#esp when he is the primary cause of that

[cats-in-the-clouds]

my sister got engaged and we’re all really happy for her but my bitter rain cloud of a dad (who naturally she told last) is giving her a bit of passive aggressive grief about it despite her boyfriend being like the best man of our generation (presumably either because he’s not catholic or because my dad sees them as young dumb unemployed people who aren’t ready for marriage or because he’s mad he barely has any real love with his own wife or something). so like pray for us? i wish i knew what to do

[cosmicaces]

i've never been good at writing intros to posts and that isn't gonna change today, esp since only a handful of people are probably gonna read this. i am making this post for me, because this is something i noticed and i wanna talk about it. leave it to me to make a detailed post about a character from a movie from three years ago.

rody has pstd! let's talk about it

[ID: A screenshot from MHA: World Heroes' Mission. Rody is pointing at Deku, winking. Deku looks annoyed. End ID.]

to preface this:

i am not a professional 👍 i have ptsd 👍

analyzing characters is fun for me! this is how i am interpreting rody with what i know about him from the little media he's been in + some additional speculation. feel free to incorporate this into your belief system. or not! all that i ask is that you bear with me.

now, before i get into it (preface...2!):

everyone knows about fight or flight, right? well, did you know that there are actually 5 trauma responses? fight, flight, freeze, fawn, and flop. (there may be more, but these are the ones that have the most information on them.)

fight and flight are the body's primary responses to a bad situation. freeze, fawn, and flop are more complex responses that happen when the first two aren't available. little self-explanatory, but for the sake of infodumping:

freeze: the body is in a state of hyperarousal. the muscles are tight and ready for action but is ultimately paralyzed. think of a deer in headlights.

fawn/befriend/submit: this response involves complying/befriending the aggressor; people-pleasing in an effort to remain safe. this is more common in cases of abuse.

flop/shutdown/collapse: the body is in a state of hypoarousal, aka its shutting down; muscles go slack, brain stops receiving sensory info. this can often result in fainting. you know how some people faint when they see blood? or when they're on a rollercoaster? yeah, it's this.

it's important to have this context. as a matter of fact, you probably already know where i'm going with this:

rody faints when deku is climbing up the bridge. of course, right? he had reached such a heightened level of fear that, when his brain realized it couldn't trigger one of the other four responses, he just... flopped. why bring this up? well, and i think this is easy to miss, but rody didn't pass out once. he actually passed out twice.

when they first reached the train, it appears that, in their brief moment of safety, rody had collapsed.

[ID: Deku picks up Rody to shield him from Beros's oncoming arrow attack. End ID.]

[ID: Deku is carrying Rody, swinging under the bridge in an effort to evade Beros's attacks. At the end, Rody appears as though he is coming to. End ID.]

up until this point, rody had been freaking out during their escape from the police. for him to have no initial response to being physically moved by deku... hell, he looks like he's just coming to. if we're going based off of the dub, he even yells "what's happening?!" simply put: he shut down and, more specifically, he shut down in what had been perceived as a moment of respite.

the reason i point this out is because, while we don't choose our trauma responses, there are events that can impact what they can be.

so... what is the purpose of the flop response?

quoting from an article here, but it's thought to help people in three different ways: to reduce the mental impact of the circumstances, to cause a physical disconnect (thus experiencing the trauma less directly), and to prevent additional assault.

the point i'm trying to make here is, well...

[ID: A flashback showing Rody protecting his siblings. A villain strikes him with a pipe. End ID.]

rody's been assaulted! and this is only one instance that we know of. we don't fully know what he's had to go through when providing for his siblings, but there is no doubt that there have been negative repercussions on his mentality.

did you notice how he startles easily?

[ID: Rody puts his hand on Deku's shoulder, scaring him. His response startles Rody, causing him to flinch backwards. End ID.]

[ID: Bakugou suddenly appears behind Rody, causing him to jump. He flinches back, turning to face him. Pino is also startled, flying to sit over on his other shoulder. End ID.]

with ptsd, some people can develop an exaggerated startle response. this happens when your nervous system gets stuck in survival mode. your brain is hypervigilant; any sudden sound or movement that you don't expect can make you feel like you're in danger and your body has to be ready to react in a given moment.

look at the difference between how deku and rody flinch. deku has a standard flinch, but rody violently flinches, almost as though he's been struck. do you see how he moves his head? his arms? how, after both instances, he's starting to sweat? yeah 👍

continuing along this line of thinking, let's talk about rody's attempted betrayal.

[ID: Rody being approached by the oni villain. He braces himself for the attack, clutching at his head. End ID.]

i feel like most people, when cornered and under the imminent threat of being attacked, try to block it or defend from it in some way. rody... didn't do that. as a matter of fact, it looks like he's trying to hide.

[ID: Deku runs towards Rody, shielding him from an arrow. Rody panics and turns away. End ID.]

additionally, in this scene, rody is apologizing. in this moment, he sincerely believed that deku was going to hurt him for his betrayal. instead of trying to run, he just... froze. braced himself again. i know he was very scared, but, despite deku having just saved him, seeing his fear at being approached... psychologically, there's something else going on here.

i think rody had been re-traumatized.

again, we only have that one flashback regarding a violent encounter with villains, but i genuinely have reason to believe that it wasn't a one-off scenario. the only reason rody tried to fight was to defend his siblings. they are his reason for continuing forward. but... what if there were times when they weren't there? and he had to face the villains by himself?

... yeah. i think that's why he responded the specific way that he did. his life was actively in danger, yes, but how many times had he been in that position? pleading, trying to garner sympathy about his siblings, wanting to be let go? i think the severity of his psychological distress in that instant is what caused him to try and hide rather than attempt to minimize any incoming damage.

as for feeling threatened by deku, that can be easily explained, too. rody talked quite a bit about betrayal, it seemed like a very natural thing to talk about. he's probably had to betray some villains and gotten hurt for it. honestly, you could probably argue that this contributed to his confusion regarding deku protecting him instead.

similarly with starting posts, i am also very bad at ending them 👍

tldr; rody soul has ptsd as a result of his encounters with villains after his father's disappearance. this has given him an exaggerated startle response as well as both a freeze/collapse response in times where his life is threatened. who knows what other symptoms he may have! what we can say for sure is that this kid needs therapy.

if you read all this, thanks! i hope you enjoyed me dissecting him like a bug.

