives his initial attraction to marla and callum, his attraction to the objects in particular while they’re a novelty. i figured it would be an interesting segue into him being desperate to keep his ‘human’ face if it already stuck out in their relationship - but in a way he finds hot, lol. til it’s not anymore of course.

fun fact, in my milton fic that lays out a lot of what i basically imagine for him, i scrapped a line during him and callum’s arguments that would have been, in response to callum becoming more obsessed with the dialup/innovation overall, him trying to reassure callum that he would’ve loved him even without his object head - but of course he wouldn’t be able to lie like that, and would hold his tongue. it would’ve been a parallel to the last milt/marla scene, buuut i couldnt find a place to squeeze it in, lol.

Gender Headcanon: plain ol cisgender gentleman 👍

A ship I have with said character: WHITE HOUSE POLYCULE MY BELOVED. i am so very fond of callum+milt+marla you have no idea the mental illness i gave myself with them. i am a huge sucker for polyamorous ships and the amount of tragic potential with literally every combination of these three drives me fucking insane.

A BROTP I have with said character: i am sure him and norm would have a lot to talk about if they ever were to personally meet, lol.

A NOTP I have with said character: ...well here’s the thing about that. jokes aside though, if i can cheat and say “an existing interpretation of a ship i do like”, i do love callum/milt a lot, but i am specifically really not into the interpretation that it was an affair situation. for a lot of reasons - only one of them is that i’m as attached to the polyamory headcanon as i am. for starters, dubious a figure as he is, i don’t think callum would Do That, both morally and because i think a lot of his personality revolves around the fact that he only really views his life in service to other people and i can’t see him being that underhanded unless it was for a cause he really thought was just. when i think the problem with him is that he abandons his personal relationships for those causes.

that and, like… it just sidelines marla in a way i don’t like. dialtown, all my love to it, kind of already has a problem with its gender ratios and such and i don’t think regaling the female character in the equation to a beard or “The Wife” or whatever is fair — not to say i think every woman has to be shipped, but i just find her having an active role in callum+milt’s relationship way more interesting than any alternative. let her fujosh it out smh. plus i’m bisexual and will always take a well-thought out m/f ship over m/m ships that are just kinda there.

A random headcanon: lax as he appears, especially compared to callum, he has a lot of resentment in that weird little heart of his. he has an obsessive attachment to his own humanity, in a “weathered and it’s all i have” sense — being in wars made it so he felt a lot of his body wasn’t his own, but he wasn’t prepared to ‘lose’ it to the dialup, either. in a world where callum managed to actually force him to get an object head, he still would’ve committed suicide… after taking crown down with him, of course.

i also like stylizing him as having a black censor bar in place of a face :] with his trademark lil hat visible ofc lol.

General Opinion over said character: I REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY FUCKING LIKE HIM. both my insanely specific headcanons and the framework that dogman themself has put down for him. he’s very interesting and some of the bleakest dialtown’s story has gotten - which inherently intrigues me a lot. i think he has potential for a perspective on dt’s story we really don’t see that much of - that being how the dialup must have felt at the time, and how genuinely horrifying it would have been.

i also, for a while - and this is really ironic coming from me - really really did not like milton. not for anything to actually do with him - i just really liked callum crown and, before learning who milton was, was incensed that so many people seemed to be more attached to what i thought was a throwaway name than his actual lore, lol. now i know better of course. now i have become fucking insane, at that

⬆ I LIKE HIM VERY MUCH

[birdofprey1234]

So I had a really bad dream today.

Going through tags about yourself is always kinda weird, but. It's meloncholy when the blog people are talking about isn't really around anymore. By your own choices but. The memories attached to it are then kind of flitty and detached because of that. Like you don't think about them anymore.

I saw posts where people were talking about me and like, sad that it seemed I was gone. Wondering what had happened or if I was still active somewhere.

I've gotten sentiments like that before. But like... usually it was asks sent to me, or thing directly from friends who said they missed my art. It's appreciated, and still baffling, but I guess that can feel kind of put-on for my feelings compared to... making a post talking about me, thinking I'll never see it. Making that post and like.... missing me in it. Talking about me nicely.

