#but in this context a sibling relationship seemed more appropriate

[sinisterexaggerator]

Could you give headcanons about Bane’s touch starvation/relationship with physical touch, especially when it comes to his partner?

Bane is touched starved later in life, but perhaps it wasn’t always like this. Allow me to break it down. Of course, this entails my personal backstory for Cad Bane when it comes to my version of his past, which includes not one but three separate “ships” on his timeline. 1) Jango Fett. 2) Hondo Ohnaka*. 3) Shriv Suurgav. Though Hondo is special, and their fates seem to be intertwined. >D

It also depends on the context, like if we're going off my OC Zulara. In other scenarios, my Bane is not shy to sex, but may still be adverse to physical touch.

Bear with me. Or not.

As a boy, Bane’s father was not very affectionate or loving. He was a hard ass, but he provided for his family. He felt that Bane (Lumoon) should work in the factories alongside him and his mother, but Bane would later refuse this, which caused a rift in their relationship.

However, as a small youngling Bane received love and affection from his mother (life-giver) and his siblings to a degree, but especially his baby sister. She adored Bane, idolized him, and would follow him around. It is the loss of that love in various ways and due to various circumstances that begins his downward spiral.

Bane with Jango is an interesting relationship because they are a lot alike in that both are hotheaded, quick to anger, don’t know how to take no for an answer, and are competitive and money driven, but Bane’s sour attitude and brat-like behavior often does not sit well in Fett’s book. They both have their set ways, their own hatreds or dislikes, but work well together as they are also both confident and sure of their abilities. They trust each other; they always have each other’s back though they may argue, but the arguments come often and come hard, especially during Bane’s mentorship, and ESPECIALLY if one or both have been heavily drinking alcohol, which they often do in this case.

Bane is not exactly the best student. I don’t mean that he is not capable, I mean that in he is hard to teach due to his stubborn nature.

Long story short, this is not the kind of love Bane needs. He learns to fear the one he cares about, or assumes that violence and anger is appropriate to express in any situation, and that things are not solved by talking, but by throwing punches when the going gets too tough to tolerate.

Moving to Hondo, in this version of events, they both share common elements to their past and way of life. While Hondo is the sunshine one, Bane is the “moon,” which ties into his “real name” as well for me. It’s an enemies to lovers; more from Bane’s end as I am sure you can imagine. Hondo is an acquired taste, and it takes a damn long time for Bane to come around.

However, when he does, it may as well be the best damn thing that has ever happened to him. Hondo does not skimp on love, affection, proper communication, or kindness and understanding. While Ohnaka has his work cut out for him, it is the outcome of the story that eventually leaves Bane depressed, jaded, angry, and incapable of being with another for a very long time.

When I say a long time, I mean at least 18-20 years. This man is not above holding a grudge, or talking himself down to the point he thinks no one wants to have anything to do with him. He’s made it clear he’s a killer, a gun for hire, and nearly everyone in the Galaxy knows and is terrified of the name Cad Bane.

It becomes a lonely life, a sad life. Bane only has his little droid as his companion, and while Todo does his best, he is not organic and cannot provide the kind of attention Bane may secretly want, or needs.

The only people Bane “touches” are crooks and thieves, evil-doers, those he’s paid to catch and kill; he “touches” them when they’re thrown in stuncuffs, or when they’re being tossed into a cell aboard his ship. Otherwise, he does not come into physical contact with anyone else for any reason, and it remains this way, most likely affecting his mental health and overall disposition.

He is angry, moody, hateful, bitter, and mean in his 50s and 60s, long after the Clone Wars, and on our way to the timeline of the Book of Boba Fett. Before he meets Shriv or reencounters Hondo, Bane has a wall up the size of a planet and keeps to himself. Without Todo, it’s possible he would have sunk into a hole so deep he would never be able to climb out. He’s at least some form of stimulation, able to hold a conversation, and provides some kind of therapy service without even truly meaning to.

Headcanons:

Should it be Shriv or otherwise, for Bane to encounter a new partner after being so utterly alone for so long and without a single kind word from others, you would be surprised how sensitive he might be, both physically and emotionally, not to mention his gear and how it covers nearly every inch of his body. He wears multiple layers of clothing and armor, thus making it even harder for him to be touched or caressed. It’s like a shield for him to hide behind, and he may not be too keen to take it off.

If you manage to touch bare flesh, he may otherwise recoil or squirm at first without meaning to. He may even forcibly grab or halt their hand, giving you a look that could make your blood run cold. Of course, when I say squirm, I mean that the sensation of another living being’s skin against his own, or even a brush of a fingertip across his scales would cause him to tremble. In fact, should the touch be a soft one, one that expresses love or meant to be kind, Bane would do everything in his power to overcome what must be an overwhelming sensory experience.

The poor thing - should he be able to let his guard down enough and trusts you enough to do so - may even cry, though he would not make a show of it or be loud in any way. Just a thin sheen of tears dotting his cheeks, or droplets at the corner of his eyes as he once more tries to regain his composure.

If you kiss him kindly, he simply allows himself to be kissed; he might accept it gladly and willingly, or he may even still be so sensitive to touch that he at first cannot bear to fully embrace it.

To stroke his cheek and brush his tears away would cause more tears to fall; for nearly two decades he has been without, deprived of a single “human” connection, isolating himself, and perhaps even despising certain aspects of himself to reinforce the idea he’s only good for one thing and one thing only: killing.

If he’s into it, he may come around sooner than you think. Once given an opportunity, perhaps he is eager. He may lap at your mouth, take your face in his hands, or nuzzle the flat of his face into your cheek or hair. Despite his overall disposition, Bane can be a gentle lover with the right person, or if it suits his mood. You would never guess by looking, but Bane in my book can be submissive and breedable, but usually only in gay relationships where another male (Jango/Hondo) is able to put him in his place or satisfy his needs so well it knocks the attitude right out of him. Whereas if we play into typical gender roles, Bane can also be dominate and forceful, but in this scenario, he both wants AND needs a kind touch.

Expect a softness you did not know was possible coming from someone so ruthless, a kind of release of tension. He deserves to be cared for and babied, and he would in a very rare instance allow it though he may still harbor the belief he does not deserve it.

To me, Cad Bane has regrets. Regrets he buries and hides away deep down inside. Regrets that when they bubble to the surface may as well be like a volcano erupting as it is hard to stopper once the lava begins to flow. He would be at his most vulnerable, and it is not a pretty sight to see.

For most, I think it would break their hearts, despite him being such an “awful” person. He is only a product of his environment, poor life choices, and devastating past. He cannot help what he has become or what people see him as, but maybe the right person could help to set him straight if he allows them to get close.

I believe this is the kind of scenario that could lead him to being so terrible and coldhearted, especially during TBOBF. His personality seems to be reduced to nothing but anger and meanness. Deep down he’s most likely hurting. I believe there are many things that causes him to be depressed, which he takes it out on those around him and finds release through his job of bounty hunting. He’s grown used to being feared, hated, and looked down on. He expects nothing less, so to finally get even a scrap of compassion, a tiny modicum of affection, or a gentle touch would cause a deluge of feelings to come to the surface.

Maybe that’s just me.

[uncloseted]

Guys my age (17) are so immature and only want sex. I know I sound cliche but I’ve been through a lot and bc of that I feel really mature for my age. Recently I met a guy who’s older, and I’m literally falling in love. He just gets me. He’s more than ten years older than me, but I really like him. He helps me sm with my issues. He knows my age and doesn’t want to do anything sexual with me, at least till I’m 18. I lie to my mom every time I go on a date with him that it’s a boy my age.

I don’t feel like a victim. I reached out first. I initiated. I really, really want to stay with him.

But i don’t want it to end badly, because I’ve heard similar stories where the guy ends up showing abusive tendencies as the relationship goes on. I’ve already been through enough. So please, advise me to the best of your ability. Should I stay with him, the man that makes me very, very happy? Or should I end it, even though I don’t want to?

The reason I’m asking your advice on my situation is because I literally have no one to talk to about it irl. If I tell my therapist she’ll tell my mom, I told one friend already and he was super weirded out by the age gap (which I understand)- but no one gets it. If my mom finds out she’ll just yell at me.

I think there's a lot of context that's needed to be able to understand what this relationship is like and how much potential it has to be damaging. How did you meet? Was he specifically looking for someone significantly younger than him? Why didn't he stop talking to you entirely when he found out how old you are? How soon do you turn 18? Why isn't he dating someone his own age? Is he intimidated by women his own age? Has he dated people significantly younger than himself before? What does he feel like he's getting from this relationship with you, given that it's a non-sexual relationship? Does he want someone who will idealize him and do whatever he says? Does he have the same view of the relationship that you do, or does he view you as being friends/having a sibling relationship? And think about your own motivations in this relationship, as well. Are you using this relationship to work through feelings you have about guys your own age, or about other older men in your life? Does he represent a sense of stability to you? Do you like him because he has resources that you don't have access to?

Age gap relationships have a lot of potential for an unequal power dynamic. Even if they don't realize it as it's happening, the younger partner may be pressured into acting the way the older partner wants them to and doing what the older partner wants them to under the guise of the older partner wanting them to "be mature". The younger partner may not feel like they can talk about their day-to-day, age-appropriate concerns for fear of boring their partner or seeming like a child. The younger partner may not have the life experience to be able to tell that what the older partner is doing is unusual, inappropriate or dangerous, putting them in a vulnerable situation.

And even if none of that is true of a given relationship, age gaps come with pretty big logistical issues. A 30 year old usually has a career and is ready to settle down a little bit. Maybe they want to get married or start a family. A 17 year old is just about to go into the real world for the first time. They're not usually ready to get married and start a family, and even if they think they are, when they get older, they may regret losing those years of freedom and experimentation. A 17 year old can't even go to a bar in a lot of countries, whereas a 30 year old has been doing that for a decade. A 30 year old probably doesn't want to hang out with their 17 year old partner's friends, or go to their high school/university events with them. Those things don't seem like a big deal at first, but those little mismatches in lifestyle add up quickly.

With your situation in particular, a big thing that gives me pause is that you say you've "been through a lot" and that he "helps you with your issues". People who have experienced trauma are particularly vulnerable to being taken advantage of, and they're often targets of people who are looking to control their partner. I think for any person that's experienced trauma, it's important to work through a significant portion of it before entering into a relationship with someone else. But I think that's especially true when it comes to relationships that already have an element to them that has the potential to traumatize them further.

Ultimately, what you do is up to you. I generally try not to tell people what to do since no matter how detailed people are, I never really have the full story. Personally, I do think you should proceed with caution. I would talk to your therapist about this- it varies a bit from state to state and country to country, but most places have provisions in place to protect the confidentiality of teenagers in therapy sessions. Therapists are only mandated to report if there is a sexual relationship going on, which you say that there isn't. Check the laws where you are, but I think your therapist can be a valuable resource in helping you work through your feelings and figure out what to do next.

[thescrapbookingscientist]

Bimonthly Media Roundup

- Gurdians of the Galaxy 3 (Movie) - Family movie night for the last Marvel movie I'm willing to watch for a long while, I did enjoy the film although I think it's largely the weakest of the Gurdians trilogy, though in fairness that's in large part due to things outside of the writers control given what happened to the characters in the unrelated Marvel films. For the good parts I'm glad the characters still felt like they cared about eachother, with Nebula and Rocket in particular getting to show a lot of emotional growth, I loved to see more Mantis overall, it had a pretty good sense of humor, and I'm glad that the central cast all got narratively satisfying endings. For the not so good parts I really didn't enjoy alternate Gamora even if I do think they did the best they could with her in the sense of not pairing her off with Peter and letting her do her own thing - I just don't think she should have existed in general as it takes up such a weird space in the film. It's especially a bummer given how big of a role her and Nebulas sibling relationship played in the prior film only to have that all erased with very little interaction between the two here. Rockets backstory is appropriately tragic and the villain being a CEO playing god mad scientist is good but to be honest I didn't really buy his friendship with the other experiments given how generic their "we are friends who love each other" dialogue was. A lot of the big emotional beats just didn't hit like I felt they should, and the ending in particular had a lot of "they are doing this to set up cameos for future movies" moments that felt really in-organic. I don't know, the film is pretty well received so maybe it'll hit differently for me on repeated viewings but for now it kinda feels like the franchise that started with a bang and rose even higher in the sequel ended with a "eh, it was alright'.