[f1shart]

all i wanted to do ALL I WANTED TO DO was make tank bear hug almeric in game. so i turned them into teens. then i wanted to turn the other housemates (aldric & stella) into teens...... THEN i thought hey. how about

lft if it was a boarding/high school and all the students were really cute and dorky teens. i guess. (long post) help me

* some pics have alt texts

THE NERDS ARE FIGHTINGGGG

did not mean for these two to be so 80s revival x y2k but im not complaining at all

because it's a lot im cramming the rest of the students under a readmore ☠️💔

oh my fucking GOD hes so kawayi. need him rn

HELLO? WHO THE FUCK IS THIS GUY? that's not mickey that's mikey

i tried to plastic surgery him to fix his broken template while trying to make him look like a younger version of himself but im not used to sculpting in ts2 😬 might give him his stubble back but i still think hes a cutie patootie otherwise

🎧🎶 CAN U SEE THE VISION CLEARLY..... THE FRAT BOYS ARE THE PRIMARY COLORS ☝️🤓💛❤️💙 please. i thought i was really funny and clever for that one. please clap. i am writing this at 2am

MIGHT change jasmine's fit too (i'd rather her look more punk than goth) but i really like her emo hair.. like it's literally her normal spacebuns with emo bangs. isn't that amazing

UGH DID THEY HAVE TO MAKE TEENS' EYES SO HUGE 🥺🥺 DUDE. THEY'RE BABIES.

FINALLY: student housing (literally never play these guys i dont care much for them and it shows in their designs but i did think blossom's was really cute)

worst part about this is that they age back up when you reload the lot (to my understanding - cause im stupid and didnt move them from la fiesta) so i'd have to age them back down again and potentially rechoose all their outfits ☠️☠️ noo thank you..

this beautified LFT campus is by @katatty their builds are SO AWESOME honest to god i audibly gasped when i saw how pretty the dorms were esp the one i put student housing in

haven't hit the photo limit yet so bonus aesthetic picture!! <3

[liquidstar]

SEASON 3 TRAILER DROPPED HERES MY THOUGHTS (LN spoilers)

BROTHER AND SISTER OF ALL TIME THEYRE SO CUTE <3 love seeing how their relationship has progressed from beako literally throwing him out a window for stuff like this to her happily playing along its so so so so so cute. genuinely just one of the cutest and sweetest dynamics in the series

hi ram roswaal and fred :) this is probably all we're going to really see of you guys this arc lol

JOSHUA REAL!!!!! but not for long (also otto in the bg foreshadowing all the drinking hes about to do this arc. hes so stressed. poor emilia is trying her best)

julius looks so babyfaced here? they really emphasized his long eyelashes just like subaru has been on about every time he mentions him. they better include the scene where he checks him out, like, if they dont animate subaru looking dead at this mans ass im going to riot

i LOVE this shot of ana. you can really tell shes up to some corrupt capitalist bullshit as we speak. love her for that. wish i had this pic when i made that one money game anastasia video

the red dress actually does look really good on crusch like it compliments the green hair really well but also the crusch we know would not walk around in such a thing so its like. damn looks like the "memories are an important part of identity" story thinks memories are an important part of identity. who knew.

ALSO LOVE FELTS NEW LOOK SO MUCH! the only complaint is i felt (felt lol) like the red brought out her eyes more but the blue also looks cool. three primary colors all being used looks nice too

whatever who cares about all that THE CUNT!!!!!!! THE CUNT IS HERE!!! I CANNOT WAIT FOR ALL THE DRAMA SHE CAUSES TO BE ANIMATED FOR REAL

no fucking way... did they actually...

THEY DID! THEY CENSORED THAT HORRIBLE FUCKING DESIGN OH MY GOD. SHES WEARING SHORTS AND JUST A CROPPED SHIRT. AND CHAPS I GUESS? BUT ALSO A LITTLE SKIRT CAPE SO NO ASS SHOTS... THIS WILL MAKE WATCHING THE SEASON SO MUCH MORE TOLERABLE. i mean not perfect but STILL.

photos taken seconds before disaster lmfao. i still love how chin thinks subaru is a freak and weirdo for being so buddy buddy with him after he and his buddies mugged him. twice. (even more times from subarus perspective. hell he stabbed subaru once) genuinely cant wait to see more of this dynamic its so stupid.

THE FUCKING CUNT!!!!!! also the apples lol

oh you poor thing. you have no idea what next level family drama bullshit awaits. good luck. get ready to kill grandma AGIAN lol

:'( emilia still misses her terrible cat dad and its kinda sad when you know were not getting a resolution on that here either. they both look so sad :(

i cannot wait for garf mommy issues round fucking 2.

THIS CRAZY BITCH!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THIS CRAZY BITCH ANIMATED. I CANT WAIT TO SEE HOW THEYRE PORTRAY HER MANNERISMS. ESP W HOW WILD PETELGEUSE WAS ANIMATED IN S1. REAL LOONY TOONS BULLSHIT. AND HER POWERS ARE ALSO SOOOOOO MUCH COOLER I CANT WAIT

NO MORE DRESSES FOR CRUSCH YAY

he fucking bit it. yeah i guess thats what dogs do tho.

YOU. DIVORCE MAN. KILL YOURSELF. SLASH SERIOUS.

the empathy powers will have a glowing eye effect. very cool but i hope they dont show it too much in the first scene bc like in the LN i think its cooler if you dont know why everything is so... Wrong.

i dont rly have anything to say i just think ferris looks cool covered in blood. imagine being healed here like doctor catgirl will see you now

emilia be nice. that crazy bitch might be your mom. just like how the previous crazy bitch was in fact your dad.

THEY CHANGED UP CAPELLA'S DESIGN TOO honestly tho her being sexualized makes sense w a lot of the themes (the way its intentionally meant to be perverse and gross in a way explicitly stated) so i didnt mind as much and she still IS here but. this is still an improvement imo just a better outfit looks cooler. bug.

NAUR I DONT WANNA WAIT... OCTOBER.... AUGH

[colourful-void]

Of the popular Carmine interpretations (and carmine and kieran relationship interpretations) ive seen, none of them vibe quiteee right with me, so here's mine.

carmine is not a good sister to Kieran but she’s also not a bad person. not because she's not trying to be a good sis or because she doesn't like him, etc etc, but because they're at a point rn where they dont mesh right, and no one is stepping in to mediate or help them. Like the fact is Carmine Is an angry and abrasive person, who truly does care about her village and the people she cares about. She does love Kieran and Kieran does love her, and I think they both know that. But the way she treated Kieran Did contribute to his self doubt issues. Carmine and Kieran’s relationship Isn’t Healthy! But fuck, it’s not beyond repair. There’s still love there, there’s a future they can have. Being around a person who constantly and consistently gets angry, esp if that person is someone in power over u (like ur older sister) fucks a guy up! Even when you know that person loves you especially if you know they love you!

Carmine is an angry person and you know what sometimes people are like that! But look at them… I think they reached a point where Carmine shooing Kieran off was seen as just… Fine with everyone involved, because “(she) didn’t hit him or anything”. She's not lashing out at him trying to be awful she's not trying to hurt him.

Who’s giving Carmine a proper outlet? She’s got battle, is that helping anything? Her primary Pokémon is Morpeko, the Pokemon that switches between angry and happy. Does that make one side any less real than the other? Does being angry mean she’s not really loving? Does being loving mean she’s not really angry? Does loving Kieran mean she didn’t hurt him?

