#is it because I'm still stuck on ''maybe the closest thing to a brother in my entire life'' ? yes yes it is

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

I like how both @christian-latte-anon and I have gone full cracked in the head (positive) about sibling medias and now I need to go find and reblog that one ask response I wrote out about various Sibling Things that make me insane

[thegreenthepeacetheorange]

On Gale and patriarchy/toxic masculinity

I really want to do a reading and analysis of Gale's character as upholding patriarchal values and expectations of toxic masculinity because this stuck out to me as I listened to the CF audiobook before bed last night. From chapter 1 of CF:

I think of Gale, who is only really alive in the woods, with its fresh air and sunlight and clean, flowing water. I don't know how he stands it. Well ... yes, I do. He stands it because it's the way to feed his mother and two younger brothers and sister. And here I am with buckets of money, far more than enough to feed both our families now, and he won't take a single coin. It's even hard for him to let me bring in meat, although he'd surely have kept my mother and Prim supplied if I'd been killed in the Games. I tell him he's doing me a favor, that it drives me nuts to sit around all day. Even so, I never drop off the game while he's at home. Which is easy since he works twelve hours a day. 

Highlighted the part that really made my ears perk up. There's something to be said about Gale's stubbornness and his pride, which is very similar to Katniss's but he always takes it another step. Whereas Katniss learns to accept others' help, to forge these connections, Gale doesn't. It's giving "I'm the man and this is my job." For someone who wants nothing more than to help keep his family alive, it's weird that he refuses any help.

At first I thought maybe he doesn't want her money because it's from the Capitol and he despises it that much but she says it's hard for him to even have her bring meat in from hunting. Which points to his pride. He wants to be the provider. The one taking care of her. And it leaves Katniss in a kinda tricky place. It's like she's walking on eggshells around him here - purposely not dropping off game at his house when he's there.

Compare that with Peeta (which as a reader, like Katniss, you end up doing when either of these two guys come up) and it's so different. We know Peeta is strong and smart etc. He's not a hunter but he's also still a provider (of bread). And he has his own pride too. But going through the Games, Peeta and Katniss have a balanced push and pull. She helps him, he helps her. She takes care of him, he takes care of her. When he's hurt, he lets Katniss help him. He's not too proud to try and do it himself. Same with Katniss. She lets him take care of her when she needs it. And this is something they learn from the Games, particularly Katniss; how to accept help from others. And we see her development in this over the course of the trilogy.

Gale is interesting in that I really think he is one of the characters in the books who really doesn't grow as such. In my mind, he's rooted in place in many ways. From his ideals, to his thoughts, to his strategies, to his actions, he doesn't really develop much. He has moments - but a lot of those moments are tied to wanting to apologise to or be better for Katniss (and still he comes up short). I'm thinking of the moment where he makes her feel bad for defending her prep team in 13 and then later tries to smooth things over in the canteen by being kind. I believe that's something he did only for Katniss. She's his motivation to be different (but turns out that's not enough still.)

I'll maybe build on this another time but this passage made me think of what he says when he sees Katniss after Prim's death. "Does it matter? You'll always be thinking about it... That was the one thing I had going for me. Taking care of your family." Instead of apologising for helping to create such bombs, instead of asking for forgiveness, instead of crying with her, instead of expressing his sorrow and regret at what's happened, this is all he's able to say. Which is odd to me. To not even try to comfort your supposed closest friend at such a time. To say that's all you had going for you? It's this relationship of transaction. 'I take care of your family and hunt with you so you should end up marring me.' I really don't think that's far from what Gale expected.

I think there's even more to say about Gale as a patriarchal character but I've rambled on enough at this point. But his attitude and perspective throughout the book, while aligned with that of a traumatised young adult in the midst of oppression, also aligns heavily with patriarchal constructs. The way he thinks of war and people and human relationships, the way he thinks of fighting and death, and the way he thinks of doing whatever you have to do to achieve your end, no matter what happens or who gets hurt in pursuit of it. If anyone has any reading on Gale in these areas I'd be so interested in it!

[kaibutsushidousha]

Any piece of media you’ve changed your mind on significantly? Bonus points if the only thing that caused the change was passing of time and not other material.

I really rewatch, so I judge things mostly according to what my mindset was back when I experienced them. The closest I have to a proper answer here is how Katekyo Hitman Reborn and Fairy Tail were my least favorite manga around high school and years later I had a sudden "Oh, I understand this part now" realization about a few things a decade later.

Reborn's example is, unsurprisingly, about the final chapter. It made the extremely controversial decision of ending on Reborn musing about how Tsuna learned nothing and is still the same person he was in chapter 1, except with friends now. Everyone hated that because the overarching narrative provided plenty of evidence to the contrary and because if the statement was true, the manga would be calling itself a waste of the reader's time. That was a sentiment I shared immensely.

My random epiphany on this one was that the "Tsuna learned nothing" quote comes from the perspective of Reborn, the character who wanted to teach him to be a mob boss and a killer, so it's celebrating that Tsuna remained a good boy through and through. It's thematically consistent despite the poor communication. In hindsight, Reborn couldn't have ended any other way.

And Fairy Tail's case came from looking back at the series through the lens of its core theme of mourning. Zeref was the one character I always considered good despite the rest of the series, and his deal was ultimately that he got cursed because he failed to cope with his brother's death and the curse causes him to autokill everything around him until he learns to get over it. Throughout his long life, Zeref created many tools that were exploited by half of the villains that came before him, and looking in hindsight, all of those were tools meant to cheat and control death.

And these ideas delivered in one of the main villains are obviously reflected in the main characters as well. Gray kills and mourns his dad 3 times in addition to carrying the guilt of indirectly killing Ur because he had mourned his dad properly the first time. There's a timeskip that sorta only exists kill off Lucy's dad and make her deal with that. And most importantly to make FT feel thematically consistent, Natsu's initial goal to find his dragon dad is ultimately revealed to be a quest to finally accept he died.

Grief is a constant theme in the series, but its importance only becomes evident in the final arc. Which is not something I can complain about because the only reason I stuck with Fairy Tail until the end is because I liked Rave that much to trust it to have at least a great ending, and Rave is another manga whose main theme is prevalent but only gets super evident with the final arc. Maybe the great difference in enjoyment came down to simply reading Rave as a finished story and reading Fairy Tail as an ongoing story. Who knows?

Does that mean I like those two now? No. I never reread them, so my first experience is still what counts. But at least now I believe I have a more fair and good-faith perspective of their flaws. And maybe an interest in checking Eden's Zero after it finishes (I'm not checking if it already finished because I think this post is funnier if it already finished 3 years ago and I don't know about it).

[kudouusagi]

You know, watching episode 11 of bucchigiri, it was very difficult to see Zabu being beaten like that, poor thing. I wonder how they are going to end this story with just one episode, there are a lot of meaningless things I think I only see three alternatives. 1. an open ending with Matakara and Arajin making peace but going their separate ways (matakara) and maybe a 2nd season with arajin trying to get him to be a honki again. 2. Matakara and Arajin don't make peace and are murdered like Senya and Ichiya and they turn into geniuses and try to fight again like Senya and Ichiya. 3. For me, I most wanted Matakara's brother not to die and return and save Matakara from ruin. What worries me in the end is how they are going to make an acceptable and good ending for Matakara because he did a lot of bad things. What worries me are the consequences. sorry for the text.