- I'm in Love with the Villainess (Manga) - Caught up with the recent releases and uh hmm. I do like the central couple, the gimmick of a bully being unintentionally bullied by their victim being really into the bullying thing is quite funny and beyond that the two of them have heart and interesting personality traits, so that's cool. When the story is just them interacting it's great, particularly later on when the two become more familiar with each others eccentricates. Beyond that though the plot is kinda losing me with it's not exactly supportive portrayal of a class revolution. While the narrative doesn't seem to think the commoners are 'wrong' per say for wanting a more equal society, it does seem to be pretty wishy washy on how they should behave as 'violence isn't the answer' and 'can't we all get along' messages with a largely nice noble cast of characters and not particularly sympathetic commoners leads to a sorta pro nobility message overall which. you know. not great. Not that I particularly expected the lesbian medieval escapist series to be pro revolution, I just assumed they would stay away from politically relevant topics. I guess time will tell to see if they have something more nuanced and interesting to say than I'm giving them credit for given how early we are into the series.

- ENNEAD (Webcomic) - Twitter tells me that the most recent chapters feature a Horus face reveal which I'm hyped about, but the pages haven't been translated yet to my misfortune.

- Trash of the Count's Family (Webcomic) - Second season updates have arrived and I've missed Cale, nice to see him. The art style has changed a little so that the backgrounds and clothing are more detailed which is cool but I do have to say I miss the larger eyes of the old style that made the characters a bit cuter overall, even if the comic as a whole looks fantastic either way. Anyway Toonka's cool I like seeing him too.

- The Locked Tomb Series (Books) - Finished up Nona and man do I immediately want to go reread the whole series with all my gained context now. I've really enjoyed each novel in a totally different way, and truly love all the weird and interesting characters with the dramatic and yet very difficult to describe in a serious way plot points. I do so hope the books get a TV adaptation if for no other reason than to see so many of the actors pull double and triple duty in portraying all the body sharing antics going on. I need to highlight my favorite quotes on the second readthrough given the series has the nerve to be both hilariously clever and stunningly profound. For favorites I'd say Camilla and Gideon have my heart but really everyone is a joy in their own way, and I'm desperately hoping that Alecto has a happy end for at least most of them.

- Lego Monkie Kid (Cartoon) - Welp I binged through the rest of the series and I will say that seasons 3 and 4 addressed a lot of my issues with it in terms of narrative progression and introducing individual character backstories and arcs. Season 4 in particular was pretty great with the demon brotherhood plot introducing Azure as a competent and sympathetic villain and showing how flawed of a mentor figure Sun really is, as well as featuring some nice character (and design) growth for MK. I like pretty much everything about Macaque and his bitter divorcee vibes with Sun, Red Son and Mei teaming up was a surprisingly cute development, Pigsy and Tang remain as solid and adorable father figures, and I feel like the settings and overall animation looked stellar overall. I do have complaints that I don't really feel like voicing, but as a whole I quite enjoyed this show and will be looking forward to the fifth season - It is really excellent to see a Journey to the West successor actually utilize the series format as opposed to the attempts to cram it into a movie.

- Ace Attorney Investigations 2: Miles Edgeworth (Video Game) - Completed! I do think I liked this one more than the last one, largely because Sebastian was a fun and interesting little shit, though I'd still say it's on the lower end of the Ace Attorney games as a whole - There was just a lot of time wasting and unnecessary appearances of unlikable characters. I also liked a few of the new side characters and the overall look of the designs, though the actual villain motives were very questionable overall, even for the insane universe that is Ace Attorney.

- Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Video Game) - Getting a little worn out with the sheer amount of content this has to be honest, I liked exploring the castle and fighting the ganon clones as well as the temples in general but theres still so much to do. That's not a bad thing exactly, but the burnout is hitting and I might have to pick it up later and do more of the final quest and post game content. I did like the physical appearance of the sages helping you in the castle though, that was nice.

- Project Runway All Stars (TV) - As a general rule I don't tend to like All Star as much as it'd predecessor, but this season has been pretty solid actually. The challenges have been fun and creative with solid looks across the board, and while I don't usually agree with the judges favorites we've at least been on the same page when it comes to the worst looks, so my faves have been mostly spared.

Listening to: Sway Cover and Eat Your Young Cover by Reinaeiry, Insane by Black Gryph0n, Wrecking Ball by Mother Mother, Comfort Zone by Fukase, Two Princes by Spin Doctors, World's Smallest Violin by AJR, Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives, Bad as the Boys by Tove Lo, Adore by Jasmine Thompson, Undress Rehearsal by Timeflies, Self Esteem by The Offspring, Lent by Autoheart.

[hannagoldworthy]

Flames and Moths

(I first wrote this in October 2019, for the @silmarillionwritersguild challenge, "In Rare Form." One of the prompts for that challenge was wingfic, and this was the idea that blossomed in my mind for it. That was well before I joined tumblr, and before I got back into the Star Wars fandom, but since I'm coming back from a bit of a spell of writer's block, I thought I might clean this up a little and post it for a new audience. I hope my followers enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.)

As the dust settled near this nameless Mannish settlement in Thargelion, Caranthir took inventory of his losses.  There were few as far as he could see, mostly of horses; his cavalry charge had taken the Enemy’s servants by surprise, as he had hoped.  The Men were not so fortunate; all but the youngest of the males had been slaughtered, and, now that they had the time and energy to devote to grief, the females were wailing aloud.

It was not so loud a wail as had been raised in Alqualondë; these people were well acquainted with death.  Still, the smell of the blood and ash, the sound of the weeping, the sheer mess of evidence of this, Morgoth’s greatest outrage against Creation, raised Caranthir’s gorge against his will.  He was, mathematically speaking, excellent at fighting; dealing with the emotion afterward was the hard part.

“Go,” he uttered gruffly to his captain, as he watched an old woman beat her wings rapidly in a valiant effort to balance the weight of the armored body of what appeared to be her son.  “Let us help them with this, at least.”

Loborgûr followed his gaze, and went to aid the woman immediately.  The rest followed her example swiftly, Caranthir not included.  It seemed as if he was attempting to walk through wax, or to breathe water; he found himself collapsed at the burned side of what had once been a hastily-made house – more of a big lean-to than anything.

A great mass of brown hair was directly in front of his vision; for a moment, he thought it a person, albeit one who had not groomed in quite a long time.  Then, his eyes finally began to clear, and he noted that, aside from the color, the mass appeared similar to a spider’s egg sac.  Or, at least, it might have been similar once; when the building had burned, so had the sac, partially.

Pushing his illness to the side as much as possible, Caranthir approached with his sword drawn; he had personally dealt with spider infestations in the past, and knew not to trust that all of the eggs had escaped an unmonitored fire.  However, just before he could make an exploratory poke at the least damaged piece of the sac, another sword clashed with his.

“How dare you?”  His vision was entirely clouded with red and, for once, it had nothing to do with his temper.  The woman in front of him had not been able to tend to her curly red hair due to battle, and it flew in a wild cloud about her head.  Her face was flushed, with exertion but mostly with anger; he almost felt he was looking in a mirror.  And, most importantly, she had cast her crimson wings out behind her in a violent display of aggression toward him.

She was lucky that he was so discombobulated.  Had he been well, he likely might have jumped into a fury of his own.  As it was, he could barely grit out a reply between clenched teeth without wanting to hyperventilate.

“My apologies, miss –”

“That’s Lady Haleth to you.  And I sincerely doubt that your lord would like to know about you killing a defenseless man while he slept.”

He had never directly killed anyone while they slept, but in the first days of the sun Aredhel had taken especial pleasure in describing how she had once lost an entire brigade at rest to the Helcaraxë’s fickle serenity.  His cheeks burned with shame; that happened quite a lot these days.

“I am the lord,” he said, quietly, the words falling flat even to his ears.  “I had no idea –”

“No idea?!  I and my people may be new to this area, my lord, but we were under the impression that your people had previously encountered ours.  Or did Balan’s men take to hiding their wings since they crossed the mountains?”

He had known Men possessed wings, but little else; Finrod had been maddeningly close-lipped with his half-cousins regarding his pets.  Caranthir’s scattered brain was forced to freeze almost entirely, trying to make the connection between the hair sac and the wings.  Painfully, he remembered that Celegorm had kept an insect collection as a child, guarding it more jealously than he did any gem.  Before Curufin’s birth, Caranthir had been Celegorm’s sounding board of choice; there was an indistinct memory involving unorganized yammering about certain life cycles amongst creatures that Caranthir had once indiscriminately described as vermin.

Haleth squinted dangerously in his direction, now silent; evidently, he’d grown accustomed to tuning out pointless rants while his brain was at work.  “Hey,” she ventured, the edge beginning to seep out of her voice.  “Are you…all right?  You look like you’re about to puke.”

“Or faint,” he murmured, before clearing his throat to start again.  “It’s a cocoon, right?  Not an egg sac.”

She lowered her sword for the first time, and her wings fluttered indecisively.  “My people prefer the term ‘chrysalis.’”

He decided he could make her that concession, and bowed as deeply as he was able.  “My condolences, then.”

The girl blinked indelicately, and spun on her heels to study the chrysalis herself.  When she reached the same conclusion he had – the man inside was certainly dead of suffocation at least – she fell to her knees in grief, her wings falling behind her in a dejected, impromptu cloak.  Unbidden, she reminded him of his mother, weeping there in the mud, covered in blood, ash, and dirt; he had not seen his mother since before Alqualondë, but the memory tainted everything he could recall about his former home, and he knew his mother had wept.  Cautiously, almost unthinkingly, he approached, making sure that Haleth knew he was knelt beside her before tentatively placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I had been so sure orcs would not notice them,” she sobbed.  “That we would have at least a few men left.  I hadn’t counted on the fires.”

“…Are there special circumstances in disposing of a body in this state?”  Caranthir bit his tongue as soon as the words left it.  He was always too analytical when attempting to be helpful.

Oddly enough, she smiled tearfully at him.  “Not really, but thank you for asking.  Can you help me take him to the square, with the others?  He is rather tall for me to carry alone.”

“Very well.”  He took care to only cut the chrysalis from the wall, leaving most of it wrapped around what remained of the body to serve as an impromptu shroud.  A bit of wing poked out of the wrappings; emerald green and pocketed with char marks.  Swallowing his gorge down again, Caranthir wordlessly followed Haleth to the square, hoping to not make himself an even greater disgrace before he got there.

***

The morning following the burial was a dismal affair, and once again, Caranthir found himself taking inventory.  The old ones were mostly gone save for that one indomitable woman whom he gathered was Haleth’s grandmother; her parents, twin brother, and sister-in-law had not survived, leaving only one child, Haleth’s nephew, who had scarcely learned to walk.  All male warriors had been killed, even some too young to be due to grow their wings.  Many female warriors were dead, and most of the surviving ones were already growing their hair out for their own chrysali; ready or not, they would sleep at the summer’s highest heat, only to return in autumn.  They would not be able to rely on the male warriors coming out of their chrysali after their early summer transformation, for none of those had survived.  The defense force would consist of a scant few already-winged women, and children too small to hold a knife, or hunt or forage unaided.

It was already a lean year, even for his people.  But, if he wanted to avoid having yet another memory to regret, there really was nothing for it.

“Our fortress can support your people for the summer months, if you are willing.”

Haleth glared.  “We did not come this far to subsist on charity.”

With the dead buried, he was not as unwell as he had been, and glared right back at her.  “You neglected to ask permission to settle here; I’d have been well within my rights to drive you and yours back over the mountains from whence you came.  It was my charity that allowed you to stay.  Certainly you can impose on me a little longer, if I am willing?”

She looked about to argue, when her grandmother smacked her upside the head with one sapphire wing.  “We would be honored to accept your invitation, your grace,” the old woman snarled.