You’re a teen, and you’re angry. Over all sorts of things, some little and some large, but it doesn’t really matter as much as the fact that She’s Angry. It doesn’t matter why. It's not something you can help, you can put on a nice face, but you're still upset about things, and you should be! What do you do about it? You can't bottle it up. You’ll break, and you're bad at it anyway. Get mad at your teachers? Get in trouble. Get mad at your grandparents? Get in trouble. There’s no place safe to Feel Angry, but you Have to FEEL you can’t help it! You can’t help it. So you let yourself get a little angry at your brother, cause he doesn’t mind. You're still holding back, anyhow. He knows you still love him. He knows. He has to know right? It’s not that you dislike him, he just gets you so mad sometimes and- you still love him. You’re just bad at showing it, but he’s always stood up for you, you hear it even though he tries to keep it quiet. And maybe your brother's a little quiet and a little nervous, but he's always like that. it's fine. Things are fine.

You're a teen, and your sister keeps getting angry at you. And you hardly did anything wrong, but you're never quite enough. Not with her, not with school, not with any kind of "friends" (which you don't have). Cause your sister is so so strong and you really do look up to her, so much, even if she gets mad at you, cause you know she cares you know that. But maybe if you were stronger, she wouldn’t get so upset with you… Part of you knows that isn't true. Part of you starts to believe it anyway. You're used to this, and it's not awful so... it must be fine. It's fine.

And you're brother and sister, outcasts in your own town, so if you squabble a bit, it’s normal right? That’s fine. It’s not broken enough to fix, and everything wears away and away till it breaks. But they were outcasts anyway, troublemakers anyway, it was inevitable anyway, so there's no point doing anything. It's not really a problem, not to anyone Outside their bubble so.

Things are fine.

[gethoce]

The third Meta Knight reference I did in one year somehow. It's some sort of bad habit by now!

Anyway, random headcanons about the guy below.

Not only is he shorter than the average Dark Matterborn, since he refused to use Dark Magic for most of his life, it also took him unusually long to grow horns for the same reason.

Having been raised by a Halcandran he knows a lot more about this rare species than most. Upon meeting Magolor he occasionally would make casual comments using his unique knowledge which originally caused the mage to be very suspicious of him.

His secretive nature is at least partially something he picked up from his adoptive father, who created the Master Crown and didn't even drop a single hint about his past until after the events of RTDL, when Meta Knight told him about the crown.

The Galaxia has always been in his possession, as far as he can tell, yet his father didn't allow him to wield her properly until he was certain that his swordsman skills were high enough as to not risk another disaster related to the blade.

He gets along with Marx surprisingly well and the two appear to have a lot of mutual respect for one another. The jester will still dunk on the knight whenever an opportunity reveals itself, yet Meta Knight doesn't turn hostile whenever this happens since they are friends.

The events of Revenge of Meta Knight were partially triggered by Marx asking Meta Knight for help, after the King of Dreamland had repeatedly failed to keep Popstar safe.

It took Meta Knight a while to warm up to Dedede. He didn't take him seriously until he realised that they have a lot in common. For instance they both didn't know where they originally came from and were raised by adoptive parents.

Meta Knight has a brotherly relationship to Kirby more than a fatherly one, though doesn't really put labels on their relationship at all. If asked he'd call them a close friend.

He first saw the Dimensional Mirror when his father acquired it in exchange for a sword from the mirror's deceased creator's brother-in-law. It was broken and painstakingly repaired by him and Meta Knight soon after got to meet his reflection for the first time. They were close friends until the events of KATAM.

Meta Knight was asked to join the GSA at one point but refused not wishing to serve under anyone but himself.

Galaxia often speaks to him and offers him advice and comfort, yet is very secretive about their shared past which greatly frustrates him.

He idolised Galacta Knight for the longest time, much to the frustration of his father. Upon meeting Galacta Knight for the first time and witnessing his sealing he attempted to break him free, yet failed. He spent a long time trying to find out how to undo the seal.

It was Marx who told him how to summon the Clockwork Star Galactic Nova and he and Magolor joined him on his quest to do so.

His original name was Metachiroptera, shortened to Chiro. He'll turn hostile upon being called by that name.

He knew Captain Vul since he was a child. The then pirate attempted to steal the Galaxia and failed miserably. They've been friends ever since.

He's terrible at piloting space ships and most other vehicles and overall doesn't have a vast knowledge of technology. He got his crew for that. Instead he knows quite a lot about magic. The opposite applies to King Dedede, who knows little of magic but a lot about creating and piloting machines.

He knew Daroach since before he made a name for himself as Meta Knight.

His primary ability is his weapon ability, sword, yet he as an adult he began to learn the magical abilities ESP and Tornado.

His Dimensional Cape was created and enchanted by his father when his wings began to grow in.

Meta Knight was raised on a planet called Silverstar, which is known for its thick fog.

[daenerysoftarth]

imo alicent had a traumatic birth with helaena (in the show at least)

in episode 3, we see her holding aegon and playing with him, and she seems genuinely happy in all these scenes. she obviously loves her son, and he seems like a happy little boy. later in the same episode, on the way to the stag hunting trip, alicent says to rhaenyra that having kids “isn’t that hard” while referring to little aegon ii. this moment was obviously in part used to indicate the extreme class divide in feudalist societies, as the facial expressions of the two silent, nameless nannies betray that this is not an easy task.

(which is troubling in itself wrt her relationship with parenting, because it indicates that the servants are dealing with the primary child rearing tasks (esp the difficult ones) because the mother can not or perhaps doesn’t know how. after all, alicent was—what?—15 when she got pregnant with aegon. at most she would’ve been 16 years old when she gave birth to him, without a mother figure or any sisters, with only her emotionless pimp of a father as close family (she has brothers but presumably they’re in oldtown seeing as we never see them past episode 1) realistically she probably had no clue how to take care of a baby. it doesn’t seem like something noblewomen are educated on at all, or at least it’s not mentioned anywhere in the series)

however, iirc, the next time we see alicent interacting with her kids is in the scene where she is rocking baby helaena while she screams in misery, looking completely disassociated from the moment. the same in the scene after, except this time we also see a nanny waiting anxiously in the wings to help. the nanny seems to be restraining herself from jumping in to soothe helaena. maybe I’m reading too much into it, but I think alicent picked up on the servants’ underlying judgement and perhaps forced herself to be a more ‘involved’ parent who directly cares for her child instead of offloading it to servants.