I've never experienced that feeling before. That like... true sweetness and appreciation and humbling kindness.

I'm thinking maybe a lot of people feel that way about my blog. Thinking about me on occasion and wondering what happened, or where I am. Not because they think I died or something but, because they liked me.

I always wanted to leave a mark on this community. By that I mean like, general tumblr but also specifically the ego fandom. A huge part of the reason I left is because from my perspective people weren't really digging what i was making. Maybe I felt i was an unpopular artist in the community, or that my work was kind of unliked compared to others. I felt constantly that I was making things that I loved and was super excited about, but people around me were never as excited, and didn't really care about the things I made. (And yk, to clarify, i felt like that looked bad on *me* not the people looking at my stuff)

I think the ego/mark fandom is generally less to actually interact with content or the people making it, ((at least compared to the other fandoms I've been in.)) I didn't know about the possible differences when I joined, so I just saw people not engagin with my art in the way I wanted and I assumed my art just suddenly wasnt enjoyed anymore.

I wanted to make a mark. All the art that I made, for me was about expanding on the stories and ideas about characters I loved. I wanted so badly for those ideas to be shared and talked about and remembered. Like I was a part of something. Egos was likr one of the first fandoms i ever joined that wasnt already "over".

When I left I really wanted to dissipear. I was in a very bad place for a lot of reasons but mainly i was upset and flustered and I wanted to get away from the blog because the size it had gotten to really scared me and made me anxious. I was having trouble motivating myself to create and I feel like there was a lot of resentment over my art that I now feel guilty for.

I felt at the time like dissipearing was impossible. Like this blog would somehow always follow me? I also thought that pretty much no one would care. That they would miss the art i drew but not me, like no one would care if it wasn't about the Content. But I'm m realizing. Maybe I really did dissipear. Maybe people wondered where I went. Maybe I just dropped off the map, completely went away, like I wanted to, but... maybe not everyone just ignored it, didnt notice or didnt care like I expected.

I've been going back and reading stuff about camp UA, how I apparently brought so many kids and people together and. At the time I didnt notice. I remember people telling me that, butbit never actually sunk in. It felt fake, like just nixe words. There were people asking about me after I left, sad I wasn't around. Friends lately started to tell me recently that from their perspectivesl I was really well loved in the fandom, that I was extremely popular even though at the time I didn't feel like it at all. Seeing things occasionally about my curly haired yancy or my trans abe etc and. People still recognizing i influenced these things, seeing my joys and my ideas still circulate, even though I felt like I had made no fandom impact at all. Even if its small it's there. And combining all of these things...

I don't know. It's really nice. Now that I have some distance, to actually view the things I did and see the influence maybe I didn't realize I had. To see actual good things that came out of my blog. People...cared? Maybe they always cared and I just didn't have the perspective to recognize it. Like...joy that I've caused people. People calling my queer posts "classics", or that they made them feel good in their identity. People referencing specific ego posts i made, people missing me and wondering where I'd gone. People in old posts mentioning me by name, like I was a recognizable friend of the "family". People clearly...liking me. I don't know. Caring? Seeing me as me and not just an art funnel. I never felt that way while I was making art. I feel now like I had so many blindspots while I was running this blog and I'm not even sure why.

It feels incredibly selfish, to be honest. Super high and mighty and self aggrandizing that I'm saying all this. like..."ohhh i didn't get the response i wannnted :( and that made me saaaddd :((((" like, I don't deserve any specific treatment. I'm not "owed" any response from people. I'm not even owed recognition after the fact. I'm not owed care or interest or any of this.

...but still people care, they liked me? Maybe I did add to the community? Maybe I made things and posts that braught people together and had community effects, that people had fun and got excited over the things that i made...? Even if it was things i didnt intend, or in a way I never intended.