Haleth glowered helplessly.  “Honored,” she bit out, scowling as he smirked in mirthless triumph.

***

She did not glare when he found her before the sturdiest oak tree in his garden a month later, hugging her knees and staring blankly at the chrysali of her kinswomen.  After a few scant weeks in her company, he knew enough of her mind to know that she heard when he carefully sat down beside her, though she made no sound to greet her.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence, though it was hardly companionable.  Not for the first time, Caranthir wished she had encountered any other of his kin rather than him.  It seemed that every other brother or cousin would have either been fierce enough to defend her tribe more quickly, wise enough to know what to say to comfort her, or frightening enough that no orc would have dared attack so openly on their land.  But he was none of these things, and so his tongue was tied; yet, he stayed with her, for it seemed cruel to leave her alone in this state.

“My betrothed was in one of those chrysali,” she said at last, startling him out of the self-defeating spiral where his thoughts seemed to stray more and more.

There was a sharp pause as he collected his thoughts, far too long a pause before he managed a small, “I’m sorry.”

She shrugged.  Her eyes were tearless; he found he recognized her expression as being too exhausted to weep.  After far too long a pause, wherein he thought the conversation finished, she broke the silence again.

“We grew up together, though he was younger than me.  When I came out of my chrysalis, I found him settled there with his sword.  He had only slept or eaten when his family prevailed upon him, so keen he was on protecting me.  I promised to do the same when his time came.  I failed him.”

What was he supposed to say?  That she had failed no one?  That she could hardly have known about orcs and their fell fire which water could not quench?  That her betrothed would likely never blame her, any more than her people did?  Those were all pathetic nothings, something that only Turgon or Finrod could make wise, and then only tenuously.  Caranthir had no wisdom, only knowledge, and even there he could see how woefully behind he was becoming, day by painful day.

“I was betrothed once,” his mouth said, unbidden.

The woman beside huffed incredulously in the time it took him to bite his disobedient tongue.  “Let me guess,” she said, her sardonic tone practically enough to tan a hide.  “I remind you of her.”

He snorted.  “Hardly.  She was quiet and disliked conflict.  You remind me more of my younger brother.”  Specifically, she was the surviving redheaded twin who had looked to him for comfort and found nothing; but his purpose was to give comfort, not seek it, so he left that tale alone.  “My point is that I lost her to an accident, and…well, I know how you feel.”

The comment felt inadequate, but she seemed to take it for what it was worth.  “Does it ever hurt any less?”

“…No.  Not that I’ve ever noticed.”

Haleth smiled sadly at him, and nodded, turning back to the oak to begin her vigil again.  The conversation was truly over, it seemed, though the silence this time was certainly easier to bear.

***

It was during one of these night watches, a week later, when he saw the moon gleam through her wings as she paced up and down, rocking her orphaned nephew to sleep.  The light glimmered against the grass, deep red interspersed with black, as though through stained glass.

He looked up at Haleth, and an indescribable feeling came over him at the sight of her.  Once, he had wanted a sister, when his brothers had paired amongst themselves and he had been left solitary, as usual.  In his daydreams, he had imagined such a girl would have resembled Haleth; impetuous but gentle, strong but kind, red in hair and in face.  Looking at Haleth brought that old longing back, of someone he could simply be with and nurture, care for and protect…love, with the simple, marrow-deep instinct with which he loved all his brothers.

But Haleth was not as small as she had been.  She had grown, somehow, without him noting it until now; he could see it in the set of her broad shoulders, the almost casual beauty of her face, the resigned calm of her expression as she looked upon her nephew.  She was a lady, in war and in peace, and in the face of her strength his fretful tongue once again leapt ahead of his brain before he could stop it.

“I’m proud of you.”

She stopped and frowned quizzically at him, and he blushed and wished the ground would swallow him.

“I mean, I’m proud to have known you.  Honored.”

Haleth smiled, and it took his breath away before he could dig his grave any further.  “I’m proud of you too, Caranthir.”

***

“You’re sure you want to leave?”

Haleth nodded, though her eyes were fixed upon her people as they gathered up what remained of their possessions.  The young women had emerged a week before, and he saw her concern for them and their fragile wings; he also saw her concern for the lateness of the year with every glance she threw toward the sky.  “We did not ask your permission to settle because it was never our intention to stay.  We only stopped when our young men could not hold off their change any longer.”

It was odd, how natural it felt to tilt her chin up toward him, so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes as he said, “You don’t have to leave.  I could easily give you land here…not where you were, of course, but good land.”

She smiled ruefully, taking his hand from her cheek and holding it in both of hers.  “I know, and I am grateful.  But, aside from your kindness, Thargelion remains an evil memory for my people.  And, if we are to get anywhere more suitable in time to be ready for winter, we must leave as soon as possible.”

The lives of Men were fleeting, he knew, but he had not expected to lose her so quickly.  Even still, she was her own woman, and if she would not stay, he would not force her.  Trusting not his voice – for, fickle thing, it stuck in his throat and would not be removed without tears – he kissed her hand, and released her.

An hour later, she would turn back toward him – he knew because he knew how her wings fluttered when she looked over her shoulder, even though she was miles away.  But she only looked back once, and only for a moment; for that moment, his heart was in his throat, hopeful that she had changed her mind.  Then, she turned back, her heading fixed upon the great dark expanse of Doriath, and he found he could not be happier for the resolute power of her will.

[imalwaysconfuzzled]

I genuinely think that Azula cared for Zuko and loved him in the capacity she could, given the situation and home life they had.

This does not mean that I don’t think that she wouldn’t manipulate him or throw him under the bus if it would put her on top, but I think she cared for him as much as she was allowed to.

Starting off with when Azula comes to take Zuko and Iroh prisoner, she seems genuinely upset that Zuko wasn’t giving her a more positive reception. This could just be acting on her, but it did seem that she wanted to see Zuko after three years apart. 

She says in the episode “ I'm not a messenger. I didn't have to come all this way.” 

Which is true. She didn’t have to be the one to show up to for the ruse. She could’ve sent a messenger or had the resident they were staying ambushed. (You could argue that it would be more believable coming from her in the context of what she was saying and that she could use Zuko’s trust in her to stop Iroh’s sway, but again, organizing a fake message about rescinding Zuko’s banishment could’ve also had worked.)

Their interactions in season three have been covered before. 

1) Azula bringing Zuko home as a Prince again, for real, is both operating under the orders Ozai gave her at the end of season one, but she also be because she wanted her brother back and is making use of the situation to get that and for protection for herself as she said to him. 

(Which is a risk in and of itself because if Aang is alive, Ozai knows she lied to him about the certainty of the removal of an important threat, which we know Ozai did not react well to during the eclipse.)

(She also apparently talked Zuko up enough that Ozai was convinced enough that he asked for Zuko’s opinion in the war meeting. I don’t think Ozai would have done this otherwise.)

2) When Azula warns Zuko about his visits to Iroh being suspicious and a danger to him, she didn’t really have anything to gain from that besides hopefully making Zuko heed her advice.

3) At the beach, when she finds him to bring him back from moping at the summer house. 

The part I like to think about, and haven’t really seen talked about, is how she behaves in the war room discussing Sozin’s comet.

Zuko attends (and how convenient that after Zuko comes to her upset about not being invited, he’s like immediately invited afterwards) and asked to give his opinion on the Earth Kingdom’s people. When Ozai takes his answer not as he meant it, Zuko goes to clarify, but is interrupted by Azula and the meeting moves forward. 

I’ve always thought that this moment was peculiar because if Zuko had finished speaking, he would’ve undoubtedly said something to anger Ozai. Azula knew that. She knew that her dumdum brother wouldn’t have been able help himself if given the chance so she didn’t give him one. Besides simply giving a satisfactory answer with appropriate ruthlessness, she stopped Zuko incriminating himself and moved the conversation along. It kept him safe as much as it made her look good.

(And there is no doubt that when Zuko turned traitor, Azula was in some hot water. Both because it was her vouching/ her lies that got him back in the position he did, a position that could have given him access to who knows what kind of up-to-date info, and because her lies were revealed to Ozai which casts her in a bad light.)

Azula and Zuko have a complicated mess of a relationship. 

They were both set up to be pitted against each other and an otherwise simple sibling rivalry was getting turned deadly as they grew older. Azula might love her brother but having Ozai’s love/ approval meant more. Not just because Azula wanted his praise and love but because she understood that disfavor had consequences both to her safety and identity as a perfect princess. Ozai’s approval is not something that can be shared, so Azula has to fight to win it over her brother, and fight to continue to win even when favored.

Even so, she sprinkled in ways that would have helped Zuko navigate life back under Ozai’s thumb (which is a gift in and of itself) in her plans to continue to elevate herself. 

We see the result of what Ozai’s favor means to her during the Phoenix Kings coronation. She was desperate to be seen in a continued positive light. Making the palanquin bearers move faster in order to not keep Ozai waiting, seeing being left behind during the comet as the disfavor she’s fought all her life to stay out of. 

“You...you can't treat me like this!  You can't treat me like Zuko!”

Even as she accepts the new position Ozai gives her, her joy seems fake. She knows that with Ozai being ruler of the world, that Firelord is a downgraded position that’s being used to placate her. 

(She probably realizes that if Ozai planned this supreme overlord role all along and had Zuko stayed, Zuko would have been the one given the participation trophy while she would’ve been the heir to be Phoenix King/Queen.)

This probably started the seeds that led to her paranoia during the comet. Convinced that everyone was out to get her/ betray her because she has been left by everyone at this point, but all she needs is Ozai’s esteem more because his opinion is everything and she can’t do that by messing up, but since she her identity is centered around perfection, it’s everyone else that’s seeking to ruin her plans and sabotage her and keeping her from getting it.

In summary, I really think Azula loved her brother and did what she could for him in between securing the win for herself.  

[jacscorner]

RWBY Maids RPG: Ruby Rose

So I like Maid RPG, and I still have a sot spot for RWBY, so I figured I'd make posts about building RWBY Characters into Maid RPG for fun.

And, naturally, we're gonna start with the star of RWBY...Ruby Rose.

Ruby Rose is the main heroine of the series named after her-sort of. Inspired by her dead mother, this silver-eyed scythe-sniper dreams of becoming a Huntswoman and boy did that dream come true and then some.

Honestly, HOW there isn't an official Maid RPG X RWBY crossover is beyond me...

I'll break down my reasoning for everything, but if you'd rather skip to the end for the general build, just Ctrl+F "TL;DR" or "Ecru" for the build stats.

Alright, first, let's go to the allocation of stats. If you're rolling yourself, I'm assuming you'll just roll up your numbers and plug them in as appropriate. In game, you'll role 2d6 and divide by 3. So here's the priority list of Ruby's stats.

Will: Ruby is nothing if not an optimist.

Affection: Ruby loves everyone. She's got a shit list, but it's incredibly short.

Athletics: She's a little girl carrying a big-ass scythe. Ruby lifts.

Luck: Ruby's pretty lucky throughout the series, but we need other stats more.

Skill: Ruby seems like the type of gremlin who'd eat cookies every day if she could and would have a bed covered in crumbs. Ironically, being good at being an actual maid is not required in this game and Ruby probably would do a lousy job.

Cunning: Now, this isn't to say that Ruby is smart, but manipulating people and deceiving others isn't her strong suit.

Now for Ruby's Maid-Type. In-game, you take 2 different types for your maid, or 1 type twice. Ruby would probably be a Lolita/Heroine-Type Maid.

Lolita doesn't mean 'loli' in this instance (though it can if you want, I won't stop you). Lolita means childish, innocent, sweet. Ruby, even when the show darkens in tone, keeps this kind of air to her. Lolita-Types get +1 Luck, -1 Athletics.

Heroine is pretty straight forward. In context, Heroine-Types earnest hardworkers, doing their very best. How is that not Ruby? Heroine-Types get +1 Will, -1 Luck

Next is the fun flavor stuff; Special Qualities. You can take anywhere between 2 to 5. 2 is recommended, but I'd play 3 for my own personal games. Either or, here's the Top 5 you should take for your Ruby Maid.