certainly, she does not seem to be having fun with motherhood anymore (if you can say she ever was truly having fun). in pretty much every scene with baby helaena, she looks utterly miserable and despondent. perhaps the honeymoon period of her marriage and becoming queen was over, and now the true trauma and reality of her life as a child bride was settling in. perhaps helaena’s birth was particularly traumatic, or she simply was a colicky baby which caused an enormous strain. either way, alicent seems to struggle to connect with helaena specifically, who is coded as autistic imho. (side note: colic has been linked to autism in infants, and is thought to be a possible early symptom by some researchers.) the reality of caring for a disabled child plus recovering from a possible traumatic birth would certainly change your outlook on motherhood. no longer is being a parent fun or a part time gig, but rather her duty. this could be the time period when alicent started to become more severe in her beliefs on family and sacrifice, as she struggles under the strain of supporting her children

comparatively, I like to believe that aemond was a comparatively easy birth and weak baby. he was quiet and still and the maesters worried if he would last that first night. and ofc alicent would refuse to let go of him, refuse to give him to anyone else. she prayed to the seven gods to just give him one more day. sobbed and cried and prayed. and little by little, he does get stronger, he does improve. by the end of the month he’s a normal healthy baby if a little on the quiet side. I think this experience is probably what made her so devout to the Seven, as she credits them with saving her son’s life. and as a side effect of aemond getting healthy, she once again finds joy in parenting after a long and dark period of her life when she felt most alone.

after all, alicent discovered her pregnancy with aemond after rhaenyra lied to alicent in the godswood, which alicent viewed as an irreparable rupture of their relationship. in addition to this, she was on her own in King’s Landing and without her father for the first time in her life. she probably felt utterly adrift and alone and was verging on losing all hope when she gave birth. to tell you the truth, she had made her peace with dying during aemond’s birth, and she decided that perhaps living wasn’t worth much anyways. but then when that little baby came out, small as her hand and blue, she was gripped with a terror that wrenched the despair out of her. it’s only after he got healthy that she even noticed it was gone. she credits aemond with saving her life, and as a result he has always been her not-so-secret favorite

[thyandrawrites]

not sure if youve answered a similar question to this since looking through your ask box you get a lot of asks so apologies if this is redundant LMAO but ! what do you think touya would be like if he hadn’t died that day? do you think after being let down by his dad at sekoto peak he’d have given up trying to get his attention?? we don’t get a lot of insight into his character outside of his role in the family other than him refusing to make friends because ‘they’re in another world to me’ and that is SO… oh my god this kid , anyways. am just interested in how his relationship with his family (esp his dad because wheeeewww boy…) would have developed from there. is this a fic that exists?? there r civilian and pro hero touya aus but hmmmm

Hi. No worries, I do get a lot of asks, so I understand.

I think it all comes down to whether or not Enji kept training Shouto after Sekoto in this scenario.

A fact that a lot of people seem to gloss over (or forget) is that Touya always bent backwards to make excuses for his dad. Even when Enji never lifted a finger to hint that he cared about his eldest, Touya was always conjuring reasons as to why Enji didn't mean it, like he "was just too busy" "would come next time". In fact, Touya didn't even hold any grudges for how Enji didn't show up on Sekoto Peak that day, and essentially left him to die.

When we see him wake up from the coma, Touya's first thought is that his family, and his dad, is surely missing him. He doesn't even think twice about it before turning down the offer for more power, even though a power up would've made him more appealing in Enji's eyes. He's too loyal to family to betray them by seeking mentorship in anyone else but his dad:

Family is so important to him, in fact, that his second choice is to flee his captors and immediately run back home. He knows he's been absent for three years, and he thinks he has worried them sick. His urge to apologize for causing them that pain is so strong, it even overrides his need to be his father's masterpiece:

this panel ^ above is especially crucial to understand Touya's character. In this scene, Touya freely admits that his body is weaker than ever and that he'll likely have to give up his ambitions now, and yet that's only secondary to the need to be with his family again.

This tells us that Touya's primary motivator was never that of excelling at the genetic lottery purely for egotistical reasons. It is not arrogance, or, like many antis put it, "not knowing when to quit". He wanted to be his father's prodigy because he simply wanted Enji to love him. To be proud of him.

In fact, earning his father's love is such a priority of his that Touya routinely makes himself a doormat to try and meet Enji's needs, even when they directly clash with Touya's own wellbeing. And time after time, when even that isn't enough for his father to look at him, Touya keeps giving him endless chances of being a proper father, even as Enji never takes him up on it.

like, one factor that people often fail to take into account is that Touya was ready to go home. He didn't hold any ill feelings towards Enji for abandoning him to die, though he honestly should've. He was ready to put the umpteenth rejection behind him and give his dad another chance. Because Touya's true motivator is actually the desperate need for his family to accept him in turn just as unconditionally.

It's not being left alone at Sekoto that splinters his sense of self. It's coming back to the people he loved, the people he called family, and finding out that they didn't love him as much:

cause if they did, the abuse would've stopped. Enji would've quit training a replacement.

As I said, Touya is used to making excuses for Enji that justify the continued neglect. But what he sees here is the cold, harsh reality. While Touya was ready to give up everything just to reconcile with his dad, in the meantime Enji had given up absolutely nothing, and in fact persisted in his abusive path. While Touya thought Enji must be torn up with worries and regrets even now, the truth is that Enji hasn't thought about Touya in years, and isn't torn up about anything. In fact, he's perfectly fine knowing that his ambitions killed one son, and continuing his attempts to live vicariously through another, as if Touya's death was nothing more than a minor inconvenience along the road.

So. Touya would've reunited with the fam and never become a villain, if only Enji had stopped being an abusive prick in the meantime. It's right there, right in the text. He was ready to forgive and forget once again, if only Enji hadn't built him a shrine and then pissed on his memory.

All of this to say that if we are to imagine a scenario where Touya goes home and remains there, imho we should work on the ways to change Enji's behaviour, and not Touya's, because he is the reason Touya was, and still is, a stranger in his own house

[moe-broey]

i wanna say, you've made me enjoy the heroes ocs WAY MORE with your stuff!!! triandra and alfonse in particular r reaching blorbo tier for me... what made you like them? did you like the story out of the gate, or was there a specific moment that made it snap into place?

for me, i was rather neutral on it until book 3 hit all the tropes i like (big news: grima fan also likes lif, how suprising), but after that i needed to simmer on a lot of it to see its depth.

also your art is super cute.

I AM. SO DEEPLY HONORED TO HEAR THIS LMFAOOOO that's so fucking funny and cool 😭🥺 (also THANK YOU!!!!! 😊)

I've def been ruminating on this one! Triandra is a lot easier to place an exact timeline on her.

I have extreme Alfonse autism, he IS my primary fixation I think LMFAO 😅 And I think what happened was like. Alfonse autism spreads like mold to characters that are connected to/significant to him -- so, I ended up having (intense!) Sharena autism as well, and THAT spread to Peony of course (less intense, but her connection to Sharena is Huge and can't be overlooked), which spreads to Triandra. Triandra was also significant in the back of my mind, since she would be in the exact same situation as Alfonse when it comes to their sisters potentially being swapped, just on the other side of it. Which I think is SUCH an intriguing premise that hasn't been explored in canon at all.

I think I doubled down on it more when I decided to impulse summon for her bunny alt for Sharena autism reasons and got her -- at this point, I didn't have Triandra's base form (just the Peony duo!). Having her as a stand-alone unit helped me flesh out her vibe/character way more! WHICH ALSO was important cause like. I did completely forget her backstory. I blocked out most of Book 4 actually LMFAOO IT WAS SO UPSETTING FOR ME 😭 And the fairy who left the deepest impression on me was Plumeria, actually.