It makes me miss it, you know. It makes me feel, it makes y heart swim with kindness and appreciation and gratitude and LOVE and. Everything everything. It makes me teary eyed, heart full to bursting alone in my room, completely pathetically. I shared things, maybe. Things that maybe meant something. And people cared? Some of them, at least? A few people were effected, really? A place that caused me so much strong anxiety a year+ ago but. I still do miss it. People are so nice. And for what? Why do I deserve it? Everyone's so nice. The blogs i saw over and over, my friends and mutuals in the community, that I never talked to because I was small and a freak and anxious and too self concious about myself. They were so nice. People are so, so nice.

Thank you to anyone at all that ever did that for me? That asked about me after I was gone, that left me sweet messaged or comments, joined in on some thing i was doing for fun, made art of my posts, told me that i braught you joy. Connected with me. Or tried. I love you.

Idk im a weird fuckin. Emotional sap and also I gotta tell you I'm sick and haven't slept in like 13 hours so. Sorry for random long posts on ur dashboard I'm extremely sensitive.

Maybe I'll link to some other blog where I'm making art someday. Idk. I just miss the nice people in the community and the connection and. I wanted to thank you. I hope i did make an impact. At least a little.. I really really hope I did

[incomingalbatross]

My theory is that Watson is a victim of his own success; he’s so good at Being A Narrator that people have trouble perceiving him as a Character.

Much of his personality and presence in his stories is tied to his narration—but since the stories aren’t presented as about him, it’s easy to process that presence/personality as part of the background, just neutral elements of the medium in which the stories take place. But this means that if you don’t pay attention to his narrative voice, Watson’s voice and personality are far less obvious than, say, Holmes’s. He’s Just Some Guy, right? He’s just the everyman there to tell the audience what Holmes is doing.

I think this kind of assumption leads to a lot of the weird Watson choices in adaptations. Because if you’re working in a medium where he’s not the narrator—TV and movies, obviously, but also written works that made a different perspective choice—then a lot of his narrative presence is stripped out by default. And if you only processed that narrative presence as part of the backdrop, you may not even notice it’s gone…you just look at Watson without his voice and go “Hm. Yeah, he’s kind of a blank slate.” And then you make stuff up to fill it in: “Stuff” ranging from Nigel Bruce’s “comic relief” to Martin Freeman’s “addicted to violence” to fairly-widespread fic tropes like “handles Holmes’s social missteps for him.” (Yes that last one is also Martin Freeman, but it predates BBC Sherlock.) Fans and adaptors “fill in the blanks” and find things for him to do.

The only problem is he’s NOT a blank.

And this is one of the things that makes Watson SO interesting, because he has PLENTY of personality but people still overlook it BECAUSE it meshes so well with his role I guess? People keep making up traits for him and he HAS traits already. They’re just not looking in the right places! His character permeates the narrative so well that people overlook its presence!

We know things about Watson. Listen.

We know that he unironically and uncritically thinks Holmes is the greatest, while seeing him clearly enough to give us a picture of his flaws and faults.

We know that he’s imaginative and keenly sensitive to atmosphere, and also good at reading people’s emotions even if he can’t deduce why they’re feeling something. (He is, in fact, very good at observation and not good at deduction.)

We know he’s brave, and always up for something interesting.

We know he’s intelligent and well-read.

We know he’s idealistic, chivalrous, impetuous, and kind of a hothead; we also know, however, that his temper is generally short-lived and he’s quickly ashamed of it if he thinks he was in the wrong.

We know his ego works the same way (and is often tied to his temper); it’s easily wounded, when he remembers it exists, but he doesn’t care enough about his pride to feel embarrassments for very long.

We know that he, generally speaking, feels everything deeply, but is also comfortable with that, and is apparently incapable of resentment that lasts for more than five minutes. (To a degree we may, personally, find insane, but it is still consistent within the text.)

We know all these things! They’re in the stories! But because the stories are so consistently in his voice, we are consistently encouraged by his voice to overlook his actual character. So well that even when people want Watson to have personality, they apparently don’t realize it’s already there.