Overactive Imagination: Ruby is very energetic and imaginative. She had a big hand in that food fight in Volume 2...

Accessory - Pet: Zwei would be perfect for a small, animal companion to follow Ruby around.

Symbol - Cross: She does have crosses on her character design, but I think it's more for a goth aesthetic than her being a woman of any faith...

Relationship - Sibling: I mean, we're gonna get to Yang eventually. Maybe. Hopefully.

Monster - Shinigami/Secret Job - Assassin: Yeah, these two are both just for fun. Shinigami, aka a Grim Reaper, is just to play up the Scythe aesthetic. And Assassin is, again, just for fun. Maid RPG isn't a very combat focused game, but it makes for some fun character flavoring.

The next important thing are your Stress Explosion and Maid Roots. In Maid RPG, you don't lose HP, you gain Stress. When your Stress overcomes your Spirit (basically your HP), you go into a Stress Explosion. Maid Roots are self-explanatory; it's how you became a maid.

For Ruby's Stress Explotion, we'll say her Stress Explosion is Binge; nothing but cookies and sweets until you lose enough Stress to get out of it.

For Roots, we'll take "Admirer of Maids?"; I guess for the sake of this game, we'll say Ruby was inspired to be a maid. Summer Rose DLC when? :P

Next, because this is RWBY, we need to give her a weapon. Again, these are mostly for flavoring, but it can add a bit of fun RP. Naturally, Ruby isn't Ruby without Crescent Rose, but since "Fused Weapons" aren't really a thing here, I think there's two fun ways to go about it.

1. Take a Scythe. Plain and simple. Again, this is Maid RPG, not D&D.

2. Take 'Rifle' and flavor it as a 'Sniper Rifle'. Remember, Crescent Rose is 1/2 Scythe, 1/2 Sniper Rifle, so playing Ruby is a cute little sniper girl is totally in character.

Finally, your Maid Power. This is a special power your character gets based on their highest Stat. If our biggest stat is 'Will' as mentioned before, then we'll take "Hard Work": giving you a +3 bonus to the end result (not the attribute or die roll) of Skill rolls. Which sounds perfect, really; she's determined to be a Maid and she'll be the best she can! If you roll poorly and your stats are 9 or below, you should also take "Persistence": reducing any amount of stress you take by 1.

If SOMEHOW Will isn't your highest stat, then it should probably be Affection or Athletics.

For Affection, you should pick "Power of Friendship", taking 1d6 Stress to remove 2d6 for someone else. Be a true friend and take the L for a buddy.

Athletics, you should pick "Super Evasion", taking 1d6 Stress to completely avoid an attack. Play up Ruby's speed!

TL;DR (Art above by Ecru)

Maid Type; Lolita/Heroine

Maid Color; Red (or Black) Uniform Silver Eyes Black/Red Hair

Attributes;

Athletics: 1

Affection: 3

Skill: 2

Cunning: 2

Luck: 2

Will: 5

Favor (Affection x 2): 6

Spirit (Will x 10): 50

Special Qualities; Overactive Imagination Accessory - Pet (Dog, Zwei) Monster - Shinigami

Maid Weapon: Scythe

Maid Roots: Admirer of Maids

Stress Explosion: Binge

Maid Power: Hard Work

(Art above by Iesupa) And that is Ruby Rose as a Maid! Sadly, there's no "Cape" option in this game, but you can just give Ruby her famous cloak or just homebrew it as a quality, with a "Uniform - Cape" or something. I don't think anyone will bat an eye at something so harmless.

[my-name-is-dre]

Mettaton is a False Prophet [OLD THEORY]

To start things off and make sure we have a reference, we need to list off the eerie yet superficial similarities between Mettaton and Asriel:

They both have multiple forms, with Mettaton having his normal form at the beginning, his EX form during his fight, and his NEO form in the No Mercy run. Asriel has his flower form throughout most of the game, his child form at the end of the True Pacifist run, and his “God of Hyperdeath” form also at the end of the True Pacifist run.

This is a minor detail, but they both possess the power to change the application’s name, with Mettaton turning it to “Undertale The Musical” during the track Oh! One True Love and Flowey turning it into “Floweytale” during his boss fight at the end of a neutral run. With the ability to change meta elements like this being traditionally associated with possessing determination in fan theories, we can conclude that there’s a case of overlap here. Another minor detail is that they’re the only two characters who can audibly speak, with Flowey’s creepy “that’s a wonderful idea!” and Mettaton’s famous “oh yes!”

One big similarity is that they’re both products of Alphys, with Mettaton being an attempt to purposefully enfuse a monster soul into an inanimate robot initially with the purpose of being efficient at killing humans, while Flowey was an incident caused by injecting determination into an inanimate object that had the remnants of a monster soul within it.

This is a bit of a stretch, but both characters are artificially inserted into your journey in an attempt to please an ulterior motive, with Flowey enacting his agency at the level equivalent of a player to toy with the same experiences and reconnect with whom he believes to be Chara while Mettaton was conscripted by Alphys to set up an elaborate stage play where she can rescue from him to feel better about herself, acting only at the level of agency as a monster.

The biggest emotional similarity is that both possess a mournful attitude towards a lost sibling, with Asriel on an endless quest of ironic spite against Chara for severing their old friendship by dying while Mettaton leaves Napstablook behind to pursue hedonistic dreams of fame and beauty, destroying the potential they had as a performance duo. Both rectify the holes these relationships left in them, with Asriel destroying the very thing that led to Chara’s death and Mettaton humbling himself reconnecting with Napstablook.

Goal-wise, they both obsess over humans but for very different reasons: Asriel has an obsession with only one human, and the reasons for this are very deep-seated and personal. Mettaton’s obsession however is more vain and is concerned with growing his audience beyond the borders of the Underground and being seen as a sort of vanguard for monsterkind among humanity. Or more insidiously, he feels as if he can assimilate into them. Both seek a form of transcendence that comes with obtaining a human soul: Asriel, as Flowey, seeks one so he can restore a bit of what he lost when he became a flower. Mettaton wants one again for vain reasons; those being to deprive Asgore of the opportunity and claim the title of the “Savior of the Underground” to himself.

Despite this being the most superficial similarity, it’s likely the most important: Both of their ‘ultimate’ forms—Mettaton NEO and God of Hyperdeath—have some interesting similarities between their designs. The most obvious is that they have these large wings jutting out, with Asriel’s having intricate color patterns while Mettaton’s flash between a brighter and darker shade of grey. Other similarities include excessively large shoulder blades and heart patterns on the chest area that are also shared with Undyne the Undying, indicating that this design motif is a trend among all major bosses considered to possess determination. Finally, this form also vaguely resembles the Delta Rune symbol, which I will elaborate on what they mean later. Despite all of this, it’s mainly the wings that are the contentious point of comparison, which I’ll get into later.

Lastly, they both seek a form of integration outside of themselves, with Asriel seeking once again the fusion of their soul with Chara’s, while Mettaton seeks total unification of their soul with their new body, and this is represented in the designs of their ultimate forms, with Mettaton’s ensignia featuring two hearts (one empty and one a monster soul) opposing each other, while Asriel’s features an empty soul within another empty soul. This is likely a metaphor that, despite all of the power he possesses, he’s still empty because he doesn’t have his friend with him. Conversely, this can apply to how Mettaton, despite achieving everything he basically dreamed of (as written in his diaries), feels empty because he abandoned Napstablook.

We’re finally done with comparisons to lay down the evidence for the main point. Now, we’ll get onto the Deltarune prophecy and what it means:

As most of you probably know, the Delta Rune is an emblem that represents the Kingdom of Monsters and is seen on the garments of every Boss Monster. In Waterfall, there are glyphs that describe a prophecy: “The Angel… The One Who Has Seen The Surface… They will return. And the underground will go empty.” If you ask Gerson to elaborate on what this means, he says that some monsters believe that this refers to a bleaker outlook: That the angel prophesied is actually a harbinger of death, and that this freedom actually refers to death.

If you connect the dots, you end up with two conflictingly obvious solutions: The first is that the player is the prophesied angel who appropriately fits both outlooks, being able to destroy the barrier and free monsterkind or free them mortally by attempting to slaughter all of them. However, another conclusion that can be drawn is that the angel prophesied is actually Asriel, and that you’re merely a vessel for his unwitting divine plan. While both are valid interpretations, the second is far more relevant to my point.

Also mentioned in those glyphs is the fact that not a single human soul was taken in the war between humans and monsters, alongside this is the missed opportunity to uncover that one can achieve godhood if they combine a human and monster’s souls. This implies a type of dualism as to whether or not the angel symbolizes the player or Asriel, as it’s more accurate to say that both the player and Asriel—the fusion of their souls—is the angel. This makes sense in both the contexts of the True Pacifist and No Mercy runs (and technically neutral), as both are attempts by Asriel to integrate with Chara again, with the former favoring Asriel’s determination while the latter favoring the player’s.

Now, what if I told you that Mettaton’s character in the story is his attempt to fulfill this prophecy artificially, thus making a false prophet of himself?

It seems hard to believe at first, but considering all the weird similarities between the staging and capabilities of both Asriel and Mettaton, it seems to imply that there’s some similarities between them in the context of the fate of monsterkind. Not only is it common knowledge among all monsters to speak of the prophecy, we also know Mettaton grew up in Waterfall alongside Napstablook and Shyren, meaning that this prophecy could’ve had more meaning to him specifically.

Now, it’s unknown whether or not the intentions to save monsterkind came about because of his hubris or because they were suggested to him by some higher command like Asgore, but considering that he states directly that he wants to kill you to prevent Asgore from taking your soul, it implies that Mettaton’s attempt at fulfilling the Delta Rune prophecy is entirely selfish.

One point of evidence in the camp that Mettaton was intentionally made to fulfill the Delta Rune prophecy is that Mettaton was made to impress Asgore according to Catty and Bratty. If this is true, then his position as a celebrity implies that he was made to be a beacon of hope that could be predictably grown and made to accomplish a purpose that fulfilled everyone’s collective desire. But the hair covering his right eye and its further concealment in his NEO form tells that, if he was created to fulfill the prophecy, then he wasn’t finished for this task and still required further tinkering from Alphys.

It may be entirely coincidental that Mettaton’s motivations as a character parallel and complement Asriel’s, but I find that hard to believe especially given the similarities of being separated from a lost sibling, seeking an integration of souls that’ll grant extraordinary power to embrace humanity to a degree, and possessing soulless objects. What I think really drives it home for me is the similarities between Mettaton NEO and the God of Hyperdeath, both of which are depicted as being angelic with prominent wings, which I’ll go on record to state are the only two boss fights in the game that feature wings prominently.

If Asriel is fulfilled as the angel of death, then the depiction of Mettaton NEO is given a newfound authenticity as he serves as the image of a guardian angel meant to stop you in a place where there is nobody to onlook, forcing him to act in authentic spirit. He now has the duty of protecting both monsterkind and humankind from you, even if he utterly fails at it.

One thing that’s hard to answer is how Mettaton is able to perform actions that imply metatextual awareness of the game and other similar actions Flowey does despite never being implied or hinted at possessing determination. Does this imply that, like Flowey, the process of integrating monster souls into inanimate objects grants them some form of determination? If so, it would grant greater proof as to why Mettaton has such a vested interest in fulfilling the Delta Rune prophecy beyond merely hearing about it. Yet, we know from the True Lab logs that Flowey was injected with determination while there’s no such implication that the same was done with Mettaton. However, we can gather from Napstablook being able to avoid being absorbed into Flowey as he transforms into Asriel that ghosts, as a type of monster, are seemingly immune to things other monsters aren’t. Perhaps this implies that they have metatextual powers like monsters with determination?

