#ie forcing him to forgive her

[tinylilvalery]

Shiv weaponises her vulnerability to victimise herself to force Tom into forgiving her [1][2] + doesn't respect his boundaries [3][4] when he needs space from her.

1. In 1.10 Shiv comes clean to Tom on their wedding night about her cheating on him, AFTER their marriage (despite Tom asking her beforehand and giving her a chance then). Shiv weaponises her vulnerability into forcing Tom to forgive her, bringing up how when they met she was a "mess" and in a "very bad place" and how she needs him and also tries to gaslight Tom about their relationship never being monogamous. He forgives her because he's in a difficult position (divorce on the same night as marriage?? She didn't give him an out to call off the wedding beforehand and waited until after he was secured), he loves her, and he's forced to sympathise and accept things.

2. Shiv only apologises to Tom when she sees how cold he's being with her in 4.8. There's real danger he's actually done with the relationship. The kicked dog isn't returning to heel. She apologises. He doesn't accept it (you don't have to accept an apology, especially if you're still upset and someone is tryna force an apology on you because THEY feel bad and want to alleviate their guilt and return things to something that THEY'RE comfortable with). She uses the fact that her dad just died, which doesn't change the fact that everything he said in the prior fight was true. Their relationship had been shit for ages prior to Logan's death, therefore Logan's death doesn't excuse the rest of the relationship, and he's still immovable. Damn, he's always comforted and folded to her before, he's not doing that right now. Shit. Bring out the heavy. I'm pregnant and it's yours! The ultimate card to reel him back. He wanted a baby right? But he doesn't even believe her now... Why should he care anyway? How much has she ever cared about him?

3. In 4.7 Tom walks away from Shiv and goes to the balcony, needing space, telling Shiv he's tired. She doesn't respect this need for space and corners him on the balcony, literally not allowing him any reprieve, and actively mocks him for being exhausted, pressing and pressing him until he snaps, despite the fact he didn't even want to fight in the first place. He needed space and wasn't allowed to have it.

4. Tom is exhausted and stressed out of his mind in 4.8 with his job (something that means the world to him and yet also something Shiv has never taken seriously - and how could she understand the importance it holds for him when she's a nepo baby). He asks Shiv to talk about this another time and that he can't do this right now. She doesn't respect his request and presses her needs above his and takes him aside again and isolates him, and then acts surprised and offended when he doesn't respond how she wants him to. Ironically if she had actually respected him asking to talk another time when he wasn't so stressed, she might have gotten the results she wanted: Tom back in her pocket.

[badfictropes]

Danny/Dani and Clark/Conner

(Warning: This is just my opinions and while I would love to hear other thoughts please be polite in your comments.)

Now I want to start by saying I don’t think Clark is wrong in feeling the way he does about Conner and about not wanting to be a father to him. But the way he dealt with and expressed those feelings is my problem. The way Clark treats Conner as if he isn't a real person with emotions and feelings and refuses to acknowledge Conner's personhood is fucked up.

Clark doesn’t want to be Conner’s father and while this is deeply unfair for Conner and will no doubt leave a scar it would be far worse to try and force Conner on Clark, I don’t doubt Clark will not be able to be the parent Conner needs.(Side note:does Lois or Clark’s parents ever find out about Conner in canon?) In DpxDc fics and prompts the JL trying to force Clark to play daddy is not going to do any good for Connor or for Clark. Clark does not see Conner as his own person/a person at all; all Clark sees is evidence of his violation and while this sucks for Conner forcing the two together isn’t going to help.

I read one DpxDc fic where Clark got therapy about this(Side note: this fic also pointed out how unethical it is to have a therapist that not only works under you but is also your personal friend ie Dinah. A lot of fics have her as not only the JL’s counselor but individual teammates personal therapist which just can’t be ethical.) and his therapist pointed out that Clark talks about Conner worse than he does Lex who actually violated his consent. I thought this was a very good point and definitely something Clark needs to think about. How is his opinion of Conner(who is the innocent and also a victim in this) worse than his one of Lex?.

Now for the Dp side. I personally am a fan of Danny being a mom(gender-neutral) to Dani(and Dan) and it’s my top 3 favorite Dp tropes but I know not everyone prefers it. While I imagine that after everything was over the full force of his violation at Vlad’s hands hit him I don’t think Danny ever wished Dani didn’t exist at all, I don’t think it ever even occurred to him to think that way. I could see him wishing the circumstances around her existence was different(after all Neverborne are a thing and it would be just like Danny to make one by accident) but he could never regret Her no matter how she got here. I’ve seen people mention that Dani manipulated and betrayed Danny and I’m just like while Dani has Danny’s memories she was literally created a few months ago cut her some slack, Dani was also being manipulated and used and Danny knows that he understands that; it why he not only helped her but forgave her. And I know people are going to be like forgiving someone is not that easy or quick but sometimes it is especially when your not even 18 and full set in your stubborn mindset and when your an empath like most people hc ghost to be(a little hard to stay mad for long when you can literally feel someone’s regret and remorse, it doesn’t hurt Danny no doubt saw Dani as someone smaller and weaker that needed his help and protection.)

Onto DpxDc. Now I think Danny would be sympathetic to Clark’s feelings and circumstances but I think his sympathy would end when he hears/witnesses how Clark treats Conner. Clark’s feelings are valid but how he deal with/expresses those feelings are not. Clark is a grown ass man and should know better than to take out his anger and pain on a child(Side note: Do you think Clark wouldn’t be as cruel to Conner or that the JL would be more intolerant of Clark’s behavior towards Conner if Conner was younger/a baby?). Danny would find Clark’s treatment/opinion of Conner deplorable after all Neverborn/Mirror born are precious no matter how they came to be and while it understandable Clark can’t be a parent to Conner that doesn’t mean someone shouldn’t be. Conner deserves to have a parent, a family that loves and cares about him; he deserves to be treated his own person and choose how he wants to live his life(not just be a hero) and since he won’t get that from Clark, the JL should find him a good foster parent he can get that from.

So in conclusion I think Danny would be sympathetic and understand of Clark’s circumstances until he sees Clark’s treatment of Conner/hears his opinin of Conner and then the sympathy is over; Danny will then focus on Conner and helping him/helping to figure out what’s best for him.

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda Under Cut

Alana Bloom

she kissed will graham in s1 and dated hannibal in s2 so you can imagine how bad the fandom is to her. fun fact she's in a canon lesbian relationship now tho <3

The show literally does the yaoi treatment of victimisation for the benefit of the male leads to her. And then the fandom mistreats her

I'm not sure if this even counts but...Literally a victim of Yaoi along with several other characters in-series, but she got it almost the worst. The entire show is just people dying because the two male leads are OBSESSED with each other and can't be normal about anything. Alana Bloom, actual PhD of psychology and consultant to the FBI, got kissed by one guy, fucked and fed people-meant by the other, and pushed out a window by the murder husbands' forced-surrogate daughter. Like. Actual victim of several crimes caused by yaoi. She's probably one of the few examples of a Yaoi Victim overcoming and evolving past her yaoi-related trauma into a stronger person/character, though: She gets an entire character overhaul and a hot, millionairess for a wife. She kills a man with an eel. She becomes head of the BSHCI, effectively putting her in complete power over her jackass cannibal ex-bf. She does quite well. Unfortunately, the rest of her screen time is spent trying not to get killed in the ongoing fallout of Hannibal and Will's fucked up courtship, but hey. Can't have everything. I don't even know if I'm saying anything valid here: the fandom loves her, but I supposed her position outside of the Hannigram relationship relegates her to a non-subject in a lot of Hannigram-focused fanwork. She's an 'obstacle' to their relationship only in the sense that Will had a crush on her once that went nowhere and Hannibal started an actual relationship with her SPECIFICALLY to piss off Will. I guess she's also a more literal obstacle as Hannibal's jailer and Will's friend who's constantly pointing out to him that Morals exist and he should try having some of those, maybe.