[prismatoxic]

you know, I was joking about the m/f thing, because it's my burden to bear--if those ships make me uncomfortable, I need to make sure to block their tags and not engage with the content, bc there's nothing morally wrong with it or the people who enjoy it. the times I've brought it up are me venting about my own annoying feelings, but I don't want to give the wrong impression. if you ship m/f of ANY kind, dunmeshi or otherwise, I support you! I hope you're having a fun!

and the reason I felt compelled to say this is that I have now seen the absolute horseshit "there's too much yaoi in this fandom" take cross my dash and I do not want anyone thinking I'm perpetuating that bullshit mentality.

maybe the op was a joke, but the people in the tags were not joking. like calling m/m ships "heteronormative" or boring or whatever. being rude about shippers. that is the sort of toxic garbage I want to avoid, and I'm sorry if I only contributed to it by joking about my own tastes, bc I feel like I kind of did.

if you think some ships are inherently better than others, or that some shippers are stupid or unimaginative or, heaven forbid, less queer for shipping certain things, get the fuck out! I want nothing to do with you. you're wrong and you make fandom a bad place.

I have weird hangups about m/f with my fave characters in a lot of fandoms, and those issues are personal in nature and unrelated to the quality of the ship. I'm begging more people to recognize the same thing within themselves. people shipping more m/m than whatever your fave is are not fucking hurting you, and whatever your issues are, they're YOURS to deal with. same for any other dynamic, or headcanon, or whatever. stop resenting other fans for enjoying the series differently than you do.

[banamine-bananime]

opinions on wash? for character bingo ^_^

I do love wash but for me he’s like, blorbo by proxy to soooo much of the fandom that i’m like aight he doesn’t need me there’s other people appreciating him way better than i would anyways. It’s also kind of that “zone of compelling mediocrity vs having nothing to add to a complete concept” thing for me. Like his character arc is arguably executed the best, at least one of the best-executed, in the show, and then any things to elaborate on have been elaborated on so well by so many awesome writers in this fandom that i’m like *thumbs up* tight story I have nothing to say. But since i don’t talk about him much i’ll take this opportunity to just list things i do love about wash:

really funny guy in both intentional dry sarcasm ways and unintentional ways through being so fucking… how to describe it… sort of a Stoic Military Man who Endures Things and represses Unnecessary feelings and denies himself pleasures when he does not need to do that. He does such weird things and he’s like so serious about it, sighing deeply and resignedly at Yet Another Time The Universe Is Testing Him, yet at the same time recognizes the absurdity in these situations but just… doesn’t take that recognition to the point of removing himself from the situation or refusing to engage and instead he just Endures but also wisecracks about it.

obviously all the epsilon stuff. Man. situationship of all time

LOVE the marathon-winning grudgeholding in a way that he’s entirely silent about it until suddenly he is very not silent about it. guy who CANNOT just fucking let it go but you’ll never realize that until it’s too late. reactive dog with growl violently trained out of them “bites out of nowhere!!!”

going along w that, yay repressed anger issues!!! sorry that’s flippant but i have so much love and sadness and anger for ~Troubled Kids~ railroaded into violent professions and places based on being branded with labels of violent/oppositional/defiant/angry/dangerous instead of being helped. “hey you’re struggling with something that’s making you so angry you can’t contain violence or feel so unsafe that the only defence you’re left with is aggression or feel that you need to make people fear you to feel a little less unrespected and powerless or so that they get a taste of it for once. instead of addressing that i think we can use it. you know how people believe you’re Bad and that you’ll never change and lots of doors are shut to you? well, this one’s wide open and it’s what you’re meant for, as a person who is good at violence and not trusting people. come here and we’ll train it into you some more.” i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: cop-dog-coded motherfucker

really really good juxtaposition of this with being the goofball rookie. i know some people get frustrated with the inconsistency between pfl-recruit-era wash in book-extras vs in the show but to me it really adds something. a guy can both be goofy and have repressed anger. that guy might play up the goofiness trying very hard not to again be railroaded into Being The Crazy Angry Dangerous Kid. he is friendly and wants friends! that guy might also internally chafe at the kind of friendship that exaggerated “i’m not a threat! i’m not a threat! i swear i’m not a threat i’m just a little goofy guy!!” presentation begets. being treated as the dumb hopeless class clown sidekick is demeaning and makes you resentful no matter how hard you’re trying to make yourself think “hey, they’re my friends, this is good, they like me, they’re joking with me so they don’t hate me, this is so much better than being disliked”. and then you’ve got this internal spiral going of fear of your own capacity for anger and resentment -> overcorrect -> more things to resent