Now, here comes the really fun (and fortunately last) part where I draw parallels between these characters and the real-world mythology that may have inspired them:

Now, it’s a factoid among some that Asriel’s name may be inspired by Azrael, who is described as the angel of death in Judaism and Islam, and as part of that title, he separated souls from their bodies. His appearance has been described as being cosmically large, having an insurmountable amount of wings, and possessing a body formed of an amount of eyes and tongues representing every human being. Right away, we can see parallels to the God of Hyperdeath, who also has very large wings that appear to project a cosmic pattern within them. While its appearance may not correspond literally, he is a being composed of every human and monster soul in the Underground, eerily matching the description. Not to mention that Asriel absorbed Chara’s soul into them, equivalent to Azrael’s job of severing souls from their bodies.

Another factoid is that Metaton’s name is possibly inspired by Metatron, another angel of Judaism that, unlike Azrael, isn’t found in the Tanakh but is mentioned briefly in the Talmud. He has a similar job to Azrael in that he records the sins and merits of men, similar to how Azrael was able to see which names were blessed or damned. However, Metatron holds an even more lofty title in Kabbalistic mysticism as God’s mediator between men, being described as one “whose name is like that of his master”, even going as far as to be called “the lesser YHWH.” This is obviously a heretical dualistic proclivity in an otherwise monotheistic Judaism. Further, Metatron is related to Enoch, being described in Jewish apocrypha as the name Metatron used to have before he was transformed into an angel. Now, for all of that backstory, it parallels to Mettaton specifically in transformation: It seems as if Mettaton’s obsession with human reciprocation and the very humanoid appearance of his EX form imply that he wants to integrate into humanity similar to how Enoch entered angeldom.

The hot topic is whether or not Metatron’s power compared to that of God given the texts stating he was a secondary power in heaven with YHWH, but the answer most Rabbinistic scholars give is that he obviously wasn’t despite that it was written that all other angels bowed before him. However, this idea of there being dual power in Heaven is what later laid the groundwork for understanding the nature of Christ in Christianity. But in most Jewish sects, this doesn’t fly and is seen as a dualistic heresy, implying that there’s a falseness to Metatron’s power. Just like how there is a falseness to Mettaton’s power and intentions in all runs of the game. Another neat thing to note is that, as part of accepting Metatron as a real angel, one believes that any time a human believes God has directly spoken to them, it’s actually Metatron acting as his vessel. Perhaps this is parallel with how Mettaton is the voice of the Underground and it’s desire to be free despite himself possessing relatively lacking power?

The angel required a fusion of both a monster and human soul, and while Mettaton is the fusion between a monster soul and a soulless object akin to Flowey, it wasn’t enough to fulfill the role of the angel, falling short of his lofty dreams of being a savior. However, this disillusionment isn’t cruel, especially when you spare Mettaton and he receives a call from Napstablook (implied) that reminds him of his importance to monsterkind, making him reconsider his lofty ambitions to appeal to humanity. This is telling Mettaton that he is not a mediator between monster and humankind that he thought of himself as, for he never had the ability to combine both human and monster soul like Asriel. Perhaps he had the determination to be able to foresee the realization of the prophecy but not enough to put it into effect?

That’s just about everything I have to potentially support this theory, including referents to Jewish mythology. I firmly believe that Mettaton’s presence in the story was to serve as a false prophet to fulfill the prophecy of the Delta Rune, and that explains why his character and origin is so similar to that of Flowey.

[anchovy89freya]

Something the fandom is missing when judging Luka's akumatization is the fact that he always seeks honesty in the same way that he is always honest with others.

Ok, not having the context behind the Couffaine family this is going to be more own speculation than official.

Luka grew up in a free environment, with Anarka sailing and raising her babies by herself. (It's still weird to think of Juleka and Luka as twins ...)

She was in charge of creating a safe environment to express and listen to each other, which is why both siblings would wear their own styles, painted hair, piercings, etc ~

But, Anarka, either by her own choice, or by an agreement with Jagged, did not reveal to her children the truth about her father, ever, nothing.

Now, my reason for assuming that the truth is a very important matter for Luka is the idea of ​​knowing each other in a safe environment, with his family that he knows that he loves and protects him reciprocally, and still, being denied the truth about his paternal roots.

I can easily imagine that Luka did not press the subject as the patient and calm boy that he is, but I can also see how that, is a factor that would stress him, that would make him feel insecure to some degree about himself (too deep?)

So...he would rather choose to focus on other things than force an aimless fight with his mother and create conflict in his family.

Yes, Luka can be that calm, gentle and "hippie" boy (?), But it is also clear that inside he has fear, insecurity and that sliver of anger and frustration due to the lack of sincerity that he feels about the secrets of his mother.

It's frustrating when parents deny you the truth about yourself, most if Luka grow up without the guidance of a father with no explanation about why by his mother.

Luka is not angry with Marinette, but he is anxious, sad and confused, but not for "not choosing him" Luka knows, he is aware that his affection is not received in the same way that he gives it, and it is fine (apparently) with it, from previous seasons he himself tells Mari that.

But Luka sees Marinette suffer for her relationship, seeing her stressed, in a rush to get away from him, missing commitments, and ... lying to him.

And that's where Luka's insecurity kicks in.

I think Luka's intentions were to try to ease Marinette's burden, to be a support to her and to let her know that she is not alone.

But that only led Marinette to tell him that she couldn't share the truth with him, that that would be the one thing she couldn't give him.

And bom ~

Fears, insecurity and memories was what led Luka to be akumatized, just a few seconds of doubts and fears, that's all.

It can be seen as if at the end of the chapter Luka did not learn anything, because he offers his friendship to Mari as if nothing and they are on good terms.

But the truth is that ... in ... some convenient way ... Luka ends up remembering everything that happened while he was akumatized (I guess ...?) And knowing the reasons that led Jagged to abandon them (which are stupid and they have no excuse, but I doubt they will teach us that, anyway ...) he understands that there are ... reasons why people decide not to share everything, because they are not ready, or they cannot.

So Luka telling Marinette that he will be there when she deems it appropriate seems to me, and I want to believe, that it is Luka offering support and a hand to a person that he knows, is under a lot of pressure, it is him being empathetic while offering comfort because he senses that Marinette barely finds comfort in her day to day ~

Aaaand...yep, I think that would be my excuse to try to alleviate my discomfort at the null development that the relationship between those two deserved :)))

[paperpocalypse]

on five and allison: powers and potential

making a new post bc i don’t want to hijack the original one, which helped me realize why i would love to see five and allison interact more in s3 !!

there are several parallels between these two that are yet to be really explored in the umbrella academy, but this is the one i want to focus on: as children, both allison and five seemed to be very fond of their powers and used them whenever they liked. some of it was because reginald made them view their worth in terms of their abilities, some of it was because they needed their abilities to survive, and some of it was because their abilities just happened to suit them well and they thought it was dang fun.

prior to s1, allison pretty much does a 180. after leaving for hollywood, she had tried to find happiness the same way she tried to find it at the academy: by using her rumors. but using it all the time eventually blows up in her face, and she concludes that it’s wrong to take away people’s autonomy, even if her reasons for wanting to seem rational. she resolves never to use her power again. it doesn’t last, not in 2019 nor in 1963 — and both times, she uses it in an attempt to save a loved one. a large part of allison’s character development is reclaiming her power as her own and learning to use it appropriately.

five, getting stuck in the apocalypse, did not get to experience navigating adulthood with powers in society at all. so his relationship to his powers, seeing it as a survival tool and always, always essential, is pretty much the same as it was in his youth. he needs it. and now, like op said, his ability to turn back time adds more complications for how he should use his powers. when in a pinch, should he and his siblings deal with the consequences or slip out unscathed? if something doesn’t go his way, is it best to change things so that it does? five’s instinctive answer is yes.

so this is a chance for allison and five to learn from each other. five shows allison that her power is a gift and she shouldn’t be afraid to use it to protect the people she loves. allison shows five that he needs to interact with others as equals and give people room to make their own choices. the two of them grapple with the ethics of using their powers and how to know when they should use them, and they find out more about each other as they do so. all in all, developing their relationship in the context of their parallels would be so important for their individual development !!

[heretherebedork]

Hi!! fellow BL overanalyzer here 🤝 I'm not watching KP anymore actually, but I'm kind of glad I found a fan who seems to be thinking critically. I just wanted to talk about how I'm sooo disappointed because I was hype for this show!! crime BL is my favorite kind of BL, but the main relationship just feels so much like the corniest, most embarrassing "bought by the Mafia CEO" wattpad fic story 😂 I dropped it on EP 4 bc I really hated how their first sexual contact was in that context, I already could not stand Kinn, and it was just HM. Ok then! the previous crime BL shows I watched all had relationships that respected the basic concept of consent even in mafia and fucked up crime settings, so I was a little ???? that a show so recent just doesn't seem to care. Apo is a great actor and all performances are very good, the production and direction of the show is impeccable, early Porsche, Tankhun, Chay and Pete(!!!) are very endearing characters, and it makes me soo sad to see what could be a well plotted story involving morally grey characters become basically just that, wattpad mafia stuff 😭 I was actually starting to think I was insane when everyone seemed to not notice how different from it's most acclaimed precursors in the crime BL subgenre this is turning out to be :') even the vegaspete stuff, which seemed like it could maybe take a more nuanced lens to a toxic relationship, feels kind of like it will just go the same path as the main couple, which just... distasteful. it was already what sealed my decision to drop because I personally am tired and not fond of stockholm syndrome-esque plots, even if they're critical and nuanced and setting-appropriate and self aware, but knowing it might go "and then they became a lovely dovey couple and all is forgiven because now they're insane together", my dear god... idk, I had high expectations, and reading about what happens to Porsche's character, esp regarding his relationship with Chay (which is what caught my interest for Porsche the most in the first ep, since I'm also an Older Brother™, also pulled apart by circumstances out of my control from a sibling I wanted to care for, rip me lmaaaaaaao), made me want to tell someone who might understand kind of how I feel abt the way it turned out 😭 wishing you a very good dissection of BL plots in the future, it's a hard job but someone has to be doing it 🙏

I mean, I did come into this how expecting this to be morally gray and knowing that there would be a deeply fucked up relationship and looking forward to the understanding that Shit Is Fucked and somehow I ended up in 2gether Mafia Edition so... yeah.

Thank you, though! Thinking about shows critically is kind of my thing, I really enjoy it and sometimes it works better than other times. This is not one of those times.

I am all in on the fucked up VegasPete, tbh. I'm hoping they can balance out the 2gether vibes of KP at this point. I never even liked 2gether so this is like double punishment for me.

It's always interesting to see the different issues people have with the show and the idea and the execution because every person's criticism and critique is going to be unique to that person and their view as well as their hopes for the show and their hopes for the characters.

But hooo yeah Porsche and Chay's relationship is definitely my biggest disappointment in the entire show.

[darklove9314-blog]

⚠️The War of Two Queens/ASITE Spoilers/ Reading Reactions chapters 11-20⚠️

- A Malik and Casteel interaction. I wonder where this will go.

-Is the handmaiden going to be important to the story?

-Didn’t we just get an answer about the heart mate question why is she asking it to a different character??? I know this is common for a JLA book but come on…..

-That scene when they figure out about the two ascensions….I definitely needed to take a break after that.

-Having a somewhat lighter scene after that doesn’t seem appropriate….

-I’m enjoying Reiver’s character (I’m listening to this on audio so I may be spelling that wrong).

-Not the journal. Lol.

-Delano and Perry seem sweet so far as a pairing. Or maybe I just like it when one part of the pairing fusses over the other one when they’re injured.

-I mean blood doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll end up like your parents.

-Idk if Kieran’s promise to k*ll poppy if she becomes something she can’t recognize is going to come into play or not. Potentially. Also this scene is an example of them being too close for comfort, (touch wise) but I’ve seen the negative reviews and I’ll definitely mention it when I find their relationship is getting too close for comfort.

-505 times…

-You know I’m glad that Poppy actually has to learn how to be a ruler without Casteel there. I think that’s at least one thing I appreciate about the story so far. Sure so far it’s only been a meeting and talking to citizens and being willing to go out and protect them when necessary, but at least there’s an inclusion of it in this book.

-I mean isn’t the tiny wooden horse a cherished item?

-Tawny’s back!

-I wonder why Poppy can’t read Tawny’s emotions.

-This just reminds me how much I miss Viktor.

