#theres a LOT to look at as well- from the conflict with her parents to the conflict with zoe

[scatterbrainedbot]

RAT SONS LORE DUMP #1

THE HAMATO FAMILY

okay so im looking at my first few character sheets and theres a little bit of lore/context i want to give just to clarify, specifically about the last generation (of humans) in the Hamato lineage

(long text heavy post ahead!)

so background:

in the 03 version of tmnt The Ancient One (who is not a Hamato) essentially adopts three children: Hamato Yoshi, Yukio Mashimi, Tang Shen (girls dont get surnames i guess??) They seemed to have been explicitly raised as siblings. Still, love triangle trope was hungry ig. Both boys fell in love w Tang Shen and she fell for Yoshi. to which Mashimi said ‘alright bet’ and killed her. i cant even laugh at him for his pathetic Nice Guy “i was nice to you for years and u wont have sex with me???” tantrum cos like. sir, that is ur sister. boy howdy. all of yall need to go meet some other people.

mostly i chalk that whole mess up to the fact that the writing of women in most media in the early 2000s lacking like idk?? any actual characterization?? an ounce of consideration??? not a single braincell?? they were mostly just there to be a means to some plot trope, rather than an actual character in and of themselves — like im amazed april came out as lovely as she did, with her own like life and skills and autonomy (her big sis vibes in 03 are so so nice, and tbh i love her whole character a lot — still lots of misogyny moments in her writing too but im not trying to do an analysis into that rn)

so anywho!!

for the rat sons au, i decided to go ahead and scrap all the incesty undertones (idk, are those undertones? seems p straight up to me?) and completely revamp the origins of The Ancient One, Tang Shen and Yoshi <3 (and Mashimi too ig, but he essentially got cut out entirely. sucks to suck ya entitled lil douche)

Here's the general lowdown

So, the Hamato clan is one of the oldest and well established in all of Japan. The family rose to prominence in the feudal period of Japan’s history, due to their collective skill in the art of ninjutsu, their dedication, stealth, and discretion. Like most ninja, they were assassins available to hire, either for killing or simple sabotage, for politics or personal matters – though no matter the task, a Hamato’s loyalty was always to the head of the Family over their client.

Beyond their reputation as a ninja clan though, the Hamatos also had a reputation for being extremely generous to their community and highly protective of the less fortunate. (think kinda Al Capone vibes, like oh these bitches hella dangerous. but also. will def tip over $100 soooo…) This did lead to occasional conflict of interests during assignments/contracts. Most Hamatos would then seek the advice of the head of the family, and follow their lead, be it to the benefit of their client, or not.

(This also led to several members either abandoning the clan, or being killed by their clients for failed action etc etc)

As time passes and we reach the mid twentieth century or so, there is only one final heir to the Hamato lineage. A young man, named Hamato Sho. Sho spent his youth trying to serve his family and honor their name etc etc etc. But ultimately, this got him caught up in a lot of corrupt powerful nonsense that he eventually walked away from after the death of his friend.

This friend had left behind a young daughter, Tang Shen. Since he knew she had no other family to claim her, Sho took her in, expecting to only be a temporary foster at most. Surprise! this quiet five year old kiddo melted old mans cynical heart to absolute mush. his daughter now bitch.

He only ever adopted the one child, and he adored her sm. and he tried his best to be a good papa. he nurtured her curiosity and engaged in her interests and taught her everything he knew, without ultimatums or concerns about family names. at times he could have probably been considered very lax in his parenting, or far too lenient or undisciplined, but as a kid that grew up suffocated by watching eyes and guiding hands and Destiny capital D, i think that by giving his child room to be her own person and do her own shit (especially in her teenage years) he was in fact showing her a level trust and pride than he never had been given himself. basically he did everything he could to give her the exact opposite childhood he himself had (like rise splints <3)

Because of Sho’s encouragement, Tang Shen grows up to be a very independent soul, whos never met a problem she can jerry-rig, bodily move, or roundhouse kick into being fixed. She also becomes a fucking badass ninja master (and mystic warrior, lol) though mostly all she wants in life is the maintain the quiet little farm her father has started. maybe kiss the cute boy from town who walks her home sometimes (even though he lives the other direction.)