Gwen

She stands in the way of Merthur, by far the most popular ship in the fandom. I haven’t seen it as much in recent years, but back in the days of fanfiction.net she got slut shamed so badly for having been romantically interested in three of the male characters over the course of the show, which is just... normal straight woman behavior, meanwhile Merlin crushed on pretty much every woman who even looked at him in the early seasons of the show and got no hate for that whatsoever. I barely even read Merthur fics (not because it’s m/m, just because certain aspects of their relationship don’t appeal to me) but the “Gwen is a slut” attitude was so pervasive across the fandom, even fics that weren’t explicitly anti-Gwen would “jokingly” call her a slut. I even saw a few fics demonizing her for having an affair with Lancelot despite the fact that SHE WAS ENCHANTED when that happened, and surprise surprise, Lancelot (who was also under the influence of magic) got none of that hate, and neither did Arthur, who got enchanted to fall in love with multiple women over the course of the show.

Canonically Arthur Pendragon's love interest and an important and interesting character in the show who's completely shoved aside and ignored in favour of the medieval bbc yaoi ship. At best they put her and Morgana in Lesbian Timeout (ie make them get together and then reduce them to wingwomen at best because god forbid we focus on the medieval bbc yuri). Justice for Gwen right now!

She is prince Arthur's love interest (eventually wife). Arthur is MADLY in love with her. He tells his tyrannical father he would give up his crown to be with her (she's a servant in the series). He forgives her cheating on him with Lancelot (!), which in the show is caused by an evil enchantment, but the characters never find out about it. He chooses her time and time again. His love for Gwen is literally never put into question. Many fans insist to this day that there was no chemistry between Gwen and Arthur compared to Arthur and Merlin. Arthur isn’t even particularly nice to Merlin most of the time! The funny thing is that Merlin himself ships these two so hard and does everything he can to help them get together!! Gwen & Arthur are adorable and too many fans were drunk on the yaoi fumes to see it. ARTHUR WAS A SIMP FOR GWEN.

[ratherbefangirling]

Mi casa (3.5)

Previous | Next

Genre: omegaverse, Angst, hurt/comfort, fluff

Pairing: ot7 x reader

Warning ⚠️: funeral, insensitive comments, suicide ideation(please if you feel this way please get help)

It's rare that you and namjoon fight the two of you avoid fighting each other like plague. Always ready to be understanding, to forgive, to let go , to kiss and make up. When one of you is stubborn the other yields and is generous.

But when it did happen then the two of you are stubborn as mule and it gives Jin a headache. Because every one comes to complain to him. He's the pack alpha. He knows it's his job. Normally he loves being the Alpha. But in times like this he can feel his blood pressure shoot through the roof.

The most common fights he has to break are between Taehyung and Jimin. But it's usually simpler. Yoongi and Hobi try to make Jimin understand and Namjoon and Jungkook handle Taehyung. But when it's about the other soulmate pair namely you and Joon it's tough. Because you are closest to each other. Like some sort of cocoon. He doesn't mind he sort of gets it. But in such situations. He's extra stressed about not hurting the either of you. Because its easy for both of you to feel alienated.

If he takes Namjoons side you may feel like he hasn't accepted you as pack and if he takes yours Namjoon may feel like everyone is against him and its not a pretty scene.

Jungkook comes in the kitchen whistling as Jin sits and contemplates the situation. Jugkook takes a bottle of water from the fridge and chugs it and keeps it back. He slaps Jin's butt as he sits next to Jin and opens a bag of chips and starts eating.

"Ya Jeon Jungkook. I've told you not to eat those they are Y/n's"

"I'll buy her more." Jungkook replies and Jin gives him a look of disbelief.

"It's fine. She'll forgive me. She's too busy being mad at Namjoon hyung anyway"

"Do you have any idea why they fought."

"I do." Jungkook says taking another bite.

Jin rolls his eyes.

"And when were you going to mention it?"

Jungkook shrugs. "No one asked me. Besides you always say not to interfere between the two."

"I know. But from now on tell me... only me"

"Y/n-ie found invitations to Namjoon's company dinner. So she asked him. He said it wasn't a big deal. But he's getting an award and perhaps bonus. He said he didn't tell her cause he knows she hates the events and he didn't want to force her."

"That's it?"

"Nope. Then she said are you embarrassed of me. To which he was like you're my soulmate and then she said that's not an answer to what I'm asking and then it got pretty ugly."

"And how did you hear this?"

"I was using her bathroom cause the others were busy."

Jin can't help but smile at the other boys antics.

Yoongi comes in carrying a parcel.

"Jungkook did you order something?"

Jungkook perks up excited. "Its here. Me and Y/n-ie ordered embroidery kits. I'll go take it to her." Jungkook takes the parcel.

Yoongi pats Jin's back. "It'll be alright we've been through worse."

Jin nods. Its true.

Jungkook decides to take a banana milk and other flavored milks pack and grabs a couple snacks. Seamlessly balancing everything and going towards your room.

You and Jungkook often did things together. The two of you bonded over buying new things and DIY kits often taking help if needed or even just including other pack members. Like the time you needed Joons help with the planting kit and Yoongi's help finding sand paper to complete your DIY wooden ship. The time you tried Resin was fun. You still use the trays you both made with Jimin and Tae. You'd even made a book mark for Joon. You also did self DIY projects like the time you had begged Hobi to give up some of his shoes so you could paint them. Sometimes when you went to the Sunday Market. You'd stop with Joon at the book stall. Once you'd found an old recipe book and then it was you and jungkook and Jimin and failed attempt at some sort of microwave cake which was as hard as a stale cookie though the kitchen did smell great.

Your life now was filled with all these little moments which made it so beautiful. Ofcourse sometimes you do wonder. Was it really necessary to loose your old family for this one and you put the thought away because you cannot be ungrateful you must not be or you might loose this as well.

(Before)

You've worn a mourning black dress. You're exhausted from meeting the lawyer to doing paperwork and emptying your room at the shelter. It was a bit silly but you'd stayed till the very last moment. Hoping against hope and silently praying that your mate would come. But hope was a painful thing and a luxury you couldn't afford. So you cried a little inside your new bathroom or rather your old one at your uncle's place. Which was now your own. Wondering when would it be over.

You're the chief mourner. And you can't help but think it's good your soulmate chose their pack over you because you seem to kill everyone around you.

A lot of people come. Offering their condolences.

He was a good man.

He loved his wife so much.