-Well there’s another thing that I was given context to in ASITE.

-Now his death is ten times more painful.

-A Shadow in the Ember.

-Hey it’s the prophecy from ASITE. But it’s longer now. (Does Poppy have a sibling?? It could be possible)

-Even Tawny notices something off about Kieran and Poppy’s relationship. Like if anything Kieran is being overprotective in this book.

-So Poppy refers to her and Kieran’s relationship as “not like that.” But in the same breath, “complicated.” And Tawny wants to learn more about it. Is the interest in Tawny’s eyes curiosity about Poppy, Casteel’s, and Kieran’s dynamic? Or is she somewhat interested in Kieran??! I’m guessing the first.

-So Tawny is alive but also dead??

-At least JLA is self aware of the repetitiveness.

-Sera. Her name is Sera.

-So are we going to see Tawny anymore in this book or was she just included in one chapter??

-I don’t really like the trope of one love interest thinking the other person is too good for them.

-At least they’re informing each other about things now.

-Sera and Poppy share the same fear of snakes. (Foreshadowing to something involving snakes)

-So Isabeth is a false God??

-Poor Casteel.

[rwbyvein]

Firen Lhain: Chapter 711: The Hart of the Oak:  Part I/III

"So, sister?" Winter asked, "You are... happy with this arrangement?"

"I understand it would be difficult to fathom." Weiss said to her, "But yes, indeed."

"How much is a fathom, anyways?" Ruby asked.

"Six feet." Winter quickly stated, "Though not in the context used."

"I'm still getting used to Weissy words." Ruby voiced.

"Weiss-y... words?.." Winter quietly asked, doing her best to not be judgemental.

"It's meaning seems to have shifted from overbearingness to simply, dare I say, effeetness." Weiss said to her, "It is made with the utmost affection."

"Yes!" Ruby shouted, "I think."

"There is quite a bit here I fail to comprehent, but..." Winter voiced.

"Buuuut?" Nora asked.

"But, I have never seen you so happy." Winter continued, "It is almost disturbing. Perhaps showing us that the life we led was subpar."

"This is warm and touching an all," Raven uttered, "but I think I'm going to take off."

"Just like you always do." Yang voiced. Raven looked at her, but wasn't sure what to say, so instead just stood up and walked away. "That's what I thought." Yang stated.

"And she is?.." Winter asked Weiss, "your mother in law?"

"She wishes." Yang harshly voiced.

"Their relationship is?" Weiss said, and paused, "Complicated."

"I do believe I can sympathize." Winter stated.

"Wait?" Yang asked, "I thought you guys hated your dad?"

"Father was a monster." Weiss simply stated, "Mother, however, was absent."

"She ran away?" Yang asked.

"She might as well have." Weiss stated.

"She had a fondness for wine." Winter said with a disappointed tone.

"Weiss did tell us this." Blake stated.

"Uh... when?" Yang asked, Ruby looking curiously on.

"The night Aurora served us wine." Ren stated, "Or, I believe the morning after."

"He did look pretty together the next morning." Yang said, looking at him.

"Temperance is a virtue." Ren said with a light smile.

Nora looked between everyone, seeing no one call him out on it, "Oh, man, you guys believed him?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Jaune asked.

"Oh, man," Nora continued, "he was hung over for like 2 days."

Ren developed a weak smile, the smile of someone completely unused to lying. "My meditation apparently does not make me immune to hangovers." he voiced.

"And this night was?.." Winter asked.

"Magical." Weiss said with a bright smile. "We had just been affirmed as Huntsmen and Huntresses. And you know what that means for minors."

Winter looked about for a moment, "In the case that minors are given their letters-patent, they are emancipated?" Weiss nodded.

"The first drink," Yang stated, "I didn't have to hide from dad." Winter nodded affirmatively. "But, as it turns out, dad knew about my drinking and was just always looking the other way. I mean, seriously, if I thought about it, I kind of did a shit job of hiding it from him." she said warmly.

"Your father helped you to evade the law?," Winter asked, "and you treat this as a fond memory?"

"Nothing brings a father and son together," Jaune stated, "like sticking it to The Man."

"I hate to break it to you," Blake coyly interjected, "but you are The Man, m'lord."

"M'lord?" Winter asked. "You have your... wives?.. call you sir?"

"Who told you?!" Ruby nervously exclaimed.

"He also spanks us." Yang eagerly said.

Jaune closed his eyes, breathing in deeply to temper his temper. He then opened them, looking Winter in the eyes. She turned to look into his. "The Black Hart of the Woods made me an Earl." Jaune said. "Now, since the meaning of Earl has changed drastically over the milennia, I really don't know exactly what that means."

"The... Black Hart?" Winter asked.

"We could introduce you!" Nora exclaimed.

"Though," Ren voiced, and everyone looked at him, "he would likely demand you pay Jaune tribute."

"He would, pardon, what?" Winter asked, and Jaune shrugged.

"He was the one who made me an earl." Jaune stated.

"Wait?" Nora asked, "Jaune's The Man?! I'm working for The Man?! I have a sudden urge to ride a lamb."

"That is not t'which that saying refers." Ren stated.

"It's not?" Nora asked.

"How about a lamb Faunus?" Ruby asked.

"So?," Yang interrupted, "Nora would ride a lamb Faunus?"

"Also not t'which that saying refers." Ren stated.

"So, what's it mean?" Yang asked.

"L-A-M." Blake stated, "To beat a hasty retreat."

"So, we're hiding with Lambs?" Nora asked.

"We have enough room to graze lambs." Weiss simply stated.

"First things first." Jaune stated, and looked at Winter, "Did you want to meet the Black Hart?"

"And do you have appropriate tribute?" Weiss added.

Winter brought her hands together and paused.

"Wait, you do?" Ruby asked.

"It was meant as a gift for my sister, on her... either engagement or nuptuals." Winter said, and then looked at Jaune, "Are you her husband or her beau?"

"Like a staff?" Nora asked.

"B-e-a-u." Blake added. "It means handsome."

"Or," Weiss added, "in this context my handsome man."

"He IS pretty handsome." Nora stated.

"You do have your own." Weiss said to her.

"I do?" Nora asked, and Weiss looked at Ren. "I don't know, Ren is more beautiful, don't you think?"

A pregnant paused followed.

"So?" Blake asked, "Who wants to go walk in the woods?"

"I hate to eaves drop..." Taj stated.

"No you don't." Yang said to him.

"No I don't." he said with a smile, and took a couple steps into the lounge, and in reply Winter sighed. "Is that any way to talk to your friendly neighbourhood travel agent?"

"He does know a great place to drop us off." Yang stated. "So, there's that."

"Yes..." Winter voiced, "please introduce me to this Black Hart."

"Of the woods." Ren said with a smiled, and turned to leave the lounge, Nora immediately behind him.

* * *

Winter and Weiss waited while Ren and Nora went to their room, and Jaune and her wives went up to the top floor. Taj disappeared under the stairs over to the hangar.

* * *

J + R_BY walked down the stairs. Jaune tossed Weiss' belt, which she caught. She affixed it as they approached, Jaune passing Myrtenaster in it's scabbard.

* * *

Taiyang picked up his scroll and saw a message from Yang. 'Hey, dad. We're taking Super Weiss to go see the Black Hart. Tell Raven if she bothers to ask about us.'

* * *

The airship dropped them in the glade, and the group quickly leapt down. Jaune stopped and turned back to Ilia, last on the airship. He held his hands out to her, head tilted back to avoid goring her. She weakly smiled before jumping down into his arms. He then put her down as he smacked the airship. It then lifted back up into the air.

* * *

Winter walked through the darkened woods until she felt a presence. She thought she saw the trees themselves moving, until she realized their were great antlers from a dark form. "You have brought her to my woods!" a great voiced bellowed, that made Winter feel momentarily faint. "Does this mean she is friend or foe?!"

"She's Weiss' sister!" Jaune bellowed through the woods. Immediately after Ruby let out a great howl. Weiss turned to glare at her, and Ruby looked about nervously.

"Humanoid siblings are not something we ken, but I suppose we could view the other Great Beasts as my kin, as you would view yours! Kin or no, you are in the woods of my earl! Have you brought sufficient tribute?!"

Winter stood up properly, "I have brought Dust!" Winter exclaimed.

"You value this as your lives?!" the great voiced asked. "Does my earl consider this sufficient tribute?"

"I do!" Jaune bellowed.

"Then!," the great voice stated, "you have the freedom of my woods, so long as the earl allows!"

Winter then thought she felt the earth quake, though that might just be her, as the black form moved away, the trees seeming to move with it. She shook her head and stood back at attention. "Great one?!" she bellowed, and the moving shape in the forest stood, and turned to look at her. She could not see eyes, consciously, but it was as if they were boring into her soul. "You must have great power to claim the woods as your own?!" she asked, and there was a moment's pause. She had to steel herself to not visibly shake.

"I do!" the great voice simple bellowed.

"Could you not help us to?.." and a great shout echoed from the darkened wood to silence her.

"We!" he snarled, "Have not choice!" The form then turned to step away. In the absence of his petrifying gaze, Winter found her body loose and aquiver.

* * *

They walked back towards the glade, but Winter found Jaune's gaze ever affixed on her. He watched her like a beast in the forest, his eyes able to gleam truth from the darkwood.

"Sister?" Weiss asked her, and Winter found her body quake. She quickly breathed in deep to stop the dark blue flush, and stop her body from shaking.

"Your beau has been staring at me." Winter said, using all of her strength to stop her body from shaking.

"Jaune?" Ruby accused, and Jaune stopped, at the vanguard, everyone else stopping with him. He somehow turned around despite the wood, his antlers avoiding the branches of the trees that would thwart him. He turned to look first at Ruby, then Weiss and Winter, and then everyone else.

"It is from concern." Ren stated, and then turned to continue on their path. Jaune turned to walk away, and the train of people turned to follow him.

"How could you meet that being?!" Winter shouted, "And not feel afraid?"

"You mistake my meaning." Ren said without looking back, "His concern is for you."

Winter then looked between everyone else. They didn't seem at ease, but at least far more at ease than she was.

Ren then momentarily stopped to look at her, "To answer your unasked question, our faith in our leader is what gives you strength." Ren then turned to continue down the path.

"So, Jaune's worried about Winter?!" Ruby asked, and Jaune dismissively raised and waved his hand without looking back.

"And what gives him strength?" Winter asked.

"You - don't - want - to - know!" Jaune's great voice bellowed through the woods.

* * *

Winter climbed onto the airship first, assuming it was because she was the guest. When she looked forward she found Taj looking back. "Why don't you come join me in the cockpit?" he asked, and gave her a friendly, beckoning wave. She walked forward to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's seat. "Now, I know I have a bit of a reputation, but I do have a bit of advice for you?"

"And that would be?" Winter neutrally asked. Taj looked back to make sure everyone was seated.

"We ready to go?!" he asked, and Jauned nodded. Taj looked back and started to take the ship up. "So, there's no easy way to say this, but they're going to offer you the guest room, because you're a guest, and they tried to offer them to us."

"And you did not partake?" Winter asked.

"Ilia likes to be alone, has a bit of a trouble getting on with others."

"And yourself?" Winter asked.

"Yeah, well, you see, at night, the tower shakes."

"Periodic, predicatble earthquakes?" Winter asked, and Taj shook his head.

"It comes from the top."

"Wind shear?" Winter asked, and once again Taj shook his head. "Perhaps something to do with the gravity knots in the aerodrome?"

Taj sighed, "I suppose I'm going to have to spell it out, the new couple... coupling..."

Winter looked at him first with disbelief, then wished she still disbelieved. Her body flushed both light and dark blues and she stared forward for a few minutes. "He is strong enough to SHAKE - THE - TOWER?!"

"Exactly who is doing what is best left to the imagination." Taj voiced.

Winter's colour-shifting continued as she looked about lost, trying to come to some rational sense. "And, the others?"

"Ren and Nora do not seem to mind." Taj stated. "Aurora seems happy about it."

Winter gave him another disbelieving gaze.