YAYYYYYYY JUSTIFIED VILLAIN ARCS MY BELOVED. love s8 washie so much.

as with carolina, really well-executed redemption arc of growing to accept friendship and rest and forgiveness and hanging onto hope that there is something better (frands and luv for them) you can shoot for than just getting revenge. wash: life is just unending cycles of violence forever change my mind. *blues offer him forgiveness and unconditional acceptance* wash: wait. i didn’t know they could do that. brb recalibrating my entire worldview to account for the power of friendship.

i actually don’t like a lot of fandom “wash and cats” content because it often hits kind of a woobification tone i’m not interested in, BUT i love imagery of alleycats, cats with nine lives, cats that always land on their feet (even when they fall off something in the goofiest, most clumsy way possible. wash paradox of dexterity/somehow surviving against all odds and dumb clumsy accidents/bad luck real). cockroach kitty wash : )

otoh my Hot Wash Take is i think sometimes some fans swing the pendulum too far the opposite way from All-Characteristics-Erased-Except-Trauma-And-Protectiveness-And-Cats Woobie Wash. yeah he’s obviously extremely competent but he’s far from the most skilled character in rvb (not his fault the competition is insane) and he is a bit goofy. let him goof up a little i promise it’s okay he’s gonna land on his feet

[inkiest-silly]

I’m feeling silly and ima just- time to post about MY VER of “if Vincent survived the fire” or shortened to STF

STF vince has cut down on his smoking, he isn't addicted anymore due to having hospitalized for a while and unable to do any packs! He also wears layers over his body and hands so it's less uncomfortable Being his hands are burned - his hard to do things without it feeling weird He is working to upgrade his bistro, and im planning on like Adding a few other characters be he's gonna have a bigger waiting staff - bring its gonna be a bigger establishment His chefs still work for him

His chefs still work for him - cherrie is loyal as hell so definitely not leaving He never got over his love for rody,he feels resentment for what rody did to him- but he just couldn't let go of the man He hasn't seen him in ages- but he sometimes wonders what in the world he's doing now Thoughts lke "Is he happy with what he did to me? Does he think im dead and is happy with it?"

He wears his glasses all the time now- he is half blind so he just, does now. He can't afford to not see well,so he keeps them on They aren't used to Vince with glasses or-even the scars In the back, he wears long sleeved shirts instead and thick gloves-Vince stutters on his words and his voice is a little fucked up and raspy due to rody cutting his throat with a bottle

Talking for a long time hurts his throat, he is still trying to fix some things about himself He isn't as harsh on his employees Other than remmie. Remmie is remmie. He learned his lesson about keeping his house with his establishment He lives only a few minutes away from the new place He walks home Why?

Bc he thinks it's good for strengthening his mussles again And it is So he keeps doing it In the rain? Umbrella. But whenever he is out in the rain- he's reminded of the moment when he had to dry rody off and give him an umbrella-He enjoys the rain on his skin, it's cooling and nice He's taking care of himself only to try and get back to proper health to do more So he isn't as scrawny (He still hates eating but he forced himself to)

Vince involuntarily twitches out of random, his nerves are a little messed up and it's most likely the thing to happen 1 Like to believe rodys tie slipped off his neck during the struggle and Vince still had it even fit is a little burnt Complete opposites in healing omfg

Every Valentine's Day vince will mutter under his breath or think "happy birthday rody" and continue on with his day be he's a sad sorry ass He just wanted love man Hm.. How does rody feel that he killed a man over so hard that he needed to get hospitalized and almost died Bookie if anyone foudn that it was you you'd be put behind bars bookie i EVEN IF IT WAS YEARS AGO

Vince doesn't make an effort to style his hair much,he just doesn't care about his physical appearance anymore He knows he's already physically fucked up so he just, does the bare minimum He also sleeps a lot more,just - trying to stop himself from thinking about rody

-Vince keeps his head low when he's out, he doesn't like to be crowded- somehow- it works. And he's just glad he's short enough to walk without being spotted from a mile away. He still puts up a optimistic, really kind demeanor outside the bistro,but he drops it and just, he's kinder- but just- a little uptight He doesn't like getting into relationships still,he still has his heart for rody but is trying to push it back and away He mutters to himself something of the such when he starts thinking about him "he hurt you for a reason."