Meanwhile, Yoshi (surname pending) is in fact not a Hamato. Yet, at least. he, however, is that cute boy from town who walks home with Tang Shen most days and has been absolutely smitten with her since like fourth grade lol

(theyre besties for like a decade before they officially start to date. They get together finally after Tang Shens been trying to figure out a good date idea (one that isnt just something they already do) to ask him on for like a month, and Yoshi just leans over and kisses her goodbye super casual one day cos he thought they already had been dating for like. six months. cue her delight and his abject horror (he never wouldve kissed her if he didnt think that was already established as okay. p sure he even like asked her before randomly like, hey is it alright if i kiss u goodbye? and she was like ????? ok??? is this cos of ur european studies class. theyre both very silly) shes gonna tease him so bad about all of this. and tell Sho. Yoshi will never know peace again /affectionate)

Mashimi doesnt make any real appearance in their story i dont think. Like he might be a friend of Yoshi’s in elementary school. probably had a tiny start of a crush on Tang Shen when they were small and tried to take the ‘pull pigtails on the playground’ route of getting her attention. what he got was a kick to the chest and a broken nose. never came near her again after that. (eventually started avoiding Yoshi too since he was with Tang Shen all the time)

All that being said though, im afraid Tang Shen is not fully free of curse of the unwanted suitor. The Hamato name still carries a fair amount of pull, after all, and there are some very dangerous people looking to make some claim to its influence.....

[lowkeiloki]

kung fu panda 4 review - spoiler free

it was solid, not as good as the first three movies, but the og triology set the bar so high even a 'not as good' movie is still a fun watch. The animation is beautiful and you get quite a bunch of awesome action scenes out of it

zhen is a lot more likable when not voiced by awkwafina (croatian dub saved me ✊️) but even that wont save her from her character being pretty bland. ironically the same criticism for her design could be applied for her character as well, not bad, likable enough, just fails to stand out and ive seen it done better a lot of times already

chameleon... oh boy... so much potential, such incredible built up, such luckluster execution... ill talk more abt her in spoiler section, but honestly she was the weakest link of the movie

dont get your hopes up for furious five, they only really exist as a cameo, what you will get is mr ping and li being a very married couple and personally if theres anything worth seeing the movie for its them (still im hoping for at least a short abt the furious five, cmon theyve been non existent since kfp 3)

the pacing was too fast, and there were too many comedic and too little serious moments, glad im not the only one that noticed

ive seen a lot of complaints about tai lung and other past villains not being in the movie enough, but honestly im happy for that bc its not their movie, they all had their own movies to shine and i really feared this movie would rely too much on them to carry the hype and im glad that wasnt the case. PLEASE stop asking film studios to spoonfeed you familiar content

end of spoiler free review, spoilers under cut

the chameleon rant

you know, i believe the kfp movies are heavily carried by their villains. they're the ones that set the tone, bring the stakes, and not only are they a foe for po to defeat but represent his internal conflict (tai lung being self acceptance, shen being overcoming grief and kai being self discovery) so to have the villain be the movie's weakest spot is... not great at all

firsty, the chameleon is the first movie villain in the franchise to not have any beef with any of the main characters (like tai lung had with shifu, lord shen with po and kai with oogway) and that couldve been great, give us a villain that doesnt care about po or anyone else and is just doing their own thing, its something new and an unexplored territory, but then they do nothing with it.