So! My deep-dive exploration of the fairies has been way more recent! All that, combined with one Book 4 revisit and the dream realm centric TT event that excluded Sharena kind of just. Fueled my spite LMFAOO like okay FINE. I'll reconcile all of this myself if I have to 😤

As for Alfonse... man.

It's hard to say which came first, my affinity for Alfonse or the intrigue of Lif. I almost want to say they happened side by side, parallel to each other. I got into FEH a couple years after it launched, so I was able to go through Books 1, 2, and most of 3 at my own pace. I think my affection for Alfonse WAS solidified in Book 3 though, not even because of Lif.

THIS IS. THE VERY FIRST PHOTO IN MY DEDICATED ALFONSE ALBUM ON MY PHONE LMFAOOOOOOO IT'S NOT EVEN OF ALFONSE........ IT'S HIS BITCH ASS DAD 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 I thought this moment was SO insanely funny though like MAN. Real "Sometimes I can still hear his voice...." "Stop telling everyone that I'm dead" moment 😰

Though Gustav does NOT get credit for anything.

This dialogue especially in response to Gustav really did touch me. Like for him to go from trying his damnest to remain detached to standing up to his dad (scary) for someone he only recently met. To believe in the strength of that connection ESPECIALLY in the face of conflict (his own fears, and his bitchass dad) (and also the death curse.) To be THAT important, to have that much faith in me. Damn I guess I have to trust you and let you into my heart. 🧍

And prior to that moment, like... I absolutely had a slow burn with him.

Idk how personal I want to get about it esp cause I've rambled SO much already lmfao... but for me, Alfonse is very much like looking into a distorted mirror. Some things are extremely similar, other things are direct opposites but in a way that reflects the other. He's very much like me. He's something I'm not, and something I can never be. Sometimes that's good. Sometimes he has something I wish I could grasp for myself. There's feelings of affection, recognition, admiration, hostility, envy, desire.

Maybe one thing I'm comfortable sharing is that I have a lot of trouble letting people in. I kind of go about it in the complete opposite way. Everything I know about connecting with others, I've had to go out of my way to learn. None of it came naturally to me. I am very intentional, almost meticulous, in what I do and say. To be likable, to be the best person I can be. I've had to work really hard, and I still have to work hard to not push people away or isolate myself completely.

In short PVP was activated when I got a sense for his character LMFAOO LIKE COME ON MAN. I've done XYZ and A THOUSAND OTHER THINGS. I may not show it but AAAUAGJGHGHGH EVERYTHING IS SO HARD ALL THE TIME BUT I AM FACING MY FEARS EVERY DAY. To be A CHILL and FUN super laid back guy who also helps the best he can whenever he can however he can. And you???? What about you?????? What are YOU doing?!???!?? I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU

[the-sunroom-system]

oh yeah system update cause why not! i think there needs to be more talk about healing

so, faun and italy both unintentionally fused to create me. this came with pros and cons.

the cons are that since italy was a fictive, i'm now also a fictive? which is very strange to deal with. having fictives is one thing, but being a fictive host is different, esp when ur active in the fandom you sourced from... also, since he was our primary caretaker, now when i get overwhelmed, i have more trouble calming down since he isn't there to talk me through it. i get, you know, overwhelmed much easier since there's no longer such strong barriers between those parts.

the PROS are that faun was so traumatized, she struggled to care about others and felt like there was a wall between her and genuinely loving others. but italy held onto those feelings, so now i'm capable of caring and feeling love again! also, faun struggled with self compassion due to being so connected to many of our past traumas, but since our fusion, i'm able to feel compassion for myself and access those memories at the same time.

[takami-takami]

yes yes to everything u said.

i genuinely think ur literally such a good writer like not even just for hawks but for any thing the way u write or see things is just yes chef's kiss. its so true so many people have so many misconceptions about hawks, they love to dumb down him as sad and flirty its as if they only saw two scenes of him and ran with it.. they make him either a extreme pervert (wtf lol?) or "not touchy" also I bet hawks has had a cooking hyperfixation at one point but hawks is actually a really good written character ((most of the time hes just a dude but with a lot of hero training + wings) at first i never liked mha but i have sm appreciation for the characters stories, i hope tumblr doesnt eat this because i sent smth yesterday but i dont know if you got it (it was a fluffy imagine) sorry if u get spammed my phone is shit, i have literally so many random essays abt characters i promise u nobody would be complaining if u analyzed and made essays abt hawks but ur feeding into my addiction of birdman tho😔 point is : you actually see what he actually is lol he isnt stupid he knows what hes getting into.. about getting corrupted from work if that means he can save one more person, he's one of the few characters ive seen written well about lesser of two evils yk? i think thats why hes really likable but also upsetting, when having to do something when they "ask him" when it isnt really a " question"/"ask" its also annoying when people hate him for reasons *(esp with twice stuff)* when he didnt really have a choice under so much pressure and sm consequence.. his personality isnt only just work even though he doesnt get to explore his own likes often i really hope at the end of the manga or whatever he ends up okay cause it would be so tragic if he was a done deal and died or forever trapped in the hero stuff, i havent caught up with the manga i saw some spoilers and now i want too..but even if he does end up um.. :( .. it's okay cause he was still a good written character but he deserves to be in the story still lol

ALSO I DONT KNOW IF THE DOG THING WAS JUST ONE TIME THING BUT IT WOULD BE SO CUTE IF U NAMED HIM/HER and like we all accept the dog as your follower's inside joke and bring it up every once in a while or in other drabbles :) it was so cute ahhhshsh remember to take breaks if you ever need one - have a medal 🥇👺

AAAAAH I APPRECIATE THIS SO MUCH!! I love seeing other people pick apart the bird boy too. I agree mha is like, really fun because of the character stories in particular and there's so much care put into how they write hawks. I AGREE that Hawks hasn't had the oppurtunity to really explore who He is outside of his work, like so much of his identity is tied to that and I think he notices that too? It's part of why he thinks about a society where heroes are bored and have too much time on their hands so much (though I think his primary goal is that he wants to keep the world safe; if heroes have too much free time, that means there's no one that needs saving/help).

I may bring the doggie back!! I'm glad people like him <333

If they kill Hawks I legit will not be okay but I HOPE THEY WON'T TOO!!! HE DESERVES TO THRIVE AND BE HAPPY!!!!!

[chthonicgodling]

For those qs: Hypnos 2, 14 and 18!

thanks!!! this got craaazy long cause of course it did so. bbbeeehind the cut I go-

[send me a question from here with an OC from here!]

2- Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind? 

the world Known Now as the Elysium’verse began with me messing around one million years ago specifically Maci, Seph, and Meli - then Fenixe and I met, Tory got involved, and SPIRAL. but Hypnos was actually floating around in that weird pre-Elysium era to then transition into a cameo character in the early days! (Actually Fenixe and I used to pass him back and forth before I retained custody fgkfkf). However… Hypnos was made AFTER Thanatos. oops! they were a set pair from the get-go but Hypnos came about cause like, well I couldn’t have one without the other—

so yes, his entiiiire design was born solely from selecting opposite details from his twin brother - the opposite color scheme, softe hair, angel wings. everything about Hypnos - tragically terribly - has revolved around thanatos forever….. even his character design rippp

14- If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

I love this question bc as we know the Elysium’verse is RP based and so this is like my constant notes to self while cycling through characters esp when a pile of ALL MINE end up talking to each other. Hypnos, despite his important history with Maci, IS in canon mostly appearing still as side cameo character or often used for brief plot Purposes (can zap anyone to sleep)/ for comic relief (can barely get through a sentence without falling asleep). yet in the back of MY head his two defining core features anytime I’m writing him is:

number one! that Hypnos has spent more time than literally anyone else with Thanatos breathing down his neck. for thousands and thousands of years. since BIRTH. they’re TWINS. even after Than was “stopped” in the Maci Days - he just receded to Hypnos’s side like up until Thanatos was arrested WHEN NEO WAS BORN A MERE SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO, Thanatos was harassing Hypnos! Luckily for him, Hypnos is married to the goddess of anti-anxiety and like. has coped healthily with her help and guidance all things considered but it’s his defining trait for sure. Hypnos is skittish and meek and prone to cowering - this was the way to Survive his brother and because of this it’s his defining and core personality trait. (how is he more functional than Maci is literaly tho lmao)

number two, though- is that Hypnos is NICE. He’s very deliberately purposely nice, again because he grew up with Thanatos, usually literaly at his side while Thanatos bullied his way through the underworld for years and years. And there went Hypnos slinking behind him apologizing quietly and trying to pick up any pieces he could (while being too afraid to confront him - but if he could make up for Than’s intense cruelty and general… asshole personally by counteracting with niceness then!! maybe that helps!!) hypnos’s single act of wrath was secretly cursing Chal with eternal insomnia out of sheer desperation (thanatos kept hurting icy what was he supposed to do!!) and even before he knew Chal was able to be redeemed he felt guilty about it every day. But Hypnos is an opposite balance to Thanatos AND to Maci, his best friend! he’s a foil! HES A FOIL!! Calm and nice with the respective most explosive and the meanest gods spending the most time at his side dfkfkfkf

18- What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC? 

idk the last time Hypnos appeared or did anything in canon lol I think back when Chal got knocked up with N and was hysterical constantly Hypnos got called to put her to sleep a few times?? )you see this is his primary role lmao). BUUUT

Hypnos’ “newest” developments came during the dionysus adventures last year since deciding that Di was Pasi’s father meant, retroactively, that Hypnos and him surely had to have to interacted. WE ALLLL SAW THAT COMIC

So this led to the revelation that Hypnos is absolutely AND TO THIS DAY completely terrified of his father in law. Does Di realize this!! I think it’s actually infinitely funnier if he has no idea but realistically he probably knows - everyone SHOULD be afraid of him, of course, cheers ;) ok no but really Di reminds him of a more unhinged thanatos which. is. aahhhhh. AAAAAAHHHHH. AAAAAAAA—

the end sorry I wrote soo Much lmao!! if u made it t the end yayay ily

[inverswayart]

still got that dragon age brain worms so i guess it's time to introduce my girl Marinette officially! She shares her worldstate with my warden babygirl Hyacinth Surana and also inquisitor Lambert Trevelyan (who has yet to debute, tho i started his playhrough already)

a bit of rambling about her personality undercut (i finally managed to put it into words and can't contain myself)

so, the key to understanding Marinette is that there's two major categories of people for her - ones she cares about and one she doesn't. sue to her harsh upbringing with red Malcolm she has a lot of anger and crushing feeling of inadequacy for her primary goal in life - Protecting Family - due to being nor strong nor charming but the thing is - most of her life prior to the game (i.e. 22 or so years) she had been taught that under no possible circumstances, be it second coming of andraste or her favorite toy getting broken, she could ever get angry or just feel and/or express any negative emotions towards the Family - cause it will be the surest way to doom them all and she must avoid that outcome at all costs

so in the end you get the kind of person who is the sweetest, calmest, most understanding and forgiving to the point of being a bit of doormat to those few close to her - but who also will shred a person to ribbons without second though and enjoy it even of course, luckily for some people, those categories aren't strictly black and white - for example, after Ostagar and fleeing to Kirkwall Marinette realised that she also actually cared pretty much about her homecountry, and by extensions Fereldan refugees - so she treats them better than average in general (and takes up running the Bone Pit in hopes to make workers lifes a bit better. She even succeeds for a while). she also has a weakness for those she perseives as "little sibling" type - so she is relatively gentle and understanding with Macha, most children in general. that also means she completely overlooks Merrill's use of bloodmagic - esp once Bethany is taken to the gallows and "little sister to protect" niche becomes vacant. she also emphasizes with mages more often than not - and especially with Anders, since not only he is healer and runs free clinic for refugees (already good points), he also reminds her of Malcolm somewhat and that gets him into family territory authomatically

what she doesn't care for is Kirkwall itself. she never wanted to come here, it took her sister and mother, and kirkwallers treat her compatriots like shit even years after the blight (that one of the most aggravating things about her for Varric btw), so she actually entertains the thought to let qunari have their way with city - before remembering that Bethany, Anders and Merrill are still living there and she can't let them get hurt. also, she's terribly in love with isabella, and lets her go with the tome of koslun and then duels the arishok himself for her, even if she feels a bit betrayed by the whole deal. that extends to act 3 too, since when Isabella asks her to not kill Csatillion, she complies, tho not without visible confusion and discomfort.

off topic but she named her mabari Tails because he used to tail her everywhere since he was a liitle pup and she adores him

[majorasnightmare]

27 9 10 for the durge question!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

27. How does your Dark Urge feel about giving and receiving orders?

he has a strained relationship with the concept of authority, in that he hates having to listen to other people but being in charge starts to build up stress over a while. he kind of gets pushed into leading the tadfools because he just happens to be the most personable at the time, and it just sticks so he gets roped into being the primary problem solver+party face. he doesnt like ordering around anyone he considers a person (so. the party) but as the rest of the world mostly registers as walking sacs of blood and meat, ordering them around is kind of like inputting commands in javascript. its so expected its a non thing and barely registers. the only times he rly gives orders is when hes in combat, where he more or less coordinates combat tactics using the tadpole. he was more commanding pre tadpole, encouraged to view his authority as a divine right he can and should exercise as he pleases, but he never really was the kind of person who found "i tell someone to do something and they do it" to be particularly pleasing or satisfying.

