#it is SO heavily implied it might as well be canon at this point

[citnamora]

There's this show I'm watching and I have an alloaro hc that is only being further reaffirmed with every new episode. Aros stay winning!

[starlight-bread-blog]

Ember Island Players and Zutara

Two approaches to analyzing literature are Doylist and Watsonian: Warsonian is about analyzing from an in-universe perspective, Doylist is about analyzing out-of-universe perspective.

For example: Why did the Gaang arrive at the swamp?

Watsonian: Because a hurricane made them crash.

Doylist: Because the writers wanted to explore the world & characters, foreshadow Toph, introduce plant benders, etc.

This analysis will be from a Doylist perspective. Meaning, I don't intend to prove Katara secretly canonically loved Zuko. She is a fictional character, she'll love whoever the writers want her to love. And the writers said she loved 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀. What I do intend to do is to show how the writing alluded to Zuko standing in 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀's way to being with Katara.

With that out of the way, let's dive right in!

At the beginning of the episode, when they sit down to watch the play, Zuko and 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 share this exchange:

If you didn't catch that, look at Katara:

This is a classic romance trope, typically used for female characters, to signify romantic feelings/a crush. But what is it doing here, when Zuko sits next to Katara instead of 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀? What is this interaction doing here in the first place?

When an episode aims to explore an aspact of the characters, it will remind the audience of it in the beginning. In The Waterbending Scroll, Katara steals a waterbending scroll and gets insecure about her waterbending. The episode opens with the Katara teaching 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 waterbending and getting insecure. In this instance, they want you to keep in mind the dynamic where... Zuko is in the way of 𝖪𝖺𝗍𝖺𝖺𝗇𝗀? (That's without mentioning what Katara's doing with her hair). That is strange.

Moving on to the play – See the joke about Katara's characterization in the play:

The point of Ember Island Players is while the play is heavily distorted, it is somewhat based on reality. It's funny and even gets under the character's skin sometimes because it shows them a parody of themselves. (Further evidence).

When we get to the the scene between Zuko and Katara in the Crystal Catacombs, for some reason, it's portrayed as some romantic moment.

Acknowledging a fan pairing in canon from is always out of the blue/baity from the get-go. I cannot recall a time when another show that did this. Here however, it's under the premise of somewhat founded parody. Which begs the question:

(Side note: There's been debate over Katara and Zuko moving away from each other. It's common for eventual romantic leads to deny attraction. It could be contextualized that way later and audiences aren't trained to rule out the pairing. The meaning is dereminted by the outcome).

Despite that, Katara and Zuko aren't in love. Everyone knows this, right?

𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 is jealous. Jealous to the point where he gets up and leaves the theater. The thing that kicks off the conflict of 𝖪𝖺𝗍𝖺𝖺𝗇𝗀 is... Zutara?

Speaking of the conflict, I won't dwell on it too much, but the events were the following: 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 adressed the kiss they shared in the invasion, a kiss that went unaddressed for 5 episodes. Katara is unable to commit to an answer. Her lines, isolated:

"𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀, I don't know" // "This isn't the right time" // "Right now, I'm just a little confused".

Until he kisses her once again.

And realistically, she doesn't take it well. Many girls use this language to reject gently. This is purposely written to suggest that they might not end up together. All of which is kicked off because of Zutara. Remember the beginning: Zuko is in the way of 𝖪𝖺𝗍𝖺𝖺𝗇𝗀.

When 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 is back in the theater, he's concerned about his future with Katara. It is showcased with this shot:

𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 isn't angry at Zutara here, so why is Zuko in the shot? A director storyboarded this, it was planned. They could have easily leave him out of it and it would convey the message better. Leaving him here implies that he is somehow related to the conflict, That Aang is worried about them, while both of those things aren't true.

𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 not being able to sit next to Katara isn't ship baiting. 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 getting angry at actress!Katara not returning his feelings isn't ship baiting. Katara herself being unable to immediately return his feelings isn't ship baiting. What is ship baiting is how all of this is caused by Zuko to a degree.

Zuko stealing 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀's seat and Katara giving him a side glance is ship baiting. Zutara being canonically addressed in a play that's vaguely founded is ship baiting. The former causing 𝖠𝖺𝗇𝗀 feeling jealous, leaving, and starting the conflict over it is ship baiting. Zutara is imbedded in the foundations of the episode. Ember Island Players plays out as if there is something between Zuko and Katara, when there isn't. That's ship baiting.

[saccharineomens]

i've been poking at this too long to care how visually appealing it is anymore. My headcanons for the main characters' sexualities, based on canon information! (has no bearing on ships.) Canon speculation below the cut.

marcille (bi): fascinated by romance and loves romance. we only see her show explicit interest in a male (fictional character (General Halleus from the book series she loves)), but i don't think she's fully straight.

falin (aro? ace? lesbian? genderqueer?): falin's only interest in relationships in canon is 'she considered accepting shuro's proposal because she was afraid nobody else would want her, but felt it'd be unfair to him because she had no feelings for him'. i consider whether she's aroace or a lesbian or maybe bi/pan, and she also seems like she might have some genderqueer feelings, based on some of her discomfort with her body and wearing certain types of femme clothing. (Also the fact that she‘s part male dragon.) Since she ends the story going on a journey for herself, it feels like she'll finally get the chance to figure out what she wants.

laios (pan, demi): he hasn't shown explicit interest in men, but similar to marcille, i don't feel he's fully straight. He’s aesthetically attracted to monsters, at the very least, so gender probably doesn’t factor in for him. romance/sex just don’t seem to be much of a high priority to him in general, but he did think his ex-fiance was cute and didn't seem uncomfortable with the idea of marriage (just seemed unhappy with being trapped in his hometown), so i feel like demisexuality fits him well.

About his succubus: He was very noticeably not stopped in his tracks by it like Chilchuck and Marcille, but that could possibly be because it just….looked exactly like Marcille, not an obvious fantasy. He started blushing and stammering heavily when it turned into a monster, which like….this boy is definitely a furry/monsterfucker, if anything, but that doesn’t speak on his attraction to actual humans.

I think it speaks for something that the succubi are able to literally read minds and craft the perfect fantasy for their specific target. And for Laios, it wasn’t just “his friend Marcille”. It was a version of his friend Marcille that wasn’t grossed out by monsters, didn’t think he was weird for wanting to be one, and was able to turn Laios into one. It was a Marcille who understood him at his deepest level that made him become a blushing, stammering mess to rival Chilchuck. Which is why I think he’s Demi, and needs a strong emotional connection with someone before he finds them attractive.

kabru (pan): his special interest is people, and he's bold enough with his sexuality to kiss rin despite not being in a relationship with her. so being pan/bi feels appropriate.

chilchuck (bi): he has a wife, and they were childhood friends, so he's definitely allo. but his comments and behavior towards senshi makes me suspect he might be bi, and just never considered the possibility due to being in a committed relationship.

senshi (gay, ace): this is 90% off of vibes. he keeps to himself in the dungeon and doesn't seem to have any need for social company, he's a complete hermit. Being ace makes sense to me, but so would him just having a low social drive. His succubus was 'a woman he hadn't seen since he was a child', but his journal implies it wasn't a romantic/sexual attraction.

namari (bi/lesbian): she is at the very least attracted to women, given her behavior with kiki, but she does make a point to say that kaka is also attractive to her, and her friends at the bar tease her about Kaka being her “new” boyfriend (implying previous boyfriends).

shuro: the token straight (in love with falin, asked her to marry him). i love you shuro <3 (but i can also see him being into men. there's no evidence to the contrary)

izutsumi: aroace. literally no question. her succubus is her mother.

[bronzeagepizzeria]

TEN AND ROSE: WERE THEY HAVING SEX?

Disclaimer: I absolutely support people writing whatever makes them happy; this is NOT a criticism of ten x rose smutfic/established relationship/babyfic etc, I’ve read and enjoyed several of those, this is simply my reading of their canon relationship.

Every once in a while, the Rose Tyler tag sees text posts about how, obviously, Ten and Rose were sleeping together throughout Series 2, as evidenced by their absolutely sizzling chemistry in episodes such as New Earth and Tooth and Claw.

Most of them are usually in good humour—a “can you BELIEVE this chemistry” sort of thing, but there does exist a genuine belief among some that they really were sexually intimate already.

So, let's examine this canonically, from a Tentoo lens.

Were they having sex?

Short answer: No.

Long answer?

Throughout Series 1, we pick up on hints of the Ninth Doctor’s feelings for Rose growing, as well as Rose beginning to have feelings for the Doctor. It’s quite subtle in comparison to Series 2; here’s two great friends beginning to fall in love—flirting and bantering and getting jealous of other love interests xD. It’s not a very explicit romance (and this is why Rose haters tend to prefer NineRose, but that’s a conversation for another day) but it is heavily implied, and it is sealed with a kiss in The Parting of the Ways.

When Rose looks into the heart of the TARDIS and comes back for the Doctor, this romance is made explicit. When the Doctor dies to take the vortex out of Rose, the romance is made explicit. This is no longer a crush, or simple endearment, they’re in love.

The Tenth Doctor is born out of this love. He now knows the extent of Rose’s feelings, and he knows just how far she is willing to go for him. (This is a blessing and a curse, but we’ll come back to that some other time.)

Rose’s immediate reaction to seeing Ten is asking him to change back—(something that noticeably distresses him—the fact that she might not like him anymore). She spends the entirety of The Christmas Invasion mourning him, (which is fair since he never told her the tiny little detail of his ability to regenerate. Sigh.) and only really comes around to him at the end of that episode. We can safely assume, then, that they haven’t had sex.

In New Earth, they’re still very much relearning their dynamic—how do they work together, fit together now? We learn that Rose is physically attracted to the Tenth Doctor, thanks to Cassandra, and Rose's slightly mortified reaction at hearing this from him implies that there's been no confession of the sort to him.

You could argue that maybe something happened off-screen between Episodes 2 and 3, but as Ally on the tentoo x rose server pointed out, that would be shoddy writing. A physical relationship amongst the main two leads that is never even alluded to with a chaste kiss, is odd. So we can assume this major development didn't happen.

Tooth and Claw, the one episode that is constantly subject to 'they were totally shagging' discourse, has exceptionally flirty energy, yes, but this is because Ten and Rose are both very tactile people. Make no mistake, they definitely are flirting and being more touchy-feely than strictly necessary, but it would be narratively inconsistent for the reason for this behaviour to be 'they were having sex.'

Why?

I'd like to point out this dialogue we get from Queen Victoria:

This moment is extremely important; it plants the seeds for the proper beginning of one of the main themes of S2, which is the biggest reason the two of them are not constantly shagging in the TARDIS.

From this point on, something has been re-awakened in the Doctor, the fear of outliving someone he loves again.

We have to remember the Doctor is a severely traumatised man, a man who has outlived his entire species, and the idea of this girl he loves dying and leaving him alone is unbearable.

In School Reunion we get this spelt out for us. The Doctor sees Sarah Jane again, and reality strikes. This will be Rose, one day. There’s a key confrontation that takes place in this episode, an argument that remains unresolved because there are certain things Ten cannot bring himself to say.

DOCTOR: I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you…

ROSE: What, Doctor?

There is a later confrontation in the same episode, where the Doctor is tempted with the idea of never having to see anyone wither and die again.

Even the infamous The Girl in the Fireplace doubles down on these themes--the Doctor's immortality. Time running out.

The Age of Steel two-parter brings with it the “gingerbread house”. Things we want which we cannot have.

This, in fact, is the crux of their entire relationship, folks. The incompatible lifespans. Rose's mortality. Untapped desire. The unsaid.

This is why it's important and impactful that Rose, on the last day she gets to see the Doctor, ever, plucks up the courage to actually put words to what she feels. This is why the unfinished confession in Doomsday hurts so much. Because they finally, finally took that plunge but it was too late.

Assuming that they've been in a physically intimate relationship all the while takes away from the gravity of this moment.

(Not to mention it's super exploitative, considering the inherent power dynamics. To think Ten had sex with Rose all that time--entirely aware of her feelings--and didn't have the decency to say he loved her and then proceeded to force her to choose between him and another version of himself...is problematic.)

I would go as far as saying it's a fundamentally wrong reading of their entire relationship, and of the Doctor himself.

I've seen people say the "baby scare" in Doomsday is proof that they'd been physically intimate, but it is, quite obviously the Doctor being afraid Rose was pregnant with Mickey's baby, not his.

DOCTOR: You've still got Mister Mickey, then? ROSE: There's five of us now. Mum, Dad, Mickey and the baby. DOCTOR: You're not?

He is, in his not so subtle way, trying to figure out if Rose is back with Mickey. It only hammers in the fact that he's missed his chance---not that the child might be his.

DOCTOR: Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth. You're dead, officially, back home. So many people died that day and you've gone missing. You're on a list of the dead. Here you are, living a life day after day. The one adventure I can never have. ROSE: Am I ever going to see you again? DOCTOR: You can't.

Again, the narrative hammers this in. Their time is up. Rose will inevitably move on one day, without him.

All this to say…

TenRose in Series 2 is a tale of what could be. Of missed opportunities, and the lives and love we could have had.

But why is this important?

In order to understand Tentoo and Journey's End, it is vital we understand this aspect of TenRose. The yearning, the skirting around feelings in the room, the denial of gratification on Ten's part. The desire he cannot give in to.

Because Tentoo is the realisation of this desire. He is the second chance.

He is the embodiment of the Doctor grabbing hold of his one, short life and deciding to live it to the fullest. Tentoo is making a choice here--a choice to truly love Rose the way he has ached to do for years. This is why it's significant that he was able to get the words out while Ten wasn't.

This is why Rose chooses him.

This snippet of an email RTD received from Pete Bower sums it up extremely eloquently:

“In having one Doctor grieve for his lost love, while the other Doctor went off with that same lost love, you have written of that moment we all have where we make a choice. It is grieving for the love we never had (and the sex we never had) because of the choices we made.”

[howlingdemon13]

Betelgeuse I was hugely inspired by a bunch of artists and fic writers in the fandom, as well as a few monster artists who specialize in combining different creatures into beasts that actually look cohesive. I’m not sure how well I was able to execute the vision here, but I’m really proud of it regardless! DiamondZ, nonbinary-arsonist, stinkyhorsebitch, and arbuzyansky were the main catalysts for this, so definitely take a peek at their work or give them a follow. I was initially going to submit this guy for a staff art show, but I don't want to rush the rest of it, so I'm just going to post what I have finished here. Design notes are under the cut.

In earlier drafts, I was looking into more serpentine-looking designs since Beetlejuice turns into a snake in the film. Some of the concepts I was leaning towards looked like either a lindworm or centipede, but I think mammalian fits Musicaljuice since he’s “softer” in a lot of aspects compared to his film counterpart. I may look into playing with a more snake/bug-like design in the future. Beetlejuice’s overall look is heavily inspired by Chalicotherium goldfussi, which were huge Miocene ungulates that are distantly related to things like rhinos and tapirs. Given that Beetlejuice is super old, I felt like an extinct animal was a proper fit. On a more personal level, I really like the way these guys look and it was easier to rework their body plan into something that looks carnivorous. That, and I wasn’t really vibing with other mammalian body plans, especially because I wanted something that was close in shape to a human without being apelike. Huge herbivores also have larger stomachs, which I feel is a better analogue to Beetlejuice’s body type. You’ll have to pry that man’s curves from my cold, dead hands. All his forms are chubby and soft, and I’ll fight you over it in the Denny’s parking lot. I also added some hyaenid traits, especially for the head shape and teeth. Hyenas are very social animals (like Beej, except no one can see him), and striped hyenas and aardwolves specifically have these tall crests of fur that run down their backs and back legs that they can raise and lower to communicate. I’d argue it’s fitting since Beetlejuice’s hair sticks up at odd angles and communicates his mood (intentional or not). And hyenas laugh. Granted they giggle when they’re stressed, but it still fits. I modeled his stripes off of both species as well. His hind paws, ears, and tail are all based off of those of opossums. Beej is very “trash animal”-coded, and I felt like the opossum traits would fit better with the Chalicotherium body than something like a raccoon or skunk. I felt a little bad about not giving him a ton of bug traits, so I tried to add mandibles, but they just weren’t looking right in earlier design drafts. I gave him a bunch of small eyes to compensate, but making him look buggy wasn’t the only reason for the extra eyes. We know from early drafts of the musical script that Beetlejuice’s last name is Shoggoth. These creatures are mentioned by Lovecraft in Fungi from Yuggoth and At the Mountains of Madness, but I’m not sure if this implies that Beej is a shoggoth, or if it more so refers to him being able to manifest multiple limbs/shapeshift/warp reality like one. In that same vein, the mouth in his chest is mostly to look scary and is just another fun little Lovecraftian trait that I felt was needed. Same to the tendrils, but that’s also a common fandom trait that is pretty much canon (to me) at this point. I might rb this with headcanons later on.

[pizzaboat]

Eda Clawthorne and BPD

Eda is a character I never really associated with something like BPD(Borderline Personality Disorder) until I’d done more research on the disorder myself. Initially, I’d had a one size fits all idea in my mind for what a manifestation of BPD could look like.

But after finishing the Owl House in its entirety, and dispelling some of my ignorance around the topic I’ve come to the headcanon that Eda has BPD.

So to start, what I understand about BPD(Borderline Personality Disorder) is that it’s a personality disorder belonging to the cluster B section in the DSM-5.

It’s generally described that people living with it, might engage in risky/self harming behaviour, have an intense fear of abandonment, struggle with addiction, and have unstable/turbulent relationships with others. People with BPD also struggle with an intense feeling of internalised shame and numbness.

BPD usually manifests after some sort of prolonged mental abuse/physical abuse/sexual abuse/ psychological abuse or trauma, and that usually happens in childhood.

Well, what does any of that have to do with Eda? How does her character link in any way to what I've described? Let’s go through it;

(I’m not an expert, this is just a headcanon that I use to look at Eda)

Addiction/Substance Abuse

Eda is implied to be an alcoholic in the show. Apple blood, her infamous favourite drink, is often used as a stand-in or a direct reference to the topic of intoxication or turning to the bottle to cope with big feelings.

Proof of apple blood being an alcohol signal can be when Luz mentions in early S2, that Eda was hard to get off the roof after she drank too much apple blood, implying she became irrational and unreasonable after drinking too much.

Another example is when Eda was seen in a tavern in Eda’s Requiem, she canonically has a large and unpaid tab in that tavern, and was drinking apple blood (from a juice box) while lamenting about the current events of her life.

A scene like that is a heavy reference to the trope of getting drunk and venting to your local bartender that can be seen in a lot of movies and tv-shows.

Eda is also potentially implied to have Depression during the show and is typically grumpy/unapproachable before her first drink, early in the morning.

I’ve headcanons before that Eda uses Apple Blood to self medicate her mood after the implications in season 2 that she is drinking more heavily (the joke about the roof, her chasing free appleblood, drinking in the tavern when she’s sad), and after season1, and during all of season 2 her mental health had taken a clear nose dive after traumatic events and perceived abandonments.

I also mentioned that people with BPD struggle with a feeling of emptiness and numbness, and Eda’s low and irritable mood could be interpreted as coming from a place of feeling hollow. (That’s my headcanon).

Addiction is also considered a risky/self harming behaviour, which leads me to my next point.

Risky/Self Harming behaviours

Eda is an impulsive and risk taking person, that usually contributes to a pretty popular ADHD headcanon for her character, but I’d also like to argue that her risk taking behaviour could also be a sign of BPD, as it typically leads her to dangerous or life threatening situations, often on purpose.

A small example of this is when searching for titan blood, she pushes herself in front of a laser beam and urges King to shoot her with it to trigger her harpy powers. In that episode she was struggling to go harpy mode;

And the episode before that, Knock Knock Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door, she was shown depriving herself of sleep and worrying about not being ready for the day of unity. Eda had proved she was anxious to be ready and willing to hurt herself to be so, stemming from an internal feeling of frustration and worthlessness because she didn’t have what she needed to be ready.

In the cave, I think her action to jump in front of the laser, disguising her actions as a childish and silly request of bone-headedness was her hiding her self-destructive instincts and inner frustration in plain sight.

Her risky behaviours are driven by a deep self hatred and that leads me to her most risky action of all…

Fear of Abandonment

When Eda overhears the kids talking about telling her something, she spirals and assumes the worst. She spends that episode devaluing herself, trying to self-soothe with apple blood, and distancing herself from the kids in response to her assumption that they only have the worst news for her.

Luz is leaving and King wants to live with his dad.

She spends the day living out what appears to be a fantasy with Raine, where she is ‘Mama Eda’ to the younger BATTs members and she and Raine are playfully dancing around each other with some not so subtle flirting. It resembles a family life, where her and Raine are married, or atleast happily together, and the BATTs are like her very own kids that need her.

(it’s key to point out that Raine did most of the heavy flirting and was active, while Eda just bathed herself in the situation. Likely because while it was what she wanted, she’d also expressed earlier in the episode that she felt everyone left her in the end and all good things ended).

When this fanasy/substition falls through and the rebellion is busted, her and Raine play a murder-suicide duet attempt together, where Raine then learns that there’s more to the story than Eda is letting on, and that she isn’t just being motivated to do the heroic thing because she has nothing to lose.

Raine clearly realises Eda is trying to die because she has something to lose, and she assumes she is losing it. Dying to Eda is less painful and scary than being abandoned again.

I mentioned that childhood trauma/abuse can cause BPD to develop, and I’d argue that having a curse that caused the people she loved to leave her because she pushed them away, or because it seemed like her curse made her too monstrous to love, is pretty traumatising.

And that fear of abandonment predates even the curse, as it was revealed in the flashback episode where her and Raine met, that Eda had no friends, was ostracised by her teachers/principle and that she was terrified of being separate from Lilith; her only friend. Eda didn't know what an expulsion would mean for their relationship, if Lilith would still be her best friend, or if Lilith progressed onwards without her, would she abandon Eda?

Well, that worry was validated when it was revealed their sister relationship fell apart sometime between their late teens and mid-forties, when Lilith is introduced as Eda’s rival and Eda’s expression is stormy when she first sees Lilith on screen, it’s laos important to note that Lilith attacked first at the convention with her words, and Eda, having some very stormy feelings about her sister, responds to the greeting by cutting Lilith down in front of young fans in a way she knows will rile up her sister.

She basically attacks Lilith’s mask by mentioning that Lilith peed herself at a convention as a kid, and then proceeds to act childish in Lilith’s presence to wind her up and prove to Lilith that she is no better than Eda and that she’s not changed a bit since they were kids where it counts, according to Lilith.

We don’t know what caused Eda and Lilith to feud like this, but it can be assumed that LIlith joining a coven that allows only two days off a year made Eda feel like she was abandoned by her sister in some of the worst years of her life, by the person she once called her best friend.

The breakdown of such an important relationship would be upsetting to anyone, but to Eda, in the situation she was in, that would have to be further traumatising.

To add to the familial issues, Eda has issues with Gwen.

The entirety of keeping up a-fear-ances was about how gwen had failed both her daughters, but for this post, it’s that Gwen treated the curse, something so integral to Eda and her life at this point, something that Eda cannot change or separate herself from, like something her mom needed to cure her of.

To eradicate. So much so that she disregarded Eda’s bodily autonomy and safety at multiple points in just one episode and caused Eda to snap. She scared Eda into running away as a teenager, and she had to apologise to Eda in that episode for making her daughter feel like she didn’t love her. “I love every part of you.” - to paraphrase what Gwen said.

It’s not hard to imagine that feeling like your own mother would rather risk your health and happiness, disregard your wishes and try to remove an unremovable part of your person, would make you feel more unlovable and broken than you already feel.

I’m sure that this contributed to Eda’s fear of abandonment and would help cultivate the already existing internal shame she feels just for existing next to her loved ones and feeling like she’s not good enough to be in their lives because all she does is hurt them.

Yup, this is setting up my next point…

Shame/Low Sense of Self-Worth

Proof that Eda’s self-worth is low and her inner shame is high comes from how she treats her kids and her father. Eda struggles to look at people she feels she’s let down. While some individuals with BPD might do everything to avoid abandonment, Eda tends to abandon people first and devalues herself in the process, convincing herself she doesn’t deserve to fight for them or be in their company.

Her inner shame mostly stems from how she handles her curse, its impact on her life, and her past relationships. With Luz and King, she initially keeps up a protective wall and avoids physical affection. When she believes they are leaving her, she justifies her suicidal thoughts to Raine by denying her role as their "mother," revealing her deep-seated belief that she's unworthy of such a title.

Despite considering them her children, Eda questions her ability to be a suitable mother figure, expressing doubts about her worthiness. It takes reassurance from Raine for Eda to begin to accept that she is needed and, consequently, good enough.

Her relationship with Dell, though mentioned sparingly, has left lasting scars. Eda blames herself for hurting him and struggles to forgive herself, even when her father asks her to move on from the past.

In Knock Knock-Knocking on Hooty’s Door, Eda implies that she is haunted by nightmares of her breakup with Raine, blaming herself entirely for their breakup. This implied consistent rumination suggests that she feels responsible for every abandonment and rejection she has experienced, exacerbating her inner shame.

Raine was likely the last stable influence in Eda’s life, and her breakup further solidified Eda’s belief that she is the cause of her own abandonment. This cycle of self-blame and perceived rejection has left lasting mental scars, reinforcing Eda’s sense of brokenness and perpetuating her feelings of endless abandonment.

By examining Eda’s behaviour and internal struggles, it becomes evident that her shame and low sense of self-worth are deeply ingrained, shaping her relationships and interactions throughout the series.

Splitting

I can’t really talk about a BPD headcanon without mentioning its most famous feature. Splitting, from what I understand, is when a person's mood, sense of self, or perception of others shifts dramatically in the other direction in response to a threat, stressor, or trigger.

It might not just look like, “I like this person.” “Now I hate this person.” It can manifest as more dynamic, extreme black-and-white thinking, where something is either all or nothing:

“She always does this.”

“He never does that.”

“Things always go wrong.”

“This always goes right.”

The black-and-white thinking can be either positive or negative and can even be about a person's own self. And this is where my headcanon goes a bit shaky, because all I really have to go off of is Eda’s initial attitude of “We weirdos stick together,” and then how she switches those ideals up when she’s devaluing herself and her importance within the relationships she has with friends and family.

This is particularly evident with the kids and her extreme and impulsive suicide attempt, where I get this feeling of “I’m not good enough, and I will never be good enough.” off of her.

She also changes her mood with Lilith very quickly during the season 1 finale. A few minutes ago, she was ready to kill her sister and saw her as the most vile person she’d ever met. The next minute, she is letting her sister back into her house and wanting a relationship with her again after she split the curse.

There is this kind of emotional impermanence where she forgives Lilith and goes straight back to wanting to be friends with her at a speed and level that isn’t common at all. No matter what is done to Eda, she seems to bounce back quickly, no matter how badly she’s hurt in the end.

That's all I've really got for that, to be honest. If I find more that explores this idea better, I will probably make a post about it.

Conclusion

I think that turbulent relationships, a massive fear of abandonment, risky and impulsive behaviours and high shame/low self esteem are key parts of Eda’s character and that’s why I headcanon her to have BPD(borderline personality disorder.)

[gay-disabled-characters-showdown]

LGBTQ+ Disabled Characters Showdown Round 1, Wave 1, Poll 2

A character being totally canon LGBTQ+ and disabled was not required to be in this competition. Please check qualifications and propaganda before asking why a character is included.

Check out the other polls in this wave here.

Ignis Scientia-Final Fantasy XV

Qualifications:

Blind, gay/demi-romantic, asexual

Propaganda:

Ignis only lost his eyesight (rather than his life) due to his strong will to protect Noctis. He is stated by the game makers to be in a deep relationship with his colleague and friend, Gladio. So it's halfway confirmed/heavy implied for those two boys. (And might be Ignis is asexual). And this man deserves so much. He is the mom friend and gives everything. And so much is taken from him.

Wylan Van Eck-Six of Crows

Qualifications:

Wylan has dyslexia (heavily implied, but not outright said bc setting) and is gay,

Dyslexic and gay!

They are in a adorable m/m relationship, and also have severe dyslexia to the point that (when eight) he could not read or write despite formal education

Wylan is gay and dyslexic!

Propaganda:

Wylan and Jesper have the absolute cutest relationship. Also, Wylan has dyslexia. I don't think it was outright said, but that was heavily implied. It just couldn't be set out loud for the sake of maintaining the fantasy setting. He's such a good character, and is primarily known for his skill with explosives, not his struggles with reading and writing. The other protagonists also never judge him for it, and the only character who does is the kind of person 90% of readers want to kill by the end of the series.

His boyfriend Jesper helped him fake being able to read so they could beat Wylan's shitty dad.

- He's incredibly sweet - But can also be ok with murder sometimes, like when killing unconscious people wasn't good - so just wake them up. - He was thrown out of the house and his father tried to kill him, because of said dyslexia, but managed to survive. Then rebelled against his father and with the help of friends took down his empire - He is very talented at the flute. And can draw very well, along with being a great chemist and demolition experts (hired for making flash bombs and other cool shit-) - Helps break into a world-class prison, then blushes the entire time because the person he's pared with keeps flirting with him - Asks his (eventual boyfriend) if he's into guys. Then immediately gets flustered when Jesper picks it up - Is very rich heir (due to shenanigans) and there's a one-off line about this sweet bean kind of being a sugar daddy- (just gives his boyfriend money to do stocks with, to stop him from gambling) - Supports his boyfriend throughout his gambling addiction and tries to help him overcome it

Wylan is dyslexic and because of this written off as stupid by his father. However, he is actually a genius, especially with chemicals, and he uses his genius and his new band of misfit friends to take his father down and read him for filth in front of a whole bunch of important people. He is good at making things explode. He also nabs himself a hot boyfriend in the process so good for him!

The qualifications and propaganda paragraphs correspond, @wisheduponastar is the third submitter.

[welcome-to-green-hills]

So if you’ve had any guesses on how the story and plot for Sonic 3 would be, what do you think that it would be?

Hi Hon!❤️✨

I’ve thought about this a lot these past couple of years. Reading through interviews, gathering concept art, and reading tweets from the production crew of SCU, I think that I’ve got an idea of what Sonic 3 will be about. I’ll put a “read more” section down below in case y’all don’t want spoilers.

I think that Sonic 3’s going to be a massive mind-fuck. I think that we’ll be on an emotional roller coaster with Shadow’s story and gain some details that were lacking on his creation. Even though it will be movie-canon, it might provide a sense of closure in exploring Shadow’s relationship with Maria and what happened to him a bit before being sealed away by the government. I also think that we’ll experience a reality check with Sonic on this one too. We’ll see how Sonic processes this information and help resolve the issue in the end. Shadow and Sonic are often perceived as reflections of each other. I think that we’ll explore what happens when the universe gives you a chance to be good (Sonic) and a chance to be bad (Shadow).

The message of the movie might reflect the importance of team work, maturity, and acceptance. Teamwork being that it’s okay to accept help from others when needed—you’re not weak when you ask. Maturity being that not everything is fun and games. Some situations can’t be relieved with humor. Acceptance being that not everyone can be saved, not everyone is worthy of chances, and not everyone can live up to being and having something that they want. However, acceptance can also lead to a new purpose and wish if one is open to it.

I definitely feel like “teamwork” will be a message for this film as well. In “Drone Home,” we’ve seen that the boys struggle to match each other’s strengths and abilities. However, when they’ve communicated with each other they worked fairly well. Teamwork doesn’t necessarily mean that you have an appointed leader. It could mean that you’re all equals; you all know your strengths, weaknesses, and how to build each other up. Communication is key! It looks like Sonic has a pretty good idea of how to help, but it’s up to him to encourage Tails and Knuckles to tag team.

I think that Sonic 3 will explore the world a bit more. Most Sonic games take place on earth, not Mobius. “Mobius” is an Archie concept, not a game concept. The places that we see in games are zones on earth. This is what the movies get right—we explore different zones while on earth. These “zones” are locations in which the chaos emeralds were sent to. In 2022, Tyson Hesse explained on Twitter that Super Sonic scattered the emeralds across the world and broke the bond that they had with the Master Emerald (this means that they are separate objects now instead of one). I think that zones will be utilized in this third installment by having us travel around the world to collect the emeralds. Have the emeralds warp reality a bit and make each encounter a bit chaotic/fun.

I think that we’ll see more of Longclaw. I hope that she has something to do with Shadow’s creation. The books heavily imply that she not only knew of humans, but have engaged with them. I’m willing to argue that she’s engaged with Gerald Robotnik and informed him of the Master Emerald, which could lead him into creating artificial chaos in the first place. That, and the need to have ultimate power for his experiments. This would be a good explanation on how Shadow has chaos-like abilities similar to Sonic and Knuckles. On top of that, Shadow’s spinoff game is also an element used for this story. Use this interaction between Gerald and Longclaw to educate him other extraterrestrial entities in the universe.

I think that Shadow’s purpose of creation for SCU could go in many directions. However, the main point(s) would be for him to be a revolutionary discovery in immortality, a cure for Maria, and a weapon used for Earth to fight against extraterrestrials. Gerald—if existing—discovered aliens and caused the catastrophe in 1974 in Reno that put the government’s eyes on him. (Because why not? It would be funny if Gerald did). It’s been established in the Knuckles show that Dr. Robotnik had some sort of connection with his group of henchmen and G.U.N. Granted, G.U.N. is a newly established branch in the military, and nearly everyone involved with Dr. Robotnik was killed, but the concept has been around for years. I feel that same group is what helps fund the government research project for Shadow. Make Shadow an X-Files.

I think that Tom and Maddie might have smaller roles—mainly there as emotional support for the fluffers—but might have roles that were similar to Mr. Steward and Scarlet Garcia in Sonic X. They help pick up the bits and pieces of Project: Shadow to relay to Sonic and Co. in order to save the day. I don’t see either Tom or Maddie being the ones to give the (supposed) humanity talk to Shadow, but I can see them dropping hints to our anti-hero about saving the world.

Dr. Robotnik’s arc is all about revenge. He’s furious that the government wiped his existence clean from any existing record, as well as angered by Sonic. He could use this as a motive to seek vengeance on the world. His fuel could also be driven by seeing The Buyer’s past events as a “final tipping point.” Have him see that the Buyer tried to play the same game as himself and get angered over an Eggman-Wannabe. This should be what sets him off. Make that the tipping point in unleashing this crazed revenge story from Dr. Robotnik and seek out a need to eradicate the world. And use this energy for him to raid G.U.N.’s facilite to find Shadow and more about his family’s history with the government. Dr. Robotnik’s revenge is more like, “I won’t have you forget about my existence and I WILL enslave this entire world no matter how many times you try to rid me.” Oh, and have Agent Stone be a little gremlin as well😁

I don’t see Shadow dying. I think that Shadow’s arc can go in either two different directions: 1). Shadow has a supposed death and leaves everyone in a depressive state, but we see in a post-credit scene that Shadow did survive and goes off on his own; 2). Shadow thinks that he might die, but Sonic saves him just in time and they part ways. Shadow needs to part ways with Sonic and Co. at the end of the film. This separation is not a form of punishment. Shadow needs space. He needs that alone time to reflect upon everything that has happened, as well as what he strives to do in life. If he wishes to commingle with Sonic, he will come to him on his terms.

If we get a fourth movie, I think that this will make room for either Metal Sonic to appear or have Silver appear. Both have great potentials to be added to SCU. The quills that we’ve grown accustomed to in their glass-like chambers resemble too much like Chaos Drives. We’ve seen that when they’re plugged into machinery they match the same power that Sonic and Knuckles possess. This would be a great way to bring in Metal Sonic; he could be powered by quill energy become the next villain. This would also be a great way to bring in Amy Rose. Tie in both Sonic CD and Heroes to the story. With Silver, we have the Flames of Disaster. Other than the low-budget rock opera from the Knuckles series, we don’t have a true explanation of what this concept is in SCU. Have Silver travel through each zone to claim and defeat Iblis.

And… yeah! That’s what I’ve got! I do hope that this answers your question, my dear. This was a lot of fun to write! When I’m not tired I’ll explain my drabble on how Perfect Chaos can fit here too…

[cattyanon]

Another Sonic Prime AU

Well then I suppose I am obligated to share if you're staring that intently! :)

To preface my explanation I would like to state that Shadow can traverse through the Shatterspaces on account of how else are they gonna get home? There is a catch though. That being that it becomes draining to stay in a Shatterspace for too long. He can stay in one maybe like a day or two but if he doesn't return to the void and rest there he risks the same potential fate canon Sonic risks at the end of season 3.

Anyways, infodump about Sonic's situation below:

So instead of him starting in New Yoke he's pretty obviously started in Boscage Maze. He comes hurtling out of the sky and before he can regain any bearings he slams head-first into a tree that happens to be situated in a place where he then drops into the Scavenger's territory.

As you can probably imagine, the scavengers do not take kindly to his presence. They find him passed out and tie him up for questioning. And when he does wake up he's extremely confused and has no idea what's happening- even more unable to answer any and all questions they might have than in canon. They (mostly Prim) don't take kindly to his confusion 'act' and accuse him of trying to come and steal from them but failing miserably and injuring himself in the process. Eventually Prim decides to have Gnarly throw him over the edge WHILE STILL TIED UP and tells him something along the lines of "if you live then maybe you'll gain a little more respect".

Literally the only reason he comes out relatively unscathed is because he instinctively curls into a ball as a defense mechanism. It kinda hurts due to the bindings but it works- he lives. He then manages to free himself and, in true Sonic fashion, has this inexplicable urge to run once he regains his bearings. But he doesn't get too far because without any limiters the Prism energy inside him is prone to bubbling up and eventually spilling out in a way that starts to burn up his shoes.

Not knowing what else to do he goes into survival mode. He doesn't know how he knows some of things he does but he's thankful for it regardless. Then comes a pivotal turning point in the plot...

He saves these baby flickies from a giant wild cat (i assume there's probably more than giant flickies in Boscage Maze that we just didn't get to see) by taking a hit for them in his panic to protect them and as it happens, the parents saw the whole thing. They come swooping and chase off the giant and, appreciative of him saving their babies, decide to help nurse him back to health. Since this is Sonic he does recover faster than your average mobian but it's definitely not Shadow levels of fast.

By the end of him recovering he's hesitant to leave them. They'd been the only ones to show him compassion so far and it's not like he really knew anything about where he was. So when they attempt to nudge him back into the wild he makes it very obvious that he wants to stay with them. And having bonded while he was recovering, the flickies are like "okay fine you can stay" in their own bird way.

And since I like angst there's quite a few things that happen to him before Shadow finds him, with the most notable one being how the Prism energy effects him since he doesn't have limiters/regulators to keep them at bay.

Since the Shatterspaces are heavily implied to be made up of Prism energy in some way and that in canon his shoes and gloves adapted to the world he was in, something similar happens. But unlike canon he has no way to suppress it. So instead of just changing his shoes and gloves it starts to effect him physically. And adapting to his surroundings, he takes on giant flicky-like qualities. Up to a certain length his hands and feet become more bird-like and his arms develop giant flight feathers. He doesn't get a beak but now most of his teeth are sharp fangs and he's got that little pattern on his face that Birdie has. To top it off he's grown a few feet and has the ability to control plants to a small extent.

And although this isn't because of the Prism energy, it's worth noting that his time spent with the giant flickies has rubbed off on him in that he learns how to communicate with/understand them and might have developed a few bird-like habits that I need to think on. (if anybody knows any interesting bird specific habits do tell) He also becomes a Mangey-like situation where he doesn't really know how to speak anymore (except bird noises) and has very feral tendencies.

And then Shadow comes along and has to not only deal with trying to put their world back together with Sonic the way he is but when their world DOES get put back together he's also going to have to deal with explaining Sonic's situation and help reintegrate him into society since he's the only one he feels inclined to trust besides Tails.

As a side note he very much does not like Rouge, Knuckles, and Amy in that order due to his not so good experiences with their Boscage variants.

[jajanvm-imbi]

K so Jacob Hopkins is definitely a descendant of the Wittebane family and this definitely gonna be a plot point in ToH S3

I've seen other people mention this but I wanna add to it. (I'm not even joking I wrote this like 3 months ago and completely forgot about it)

First of all, Jacob was the one to introduce the idea of the Wittebros into the show in the first place. He's the one who gave us context.

He's also the conspiracy theory guy. He's basically the modern day witch hunter. He refers to the Demon Realm as a "realm of evil" and how he can "protect humanity" from this evil. Sound familiar?

Second of all, their appearance.

I think at this point we all understand that the ToH crew make decisions about visual elements very carefully. They choose everything they include for a reason, and that's the fun in watching this show lol.

The reason why were able to safely assume that Hunter is a clone/grimwalker of Caleb was because of their appearance. Even before we saw the paintings of what Caleb looked like, people were able to piece together how Hunter was a grimwalker of Caleb and how Belos was actually Phillip by their facial structure and their hair.

Observe:

Jacob's hair goes back in the same way Hunter and Caleb's does and has the same hairline as all three Wittebanes, but its brown like Phillip's hair. He also has the lil hair strand sticking out in the front like Caleb, Hunter, and Phillip do.

Jacob's nose is most like Hunter's and Caleb's, but it still goes out a little bit towards the tip like Phillip's.

Jacob has Hunter and Caleb's strong jawline and chin, but he also has his lil goatee which could be a nod to Phillip's beard in Elsewhere and Elsewhen.

Jacob has Caleb's eye shape and Phillip's eye color.

Their appearances are all too similar for it to be a coincidence. Like I said before, the ToH team loves to give these visual clues to help the audience piece together what's going to happen, at least with the Wittebane plotline, way before anything is confirmed within the universe of the show.

The fandom was right about Hunter being a grimwalker, being a grimwalker of Phillip's brother specifically, Phillip being Belos, and that Phillip's brother was named Caleb (well that one is all but explicitly stated but it's pretty much canon at this point). I'm positive the fandom is right about Caleb falling in love with a mystery witch and their family became the Clawthornes, and most of these theories were based in visual elements alone (the exception being Caleb's name)

While I feel like its very very likely that Jacob is a descendant of the Wittebanes, its obvious that he isn’t a descendant of Phillip or Caleb. The Wittebros both got stuck on the BI at the same time and never made it back. Its heavily implied that Caleb’s family became the Clawthornes, and its never indicated if Phillip ever had a family of his own or not, I think its unlikely. So what? A third Wittebane brother? A sister? A cousin? My guess is that ToH is gonna pull a Gravity Falls and reveal an additional sibling, (The Stan twins + Shirley who was later revealed to be the grandmother of the Pines twins which explained how Stan and Ford were both uncles in In a Tale of Two Stans) during the backstory episode that explains how Jacob could be related to the Wittebane family. 

Since Jacob is very similar to Phillip, and it’s implied in the season finale that Belos is still alive through the sludge gloop thing and got to the human relam via Hunter’s back, then its very likely that they would team up in the human realm to destroy the BI and “save humanity from evil”. 

The Hexsquad are also in the human realm, and they are undoubtedly going to do research on the Wittebanes to see how the Wittebros got to the Demon Realm in the first place so they can find a way back. This is certainly going to lead them to the Gravesfield Historical Society, where Jacob Hopkins works. And even though Luz doesn’t like and/or trust him for what he did to Vee, he obviously knows a lot on the subject, which could be very useful for their research. He might also be aware of his own ancestry, which would explain his obsession with them.  

Cue Jacob and the Hexsquad piecing together how Hunter looks exactly like Caleb, the Hexsquad finding out Jacob is a descendant of the Wittebanes (a family of witch hunters), Jacob finding out that everyone in the Hexsquad is a witch (except for Luz), Belos is also probably there like a devil on Jacob’s shoulder or something, and conflict ensues for the Hexsquad in the human realm. 

Anyway this is just my two cents on the matter, I am very excited to see how S3 will play out with the very little time they have to wrap up the story. What do ya’ll think? Feel free to add any other observations too!

[blaperile]

Homestuck: Beyond Canon (reactions pages 554- 576)

Wow, that was quite a heavy update.

I love that we finally got some insight into Yiffy's personality! Feels like she got a lot from Rose there, haha.

Too bad we still don't have dialogue from her yet though, I wonder when we'll get that honour.

But yikes, that tension between Kanaya, Rose and Jade. When Kanaya started putting on her lipstick I got REALLY afraid that the lipstick was going to turn into her chainsaw and that she was going to attack Jade with it. Good thing that didn't happen.

Rose and Kanaya's relationship has gone through a lot across both Meat and Candy!

What's drawing my attention MOST OF ALL though is that shot of Jade's captchalogue card!!

That's clearly a hand with stitches on it… which heavily implies it to be a STUFFED CORPSE. :o

We know Jade and her Grandpa had quite a history with stuffing corpses, so this immediately makes you wonder… whose corpse is this? And just what is the Homestuck Beyond Canon team planning on doing with it?

The most obvious candidate is Candy Dave's corpse! He recently died, from Jade's perspective, and she was most likely the first one to find his corpse. So if her old mannerisms surfaced again, perhaps she immediately stuffed him?

It's kind of a strange pose for this hand, but maybe his corpse is still lying in about the same pose Jade found him in?

If they all end up in a new SBURB session, does this mean we're going to get a new Davesprite???

And what impact would it have on Davebot, if any? Seeing as it's technically Candy Dave's consciousness (in ultimate self form) inhabiting the robot, would it be pulled from the robot into the sprite and cause the robot to explode (just like Aradia experienced when she went God Tier)?

Even the "WEE WOO" text beneath the panel is heavily implying this, using red and orange text, much like Dave and Davesprite's text colors.

An alternate interesting theory raised by abundantChewtoys is that it's Candy Dirk's corpse. I don't think it's very likely considering that they had a funeral for him and all, but it would be another notable corpse here in the candy timeline Jade could technically get her hands on AND it also fits with the text colors (Dirk's orange and Arquiusprite's red).

Finally another excellent point abundantChewtoys raised is that this update made sure to point out that Rose never buried her Mom. But then what DID happen to her body? Was it left on the Battlefield?

I may recall John or pre-retcon Jade having mentioned that they had a funeral for the dead Guardians on the 3-year trip on the Prospitian battleship? I might be remembering that wrong though. I can't find it with the search function, so my mind might be making it up.

But in any case, post-retcon Jade was ALONE on the ship, she had no John or Davesprite with her. So, knowing her family history, it's POSSIBLE she stuffed the corpses of John's Dad and Rose's Mom (and Dave's Bro?)… and that she still has those corpses with her?!

Anyway, most likely it's "just" Candy Dave's corpse, but it's hilarious to think of the other possibilities as well. At least we know for sure it's not a troll corpse considering the white human-like hand, hahahahaha.

I also just want to point out that this green captchalogue card implies this to be Jade's Pictionary modus… which would mean Jade had to DRAW the corpse to captchalogue it… think about that for a minute. Yikes. :(

It's interesting how in both Meat and Candy we currently have someone holding onto a dead corpse (Terezi holding on to John's body and Jade hanging on to this mysterious body who may or may not be Dave). Where is this leading? New Sprites in a SBURB session or something else entirely?

Finally I just want to talk about James Roach his newpost, where he hints one or more [S] pages are upcoming a few months from now!!!

I'm VERY excited about that, but also very curious what it could be about…

Ever since this new creative team took over we've got plenty of updates which seem to be building up to everyone heading to the Plot Point at the meteor. So are we going to get an [S] page featuring an epic confrontation between Jane and the rebels at the meteor, tying up everything that's happened so far in Candy and ending this "Act"?

Maybe that same page will also be the one to finally reveal what the Plot Point truly is. Is it some kind of portal (like from Hiveswap) to the Meat timeline or is it something else entirely?

My mind has been going crazy on theorizing and imagining where this could be going.

If everyone is gathering on the meteor and the Plot Point will activate then and there, what if it will somehow transport the entire meteor to the Meat timeline and have it go to Deltritus??

That would be an absolutely crazy but also amazing way to merge the Meat and Candy storylines into one.

Alternatively, I would find it hilarious if the Candy meteor transports to Meat Earth and it turns out that Calliope and Caliborn grew up there in the distant future (making it a combination of Candy and Meat, which is an appropriate symbol for both Cherubs).

[galactica7071]

let's diagnose the Irish guy from punch-out

disclaimer: I am but a lass with ADD, so while I do know a lot from both my own experiences and research, you should still take my ramblings with a few grains of salt. I encourage anyone reading to form their own headcanons, and would love to hear them!

So, the Punch-Out wiki (in its current state) implies that Aran Ryan has some sort of mental disorder, so I projected onto dissected him like a deep sea specimen, and may have found out what's going on in his very empty and screwed up head

🎉congrats! it's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder! (probably)🎉

ADHD has a bunch of characteristics that go with it, but I'll only be going over the ones that apply to Aran and are displayed in canon. Of course, I'll insert some speculation here and there to further support and reason through some of my points. For more reading, I suggest checking out organizations like Mayo Clinic and the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as any self-reports and blogs by people with ADHD (the latter tends to be more personal and far less clinical-sounding, but are just as helpful). Wikipedia is also a good place to go for anything, and you might even find yourself down a few rabbit holes!

Hyperactivity and restlessness

Aran exhibits this in PO Wii heavily. He has a high-stamina fighting style with lots of shuffling around, always bouncing around Little Mac. He can only be stunned through counter-punches and being faster than him (During round breaks, Doc Louis literally says "beat Aran Ryan to the punch"). It is extremely difficult to KO or TKO Aran without intercepting him due to this mechanic. During round breaks, regardless of how beaten and bruised he is, Aran will bounce his leg constantly in Contender and harass the audience in Title Defense.

Impulsivity and recklessness

This one's consistent between his two appearances, surprisingly. In Wii, Aran is portrayed as a dirty cheater who would "do anything to win", according to supplementary comics. He has the most rule infractions in the Punch-Out series, at 32 combined. He stuffs his gloves with horseshoes before his Contender fight and brings a homemade flail made from a broken boxing glove to his bout with Little Mac in Title Defense. During matches, he makes use of headbutts and elbows quite frequently. These are both illegal and very stupid moves, due to the potential of self-inflicted trauma. His flail in Title Defense could be a sign of creativity by thinking outside the box, which is often seen in people with ADHD. In supplementary material for Super Punch-Out!!, it's implied that a fight usually broke out whenever Aran was made fun of in school, showing that he was reckless during his childhood as well.

Emotional dysregulation

In Super Punch-Out!!, Aran Ryan is rather grumpy, and is one of two characters in the entire game to never smile in any of his sprites (the other being Nick Bruiser). Compared to his Wii portrayal, Aran is as clean as it gets in this game, even complimenting the player during the credits. Supplementary material attributes his lower mood to the teasing he endured during his childhood, and that he got into boxing to channel some of his pent-up anger. Depending on how you view it, him being so angry over his peers making fun of his name could be an overblown reaction. This hot-headedness is retained in PO Wii (which could be a sign of impulsivity), but he's essentially the inverse of how he was in Super. He's boisterous, reckless, dishonest, and smiles even while he's stunned. Many of Aran's reactions to being hit are him laughing, which might imply masochism on some level, but is nonetheless seen as an inappropriate response to being hit. He displays some antisocial traits, even, as seen when he throws aside the referee in Title Defense. This is likely caused by a low tolerance of authority, but is still an extreme reaction to the referee just trying to maintain order in the ring (good luck with that, ref...).

Difficulty starting tasks

This is a sign of executive dysfunction, which is closely linked to inattention in people with ADHD. It's exhibited in his Contender intro, where he spends the first three frames of the cutscene messing around. For this one, I'm going to compare Aran's behavior in his Contender intro to all the other boxers that spend their entire intro cutscene in a gym/dojo/training environment, spend the majority of their cutscene explicitly training, or are in several training environments. Here's a neat little chart, where the numbers represent how many slides they spent being "off-task":

can you tell that graphic design is my passion

I've counted any activity that builds strength and endurance (like eating, running, lifting, or practicing magic in Tiger's case), or requires a large amount of work put in to do (like chopping trees or playing hockey, for Bear Hugger). Some of you might be wondering why I didn't include certain characters, but that's because they're either in a combat setting, switch from training to non-training settings, or are doing unrelated things in what could be a training setting.

If Aran has 3 instances of being off-task, he ties with TD Kaiser, Don, and Macho in terms of how long they're off-task for. If "gearing up" is being counted as being on-task, he only ties with TD Kaiser and himself. Of course, context matters heavily. TD Kaiser, Don, and Macho aren't off-task purely for the sake of slacking off, but show developments of their story throughout Career Mode. TD Aran is off-task for storytelling as well, but it's not motivated by a grudge towards Mac like the other three and falls under the normal definition of "slacking off". Speaking of cutscenes,

Inattention and distractibility

Aran shows this several times in Title Defense. In his intro, he notices a rope in the trash can and gets the idea of making his flail, seemingly forgetting all about training for his match with Little Mac. During round intermissions, he's distracted by the audience throwing objects at him, and threatens them instead of spending the break resting or strategizing.

Anxiety

ADHD is highly comorbid with anxiety, due to executive dysfunction (mainly sensory processing), and the risk of overthinking. I admit that this one is a bit of a stretch, since general restlessness and anxiety are linked in many mood disorders, but it's shared between both of his appearances. Super's version of Aran being caught up in his own past can be a sign of social anxiety as well as falling victim to overthinking. In PO Wii, the leg bouncing can be a sign of anxiety for various reasons, whether it be physiological (ex. outside stimuli being unpleasant) or psychological (ex. overthinking the match). His stance in Exhibition's menu for his Contender match is also a little shaky, which is common in fight-or-flight reactions, though it could also be plain hyperactivity.

Pressured speech

In PO Wii. Aran usually talks very quickly, which can be caused by the classic ADHD experience of "having a lot to say, and feeling like there's no time to say it". It's very likely that it's just be a characteristic of his accent, though.

🍀🌠🌈this is a cool section break🌈🌠🍀

There's plenty more symptoms you could make arguments for, but these were some of his more prominent traits. ADHD shares symptoms with a lot of other disorders, though, so let's see some other possibilities...

Counter-Diagnosis #1: Bipolar II Disorder

Bipolar II, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, is characterized by a a pattern of depressive states and hypomanic states (notice the hypo- prefix). We can attribute Aran's demeanor in Super to a depressive state, and his demeanor in Wii to a hypomanic state. I've chosen bipolar II instead of I due to the specifications of a "manic state" not fitting his Wii portrayal as closely.

Hypomania (literally meaning "less than mania") shares many characteristics with full-blown mania, but is more toned-down. People who have experienced genuine hypomanic states usually describe it as helpful towards their productivity, while manic states are notoriously more harmful and often directly affect productivity. Symptoms of mania include restlessness, racing thoughts, pressured speech, overconfidence, increased agitation, impulsiveness, a disconnect from one's surroundings, extreme anxiousness, and many others. Already, we can observe many of these symptoms in Aran's Wii portrayal that are shared with the ADHD diagnosis. However, hypomania tends to lack the "reality disconnect", and we can see that Aran is very aware of his surroundings. Him being in the World Circuit in both Super and Wii can be interpreted as a sign of the hypomanic states being more helpful than detrimental (maybe less so in Super because of the existence of the Special Circuit, but I digress).

I think this take has a lot of ground, maybe more than the ADHD hypothesis. A lot of my earlier points in favor of him having ADHD can also apply to him being bipolar (specifically hyperactivity, recklessness, and especially emotional dysregulation) as well, which blurs the line in some places, but it's still a very strong argument.

Counter-Diagnosis #2: Oppositional Defiant Disorder

According to Mayo Clinic, ODD is "a frequent and ongoing pattern of anger, irritability, arguing and defiance towards parents and other authority figures". The characteristics of ODD can be observed in both SPO's and Wii's Aran.

I think this one's weaker, for a few reasons. First, ODD is considered clinically relevant only during childhood; from then, it can "evolve" into a number of other conditions, including but not limited to borderline personality disorder and the aforementioned bipolar disorder. Obviously, Aran isn't a child, but he could have had this disorder in the past and "grew out of it" from a clinical standpoint.

You could make an argument for the anger issues due to a few of his behaviors, as well as his voice lines in Wii having a sort of "growl" to them, but his irritability is infrequent and mild enough to where it can be attributed back to emotional dysregulation, and the "growl" could just be how the character or his voice actor naturally sounds (I haven't found any clips of Stephen Webster speaking out-of-character, but if anyone has any, I'd love to hear them).

Counter-Diagnosis #3: Antisocial Personality Disorder

The DSM-5 defines APD as consistent displays of deceitfulness, issues with authority, impulsivity, irritability, recklessness, and a diminished capacity for remorse after hurting someone. Again, a few of these symptoms are shared with ADHD, so there's a significant grey area here. Yet, I believe it's stronger than the ODD argument, since his cheating can be a sign of deceitfulness and his apparent antisocial traits in Wii. However, boxing as a combat sport doesn't leave much room for feeling remorse, since doing so can result in throwing or forfeiting a match. I'm not going to count the lack of remorse due to the nature of the sport, but you as a reader can interpret it how you like.

Counter-Diagnosis #4: Autism Spectrum Disorder

Because of how broad the autism spectrum is, you could easily go crazy in-depth with this. I'll do a miniature version of the ADHD symptom setup, which includes traits observed in canon. I won't be including every shared trait, but do keep in mind that ADHD is comorbid with a bunch of different spectrum disorders, and misdiagnoses, especially in women, are fairly common in the real world because of it. I know I'm going to fail to list certain symptoms due to just how many ASD traits there are, so if anyone reading has any more connections to make, be my guest! This "counter-diagnosis" section is for provoking further discussion, after all, and I'm happy to learn from you all.

Hyposensitivity

In PO Wii. To wind up for his right uppercut, Aran hits himself in the side of the head, and after round breaks in Contender, he hits himself repeatedly. Considering his gloves are confirmed to be loaded in his Contender fight, his relative indifference might be a sign of this. People with autism have reported tuning out various stimuli if they become overwhelmed by a bunch of them (sometimes related to meltdown or shutdown), and it's possible that that's what Aran is doing here. The bright lights of the venue combined with the crowd noise and the feeling of being sweaty could be overstimulating, and the supposed hyposensitivity towards being hit is caused by this "tuning out" to avoid a shutdown mid-bout.

Stimming (repetitive movements)

In PO Wii. The leg bounce in his Contender round break can be interpreted as a stim, as well as the wind-ups for his right uppercut (bopping himself in the head) and headbutt (choosing to wind up on the ropes). His bouncing around Mac could also be stimming.

Pathological demand avoidance

This phenomenon can also be comorbid with anxiety, which happens to be a risk factor for ADHD, so we're looping back around with this one. PDA is characterized by a person exhibiting an intense aversion to something that is asked of them, even if they wanted to do it beforehand. It can be associated with feelings of unfairness and like they don't have any control, so someone with PDA may "break the rules" to feel as though they have some control over what happens to them. Aran's high infraction count in Wii could be a sign of a more obsessive form of this. Avoiding the process of carrying out the demand can be conflated with executive dysfunction as well.

TL;DR get this man into a psychiatrist's office ASAP

[two-red-lungs]

Missin’ You

(Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader Fix-It Fic)

Summary: You’d come back to your hometown from nursing school for one week. Just for spring break. It was one goddamn week. Why, oh why, did things always have to go to shit so quickly around here?

And why was Steve Harrington falling out of the ceiling with a body tied to his back?

Contents: Eddie/Reader, graphic gore/injuries, canon fix-it

Word Count: 3.8k

Song Inspiration: X

And it’s my heart that’s breakin’

Down this long-distance line tonight

I ain’t missing you at all 

Since you’ve been gone, away

I ain’t missing you (missing you)

No matter what I might say

It had all fucked up so quickly. The turnaround must have been what, one, two days? And then your life had gone from lazing around, drinking milkshakes at the diner and burning through your savings, to sitting frozen in the town hall meeting while some blonde, square-jawed jock ranted all red-eyed about the devil in Hawkins. How it was inside one very, very familiar super-senior.

Worst part of all was when people actually started to get up to hunt him. 

You weren’t blind. You knew what a lynch mob was. And now your aunt Claudia was staring across the town hall crowd at you with wet, horrified eyes, because your stupid, stupid baby cousin Dustin was in the photo of the satanic group being passed around like target flyers. 

“You should stay with is, honey.” She said fearfully, fussing over your visage in a huddle of all the parents with kids in the Hellfire Club. “It would be safer, you know. If this... Munson boy is what they say he is, if he’s doing the things he’s doing. You’re all alone at that motel, and I just don’t-”

You put a hand on her shoulder. Her lower lip was trembling. “Auntie, auntie. Please. I’m fine, okay? Just... focus on finding Dustin, okay? I’m sure he’s fine.” When her lip wobbled again, you doubled down. “Auntie, he’s fine. All the stuff he’s been through already? This is small potatoes.” You raised your brows, heavily implying what only a handful of people in Hawkins knew: that Dustin and his mystery squad had been through more than a bit of satanic panic and come out unscathed. 

She wiped her tears away, sniffling. Claudia was so sweet. So kind-hearted. She deserved the world. “Alright. Well. You need anything, just call. The motel is far too close to the trailer park for comfort.”

“Of course. I’ll call. I swear.”

You watched her leave, deep in worried conversation with the Sinclair parents, with a sinking pit in your stomach. Something just didn’t... feel right. And as you drove home in your clunky, piece-of-shit sedan, you stewed.

You knew Eddie Munson, at one point. It had been a year, now. How old would he be. Twenty? Your age? You’d both been seniors together.

He was nice, from what you remembered. 

Well. More than nice. 

Eddie was your dealer on weekends. He never extorted you, or twisted your arm about prices. Far from it: he always made you laugh, or blush, and ended up knocking a few bucks off of the total. He was lanky, and weird, but there was no malice to him. A weird sort of conflicted, pained shyness, sure. Some wound he was harboring deep under those layers of leather and denim. 

But the Munson you knew went on long-winded tangents about how bullshit it was that a football player got away with dunking a kid’s backpack in the trash, and how when he helped them pull it out and brush the garbage off it, all he got was a wary, terrified look because of his appearance. The Munson you knew had a little silk pouch fall out of his backpack and cried ‘Deborah!’ in a horrified voice when it hit the floor: he’d dropped his favorite set of enameled game dice. 

He was a geek. A freak. Not a killer. Right?

Maybe you were biased. 

The week before you graduated, nerves buzzing high, you visited his trailer again. Sat on the edge of his bed while he hummed under his breath and dug around his messy room. “I can just have some of the regular stuff.” You assured him. 

He paused, shooting you a look over his leather-clad shoulder. Those big chocolate-brown eyes screwed up in a smile. “Nah. That skunk-weed’s for normies. For you, princess? You get the primo shit.”

And he’d helped you roll a joint on the cover of one of his hardback D&D guidebooks, and his fingers had been warm and strong, and he looked up at you through that curtain of hair with his tongue trapped between his lips, and god help your stupid impulsive self, you kissed him. 

And then you left. And you never, ever saw him again.

You pulled into the motel parking lot and parked, running hands down your face. Ugh. Damn Eddie Munson. Damn your bias. Damn this fucking town and it’s stupid science bullshit and the stupid fucking upside-down or whatever the hell Dustin had offhandedly mentioned once or twice in passing. You just wanted to smoke. 

So you did. 

Time blurred a bit, sunrises and sunsets, glued to your shitty motel television set, watching the local news. Seeing Eddie’s face over and over again, next to blurred photos of snapped limbs and contorted forms. Speculations about satanism. 

You remembered what Eddie had said to you, once, about a year ago. You and him sitting on the back bumper of his van, taking some quick hits to make the spring pep rallies a bit more tolerable.

He had gestured to the Satanic cross on his jacket. “You know what the best part of this patch is?” 

“No. What?”

He broke into giggles. “I’m fucking catholic, man.”

You dissolved into laughter alongside him. 

Now, looking at that satanic logo up on the TV screen next to his grinning face, you felt sick. You punched the power button, fumbled with your jacket, and grabbed your pack of smokes. The night air was a welcome relief to the stuffy, dusty motel room. Stars glittered above you. Wind wafted through the far-off black forest in a low hum.

Funny how little the world looked like it had changed, when everything felt so different.

You lit a cigarette, taking a draw. Fuck the curfew. You needed to walk-process. Your feet were carrying you somewhere: you let them. Across the janky neon-lit parking lot, down the narrow two-lane street lined with forest. Smoke puffed from your mouth. Calming. Centering. 

It wasn’t until you were a quarter mile down the road, turning off into the dirt, coming face to face with rows of trailers, that you realized exactly where you were. Night cast the trailer park in a soft, moonlit glow. All the lights in the residential houses were off. 

Something chilled in your stomach. All lights were off... but one. And you knew that trailer.

So now your brain couldn’t help but pose the question: why the hell were the home lights in the Munson residence on? Why was the front door wide open? And why, oh why, did you feel like you wanted to walk towards it instead of jogging back to the motel and calling the police like a good little citizen? 

You took a long, agonizing drag of your cigarette, nearly hitting filter. Dropping it, putting it out under your foot. Jesus. Jesus, you needed to go. So you turned to leave. 

And then you stopped when the unmistakable voice of your shithead baby cousin was screaming “Eddie!” at the top of his little freshly post-pubescent lungs, word ricocheting out of the trailer, and dammit, dammit, dammit, your feet were pounding against the ground and your heart was racing in your ears and you were running towards what could only be fucking trouble.

Your fingers wrenched open the loose screen door and you were balking, gasping, staring wide-eyed at the absolutely nightmarish fleshy, viney portal in the ceiling of the trailer: huh. So. Dustin had been telling the truth. Your cousin whipped around, tears in his big eyes, looking absolutely panicked and weirdly militaristic. 

That wasn’t what caught your attention. 

Steve fucking Harrington was easing himself out of the portal, flipping around with an iron grip on a heavy power chord that hung through the thing like some sort of op-art piece. Strapped to his back, limp and dirty, was Eddie Munson’s lank body. 

Steve thumped to the floor, breathing heavily, nearly falling over before Dustin steadied him. Your cousin was whimpering, untying Eddie from Steve’s straps with shaking hands. 

“...What the fuck?” You said blankly. 

Dustin and Steve froze, looking at you. 

“Who the hell are you?” Harrington demanded. God, he looked like shit: all roughed up and grimey, with a tight red circle pinched around his throat. 

“...That’s my cousin.” Dustin breathed, eyes wide. “...My... shit, my nursing cousin. Come here.” When you stayed locked in place, because portal, and Steve Harrington in war gear, and dimensional portal, Dustin screeched. “Come here, please, christ!”

His plea snapped you into action. Dustin was hiccuping through tears, the water cutting tracks through the dirt on his face. He tenderly laid Eddie out on the trailer floor. 

God. He was barely recognizable. His olive vest was almost black with blood that oozed from fleshy, meaty wounds half-hidden by his shirt, and his throat and neck were mottled and bruised. Crimson smeared across his face. Oozing out of the side of his mouth. It was almost enough to freeze you up again. 

You fell to your knees beside him. Dustin’s endless barrage of is he okay and is he alive and please help him faded to background noise. You numbly brushed wet, limp, frizzy hair away from Eddie’s neck and pressed fingers against the long, pale, damaged column of flesh. And waited. 

bambambambambam-

“He’s alive.” You said. Dustin looked like he could collapse. “But his pulse is thready. Dustin, he’s- jesus christ, he’s losing blood. He’s going to go into arrest.”

“So fucking fix it!”

“I’m trying!” You hissed back. Okay. You squeezed your eyes shut. Okay. Okay. Remember your training. Remember the pale, bloodless corpses in medical school: you weren’t emotionally attached. You were objective. Rational. This was a series of scientific problems. Problems with solutions. 

Find the solutions.

You opened your eyes. 

“Knife.” You demanded at Harrington. After a moment’s hesitation, he unstrapped the one at his belt and handed it to you. As you cut away at Eddie’s shirt, exposing torso and graphic, oozing, deep bites, you talked. “I need bandages. And some iodine, who fucking knows what bacteria are on him. I need a needle, and suture thread, and-” You allowed yourself a moment of weakness, running a hand down your face, “-Christ. I need my kit.”

“Your kit?” Steve asked tightly.

“My fucking kit, Harrington, my medical kit I keep in the back of my fucking car but that’s back at the Motel Six and if I leave I- I can’t leave. He won’t...” You kept steady pressure on Eddie’s abdomen. Even under the tension, hot blood was still leaking out. Every drop was precious to him, now. 

Maybe you were wrong about Steve. When you last knew him he was a selfish, self-absorbed prick: but now, all he needed was to get your keys thrown at him across the room and he was off, grabbing Eddie’s bike from outside and taking off into the darkness to the motel.

The trailer got very quiet. Eddie’s breathing rattled. Each one he took sounded like his last.

“How did this happen?” You asked softly to Dustin, who was pacing back and forth, looking like a little trench soldier in his camo getup. 

He stopped pacing. “He was brave. He... he didn’t run. The, uh... the demobats... we needed to distract them from Vecna’s lair so the others could get him, kind of like a lich phylactery, you know, and Eddie knew they needed more time so he... he...” His face crumpled. 

You didn’t understand any of that, but you got the gist. “He was trying to help?”

“Yeah. Yeah, he was just... he just wanted to help.”

Eddie’s face was so wrecked. Scratched, pale, bloodless. Eyes shut, lashes wet. He was so pretty. It was a stupid thing to be thinking, now, but you were thinking it anyway, heart twisting. God. He had always been pretty: pretty enough to make you blush when he did his comedy routine while selling to you. Pretty enough that you risked pressing your mouth to his for a brief second.

Huh. That happened down the hall, a year ago.

Steve was back in record time, chest heaving, holding up the big-ass white box he had pilfered from your trunk. The damn thing might as well have been glowing with holy light, because it screamed savior, rescue, an actual fucking chance in hell.

You got to work. Steve and Dustin watched over your shoulder like nervous birds. You wiped with iodine, and threw everything you had at the deep, nightmarish lacerations: QuikClot and Celox, pressure bandages for the arterial injuries. Putting his head into recovery position and checking down his throat for an injured or obstructed windpipe. Eddie’s pulse was jackhammering rabbit-fast. Skipping the occasional beat, now.

“Shit, shit, shit.” You muttered to yourself, pulling out a double-tubed needle that ran through a catch-bag and valve. “Ohhh, fuck me, I am not ready for this.”

“What is that? What are you doing?” Dustin demanded. 

“I...” You said with cynical, terrified levity, biting the tube and rolling up your sleeve. Ripping Eddie’s own sleeve off his arm with the knife. “...am going to try something I’ve only heard my professor talk about once. And it was a talk about why you should never, ever do it.”

“So why the hell are you doing it?” Steve said, shaking his head, matted hair bobbing. 

“Because if I don’t, he’ll probably fucking die.” You tightened the rubber strap you wrapped on your upper arm and gave the inside of your elbow a few good thumps to encourage the veins to the surface. “And I’m a universal donor. God, I fucking hate needles.”

Before either of them could protest you were gritting your teeth and easing the cold metal into your arm, hissing at the sharp ache. Red, bright, vitality-carrying blood raced up the clear tubing into the catch bag: you leaned over and hunted down Eddie’s vein as soon as you saw it. It took a few stabs. You apologized mentally in your mind. 

No bubbling, no reflux, please universe, please, you chanted to yourself silently. “Hold this up.” You slapped the catch-bag into Steve’s hand and he dutifully clutched it as you fumbled with the dial. Turning it to on. And then o-negative was racing downwards, down, down, down, and into Eddie. 

A live transfusion. God, this was stupid. But what choice was there? You’d risk averse transfusion reaction over sudden death any day. 

You sat there. Sat, and waited. Steve and Dustin were conferring over your head, and you couldn’t hear it. Didn’t have the energy to tune in to it. All you could do was focus on Eddie’s pale form. He looked so small, laid out like this. All quiet. Eddie Munson was never quiet. And the vermillion smears across his face made it kind of hard to pretend he was just asleep. 

You knew why you had bolted, after you had kissed him. It was because you knew there was more there. God help you, you always knew. Knew it from the first time you had smoked together. The truth was, you had it bad for the town hooligan. Totally hooked by that smile, those chuckles. The unapologetic way he lived. Him and his stupid guitar.

Dustin had left, at some point. Probably to go save the world, or some shit. Steve was antsy, too, glancing around, holding the blood. Fuck him. He wasn’t excused. Not until Eddie was a little more stable. 

The ground rumbled. And all at once an earthquake was hitting Hawkins like a fucking bus, and the power went out, and the cups were rattling and smashing and shit was falling to the ground, so with your non-needled arm you leaned over Eddie’s prone body protectively, nose tickling his. Something hit your back, hard. You grunted but held firm. 

After twenty seconds, it stopped. “Jesus.” Steve breathed. “Jesus, I... look, man, I gotta go. No way that was coincidence. Not after what we’ve just been through.”

“Fine. Fine, you can go. But you need to do one last thing for me.” 

Steve heaved an exasperated, stressed sigh, looking like he wanted to protest. You gaze was hard. A little dizzy from the blood loss. 

He conceded. 

Six minutes and a lot of sneaking through the forest and skirting streetlights later, you fumbled with your room lock and Steve dumped Eddie’s body out on your motel bed. He was gone before you could even say thanks. He took the car keys. And the car. You couldn’t really fault him for that.

Now it was just you, and the freak, and the warm lights of the nightstand lamp. 

And you would put him back together. You could do it. 

It was six-forty AM. You had been taking care of Eddie for five hours. Sitting through more transfusion time, for as long as you could bear before your own heart started stuttering. Easing him out of the grimy, contagion-covered clothes: he was staining and dirtying the bedsheets like nobody’s business, but that didn’t fucking matter. Keeping his lesser wounds tightly wrapped. Suturing the bigger ones with bloody, buzzing fingers. Wiping his face clean of the soot and the unnatural ash and the crusting blood. Probably with more tenderness than you’d like to admit. 

You were putting iodine on the tinier cuts and scrapes on his hands when Eddie gasped and jolted under you. Your hands flew to hold him down. “Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey.”

His bruise-ringed, big bambi eyes were open and wide and wild, panicked and cornered like a hunted animal. You considered yourself lucky he was so weak right now: if he wasn’t, he could have tossed you across the room like a pissed bull. 

But he was alive. He was alive. Something warm and bright light fireworks exploded in your chest. 

“Eddie, Eddie!” You said loudly over his high, panicked, pained noises. “It’s okay. You’re safe, you’re safe. You’re at the Motel Six, you’re safe. I swear. Relax.” You readjusted your soft grip on his shoulders, pressing him gently back against the pillows. “But you’re hurt. Really, really bad. So I need you to stay still, okay?”

His face was contorted in pain. Oh, man. You almost wished he had stayed under. The amount of agony he must be in, feeling those lacerations, deep down into his muscles and tendons... torturous was the only word for it. A fine sheen of sweat was already covering his waxy face. 

“...Am I dead?” Was the first thing he croaked out in a ruined, wobbling voice.

You laughed softly. Gallows humor. “Jesus, I hope not. I worked my ass off to stop that.”

“Dustin...” He slurred out. Eddie grabbed at the fabric of your shirt, hard. “Dustin, he... and H-Harrington, Wheeler. Buckley. Are they-”

“Dustin and Steve are fine.” You soothed, pulling those tight, strong fingers off of you one by one. “Steve just left. They’re alive, Eddie. I don’t... I don’t know what you did, it worked. It helped. You helped.” His eyes were hazy, glazed over in agony: he was shifting his body, blood soaking through his white bandages. 

Oh god. The pain. That’s right. “I have, uh... here.” You rummaged through your kit for emergency opioids, and found the orange, rattling bottle. “It’s morphine, okay? It’s for your pain. I can’t give you a high dose, Eddie, I’m sorry, I just- you should be in a hospital. I don’t know what your iron is, or your blood pressure, or your fluid percentage- I just...” God. There were tears in your eyes.

You had saved his fucking life. Why, now, when he was awake, did you feel so helpless? 

He swallowed them dry, coughing, making a wet noise of pain in the back of his throat. You clutched his hand tightly. He held yours back, strong fingers sweating under your smaller ones. 

“It takes thirty minutes. I’m sorry, Eddie, I’m so sorry. You’ll have to wait.” Fuck nursing mode. Fuck objectivity. Your heart was squeezing in your chest: you brushed your free hand across his forehead, aching inside.  Tender and soft.

Time ticked by. Agonizing minute by agonizing minute. You held his hand the entire way.

Eddie was out of it. He refocused his gaze on your with glassy black-brown eyes. “...Why aren’t you scared of me, man?” He smiled and it was so forced and weak and watery you wanted to cry. “Shouldn’t you be, like. Holding a cross up at me or something?”

A smile tugged at the corner of your lips. “What good would that do, Munson? I happen to know you’re catholic.”

Something clicked behind his hazy eyes. 

“Oh, shit. It’s you.”

“It’s me.”

“You’re at college.”

“I was. I’m here now.”

“...You kissed me.”

You paled, going still. “Uh...” You eked out. Your hand laced with his felt incriminating. But he didn’t let go. “Yeah. I uh. I sort of did. Sorry about that. It was, uh. Rude of me. Impulsive. I mean, Jesus, I didn’t even ask-”

“Were you crushing on me?”

When you looked back down at him, there was a trace of a shit-eating grin on his broad face. A spark, a hint of the normally sarcastic, energetic, trouble-making man he was. 

You flushed. Opened and closed your mouth a few times. 

“Holy shit, you totally were.” He pressed his lips together for a few seconds, the pain overwhelming him. Fighting against it. When he spoke again his voice trembled. “Miss... fuckin’... high and mighty, straight As, medical school. Big old crush on the local freak. That’s... christ, that’s rich.”

“Eddie, I sorry, I didn’t...”

He talked over you. His eyelids were fluttering. Twenty-seven minutes passed: he’d be under any second now. “Nah, man. Don’t. M’just wishin’... you know... that you hadn’t run.”

“...After I kissed you?” You whispered out. Afraid of moving a single muscle. 

“Yeah. Didn’t even let me kiss you back.”

And then Eddie was out like a light, face going soft and slack and free of pain. Bandaged chest rising and falling evenly. Peacefully, for the first time in ages. 

You wanted to laugh. Wanted to cry. God, of course, of course life would end up like this. Alternate dimensions were real. You were harboring an innocent wanted criminal. And you were pretty sure you were straight back to being in love with Eddie goddamn Munson. 

With a huff of air, you pressed a feather-light kiss to the back of his veiny, scratched-up hand, and laid down next to him from where you had sat on the edge of the bed. Just a second, you promised yourself, head on the pillow by his. Looking at his soft lashes, his soft lips. Just a second to rest. I’ll get up in a second.

You fell asleep to the sound of Eddie Munson’s breathing, his soft, warm hand tangled with yours. 

[multitrackdrifting]

Well I didn't write my thoughts on the last ep cause I was playing FF16 but I'll explain why I didn't like the ending (despite loving a lot of the episode) under the cut

There's a lot of ways you can end a political sci-fi story (which Mobile Suit Gundam tends to be) and some of the worst ways it can end is a bleak "and nothing got better" and that often is the resolution for a lot of them, but it's not that bad when it's clear that the isolated conflict would just be covered up and whatever amidst the conclusion of that story. The very grounded and "realistic" stories in UC might fall into this kind of area.

I am of the opinion that more often than not it's bad practice to criticise what isn't there, that is unless you have a legitimate reason to feel that way. In this case, I feel that they brought up the earth subplots and kind of just used to thrust the story forward without actually having anything meaningful to say about Earthian emancipation or even validate that the companies in the story made that place a fucking hell hole in any meaningful fashion. You hear about a lot of the going-ons from people from Earth for sure, but you barely have it in your periphery for the majority of the season except for about 3-ish episodes.

My greatest fear as I've expressed to many friends and other people I talk to about G-Witch is that they would hand-wave all the problems away with a time skip and sadly we got literally this exact thing.

The spectacle and wonder of the family conflict tying up nicely & the canon lesbian relationship is pretty heavily overshadowed for me by the complete dismissal of the very subplot threads they opened in order to describe just how bonkers the Benerit group is/was.

OF course, I am labouring under the assumption that there is no season 3, and IBO didn't even announce theirs till like 4 months after Season 1 ended on a massive cliffhanger but this story did not end on one.

There's no seething and spiteful earth orphan in the epilogue, or any inclination that the story will in-fact continue and that leaves me feeling all the way wrong about how they handled this especially since I have to wait half a year potentially to find out if they plan to make more (which I imagine they will if not specifically to sell more Gunpla).

Of course, you might say that "oh this is a more personal Gundam story" and I don't even really feel like that's a good explanation of why the ending almost feels antithetical to the story itself like, yeah Benerit got dissolved and all was well and eveyrone became friends which is acceptable in your average shounen story but this pretty much felt like an ass-pull in some ways especially when you take in that they neglected to do anything with Earth except => guel gets kidnapped and goes to earth and briefly helps orphans and guerillas => miorine accidentally helps stage a false flag attack and pretty much nothing else?

Like that kind of irks me in the same way that playing FF14 Stormblood and there being almost nothing about Ala Mhigo irks me.

Of course, I am happy that SuleMio is a happy family not just with Prospera, but all of her daughers including Eri.

It's just... way too neat? I seldom call something an ass-pull but hand-waving that Earth is still in strife and barely any consequences were faced by the broader corporations outside of the dissolution of Benerit would be a compelling point if, like Hathaway, it had something to stand on top of (which is that in UC, fucking nothing ever changes, Unicorn happens and Hathaway's Mafty Uprising still happens in spite of Banagher's wager on possibility lmao)

I dunno, I feel happy that they're happy but really upset that they really just dumpstered everything to do with Earth and it just swept so many of the real questions that the very story we watched each week implied it would even try to answer.

I'm really hard to annoy, I love meathead shounen, I love serious and nuanced political writing in anime (e.g. MSG UC & Eighty-Six) but it's not the space magic that annoys me, I'd be a hypocrite to love Gundam Unicorn and hate it here - it's how they just time-skipped everything to a neat and tidy conclusion.

Of course, maybe a S3 announcement (which I have firmly held is probably coming) would change my mind, but yeah this was a great episode but a terrible finale.

Honestly, I even felt irked by the fact that Suletta accepts her mothers choice so plainly and I get it - the parental bonds thing is somehting I don't take for granted, anyone who has had complicated feelings about their own parents understands how a person can come to be like "you've hurt me and the people around me, and yet I still care for you" - I get it! But I really do not like how inconsistent it feels to be cleaning up the bodies of her classmates one episode and kinda shrugging everything she did off in a time-skip but this critique specifically is down to the jarring pacing that others had been complaining to this point - I suppose I am guilty of getting caught up in the spectacle but I almost snapped my neck at how hard this ending veered off

Of course, the natural commentary for this will be "selling off Benerit's assets and aiding Earth is a functional and practical way to help Earth" except that it almost feels like it comes out of nowhere due to the lightspeed pacing of this finale.

They really fumbled writing Earth in this story - yeah, there are nice subtleties in the ending but it still feels way too rushed and jarring for me to like actually find it enjoyable. Bodies don't make a good gundam ending (see: Gundam Unicorn), and space magic doesn't make it bad either (also Gundam UC lol), they just brushed off way too much.

The "incremental change" argument holds decent weight if there was any explicit inclination to continue the story from the time-skip (which I would like to see, preferrably with an Earthian protagonist at the centre of their emancipation struggles).

It was indeed nice to see the Earth girls integrated into Miorine's company, and Sabina does comment that they're not sure if it will amount to what they want - and Mio, far more mature than her younger self, steps towards that future bravely and that's cool.

I like the characterisation of the ending - but yeah, how they kinda just blitz the Earth stuff does not sit right with me.

I did like seeing all the kids being friends & being together after all they've been through, and that is a nice way to tie-up the story, but the way they kinda just use that to justify why they barely explain the rest is wild.

Course, I know I'm probably in the minority here - but pacing doomposters were right - this was a pretty abysmal ending because of how little time they had to work with.

I loved every single episode of this season, except the ending. Loved the first half of the episode, but the latter half is just way too neat and that's not because it needs bodies or something - it really does just feel like "and then it got marginally better".

I know the ending itself explicitly acknowledges that nothing may change, but as I said previously, that only works if you have something to lean on which this story does not since it's unclear if it's even going to get another season.

Systemic change, in reality, is quite incrimental and often feels infinitismally small - and that notion might be more compelling in this bittersweet epilogue if the story had taken more pains to actually explore the earthian-spacian conflict.

Yes, they discuss conflict-sharing/war-partitioning on the different segments of Earth, but they do nothing with it at all other than laud it around as a talking point without making the viewer ever face it except when Prospera attacks Earth. I feel like so much of the Earth-side of the story is left in the abstract, and do not argue to me that it's in the subtleties of Earth house and the things that they say.

I felt like the fella in Plato's cave hearing about something and the only time I actually felt the human side of that story from the people that live on Earth was when Guel was a prisoner of war for an episode and when Miorine has to face the disappointed people who realise they're being attacked.

I had faith the ending would not go "and then it got better", and I know many people will hate that I choose to take that interpretation, but that is pretty much the summation of my feelings about how rapidly they pushed this aside. I love this series, I ahve been gassing this series every single week since like episode 3 - but this ending was unsatisfying - it's not enough to make me hate the series but yeah, I wish we had something more substantive to look toward with future stories or more time spent stressing the "other side" of this conflict.

Yeah, the Benerit group at large is on trial on TV, and there's signs that the world will change & we see future generations of kids on Earth, but I don't think it hit quite right for me. It's not a lack of grit, it's just like, you're enjoying the payoff without the adequate build-up and I feel like I'm possibly not alone in thinking this.

Earth was just a bargaining chip and an elusive idea in this season, and I really do not like that so much was left in the abstract. You can "subtext" anything into existence, but no amount of referential dialogue is going to make up for the lack of a grounded and meaningful representation of their struggle since Sophie and Norea got axed (I did not mind this at the time), and they portrayed every other Earth character outside of Gund-arm as a villain.

I really feel like this aspect of how the story was structured was ultimately quite disappointing and thus, I am annoyed at the resulting payoff.

The romance side of things was cute, and I thoroughly enjoy how thing were tied up with them - especially that Suletta loved her family despite everything (this does not boggle my mind).

But yeah my gripes with the lack of idk time to talk about Earth actually boggles my mind beyond belief.

It's incredibly difficult to feel the actual weight of "yeah Benerit was dissolved and assets redistributed lol" while being presented with next to zero context for what that means and what it could mean. Way too much is left to the imagination and while that's fine in certain kinds of stories, in one wherey ou barely even grapple with the Earth context that you've described to this point it's kind of bonkers.

Yes, I get a lot of people will feel catharsis with this ending because what they're watching for and what I am watching for may be different - that's perfectly okay, but I'm not gonna act like ti didn't disappoint me that we got the most explicit form of a hand-wave (a time skip) to end out an otherwise fantastically written series.

I do not like that one bit and I do not apologise for believing that either.

Here's another scorching take: the next season should focus on Earth, not how the Samayas heal as a family - there might be room for both, but with how neglected Earth felt maybe it's time for a POV change in this world bc they really did FA with that.

In conclusion, I sitll like the show, but this ending was really unfulfilling. I know that winning a battle is not winning the war, but the story took pretty much no pains to eloquently depict the struggles of Earth properly this season despite me thinking that the vast majority of episodes were absolutely fantastic in spite of that.

I think Suletta, Mio and Guel were quite well-written and most of the supporting cast too, but this flaw in the narrative structure is insanely glaring for me and call that pretentious if you want but I genuinely believe what I said here

Edit: I guess, the ending just doesn't say anything super daring that that's pretty disappointing.

Edit 2: I completely forgot to go on a rant but, that the use of a WMD (space laser) was not even a point of intrigue for a future conflict is also wild.

[randomnameless]

Hello! I hope that you are doing well!

I just wanted to send you a question regarding the amount of power Rhea has in Fódlan since something came to my mind. You know how during Edelgard's coronation, she said to her father that, "The Archbishop of the Church of Seiros would normally act as witness, but my professor will fill that role instead"?

Unless I missed something [or am overthinking], do you believe that Rhea was even there to witness Ionius' coronation?

We were told in the game that it had been ages since a member of House Hresvelg enrolled into the Officers Academy as well as that there had recently been a rift between the Adrestian Empire and the Church of Seiros.

Therefore, to me at least, that implied that said rift had been going on for a while. And I do not see why they would allow her there if such a thing was going on. Yet, Rhea does not retaliate against this as far as I know. Then there is the fact that Edelgard is allowed to be coronated without Byleth's presence. The Southern Church was dismantled, too, so…I think it is safe to say that there was not an official to witness her from there as well. lol

To put it simply, it feels very contradictory to me and adds a crack into the "Rhea controls Fódlan" perspective.

Hi!

I agree, that NPC going all "the empire and hthe church cut ties eons agao that's why supreme leader is the first imperial heir to attend since ages" suggests Rhea wasn't very welcomed in Enbarr.

FWIW the Nopes book about the Southern Church incident reveals the Emperor of that time already wanted to cut ties with the Central Church - and used this rebellion (which was more or less a Varley daughter wanting to have a role instead of letting her bother inherit everything?) as an excuse to finally give them the boot.

In a nutshell, I heavily doubt Rhea was around when Ionius was coronated, if her Church was already "not welcomed" by the time the Southern Church was disbanded.

The Archbishop acting as witness might be just some sort of old ceremonial thing, just like the "covenant of the red blood and the white sword", maybe all coronations try to renact the "oath" Wilhelm took/swore to Seiros when she presumably made him Emperor of Adrestia? And the Archbishop acts as a stand in for Seiros (even if we know better!) when the oath is sworn again by Willy's descendants?

As you pointed out, the Archbishop being present or not is merely decorum, since nowhere the game suggests that in the non-CF routes, Supreme Leader's coup coronation isn't regular or anything.

Rhea controlling Fodlan isn't backed up by canon, Adrestia has been doing its own thing for several centuries, the CoS only provides help (the game doesn't tell us what it is!) to Faerghus : Dimitri becomes King not because Rhea crowns or splashes oil on him, but because he is the Crown Prince and the last heir of the previous King. As for the Alliance, it does its own thing without her input!

[itsclydebitches]

I'm just adding my voice to the growing choir but yeah, I don't think Trent is going to out Collin:

It would be an extreme moment of regression. I mean, this guy gave up decades of high-profile journalism due to his distaste for how the job was making him compromise his ethics. He's not gonna just turn around and out a player after that.

(Headcanon-y side-note, but Trent is HEAVILY queer coded and based on my personal readings of his character he's someone who would not just respect Collin, but understand him.)

I've been noticing that each episode has a small "Don't print that" moment where Trent seems legitimately open to keeping the club's personal secrets. The ones that, frankly, have no bearing on football and thus the public has no right to them (changing manicurists, diarrhea, etc.) None of these scenes have implied that he's merely humoring his worried friends and planning to air all the dirty laundry when they're least expecting it. A player kissing another man in an alley on their night off absolutely counts as 'Personal and none of the book's business.'

Outside of the book, how would Trent publish this? He doesn't seem to be doing freelance. It's possible he could pass the tip off to someone else, but we haven't seen any journalist buddies he's friendly with and giving that to a stranger (from the audience's perspective) would feel like even more of a betrayal. You're not just outing him, but using someone who we can't trust to spin the story in an empathetic light, as Trent did with Ted's panic attacks?

Trent doesn't snap a photo of them, despite having the time to get one (they're oblivious). He doesn't write anything in his notebook. He doesn't interrupt and hound them for a quote like he might have in season 1-2. He just walks off, looking contemplative/a bit worried.

So I don't think Trent is going to out Collin, but I do think he might try and do something about it. Meaning, this episode has shown that Collin is, well... pretty bad at keeping his sexuality a secret. He's sneaking out of his boyfriend's house, trying not to draw attention to himself, but then he hits a whole bunch of trash cans while leaving. I got a huge spike of anxiety when he looked at his phone with the other guys standing right there, given that a selfie, kissy emoji, and "thirst" are all pretty damning texts. He's obviously kissing right next to the main road, just a street or so down from where half the club is eating dinner, in a remarkably lit area. And though he tries to deflect a lot - fine he's gay for Zava too, this is my wingman, story about trying to seduce women - it comes across as trying too hard to anyone who's paying attention. Because, you know, Collin is trying very hard, despite his missteps.

The point is that Collin is constantly on the cusp of being outed. If the story doesn't have that happen next episode (that would put a damper on Richmond's win streak) I think Trent is going to step in somehow in an effort to provide damage control - or at least try to, even if he winds up being too late. The use of "Everybody Knows," while obviously a pertinent title, is also a list of how all these awful things have already come to pass - "That's how it goes" - and contains such gems as,

"Everybody knows you've been discreet But there were so many people you just had to meet Without your clothes Everybody knows"

(The context here is cheating, but for a background snippet of a song I think the general vibe of bad things + lovers + not being discreet wins out.)

So Trent may try to step in, even if it comes to naught. After all, if he spotted them it's only a matter of time until someone else does too. Collin is lucky it was Trent who saw them and not someone else.

Cue the emphasis on how much he's changed as a journalist (Collin wouldn't have been lucky a year ago), viewers get a cool new relationship between characters who haven't interacted yet, as well as the canonizing of Trent as a queer man without giving him a coming out story because frankly a 50ish character doesn't (necessarily) need that. He's already got the "vibe" 🌈😎