what does she want? to rule the valley of peace? all of china? ok and then what? the city shes already rulling doesnt look like its doing too bad to me. why should i care about her being defeated? yeah shes mean, but where are the STAKES

and how does she reflect po's conflict? because its about accepting change and she's a chameleon? weak, that only connect on paper and only barely. is it how she was never accepted to train kung fu because of her size? that's such a lame motive. really? not a single kung fu place wanted to take you in for your size? in a franchise full of all the different characters of all different shapes and sizes being kung fu masters? yeah ok sure

what i did like about her is how they made her get her way through manipulation and intimidation. she's not strong, she's not a skilled fighter, she's not inherently scary, but she uses smoke and mirrors to intimidate people around her and manipulative tactics to get her henchmen to listen which ties nicely into her shapeshifting abilities, just wish theyve done more with it, show us how she spreads horror stories about herself, show us the influence she has over the townspeople, show us just how manipulative she is of zhen, hell have her be all kind and nice to her in moments to bait her to stay under her wing (yk as abusive parents do)

nothing much more i have to say so spoiler part was rly just abt the chameleon but i needed to rant abt her more in depth bc i had high hopes for her

[cowboycharmac]

(okay reposting bc tumblr autosave deleted a lot of my post </3 rip) on a slightly more depressing note do you ever think about how terrible mac is at taking care of things specifically in a parental context and get so sad because i do. mac as a person isnt inherently bad at taking care of things, he's fairly good at taking care of dennis (although his own insecurities and paranoias do negatively impact the relationship) and from what we see in the show he does the majority of homemaking work in the macden household and is generally pretty good at taking care of their apartment (unless it's on fire). but as soon as he reframes a relationship as a parental one he cant seem to figure it out.

the most obvious example of this is when he and dee take care of D.B/dumpster baby. now, character conflict is pretty par for the course for shows doing the "two characters adopt a baby" trope. however, in most shows ive seen it done, the progression is typically slower and/or more natural, from either a disparity in labour between maternal and paternal figures (often with the paternal figure slowly checking out and doing less and less work), or from one character being shoved into a role they didnt want. "the gang finds a dumpster baby" uses both of these, but what makes it interesting to me is how quickly and deliberately mac incites that conflict.

he seems eager and excited to take care of the baby and volunteers immediately, but as soon as he and dee get home from baby shopping he shoves everything off on her and becomes emotionally distant and angry when she tries to ask for help. this change in attitude is sudden and seemingly brought about by nothing in particular, he hasnt yet experienced anything that might make him realize that taking care of a baby is actually a pretty demanding job that he might not be interested in, and to me, at least, it doesnt read like he's genuinely annoyed at her or rejecting his self imposed paternal role. instead, he's still just play acting at what he thinks fatherhood should look like. he's still trying to give D.B his version of a "biblical" nuclear family, like he says he wants to when he pressures dee into taking on the maternal role, but he's using his own parents as a model for this and deliberately recreating the toxic environment he grew up in because he thinks that's how you're meant to raise a child.

it's also really interesting to me that he chose dee for this. mac and dee don't team up a lot, and when they do, it's typically because everyone else is off doing something else. sure, he's adamant that D.B needs to be raised by a man and a woman, and dee is the only woman in the gang, but he doesn't even consider trying to find D.B a mom outside of the gang.

given how he seems repulsed by dee in both a romantic and sexual context and in a nuclear family the dynamic between the mother and father is typically both, and given their platonic dynamic is strained as it is, this is odd. there are plenty of single women in philadelphia, and there are other women in mac's own life he gets along with a lot better (and who do/would make better mothers), like carmen (who hes on good enough terms with that they engage in a relationship just a bit later in the season).