It was hard to watch Zabu being beaten... I hope he's still alive because at the rate this shows going I'm not sure he is.

My problem with this story is they've kept all the actual plot for the end and so people lost interest before any plot even happened, but even the plot we've been given hasn't been explained well enough.

I still don't know what honki people actually are. What happens when they become honki people? Earlier in the series Arajin asked Senya if he was a honki person and he said he is a man who came the closest to being one. I started making a post about all the awkward translations in this series but I stopped (I got demotivated about the series in general, but I've also been having a lot of personal problems... I was hospitalized for my mental health for about a week this month >.>) I started like 10 posts about this series that have just been stuck in my drafts the whole time lol

Here's part of that post

So we saw they banned people from attempting to become honki people... but I have no idea why because nobody has become one before.... and I don't know what would happen if they did lol. I don't know how him and Ichiya then became majin either. I saw they got shot and died... and for other people to be able to use their power of strength, they must shoot themselves with the guns that killed them... why? Who knows.

Why did Arajin have to shoot himself again? I have no idea. I didn't see him loose the bullet he had. All that happened was he told Senya to go away. Is that all it takes to make him go away?? Arajin didn't even want Senya there the whole time, so why was he there at all? I don't know. But apparently he needed to shoot himself again to get him back lol. Up until then people had been having the bullet ricochet around the room so I didn't know what would happen if he just directly shot himself like that, but apparently that worked the same as it ricocheting.

So my theory is that the two genies will take over Arajin and Matakara's bodies... they'll fight... probably become honki people because nobody will be there to shoot people for trying to become honki people again, and then maybe we'll finally figure out wtf was wrong with Ichiya to begin with that he decided he had to fight Senya and risk getting killed to do it. I felt like he was possessed by the shadow thing like Matakara was afraid of because when Makatara was scared of it, it looked to me like it was inside of Ichiya.

Matakara thought the "monster" disappeared when he kicked it, but Ichiya just moved behind him and looked possessed.

But with the way things are going, I don't even expect this series to explain that. They've literally explained nothing.

[saturnniidae]

As someone who loves both httyd and wakfu I am BEGGING you to talk more about this

Well it wasn't much more than a passing thought I wrote down before i forgot it and I was gonna apologize and say I've not thought of much but character classes, but I blacked out and went into a frenzy.

So for character classes:

Hiccup: Eliatrope and Toothless is his dragon brother

Astrid: Feca or Cra (though I could maybe see her being a Iop too?)

Snotlout: Iop

Twins: Iops as well (I'd say most of Berk's population is)

I'm kind of stuck on what Fishlegs would be. huppermage? Maybe? Idk

Dagur: Sacrier

Heather: Sram

Undecided on what I'd want Viggo to be, or if I'm even going to include him but I'm open to any suggestions.

And for a Rotbtd version (bc I contracted that disease recently):

Merida: Cra

Jack: Rogue

Rapunzel: Eniripsa

But I don't have much more than that for this version rn.

And then I have some story ideas for it but I'll put them under the cut because it's kind of a lot

Berk is a a small coastline port village known for its fishing and inhabitants with ridiculous names and violent tendencies (most of them are Iops).

(Debating on its actual location but I can't for the life of me find a map for the World of Twelve that's actually labeled 💀)

Stoick is a Iop and chief of the village. He found Hiccup when he was an infant. He's never actually sat Hiccup down and given him the "you're adopted" talk, but they're both aware of it. This doesn't really have any strain on their relationship though (they love each other, but like in canon, are shit at actually showing it) the fights they have are over other things, mostly Hiccup's hazardous passion projects. And later, Hiccup's desire to leave Berk.

Hiccup is the village blacksmith's apprentice, but is often distracted with his own projects.

He is more focused on making inventions powered by wakfu than honing his own abilities beyond portal making (because of this, they often explode). as well as seemingly having a lack of interest in finding out about himself and what he is. Beyond the fact that deep down, he knows he is not human. He still wants to get out of Berk and dreams of exploring the World of Twelve.

Hiccup lost his left leg below the knee in an accident he indirectly caused when he was 14. Part of why he doesn't like using his powers.

(If you've watched the show, you'll know that when Yugo makes two portals and puts them in front of each other, it creates a beam of energy that essentially decimates whatever it comes into contact with. And iirc it's mostly been used on machines and such, so I don't think organic matter like bone muscle and flesh would stand a chance.)

Fishlegs is the closest thing he has to a friend. they'll eagerly talk about his inventions, until Fishlegs asks Hiccup to go more in depth on how his powers work, then Hiccup shuts him out. Usally after a few days of silent treatment things go back to normal and they act like it never happened.

Snotlout is Hiccup's cousin who used to bully him but has stopped (doing it outright anyway, ofc he's still rude and we love him for it <3) due to a begruding respect for Hiccup, not that he'll ever admit it (and perhaps out of fear, after all blowing your leg off and accidentally destroying half the village, intentional or not, is an impressive feat). The twins follow Hiccup around in hopes to see what disaster he'll cause next. They're the reason Hiccup moved his 'Workshop' out of the smithy and into a remote clearing in the forest miles away from the village proper.

Toothless is Hiccup's dragon brother and has been searching for Hiccup for years, but Hiccup is so out of tune with his wakfu their connection was almost completely severed and Toothless is unable locate him. Until recently Hiccup had no idea Toothless existed, beyond a lifelong feeling of something being very distinctly wrong and the occasional vague prodding sensation in the back of his head (Toothless trying his absolute hardest to get through to him).

I have no idea what I want to do for Astrid tbh. I want to do her justice which is why I'm so indecisive.

And I have nothing for Heather and Dagur beyond what their classes would be honestly. Something will come to me eventually though.

If anyone has any questions (especially abt wakfu if you're only familiar with httyd) feel free to shoot me an ask and I'd love to elaborate!

(Also a lot of this is subject to change if I have any better ideas)

[laugtherhyena]

@ninjagirlstar5 YEAH‼️Mary is straight up one of the nicest people in our cast i think? She's outward friendly to most of the characters as you can see in this silly chart.

Ramblings under cut tho maybe check out the cast post so that you know who I'm talking about (made by the same dude that made this chart template, hi avery)

So a thing about Mary is that she's really not that shaken with the whole termina festival thing? The horrors are the horrors but she's been struggling by her whole life to the point that she's desensitized to a lot of things + the insanity of the situation in Prehevil is a little beyond her comprehension, so even tho there are fucked monsters and crazy cultists running around while the moon tries to morph them into twisted versions of themselves she's watching that and sorta just going "Damn that's crazy" before continuing focusing on staying alive herself long enough so that the train passes by and she can leave (1st round survivors leave Prehevil by hopping on a cargo train wagon as it passes by the town)

She is one of the characters that keeps their cool through a majority of the festival and only moonschorches on day 3 morning after some nasty stuff happens. So pair that with her just being a nice person in general and you have Mary!

The worse people get in her chart is neutral + avoidant and that's because she's got a gut feeling that something's off about John and Hilda but she doesn't want to fuck around and find out so she just keeps her distance from them.