Vince has a mini heart attack when he sees male gingers - He wishes he could get another hug like he did once before Sooo He hugs himself to sleep He always has something in the background when he's trying to rest, usually a song

Baby I'd give you a hug

[art-of-firefly]

hi !! i hope ur doing well as well and that smth very nice happens very soon :> i will also send u many things too so hope that is ok !! and fee free to only do some

1 & 2 for takao !! 18 for midorima !! 13 for momoi !! 23 & 25 for akashi !!

Hi ! Thank you, i hope the same for you <3

Takao

1. Why do you like or dislike this character?

The way he turns any potential bad situations or feelings into something beautiful and positive. It's something i truly admire about him. My main examples would be his attitude toward Midorima, Kuroko and Akashi.

When he learned the guy he wanted to beat was on his team he accepted it and changed his goal from becoming a better player to be recognized a worthy opponent to be recognized as a worthy ally instead.

When he faces Kuroko, his perfect mirror, and loses. Instead of feeling resentful, he aims to be even better the next time they face each other.

When he sees Akashi ability as a point guard, instead of being frightened or anxious like all the other point guard, he show pure awe and admiration. Jealousy is the kind of sneaky feeling that you can't help but feel sometimes, but it doesn't bring any positivity or drive to be better, it only makes you unhappy. But Takao never falls into this trap.

Even when he sees Midorima and Akashi doing their special three-point play (the Sky Direct 3P Shot, the official name is so dorky i love it) during the Vorpal Swords match, he doesn't show jealousy, even though he himself thought he would be jealous to see it. Instead, he is happy.

All of this speak a lot about who he is as a person. He truly has a good heart and he is the kind of person i genuinely aim to be more like

Sorry it was kind of long, but I love Takao a lot, he truly is amazing.

2. Favorite canon thing about this character?

Well, I just realized that I technically answered that with the first question, so instead I'll give you my second favorite canon thing about him.

I love how accepting he is. Midorima is a difficult person to get along with, and as Takao himself said 'one has to be flexible to keep up with Midorima’s weird habits'. And yet, Takao immediately accepted him. Although at first he made fun of his obsession with horoscopes, it never came from a bad place, Takao just laugh at everything.

Plus, he doesn't just accept it, he actually finds it endearing. He is so precious and the world needs more people like him.

Midorima

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

His relationship with Takao, I honestly don't even think I need to elaborate on this, TakaMido is loved wholeheartedly by the fandom, whether platonically or romantically, and it's 100% deserved. There are probably a thousand essays on them and their dynamics, so I'll spare you my own awkward ramblings. But in short, their way of accepting each other, of pushing each other to be better and their dynamic, everything is perfect.

Who wouldn't want a partnership relationship like this? The way they support and trust each other is truly admirable.

Momoi

13. What's an emoji, an emoticon and/or any symbol that reminds you of this character or you think the character would use a lot?

This one 🌸, for her hair color and the sad scene under cherry blossom trees with Kuroko when the team is falling apart. I also think she would use it a lot.

Akashi

23. Favorite picture of this character?

It's really difficult to answer. I had to limit myself to only the pictures drawn by Fujimaki-sensei otherwise it would have been impossible. I think it's this one, because seeing him happy and surrounded by his friends makes me happy

25. What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

I honestly can't remember, it was almost 10 years ago now. But i know i liked him from the start.

And now, well, I've drawn him a hundred times in the last 6 months and done a whole countdown to his birthday, exhausting myself to the point of getting sick. He is on my mind 24/7. I spend an unhealthy amount of time talking about him on Twitter.

In short, I like him a lot. But since this post is already quite long and I have been asked several questions about him on this ask games, I will go into more detail in my other posts.