to me it seems like he chose someone like dee, who he doesn't get along with very well, who has both anger and emotional intimacy issues, and who emphatically rejects motherhood when he thrusts it upon her, not because he thinks she's his only option, but because shes the person he thinks is most likely to behave like his own mother in that position. (little bit of gay mac meta here, it also feels like maybe he chose a woman he had a distinctly platonic dynamic with and who wouldnt expect anything else from him so as to avoid needing to have a sexual or romantic relationship with his female partner in this constructed family)

theres also of course the dynamic between dennis jr, mac, and dennis in mac and dennis move to the suburbs. admittedly this one is a lot less interesting to me because the parallels to his own parents are less intentional on mac's part, however i do have some thoughts about it. here, he takes on the maternal role. dennis, from his own and the audiences perspective, isnt helping "raise" dennis jr at all and isnt really involved here. however, from macs perspective, dennis is taking on a paternal role, not necessarily because of, but also not in spite of the fact that he's away for most of the day, emotionally distant, and doesnt seem to be helping take care of or even interacting with dennis jr on a regular basis.

granted, mac isn't taking care of dennis jr either. despite seeming excited to "raise [the dog] like [his and dennis'] own son", he's despondent and neglectful, much like his own mother, and dennis jr. starves to death. from what we see of his mother on the tape from mac's childhood in "a very sunny christmas", she, like mac, wasn't always dull. although we dont really see her interact with mac and i have no doubt that she was a subpar mother and person for all of mac childhood (she is more than complicit in the robbing of peoples homes in this same episode), she has more normal emotional responses to things like receiving a gift, and she appears to genuinely like luther. i dont think its too much of a stretch to assume that she, like mac, let her emotional issues with an absent or distant partner interfere with her role as a parent. the only difference is that mac, unlike dennis jr, is a human child who is presumably old enough to do the bare minimum to keep himself alive by the time she checks out.

anyways sorry this post kind of got away from me. it just makes me so sad. mac wants to be a parent but he has no real frame of reference for that, he wants so badly to take care of something but he cant help neglecting it because to him it seems normal that parents shouldnt need to take care of their child, that children should have to care of themselves. hes so adamant that his relationship with his parents is normal, healthy, and loving that he'll ruin even a pale mimicry of a family trying to recreate it.

[die-freundin]

14 NOV 1927 (Nr.22/1927)

Eva Petersen, author of a handful of articles for the magazine (you might call her a regular), writes about her conflicted feelings about her girlfriend's newborn child. she doesnt like thinking about her girlfriend having sex with someone else. interesting to me is that she doesnt just not recognize the child as her own at first (a reasonable take for someone who has not given birth to it) but not as her girlfriend's either, because of how incomprehensible it seems to her. she does come around though, accepting the child as theirs. all is well in the Petersen family in the end. love does in fact win on November 14th, 1927!

this short text feels pretty relevant even today, to me. a lot of lesbians still arent exactly able to conceive a child thats theirs by blood on both sides. some couples adopt. either way theres gonna be a parent who has to step up to the task of being a parent without being causally involved in creating the biological mass of the child! my own real-life boss at my day job is a dyke like that, and from what i can tell she seems to be both doing great as a parent and love her kids.

image IDs under the cut:

(ID deutsch: Dein Kind. Lange schon wusste ich von deinem Sehnen nach einem eigenen Kinde, und doch traf mich die Wirklichkeit so hart, dass ein Fremder dir so nah gewesen; ich konnte es nicht vergessen. Eines Tages aber riefst du mich zu dir und dem Kinde, welches ich nicht als dein Kind erkennen wollte. Aus deinem abgezehrten Gesicht leuchteten die Augen in seltsamer Klarheit. Und diese Augen zwangen mich an des Bettchen des kleinen Wesens, dem du das Leben schenktest. Widerwilling beugte ich mich nieder und sah in ein winziges, verschlafenes Gesichtlein. Langsam nur kam ein wenig Licht in die Dunkelheit meines Sinnens, und schwere Tränen fielen auf das Stückchen Leben vor mir. Tränen, die befreiten und erleichterten. Kein Wort unterbrach das lastende Schweigen zwischen uns. Du sahst meinen inneren Kampf, und um deinen Mund grub sich ein bitterer Zug. Da legte ich leise, scheu beinah, deine lieben müden Hände in die meinen und küsste sie in stiller Abbitte und inbrünstiger Liebe. Und dann nahm ich dein Kind - unser Kind - an mein Herz.)

(ID english: Your child. For a long time I'd known about your yearning for a child of your own, yet the realization that a stranger had been so close to you hit me hard; i could not forget it. But one day you called me to see you and the child, which I would not recognize as yours. Your eyes were alight with peculiar clarity in your harrowed face. And it were those eyes that commanded me towards the cradle of the tiny being you had given life to. Reluctantly I bent down and looked upon a tiny, sleepy little face. Light only pierced the dakrness of my thoughts slowly, little by little, and heavy tears fell upon the small bundle of life in front of me. The freeing tears of relief. No word interrupted the heavy silence between us. You saw my inner struggle, and a bitter expression ran across your lips. So I took your dear, tired hands into mine quietly, in a manner almost demure, and kissed them in wordless atonement and full of passionate love. Then I took your child - our child - and cradled it against my heart*.)

*can also refer to taking it into her heart metaphorically, i.e. loving it. my translations sadly cannot account for every single nuance

[gorgojijijijito]

thoughts on daughter of discord?

oh boy do i have thoughts

i only watched the full thing once with a friend so i dont remember all of it, but of what i do remember, 1. rarity was done even dirtier than BOD; 2. they were so mean to rarity's daughter for literally no reason???? she literally didnt do anything and they always called her a spoiled brat or smth??? i feel so bad for her; 3. yes most of my problems have to do with rarity - i hate that shes encouraged to stay with fancypants bc it was changelings making him look like he was cheating on rarity. like yeah girl you should talk to him abt it like an adult but YOU CAN STILL LEAVE HIM FOR BEING A SHITTY DAD TO JEWEL 😭; 4. hey dick cordddd ur still manipulative af; 5. YOURE TELLING ME THERES ONE QUEER RELATIONSHIP IN THE ENTIRE SERIES AND THEY DIDNT EVEN GET TOGETHER??? FOR A SUPER SMALL REASON COMPARED TO WHY OTHERS SHOULDNT BE TOGETHER???????? come on now; 6. get all the baby filler away from me rn why the FUCK did literally ALL of them have to bang except for ONE; 7. fuck outta here applespike

i think thats mostly all of my qualms with it, but other than that i think it was a good watch. it doesnt stay with me as long as BOD did (prob bc i wasnt able to watch all of it as a child) but i think romance-wise, this love story was LEAGUES better than the last one. also i like how it kind of repeats the same moral of the last one, but in a different circumstance that poses new pros and cons.

with BOD, discord was only one person. he was an all-powerful, godly person, but he was still one mind. the changelings in DOD, on the other hand, are an entire nation. this isnt the same "misunderstood outsider" trope that we see with zecora or discord, this is an entire species; one that even themselves believe is physically incapable of loving.

mothball(which is literally the cutest name for a bug-themed character ever) is first in line to lead his species, so you can imagine the expectations and resentment that come with that; he has barely any real support on either side, queen chrysalis being the only adult he can really emotionally rely on. this is what makes his inner conflict so interesting, his empathy constantly at odds with his mother's ideology and his own biological needs.

screwball is also interesting, considering her dad is the lord of chaos and ex-tyrant, and her mom is an element of harmony, kindness incarnate. it's a classic nature/nuture debate kind of plot, but with a twist in that both sides are her nature AND nurture, the only turmulous factor in her life being her environment only percieving the chaotic side; some of it isn’t unfounded either, as she obviously tends to gravitate towards discord more (which is normal, considering most kids tend to have a favorite parent anyway). even if i really dont like the enabling nature of dick cord and how fluttershy is a punching bag again, i find screwball’s concept endearing.