receiving orders either pisses him off (if its from aforementioned non person), mildly irritates him (doesnt agree but its from someone he cares about+respects), is a non issue (DOES agree with), or is From Minthara (highly contextual but always gets his attention and is motivated to comply with it)

with minthara, he has a fairly complex 24/7 dom+sub relationship and orders from her register differently esp cuz its a privellege she utilizes rarely outside the bedroom. IN the bedroom its his preferred way of navigating the experience, and thats broadly true even before he settles down with minthara. hes very much an Acts Of Service kind of person when it comes to intimacy of any stripe, and mostly prefers being told what to do rather than being expected to intuit or predict it

9. How does your Dark Urge feel about the city?

HAAAAAATES IT hates it hates it HATES it

the city makes his Urge go into overdrive and is just extremely overwhelming. his particular bhaalspawn concoction came with an extremely strong sense of smell, and cities are FULLLL of people. smell is how he navigates space when he doesnt have clear lines of sight, and mentally keeps track of everyone by scent, so a city is just an overwhelming confusing cacophany of noise and people and smell and meat as his Urge reacts to the sensory stimulus by demanding he cut it back by thinning the herd. when it isnt overwhelming him, the experience makes him snappier and more irritable than usual and pre tadpole made him a night owl for the most part. the chionthar makes it a bit easier to manage as he can focus on the rivers smell, and the same is true for by the docs.

overall cities are bad and hes never fuckin liked them and if he had the chance, hed turn baldurs gate into glass and carbon outlines. unfortunately most of his friends live there

10. What motivates your Dark Urge to either embrace or resist the tadpole?

fuck everyone else its him and this tadpole against the world

post lobotomy the tadpole orin inserted had the unenviable task of holding a bleeding lunatics brain together while its body got dragged through the colony to collapse in a heap at kressas door. orins knife on dirge went mostly through the corpus callosum so the two halves of the brain suddenly lost the ability to communicate all while a sharp foreign object stirred shit up like a blender. personally i dont imagine the flesh of bhaal dies easily but in this instance that works against dirge rather than for him, with attempted recovery causing swelling in the brain while his body tried to keep itself from complete shutdown. so in addition to a stab wound, brain damage, and oedema, now theres a fucking worm in here, and from the worms POV it gets promised a shiny new car that transforms into a live in mansion only to arrive at an on fire dumpster. so clearly the fire has to get put OUT before you can DRIVE it much less LIVE in the damn thing, and then some fucking necromancer decides nows a great time to practice wikihow surgery. so now the dumpsters slightly less on fire but, abandonig the metaphor, this lunatic didnt line up the aortic ventricles properly and well that takes priority cuz if we dont have BLOOD the whole things a crapshoot. and this situation repeatedly, daily, for weeks, until dirge gets shipped to the nautiloid. just a tadpole fruitlessly struggling to keep an injured bleeding brain from dying so it has a home to live in, since it cant connect enough to dirges psyche to fully utilize its psionic senses to determine if its safe to abandon ship, while much needed rest and recovery periods keep getting interrupted by kressas experimentation, leaving dirge in a constant torturous cycle of starting to recover from the stab wound, only to have to go into crisis mode and recover from kressas otherwise lethal surgery first. the swelling and scarring meant that dirge only rly had activity in the limbic system and hindbrain+brainstem area, which, driven by murderous godspawn blood, meant that only the murder and fight+flight instincts were online, leading to his feral animalistic behavior. the situation was just a long slog of awful, and his first tadpole wore itself down just trying to keep its host alive. for that period of time, parasite and host had a single goal of survival, and suffered jointly as a paired unit, incapable of escape or of recovery, becoming increasingly desperate as both wanted nothing more than to live as that most ancient, thoughtless desire. when shipped to the nautiloid, id imagine the emperor could sense dirges tadpole was on its last legs and replaced it with a fresh one, as illithid tadpoles are cannibalistic, leading to the intro cutscene. dirge wasnt in nearly as bad a shape in the nautiloid, since he finally had an unbroken timespan to rest and recover, and his current tadpole got to receive a dumpster that was NOT on fire (recently extinguished). the damage was already done, however, and he isnt in good condition, so the current one is also in the position of trying to keep dirge alive, it just isnt in crisis mode. dirge (correctly) assumes the tadpole is whats keeping him from suffering further brain bleed or swelling, as the tadpole utilizes its position to more or less hold the meat of his brain together and supplementing neuron impulses with its own psionics, essentially provising help for his mangled corpus callosum. as such he generally has a neutrally positive view on it, and his experience as a GoOlock already meant he was somewhat familiar with psionics. combined with his power hungry nature, and he was fairly incentivized to embrace his tadpole powers, no illithid catfishing required

[tenshindon]

i put too much thought into yamcha’s hair

[writingonesdreams]

Main trio from Tears of Iron

Art done by the wonderful @enspey thank you so much

From left to right:

Leander - Zephyr - Skye

Really long character meta & sortinghatchats analysis under the cut

Sortings of the main characters:

LEANDER - Snake Lion - a very straightforward sorting with this guy. Leander is a hedonistic a bit immature snake who is unapologetically selfish, likes to have his comfort and style and generally lazes around if there isn't something in for him or emotionally inspiring. He has a pretty small circle of people, consisting of Zephyr at the start of the story. They have known each other since early childhood and act more like brothers than friends. Leander comes from a wealthy family, studied economics and has a affinity for business and leading. His brave unapologetic style doesn't work well for teamwork, so he likes being in charge and gets stuff done. He does risky moves, his charisma seals deals and inspires people to whatever he is currently chasing. Comfort, fun and pleasure are big motivations for him, he gets into action when someone is disturbing that. Leander is very ambitious ans vain though, and likes to be the best in whatever he does, so when he gets interested, he gets in it for real. He is cheeky and snarky around most people, tells his opinions straight away, loving and valuing the ability to not care or depend on people liking him or not. He likes to be risky and controversial and provocative, often just to get a reaction out of people and to try out new weird stuff and enjoy himself. He also has this stubborn tendency to do the opposite of what is expected, esp if people tell him what to do, which is great way to ensure he will do the opposite out of spite. His family has mostly given up to keep track of what he is doing and rely on Zephyr to keep an eye on him or talk sense into him (Zephyr is the only one he listens to, helped by the fact Zephyr knows how to best frame an advice so it doesn't seem like one). Leander bonds with individuals, interesting ones that bring him something, but he is insanely loyal, once he chooses someone for his circle. He is very bad at handling emotions, having spend so much time on funny biting remarks he doesn't know how to switch and be purposefully comforting and considerate to someone. This becomes a problem, when when he really cares and has to get over a certain machismo aspect of his pride to be of help (concerning Zephyr's injury).