A great man the likes of whom we don't see.

He will be missed.

Such a loss.

Untimely death.

You supposed the death of a person forgave their sins.

The whispers are everywhere.

You go outside for a while. To get yourself water. The panic is settling in its too much its all too much. You hide behind a tree gulping the cool water and its heaven down your throat. It's almost magical one pill and the world is more bearable.

"I heard his niece put false charges on him. Poor man." A lady discusses

"Not only that she's going to inherit his assets." Her friends adds.

"They said her pack died in a car accident and she was the only one who survived."

"Not only that they said she doesn't have a scent."

"What a freak."

"It gives me the shivers."

Someone covered your ears. You could smell it the sweet familiar scent.

You turned. Face to face with yoongi.

"It's fine." You said gruffly removing his hands from your ears harsher then you intended to.

Your alpha awakening had given you more strength. Strength that scared you. Strength that made you even harder to kill.

The words were already branded in your brain.

"Are you ok?" He asked softly.

"Why are you here?" You asked instead. He smelled like your old bestfriend but he wasn't. It would be better to remember that. He too had a pack. Just like your soulmate. Just like everyone else except you.

"We need to talk."

"About what?... wait don't tell me... you're not my soulmate are you?" You stagger backwards clenching your fist. You want to hold him someone anyone.

"No I'm not but.."

Ofcourse he's not it can't be that simple ofcourse.

"Then there's no reason. Excuse me I have to wrap this up. People will be wondering why the chief mourner is missing."

Before you could leave Yoongi stopped you giving you his card.

"Call me if you need anything. I'll come see you later."

You don't say anything. So he leaves.

You wonder if you can have two pills quickly. You wonder if you can mention those ladies in a suicide note. Won't that be funny though you won't be there to see it.

You stare at the casket as it lowered down. You envy your uncle. Wishing you could trade places.

Would anyone cry if I disappear?

It's fine I wouldn't even know the difference once I'm dead afterall..

Everyone leaves. Some people even try to comfort you. You put on an understanding face as you tell them words they want to hear.

And thats that. You go to a convenience store nearby. Sit eating instant noodles. The noodles taste bland so you play with them more than you eat them.

What next?

The world is right infront of you. What are you even supposed to live for. The person you might have wanted revenge on is dead. You can't kill yourself after surviving your family. You have money and a house. You could go to college but studying you don't think you can do that anymore. You used to have dreams. But they seem a childish fantasy and nothing more. Even your soulmate doesn't want you. You don't blame them you wouldn't want a person like yourself. A joke of an alpha.

A can hits the noodles. And the scalding hot broth falls down your hand and lap. They seemed to have been trying to throw the can in the Dustbin right infront of where you sat. And with your terrible luck it ruined your dinner.

You instinctively stand up. Someone takes your hands pouring cold water over them.

"Are you okay?"

You look up to see the most charming face. Kind eyes, strong hands, taller than you and the scent that makes you want to dissolve in it.

"No.." Your voice is foreign to you as you reply. Tears dripping out of your eyes.

He hugs you wrapping his arms around you.

"I'm sorry I won't ever leave you alone again I promise."

Yeah so that's that. I've been away for a while. I haven't written anything but I wanted to post something.. so I did this.. If you've read belong. I'm not in the mindset to write belong currently it's way too happy for me and I can't do it justice right now.

Please let me know your thoughts!!

Taglist : @kaceypdf ; @ghostlyworld ; @thelilbutifulthings ; @hijabae2019

Permanent taglist : @exfolitae ; @cryingpages ; @outrobtsnd

[thedreadvampy]

hmmm so to reflect on a conversation me and mum had in our little impromptu bell hooks book club:

(nb: here I am using "men" and "women" to describe the roles and expectations for people pigeonholed into masculinity or femininity under patriarchy - this includes a mixed group of people of all genders in a way that is not necessarily static)

so:

men are culturally held back from loving others or themselves

therefore men both are harmed by and enact patriarchy

women are sick of cleaning up after men and handling their emotional work. we've been expected to do it our whole lives and liberation from patriarchy for women necessarily partially entails us no longer being expected to do this one-sided labour which both exhausts us and prevents men from the space to develop

why should it be on us to continue to do the invisible labour of Figuring Out What To Do? women are consistently pushed into being the people who Figure Out What To Do.

in an emotional conflict, men are traditionally left saying "I'll do anything, just tell me what we have to do!" and leaving women to figure out, both for themselves and for the man, what the actual path forwards is.

and in the end isn't that the path forwards?

that we're still conditioned, as women, to singlehandedly "do for" men the job that can only be properly done by two people working together, ie loving.

by falling back into the trap of trying to Fix The Problem ourselves - come up with theory and practise to liberate men - we deprive men of the space to figure it out.

the same way women doing a man's housework their whole life deprives him of the chance to look after himself, acceding to the demand that you do his emotional work for him deprives him of the opportunity to learn how to love by himself.

we're taught implicitly that love is wage labour. men are expected to pay - in money, in security, in compliments, in favours, in sex, in physical intimacy, in emotional vulnerability - for someone else (a woman) to do the labour of emotional questioning, self-reflection, path-setting, care, negotiation and compromise, thoughtfulness, figuring out how to love and be loved, and putting it into practise.

ie "women are machines you put Kindness Coins into until sex/love/emotional intimacy comes out"

you can't love yourself for someone else. nor can you figure out how to love them. they have to be an active participant. but men are rarely forced into a space where they have the room to learn those skills.

the impulse, which my mum particularly found led her to a challenge point with hooks' work, is that if we identify the problem as being that men do not know how to receive or give love, our conditioned response is that we should flood them with unconditional positive regard, forgiveness and love.

but that is already what's asked of us by patriarchy - to forgive, excuse and continue to make space for men regardless of how their actions harm us or others

what we need to work towards is offering the same conditional love we offer to people who aren't men - infants, girls, boys, and women. conditional in the sense that it's given freely and openly but is subject to context and behaviour.

if we are treated poorly, neglected, used, ignored, or abused, we don't owe infinite love and forgiveness. our love and forgiveness is contingent on, well, the Will to Change.

nobody we love has to be perfect at loving us or themselves. but relationships require work and both parties need to be putting the work in - proactively asking questions and trying to find answers for themselves, not expecting the other to do all the planning and thinking.

we owe this to ourselves and to men. men only have the space to change if there are boundaries to what we will accept, and consequences to inequitable behaviour.

what we do owe, both to men and to ourselves, is to accept men as people who have experienced harm, and who are struggling against a system which wounds and oppresses them as well, and to accept them as our equals - neither more or less deserving of care, love and forgiveness than anyone else.

some of what that means, as well, is interrogating our own biases. do we give room for men to change when they're trying? not by letting them off the hook, but by recognising the difference between shittiness and clumsiness and offering guidance? how do we as women enforce patriarchy (on men, women, boys, girls, or infants)? how do we do the work of trusting our own judgements and desires and knowing ourselves outwith patriarchal gender roles and expectations? bc we deserve better than to be men's emotional navvies, just as they deserve the space to understand and engage with their own emotions.

the best thing we can do for men is to stop doing shit for men. to make it clear that love and intimacy isn't a thing we do for men but a thing we do as a joint effort, or not at all.