[hiccanna-tidbits]

Okay, so I have another ask: What are your other ships? Like, besides moarida, hisccanna and jackunzel (if u have more). It could be crossovers or not! I'm just curious hahah 😊

And maybe NOTP if u have any?

Have a nice day/night! 💕

Hi again! <3 My other CGI crossover ships are Eugelsa, Sweet Tooth (Toothiana x Bunnymund), Vaniro (but ONLY in an AU with an aged-up Vanellope because their canon age difference is pretty awkward and uncomfy), Ramaari, Eep x Guy, Johnny x Mavis, and Agduna!

Some other pairings that I like but don’t hardcore ship or anything are HiJack, Elstrid, Elsamaren, Rydoff, and Pithel (Pitch x Gothel)! I kind of like Cassunzel from TTS as well, but I’m too hardcore Team Jackunzel to really get into it XD I like the idea of Meripunzel as a one-sided crush, because I can defs see Merida being kind of into Punzel and I like the idea that her kinda-rivalry with Jack is partly fueled by jealousy XD I also am fond of Flynnzel and Hiccstrid as well, but I tend to not ship them in a crossover context because I’m just always gonna pick Jackunzel and Hiccanna when given the choice lmao

NoTPs? Oh boy...I have kind of a lot because I’m a judgmental fuck XD But I’ll censor them here so they don’t pop up on the ship tags. I think my top NoTPs at the moment are J/elsa and Hicc/elsa because they both just...make no sense to me??? Like I see Elsa as being mostly into women anyway, but her type of men would just like...NOT be Jack and Hiccup, imo. Especially Jack--like there’s such a huge maturity difference there, and the ship itself is so shallow to me. Like 90% of the time people ship them solely for ice powers and it’s just kinda :/ :/ :/ And with Hiccup I just do not see Elsa being into dorky, awkward guys??? Like it seems like her maternal instinct would kick in, and I honestly can’t see her viewing guys like this as a romantic option. Besides, Elsa is not Hiccup’s type at ALL--he seems to be into exuberant, energetic masculine women, which Elsa is just...not at all??? Tbh I think both Jack and Hiccup would find Elsa to be kind of a wet blanket. ALSO Merida x Any male character tbh because I can’t NOT see her as a lesbian and I just can’t really imagine a world in which she is romantically interested in men at all lol. I think among the mxf Merida pairings Mer/iccup is probably the one I mind the LEAST, since Hiccup seems like he’d be her type if she WAS into men, but even there...I see Merida paired with any boy and I’m like “I just Do Not see it” *shrugs* I also tend to dislike Hicc/unzel because I just find it kinda boring??? Like they’re too similar for me to get into the idea of a romance between them, and they very much have Sibling Energy to me. That, and I feel like Hiccanna kinda has their would-be romantic dynamic but like...better XD

Tbh I also really detest Krist/anna (I had a whole post ranting about it a while back lmao) because imo their development was super rushed and Kristoff kind of went from being a condescending jerk to Anna to liking her out of nowhere??? And in the second movie he like...is obsessed with her and barely has any personality outside of his relationship with her and it’s just kinda Yikes to me. Also I don’t think he really “grounds” Anna in the way she needs like??? He tries to tell her she’s wrong by being rude and talking down to her (like when he shames her for marrying Hans like...10 minutes after they meet??? He’s not WRONG, but it’s not really appropriate to give a near-stranger a hard time about their relationship) and tbh I think Hiccup would just be able to ground Anna in a much more respectful and sensitive way while also not being afraid to call her on her bullshit when she’s being dumb. I also dislike Mo/ariel a lot because lowkey it strikes me as the femslash J/elsa like...people only seem to ship them because “OMG OCEAN!!!” and Ariel doesn’t even really want to be in the ocean anyways like??? Also even though they’re the same age, Ariel is pretty immature compared to Moana, and she claims to love a guy she’s never even spoken to, which Mo would just roll her eyes at. I’ll admit it’s partly personal bias here because I’ve always disliked Ariel and I love Moana with all my soul, but I just cannot get behind Mo/ariel at all.

So there you have it!!! Sorry to rant so much about my NoTPs, I just got mad and couldn’t stop typing XD Please don’t flay me if I don’t like your ship D: I’m tryna be respectful and keep anti-ship posts out of the ship tags because ship wars are dumb and I don’t think it really helps anyone to argue over ships when people already kinda have their minds made up about what they do and don’t ship.

Always taking more ship-related asks on this blog!!!

[amysgiantbees]

I need to yell about the Witcher 3 or I’ll explode and I’ve already accidently deleted this once.

The Witcher 3 is enormously sexist. I hate on principle anything that has hard and fast rules according to sex, especially in fictional settings, considering that sex is a spectrum and a social construct to an extent. But Witcher’s only being men makes even less sense since the reason given why is that women are weaker. Which again, is awful and incorrect.

Moreover, all the druids I’ve seen are men, all the Witchers are men, sorcerers can be anyone. Men literally can be anything in the Witcher. Whereas not only are women’s options severely limited but they must deal with societal sexism along with that.

Furthermore, the Witcher is SO white. Not only does it make the character design very repetitive and dull but it’s difficult to distinguish between NPCs sometimes. As well as the obvious racism of wanting to explore fictional racism with elves and dwarves but balking at being anti-racist in the game’s design.

I could also deal without the fat jokes. It really shows that if these white men creating this don’t find historical accuracy edgy or titillating – like including rape and gore – they ignore it. Because from the time periods they were borrowing from there would be less makeup especially in war times, people – including women – would be much hairier, and plus size people would be seen as conventionally attractive. Being plus size meant that you were of a higher class and had the funds to overindulge and not work, and the rich have the time to shape and indulge in the trends. So, they are envied and emulated and seen as more attractive like they are now. Also, there were more people of colour in Europe – the place inspiring this setting – than the Witcher itself has. So, it’s confusing that the modern representation of something is less diverse than the historical setting.

The writers being uninterested in anything that does not relate to them is shown in Ciri’s relationships in the game. Ciri can be practically naked surrounded by other near naked women but her only option for initiating any romance is with a man. She is bisexual but it does seem like the writers would rather ogle than give even representation. Not that her concrete stating that she prefers women isn’t representation. But is confusing when there are two siblings that you can only kiss the male one.

The lack of they/them pronouns is awkward in the dialogue, making it very stilted and grating. As well as actively taking away suspense. I never believed for a second that Uma might be Ciri. Giralt could talk about it all he wanted to, but he kept referring to Uma as HE. So, it was obvious from the beginning that he was the elven man she’d been travelling with. Making the twist instantly ineffective.

Side note, I despise that woman all wear heals constantly. It just looks so bizarre. I can deal with some stylisation, or slightly less than practical travel wear. But stilettos in a swamp? There’s no way a sane person would. It just doesn’t work at all and actively brings me out of the narrative every time there’s a close-up of them.

Also, it is a real cop out that the writers won’t allow their “big strong manly protagonist” wear high drag, just Yen’s pants when the boys are having a night together. If he’s so masculine a dress shouldn’t change that.

The romances are embarrassing. Why does Triss shoot herself in the foot and “friend zone” herself by calling Ciri her little sister? You are interested in Geralt, so even if you don’t want a mother like relationship with Ciri a sisterly one is not particularly appropriate. Do you want Geralt to see you like a child? Considering how immature you can be – which I’ll get to – you’d think you’d try not to make him see you in a paternal, platonic, or just patronising way. It’s confusing why she pretends to be drunk at the party. For one it is very desperate and cringy. Secondly it is very inconsistent with the character that was just confidently taking charge of this mission. Thirdly, you’d think she’d want to show she’d change from lying to him previously *cough* from the inane plot contrivance so the previous game could happen *cough* by being completely honest with him now.

Yennifer on the other hand seems too often come across as more sexual fantasy than fleshed out character. Yennifer’s character is also inconstant. I’m wondering if these men have ever spoken to a woman before. She is motherly, protective, determined, no-nonsense, confident in her convictions and knows her own worth. She’s flawed too, scoffs at people’s cultural and religious practices. Which I wish she grew more from; she could have shown faith in Vesimere from the beginning when it came to his ritual with Uma to show she regrets the garden and interrupting the wake and is trying to be better. Or maybe seeing the usefulness of what Vesimere did could have led to a tender conversation with Geralt about how this has made her see that maybe she should have done some things differently, found a different place to cast the spell, spilt some blood for the goddess. A flawed character is a well-made character but here is where she seems more object than person. When she gets unnaturally angry at Geralt for not wanting sex. Like how dare you do not want to play with the toy that we created. To compare it to another RPG game Dragon Age has its faults but at least the player is always given the option, and never punished for not wanting sex in a romance. Otherwise, I quite like Triss, she kind of necessarily pulls Geralt’s head out her ass but sometimes she is a bit too mean, nut usually with context it’s understandable, I think. Also the unicorn is just gross, like not to yuck anyone’s yum, but it’s nasty. 

Also like if the general insensitivity and ignorance written into the game wasn’t there and there was more than two queer characters as far as I’ve seen, I would think that Elihal‘s portrayal could be nuanced in how gender and sexuality do not dictate gender expression. But considering the game as a whole their character feels very “look at this weirdo” “no homo”. Cowards. 

The ableism is also just abhorrent. They would likely argue that the ableism featured is historically accurate - which I’m not confident that’s true - but then don’t have any representation of visible disabilities or just a variety of disabilities that would be historically accurate. 

Also it’s just disappointing that you don’t get hang out with Triss and Kira at Kaer Morhen during the Uma quest. 

[paintedpoems]

Black Water Arc: War of The Water Tyrants.

“Wind’s ontology refuses to take separateness as an inherent feature of the world. […] And this is, in part, wind’s value—it has an existential precondition that appears only in the context of contact. Wind is touching, mutual, moving.”

 — Cymene Howe, Ecologics

 It seems overly contradictory to start a piece about water tyrants with a quote about the wind, doesn’t it? In actuality, readers of the novel would find this comparison immensely appropriate. This is because although black water arc is about the head-to-head battle between Shi Wudu and Hexuan; the center point, the cause and the final effect of this whole arc is Shi Qingxuan. 

 “Existential Precondition” or fate. It is ironic that wind is described as such because that is essentially Shi Qingxuan’s inherent problem and “Refuses to take separateness” was Shi Qingxuan’s ultimate solution. 

Short Summary:

The infant Shi Qingxuan has a curse placed upon them. The curse prophesied a life full of unfathomable hardships for Shi Qingxuan and that is now their fate. Their brother, Shi Wudu, who is extremely protective of his sibling, is bent on saving Shi Qingxuan from this curse. Shi Wudu being naturally gifted eventually ascends as a god, he uses his position in the heavenly realm to then help his younger brother ascend to godhood as well. It is eventually revealed that Shi Wudu secretly changed his sibling’s cursed fate with another person of similar name and better fortune. 

The person in question is Hexuan. Hexuan was fated to live a prosperous life and ascend as a god but instead lives with tragedy latched onto him. He goes through poverty, false accusations, abuse and all of his loved ones die under heartbreaking circumstances. Hexuan eventually dies and returns as a vengeful ghost bent on punishing the one that had wronged him. Hexuan wants justice and since the gods refuse to pass judgement, he decides to come to a verdict on his own. In short, that is what black water arc is about: Judgement. In a grey situation, where exactly do we place the blame?

 On Morality:

Shi wudu verses Hexuan, ‘The war of the water tyrants’ dilemma, is one of the most mind-blowingly well thought out cases of grey morality in literature. It is no secret that the reductiveness of morals into “good” and “evil” categories is one of mxtx's main themes often explored heavily in her previous works. The author rejects the absolute extremes in character viewpoints, both in her protagonists and antagonists and applies the concept in varying thoughts including race and politics. 

The difference in this arc however, is the projection of the audience’s principles into each character. That is, between Hexuan and Shi wudu, she never specifies who the antagonist is. It is left to the readers to explore, reflect and come to an understanding on what exactly it is like to venture into the grey zone. Neither of the two were selfishly driven, none of their initial intentions stemmed from hatred. It was familial love that drove them to hurt one another, familial love that blindsided them. In their quest to protect and to avenge their family, innocent family members lost their lives or were hurt; on both their parts. This is where the definitions of victims and perpetrators get skewed. It is so skewed in fact, that the only valid testimony left is the reader's sentiments for the characters and their own self-principles. 