The other 3 she avoids are all people Mary does like quite a bit but none of them want to be around her for one reason or another; Damian and Claire are both rather reclusive people who have their minds set on escaping Prehevil alive and their own personal goals while Addison is kinda of a paranoid dude which makes him avoid a lot of people through termina in general. So Mary sees that and steers away not wanting to bother them (she is used to people avoiding her out of being disgusted by her presence seeing her as a filthy, stupid and untrustworthy street rat so this isn't anything new for her. None of these opinions applies to the dudes I just stated tho), which is kinda sad because she does like these people quite a bit. She is impressed by Claire and Addison's professions and would love to know more about those and has never been around a journalistic photographer or actor (She's seen tvs once or twice in random gigs she got over the years and was just absolutely mesmerized on how that little box has people on it), and she's heard a lot of good things about Damien from his brother.

She would have avoided Lola for similar reasons, she's nice to everyone but she's a bit of a cleaning freak so Mary's appearance bothers her quite a bit, but because Lola is not much of a fighter and is terrified of the situation they're in Mary sticks by to help. It's in the same vein as her being around Anatol and Ebba even tho they don't care much for her, she's seeing these 20 year olds with a lot of life ahead of them stuck in this hell on earth and takes upon herself try helping them even if she is aware of what they think of her.

Kit is a buddy tho, they're both people who grew up in the outskirts of society (albeit in wildly different settings) so they had a pretty harsh life which in turn means they got quite a bit in common :] she also chats and hangs around Matyas even tho she can't understand half what he's rambling about.

The 3 people left are the closest to Mary out of the whole cast, so much so that if certain events aren't prevented at least one of these people being alive is a requirement for her to make it out alive.

Mary and Amos both come from the orphanage, while they weren't necessarily friends back then, they did know each other during the time Mary still lived there, tho she can't remember that due to blocking out pretty much all her memories from her time in the orphanage out of trauma. What she can recall is really vague and hard to understand and the thought of setting foot there again terrifies her, this stuff is also the reason why she's afraid of the dark priests but she isn't scared of Amos due to the familiar feeling he evokes even if she can't remember knowing him prior to termina. They grow closer out of shared religious trauma and sorta look out for each other in a way.

As for Catherine and Leslie they're both people she's only met during termina that surprised her a bunch because she's so used to people with big important carrers like them to just ignore her existence entirely, so to see a doctor of sorts and a lawyer not only be unbothered by her presence but straight up like and treat her nicely it's just,, wow! "I never talked to someone so smart before!" Or "I never had someone take care of me before!" And I think she cherishes their company a lot through the festival.

[wutheringskies]

me thinking such angsty mdzs thoughts rn like do you guys realize Wei Wuxian remembers a memory of fondness from his parents? Then, he is thrust onto the streets and then into YMJ's hot and cold care where they argue everyday because of him. After sunshot campaign everyone was just waiting for him to fuck something up and he knew that too, that he had no actual support, that he never had any actual support ? I'm thinking of just how Wei Wuxian really gave until his very last to protect people - whether it be the Jiangs, the Wens, Lan Wangji, Mianmian, the cultivators against the Wens. Always kind. Always helpful. Always willing to offer everything he has, including his own flesh.

But for some reason i really can't remember such a true kindness shown to him in his first life. The closest thing is Wen Ning coming to Lotus Pier. Like, you know, actual kindness shown without previous misgivings? Maybe, when Lan Zhan ran into the Xuanwu first after he was injured by Su She. But these moments of kindness, of true kindness i feel are so few - and I just realized that gods. All of the people who did offer him tenderness died, or were invalid to be by his side.

thinking about how if Lan Zhan had even stayed by his side people would've turned onto Hanguang-jun. thinking of how the 33 discipline whips were the kindness of the Lan Sect and how otherwise he'd be executed for helping "an enemy."

no matter how I think about it the whole situation is so unjust and wrong lol. thinking of Wei Ying in those last three months (why is always three months of hell for him?) thinking over and over again of what he should have done, and yet he can't regret saving the Wens when he looks at A-yuan's face. He can't regret fighting the war. He can only blame himself for not being more powerful, he can't even regret the loss of his core, not then. He can only blame himself for not being inhuman, for being mortal and weak and fallible, or for being born to a lower class and yet he can't regret that when he remembers the kindness of his parents. that one fond memory.

idk I just think of him losing it going over the narrative again and again, trying to analyze and find ways - he must have thought of so many alternatives of how to protect them. he must have written the sacrificial ritual then - "I'll die to bring back a demon, someone so powerful, and he will protect them," and then he can't do that. he will throw the notes away as soon as he writes them. and god forbid, the granny comes and puts a blanket over his shoulder and tells him to rest he's going to break down because rest? what rest? when has he had an opportunity to rest?

he was nobody's true family, not a brother, not a father, not a husband. not a true cultivator. not a true fighter. he fought and fought and made one sacrifice after the other, chased one righteous cause after the other, caused such bloodshed and yet he's sitting there, knowing it's only a matter of time just like he's always known - and he can't even regret it fully. and he's going to wonder if he's the problem, that he should simply leave the world, and that it will be selfish because the Wens still live. stuck in a paradox of his own making, between his moral duties - when honestly, he would just stop fighting but no. until the last wen is alive he needs to keep fighting. he is simply not allowed to give up. he builds cenotaphs for everyone and then himself. when a-yuan asks him to promise he will never leave him like the others, he can't bring himself to lie.

endlessly, endlessly, stuck in a corpse hell, unable to die and unable to live, all empty inside with no kindness given. the women all weep and the men are scared as well. and he plays with a-yuan and tries to lighten the mood up. but he honestly has had enough. maybe he's the wrong one in the world. if so, he will gladly leave.

there is simply no reason anymore.

and god forbid if someone calls him child among all those aunties. because he's going to curl up and think how he's a father to a-yuan. how he went to collect the ashes of a lost sister and a brother and lost another sister and a brother. of how everyone kept asking him to back down. stop it. but if he does it doesn't help as well.

knowing he shouldn't have gone to Jin Ling's anniversary. knowing it was his fault for having affections towards shijie. he should have distanced himself completely. it would have at least gotten them more months... maybe, more years. but now he will never know.

so once again he can only blame his own heart that seeked comfort and happiness. so once again he thinks if he could use a sword he could have escaped, he could've flied. but if he could fly, yunmeng jiang wouldn't have been. on and on, knowing nobody will understand him, nobody he can talk to anymore to share his thoughts. three months of utter torment. just preparing, preparing, waiting. shaking in the nights unable to sleep. Wishing he could beg, that someone could just take this heavy weight off his shoulders for a moment, that some immortal would drop to the grounds, look at these innocent, kind people and say, "I'll save them."

but nobody comes until the seige does. and he's fighting for what he hopes is the last time yet can't bring himself to hope completely, prepared to fight however many times required to protect those who he is protecting. and he's watching the same Jiang disciples he's recruited kill the same Wens he has protected while his own body breaks. and he's hearing and seeing the absolute horror - losing this third home in just twenty years of age.

truly love was like a rope around your neck. truly, this world was cruel.

finally, after hours and hours, he is granted the release of death, at least.

and when he's brought back, he honestly just wants to distance himself, farm, have fun in the smaller joys of living, just one soul out of many, maybe raise some children, drink some good wine, die with preferably a whole corpse and move onto the reincarnation cycle, all his memories erased.

but no. he can't help it, even if his identity will be revealed he is once again making the same decisions.

because those weren't the wrong decisions.

once again, he pretty much does the same thing. it's just this time... there's bigger, more controversial fish to fry.