[queer-ragnelle]

i’m just astonished there are people out there hating on gawain for violence against other knights and lancelot for committing adultery with guinevere when geraint/erec is right there abusing his wife and killing women on purpose.

characters are narrative tools and in a time when these knights were used to express opinions about the world the author lived in, it made sense gawain would be engineered to enact mindless cruelty against his fellows to comment on the cycle of violence or for lancelot’s role as the queen’s lover to indicate how unfaithfulness (ie going against the king and church/sanctity of marriage) has the power to corrupt entire kingdoms. it’s not about agreeing or disagreeing with their actions, it’s not about condoning anything. it’s a narrative constructed to illustrate the author’s viewpoint.

to what end is geraint’s verbal assault against his wife and physically driving her into dangerous situations and murdering his sister on a double dog dare conveying anything at all? like we can plainly see that gawain’s vendetta against pellinore and sons in the blood feud stems from toxic loyalty and the patriarchal societal expectation of masculinity expressed through violence. the narrative surrounding this does not condone gawain’s behavior. he “gets away with it” in his lack of punishment, but that in and of itself is commentary on arthur’s short comings in his sentimental treatment of his nephew. but the author’s omnipresent voice favors the victims and gawain’s reputation is ruined by this behavior. other knights know him for what he is, dinadan dies simply bc he won’t stop talking about lamorak’s murder and is thus murdered himself. lancelot suffers greatly for his affair with guinevere, if not only driven to madness by desperation and guilt, then by his continuous trial along the grail quest resulting in failure and the eventual loss of his son. he loved his king and is devastated when the kingdom crumbles as a result of his actions, whether that be the affair itself or killing to survive in the aftermath of that discovery, nobody can say he ends up happy with the situation. he lost galehaut, guinevere, galahad, arthur, and even had to kill gawain with his own hands. nothing in the narrative favors him.

geraint….is not punished. not narratively nor subtextually. even if we assume he never again forces enid to ride around while exposed to bandits while he forces her into silence and yells at her when she disobeys, that still happened, and his sister is still dead. but in the end he isn’t reprimanded for any of that and continues his marriage to enid in the end. she forgives him. did he atone? can he atone for something like that well enough to deserve keeping all his privileges? he is not stripped of titles or rights or anything. even the narrative frames the event as if love triumphed, the strength of their marriage carried them through a hard time. a hard time! as if abuse can turn off at the drop of a hat.

anyway this is a gawain and lancelot apologist blog that hates geraint and thinks he should explode and die.

[alfiely-art]

I'm voting Kotoko Guilty this round for quite a few reasons. First off, the only other two characters who have been voted guilty are Haruka and Muu. Yk. Minors. Who are already in a shitty mindset, who's verdict will most likely make that worse? Yeah. I would rather not have them beat up by Kotoko. And she WOULD beat them up- she would have beat up Amane if she hadn't been stopped, and Amane is much younger than Haruka and Muu.

I don't even mind her fighting injustice to feel good about herself. I mean, she's still fighting injustice. Regardless of her personal feelings about it, she's still doing good things. It's the way she goes about it that worries me. The article she was reading on her phone states that "more violence than necessary was used". Of course, the article could always be biased, but Kotoko has shown herself to be a violent person. Her call to us to vote everyone else in Milgram as Guilty, regardless of their crime, is a request for us to give her permission to make them her enemy and crush them. She would apply the same amount of force to, say, Yuno- someone who simply had an abortion because she didn't want the baby- as a person who kidnapped a child.

Kotoko sees everything in black and white. Yuno's "crime" of an abortion is just as evil as Haruka's crime of murder. Here's a reminder of the character's crimes (from my understanding):

Haruka: killed out of desperation to be seen, to have his mother finally acknowledge him after he wasn't good enough (ie, neurotypical) to keep up with the other kids.

Yuno: Had an abortion because she didn't want the baby. She didn't have some tragic reason why, she had a normal life. She was simply doing as she pleased.

Fuuta: Took part in cancel culture, which ended up doxxing a minor and she took her own life. He didn't want to accept responsibility for this, but it was clearly weighing on his mind.

Muu: She bullied others with her friends, and then her friends turned on her. She reached out to a classmate for help, but didn't receive any. Muu stabbed her in a panic, after alluding to either her or the classmate dying at the end of all of this.

Shido: Medical malpractice ? I think ? It's still not clear to me idk

Mahiru: Abused her boyfriend until he offed himself due to her sheltered life and toxic positivity. She feels as though she can't change, and she wants someone to love even if it hurts both of them.

Kazui: Lied about romantically loving his wife so that he could fit in to society at large. When he finally opened up about his feelings, the shock of it all caused his wife to end her life. He cared for her, but can't continue lying like this.

Amane: Killed her abuser, and is clinging to religion to both justify it to herself and comfort herself.

Mikoto: Still unclear whether he or John did the murder, how many murders there were, who was murdered, etc. The focus isn't exactly on the murder, moreso how mentally ill people are pushed to their limit with no support or help from others and the unhealthy coping mechanisms that can arise from that.

She tells us to throw away our sympathy. But understanding and kindness and sympathy are so so so important- not just in Milgram, but everywhere else, too. Yes, these are just characters, but a popular theory is that they represent societal issues. And I do believe that's true. They may not be real, but they represent real problems real people face. By ignoring the nuance, we blindly swing at whatever we're told is "guilty". Kotoko only attacked the prisoners we announced as Guilty. She won't act on her own moral code, merely the law. We are the law in Milgram, so she follows us.

I adore Kotoko, but her mindset is genuinely dangerous. While this is unlikely (cough, Amane) I hope her Guilty vote will help her. But it probably won't- Guilty votes destroy a person. But I can't vote her Innocent, either. I don't forgive her for her black and white thinking. Thus, she is Guilty to me. I'm very curious how she'll develop after this. I'm a little scared, too, but oh well.

[sapphic-agent]

There's a point that's been bothering me ever since the Dark Izuku arc, and it's the fact that for how high of a pedestal All Might is suppisedly put on, the narrative sure does love taking him to task for things other characters are excused of doing.

That's not to say that All Might is perfect or that he hasn't messed up (ie his toxic positivity mindset he imparted onto Izuku, the whole "you have a good childhood friend" bullshittery, him nearly paralyzing Izuku in the Final Exams), but he actually apologizes for his mistakes. He works towards being a better mentor and teacher. He realizes how much he fucked up with Izuku when he saw him pushing himself beyond his breaking point.

Friend, don't even get me started here.

I will never forgive the fandom for how they've treated All Might. Yes, All Might has messed up and made mistakes. There's no denying that. But the bottom line is, Aizawa has done so much worse and unlike All Might, has never tried to amend his actions. Let's recap, Aizawa has:

Expelled entire classes for not being up to his standards and not even bothering to teach them

Created a test to specifically call out/humiliate one student (Izuku)

Never did anything about Bakugou's behavior and let him continuously attack Izuku

Allowed his female students to be harassed and assaulted (Mineta grabbing his classmates is assault and I'm sick of people pretending otherwise) by Mineta

Forced Izuku into a position where he had to make Bakugou work with him or fail

Allowed a traumatized child in his care to be watched by a student who could have easily triggered her solely for that student's benefit

Only teaches his class through logical ruses and doesn't bother any other time (except the Training Camps)

Passed Bakugou after he was purposely uncooperative and assaulted his teammate

So much more

Most of these things will never be acknowledged by 90% of the fandom. Yet they harp on All Might for every little thing. Most of which are nowhere near as bad as Aizawa. Apparently, you can only be flawed if you're edgy and "cool"

[hatsbattlecats]

Au where only Mapleshade get kicked out of Thunderclan, not her kits.