ZEPHYR - Lion Badger with an exploded Badger primary model - Leander was the least complicated out of these as I said. Zephyr is a mission person who can't live without a cause and his causes are often very badger flavoured, or in other words, people based. Zephyr loves people and sees himself as someone responsible to make them happy. Caring, empathetic and helpful, his badger secondary connective ability is dialed up to insane levels. He is dependable, disciplined, responsible and often organized and calculating about his moves and very observant and curious about people, which makes him quickly invested and great in reading and understanding them. He is a born teacher and caretaker - he enjoys it best to be teaching someone new skills, especially if its martial arts he grew up learning in the dojo of his parents and that he sees as a spiritual meditative way of life. He is the warrior poet, the one who practices for the higher joy, for the harmony between body and mind, who always has his way clear as an arrow and emotions balanced and in check. He prides himself in being perfect and not having thoughts or emotions he would ever feel ashamed for, as he concentrates on the positive and good and releases the negative and unproductive. As long as he has his routine of meditation, physical training and poetry he is good to go be the perfect strongest guy for everyone else and this empowers and sustains him. His natural curiosity about people, his core desire to be helpful and his eye for the little things to be cheerful about are his defining qualities. The fact he gets exploded there in his badger primary model, seeing his worth only in being the best and the most helfpul and becoming more and more invisible to himself as he mirrors and shapeshifts to fit the group. He is the connector and mediator of conflicts, the one who can get along with everyone and he doesn't want to acknowledge how overwhelming, stressful and tiring that sometimes is. It's kinda like the badger primary model gets entwined with the badger secondary there, him seeing himself more and more as a tool for happiness for others, working himself to the bone, connecting with others and losing connection to himself in the process. This will become a challenge once he isn't physically able to be the most useful and strong one around (because of his injury) and he will have to face the fact that without this, he is basically empty inside. You couldn't ask this guy a favourite movie or a song, since outside of his training and dedication poured into others, he has nothing left.

SKYE - Lion Bird with a Bird primary model - In a way Skye is the opposite of Zephyr. She is completely self-sufficient introverted person with her cause being her research. She wants to understand people in an abstract removed way, by watching from afar and not interacting or being in the middle of action. While her attitude isn't as carefree and self-indulgent as Leander's, doing what Zephyr does looks like a nightmare to her. Being around people, socializing, getting along, making herself care, because it's the right thing to do and we can't get along if we all follow our desires all the time, are rational pragmatic things that tire her out. She needs her alone time, her books, her thoughts, her writing and her diaries to be herself and to recharge. Sometimes this makes her feel selfish and she doesn't think herself a good and noble person, because she just doesn't want to give that much of herself, to others or to the world. There is value in being happy and doing things just for yourself and for joy and she holds that close to her heart. Skye wanted to stay in research as a professor, as talking about her passionate topics is a plausible way to live, but she hates and struggles with the practical dialy parts of life. Where Leander is effective, driven and down-to earth and Zephyr is gentle and emotionally wholesome, Skye is the analytical thought behind it all, encompassing everything from all angles. Skye gets along very well with Hal's philosophical constantly wandering mind and his preference to discuss and systematize everything, but at her core she is driven by feelings. She is very reflective about them and knows how to reason the smallest thing she does though. A big struggle for her is that her power is so mind-focused. She is the brains, and the brains are powerful, but she is also a overplanner and overthinker, giant collector of knowledge and skills who never feels ready, making her one of the most fearful characters. Her journey to learn the Art of Dragonknights, that are more physical to feel secure is held back by her constantly wandering mind and the risk of being lost and overtaken by the Flying Islands' consciousness.

Not on the picture are Hal and Kieran. Hal is a black haired godly mage and last of the original dragon knights, with black hair falling in his face and deep green eyes. Kieran is a 18 years old new candidate for the dragon knights, with black curly hair and violet blue eyes. 

HAL - Bird Lion with a burned Badger primary model - Hal grew up with in the very people based society of the Dragon knights that valued saving people and nature and everything living with their unique Art. His bird system of looking at the world was therefore very badger-flavoured and he looks and acts like a badger most of the time. When he lost the whole order to the massacre though, his healthy happy badger model and understanding of the world burned, and he spend a hundred years in various detached forms of life to deal with that. He only woke up from his slumber, by meeting Zephyr and Skye. Those two slowly made him believe in people again, but the new worldview he is building isn't as universal and generous as it was before. His new badger model is burned in a different way, standing on the “us vs them” mentality and building a community from the new order of the knights by being selective and closed off. Hal decided it would be safest to care about the legacy of the order and choosing the right members to continue it, which should take priority over everything else (like helping the dragons, civilians or the members themselves). Hal likes to test his arguments in endless discussions and arugements with others, adding bits and pieces to his own system and search for the truth to live by. For Leander that's unnatural, like he is a robot and for Zephyr it's disturbing that he keeps adapting his beliefs like that. Skye finds him the most logical and welcomes his insights and willingness to think and mule over things, but even she can't change her mind about what she feels, while Hal can adapt to feel what he decides is right. Hal used to be more careful about his methods, used to hold himself back and consider feelings, but after the massacre of the order he stopped caring about coming off nice and dialing himself down. He is honest and blunt, and likes to just get things done already, although not in such a loud and argumentative way as Leander. Hal is subtle, quiet and most of the time looks ridiculously tired. Hal is someone who would like to care less, because that would be less painful, but can't manage to, against his better judgement. He basically can’t live up to the system he has chosen for himself after his loss. Therefore his driving force is to figure out how to care about people in a more managable painless way. Numbness is welcome and desirable for him, and he is in constant temptation to fall back on it, since on one hand his experience tells him not to care, but his learned people morality he grew up admiring tells him cutting himself off is wrong too. He can't stop himself from caring about others and at the same time can't make himself believe in them either. Vicious cycle.

KIERAN - Lion Lion - Kieran is a young glory hound lion who got kicked out of home to go for a boarding school at 14 and who since then felt seperate from his family, who never had any expectations for him. The nobody kid from nowhere who never got to go to a cool school or have fancy clothes and had to work to get the same level of comfort that was normal for most of his peers. He felt alone, vulnerable and weak, like he didn't get fair chances at life, and this sparked anger in him that fuels him forward. He wants to achieve something. He wants to make his mark on the world, to he powerful and famous and special and to make people notice him. He wants to get a chance to show what he is made of, and prove everyone who dismissed him wrong. He wants to find out what happens, when he throws his most intense fiery self at the world. Will it will be enough? Underneath all that anger there is a kid without a cause, looking for someone to trust but strongly denying and squashing that desire away, because he sees it as weak. Kieran is ambitious, daring and brave, usually a risk-taker to self-destructive degrees, who yearns for to achievement and acknowledgement, when what he really needs is peace. He is the first deeply wounded and unbalanced kid accepted as candidate for being a dragon knight for his passion and dedication. Accepted really for Zephyr's desire to help through the Dragon Art training and against Hal's preference to choose steady calm individuals that would be better for the Order.

Summary:

Leander - Snake / Lion

Zephyr - Lion with exploded Badger model / Badger 

Skye - Lion with Bird model / Bird

Hal - Bird with a burned Badger model / Lion 

Kieran - Lion / Lion 

Tag list: @thewalkingnerdx @bloodlessheirbyjacques @catharticallysarcastic @ren-c-leyn @diphthongsfordays @myhusbandsasemni @crazybunchwriting