[swordsovereign]

"They're late", they're sitting on the railing, legs dangling above the endless, blue sky, gazing toward Stardust Town. They're not expecting a fanfare of any kind, but Feower and Tien had expressed wanting to see them off, and Wamdus had a new game she wanted to show, leaving them waiting. And waiting. And while it normally wouldn't bother them… Attention now focused on Seofon. Squinting, scrutinizing; You didn't do anything, did you? ╱ @toestalucia

Ouch. Tough love as always, wasn't it? Gran didn't have to finish their sentence for the sword sovereign to know exactly what they were thinking.

❝ The Eternals aren't really known for being on time, you know. It's almost impossible to get the entire group in one place- ❞ It feels like a pathetic defense, because it is. The Eternals don't show up to things that Seofon invited them to, but they'd never bail on Gran. It was something that ... well, he was special enough that practically everyone he'd ever met poked fun at him, and he'd learned to roll with the punches ...

❝ I'm sure they'll be here soon. Feower and Tien know how to get out of trouble and Wamdus is still one of the Six Dragons, even if she picked the form of an innocent kid. ❞

Now there's worry. He does his best not to show it and chooses to drape himself against the railing as if he hadn't a care in the world. At ease, because he was supposed to be at ease. People stuck around longer when they didn't know how much baggage he had. When they didn't look too close. ❝ I definitely didn't make them late on purpose, I swear! ❞

❝ Maybe they're just waiting for me to leave- though that sure hurts too. Feower and Tien are the closest to siblings that I've got. What a mean way to treat an older brother! ❞ That was more like it, more like him- the Seofon that everyone knew and couldn't stand- And he really hadn't done anything this time (and that was why he was so worried-) ❝ If you're worried, we can go look for them, but if they bail when they see me, I might cry. ❞

[picturethoughts]

** Iron Flame SPOILERS might come ahead **

It's been roughly two weeks since I finished the book. As it always happens when I finish some story I love the hangover is real, so I've been back and forth between fanfiction and fourth wing and Instagram reels before actually going for a second read of Iron Flame. I've been trying to avoid theories in general cause as much as I want to know what people think, I'm also scared to know what those theories actually are. But I guess after stumbling upon contrasting opinions about the actual book (and not where the story might go from here) I am really curious to know the fandoms general opinion about the story. The expectations vs reality kind of thing. Because I'm thorn. I've been thorn and I can't make up my mind. A friend of mine asked me before finishing her read if I was disappointed, and I said no, not really. And now I don't know anymore if that's true.

I started Iron Flame as, I'm guessing, the majority if not all of the readers who love this world and this characters from the beginning, with my expectations on the roof and that nervous, anxious feeling in my stomach. Part one was fourth wing all over again. The built tentions were good, great even, I was at the edge of the seat so to speak, there was a good pacing, kinda similar to FW in my opinion. But the Violet butting heads with Xaden over and over and over again over the same issue was beginning to be a bit much. Kinda disappointing even. Because I was expecting mature Violet, as she was before, and open Xaden as he promised, so I was a bit confused about the sudden change in direction. Yes she felt betrayed and hurt, but she understood his choices and the why... I wasn't expecting her to fall right back but I expected her to reason and figure out in her head the best plan to go forward, and I feel like she got stuck. And we can say Liam's death affected her more deeply maybe but the thing is she never dives into those feelings does she? She never truly speaks of it. She saw one of her closest friends die in her arms and she does not talk about it. I expected a conversation or more, an emotional growth specially with Xaden. The same thing could be said about finding her freaking brother alive. I don't think they really truly had the conversations needed to evolve from that kind of information, I don't think she processed it in her core. And that was so confusing to me.

And then we end part 1. Violet hallucinates about Liam, that she doesn't mention to anyone, which, again, I expected her to confront that situation at some point with someone, to mention it to Xaden at least. She also gets separated for god's know how many days from Tairn, he didn't have access to her mind and seeing how absolutely out of his mind he was when she was dying at the end of FW, I expected him to be breaking the fucking school in search for her, and when Xaden finally came to rescue her, the dragons were relieved of course but I didn't get that same emotion, that powerful feeling that Tairn evoques when speaking of their bond. I thought we were going to have kinda of a reunion, an explanation, a confrontation, a virtual hug and cry and she's fine and she's right there with them again, in beginning of part two. So I was expecting and waiting, and one more page, one more subject, one more step moving on from that, and no one talks about it. It's kind of mind blowing really, when she experienced not one but two traumatic experiences and it's swept under the rug just like that. And I. Don't. Get. It. It doesn't make sense to me and it frustrates me and please someone explain it to me.

I won't get into details of part two cause the pacing was a lot more slow-ish, I still felt there was not enough real bonding between the dragons and Violet, her relationship with Xaden felt stagnant and that final battle was underwhelming, tbh. Less confusing to follow than in FW, so kudos to the author, but still really underwhelming. Superficial and yeah, I guess disappointing.

So I guess after all that I do feel disappointed in the work but mostly because I don't think it did the characters and that amazing world justice. I'm one of those readers who gets really immersed into the story, the characters become my people, and I feel like they didn't have enough of anything to be more than they were last book. And that's really really sad. And it pisses me off, but mostly sad, and frustrating.

*sigh* well that's it. I'd really be grateful if someone could share their pov when they closed the last chapter. The hangover is really real and it's here to stay.

[choices-binglebonkus]

I'm not a Jocelyn fan either. She's toxic and vile, but I find her more compelling in a lot of ways than say, Lily Ortiz – especially when the writers want the readers to see Lily as this pure as the driven snow angel who can do no wrong. Jocelyn is horrible, but she did put her life at personal risk to save others at Homecoming paid a steep price for it. She was also hit hard by Cody's death, so there's some humanity there too, even if it's just a drop.

There’s a lot to this ask so I’m going to tackle the littler bits first, starting with the ILITW cast and their weaknesses.

The It Lives characters are all incredibly flawed in their own ways. Their stans don’t think they’re innocent: they acknowledge and embrace those flaws because those are what make the characters so human.

Ava’s biggest flaws are that she’s kind of reckless, and that she’s sarcastic toward people who are easily angered which endangers her.

Andy’s biggest flaw is that he gets angered very quickly, though he has good reasons for it, he still does fly off the handle at times. Anger leads to rash and not very well thought out decisions, which can very easily get you hurt or killed, especially in a horror series.

Stacy’s biggest flaw (which we do see going away as the book goes on) is her fixation with appearance and status.

Lucas’s biggest flaws are unwillingness to ask for help and biting off more than he can chew, which are also behaviors that are dangerous enough in real life, but potentially deadly in horror series.

I can’t really say what Dan’s biggest flaws are because we get so little interaction with him in the series, and all of Noah’s flaws can be attributed to the trauma he’s faced throughout his life, as even before Jane died, his parents had a lot of issues with their marriage, which was something he was aware of and tried to shield his sister from.

If Noah dies and takes Jane’s place, the ILITW crew is shown and stated to be completely unaware of it, the MC being the only person who knows of Noah’s true fate. Given this, the same could probably be said if the MC dies and takes Jane’s place. It’s not that the ILITW crew used the MC: they simply aren’t aware of the true nature of their death.

And given all the chaos and trauma that took place in the book, it’s perfectly understandable why the ILITW crew would want to move on in their lives without revisiting the ordeal more than they need to. I’d probably do the same. However, they’re more than willing to help out in ILB, and they still meet for pizza every year so they never fall out of touch and never forget what happened and those they lost.

It also makes sense why the MC can’t and won’t let go of their supernatural experience. Jane, their best friend, died right before their very eyes, was stuck as a shadow monster for a decade, and then Jane’s brother Noah (who arguably becomes MC’s closest friend as a result of their shared loss) dies and takes her place. The MC probably feels some survivor’s guilt and feels as if they’re to blame for what happened, and wants to make it right by “fixing” things if they can, which is why they’re devoted to becoming a monster hunter/tracker.

None of these characters are perfect. Absolutely none of them. But what person is? To have a flawless, completely innocent character who has done absolutely no wrong is completely unrealistic.

Moving onto Lily, who I’ll admit isn’t my favorite of the bunch.

It is true that the ILITW crew is dealing with some heavy shit. Abuse, blackmail, estrangement, familial neglect, PTSD, struggles with identity, struggles with ostracism. That is very true.

However.

Lily’s big life-or-death issue isn’t merely that her crush doesn’t like her back, that’s kind of an oversimplification. She’s mercilessly bullied because she’s fat (and maybe there’s a bit of homophobia thrown in there too, I’m not actually 100% sure) and she’s preyed upon by her crush and her crush’s friend who think manipulating Lily and humiliating her on homecoming night is funny.

Lily is not a physically strong character. She can’t fight, she runs away, and is generally no help in a fight. But not every character can realistically be an action hero and badass. She also suffers from low self-esteem from the bullying (which she mentions occurred throughout her childhood as well) and has little to no confidence.

To be frank, to say she thrives off of playing the victim comes across as victim-blaming.

Lily does shove Ava and yell at her for almost killing Jocelyn in the fight, and I’m not trying to excuse that because that’s pretty harsh, but I’d probably chalk her reaction up more to adrenaline and fear than trying to pin all the blame onto her. Lily did foreshadow early on in the book that the monster could enthrall Ava using her powers and was probably aware that the monster had some form of control over her during the fight.

Additionally, she doesn’t seem to give Jocelyn a free pass either: she was visibly scared and upset during the fight where Jocelyn had the upper hand and after all is said and done, the principal is the one who tells her (and Stacy) to help Jocelyn to the nurse’s office.

Lily doesn’t blame Ava and doesn’t hold any rancor over the fight after everything has settled down. Her reaction is pretty much on par with everyone else’s emotions in the ILITW crew after the fight: fear, helplessness, and guilt. I mean, she almost watched someone get strangled to death in front of her.

She does acknowledge the possibility that Britney changed and began treating her better because of Redfield, but doesn’t want it to be true. She acknowledges it and probably deep down knows it’s true, but still wants to give Britney a chance because they used to be close in childhood. She even states at one point that Britney used to defend her from bullying when they were young. Lily wants to give Britney a chance to change because she remembers all those fond memories as kids, but also, her confidence is so depleted from the years of bullying that she just wants someone, anyone to show some semblance of care for her, even if it isn’t completely genuine.

Hell. I’ve been bullied throughout my whole life, and I’ve dated people who treated me like absolute shit just because they paid attention to me. Lily is absolutely the type to do the same. I empathize.

Should Lily survive the events of ILITW, she goes on to create a successful indie video game with a sequel in the works. That didn’t surprise me because she mentions having gone to a coding camp, and she also had a 4.5 GPA in high school. She’s used her wildly smart brain and incredible drive to find her own success and further her own life, just like everyone else from the ILITW crew.

Which is why your statement about everyone else bettering their lives “while she gorges on pizza” comes across as incredibly and unapologetically fatphobic.

Lily is not my personal favorite. She’s actually my least favorite of the ILITW crew. But every character brings something to the group. Lily is timid, meek, and suffers from a lack of confidence. She’s not a fighter and she’s frequently terrified throughout the book.

But she still helps the group. She helps research, she helps obtain the hospital records when the group visits Dan, she risks life and limb to go into the woods and perform the binding ritual, and she does it again to save Andy. She faces her fears time after time after time.

So in a way, though Lily is fearful and afraid throughout the book, she’s actually the bravest character of them all.

[jaded-but-queer]

Ships in the rewrite that I’ll use ✨

Fluttershy - Discord (obviously lmao)

Twilight Sparkle - Sunset Shimmer

Rarity - Applejack

Pinkie Pie - Cheese Sandwich

Rainbow Dash - Vapor Trail (I'm debating about this one but the more I think about it the more I like it)

Minor ships in the background will probably include

Chrysalis - Mantis (they'll be much more strained than in DOD/SILOD due to their complicated history with each other)

Flash Sentry - Sunburst (minor but I might have their child be an attendant to Lily Sterling, and I adore the headcanon of Sunburst being the younger brother of Sunset Shimmer)

Soarin - Braeburn (a classic ship that will be very minor and probably only be mentioned a few times by the twins who will probably still be biologically RD and Soarin's; in this rewrite, they'll have mutually broken up not long after the events of BOD)

Bonus! How I might structure Screwy's friends in this rewrite

Apple Blossom as I mentioned in my previous post will be redesigned into Bloomin' Apples and will be the daughter of Sugar Belle and Big Macintosh. She is now a unicorn and isn't on the best of terms with Screwball, and they consider each other to be nuisances (Screwy can't stand Bloomin''s unpleasant and stuck-up attitude while Bloomin' just finds Screwball to be annoying to be around and has a habit of giving them backhanded compliments whenever they see each other); ironically she gets along quite well with Mothball after they first meet and regularly hang out. She and Thunder had an on and off again relationship before she broke it off for good, and things are currently very awkward between them; it doesn't help that their parents are extremely close to each other.

Thunder Dash and Lightning Dash's names have been tweaked to now be Thunder Blast and Lightning Blitz, and as mentioned earlier they'll still be RD and Soarin's kids but their parents haven't been together since they were still infants. Yes, this means Prism won't exist but I honestly didn't care much for her lmao. Lightning is the no-nonsense straight man to Thunder's lovable himbo (Joey Tribbiani is my best comparison for him) and they care very deeply about each other despite their petty spats. Lightning is still very close to Screwball and loves them like a sibling while Thunder won't be as close to Screwy like in the OG but still considers them a close friend.

Cinnamon Stick and Cinnamon Roll will still exist since I adore them but I'll be tweaking Cinnamon Roll's name into Cinnamon Bun just for funsies. Now personally, don't ask why this is just what I thought of while rethinking their characters, I love to portray them as being Hispanic/Latino-based (if I had to be specific I'd say Central American, maybe Nicaraguan or Guatemalan); I've even named their late birth mother Dulce D'Leche. They both have much more noticeable mental scars from their childhood, in case you don't remember their bio mother passed away after the family bakery caught fire and their bio dad abruptly left without explanation (boy will I have a fun time explaining DF's hidden explanation for this in my next post), Cinnamon Bun tries her best to hide it but has times where she can't help but grieve for her mother that she never got to know since she was just a baby, and Cinnamon Stick will be very quiet and reserved with a knack for being sarcastic/rude for no apparent reason whenever he's uncomfortable around others; he's extremely sensitive when it comes to the topic of his birth parents, and Screwy's the only one who's witnessed his tears for his beloved mother and his rage towards his coward of a father for leaving them. Cinnamon Stick will be Screwball's closest friend right after Lily Sterling and I imagine Screwy has a soft spot for Cinnamon Bun and treats her like a baby sister whenever she visits.

Mothball now has a long pretentious name because that's my favorite thing to do: The Crown Prince of the Changeling Empire, Io "Mothball" Insecta von Roachanov III; Mothball is a nickname from childhood that just stuck, it's changeling slang for a "rambunctious/temperamental grub (infant)". He will have extremely low self-esteem as a side effect of his mother's treatment and the isolation he faced growing up, and he'll have the habit of questioning compliments like "... you really think that?/I don't know about that" and tends to doubt his own intelligence. I mentioned in my first post that the changelings are an extremely conservative matriarchy, and this has its effects on him when it comes to social interactions and how he believes he must hold himself as a male of his species. Luckily for him, Screwball is all for breaking rules and social norms and helps him come out of his shell not long after they first meet (they'll be young adults when they officially meet in this rewrite and have had past romantic relationships/immature crushes). His infatuation with Screwball develops fast and I like to use the phrase: He fell first but they (screwy) fell harder. They absolutely adore the hell out of each other once they get their issues sorted out and will drop almost anything if the other needed them.

BTW I might also try and portray Mothball as being on the autism spectrum, something that he himself won't find out until adulthood since I can imagine Chrysalis (with her ancient and overtly conservative ass) doesn't really believe in it being a real thing her own son could have.

Oh and Dinky has been Thanos snapped out of existence because I found her character to be very underwhelming lmao and her role will be replaced by my redesign for Princess Flutterby Lily, Princess Sterling Lily. Sterling will have a lot of history with both Screwball AND Mothball; her role in my rewrite will be based very loosely on the role of Rosaline from Romeo and Juliet, and if I had to describe her personality it would be Angelica Schuyler/Isabela Madrigal. She holds herself to an extremely high standard and is considered by many to be far too selfless, just like her mother, and doesn't quite know what she wants to do with her life outside of being the crown princess of the crystal empire.

[nerves-nebula]

So I'm the eldest and I love all my siblings but god ever since I moved out my brother has been such a lil shit to our youngest- back when I lived there I was always the one to deescalate situations (in general not just my brother)- and he in general wouldn't behave that way when I'm around (i always thought its cause me and him are close but once I talked to mom about it and she says that he probably doesn't because he's scared of me... which is not great- I have to admit when the two of us were little I was a lil shit the same way he is now - I only got my shit together at 14- 15 because I realised that there had to be one responsible person in the household and it wasn't going to be our parents- also I just didn't want my siblings to hate me after I died. But since me and brother are the closest in age he remembers more of that time when I sucked than our other siblings do - so I shouldn't be surprised he is behaving similarly especially since he never had to go through the same crisis that i did at 15 (thats not even getting started on how our parents have affected all this)) but that doesnt change the fact he's being a lil bitch to my sister!

And I can't go tell him to knock it off- I have been bullied in school before I'm not dumb- a figure of authority telling a bully to stop it is just gonna make the bully be pissed that the person they're bullying snitched

Idk- he'll be moving out in 2 years so she won't have to put up with him after that but I still feel like I should fix the situation- I want to shake him and tell him "I got my shit together why can't you!" But it would be a bit rich coming from me

He seems to be at least semi aware of it- he tends to avoid people after doing shit like that- but he never apologises and that still sucks!

Tldr I'm very used to being the one responsible for fixing things in my family , but now I have moved and I can't do that and I'm very frustrated about it

Idk, I want to ask if you have any ideas but I know that would be a bit much and I already dumped so much on you- I'm very sorry about that- if you want to ignore this ask feel free to do so

i dont have any ideas, sorry. though my oldest sister might hahahh. that was more their role than mine. for what its worth i feel a similar kind of guilt about moving away cuz my little sister is stuck with mom and my oldest brother and it's frankly terrifying to think about that situation for too long.

my oldest sister has made a lot of progress reconnecting with us though through honest & emotional conversation. they've apologized for what they've done and they've worked on making sure we all don't, like, kill ourselves or something. so maybe you could start with that?

like, instead of starting out shaking his shoulders and yelling at him you just start by apologizing for the way you acted and stuff. and if you can try to segue into a level headed, non-accusatory conversation about why he shouldn't treat his sister this way.

idk i am not incredibly smart when it comes to this stuff so if that goes bad you can't blame ME cuz you're the one taking advice from a depressed art student on tumblr afasdfsdf

[july-19th-club]

been a long time since i watched one-season wonder 'the society' a cancelled netflix show. first of all it's still a great early kathryn newton vehicle. second of all i'm like 90% sure the father of the baby is will. based solely that he and becca were awkward at the breakfast table in the episode when she finds out she's pregnant. thirdly on this watch it seems like grizz has had a crush on sam the whole time, most likely because he was the only out gay person at their school which is catnip to the closeted teen who needs something to believe in, and had grizz gotten his wish and moved away and never come back he'd have had a college experience full of dudes of all stripes and flavors and never thought twice about that funny Deaf guy from his high school but since they are now stuck in pied piper limbo together with 200 of their closest high school classmates, it's pretty much an inevitability. and fourthly campbell is a very good villain, who, although the threat of him can come across heavy-handed at times, is fabulous to watch in the early episodes as he lays the groundwork for later problems. his manipulation of harry is extremely obvious to everybody but harry, but nobody can do anything about it because a) harry doesn't listen and b) they don't want to risk the full force of campbell's destructive energies coming down on them. his manipulation of elle is also easy to see coming, but it's also far subtler if, like elle, you don't see him around his family or the other people he toys with. if you met him as she did, as a relative stranger who mostly spent time with you alone, you might fall for it for a while before it started feeling wrong. sure, all of his smiles look slightly insincere, but maybe he just has one of those faces. he's gentle with his hands, he pays you compliments, he's being patient. so you let down your defenses a little bit as he seems to prove himself worth your trust. and THEN he Fucking Gets You. same thing with cassandra, who's known him all her life and therefore has an idea of what he's like, but who still underestimates his ability to get multiple guys antagonized against her right off the bat just by behaving in a smarmy, skeptical manner. she sees him as 'my dick cousin, who used to give the worst noogies,' not as 'a dangerous man who is perfectly happy helping our entire fragile society collapse if it makes it easier for him to play with people'. even his own brother, who has known since a very early age that campbell can and will someday kill someone, never tells anyone about his own fears until it's unavoidable. part of that is the fear, of course - watching your sibling torture birds as a kid will do that - but part of it may even be that he doesn't think other people don't see it. after all, it's so obvious! but everybody has bigger problems and by the time it's clear that he's part of all of them, it's too late.

[tired-reader-writer]

Since I'm stuck unable to draw for now, I'm gonna focus my restless energy on AU headcanons instead bc clearly that's the logical thing to do:

The clan has a bunch of healers, yeah? They have a roster of teams and stuff and they have a scheduled structured sort of thing for patrolling the villages within Shapur's family lands to offer healing services. The duration kinda varies depending on how far a particular group is travelling.

Teen!Isfan was part of those teams, not sure if he continued to participate in the tradition as he grew older, as his duties as heir sort of took up more of his time, but by the time Shapur has to leave for Sindhura he is not part of it anymore.

However, Arslan still very much is!

What this tradition does is that it helps build a good relationship between the clan and the local folk, as well as between the ruling family and the civilians and the clan as Shapur clearly approves of it and his two children actively participate in this.

After Arslan is deemed strong and well enough to walk long distances again post-Ecbatana, he asks to be given permission to get back to work again. His brother agrees hesitantly, but not before being scolded by Farangis for hovering too much, lol.

It was agreed that Arslan's group (him, his milk brother, a couple other healers, plus Elam who was curious) would journey to only the villages closest to the castle though, for concern of his health.

Elam thought Arslan would ride a horse, he's kinda surprised he's gonna walk throughout the entire trip, even if it's only for close villages.

(the ones venturing beyond Shapur's family lands, they'd ride, or maybe they'd just ride a cart)

Arslan just says “ah well it's been like this always, we can hitchhike a ride on some wagon or something if I get tired”

He wears smth like his #2 outfit from the design sheet for stuff like this

It's also a good opportunity to gather rumors and information

So that's one part of it

Remember how I mentioned the villages building fortified walls?

For the project to start, Isfan and village chiefs/representatives would probably have to stamp out the details together, dunno where, maybe in the castle, maybe in one of the villages, unclear still

Arslan also travels round the villages for this as well, to see how things are coming along, to boost morale, as Isfan's representative. He rides a horse this time around. He also wears the family colour, smth like his design #1 from the sheet.

Kazai kinda occupies a steward-like role in the castle? He's surprisingly good at managing the household staff. He knows how to take care of a household (even if the castle is larger in scale than what he's used to), to care for gardens and livestock, to organize people, to prepare a feast, and to entertain.

Arslan was encouraged to pursue his interests and hobbies in this AU, while there's a loose set of expectations to live up to as a son of a noble household even if not by birth, he's not in so rigid a station as a Crown Prince or even heir to these lands, he's pretty much given more freedom here than in canon. He's in a grey area between two cultures, and so receives education from both. He mostly learns what would enable him to eventually take Kazai's role as a pseudo-steward kind of figure, to maintain the castle and inventory and stuff. Mostly background work but hey, both uncle and nephew enjoy it.

I guess that sort of leading the household staff, maintaining the castle, preparing feasts, that sort of stuff would normally be taken care of by the lady of the household with the aid of stewards, but there's no lady and... Kazai is the lord's spouse so yeah.

Eihon... dunno where exactly to put her yet, maybe she lives outside the castle in the clan village, maybe she is called to live in the castle so that she can teach Isfan and later Arslan, I still don't know. She is a village chief, though.

Isfan learns the art of healing under Eihon, and some sort of craft, because the clan values craftsmanship and creation. He was encouraged to learn something, as sort of a hobby.

Kazai likes to take his kids (the 22-trio, Ranna, Arslan) out on roadtrips of sorts to nearby woods to teach them how to navigate forests and mountains and how to survive in the wilds if need be.

Kazai is very good at teaching, and often displays this pure-hearted, childlike elation at watching his disciples fumble for a solution to a problem together, heads gathered and cooperating.

Pretty sure Farangis is being taught with the aim of her eventually becoming clan chief? or at least the chief of the healers.

Not sure what role Gieve occupies. Courier definitely, info gatherer, errand boy LMAO

Ranna currently lives in the village, not in the castle, though she and Arslan are close friends.

Kubard, Merlaine, and Irina and ber entourage arrive at Gorgan just as they're beginning to build fortified walls?

Man I really want Merlaine to meet Arslan. I need to make it happen.

I don't know how to end this.

So uh, here, have this... thing.

[b0rusxmi]

Himawari's Lover??

Himawari, our lovable character. She is by far the cutest and strongest character in Boruto. But she is growing up, meaning she's falling in love.

From the start of the series, we've seen Himawari interact with Yamanaka Inojin and most fans speculated that they would be together, yet there was a new character introduced in the manga & anime, except in the manga, he finally met Himawari, whereas the anime is taking their sweet time for their meeting. Straight away, Daemon noticed massive chakra coming from her, which could mean she has a connection with Kurama.

Now, remember, Daemon and Eida can't age, so they're stuck 16 & 10. Now, of course, most people started shipping them.

Of course, most of the fandom still ship InoHima, but I do ship DaeHima. They just seem to have more chemistry. I know, they've barely had an interaction, but, I mean, their interactions have a lot of meaning. Daemon knows there is more to Himawari than meets the eye, but we have seen Inojin generally care for Himawari and protect her, like in Boruto Two Blue Vortex chapter 2. Now, I don't mind InoHima, but I feel like it'll be weird because of Inojin being one of Boruto's closest friends. Boruto has already (when Daemon met Himawari) assumed Daemon liked her and said (and I quote) "Big bro would never approve", so I feel like Kishi might be setting up their love story, but I could be wrong.

But them two aren't the only ones posing as Himawari's love interests. There's also Norimaki Ehou, Himawari's classmate and teammate for the Academy trial thing.

They're in the class and seem to have chemistry. Now, I believe that Himawari would either end up with Daemon or Ehou, otherwise, why else would they add Ehou? And I'm pretty sure Ehou and Itomaki Yuina were created by fans.

But there is one more (that I know of) — Kawaki. People have started to ship Kawaki and Himawari a bit and I must admit, they would have strong and cute kids and would be a cute couple.

But for now, KawaHima and InoHima have more interaction and Ehou just seems to be there to form a love triangle (like every series needs). Daemon, if he and Himawari had more interaction, then maybe more people would ship them, but I really want Daemon to age, but I guess he can't. I also don't believe KawaHima would happen because 1) Kawaki's her adopted big brother, 2) the age difference. Kawaki's 14 (18-19 in Two Blue Vortex) and Himawari's 10 (13-14 in Two Blue Vortex).

But it's so cute to see Himawari fall in love. I can't wait to see who she ends up with. But for now, it looks like either InoHima or DaeHima might be canon.

[tending-the-hearth]

Been reading and loving your Narnia thoughts (you might have noticed). Do you have any opinion on Caspian's relationship with the Pevensies? Like how he has no family and feels possibly slightly out of place in the beginning of Prince Caspian and by Dawn Treader he's treating Lucy and Ed and even Eustace to a degree as family

oh my god YES I DO

god, you're so right, they ARE his family, he says it at the end of "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" to Eustace, Edmund, and Lucy. They're the closest thing he has to a family, they're his siblings, he hasn't got anyone else, and I think that really affects how he interacts with each of them!

so i think Caspian's relationship with the Pevensies is SUPER interesting, and i'm going to break it down with each sibling!!

Peter:

obviously, from the get go, there's resentment and tension between Caspian and Peter. Peter spent the beginning of the second movie showing how desperately he wants to go back to Narnia, how desperately he wants to return to his people and take care of them. When he finally does get to return, it's only to see that they don't need him anymore, and he's basically been replaced by Caspian.

the entire battle in the castle scene shows their relationship REALLY well, and I think it does a good job of showing their separate experience. Peter, of course, knows how to lead an army, he knows how to launch attacks. Caspian's really not familiar with being in an actual battle, and it's shown in the mistakes that he makes. At this point, Caspian's still a rival for Peter, and he's angry. His people have died because of those mistakes, and maybe Peter remembers his first few years as king, remembers the Narnians that he lost because of a few foolish mistakes, and hates that he sees himself in Caspian.

then, their relationship shifting into something more friendly after Caspian's nearly enthralled by Jadis. Once again, Peter's seen himself in Caspian, but more importantly, he sees Edmund in Caspian. He sees the same fear, the same desperation in Caspian that Edmund had the first time he entered into Narnia.

Peter giving the final blow to Caspian during the duel is a MASSIVE moment for them both. First off, it's a parallel to the "not me. him." scene between Peter, Edmund, and Trumpkin at the beginning of the movie. It's also Peter acknowledging Caspian's place, and the passing of the sword, both in this moment and at the end of the movie, is Peter showing that he's grown and understands what's happening.

So while they don't become as close as Peter and Edmund, or as close as Caspian and Edmund, I do think that their friendship could have been something SO much closer had they had a little more time! Caspian's never gotten to have an older brother, so I can absolutely see Peter mother henning the HELL out of Caspian because ofc he gets stuck with two dark-haired self-sacrificial idiots as younger brothers

Susan:

Their relationship is SO frustrating to me, because i absolutely think they would have been better off just giving Caspian and Susan the same enemies to friends plot line that Caspian and Peter got.

Like, I struggle to find things I like about their relationship, because I really don't like the romantic subplot. It doesn't make sense, especially because Caspian finds his canonical love interest in the next movie, so it doesn't even matter.

I would have loved to see a Caspian who's grown up with a little hero crush on Queen Susan the Gentle, who's transformed her into this ethereal being in his mind. Then, when they meet, she's his age, and that hero worship lessens as they get to know each other. Give me a Susan who's had to endure countless marriage proposals from Narnian nobles, who has boys in England flirting with her, but Caspian doesn't do any of that. He genuinely wants to be her friend without any ulterior motives! Give me platonic soulmates Caspian and Susan!

AND NOW ONTO MY FAVORITE RELATIONSHIPS THAT CASPIAN HAS!!!!!

Edmund:

Their relationship is so special to me. Like, they easily could have used Caspian to replace Peter, personality and actions and all, but Caspian and Edmund just have a separate relationship, and it really gives me the vibes of how Peter and Edmund must have acted together during the Golden Age!

Their swordfight on the Dawn Treader is one of my favorite moments, because you can tell they're just goofing around and having fun! They're laughing and grinning, and there's no tension.

Also, the entire subplot with Peter's sword, with who Peter's successor will be is so perfect. Edmund hiding his resentment about Caspian getting Peter's sword, to him showing his true emotions during the golden pool scene, to Caspian giving him the sword for the final battle, it really fits with them reconciling with each other.

I also really love the little nuances between them, like how Caspian always calls Edmund "Ed", how he comforts Edmund when they think Eustace is dead, the way he shouts Edmund's name when Eustace grabs him, how Edmund's the first one Caspian shakes awake when Lucy's missing, just everything is so well done.

My favorite Caspian and Edmund scene is probably when they're preparing for the battle, when Caspian helps Edmund with his armor and says "I want you to know I think of you as my brother, Ed", before giving Edmund Peter's sword.

Also, I think it's really important to note that both Caspian and Edmund's fathers play a large role in who they are, and their big decisions: Edmund's loyalty to his father is what prevents his relationship with Peter from growing until he understands Peter's struggles, and Caspian's desperation to please his father's memory holds him back until he's able to let go and learn to be a better king at the end with Aslan.

Lucy:

I wish so badly that we got more moments between Lucy and Caspian in "Prince Caspian"! Like how I wish Susan and Caspian's relationship had looked like, I would have loved to see something similar between Caspian and Lucy.

Caspian admiring Queen Lucy the Valiant, her being this mythical figure for him, and then he meets her, and his Big Brother Instincts™️ go into overdrive!

Their relationship in "Dawn Treader" makes me so emotional. Like, Caspian is truly another big brother to Lucy, and the fact that she's the one he goes to when he spots them in the water, and she immediately knows it's him by his voice, and you can hear the happiness in her own voice when she says "Caspian!", they're siblings your honor.

Also, I'm picturing Caspian rushing to get clothes for both Edmund and Lucy when they show up, frowning as he tries to make sure he has something for both of them, because he'll be damned if they sit around in wet clothes because they'll get sick!!!

Caspian also immediately noticing that Lucy's missing before they go off to find her is very important to me, the way that he, Edmund, and Lucy have such a strong connection that they search each other out and know when one of them is missing works so well.

Once again mentioning Edmund and Lucy stepping into Peter and Susan's roles, Lucy becoming the voice of reason between Edmund and Caspian, keeping them calm and being that jumping off point for them to discuss the Mist and their emotions. She's the healer, that's been her job since she first entered Narnia, and Caspian and Edmund both understand that, but also step into the roles as being her supports, her rocks when she needs them.

so yeah, i'm obsessed with Caspian's relationship with the Pevensies, I think he's such an important character, and has so much potential that I wish there had been a bit more to his relationship with Susan and Peter!

finally... y'all mind if i just fucking sob over the way Caspian interacts with them??????

like the way he reassures Eustace, so affectionate with him, and Eustace is finally returning that affection and holds him back? Like Edmund in "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe", Eustace starts off on the outside of all the affectionate moments between Caspian, Lucy, and Edmund, and now he's at the center of it all, and he's not afraid to return that affection. And Caspian doing the Big Brother Thing™️ that he, Peter, and Edmund do to reassure Lucy????

then, his hug with Edmund, which has no right making me as emotional as it does. The way they hold onto each other, because they're brothers, they understand each other in a way that no one else does, because Caspian's really the only other one who was nearly tempted to Jadis's side, so like Edmund and Lucy have that special connection because they were the first ones in Narnia, Caspian and Edmund have that special connection because of their personalities and weaknesses.

Lucy and Caspian's hug makes me fucking cry my eyes out. I've already discussed how Lucy is the most tactile of the four Pevensie siblings, but this just makes me want to violently sob. The way she's already reaching for him, and he doesn't hesitate before pretty much lifts her off her feet with the force of the hug, how they both cling to each other so tightly. Lucy's so connected to Narnia, and that includes Caspian. He's her big brother, she's his little sister, of course they're both heartbroken about being separated.