She still almost drowns in the river and gets saved by Appledusk’s patrol, and is publiclyand openly rejected by Appledusk in front of all of Riverclan as a mistake he made, and that he feels nothing for her.

She is then kicked out of riverclan and still ends up at the barn, but this time is just upset about being forced from her home, rejected by the one she thought loved her, and forced to not be a part of her kits’ lives. All this she blames Appledusk for.

Why did he say and do everything he did if he was only going to throw her away in the end? So she sneaks back into Riverclan to confront him about it. He confirms that he doesn’t love her, and she needs to leave and stop messing up his life in Riverclan or he’ll make her leave.

As it turns out, since his kits dont die in this one, Darkstar is a lot less forgiving of Appledusks blatant disregard for the warrior code, and he blames Mappleshade for this. If she hadnt outed him in front of his clan, he could’ve gotten away with his little secret fun forever, at least in his mind.

Maple is pissed, but it’s Appledusk throws the first strike, reopening the wound Frecklewish had given Mapleshade. So Maple retaliates. Violently. She leaves him on the shore of the river, bleeding out into the water and returns to the farm because she has nowhere else to go.

She only tolerates Myler at first, mostly just moping alone about her situation and avoiding his attempts at conversation. But eventually, she grows to at least humor his questions about her life before the barn. She considers him to be a friend eventually.

Its the first time she’s felt like someone listed to and supported her without their own vendetta, the first time it was really just about her. Appledusk had only seen her as a fun experience and bailed when things got rough, Frecklwish had only been interested in her because she’d thought Maple’s kits were Birchfaces. For the first time in a long, long while, Maple feels like she has a proper friend.

Things take a step further when one of the farmer’s dogs gets loose in the barn. Mapleshade gets cornered before she has a chance to get to the hayloft, and Myler jumps in to save her. Mapleshade finds herself genuinely worried for him, something she hasn’t felt since her kits. She helps nurse him back to health, and in the process, the two become closer than ever.

A season or so later, Maple and Myler are expecting kits. A couple moons after that, Stormy, Brandy, and Sunset are born.

I also have a stupid big family tree that i made for this as well, but thats for another post

Before that though, i’ll be making a post about the OTHER HALF of this au, ie: Maple’s kits with Apple and how their lives change growing up in thunderclan

Also!! Feel free to ask me questions about this au (or any of my others tbh! It gives me motivation to further refine them and make more art owo)

[zephrunsimperium]

is Knowing Me, Knowing You a romantic billford story? what kind of story is it, actually? it looks interesting but I’m afraid to read any type of billford in fear of it being… not the best. what do you think of the ship, actually, since you’re such a fidduathor fan? also, does it end okay, even when incomplete? I have a lot of questions about the fic tbh. too scared to read it tho lol

Whooooo boy do I have a lot to say about this... I highly encourage everyone to read this entire post.

So, my thoughts on BillFord are extremely complicated. I am, first and foremost, a FiddAuthor shipper. That is the ship I consider canon and I even headcanon Bill to be aroace and actively encourage Ford and Fidds to get together because Ford needs to get over stupid societal homophobia plus it's fun to wear down the human's moral compass about hitting on a married man.

BillFord is a FASCINATING concept and it's not hard to see why the ship is as popular as it is despite the (well-deserved) stigma; a lot of things between them that can be read as fuel to the shipping fire. (ie the hair ruffles, the nose flick, the nicknames, the gold statue, the piano serenade, Ford being attracted to the strange, Bill offering to make Ford "one of us," even the possibly kinky undertones of glowy blue chains and bodily possession)

But the problem is that the ship can get very nasty very fast. Make no mistake, what Bill does to Ford is abuse. He is manipulative and violent and cruel. "Mystery bruises?" Literally torturing Ford on screen? Driving a wedge between Ford and his support system to the point that he has extreme trouble trusting people? Preying upon Ford's insecurities about being a freak? That is horrifying stuff, in particular because of how clear the parallels are to real world abuse.

With that in mind, let me talk about KMKY. I loved this fic to pieces. It’s written and organized incredibly well with a good mix of humor, sentiment, tragedy, and villainy without ever feeling off-balance tonally. The best thing about this fic, however, is the mature and nuanced themes about abuse: how hard it is to still love your abuser even when you start realizing that they're as bad as they are, accepting that you're a victim and have no reason to apologize, how an abuser's own trauma isn't an excuse for their actions. I really appreciate that the author has sympathy for Bill while still clearly acknowledging that "hey, what Bill did to Ford was abuse and Ford doesn't have to forgive him, much less take him back." A lesser writer would force Bill and Ford together, but that's not what happens because it's not what should happen.

So, for anyone who is interested in reading it... The gist of it is that instead of inviting Fiddleford to work on the portal, Ford makes a body for Bill to assist in person. The first 33 chapters develop their relationship (ft. Fiddleford being confused and stressed) and then Ford finds out Bill has been lying and eventually goes through the portal. It is very much a romance but the writing is so good that there are times when it's genuinely heartbreaking that the two of them won't work out.

I would definitely say that Bill is the main character (even though Ford has a significant amount of viewpoint time and he's the one you're supposed to root for) because he's the one who changes throughout the story. It's not a positive change, but it is an extremely compelling character arc. The characterization of Bill in this fic is particularly cool to me because he’s definitely a complete person, but he’s very clearly inhuman.

A little preview/incentive to read it: all of Bill’s underlings have individual personalities, Jheselbraum is a super important character and her characterization is... really cool (that's not a good description, but I was in love with it), the worldbuilding of all the places Ford visits in the multiverse was really cool and fun, there are great OCs like Wendy's mom, this mob boss guy that is a delight to hate, and a sarcastic kick-ass alien lady, Bill's backstory is really impactful, Pyronica is a bad bitch, Bill and Ford fight zombies while We Go Together from Grease plays in the background, there are cool themes about enjoying the mundane things in life and how society treats the Strange, and well-written humor that had me laughing out loud constantly. For as long as it is, all of it was extremely memorable and hardly any of it felt like filler. (I will warn you if you choose to read it, there is some serious steam.)

As for the ending... I totally understand why the author stopped writing it. They were trying to make it canon-compliant, but by the time it caught up to the show it was very clear that adhering to the canon material was holding them back. They did their best, but I could tell they weren't enjoying writing it and if you're not enjoying your art, then I don't think it's worth doing.

Wow that was a long post. Thanks so much for the ask, Anon! I hope this was a satisfying response!

[sarcastic-salem]

I have been thinking a lot about Sigyn ever since I saw that post trying to reassign Loki’s feminine UPGs and attributes to Sigyn. Which is gross for all kinds reason. It reinforces toxic masculinity and makes it seem as though its somehow wrong men to be feminine.