 From Shi wudu’s “Everything I have today, I fought for myself... I will change fate that I do not possess. My fate is up to me and not the heavens” is the will to fight predestination. Verses, Hexuan’s “What right did he have to suck another’s blood, trample another’s bones to reach the skies, and still maintain a peace of mind. Enjoying all such luxuries without any sense of burden?” the victim of the change in predestination. Two strong, commendable principles, founded by righteousness but blinded by arrogance and hatred. Later, to maintain a peace of mind, Hexuan tramples on Shi Qingxuan and in the process of fighting for oneself, Shi Wudu ultimately changes Shi Qingxuan’s fate for the worse. 

We even witness the Shi Wudu’s blindness take a terrible turn at the very end when he attempts to strangle his own sibling that he fought to protect all this time. His belief that Shi Qingxuan will not be safe without him, his lack of trust in his own brother, is part of his arrogance. 

In return, we see Hexuan’s blind hatred falter for a moment when he keeps giving Shi Qingxuan chances for safety. At the finish line, we see both the water tyrant’s own morals and goals swap. This change in attitude towards Shi Qingxuan’s future is another outstanding ploy by mxtx because expectation of a good outcome is the core of morality. In the end, the readers simply wish for a good ending for Shi Qingxuan and when Shi Wudu decides he is going to die together with his sibling, it confuses the audience. There is a shock factor added, you perceive Shi Wudu as the protector and he pulls the safety rug from under your feet. Instant shock and confusion violating the purity of the absolute good, so the reader’s immediate reaction is to look for safety in the not-absolute evil i.e. Hexuan. However, when Hexuan does not provide that complete comfort at the end, only slightly appeasing everyone, it stings. Reinforcing that cognitive blend of mixed morality into reader’s beliefs, further skewing the curve. 

 It is this kind of writing that creates a split in the fandom, not in a bad way, but more in terms of sparking a conversation about where people’s individual morality lies. Each character has their past, their reasons, their flaws and goodness and it gives the audience something to root for. In addition, the rooting is not a hundred percent good versus bad, because each character’s choices are equally flawed. The fandom selects a side but with one foot still lingering on the other territory. Siding with Hexuan but understanding the reasoning behind Shi Wudu’s actions or siding with Shi Wudu but sympathizing with Hexuan’s pain and loss. The uneven split is how you know the characterization was not mediocre.

In regards to characterizations, Shi wudu and Hexuan are too similar. Their personalities, personas, auras; the proud, stubborn, intelligent water tyrants. We speak of these likenesses because Shi Qingxuan lives through this battle and will never be able to unsee the similarities. Hexuan remains, a walking reminder of Shi Wudu. This feels deliberately done as the final stab to the readers, so that Shi Qingxuan and Hexuan’s relationship remains unmendable. 

 Pure Point of Views, Shi Qingxuan and Xielian: 

Wind is invisible, its apprehension comes from its exposure to objects or in this case other people. Shi Qingxuan is air, pure, lively and touching, forming a comforting contact with everyone they meet. The kind of character that brings about a reader’s protective instinct, in a sense, if anything were to happen to them it will infuriate and break the audience. A classic plot device to draw emotions from the readers. Why must this innocent child suffer for the sins of their brother? But, mxtx urges us to rethink this by wondering the same for Hexuan’s family. They were innocent too, why did they have to die on this path? Why is Shi Qingxuan’s innocence valid and not theirs? The audience feels for Shi Qingxuan because we have become familiarised with them. Shi Qingxuan has now made that connection with the readers, the wind has touched their hearts versus only receiving glimpses of what was Hexuan’s previous family. The effect is lacking that familial impact, that bond. Classic writing schemes, beautiful.

At the end of the clashing of the waves, the person left with the permanent scars was the blameless Shi Qingxuan. Their life was molded and directed into this final point without their control, as if caught in a sea storm. The one that paid for this feud was ultimately Shi Qingxuan, the person neither of the other two wanted to hurt.

 Another classic writing device I want to finally explore and praise is the use of the narrator to throw the audience off the culprit’s scent. The mystery of Black Water Arc was quite simple actually, mxtx layed out all the clues and hints for the audience out in the open. Like Xielian himself states later, the simplest answer was always visible, he was just overthinking things. And if Xielian, the semi-narrator, overthinks then the audience will overthink. Xielian, an intelligent and the fundamentally good person, exudes a trusting aura. The audience cannot help but trust his judgement and perception of things, it is a credibility built from our experience with his mystery solving abilities in the previous arcs. 

The reason why the black water reveal was so impactful and shocking was because of Xielian. The semi narrator continuously made excuses for MingYi, his subconscious trusted him, even if he had his suspicions. He didn’t enforce them strongly enough, leaving the audience to believe Xielian was merely exploring a wrong option for the sake of eliminating possible culprits. The audience was not viewing MingYi as a culprit, rather they were waiting for Xielian to come to the inevitable conclusion of his innocence. An item to quickly cross off the checklist so that they could finally pursue the “real” culprit.

MingYi couldn’t use the Earth Master Shovel? Xielian makes the excuse for him before the audience can even dive deeper on that thought. HuaCheng draws suspicion back to MingYi and Xielian immediately doubts his most trusted confidant’s assumptions. Xielian trusts MingYi, so we trust MingYi against our better judgement. When the narrator has left no room for mistrust, how can the audience hold their stance? 

The proficient push and pull charade played out by Hexuan and Huacheng is another impactful factor that took part in diverting Xielian’s mistrust. The nefarious roles they played policing and suspecting each other, from Hexuan’s “don’t you have spies in the heavens?” to Huacheng’s lie detecting dice game. The solid plan of the two suspicious individuals doing the dirty work for Xielian, did not allow Xielian to mold his thoughts in his own way. He was led astray whilst the other two worked together to draw trust onto each other. So, the audience did not have room for doubt either. 

In addition to all of that, the most fundamental foundation to Xielian’s trust for MingYi was that fact that he was the one who saved him from Huacheng in the first place. Simply because of the ghost city arc, we already place Huacheng and Hexuan on opposing sides rather than assuming they were accomplices. Furthermore, because of Xielian’s trust in Huacheng’s intellect and his belief of Huacheng’s prejudice against MingYi; he would constantly monitor Huacheng’s reaction to his own deductions. Unfortunately, Huacheng was a terrible basis point and by the time Xielian realizes it, it is too late. An ingenious tactic. 

The author led us off track in such a brilliant manner, I had to sing praises at the end of this piece. The way our mind perceives people or situations, is the essence of our moral compass. The mind is subjective, so subjectivity in judgement is ever present, ever grey.

Notes:

This unforgettable and excruciatingly tragic arc is an important turning point in the book and we are all aware that it does not need a special summary. However, I wanted to start with a bit of a reintroduction, just to stay true to the essay tradition. Is this an essay? A think-piece? An analysis? I would not dare shame any of those academic classifications by claiming to be writing as such. 

I hope this was enjoyable to read.

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[averycanadianfilm]

The Problem of Twins in Natal Astrology

Episode 167 of the podcast features a discussion between Chris Brennan and Adam Elenbaas about the problem of twins in natal astrology, and how astrologers deal with the birth charts or horoscopes of two people who were born at the same time.

The premise of natal astrology is that the alignment of the planets at the moment a person is born have something significant to say about a person’s character and future, but this premise then naturally raises the question of what about people who were born around the same time?

This comes up most commonly in the horoscopes of twins who are born to the same parents within a few minutes of each other, although the question is also applicable to time twins, who are people that were born around the same time to different parents.

During the course of this episode we discuss this issue and try to explore some possible solutions, both from a technical and a philosophical perspective.

Below you will find the show notes, followed by links to download or stream the recording of this episode of the podcast.

Twins Show Notes and Episode Outline

Here are the show notes, which provides an outline of most of the major points we touched on during the course of the episode:

One of the most common and longstanding critiques against natal astrology.

We will address philosophical, conceptual, and technical points related to this issue.

Defining the basic parameters of the twins criticism:

Natal astrology was developed in Mesopotamia by the 5th century BCE.

This has been a longstanding critique of natal astrology for the past 2000 years.

Ptolemy may have tried to respond to some of the earlier critiques.

Nigidius Figulus was said to have responded with the potters wheel analogy.

Important to discern whether the chart really is exactly the same or not first.

Technical answers to this issue based on chart changes:

Philosophical and conceptual answers to the question:

Variations of the criticism have been in circulation for over 2000 years.

Premise is that alignment of planets at birth indicates future of native.

Naturally raises the question of what about people born at the same time?

Twins who are born close together from the same mother.

Time twins, who are born to separate parents but around the same time.

Twins look the same, but have different lives.

Earliest surviving criticism is Cicero (1st century BCE).

Saint Augustine had a similar criticism but went into more detail.

“the fact that men who were born at the very same instant, are unlike in character, career, and in destiny, makes it very clear that the time of birth has nothing to do in determining man’s course in life”.

Ptolemy says that astrology is not the only factor, but you also have to take other factors into account in order to understand the context of the chart.

Gender, race, geography, whether the chart of a turtle, etc.

Point is that sometimes even what seem like small changes make difference

Ascendant and Midheaven move relatively rapidly.

Even two people born close together in time may not have exactly the same chart

Sometimes a few minute time difference leads to major changes.

What are some of these major changes?

Sometimes only small changes happen in a few minutes.

Vedic answer based on 3rd and 11th houses

Timing techniques

Division of the chart

Ascendant can change signs

Midheaven and other angles can change signs

Planets becoming more or less angular.

Sect

Moon can change signs

Aspects can perfect, move from applying to separating.

Changes ruler of the Ascendant

Changes all of the houses in whole sign & equal houses

Enclosures can begin or end

Ascendant, Midheaven, other angles change degrees quickly

Lots/Aratic Parts change degrees and signs rapidly

Midpoints change degrees rapidly

Subdivisions of zodiacal signs become relevant here.

Subdivision charts and harmonics.

Twelfth parts, bounds/terms, decans, etc.

Indians use navamshas and other subdivisions

Younger siblings assigned to 3rd house, older siblings 11th house

Therefore the order of the birth could matter, and change the chart.

This then affects the derived houses potentially as well.

Earlier or later degrees can change activation of timing techniques

Progressions, transits, time-lords change.

Some astrologers report that twins will divide the chart.

Each appropriating certain features

As part of defining themselves as distinct individuals from each other.

Liz Greene and Steven Forrest both mention this.

CB: I wonder if this is a conscious/subconscious choice, or if it is just a matter of small changes in time shifting subdivisions.

Modern astrologers could be mistaking it as a choice.

The context of the chart matters.

Astrology is archetypally predictive

Synastry

Relocational astrology

Free will and choices

Variables: In reality there are so many operative variables that the astrologer can’t take all of them into account.

Triangulation process that acts like a cheat sheet.

Is it the chart of a human, a business, a turtle, etc.?

The situation the person is born into matters.

Relevant in terms of time twins.

Male versus female, ethnicity, etc.

Gets into something deeper about nature of astrology.

Each placement has a range of possible meanings

Placement may manifest in ways that are different but archetypally similar.

Mars in 10th: athlete versus military.

Each person we come into contact with is like a transit

Two people can’t be in the same place at same time.

Therefore they will interact w/ different people, have different experiences

These synastry relationships will unlock different parts of the chart

In some instances this will be positive, in some negative.

True of romantic relationships, but also family members.

Previous episode on synastry

Premise is that different locations shift emphasis of the chart.

Different parts may be emphasized more or less

If the two people live in different places.

Previous episode on relocational astrology

Two people with similar predispositions may make different choices

To what extent is the chart representative of the soul versus a mask of predispositions that the soul has adopted in a given lifetime?

In Hermeticism ascent/descent of the soul gives it certain properties that are then given back after death.

Watch the Video Version of This Episode of the Podcast

Here is the video version of this episode on the astrology of twins: