#like i like the family in birthright a lot! but none of the other characters really stand out for me compared to conquest

[elegyofthemoon]

lord give me the strength to not download and play fe awakening or fates again theres only so much i can handle with the little time i have and i dont need my brain to be losing attention enough as is

[smolandweirdwriter]

ok so I’ve been posting a lot about s/jm a lot but shutup I have a lot of angry feelings rn bc she was such a big inspiration for me during the time i began writing the book im currently editing and i’m trying to purge myself of her shitty writing by reminding myself why i hate it so i don’t inadvertently adopt her techniques and characters

but Author Lady really went

“you know what a strong female character is? Someone who can use knives and fight and is Royalty and Special”

like a man writing female characters

im sorry it reeks of misogyny

this isn’t to say that I think female characters being made royal is bad! Hell no. But you need her to have a right to deserve the throne, just like a male character

A//elin has a birthright to the throne, but that’s all she has. She hasn’t been in Terr//asen in TEN YEARS. She’s sworn off killing people from her country during her time as an assassin, but other than that… Does she know her own people beyond her cousin, Elide, and the lords (ie Darrow and co)? No. Does she even know her people? No. So… tell me again. Why does the girl who showed up and suddenly decided she wanted to fight for her country deserve its throne? Once she is on that throne, does she have plans for taxes? For borders and the peasants who were stripped of EVERYTHING by Ad/arlan? She never once considers this. Her blood money will win her the war, but what of the aftermath? She is the queen of an impoverished country who has spent years in the lap of luxury, and she has no plan for her people beyond a self-glorified ideal of “freeing them”.

Now let’s examine Fey//re: she was an impoverished human girl who was made immortal and given magical powers. Why does having this power make her worthy of being a ruler? I’m sorry, but Tam//lin was right. He was wrong to cast her aside, fine, and wrong to lock her up, yes, but he was right: she is illiterate and knows nothing of governing. But it’s also Fey//re’s own fault. She asked him ONCE about being a high lady, and didn’t press him when he said there are none. She could have, but didn’t. She could’ve told him she wanted to be included in more meetings, could’ve pushed back. For all that she scorned Lucien for not helping her fight T//amlin’s restraints, she never really tried either. She has never been a ruler of anything, not even her own family. Why does she deserve a crown now? Because she can hunt and has lots of magic? Because Rh/ysand says so? Not. Good. Enough. She doesn’t care about the people. She doesn’t have any agency. She doesn’t have any ideas for improvement for the night court. She was better off in the spring court where she could have changed things like the Tithe, or even waited to see if that system worked and if it didn’t, PROPOSE A NEW ONE, don’t just try to undermine it.

I’m so glad I realized how shitty author lady’s books are before I completely molded my writing after hers

[raindropren]

I have not posted for awhile(The way I look at tumblr means I have to sign in everytime and I couldn't find my password for abit, oops) but here's a couple of C!Pearlo headcanons I've either made, in the last week, or not in the last week... at all.

DemiRomantic!! Might be slight projection but with the way I've set up the world and timeline, her being demiromantic is in my mind a surprising amount.

She and Sausage meet for eachothers birthdays! Sometimes Gem comes but normally it's just them :3

Speaking of those two, My personal headcanon is that they met when they were like, preteens? before highschool and such. and before they had really met anyone else in canon.

My Pearl has her being born in the Worlds Australia but living most of her childhood in England, then going back to live in Australia in Highschool! Her family would visit Australia alot even when they lived in England. (my mcyt au's Earth is very complicated cause I couldn't have pearl just, not be Australian, it's brought up alot, I can't ignore it, but that'd mean Earth and it's continents exists so, IT'S BECOME MORE COMPLEX THEN I WANTED OKAY. LOL)

Empires is a exchange program first. the whole thing is like, kinda an investment? for the future??? but the Kingdoms are still certain empires members birthright, so some were stolen from them and the program was the only way to get it back(Gem, Fwhip, Scott), and some were just happenstance(Shubble, Joey, Lizzie, Sausage), and some were random,(Jimmy, Katherine, Pixl) but Glided Helianthia was already a "Fight to be ruler" type of kingdom. So Pearl's highschool experience was ALOT of fighting and learning/training to fight(Along with normal highschool stuff of course) and she had farming courses and stuff, but the fighting bit is what drew her into going. THEY HAD DORMS AND HER AND SHUBBLE WERE DORMMATES And everything I have about it was inspired by EmpiresSMP Highschool au chatfics :') None of it is canon but it helps me with thinking about characters in a "They actually were kids at some point" way instead of only thinking about them as the characters they are now! Helps with the timeline too.

Did any of the last one make sense. no. not at all, shhh.

Keeps Journals, Alot of them, She has a Journal for each server and many of them are not fully filled out because despite having the Journals, She hardly writes in them enough to fill them out. She's scared of running out of pages and having to get a new one, only to have her time on the server end and be left with a mostly blank book she will never write in again. obviously the Life Games(Series) don't have her writing a journal WHILE it happens, but She does after it. other then double life, she did not even think about writing that one down. Reliving those memories, for a journal. no.

Doodles on scrap paper, I think she likes drawings bugs and fish :]

Has a big cardboard box that has very piece of bought or homemade jewelry anyones given her, mostly her friends but also a (un)surprising amount of offering. They are all organized into what type and material the jewelry is/is made out of. Many of them are from Grian, back when they were children. and a ton are from Gem and Sausage. lots of kandi bracelets with weird sayings or words, lots of names, hers and her friends. Moons and Sunflowers are very common in the fancier jewelry, as well as wolfs and wolf symbolism. Her most recent is a Kandi bracelet from Gem, it says "Pickles" teehe. She loves it.

Always has a secret bedroom in her home of the season, normally very underground and through a surprising amount of traps. She keeps extremely important things in there, normally keepsakes. but also her bed for when she doesn't want to be bothered, whether cause she's overwhelmed or just sorta sick. :p

I'll leave it at 10! Hehe. if there's any spelling mistakes, no there isn't shhh

I love making worldbuilding to go with headcanons. my au is fun to me and that's all that matters(no it isn't, alot else matters but it's silly so,, ya.) I hope my fellow pearlo fans liked hearing my headcanons(and au stuff), i like writing bout it :3

btw If u wanna know anything about my au, please ask i will answer, I am indeed obsessed.

[weird-tea]

The more I think about it the more BBC's Merlin feels like the bazaro mirror dimension of Arthurian lore. A good chuck of that is the struggle of adapting primarily Medieval to Victorian literature with all its themes and motifs to a TV show for a modern audience, but it's still just hilarious to me that this process just flipped the canon so hard.

Right for the start - it takes the core Arthurian plot point of Merlin removing Arthur from Uther's care so that he can be raised ignorant of his birthright and taught how to be a good leader and flips that by having Arthur raised by Uther to be an entitled brat and Merlin coming in and undoing Uther's bad parenting to reveal the good king buried underneath.

Morgana is Arthur's paternal half sister not his maternal. They are raised together meaning they share childhood trauma instead of Morgana's childhood trauma being caused by Arthur's conception and birth and him basically getting away scot-free on the childhood trauma department being the cause of their feud.

Agravain jumps two generations on the family tree going from Nephew to Uncle.

Gawaine and Percival are like best friends, they are even a popular fanon ship, when their families have a blood feud in a lot of Arthurian lore.

Merlin reciprocates the lady of the lake's affections and she's not an antagonist to him even a little bit.

None of the major female characters are mothers, unless you count Hunith & the ghost of Arthur's mum. And Igraine & Gwen are the only two explicitly married. Women in Arthurian lore are nearly always wives and mothers, even characters like Morgause and Morgana. The lady of the lake even raises Lancelot & his cousins. The complete lack of married women and mothers in the show is honestly only just hitting me and it's vastly different from the source materials treatment of female characters (I am not complaining at all about this it's actually pretty neat as an adaptation choice,).

Also while this isn't exactly a full flip since merlin is the one to put the sword in the stone in a few prominent versions it will never stop being silly to be that show Merlin did it like the scene before Arthur pulls it out and tells him this whole story about how ancient it is. Arthur pulling the sword from the stone goes from him proving to others that he is the true heir and worthy of the throne to him proving to himself that he is worthy, and I love that I do, but merlin making the whole thing up in like a day when it's such a key part of the Arthurian mythos is just wild.

[princehatterene]

hiii ted !! if i can ask, how did you (or mana, im also interested in hearing the lore too!!) fall in love with ferdinand ? i hope ur having a wonderful day ! - @catake

boy that’s a funny story….. so the character i was actually looking at at first was linhardt! um. i kinda lost interest when i found out he wasn’t a girl LOL. but the second one, who i was planning on making an oc be friends with, was none other than ferdie. this was before the game came out so we didn’t know a whole lot about everyone’s personalities, but i really wanted ferdie to be a big brother figure for this oc (who wasn’t mana btw) and he kinda just. kept infiltrating my thoughts? like wait i think i like him more than just that. but i don’t really know? help??

like. i found out about the ferdie nickname from dorothea and his “my voice will make a pegasus dance with joy” line and im like oh god this fuckin guy. he’s kinda perfect. sigh. and my friends (they know who they are) jumped ALL OVER THAT LMAO. once i took mana from fire emblem fates and basically traded her to fire emblem three houses it was fucking over for me.

and speaking of mana, she has a very long story but the gist of it is, she came to fodlan from the world of fates, which isn’t even her original home world, she was originally from archanea in the world of shadows, right after marth’s time. so in the world of fates, she’s from the conquest timeline where corrin chooses to stay in nohr and fights the war against hoshido, where mana is fighting. my previous mana selfship is with hinata, which factors directly into her ship with ferdie because in this timeline hinata dies in the war and mana basically Breaks, going wild with her dragon powers (oh yeah i think i forgot to mention mana is a manakete, or maybe it’s obvious i dunno), and it gets so bad that she has to yoink herself out of that world and escape to another one, that other one being fodlan, where there is no awful war (yet) and no dead husband and broken family (poor hisame 🥺) to come to terms with. and fear not, there are timelines, the birthright and revelation timelines, where hoshido wins the war (or hoshido and nohr band together) and hinata and mana live happily until hinata and hisame die of old age and mana leaves for home.

BUT BACK TO FERDIMANA. sadly, ferdimana cannot exist without the destruction of himana, because that trauma is exactly what leads mana to give ferdinand her old wedding ring for safekeeping. she just cannot bear to keep it or to throw it away, so she gives it to someone who seems trustworthy. and trustworthy ferdie is; he keeps that ring very safe and strives to make this strange girl who came out of nowhere smile again. he kind of sees her as a guardian angel of sorts, because helping her and dedicating his time to get to know why she gave him the ring gives him respite from his own worries. mana really doesn’t like him at first because even though she knows he’s helping her and she did this to herself by giving him the ring in the first place, he still exists as a reminder of what happened before, of that broken love. and now she’s scared to love ferdie, because she desperately doesn’t wanna go through that horrible loss again. and with another war on the horizon, it’s looking like that’s exactly where this timeline is going too…

[faith-thee-slayer]

What makes Buffy and Faith such an excellent pairing for me is the ambiguous, undefined nature of their dynamic. BTVS never explicitly states their relationship as romantic (and even with the piles of subtext, a lot of it is ambiguous enough for an unsuspecting audience to be none the wiser). And a lot of character dynamics in media tend to focus more on the romantic end. We all want to see an epic romance (I do too), and of course romance can be complicated and messy, but what fascinates me the most are the complicated dynamics that aren’t straightforwardly stated as “the characters have feelings for each other/are in love.” What has me captivated is when their dynamic is left up to interpretation, able to be explored on several different levels at once. I think Buffy and Faith have one of the best dynamics on the show because they are not explicitly romantic. I think a canon recognition of such feelings for each other would actually limit the reading of their dynamic (and I know this sounds strange coming from a Fuffy stan but hear me out).

Buffy and Faith’s dynamic has several facets to it, most notably:

1. The Slayer-bond — They are the only two people on the planet that know what it’s like to be the Slayer. They are sisters, in that regard. You could almost say they’re blood-related, united under a birthright and an ancient system which oppresses and controls them. Cut from the same cloth, whether they choose to accept it or not. Both envy the other, wanting to be the other girl. Both feel like they’re being replaced by the other. They are Cain and Abel. And after everything, when the Potentials take refuge in Buffy’s home, she and Faith have to step up and be the leaders the girls need.

2. Desire for the chosen family — Faith will never admit it but she wants the love of a family, what she never had in Boston. When she meets the Scoobies, she hopes they can be that for her. And Buffy, though she does have a family in Sunnydale, still feels like they can’t truly understand her. Once Buffy and Faith meet, the potential is there for them to both get exactly what they need. But failures on both sides prevent this from happening. And it doesn’t help that the Mayor is the thing that the Scoobies couldn’t be for Faith. She admits more than once how much she covets Buffy’s friends, family, and Watcher, and her exclusion from the “in-group” continues to be a point of contention throughout the series.

3. Antagonism — It hurts hard when Faith betrays Buffy. Even if they didn’t get off to a great start, their connection develops over the season, and you can tell they never wanted to be enemies. But due to their individual natures, as well as the building of emotions surrounding their slayer bond, the attempts (or lack thereof) at making Faith feel connected to the in-group, and the fallout after Allan Finch, their relationship fractures. Faith feels driven to evil and that’s what she becomes. And being someone who fights evil, Buffy has to go against her. And it hurts so much for both of them — because you think you know someone and can trust them. You feel like you’ve finally found the thing you’ve been looking for all this time. And then one day you wake up and all that’s gone. And you do horrible things to each other. And you know that it’ll never go back to the way things were before. And neither of you will be the same person again. Even years later, when they come together to stop the First, the history is still there between them. Will the elephant in the room ever go away? Or will it always be a trigger for the both of them to jump right back to old times?

4. "They were in love” — Of course we cannot forget the lovers lens when talking about these two. In a lot of ways, it’s the interpretation that makes the most sense for them. The levels of intense emotion that these two reach, especially on Faith’s end, can be hard to justify in a platonic light. And that was after Faith’s flirting, her dismissal of all men, disdain for Angel, and making everything in her life about Buffy. There’s also the deliberate parallels of Faith to Angel and Spike (main two explicit love interests) to the point where Riley (third explicit love interest) is often overlooked in favor of Faith. Buffy is ultimately her weakness. She wants Buffy to care about her, approve of her, be there for her, and to see that they are the same person. And when the shit hits the fan, Faith is absolutely devastated. Heartbroken to the point of aiding in the apocalypse, trying to kill the Scoobies, Angel, Joyce, doing the body swap, etc. Anything to hurt Buffy back. And Buffy is heartbroken because of Faith’s turn into evil. She begs Faith to let her in and help. She fights for Faith in the hopes of bringing her back to sanity, but once she realize Faith is helping the Mayor, she shuts her feelings off because it’s easier. And when she has to put a knife in Faith? When she kisses Faith’s forehead in the hospital (mirroring Faith’s first kiss to her)? When she dreams about Faith? When Faith wakes up months later and Buffy’s first thought is that she’s hiding somewhere, feeling sorry and wanting her help? Anyway...

All of these different aspects/lenses carry a unique weight in viewing Buffy and Faith’s connection to each other. But I think that by putting a significant amount of weight on the romantic lens via canon confirmation, the other lenses lose the ability to stand on their own outside of a romantic reading. Because then it becomes strictly “they went through all that they went through and did all those things to each other because they always had feelings for each other.” All moments of affection/obsession one of them has for the other are seen solely as romantic. Which, is a fine reading, but it overshadows other ways of viewing the dynamic, and becomes the most important/only way of looking at it. We then miss out on the sister dynamic, the “I want to be you” dynamic, the “you are the one who understands me the best but I actually want to be completely separate from you,” the estranged family members dynamic in S7. Ultimately, I think we rarely see two characters on the same side obsessed with each other in a non-romantic way. It’s so fascinating and occupies this unidentifiable space in human relationships. It becomes less easily explainable and understood.

And it does a justice to both Buffy and Faith’s characters if we see their actions as existing outside of their relationship. I love seeing Faith’s development as she becomes her own person separate from Buffy. She breaks out of prison to save her best friend and prove she can be a Slayer again. She chooses redemption for herself. She makes amends with who she can. She rejects the First when it comes to her in the form of the Mayor. She experiences what it is to be responsible for the lives of other. And after their last confrontation in ‘Sanctuary,’ Buffy gets to move on from Faith and heal/focus on other things in her life. And she goes through a-fucking-lot from S4 to S7. Before I want Buffy and Faith to get together, I want them to HEAL and to GROW. I want them to be the best versions of themselves and not so codependent (as much as it makes for good drama).

So that’s what I appreciate about Fuffy — the romantic reading isn’t the Official reading, it’s just one of several fascinating angles. It’s like the cherry on top. Some of the best dynamics in the Buffyverse are the ones that are friendships, or more familial (siblings, parent-child), or complexly antagonistic. Somehow Buffy and Faith are capable of doing nearly all of it at the same time without actually ascribing any one label to themselves. Amazing.

[inkyquince]

Ah I see you have indistinguishable taste good person…Camilla and K-san…very ( • Y • ) …..adorable, yes that is the word

If you may indulge us with some words on Camilla (and the rest of the Nohr siblings, please I beg you it’s hard for a mf to find good smut on these fuckers)

they're all nasty as hell, i feel it in my bones

content warning. I DECIDED TO EXPLORE DARK!NOHR FAMILY IN THE BIRTHRIGHT ROUTE INSTEAD OF WHAT YOU WANTED IM SO SORRY, but uhhh dollification, implied noncon/dubcon, interrogation mentioned, Leo's studies not being ethical... implied torture i guess? lots of groping. YEP VERY DARK.

im sorry but no matter what gender, Camilla is into corrin/reader. like, its canon. fully into them at all times. leo's description of her and your's relationship is also pretty apt, with you as her dress up doll. all she wants is to coddle you, take care of you, go to the spa, dress you up. like i think properly dark!camilla is into like... dollification, esp with a runaway reader at the beginning of the game.

they get you back and all of them are... yeah, angry. but none of them hand you over for execution, even thought its definitely what King Garon has planned. You're locked away and unbeknown to you, you're announced as fallen in combat. So sad. Anyway.

Dark!Camilla spends more time than ever with you. In revelations, she canonly gets depressed after you leave and never leaves her room and she always wishes to drown you in kisses every time she sees you, whether on the battlefield or not, whether enemies or not. So she's happy as can be when you're brought back. Sleeps in the same bed as you, wants to pamper you, despite Leo and Xander calling you a traitor and treating you as such.

Gets rid of any Hoshidan clothing you were brought with, in fact, nothing you had when captured is left. Even the Yato is locked away somewhere.

Even if you get angry, or annoyed and cry, Camilla wants to take care of you. Hushes you and wipes your face down with a cloth, wants to put healing balm on your scrapes from you pounding at the door.

Camilla as a character, seems blind to your sadness or bad moods unless she sees it clearly on your face, and even then sometimes mistakes it as something else. So in her mind, as long as you have a smile on your face and are looked after, you're happy. If too long without a single smile from you, she would go to other lengths to make you happy. Up to you if that implies going down on you or a freezing spell so she can fuss over you with a tiny smile on your face.

Same as Camilla, Xander always seems into the player, despite their gender. The little princess/prince really hits good. It's more of a case of that he's crown prince and in need of an heir.

So, Dark!Xander might pull a Chrom (earlier post somewhere, who knows). Has child with wife but spends his time elsewhere. Hoshidan culture is loving your wife and your lover is apart of the family, Nohr is all arranged marriages, ladder climbing, and lovers the target of the spouse for... Accidents after a fight. At least in the nobility culture.

And Xander would never want a repeat of his own childhood, all of his siblings's mothers at war, going so far as to harm the children in order to ladder climb, while Garon doesn't care really, especially not after the death of his first wife.

He wouldn't want that unless... His brother is on the line, his little prince. Or because he can't marry and have kids with a publicly dead traitor. At no point in the game, does Xander actually hate you, even after betrayal, because that's it. He feels betrayed. Spurned after being the one to take care of you and train you. It's why both sides love to bring up the idea that you were brainwashed. You just need to snap out of it. That Xander leaves to Leo. Interrogates you but leaves you alone until he snaps and demands for you to tell him why you left.

I think Dark!Xander would snap if you had a Hoshidan spouse or child. Immediately Kana is in danger... Of being abducted or killed, who knows. But the spouse? Stealing his younger sibling's innocence? Even worse if it you married into the other royal family. Ultimate betrayal.

Xander is a hot head, not really. Just sometimes reacts... Badly, where Corrin is concerned. Other times, he's solid. But this would lead to one of his bursts of outrage, that he would regret later, especially after what he did to you. Inflamed that his younger sibling lost their innocence to the ones who brainwashed them. So as he presses into them, with your face tucked into your pillow and gripping at his forearms, the ones wound around your chest with his own at your back, he doesn't utter any words. Just murmuring he has to do this to correct what those fiends had done to you.

Leo is... Yeah. Leo's hatred for you in the birthright route is sometimes even greater than Xander's. Just because his two older siblings lavished you in attention growing up when he, the prodigy, was teased and left to his books. So when in charge of making sure any brainwashing the Hoshidan mages have done is gone, he's more extreme than is recommended.

Dark!Leo pushes away the good memories when he has to do this, focusing on the anger he harbored for you in childhood, when not knowing any better that it wasn't your fault.

Its his work Camilla spends most of her time pressing ice against, healing balms, cooing at you for getting in such scrapes as you sit silently.

He goes above and beyond getting information, doing everything he can to break the brainwashing, despite not really thinking it happened. He isn't as delusional as his elder siblings, too besotted with you to ever think you willingly did this, willingly left them.

When Leo runs out of steam, when his anger curdles, he finally visits you in your room, where Camilla is washing you, all chipper. She steps out to get more hot water and Leo sits by your tub, the sweet scent of the soap clashing with the faint copper he knows too well. You're tense, worried he will grab your neck and push you under the water but he simple dunks his fingers in the cooling water, swishing the cloudy water. The silence is deafening before its broken by a sigh and the water suddenly swishing. Leo dives his hand in further, to cup your genitals, making you jump, water splashing over the sides onto the floor.

"Is this what they did?" Leo murmurs in your ear, pushing two of his fingers into you, his previously threatening tone gone altogether. "Did they touch you like this. Did you like it so much you didn't want to leave?"

Even as you shake your head, Leo ignores it, pressing a kiss to your shoulder, not caring for when Camilla would come back.

YEAH THIS

THIS GOT DARK AND IM INCREDIBLY SORRY CUZ THIS ISNT WHAT YOU WANTED LMAO

also i feel like the nohr siblings wouldnt care if caught being intimate with you, you're adopted and... well, theirs. Nohr nobles can do what they want with their property. The Hoshido siblings would be... Incredibly aghast being caught sleeping with you, yknow? The knowledge that you aren't blood related isnt so well know, and you only know cuz Ryoma is the one with the knowledge to tell it. It's why they could lead a fine romance with Azura, because she was openly a kidnapped princess, but all the other Hoshido siblings routes, they gotta have Ryo quickly be like LADS, WE AREN'T RELATED. He legit only tells you in his own route because he wants to fucking smash, he legit says it like that. (Not really). Corrin's all sad and standing there, now knowing that they still havent found their father or anything and asks Ryoma, why, why did you tell me this now and mans legit goes CUZ I LOVE YOU, MARRY ME. its great

[isnt-it-pretty]

UPPERCASE ANON AGAIN, GENSHIN IN PARTICULAR! HOWEVER I AM OPEN TO BASICALLY ANYTHING HAHA

Okay! So these are what I have bookmarked. Keep in mind there are a lot of other great ones out there, I'm just picky. Long post incoming.

Like Steel by kikitlu

Kaeya doesn't get sick.

caring by honeywhisk

“I understand your concern. However, Xiao is a young adeptus, and a very skilled one for that matter. It’s not unlike him to disappear from time to time, especially if something upset him recently. He won’t be gone for too long; you will hear from him tomorrow at evening at most. I assure you, there’s no reason to worry.”

The look that Traveler and Paimon exchanged reaffirmed Zhongli’s suspicions: that, even in his human form, his instincts rarely were off.

Traveler finally met his gaze again, his eyes even heavier with worry than before, and Zhongli was reminded of what he already knew: Traveler rarely acted out of unfounded concern.“He’s been gone for three days now.”

Some Coincidentally Spawned Gaggle of a Family (And Then We Chose to Keep It) by BeyondTheClouds777

(As a chronically ill young adult, this fic has killed me, it's so good)

Life is rough. Family is rough. Hardship zeroes in on five stragglers in particular—Xiao, Kaeya, Aether, Childe, and Zhongli, a group of individuals who looked at each other one day and said, “Hey, we all need somewhere to live and none of us have money. That’s, like, a whole two things we have in common. Let’s get an apartment together.”

So they did. Five of life’s travelers, each with their own unique set of baggage. It goes well. They get along just fine. And, hey—sometimes family is you and your four circumstantial roommates, and sometimes that’s enough.

Then, when Xiao’s health begins to spiral (because life is nothing if not unsatisfied), it doesn’t take a village: it takes a family of five and of choice. They’ll laugh through the best, plough through the worst, and they will make it.

They will.

(They must.)

transcension by _exce (Afueras)

It begins when Aether is asked by the friend of a friend to deliver a mysterious package to a stranger, only to find that there's more to the situation than he's prepared to deal with.

Modern AU centering around Xiao, told mostly through Aether, Venti, Zhongli, and Verr Goldet. Loosely explores themes of responsibility, friendship, recovery, grief, etc.

The Human Condition by Oopsthatsbad

“Kaeya Alberich, first of his name, we bestow unto you the hopes of our nation, the blessings of our ancestors, your birthright.”

Khaenri'ah was not Godless. At least, not in the way those of Teyvat were taught. The last remnant of a long dead nation, Kaeya Alberich holds many secrets close to his heart. Circumstances might just rip this one away from him.

Liyue is a Mess™ by Anonemoni (a series by a lovely friend of mine, I'll put the summary to the first fic in it) (You can follow her on her tumblr here, but she doesn't post writing)

Zhongli is Rex Lapis. The thought left Childe feeling hollow. How had he not known? For all his scheming, all of his planning- his target had been right in front of him the entire time.

He felt stupid. He felt betrayed. And it only got worse as the man before him opened his mouth to speak.

 

We're going to take a look at how the whole Liyue debacle affects various characters and relationships- focusing mainly on Childe, the Traveler (Lumine), Xiao, and of course Zhongli himself.

It's gonna get angsty so hold on tight!

Can Everyone in Mondstadt Just CHILL OUT For a Second?? by Anonemoni (these are more disconnected then Liyue's, but I'll post the summary for Kaeya Alberich Does Not Like Fire)

"But for all fire could melt ice, only hydro could come close to the level of effect that cryo had against bare flames. As much pain and destruction as a pyro attack could dole out, Kaeya’s cryo was theoretically more than enough to match... right?"

Kaeya Alberich is generally very good at keeping weakness and vulnerability close to the vest. But when it comes to heat and flame, it doesn't take long traveling with the cavalry captain to realize something is up.

And even he has his limits when it comes to controlling that particular fear. He had just assumed that he had gotten past the point of it being a detriment in battle...

fool me once, shame on you by fickle red beans (cizzi)

Kaeya kept himself behind a carefully constructed veil of glass so that no one would ever become too close to him and get burned like Diluc did ever again. Seemingly transparent, yet unreachable in reality. When he's ambushed out in the wild and finds the breath fading from his lungs, he thinks that it's almost not too bad. As long as Mondstadt is safe and Diluc is happy...what's the problem?

And then he wakes up. Younger than he should be, different, and everyone who sees him looks like they've seen a ghost because Kaeya Ragnvindr died fending off the drake that should have killed Crepus. And Diluc, and his father? Refuse to let go of him now that he's appeared to rise from the dead. Kaeya is different from what they remember - he pushes people away, or tries to - but neither his sanity nor his resolve can keep up his guard around his own family.

What's going on? Why is everything different? Why has his life completely changed?

Maybe none of it matters. Maybe the only thing that matters is the fact he can start over and fall blindly back into the warmth and care he thought was gone forever.

a warm embrace by honeywhisk

After taking a few minutes to pull himself together, Xiao finally opened his eyes and lifted his head to regard his master properly.

Zhongli’s golden eyes wandered down his body, examining him carefully, then came back up to linger on his face. Or, more specifically, on his injured cheek. Xiao flinched involuntarily and evaded his gaze, turning his face the opposite way, but Zhongli didn’t comment on it.

“Why don’t you come here and tell me everything about it, while I take a look at your injuries?”

Slip of the Mask by BeyondTheClouds777

He knows the arms that hold him—arms that tighten around his knees and shoulders, the bite of the wind becoming sharper. 

“Save your strength,” Zhongli says. There’s a rigidness in his tone, masking a deeper fret Xiao doesn’t have the mind nor will to uncover. “I do not know the depth of your wounds. Be still.”

Xiao doesn’t see why not, and even questions seem a futile effort when there’s no hurry to find the answer. He lets his head loll into Zhongli’s shoulder, and trusts.

Worth Every Unruly Moment by BeyondTheClouds777 (technically has romance between Guizhong and Zhongli)

Just before aging out of the foster system, Xiao is adopted by Zhongli and Guizhong.

He gets sick for the first time under their care.

Take Flight on Golden Wings by Terra_Argentum (also has minor romance between Guizhong and Zhongli, also warning that there are errors in grammar, but the story itself is still good)

Before Alatus served Rex Lapis....He served another:

Freed from his chains Alatus finds himself in the Guili Assembly under the watchful eyes of two Gods and their faithful retainers.

All is not always well for a bloodhound of slaughter forced to live amongst the people and he is pushed to a journey of healing and self rediscovery as he becomes once more an adeptus revered.

Delusions of Grandeur by AngstArchon318

Mysterious kidnappings spring up all over Teyvat, but that’s hardly bad news for Kaeya and Jean. Of course, Kaeya’s not thrilled about it but he’s desperate for anything to keep his mind from dwelling on memories of the past. And it’s obviously a headache for Jean but at least she knows exactly how to rope Diluc into helping solve the case. Maybe this time Mondstadt’s Cavalry Captain and Darknight Hero can finally realize they never stopped being brothers.

As the case gets deeper, relationships are repaired and spirits resolved. By the end of it all, it seems as though things have changed for the better. But unbeknownst to the people of Teyvat, something much more sinister may have been playing out behind the scenes the entire time.

the angel’s share’s cat by alexithymias (first fic in a series)

A perfectly ordinary cat finds its way to Angel’s Share and into Diluc and Kaeya’s lives. Any family drama that happens after that may or may not be its fault.

And of course, my own fic.

Into Darkness and Howling by isnt_it_pretty

It is not Bosacius trapped at the bottom of The Chasm, and it is not a lingering memory they find there.

(A role reversal AU for our favourite yaksha (that ends happier than canon))

Hope you find some you can like within this! If anyobdy knows these author's tumblrs, let me know and I'll link them if they wish.

[juliabohemian]

oh dear

I have noticed a number of posts circulating which imply that ANY character being mean to Loki EVER and for ANY reason = abuse.

I will admit that I initially felt mostly irritation at what appeared, on the surface, to constitute such a complete and utter lack of critical thinking. What I’ve realized, though, is that people who make such posts definitely believe what they are saying. And like everything people do and say, there’s a deeper reason for it. The fact is, traumatized characters attract traumatized fans. And not all of those fans are in a good place, emotionally. And those people are perfectly valid, even if the conclusions they draw are not.

When it comes to fiction, good characters are complex. That means they are conflicted and flawed. They make mistakes. They lash out when they are afraid or hurting. They sometimes hurt other characters. Loki fits that bill very well. It’s one of the reasons he is so popular. Not just with traumatized people, but with people in general. He’s relatable.

The problem comes when fans relate to fictional characters, but really aren’t conscious of why, because they aren’t all that conscious of themselves. They haven’t done a whole lot of self-reflection. Maybe because they aren’t ready, because their trauma is too fresh. Or maybe they are still living in crisis and don’t have the freedom to self-reflect. Those possibilities are all valid.

But very often, when a person goes through trauma and doesn’t have the luxury (and yes, it is a luxury) of working through it, their reasoning skills can become flawed as a result. Trauma, especially childhood trauma, tends to have a negative effect on our ability to socialize and form intimate relationships, because it damages our ability to interpret the intentions of others. We call this hostile attribution bias.

The problem with hostile attribution bias, is that it makes it difficult to tell when people genuinely mean you harm. If a person’s words, actions, or facial expressions are ambiguous in any way, they will be interpreted as being hostile in nature. This keeps one on the offensive, constantly, always anticipating the next blow. Very often, no such blow is coming. But it doesn’t matter. Fear is real, and the experience of it is real.

It stands to reason that someone who struggles to interpret the intentions of real-life people would also experience the same difficulty with fictional characters. For instance, fans who identify with Loki because they perceive him as being a victim will have a hard time seeing him as anything else. Thus, anyone who harms Loki in any way is just further proof that the universe is against him and always will be.

This is referred to as an external locus of control. It means that a person sees life as something that is happening TO them, and that they are powerless to affect the outcome. It’s also important to note that people with this mentality struggle deeply to heal from their trauma. They are stuck in a sort of Groundhog Day scenario, living the same thing out over and over again. Because of their flawed perception, everything that happens to them feels like an extension of that initial trauma.

So, it would make perfect sense that a person with a history of trauma, who suffers from attribution bias, and who has an external locus of control, would be extremely uncomfortable watching anything bad happen to Loki. In fact, it would probably be traumatic for them.

And while their feelings and their experience of those feelings are 100% real, their perception of reality is not entirely accurate. In other words, what they think is happening is not necessarily what is happening.

Loki’s initial trauma, believe it or not, was just being abandoned as an infant. Even though he can’t remember it, that experience alone can result in lifelong emotional struggles. In real life, we refer to this as an attachment disorder. A person with an attachment disorder usually develops major issues with abandonment. They also suffer from (wait for it) attribution bias. And that bias absolutely affects their perception.

Loki’s next trauma was being raised in a dysfunctional family. Not only were they dysfunctional, but they weren’t a very good fit for Loki. Loki was a quiet, contemplative person. He was a thinker, an intellectual. He would rather read or do magic. So, not a good fit for Asgardian society. The combination of Loki’s initial trauma, with his inherent temperament, and his dysfunctional family is what led to the inevitable breakdown that is regarded as Loki’s “villain” arc. I’d like to point out that, in reality, such a person would have probably suffered a breakdown much sooner than that. Typically, prior to reaching adulthood.

Loki’s next trauma was encountering Thanos. Now, we have no idea exactly what happened between Loki and Thanos. We know only that it wasn’t good and that it resulted in Loki being absolutely terrified of him. Other than that, details are fuzzy. I think it’s fair to assume that whatever mistreatment Loki endured probably qualified as torture. Whether it was physical or psychological, we cannot know for sure.

While Loki’s Thanos-related trauma was NOT an extension of his family-related trauma, his decision to entangle himself with Thanos was a product of that trauma. By which I mean that his willingness to align himself with someone like Thanos came from a place of desperation, and a desire to prove himself to someone who he perceived as being qualified to validate him.

So, fast forward to the LOKI show. Our version of Loki never returned to Asgard in chains, was never told that it was his birthright to die, nor endured any gaslighting from Ragnarok-Thor. He never got his neck broken by Thanos. He never went through any of that. He arrived at the TVA, fresh off his failed attempt to take over planet Earth. He was all fired up and defensive, as anyone in his situation would probably be.

Now, here’s where we need to put our critical thinking caps on. Because, I hate to tell you this, folks...but unlike most of the Loki content we’ve gotten prior, this content is actually well written. It’s VERY well written. And while it might be tempting to respond to it with pure emotion, it is imperative that we don’t abandon all logic and reason. This show is not an extension of the gauntlet of trauma we’ve watched Loki endure since he first appeared on screen. The creative minds involved in this venture ALL care deeply about Loki’s character and want to see him succeed (whatever that means for him).

Enter Mobius. He’s a cog in a very big machine. He likes to think of himself as being more than that. He establishes a rapport with his boss in the hopes of distinguishing himself from his peers. His interest in his work is personal. He likes what he does.

From Mobius’ point of view, Loki is an asset. He has information that could help solve the bigger puzzle. But Mobius exists in a world that affords him access to multiple realities. He has probably met dozens of Lokis. And he has probably seen hundreds of people casually pruned or executed or reset. It’s just part of the world he happens to be in. And he doesn’t question it, because he has been brainwashed.

So, does Mobius attempt to manipulate Loki? Absolutely. Just another day at the office. And it works, because he knows Loki better than Loki knows himself, has studied him and other Lokis. And it’s hard not to be mad at Mobius for causing Loki pain. Especially when that is followed up by Loki eagerly taking Mobius up on his offer to help track down the other Loki variant.

I think some people might find Loki’s enthusiasm disconcerting. And there are certainly aspects of it that can be considered such. Loki, at his core, just wants to be told that he is doing a good job, that his contributions matter. That part of him is definitely a product of trauma. But is Loki motivated entirely by his trauma? Not really. Despite his manipulations, Mobius offers Loki the closest thing to warmth and compassion that he has seen for a while. Some of that is genuine and some of that is not. And faced with the reality that everything he knows is gone, Loki does what most people in his situation would do, he tries to be productive. He gets busy. He distracts himself. Because at the moment, little else is under his control.

Despite all of that, you simply cannot have compassion for Loki and none for Mobius. Because Mobius is a victim too. He was abducted from his own reality. He is living a lie. He is part of something that, upon deeper reflection, he realizes he doesn’t agree with. He is so very much like the Loki we first met in 2011. He is such a well-written and multi-faceted character, I thoroughly enjoy his on screen time with Loki.

But I understand that there are people who are not in a place, emotionally, where they can overlook such plot devices. And I sincerely hope that those eventually people find healing. In the meantime, let’s try to remember that this is a work of fiction. And unlike real-life trauma, when it becomes upsetting, we can turn it off and walk away.

[birdsareblooming]

Sonic may actually be lost royalty

I keep going down these rabbit holes I shouldn’t go down BUT! Although this theory is one that I don’t fully believe in (unlike the infinite/solaris theory and the chaos emerald theory) I still have a good argument that I want to talk about very bad.

I also tried to make this as short as possible but there’s a lot of ground to cover, but at least it’s not the infinite/solaris theory. But I have a TLDR at the end.

[Spoiler Warning for Sonic and the Black Knight]

let’s start with a ✨numbered list✨

1. Blaze the Cat

Blaze is the biggest caveat for this theory, but I think it’s best to start with her.

Now, firstly I need to clear up some things.

[Eggman: My world...]

[Eggman Nega: and my world...]

[Eggmen: are in a manner, inextricably linked!]

[Blaze: Like two Eggmans?]

Part of the Blaze’s world is that it’s a parallel universe. Parallel Eggmen, Parallel emeralds, Everything else that isn’t stated outright. Like how Tails and Marine are definitely counterparts. Seeming as Tails came from South Island and Marine came from southern island, Tails is definitely based on a kitsune and Marine, in theory, based on a tanuki. 

And, although not stated completely, Blaze and Sonic are universal counterparts.

[From Sonic Wiki: Blaze was designed as a charater who was equivalent yet and alternate version of Sonic’s character.]

Much like the Sol and Chaos emeralds, Sonic and Blaze are a mirror version of one another, although slightly different.

Alright, now that we have that out of the way:

Looking at the connections between the others, Sonic and Blaze seem, a bit too different.

The Sol and Chaos emeralds fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a similar story.  Tails and Marine fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a similar story. The Eggmen fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a similar story. 

Blaze and Sonic fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a... completely different story. 

Blaze was born to a royal family, and set to protect the Sol Emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter as her birthright, and it’s somewhat hinted that her powers may also be a birthright. Sonic, on the other hand, has no known past, and seems to have just run into the Chaos Emeralds by accident. 

You could claim that Blaze does take on the role of both Sonic AND Knuckles, which is fair and stated on the wiki, however Knuckles is also never stated to be any kind of royalty, and certainly doesn’t have that kind of past, his past being one of the more tragically alone ones. 

And here’s something interesting.

Time has warped our vision of Blaze. We all know her as “Princess Blaze the Cat.” But from watching Sonic Rush, her opening game... she is never mentioned to be a princess until the very end.

[Burning Blaze: As princess, it is my duty to protect the Sol Emeralds...]

From what I remember, this is the FIRST mention of her royal status. 

From this game’s viewpoint, they reveal the mirror status of the dimensions. They then show both Blaze and Sonic having mirror super transformations using their emeralds, highly implying that Sonic and Blaze were mirror versions. (also this was implied already by just Blaze’s shoes.) and then it’s revealed that Blaze is royal, and a princess. 

So if she’s the mirror of Sonic, what does that mean for Sonic? Especially right after showing the two of them being, well, mirrors.

2. King Arthur

SATBK is much less transparent about the counterpart universe thing.

Now this is an alternate universe, set up by Secret Rings, and surprisingly not just a story Sonic told as an elaborate excuse.

They don’t hide obivous Sonic characters being put into roles, and their in these roles for a reason.

Blaze and Silver as Percival and Galahad, the knights who quested together for the holy grail. Knuckles as Gawain literally only because of “Gawain and the Green Knight” But I respect that so much. Jet as Lamorak because of Lamorak’s fiery temper and competitiveness.  Shadow as Lancelot because he’s the “closest knight to the king” stated in game (👀) Tails as a Blacksmith because that’s p much the medieval version of a mechanic. Amy as the Lady of the Lake because like. Fuck she’s the most powerful one there. (but seriously, in forces she’s shown to be the most level headed leader and strangest, especially in Sonic’s absence. As well as “sensing” that he was still alive and having a past in tarot.) And Merlina as Merlina because... well that’s a whole other theory.

(all my theories are being brought up in the post. like i know the first two were expamples of theories I fully belive in but damn this is like a avengeners, ok,)

But Sonic as King Arthur makes sense when it’s revealed. Although he wasn’t anyone’s counterpart in Secret Rings (because secrets rings was confused as hell) He is in this game, and as the ring leader of everyone following him in SATBK, it makes sense. 

Although something that was never brought up...EVER is the Knight’s backstories, which are EXTREMELY important not only in Arthurian legends, but for the knights in Sonic lore. All of the knight’s mentioned backstories are important to their character, in both contexts. Although their never brought up.

*DEEP BREATH* Alright. The similarities between Sonic Character/Knight backstories.

Shadow and Lancelot have pretty simmilar backstories when getting down to it. Shadow/Lancelot were both raised for greatness, but still outshined by Sonic/Arthur. Although remaining loyal to them, even if for Shadow it’s only in times of need. Shadow doesn’t want to admit he’s a supporting role to Sonic, although Sonic generations kinda throws that Idea out of the water when Shadow cheers Sonic on while watching from the sidelines, much like early Lancelot.

For Blaze and Percival, in multiple interpretations Percival is of noble birth. Upon meeting Sonic’s Gang/The Knights, Blaze/Percival get’s inspired by their heroics and eventually joins them.

“Lancelot and Percival prove morally superior to Gawain who follows the rules of courtliness to the letter rather than the spirit.“ Is an actual quote from Wikipedia. Although it is VERY hard to find a concrete backstory for Gawain other than “separated from his home”, I think this proves enough. As well as the Gawain and the Green Knight story (in which Gawain tries to slay the green knight and then he picks up his head and says “see you in a year” is pretty representative of Knuckles constantly breaking the master emerald in a comedic light.) 

Lamorak/Jet are known for challenging Arthur/Sonic to competitions. 

Galahad/Silver are searching for an object/person aided by Percival/Blaze

So now that we’re all good, do you see the similarities between part one.

Although everyone else has given backstory similarities, Sonic is given none, seeming as, as far as we know, Sonic HAS no backstory.

But isn’t it interesting that King Arthur’s backstory is being lost royalty? And the secret son of the king? Wack.

3. Sonic Fucking Underground

Now, most of you are probably unfamiliar with Sonic Underground. Good.

If you’re not, you watched it as a kid and you’re nostalgic, and let me tell you I watched the entire show recently and it’s not as good as you remember.

But Sonic Underground’s quality and history could be a post on it’s own, it doesn’t matter here. What matters is the plot:

[From Sonic Wiki: Sonic, Sonia, and Manic are the children of Queen Aleena, the rightful ruler of Mobius and are pursued relentlessly by Doctor Robotnik and his bumbling bounty hunters sidekicks, Sleet and Dingo. As infants, the siblings were separated and placed in hiding to fulfill a prophecy made by the Oracle of Delphius (a spoof of the Oracle of Delphi of Ancient Greece) that the triplets would grow up to find their estranged mother, overthrow Robotnik and take their places once more as Mobius' rightful rulers.]

FORGOTTEN ROYALTY YOU SAY.

Now, Sonic Underground is VERY SEPARATED from Sonic Lore, and nothing has ever taken from it besides Manic appearing in some comics, although from what I know he’s never mentioned to be Sonic’s brother. So This is the part I always take with a grain of salt, however;

4. In conclusion/TLDR

We have Two Instances of Sonic being lost Royalty (One in a separate reality and one in a separate continuity) We have Two Instances of Dimentional Counterparts of Sonic being Royalty (Blaze and King Arthur) We have zero given backstory for Sonic We have Three instances of Sonic, or a counterpart, being royalty

And from what I remember hearing, three’s a pattern.

[talentlessmuse]

I think about Hades a lot.

Shocking, I know, but I don't mean specifically Hades within the story of Hadestown. I think a lot about what must have happened prior to the story to produce a character like that. What happened even before his relationship with Persephone that he would have such an unhealthy attachment style?

Obviously the whole being eaten alive by his father didn't do him any favors, but most of the rest of his siblings shared in that with him. It's a part of his damage, but it's not everything.

I think that a lot of Hades' insecurities come from feeling like he can be replaced or discarded. Growing up, his whole world was comprised of four other people, his siblings, but suddenly they all get thrown out (thrown up?) into the wider world, and there's this new person, a new sibling. They fight a war and win it, and eventually it comes time where the three brothers draw lots to decide who rules over what part of the world.

We know how this goes. Zeus gets the sky, Poseidon gets the seas, and Hades gets the underworld. He's sent down there alone. This man probably can't remember a time in his life where he hasn't had at least his sisters around, but none of them go with him. They choose to remain up top with Zeus, who has essentially slotted himself into the position as top god that should have belonged to Hades by birthright. He is the oldest son of Cronus, after all.

That must have been emotionally devastating. He feels like he's been abandoned by his family, replaced by his youngest brother, and his consolation prize is a kingdom of rocks.

Like, yeah, he's still totally in the wrong. I'm not trying to justify his actions in the least, but it's kind of impressive he managed to hold it together so long before kicking off his villain story.

[dragynkeep]

Small backstory: Pretty recently I saw a post discussing whether or not Ironwood is a veteran and how it affected the narrative based on your culture. I pointed out that he wasn't alive for the war 80 years ago and another random internet user mentioned the faunus wars, which were mentioned in the first valume... never again. When I asked whether they knew the exact dates those were happening and they responded with "Sometime after the war", so I to prove my point of James not being engaged with any human on human/human on faunus conflict I decided to use Ghira of all people for comparison in age... I think they're about the same age if we look at the material given us by the show itself... So none. I just think they're about the same age.

Anyway I said that if Ironwood fought in those wars so did Ghira, which would put a lot of his actions and character traits under question. Such as his pacifism and naive attitude towards the human-faunus conflict. And if he didn't... Well... Let's not forget that his family has a giant mansion in manajerie and that's already very sus. Him not fighting in the war while Ironwood did would make him and his family seem even more privileged compared to other faunus.

And then they responded with and I quote "Orrrr, ghira’s valor in the war is what earned him the title of king of furry island. Guy fights pretty good for a pacifist, and he could avoid conflict because he knows that as bad as things are now for the Faunus, it’s nothing compared to before the war. But that’s just a theory, *A Game Theory*" I know this isn't that serious but when I read this I snapped for unbeknownst reasons.

And I'm just gonna paste the stuff I responded with because I'm not typing that again-

That only raises more concerns to his weird optimism and naivety towards humans and their intentions. As well as puts his intelligence and how he precieves violence under question. Let's not forget that he, and everyone else in his group would have probably died and thrown in a ditch somewhere by the road if it weren't for Adam killing their attackers (ONE of their attackers). And after the encounter he only chastised Adam for his actions without much explanation, after being shot at by the humans (and possibly wounded by them, his aura seemed to crack and he flinched but that was it), the ones who treated their kin as slaves and just now threatened their lives. And they have definitely killed faunus before, from how the guy that shot Ghira had spoken. And Adam didn't even act on his own, he looked at Sienna who gave him permission... Sienna was Ghiras second in command at that moment if I recall correctly, and still Adam was the only one chastised.

I like their take but Ghira is just way too sus for me to believe that to be honest.

...I wish we were given more actual worldbuilding and lore in the series.

And the more I think about it the more I hated both Ghira and that response with a passion.

Anyway Ghira is an awful leader and person in many ways and the take that "He earned his place as the furry king on the island by his valor in the war" only makes him worse.

I realise that I stumbled into this conversation myself and dealt psychic damage to me myself (let this be a lesson for me) but what's done is done.

And all this over bad writing....

In any case I probably repeated myself several time through this rant and my english might not be as good as I think so sorry in advance if this turns out as a waste of time

this absolutely encapsulates why i hate the bellaparents; because they don’t enrich the world in anyway & actively make blake’s storyline worse, as well as those connected to them like sienna, adam & ilia.

i don’t think ghira was “made king of furry island due to his valour in the war” because we see pictures of some belladonna ancestors in the mansion; they’re obviously not ghira or kali but look enough like them to be related. meaning this is an inherited position of power & actually represents a monarchy much more accurately than what the person you were debating with actually said, kings aren’t elected. they’re chosen by birthright, nothing they actually did & ghira ... does nothing. menagerie is so dangerous but the only defence force we see is situated in his home. his people are suffering in tiny huts on a squished island but we see him in a massive mansion that is never seemed to be used for any just cause like a government building; nor do we ever see that he seems to try & improve anything for the faunus.

he allows blake to blame faunus on their isolated island for the actions of a radicalized diaspora he’s responsible for; his inaction led to the radicalization of the white fang & he did nothing about them until they put their problems on his front door by harming his child. until his own family was brought into it, ghira canonically was more than content enough to do nothing about the organization he spearheaded & then let fall to ruin. all because of his own limp wristed pacifisim that is just as harmful as the radicalized ideals of the current white fang.

now they’re back in his hands & i don’t see how this time it’s going to be different when he’s still the same privileged faunus with outdated ideals on how to deal with humans who are still violent & dangerous.

[asterekmess]

honestly, my fury at the lack of werewolf culture/history/worldbuilding is worthy of its own post. Let me know if by some ungodly chance, you actually wanna hear my thoughts on it // Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!

ohmygod yes, pls, enable me.

SO.

I think I mentioned b4 that Teen Wolf hates werewolves.

This is a show about werewolves like, yeah, sure, they do other plots and stuff. But the main character is a werewolf. The vast majority of the cast are werewolves (at least in the first half of the show). But think about it. What do we actually know about werewolves? They uhh, they shift on the full moon. But like, what about the full moon? Cus’ Scott gets handcuffed to a radiator and he doesn’t shift and break out until the moon comes out from behind the clouds and he screams like it’s excruciatingly painful for him. But then Derek and his Betas are underground during their full moon, and they shift like it’s all fine and dandy (they’re furious, but there’s no pain) and it doesn’t matter whether they can see the moon or not. They, uhh, they’re allergic to wolfsbane/it’s poisonous to them (btw it’s poisonous to literally everyone, just the scent of it is enough to cause seizures and hallucinations in humans. It’s a whole other frustration that they won’t make up their fucking minds abt it. It’s one thing to say that this is some parallel universe where wolfsbane doesn’t poison humans (bc lydia makes them hallucinate with the punch but injesting that much wolfsbane should kill you, and Stiles straight pulls a plant out of the ground; should’ve caused itching, burning, a cough, nausea, fever, headache and More hallucinations) and yet Jackson has to see a doctor and gets told he’s got Aconite Poisoning. So WHAT IS THE TRUTH?) but apparently not enough for Derek not to be able to plant a wolfsbane plant and massive cord of roots (which he would’ve had to tie together himself) in a revenge spiral around Laura’s body. But just being around it causes wolves to lose control. But also there’s supposed to be different strains that do different things? And also sometimes you burn the wolfsbane and it becomes the cure, or you have to burn it out of them or you just cut it out of them? Make UP Your MIND or at least ACKNOWLEDGE that different strains do different things. They get stronger on a full moon. But does that mean they get infinitely stronger with every full moon they experience? Does that mean they get weaker during new moons? They’re stronger in packs. Okay, but they never establish what the fuck a pack is. Is it an agreement? Is it a magical bond? Scott just sort of says people are in his pack. Does that mean they are? Do the humans he knows make him stronger? Just how strong is this bond? Derek makes a claim that “You have your own pack now” so is that a joke, was he mocking scott? Or is he saying that there’s no need for an Alpha and just being a beta with some friends counts as a pack? Apparently they have some kind of...animal magnetism or mind control? Derek uses a funny voice and a guy wakes up from a near coma to look at him with seemingly no control. Peter can force Scott to shift up. Derek forces Isaac to shift down. Derek has an insane amount of control over dogs and makes one lose its fucking mind from like a hundred feet away? Scott makes one calm down, but derek sends attack dogs running with their tails between their legs. Is it actual control or is it just a persuasion? Is it just intimidation? I haven’t even gotten to culture. You’re telling me that we get an entire episode of Allison discovering the entire story behind the Argent clan’s origins as werewolf hunters, why they started, how her name means Silver and apparently that’s where the entire myth of silver hurting werewolves comes from, but we don’t get to know anything about the first werewolves? Where they come from? If they’re a form of evolution or just straight magic or if it’s a curse or a gift from the gods? There’s an entire hidden werewolf population with packs all over the world, but somehow there’s literally no wolf culture? No moon worship? No specific terminology (Alpha, Beta, and Omega are terms used by a really fucking stupid biologist who studied frantic wolves in captivity and cast aspersions on the entire species. He’s been disproven a Thousand Times. NONE of that Alpha, Beta, Omega shit is right. Packs aren’t Hierarchies of Dominance. They’re families. They’re led by two wolves, yes, an “alpha pair” that’s literally JUST THE PARENTS. THE ‘BETAS’ ARE THEIR KIDS. This terminology makes sense if used by HUNTERS who consider werewolves to be mindless dumb animals. WHY THE FUCK would werewolves use it to DESCRIBE THEMSELVES?) besides the absolute minimum of ‘I caught a scent?’ Are you serious? Then there’s werewolf ages. Oh my god that was so fucking lazy. Saying that werewolves don’t age like humans, but that Cora is seventeen “by human standards” WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I’ve seen theories that go so many different ways. The idea that Werewolves live really long lives because of the superhealing. The idea that they live really short lives because their healing just burns through their body really quickly. The idea that their lifespan is directly correlated to the amount of damage they take because they can only heal so much, so wolves who get hurt a lot age faster than wolves who don’t. There’s NO explanation! You’d think it might be an interesting point for Scott to find out that he’s gonna live to fucking 200 years old. (How old is Satomi again?) That sounds like something a Teenager would be daunted by. We see them make fun of Stiles a few times because he believes werewolf myths about silver, and then because he believes Peter when Peter tells him he lives in a series of underground caves. But like...why not? THESE ARE WEREWOLVES why did you just make them humans with extra facial hair? Where are the traditional mating rituals (or even the concept of a mate/life partner, can you imagine how interesting that would’ve been? If Scott found out Allison was his mate? Or if he suddenly had all these weird urges around her, like rubbing their foreheads together or cuddling her way too much or wanting to bring her food? That would’ve been fascinating and hilarious as subplots for their romance!) where are the full moon runs or pack get-togethers? Where are the aversions to perfumes or cologne? Where are literally any animal behaviors besides AGGRESSION? Where is the den-making? Can werewolves eat fast food or does the grease bug them? Talia was a famous Alpha bc she could full shift. Does anyone know why she could do that? “Evolution” is a bullshit answer, let’s be real. It’s shitty writing and it put Derek through so much more than he deserved. THEY ACCIDENTALLY ESTABLISHED that ALL HALES can full-shift! IT’s NOT EVOLUTION. It’s BIRTHRIGHT. Talia fullshifted. Peter full-shifted (though his was distorted into the monster thingy. That wasn’t anything like Deucalion’s shift. It was a FULL SHIFT) Laura could full shift bc she did it after she died. No other werewolves on the show turned into full wolves after death, even if they died with wolfsbane in their system? MALIA could full-shift into a coyote. LITERALLY EVERY HALE except Cora and that’s bc she got booted back to South America COuld FULL SHIFT (and it never happened after they lost all of their wolf powers, that coud’ve been an interesting plot if they didn’t FUCK IT UP.) But still there’s no explanation, or even just acknowledgement? You don’t have to spell it out for us, but at least SAY “Hey, so the Hale family is really powerful and all of us can full-shift. Not sure why, but it’s neat.) I’m still stuck on rituals. Routines. Werewolf mores. Social cues. Are there certain smells they’re supposed to ignore? Is it polite to pretend you don’t hear someone coming up to your house until they knock? Do they have rules about waiting until the Alpha eats before they start eating (much like how lots of traditional households wait for the father to dig in, or whoever is head of household)? Is it tradition to homeschool werewolves for the first few years until they learn control? Are there seriously no rules about biting humans? You don’t have to talk to their parents or have a specific conversation with them? And if werewolves are so dominance/hierarchy based, then you’re telling me there’s no “second-in-command” or respectful greetings that are supposed to be used for an Alpha? There’s absolutely no form of werewolf government or ancient laws or anything except a big spiral that is universally recognized as a sign you’re gonna kill people? What was the wolfsbane around Laura’s body for? Why make the spiral out of that instead of just drawing in the dirt or something? We make a lot of jokes about Derek being bad with his words, but so is Peter and so is Cora. And they’re the only born wolves we interact with (except Satomi who ALSO isn’t a chatterbox) What if that’s not just because they’re all traumatized and cranky? What if they’re just speaking on a different level? Scents and body language are integral to wolf interaction. Like how we say that Peter has that conversation with Derek’s eyebrows? What if Derek’s so fucking pissed all the time because he hates talking to Scott because SCott ISN”T LISTENING to his body language and scent and chemosignals? He tells Scott to use all his senses, and Scott does it fucking once to say that Peter felt “Angry” and never again. What if Derek is Talking PLENTY (with his body and movements and reactions) but Scott just isn’t paying attention? Isaac seems to understand Derek just fine. Erica and Boyd never complain that Derek is lying to them or ‘keeping something’ from them? What if the reason Scott always thinks Derek’s hiding something is because he isn’t reading the rest of Derek’s conversation and he assumes that the empty feeling is Derek lying. Even STILES seems to understand Derek. He’s human, but he goes totally wolfy. He already uses body language a lot and while he gets mad at Derek he never has to ask what the fuck derek is saying or what he’s holding back. I digress. I wanna know why no other packs came to help Derek and Laura after their family died. I wanna know why Emissaries and Druids are so incredibly important to the supernatural/werewolf world but Derek barely knew they existed (Especially when it’s established that he know tons of lore about other species.) and even though every single pack should have an emissary, they never handle who is the emissary for Derek’s pack or for Scott’s pack (Once again, is an emissary bound to their pack somehow or is it just an agreement?). I wanna know why Derek knew Satomi and trusted her but for some reason never felt like he could ask her for help? Centuries of hiding and living amongst humans with almost no wolf behavior to their name, but none of these packs interact? There’s Druid Vets and Hunter cops and Emissary counselors. But no werewolf doctors? No werewolf teachers? Absolutely no werewolf society? If Derek was worried about Paige not accepting that he was a werewolf unless she became one, what does that say about his experience with humans? He says “there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that house” who died in the fire. But wouldn’t he talk to a human pack member about his worries, if he had one? Or even a bitten pack member? He admits he doesn’t know how to train a Bitten wolf. He’s never been called out by a human pack member for using phrases like ‘caught a scent’ or for reacting to things he shouldn’t. Does this mean Derek’s family was entirely werewolves? No humans in the know? No bitten wolves? He has a huge thing about keeping the secret and never letting anyone in on it unless they get dragged into it. Did Derek’s pack have some kind of prejudice against humans? Was Derek raised to believe humans were weak or cowardly or something, that he thought this beautiful girl would automatically hate him and expose him if she were to discover the supernatural without being forced into silence by self-preservation.

Lots of times, it’s easy to forget in this fandom that so much is missing, because we’ve been filling in the gaps for so long that some stuff is practically canon. It’s generally assumed that the Hales were homeschooled before high school. It’s generally assumed that there’s some kind of bond that marks people as pack. We instinctively add in mentions of Scent and the use of the shift (growling, claws, a hint of fang, flashing eyes) as part of the casual communication between characters. We add in scent-marking and territory boundaries and specific roles in the pack. We do all of that and never think twice because it’s already in all the fic. But we did that. The show gave us nothing. It spent an entire season talking about the nogitsune and the oni and how they’re summoned and what kitsune fox tails are for, but we never got to find out why wolves can do the pain-drain (or even if it dissipates the pain or just transfers it to the wolf doing the draining) or if Derek Hale EVEN HAS A DAD.

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG S6 Watchthrough Episodes 14-17

Face of the Enemy: Troi has been kidnapped and forced to look/pose as a Romulan officer. Why? The one responsible isn’t saying, but to say that she’s unhappy would be an understatement. As it turns out, Troi was abducted by a part of the resistance from Unification and they need a Starfleet officer in case their current plan goes south. They even mention Spock… IDK if I can see him approving of an abduction but maybe they just forgot to mention that he disapproved that part… then again I guess it makes logical sense. Eh, whatever. So… this is by far the best Troi episode that they’ve done thus far. She was kidnapped yes, but she is NOT playing the damsel-in-distress. She’s not victimized. She’s not sexualized. She’s not forced into a poorly conceived romance or undergoes anything gross/f*cked up. She has to act the part of a cold-hearted authoritarian among a ship of Romulans and she is freakin’ badass. Especially when she decides that she’s had enough going and thoroughly tells off her kidnapper N’Vek and that he will listen to her. 100% perfection. They even managed to make her empathic abilities useful. Did putting her in the uniform cause this? Did they get it out of their systems in Man of the People? IDK but I am all for it! It was also an awesome look into the Romulans and the going-ons on their ship, something we haven’t really gotten since TOS’ Balance of Terror, and all the Romulans are done very well. N’Vek kidnapped Troi but he did it for his cause and is a great morally grey character, and the female Romulan Commander Toreth is an excellent antagonist. Plus it’s nice to see more of the resistance and to see them within the Romulan ranks. It was an excellent episode and I freakin’ loved it~! Thank you show for giving Troi the badass episode that she deserves (even if it was this late in the show's run), now keep it up! 5/5.

Tapestry: Two Q episodes this season? Hell yes~! So… Picard dies. Welp. Q decides to take this to give Picard an offer: go back in time and undo his greatest regret, the incident that caused his artificial heart that he told Wesley about in Samaritan Snare. Back when he was a hot-blooded rebel who got himself into a fight that got him stabbed in the heart. In doing so, he now has a chance to correct all the wrongs and settle all he regrets in his life since that day. So up to this point, Q’s episodes since Q Who, while still entertaining and interesting, had been more light-hearted. Q still came off as an all-powerful being (Deja Q aside which him not being was the plot point), but his antics had been more comedic or light-hearted in comparison. In this episode, he’s acting like a trickster as per usual, but again more with the purpose to teach Picard a lesson. Why isn’t made very clear aside from maybe he just likes Picard (take that however way you’d like), but it’s nice to see this version of Q again while still utterly stealing the show. Picard got to undo the event… but would it have really turned out any better had it not happened? Would not making mistakes, having regrets, and making all the supposed ‘right’ choices when he should have had truly made a better impact in his present? That’s the funny thing about life, it’s easy to look back and go ‘if I had done this one thing differently, it would have been better’ and te desire to correct it is very powerful. But with mistakes comes the ability to learn. To grow. To mature. You’ll always have guilt and regrets, but you have to accept that this is what you chose and go about your life. Picard is a man full of thrown-away opportunities, pain, and so much more… but it also caused him to become a strong leader, intelligent, a risk-taker, and even with all his faults become a better person in his present day. Now obviously he doesn’t actually die, but he sure as Hell learned the lesson. The life he would have lead would have been unsatisfying, his old regrets replaced with new ones, and been unfulfilling for a man like himself. Now he can truly value the one that he has and the people in it. This was a fantastic episode. It’s crazy how Picard went from one of my least favorites to now one of my absolute favorites. His development and growth from a strict, aloof authoritarian to a much more reasonable father-like figure and much more humbled man and the captain has been excellent, and this episode just helps further that. The only real complaint is there’s not much time devoted to showing how his crew ended up without him, but that’s minor and doesn’t take anything away at all. Very well done~! 5/5.

Birthright: Okay, guess we got a second two-parter… and apparently it crosses over with DS9. Didn’t see that coming. But alrighty, I’m game~!

Part One: So the crew is on Deep Space 9 to assist in repairs of some incident involving the Bajorans and the Cardassians that I guess I’ll find out about when I get to the show. While there Worf is approached by an alien who informs him that his dead father? He may not be dead after all, having been kept in a Romulan prison. Worf doesn’t take it well. He ain’t the only one having daddy issues. While working with DS9‘s CMO Dr. Bashir, Data gets knocked out has a vision of Dr. Soong (a much younger one than in Brothers). Normally Data can’t dream so he’s pretty taken aback by this. So as a first part, this was pretty good. It sets up Worf’s plot well with him deciding to break into the Romulan camp to find out the truth and rescue the Klingons there. Data’s plot is overall nice. He’s never dreamed before so him trying to track down why is very understandable, especiallya after Picard suggests that he quit going through facts and try a more creative outlet to get his answers. So what happened? As it turns out Dr. Soong made it so that when Data reached a certain cognitive point, he would obtaint he ability to dream and he made an AI version of himself to talk to him. I guess he would have explained this to him in Brothers had Lore not shown up/had he not died. It was a really touching moment. Soong’s still not exactly the most ideal parent, but his AI copy seemed legit proud of how far Data’s come. Is it out of ego, legit parental pride, or both? That’s up for you to decide. As this is my first look at Bashir… so far I don’t have too manys torng opinions. he seems to act more liek a Science Officer or Engineer han a CMO, but he is cute and so far liekabe. He’s curious about Data, but doesn’t dehumanize him like Maddox in The Measure of a Man did, if anything he notes Data’s more human-like elements like being able to grow hair than any of the nuts and bolts. He seems pretty well liked from what I’ve seen int he fandom, so I’ll see how that holds when I reach DS9 but I like him so far. I do have some issues, but that more impacts the Overall so I’ll save it for there. So we end with Worf discovering his father’s true fate… and he’s informed by the Klingons there that he’s never leaving the camp. Welp. How will Worf get out of this one in Part 2? We shall see. 4/5.

Part Two: So what the heck is going on? Well, Worf’s father is infact dead, but there were captured Klingons. As they weren’t able to die with honor nor could they return home as it would dishonor their families (Klingons prefer death to capture), they chose to remain in the camp and live out the rest of their lives there. So now Worf is among multiple Klingons, the vast majority of which know nothing about their heritage, culture, and customs and had it outright demonized. To them, the lives they have are the norm and they have no desire to change it. Worf may have been out of touch with Klingons due to being raised on Earth, but at least he can explore it and get in touch with it. The ones in the camp? They can’t do that. They’re essentially in a gilded cage. Yeah, there's the argument that they achieved peace between Klingons and Romulans… by imprisoning said Klingons and demonizing their culture to them with the older Klingons allowing it. Though it seems it’s also because of broken spirits and the dishonor they’d have faced otherwise which is worst than death to them. There’s even one girl, Ba’el, who is half Klingon, half-Romulan… and despite what gets said I don’t get the sense that her parents' union was a fully consensual one. This was pretty good. Worf has found a group that like him were out of touch with their heritage, and he is now able to educate them and guide them. With all that’s happened and his struggle to be a true Klingon and find his way, this was really nice to have. He’s still clinging onto his hatred of Romulans and this episode isn’t going to help it dissipate, but at least it was addressed and Ba’el being upset at being judged due to how she was born was very much justified. Heaven knows that the themes here are still very much relevant in today’s time. Worf’s guidance pays off in the end and at last, they can be free. The younger Klingons have a rough road likely ahead of them since we know that Klingon society isn’t exactly the easiest to get through, but at least they have a chance at freedom. It was a very strong Worf episode and it was great to see~. 4/5.

Overall: Okay, so overall… it’s pretty uneasy. The Worf parts are good.. As I said, it was nice to see him in a position to give guidance to a group even more out of touch than he is. It was very wel done. The issues are mainly with Part One. We have this plot where they go to DS9… and we are barely there. We have Dr. Bashir… and only him. None of the other characters. We don't even see O’Brien despite him having transferred to DS9 at this point. Maybe the actors were busy sot they could only pick one but it kinda makes doing a crossover cheap. Bashir doesn’t even get a lot to do, you could write him out and very little would change. On the upside this means that viewers who haven’t watched DS9 won’t be confused nor would DS9 be required viewing, but it also kind of defeats the purpose of bringing DS9 in. It’s essentially just window dressing. Data’s plot, while nice, is completely dropped in Part Two. It feels like they were required to do a two-parter, didn’t have enough of the Worf plot to fill it out, and came up with the Data dream plot and using DS9 to fill it out. The crew also don’t really do anything in either part. As such, aside from getting Worf into the place he needs to be, Part One feels irrelevant. As such, I can’t give it a perfect rating. It was still good, but as a two-parter Part One bogs it down, but still allows for Part Two to happen. Overall, pretty good. 4/5.

[toloveawarlord]

Ch. 6

Characters: Edgar Bright, Iris Adley, Sean

Pairing: Edgar x Iris

Tagging: @plumpblueberry​

“You can’t blame them for being curious. No one knows what Sir Edgar is having you do as his second,” Sean said, lounging back on the perfectly made bed. He and all the others that were under the Jack of Hearts were hovering around me, asking an infinite amount of questions about the allusive and mysterious Edgar Bright…ever since he appointed me as his second.

I buttoned up my uniform shirt with visible annoyance. “I’m basically a glorified secretary, organizing documents, keeping notes about important dates and meetings, and pretending to be him when penning letters that he finds too boring while he sits on the sofa sipping tea.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t work. Soldiers came and went all day long with reports and documents. When he wasn’t in his quarters, he was in meetings with Jonah and Lancelot or officials in Central Quarter, on top of training his own troop of soldiers with a warm smile and steel fist. And yet, when we were alone, he turned into a candy gobbling child that enjoyed causing me a headache.

“Aren’t you tired? You don’t return from your duties until the early morning hours and then turn around and be up at first call at 7 like the rest of us.” He was just as intrigued by my new position as the others, but for more reasons. Every day he asked if we’d spoken about my predicament and the answer remained a stern no.

“Tired of his ridiculously idiot game? Yes.”

“Aw, that’s no way to speak about your adoring superior.”

The only slightly peaceful part of my day came crashing down at the presence of the Jack of Hearts. He’d let himself into the room without any warning, apparently a recurring trait of his. I can’t exactly complain, outwardly at least.

I rested against the bed to slip on my boots, tugging the laces extra tight while imaging the thin string to be around his neck. The whispers from the hallway not so quiet, nearly bringing a large commotion to the barrack hallway. “I’ll assume you’re here for business, sir.”

“Sean, you will be in Central Quarter today.” Edgar gave the order with a hint of edge to his voice. He received a salute and Sean scuttled off to leave us. One quick glance over his shoulder and the rest of the soldiers scattered before those mischievous jade irises were turned on me. “You will be accompanying to patrol the forest. Won’t that be fun, Iris?”

“Are you going to insist on calling me that when we’re alone?”

“It is your name. Besides, the expressions you make are worth any risk.”

I swiped my hat from the rack, settling it on my blonde locks, adjusting it with stiff movements. I made a silent vow to work on how I outwardly reacted to his taunts, if only to irritate him a fraction of how he irritated him.

Outside of his personal unit, the soldiers continued to treat me like an outsider. They glared when they thought none of the ranking officers were watching. They whispered in ear shot of me, insisting on being petty about my sudden rise in position. Only the ones within Edgar’s unit had begun to accept me, at least enough to not avoid me during meals and free time.

The leaves crunched beneath his boots, the Jack of Hearts strolling with a spring his step. His good mood almost contagious. It was strange, simultaneously keeping up my guard while also lowering it at times around him. He hadn’t broken his word and exposed my secret. “Iris, lost in thought, are we? I do hope it’s me on your mind.” 

Jade irises mischievously reflecting my own clear, blue ones. Edgar’s face mere inches.

I took a step back only to hit a tree. The pain dull but grounded me back in reality.

Quick to close the distance, like a wild cat slinking up to its cornered prey, Edgar’s grin grew wider. “You make a pretty boy, but I prefer the real Iris.” Gloved fingers expertly removing the earring and pocketing it in seconds. “I’ll hold onto this until it’s time to return.”

Without the magic, nothing hid the fact that I was a woman. It would be unlikely for the army to send multiple soldiers on this patrol, but not unheard of. And yet, winning an argument with a rock was more attainable than reasoning with the gentle demon. 

The forest was peaceful. Although not many ventured in due to the rumors surrounding it, bandits tended to gather on occasion. The town was abuzz with talk of some unsavory types moving between Central Quarter and the Forbidden Forest. Edgar had been tasked with uncovering and eliminating them.

“I did some digging, but there’s no record of where your brother disappeared to. Not even your parents have any inkling. I suspect that you have some idea.” He broke the silence as he adjusted his gait to fall in step with me. 

“I don’t. He never told me where he was going. Only that the girl he’d fallen obsessively in love with was the reason he wouldn’t take his position in the army.” The night he’d left still seared freshly in my mind. It made little sense. He had been handed the fourth highest rank in the Red Army and he abandoned it for a woman.

Edgar hummed in response, gaze lifting to the treetops above us. “Peculiar, but I hear that love makes one do crazy things.”

“He’s an absolute fool. Love is an abstract idea that is fleeting. He barely knew her, and yet he threw away his whole life, making a traitor of himself, of our family. For what?” He’d said that he might be gone for a while, years. At that time, it would be much too late. Our family would be ostracized, the position given by birthright erased and passed on to some distant blood relative.

“You’ve never been in love, have you, Iris?”

I gave him a disgusted glare before replying, “No. I’ll wager you haven’t either.”

He snickered from behind his palm, not making any attempts to avoid my slap to his arm. “You’re right. I’ve little time for dalliances with women. I have been approached, but taking a wife is not of importance to me.” For a second, the facade slipped, and I saw the flash of melancholy cross his features. Then it was gone, replaced with that empty smile. “I imagine you’ve had plenty of men throwing themselves at you.”

“You mean at my father.” I shivered in absolute revulsion. None of them had approached me directly. Whispers of how I could be harsh and hard to please were always circling me like rampant sharks. Negotiations went through my father, and I never accepted a single one. “I have no desire to be someone’s wife.”

“You’d rather be a solider?”

There was no judgement or ridicule in his question, as it had been with all the men previous in my life. Any time I trained with a sword or learned hand to hand combat, they all had a similar tone. It’s not for a woman. I would prove them all wrong. “Yes. Only the Red Army has rules against women joining. It seems obvious that after 500 years, perhaps a different perspective might be advantageous.”

“War is not made for the weak.”

“Weak and female are not synonymous.”

Jade eyes crinkled as he smiled at me. “Oh, I’m well aware of your strengths, Iris. And I, for one, have no qualms with you being in the army. It’s not simply a matter of changing laws.”

The politics. It’s always about the politics among the Red elites.

The scent of smoke drifted through the trees, silencing our discussion. The rumors were proving to be true. We both became silent, like ghosts leaving no trace of their existence as we neared the campsite. Only one man guarded the camp.

“We’ll wait until nightfall, and all of them are to be captured.” His whisper carried the weight of his position. The teasing superior vanished without a trace, replaced with the Jack of Hearts giving his soldier an unbreakable order. His gaze only flickered to me long enough to see my nod before returning to our targets.

They came and went, five of them in total. As the sun began to slide beyond the horizon. Once the light faded, the group all gathered around the fire, clinking dirty glasses of stolen booze, and rifling through their treasures. Edgar gave a signal, directing me to circle to the other side.

Blending in with the darkness was easy. The moon cast slivers of silver light between the leaves rustling in the wind. I crouched by a thick bush, waiting patiently for our moment to attack. I hadn’t, however, expected him to announce himself.

“Good evening, gentlemen.” Edgar startled the whole lot of them, hand lightly gripping the hilt of his sword. The fire crackled as one choked on his drink at the sudden appearance of the officer. “You’ve caused quite the ruckus in town. It’s time to answer for your crimes.”

Swords and knives were drawn, all eyes focused solely on the single man in the crisp white uniform. Their bravery coupled with cowardice as they collectively moved the opposite direction with slow steps, save for their so-called leader. He alone faced the gentle demon with a scowl.

He gave a howl and lunged at Edgar, only to grab air and lose his breath as his torso connected with the Jack of Heart’s knee. 

Tension rose through the campsite. Some were frozen in their spot, watching the imminent defeat of their boss. But one... there’s always one, who decides to save themselves and run.

Unlucky for him.

The wheeze that passed his lips when I wrenched my elbow back into his throat divided the attention. He collapsed to the dirt, body curling up as he clutched his neck and struggled to catch his breath. “How pathetic,” I said, drawing my own sword from its sheath.

There’s two of them?

Who cares! Just take them out and let’s get out of here!

They were barely worth any effort. Their form sloppy and no coordination between them. Although it hadn’t been too long since being under Edgar’s guidance, I had picked up on some quirks of his. In the beginning, the soldiers in the unit avoided me, leaving Edgar to spar with me most of the time. I’d learned his movements quite well.

“I’m impressed. You’ve done so well,” Edgar praised with a pat on my shoulder. He chuckled as I brushed it off. 

I finished the knot on the last rope, creating a line of prisoners so they couldn’t try to escape. “I didn’t ask for your evaluation.”

“But that’s my job. Your hand to hand could use a little work. I’d be happy to teach you.” His eager grin disappeared at the voice of the leader of the bandits. I hadn’t witnessed the demon side of him until now.

Since when did the Red Army employ women?

I turned away, remembering that he still had my earring and no magic had shielded my features. Edgar slipped it into my palm without a word before slinking up to the angered prisoner.

“He is quite pretty for a boy, I’ll admit. You’d do well to keep your mouth shut.” The malice laced in his words paired perfectly with the dagger pressed a little too hard against his prey’s throat. His threat received with a silent nod.

I trailed behind, lost deeply in thought. It hadn’t been necessary. There was no reason for him to say anything. No one would have believed the word of a criminal over the Jack. There’s no logical reasoning behind why Edgar had protected me, nor why I can’t simply say thank you and move on.

My cheeks were unbearably hot.

Why did he confuse me so much?

[sebastianshaw]

Let's go wide and predictable... Tell me about the different WoD incarnations for Shaw. :>

OK SO First thing I am glad you are also a nerd for this so I don’t don’t to explain all these terms. Secondly wow I need to be better about tagging/organizing, I couldn’t find all the other posts on this I was SURE I wrote. SO HERE’S A BIG FAT POST, RIP YOUR EYES

VAMPIRE Lasombra: This is the clan I typically default to in answers for him AS YOU HAVE NOTICED. I mean, they’re dark aristocrats who are all about Social Darwinish, preying on the weak, and the strong reigning. They primarily enforce this subtly through political games, but they have NO PROBLEM throwing an elegant Potence-backed punch. While one would think that these proud predators demanding sniveling obedience---and one would, in a way, be right---they certainly don’t RESPECT it, and it can even induce violent rage in them. Fits Shaw to a T. Sure, the Catholicism/Church control and Spanish origins and attraction to the sea and Abyss mysticism aren’t for him, but hey, he fits the outlook of the Clan perfectly aside from the religious aspects, and no one fits EVERY stereotype of a clan anyway.  Most Lasombra are Sabbat, and he could be too, but he would be in it for personal power, not true belief in being the Sword of Caine. I can equally easily see him going antitribu for the political power and stability of the Camarilla.  My other choices for him are VENTURE which is pretty obvious, but also Gangrel, which sounds counterintuitive but I HAVE A REALLY GOOD ARGUEMENT FOR IT! WEREWOLF Shadow Lord. Total Shadow Lord for pretty much all the same reasons as Lasombra. Like just LOOK AT THIS QUOTE: “ The Shadow Lords are a fictional tribe of Garou (werewolves) in White Wolf Game Studio’s Werewolf: The Apocalypse role-playing game.   […]  The Shadow Lords’ lives are like a daily game of chess and a constant struggle for power […] Shadow Lords respect power and condemn weakness, any cub who’s not strong enough in their eyes is banished from the tribe [… ] None of the other tribes like them very much, or at all, but even the ones who hate them most don’t question their ability to get things done. […] perhaps the largest camp, the Lords of the Summit tend to be the stereotypical Shadow Lords - power-hungry, manipulative, ambitious, and arrogant. This by no means makes them less dangerous foes.” And like. . . .they focus on political and intellectual power FIRST, and that sort of character is typically physically weak. But as with the Lasombra, nope, the Shadow Lords had bodily power too; they’re described as looking more like over-muscled pit bulls in lupine form than wolves. So....yeah, that’s perfect. Because Shaw does fight “smart” first, he ideally never touches his opponent, but when he has to? BOY CAN HE PULVERIZE. So, Shadow Lord Shaw is a Homid, probably an Ahroun but maybe a Philodox, and he has a lot of Glass Walkers following him as well as fellow Shadow Lords; he finds great use in their technological talents and ability to adapt to an urban environment and OWN it (rather than just SURVIVE in its fringes like a Bone Gnawer, as he sees it) and they organize themselves in a corporate-like structure where he takes a natural lead.  While the Shadow Lords are stereotypically/traditionally Eastern European, they can be of any race today. Shaw’s dad is English, but since we never see his mom in canon, for this version I’m saying his mom was a great big Eastern European Shadow Lord, and that’s why he never knew her, because the Garou aren’t typically raising their own young. He’s just. . . .big brutal wolf boy. And has like a billion puppies/Kinfolk kids. I DREW HIM FERA Ok, so I picked a BUNCH of Fera for Shaw, and you know why? I could. Literally just because I could. I don’t have a DM to tell me no! I even picked extinct ones, BECAUSE I WANTED TO! Cat-wise, I like him as a Khan or a Khara. Are the Khara extinct? Yes. Do they really suit him, the way they’re described less as warriors and more just secret-gatherers? Not at all. I picked them because I just like the idea of him turning into a massive, massive black smilodon. Because I think it’s cool and I don’t have to respect canon here. He can be the last of the Khara and not fit them at all if I say so. And hey, he LOOKS like a prehistoric man already! As for the Khan. . . .of the extant Bastet, the Simba and Khan fit him best. And if I am being honest? The Simba probably are a better fit for him. And I’m fine with that. I’m fine with Shaw as a big ol werelion with a black mane. But I also just really, really like the Khan. And as I have made clear, I am running this show. So my first choice for him that isn’t a Shadow Lord, is a Khan. They’re most typically Indian, Chinese, or (due to breeding with colonizers in India) English, so he could be one of the English Khan, and hey, fighting the Wyrm gives him a good outlet for. . . himself. Their human forms are also typically tall and HUGE, upwards of 300 lbs, and they’ve sired some of the most beautiful kittens and powerful bloodlines. T “ The Simba may declare themselves nobility, but the weretigers fit the title. Regal hunters and warriors, these Bastet evoke the respect the lions demand. From the snowy mountains of Asia to the cities of India, the weretigers hunt the spawn of Asura and defend the last of their Kin. They’re solid, dependable, smart and strong. Their weaknesses, such as they are, come from being too trusting or too sure of themselves. Khan are straightforward and action-oriented, not clever schemers. Whatever a Khan does, he does full-tilt — fighting, romancing, hunting, studying, even contemplating. These Bastet throw themselves into all tasks with vigor and passion, and their bodies, in any form, bristle with vitality. Most Khan love company; though few of them can stand the presence of another of their kind for long, they often enjoy companions. And who would deny a tiger’s friendship? It’s said the Khan were brought forth to battle demons, and many of them take that charge literally. Vampires, Asura and fomori have few enemies more relentless than a tiger. Perhaps that’s why the Khan have been brought to the verge of extinction: They made too many of the wrong kind of enemies.” “ The tribe’s traditional cultures stress honor and obedience. The treachery of Nagda was worsened by the stain it put on the tigers’ pride. While solitary in nature, most Khan establish protectorates where they defend a given family or land against corruption. The fact that “defense” occasionally includes killing certain people doesn’t detract from the tribal purpose. The Kahn were created to war against demons. Those who court the darkness must die “ “ While many Khan tend to be bad-tempered and aggressive, others love company of all kinds (and are powerful enough to demand respect). “ So, is that ALL Shaw? No. He’d be a particularly nasty, scheming Khan, in fact, a little unusual for his breed. But that’s hardly unheard of. After all, the famous English Khan named Lord Clouster “had cobras for a heart; he tossed his own kuasha beneath the wheels of a train, fed his wife to a suttee fire by pretending to be dead, then killed his children when he found they did not carry the Changing Touch.” And another Khan, the Indian sultan Nagda, got into a feud with another Khan and “ taken over by his rage, the Sultan Nagda betrayed his race and used a tribal secret. During an eclipse, his assassins struck all over Asia, slaying nearly 100 Khan and many Kinfolk outright.” So, Khan can be bad too.  But not as bad as the Simba. “ “The Lords of Sunlight.” That’s what they call themselves. Like the blazing mane around the heads of their kings, werelions liken themselves to the sun. All things have a place and an order and rebels must be reminded of this fact. The real fact, of course, is that the other tribes dislike the lions; the Simba may call themselves “Lords of Sunlight,” but many other cats give them another name: “The Dark Kings,” an unflattering comparison to the Khan. The Simba aren’t villains; they’re magnificent lords, slayers of demons. Things are simply out of order. When the balance is  restored, when the humans know their place and the cities become graveyards, the lions will be proven right. The demons of the modern age can be traced to the end of the Impergium and the laxity of the Changing Breeds. The Simba mean to put things in order, and if that requires bloodshed, so be it. Warfare is the sport of kings” “ Werelions value strength and order. Despite their bloody reputation, Simba adore their loved ones, and watch their Kinolk closely. Children and kittens are raised within the pride and must constantly prove themselves to survive. “ “ Each pride has one Mtolo (“father”), or dominant male, and several Kirii (“wives”) and Anwana (“young hunters”). Small prides defer to larger ones, and may owe allegiance to a Chakuva (“High King”) like Black Tooth. “ So, Simba are very patriarchal, very hierarchal, and want to run everyone else and feel they’re entitled to do so by birthright,  and the more I talk the LESS it sounds like Shaw actually? Like don’t get me wrong, he’s proud and power-hungry AS YOU KNOW, but what sets him apart from Apocalypse or Magneto or Xavier is that Shaw has never sought to have mutantkind follow him. He has his own ideologies, but he has never sought to lead others or enforce it on them. So really, the Simba mentality of “we should be in charge because it’s us” DOESN’T work for him, nor does the idea of being entitled to do so, as Shaw’s “power first” mentality is all about EARNING your position, not deserving it automatically. It’s all very Fabian though! So I’ll leave that here as a bonus for you instead of going back and deleting it lol. yEAH HE’S A BAD KHAN, BASICALLY And his Pyrio, no matter what cat type he is, would be Night.  Each Bastet has a “Pyrio” meaning a classification of their general personality and what fields they’re likely to pursue and be talented in. “Like the Dark Father Cahlash, the favor of the Night indicates a sinister or hidden nature. Most Bastet with this Pryio tend to withdraw from others, concentrating on their own business unless interrupted. Although they might not be actively malignant, they have short tempers and quiet ways, and fiercely guard their privacy. Night Bastet prefer occupations such as assassin, scholar, scientist and dark mystic. In the wilderness, the Night cats are hidden hunters and man-eaters, with nasty dispositions and an eerie reputations. These are the cats whose deeds are told around campfires for years to come. If you’ve got a disposition toward the Night, activities that cause others discomfort, reinforce your private space or protect some valuable secret from outsiders can refresh your Willpower.” So yeah. Shaw is a night kitty.  Rats are not the type that fit him the MOST, but I drew him as a RATKIN WARRIOR anyway. Because rats. Also while I drew him as a Warrior, he could also be an Engineer or a Plague Lord (specifically sylphyllis; every Plague Lord contracts with a disease spirit and embodies its most horrific symptoms and I just love the idea of this hideous terrifying syph-ridden Shaw) And hey, he can get into the “culling humanity” and “survive so that you may breed” deal! Most wererats also have very little kindness towards the weak either, despite being the underdogs of the Fera themselves. Likewise, hyenas aren’t the breed that fit him the most but I kinda dig the idea of him as an Ajaba? Their role was choosers of the slain, tasked with culling the sick, dying, and unfit. They were called rainmakers because of the tears their task brought to others, and they did not spare even their own. Then, the Simba came to their lands, and enacted genocide against them. They left Africa and spread across the globe, now breeding indiscriminately to survive and can be any race. What holds them together now first isn’t any duty, but the desire to simply stay alive. And both those things---culling weakness, and being knocked off his pedestal and now forced to fight for scraps in the shadows to survive---seem fitting for Shaw. The philosophy is obviously what he’s always had, and the degraded position reflects where he currently is in canon. He’s not usually the underdog, but he is here---but doubtlessly a brutal one, the Fera equivalent of a gang leader, recruiting  Also they’re matriarchal and I kinda like the idea of him having to deal with that, as....that kind of fits too? Shaw was the only MAN of note in the Hellfire Club. All the other most iconic, powerful, threatening members were women, and Shaw’s never really had a chance (or tried to fuck with) any of them. He’s USED to being around a ton of badass ladies who are calling the shots, that’s just TUESDAY for him.   Finally---FINALLY-- I could see him as the odd human-born Rokea. A Great White, of course. Again, it was probably his mother who was the Fera, some monstrous creature who came on land and mated with his human father, only to spawn this boy while still out of the water. All Rokea are ugly in their human state, but Shaw looks better than most due to being born on land and as a human, and he is also able to move through---and thrive---in human society. Since he is seen as a Betweener---one of the Rokea who “betrays” the Sea by living on land instead---stepping into what should be his natural habitat is always risky for him, as other Rokea WILL kill Betweeners on sight. And the single-minded nature of sharks leaves little room for explaining oneself.  Oh did I say finally SURPRISE I HAVE ONE MORE. The peaceful, matchmaking, extinct Apis don’t really fit SHAW aT ALL, and they’re EXTINCT, but I love the idea of him turning into a HUGE BLACK BULL. So here’s my explanation. The deal with the Apis is that when their numbers reached the single digits, a last handful of young Apis called Last Hope went into the Deep Umbra and haven’t been seen since. The “hook” in the 20th anniversary Changing Breeds book for their return is that maybe they finally came out the Umbra and back to the physical world. My idea is that he and HAVEN are mebers of Last Hope who have re-emerged in modern times to bring back their kind---something that rests entirely on SHAW’S shoulders, since Haven’s womb was cursed by the Wyrm. So it’s up to him to just breed with as many women and cows as possible. So he’s got an excuse! And as for why he’s so un-Apis, my explanation is that the trauma of their species being wiped out and the time that was allowed to fester in them during their long sleep in the Deep Umbra, drove Haven and Shaw to two extremes of Apis behavior. Haven took on the gentle caretaker side to the extreme, becoming so pacifistic she can’t fight or defend herself. Shaw went the other end, becoming so enraged and resentful that he’s become more like a bloodthirsty predator himself.  Eventually, they both fall to madness after re-emerging, but in the opposite ways that everyone expect. It’s the sweet gentle Haven who ends up Frenzying other of control in a berserker rage, rampaging across the city in massive bovine form, causing untold death and destruction until she’s put down. . . .while the cruel violent Shaw falls to a “cow version of Harano” sinking into a depression so profound he goes catatonic up until Haven’s own loss of sanity, at which point he throws himself on her horn. The story ends with the last of the Apis truly dead, but with a new hope for the species living on in Shaw’s children, who are showing signs of being Kinfolk or Apis themselves.