It isn’t. Loki’s feminity isn’t a bad thing. Its one of the things that helped him raise to fame as the God of outcasts, which is an aspect of Loki that deserves to be celebrated imo.

Reassigning Loki’s feminine attributes is also misogynistic because its implying that feminine men are beneath traditionally masculine men

And therefore so are feminine people, in general. It plays a lot into internalized misogyny and how women who are into cutesy, girly, or kawaii things can be demeaned for not being ambitious overachievers.

Neither of those are bad things, ok? For men or for women, but no one should be forced to be like….A brain surgeon if they don’t want to. Being a homemaker is just as difficult and important as being a lawyer, no matter what gender you are.

This article formulates the ideology better than I ever could tbh.

But getting back to the point

I have been thinking a lot about the type of Goddess I see Sigyn as. Because, unfortunately, there isn’t really anything known about her. So we just have to kinda be creative.

What we do know about Sigyn is that she is often referred to as the Goddess of fidelity in the Norse pantheon. Fidelity is a synonym for loyalty.

Just gonna take this time to remind people that monogamy is a Christian concept that was a rarity in ancient times and to please, disregard the whole “sexual faithfulness” thing.

We also know that Sigyn is Loki’s beloved wife and that they had twin sons together, Narfi and Vali. I, personally, think of Sigyn as Loki’s second wife because that’s how she’s always been describing in my reading. By this I mean that, its my UPG that Loki, Sigyn, and Angrboda were just a big, happy, loving polycule.

Aside from being Loki’s wife and the Goddess of loyalty, Sigyn is sometimes considered a Goddess of victory because her name translates to “victorious friend” or “friend of victory”. I think that this is not only because she was lucky enough to marry Loki, but also because Loki was victorious in avenging their family during Ragnarok These things to me say that

Sigyn is a Goddess of love, honor, and victory. Sigyn loved Loki even after Baldr’s death. She stayed with him and collected the venom from the snake Skadi fixed over him. Even though she was probably also pissed off at him.

Not cool, Skadi.

I think this is because other than loving Loki with all of her heart, Sigyn also knew that her husband was not the only one in the wrong because the Aesir had mistreated Loki’s children with Angrboda, and murdered her own son Vali. Sigyn, I think, believed that Loki was right to want to justice for their family.

Sigyn is also someone I have often to turned to for advice on fairness and forgiving. Forgiveness has been the only useful concept that I’ve taken away from Christianity. The reason for that is because obsessing over hardships can make you unhappy and resentful.

“Holding onto anger is like swallowing poison — painful and the only one you’re hurting is yourself.” -The Dalai Llama

That does not mean that forgiving people will solve all of your life’s problems. It won’t — that’s why toxic positivity is a thing. But I feel like choosing to forgive and forget can make it easier to move past the pain sometimes.

And I think this is a quality that Sigyn embodies to a degree. She teaches to forgive those who deserve it — IE Loki, for lashing out against the Aesir — but she also teaches that its ok to cut toxic people out.

Only those who are worthy should be forgiven imo. Does everyone deserve a second chance?

No, you are not obligated to forgive your abuser, for example.

And these are the lessons that I think Sigyn teaches.

[nagisasstunningpersonality]

what is your opinion on trans nagisa you seem to understand the characters so well i want to get inside your brain

I mean I'll preface that I am cisgender. I understand a few people hold my opinions in certain kind of regard but I don't want to talk over trans people here. If any trans people want to add to the debate on this, please listen to their opinion first etc. etc.

Honestly I don't personally really enjoy the practice of making characters trans. That being said, there's not exactly much trans representation around so I completely understand why it happens. It's kind of a 'don't like don't read' kind of situation for me. Let me repeat, this is PERSONALLY.

Nagisa in particular has a different weight behind it though. I think making him AFAB trans man (which is usually how people seem to do it, though I've seen non-binary too) changes too much about the other characters. It's tricky because I also totally appreciate how his treatment by Hiromi could reflect upon a trans person's real life experience, and why someone might want to explore that.

Making Nagisa AFAB though in a way 'legitimises' Hiromi's behaviour. This is not me saying a parent rejecting their child's identity is in anyway right or good, it definitely is a bad thing, but I do understand why someone could react negatively in that scenario. The thing about Hiromi (in my interpretation) is that she's seriously mentally ill. Nothing about her treatment of Nagisa is meant to make any kind of sense. If anything, speaking of her forcing a younger Nagisa into dresses, I'd argue it makes her actions less bad if she had a reason to believe her child was a girl. I don't think I'm describing this elegantly so please forgive me for that. It additionally kind of tones down the trying to redo her life via Nagisa aspect.

It also makes a loooot of characters actively transphobic. I know there's been some debate on this issue before. I don't want to dip my toes too deep into it, because some people definitely see it as transphobic already. That being said, Nagisa actually being trans would make a lot of characters a lot more malicious in their actions and add a lot more weight.

In addition, I think there's a moral issue of respecting gender identity. Nagisa canonically insists on multiple occasions he is a cisgender male, which is kind of unique. Due to this, I wonder if serious headcanons (ie 'I see this character as transgender') verge on misgendering (of course trans men are men, but this case would still be denying a part of someone's identity). That being said, I don't think AU type discussions have this issue (ie 'imagine if Nagisa was AFAB'). I would be hypocritical if I did considering my most well known fanfic is literally omegaverse, though that's functionally more like writing someone as intersex I suppose.

TLDR is I don't personally jig with it. I also think in Nagisa's case it's not as simple as just a genitals swap over and creates a lot of secondary narrative problems. That being said though, people should write what they want to write, and we should respect that space when it doesn't cause any tangible harm to others.

[creek-ink]

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR VERSION OF SALLY WILLIAMS PLEASE PLEASE PL

AHHH!! an ask!! i never get these!! >:D

anyways- uh!

ok so, tbh my versions of the crps (esp the gals) r a jumbled mess of headcannons just floating around in my head. so forgive me if this is unreadable- (I plan on making details ref sheets in the future!!)

I've always loved the character of sally williams but I find her story uncomfortable and even a little triggering. (I experienced violent SA at a younge age) bc of this I basically changed everything abt her character. so here goes- buckle up!

sally's origins:

if ur sensitive to child death do not read the bits in red

to cut to the chase- sally williams was a 10yr murder victim of a cold case from the 70's or 80's. her body was found in the woods long after the initial murder, leaving it nearly unidentifiable. it was believed to be a crime of passion, due to the brutal nature of the attack. there were stab wounds, minor broken bones, blunt force trauma, and most curiously, a large, deep wound to her sternum.

bc of the decayed state of her body no DNA evidence of her attacker was recovered and, bc of the times, not much was looked for as DNA testing wasn't as advanced yet.

her case will remain cold- bc well, her attacker wasn't some creepy or horrendous serial killer, it was a creature~

"gasp! wow! how creative!! never saw that coming!!"

(lol)

I haven't decided which monster, either the rake or maybe seed eater (which would explain y EJ feels so obligated to watch over sally's spirit)

speaking of! (awesome segway- fuck ya)

her spirit:

sally's soul was left to wonder the forest dazed and confused abt what had happened to her. urban legends of a younge girl calling out from the woods surfaced in the following years, no doubt being linked to her case.

instead of a run-of-the-mill apparition, sally is more of a "thing"

I like to play around w the traditional depictions of common monsters and myths, so ghosts r no exception.

she isn't a glowing, transparent mist that takes the form of a small girl. instead she looks just how she did that night, suspended somewhere between life and death.

the more care her soul receives the more her appearance improves. her physical state is able to be altered, (ie. bodily changes like wieght or injury. as well as cosmetic changes like clothing and hair styles.)

-although things like age, body temperature, and height will always stay how they were when she died.

as for any ablities she might have, here is a small list:

- visions (past, present, and future)

- breaking things with her mind ~wo0o0oo~

- and a sort of soul connection w ppl she cares abt (ex. if EJ gets donked she'll be like "ow" or some shit)

personality and relationships <3

sally is a rather rambunctious and rebellious child, making her a uh- "acquired taste" look- either u love her or u hate her.

she can turn nearly any neat room into tornado ally. as u can imagine, she's extremely hard to keep undercontrol so most pastas don't even try lmao. either completely avoiding her in the first place or outright fueling the fire.

her main man is EJ, he's quiet and patient which is a perfect foil to her outrageous character. they enjoy exploring the outdoors, learning, and yes- even playing w dolls. on some rare occasions sally will be convincing enough to get EJ to play house w her <3 often assuming the mother and daughter roles respectively. hehe

nina is another one of sallys friends btw <3 dress up all around! and lots of makeovers.

~~~

unlike most depictions of they're relationship, sally and the slenderman do n0T get along. it sees her as a distraction and often tries to get her out of the manor.

(I do not cannon slenderman running or enhabitting the manor, instead I see it as a puppet master of sorts. i can go into this furth if u would like lol)

despite the threat of slenderman, the pastas collectively disobey him in order to keep sally around. they take pitty on her situation, and at the end of the day just want to provide her with a (somewhat) stable environment to put her soul at ease.

pic from a few months ago- just 4 visualizing purposes<3<3<3

ALRIGHT!! that wraps things up! I wrote wayyyyyy more than I was planning to- but I thought id go ahead and flesh her out, for future reference ofc ;)

if I forgot anything just lemme know in the comments <3

I hope u enjoyed reading this and I'd love to hear ur personal hcs! even if the conflict w my own. also let me know what u think of these,, ideas(?) I'm always open to constructive criticism!

ALSO MY ASKS R ALWAYS OPEN!! PLZ!! IM FUCKING BEGGING U!! I WILL NOT POST THIS KINDA SHIT UNLESS SPECIFICALLY ASKED!! BC IM INSECURE ABT MY WRITING!! AAAAAAHHHHH!!

[the-phantom-otaku]

How would Max, Carl, Sandra, Frank, Natalie, and Ken react to Ben holding a family meeting so he could have the lil chills meet the rest of the family? How would they react to Gwen and Kevin knowing about the lil chills before they did, and them not telling them?

Ooh, this is quite the meaty question 👀

First of all, I feel like it would be Gwen who practically forces him to hold the meeting. I've always thought Ben wouldn't be real keen on talking about the subject. Not bc he doesn't like the Little Chills but bc discussing the fact that you technically are a mother when you're a teenager and a guy at that is just a bit awkward. But, anyway, I think Gwen would eventually get guilty after being reminded of the Little Chills and she'd be the one to suggest they tell the rest of the family, especially Sandra and Carl. 

Also, I feel like Max already knows and I’ll explain why. In Above and Beyond, Manny makes reference to Big Chill’s rampage. Now, Kevin could’ve very easily told Manny and the others about the incident at some point. Seems like a very Kevin thing to do. But I was struck with a thought: What if it was actually Grandpa Max who told them? This is like a whole ‘nother headcanon, but my thought was they told Max and he ended up letting it slip to the Plumber’s Helpers by complete accident. I also think Grandpa Max would be the only one Ben would willingly tell without being convinced by Gwen. Max would have an easier time wrapping his head around the concept and all since he’s been dealing with crazy alien stuff for decades at this point, but it would still come as shock. He was thrown into the Null Void for a few months and by the time he comes back, he finds out he’s a great grandfather lmao. And obviously, Max wouldn’t be upset that he wasn’t told immediately. Ben really didn’t have a chance until after he returned from the Null Void.

Anyway, on to the actual question! Let’s start with Sandra and Carl. They’d definitely be shell-shocked by the news. I’m sure neither expected grandkids for a hot minute considering how much of a trainwreck Ben’s love life is. Confusion is also a definite. “How is my teenage son a mother to 14 moth children?” I also really think Sandra would freak a bit. Like, she’d jump to conclusions based on human culture (ie she’d think he knocked some random alien chick up) and just be caught between all sorts of emotions. After the shock and an explanation, they would accept the Little Chills without hesitation. Sandra especially would love them, tho I think she’d be a bit hurt that she didn’t learn about them for so long. Carl doesn’t like it when Ben keeps secrets, but I think he’d be more forgiving this time since he could understand why he’d be hesitant to tell them. They’d both understand that the only reason Gwen and Kevin knew before them was bc they were there for the incident, and I think in the end they’d make a deal with Ben for him to NOT keep anymore alien secrets, even if they are really strange by Earth standards.

Next, Natalie and Frank. Natalie is so done with this weird alien shit LMAO. She doesn’t even bother asking, she just accepts the reality that there are 14 aliens in the family now. Frank is more shocked than his wife by the news, but he comes to understand the situation once the explanation is given. Ken would probably be the most lost on it since he was only recently introduced to extraterrestrial stuff. I think he’d be the one to sort of freak instead of just sitting there utterly dumbfounded. I don’t think any of them would be against the Little Chills. Natalie probably wouldn’t be ecstatic that her family tree is even weirder now. I don’t think they’d really care that they weren’t told for so long. Actually, Ken probably would since it sounds like he was at least sorta close to the two cousins. But at the same time, he’d probably understand since he was away at college and it was alien stuff, something he’s not really involved in. 

Aight, I think that’s about all I got for this one! I hope the answer was sufficient! Also, sorry it took so long, I had a lot of thoughts but not enough time to type it all up in one sitting.

[medium-bloodcrafter-scion]

Hypothetical Astrology for Legendborn Characters: Moon Sign Edition

This post is for my fellow Legendborn Astronerd @multifairyus 💫⚔️ who provided really good possible Moon placements for Bree and Sel.

I promised I would get into it, and delay is not denial, I'm here to fulfill my promise!

Disclaimer(s):

- These are hypothetical and (if you pull up an ephemeris) may be impossible placements. If Tracy Deonn provides actual birth dates and times, I will revisit.

- Astrological interpretation varies from person to person and can be a bone of contention. I personally lean towards "traditional" astro, ie. only consider the 7 planets and not Uranus, Pluto, and Neptune. I just find it more symmetrical and easier for my brain to handle 🙃.

A quick primer:

The Moon represents: the Mother, women, the body, instinct, intuition, emotions, what you need to survive and thrive. It's one of the "big three" and can give a lot of insight into a person.

Ready? Let's go!

1. BREE - Aries Moon ♈ 🌕

This girl has fire in her eyes, veins, heart. I was actually surprised that she's a Scorpio, so assigning a fire Moon just seemed like the right thing to do.

* Instinctive reactions are quick, impulsive and fiery. Often leaps before she looks. Stuff happens/she does things before her brain steps in. She's quick-tempered but also quick to forgive. Her emotional vocabulary is most fluent when expressing anger/irritation.

* At best: Quick to react, emotionally transparent. She's a warrior, a weapon, a powerhouse.

* Mars (ruling Aries) can represent severance, among other things. The story starts with Bree literally being severed (Mars) from her mom (Moon) through her mom's death, which took place after a fight (also a very Mars theme).

* The theme of bodily (Moon) injury (Mars in Aries) is consistent throughout both books, with Bree literally being cut/burnt several times.

What Bree needs: to be in a space where she doesn't have to be hypervigilant. To be in a space where she isn't subconsciously anticipating that she'll have to defend herself from emotional or physical harm. To be in a space and be around people who make her feel safe.

2. SEL - Capricorn Moon ♑ 🌕

Capricorn Moon reminds me of Harlow's Monkey Mother Experiment 😭

* Saturn's baby. He's literally separated from his mother (Moon) to be raised by an institution (Saturn, ruling Capricorn, represents constructs, boundaries, institutions).

* Struggles with feelings of unworthiness/abandonment/neglect/self-loathing, so he's overly self-reliant, cold, and mean as a coping mechanism.

* Desperate for connection but doesn't know how to forge it (like wanting to be friends with Nick) because connection for the sake of it was not valued by the institution that "raised" him. Duty was valued instead.

* At best: Measured, calculating. Able to remove his emotions long enough to address the matter at hand. Realistic to an irritating, almost depressing degree, but it's often necessary.

What Sel needs: Reparenting (in therapy, or reparenting himself). He needs cuddles and head scratches and forehead kisses. He needs affection for its own sake. He needs someone to tell him they care, that they accept him as he is.

3. NICK - Scorpio Moon ♏ 🌕

*Nick is very complex. On the surface he seems like a "golden retriever," but when you dig deeper there's deeper, darker, more secretive layers, which is a very Scorpio Moon trait. He processes anger internally, but if not given room it can build up until he goes nuclear. He tends to alienate himself when he wants to process his feelings.

* At best, he's emotionally articulate, strategic, deadly at close range (much like a scorpion) and passionate.

* Scorpio is a fixed water sign, so Scorpio Moon really points to the making and breaking of emotional boundaries. For Nick, he experiences the violation of his physical and emotional boundaries early and continually - abusive training, invasive oaths, being forced into a role he never asked for. Another example is him feeling Sel's bloodlust whether he likes it or not (this is why that Max killing scene is so pivotal - it's Nick's own bloodlust, not a transmission from Sel). He's also forcibly separated from his mother in such a way that her emotional connection to Nick is broken... because he doesn't exist to her 😭.

What Nick needs: He needs space, quite simply (something he does express in the memory walk with Bree and Sel). He needs a safe emotional space to express/process his darker emotional urges without judgement. He needs room to rebuild those boundaries that were violated so early in his life.

COMPATIBILITY

Bree + Nick

A Scorpio Moon Nick would mean his Moon and Bree's Sun are in the same sign. Having the same Moon as Bree's Sun would explain the easygoing, comfortable call-response they have because Moon-Sun conjunctions in synastry can create instant feelings of connection. They would share a profound understanding of each other that forms a solid foundation for their relationship. Both having Mars-ruled Moons, they both instinctively understand the language of "fight," which is fitting for their positions as the descendants of Arthur and Lancelot.

Bree + Sel

Capricorn and Aries are square (at right angles) to each other. These two get under each other's skin, with Sel feeling like Bree imposes on him somehow and Bree feeling like Sel tries to block or restrict her from expressing her 'fight.' Would explain why they snipe at each other, but ALSO shows potential for some red hot sexual tension. On the bright side, Sel's Gemini Sun would grant him some sympathy towards Bree's 'need for speed' Aries Moon, while Bree's Scorpio Sun provides some much needed emotional expression for Sel's cold, dry Capricorn Moon.

Nick + Sel

Capricorn Moon and Scorpio Moon actually form a pleasant connection (sextile - easygoing, free-flowing). Let's assume a scenario where there's no more Oaths - Sel and Nick have the potential for a healthy emotional connection, provided Sel doesn't try to suffocate Nick's need to express his feelings and Nick understands that 'realism' is one of Sel's love languages. They would both need to let their guard down and give permission to the other to express themselves without fear of judgement.

I'll stop there because I could discuss this all day. 😊

[neims-skeleton-obsession]

16, 18 and 31 on Skulduggery for the ask game?

SKUG FUCK YEAH oh god these are gonna make me experience Thoughts And Feelings arent they /pos 16) deepest darkest secret they won’t even admit to themselves: oh this is. this is so evil i love you thank you im probably gonna end up spoiling book 15 be warned the first Plausible thing i thought of was that he did love china, for a little while. i hate the whole grandkids thing it doesnt make sense even chronologically but eh but no i do think he loved china for a bit, and not just because of the w. the whole her being beautiful as fuck- but because he really, truly cared about her. he probably would have felt so guilty about it if hed ever given it any thought- especially after he found out about some of her Worse Shit i think probably after wifey? like a few decades or so after wifey/the war. maybe. hm second thought: he thinks he is entirely unforgiveable. he says that he'll reclaim his family crest some day- but i do think he's lying. mostly to himself, but to val also. but realistically he has no plans to forgive himself, or accept others' forgiveness of him. he would deny that. i think. probably because admitting that to himself would make it that much harder to keep doing things- ie qquote un-quote good things. because if it wouldnt make a difference, it wouldnt change what hed done, what would be the point? 18) what they’d go to see a therapist about: i think he would have to be forced to go at gunpoint but id like to believe hed choose to go ghddgh but i think initially he'd go for. yknow how a fuck ton of characters point out him being an "angry man"??? thaaaaaat but it'd end up including his gEneral self loathing and all that traumatic sh- genuinely take a shot for every time he's been tortured and that doesnt include everything that's happened. ok. there's a lot. i don't know how if he'd actually be helped by going to therapy though. the systems arent that great for one and i think a lot of the gENeRAl sElf HatREd is. quite ingrained at this point rgyfhdgf.

31) jf they had a tumblr what would it look like: mmmm ok two thoughts: classic cars or getting into debates over true crime/crime. based fiction i dont remember what the genre is called i think all he'd figure out how to change is his pfp (probably just. set to a picture of his bentley or something oR. he'd deliberately leave it as default. or val would change it to something ridiculous and he'd give up trying to reset it), and his blog title n such. which i imagine would just be his name or, again, val setting it as something dumb and him not being able/bothered to change it erhgbegd. he'd either post an ungodly amount or very little at all (n just mostly reblogging stuff), probably the first, but he would use entirely correct grammar n punctuation, and probably correct other people on theirs in the tags. dickhead.

thank you for the ask!!! and sorry for the ramble(s)!!!!