also she and mothball are like, actually adorable. i find it ironic that the canon characters were altered to make an insufferable couple and the basically OCs were the outstanding romance. unlike fluttercord’s REALLY disturbing power dynamic and coercion, screw and moth managed to balance each other out, and (lemme yell it for the ponies in the back) WERE BOTH WILLING TO BE TOGETHER 💥💥💥💥

theres also smth strangely nostalgic about their dynamic. screwball has been the outcast her entire life, her lineage and connection to discord subjecting her to a lot of emotional turmoil. the only reason she has a group of friends is because of her mom’s rank and social circle as well, i dont think she’s had very much room for change or fantasy when her parents were trying to heal the damage the circumstance of their meeting caused for equestria. falling in love with the prince of an enemy nation is cliche and basically copied off of the lion king 2, but i love it in that sense because its probably one of her first instances of living through what seems to be a fairytale. it’s a kind of yearn for teenage rebellion and unpredictability that she’s had to keep trapped within a swamp in the everfree for most of her life, but even though it brings her so much happiness to be with mothball, it also leads her into great danger that her upbringing didn’t prepare her for. she’s scolded for standing up to her bullies and scrutinized for the nature of her character, so what can she do when faced with her very own romeo & juliet tale while entire nations seethe above them?

oh also i love how they incorporated the changelings’ presences in the story before the mane six are aware of their threat, even calling back to mentioned conflicts in BOD. they really use their shapeshifting powers to the most in this installment, and i think the instance that hit me in the gut most is the romantic isolation of twilight. especially with the context that this series was created specifically for shipping; what an insidious thing to keep her from finding love along with her friends to keep her alone as everyone else creates families. i, as an aromantic person, also feel a form of anxiety knowing most of the important people in my life may drift away in the event of marriage and forming roots while i probably wont. so yeah imagine that but with a newly-immortal princess who actually WANTS a romantic relationship, with people who are revealed to be actively keeping one from her - thats gut wrenching for me to think about.

when it comes to the music, i appreciate the effort they put into making original songs, but i also am just. unable to appreciate them bc the changelings voice filter just diesnt translate well to music at aaaaaaallllll. which is a shame bc it stood out so much that i cant remember anything ABOUT the original music. im prob gonna try to see if theres any normal renditions of the ost after i post this but yeah

[windupaidoneus]

walks back in. and the scions too. what's the dynamic what's going on there. walks out

the scions my friendssss :D except it's a little more complicated than that for hilde. ohhh the can of worms.

minfilia is... someone who ultimately he cared about because thancred cares about her. she wasn't unkind to him but like. he spent his whole life doing what he was told by his parents & various superiors. after just coming out of garlemald minfilia was pretty much just another superior who didn't utterly wreck him if he disobeyed or performed too poorly (but the threat was always looming even if he did not realise he even felt threatened at all until years later. yknow how it is with trauma). she was friendly & all! but uhhh. you think arr hilde would get close to his BOSS? i suppose that goes against his closeness w raya-o & a-ruhn as his whm instructors but like. raya-o never really... treated him like a pupil much. it felt more like she was helping him on equal footing. & a-ruhn has the same age gap w hilde that hilde has with nero that thing's a fucking toddler he's not taking shit from a toddler (a-ruhn's animosity was very teenish which was like. impossible for hilde to find even slightly intimidating). with the scions everyone looked to minfilia & it was also a lot more like... organised? neat & tidy? it wasn't like. yeah go out to that random camp in the forest theres a 21 y/o trying to teach you a spell that honestly isnt that cool. it was more The boss has summoned you come to this Building that we Own talk to the Secretary go get your Assignment & your Assignment could get you & many others killed btw! like. i honestly think being with the scions was nottt healthy for hilde at first he went from actively being dehumanised in garlemald to being essentially treated as a living weapon by a well-meaning Group of People who all had connections to each other & hildegarde was the Outsider, the one in the minority, the New Guy. & it wasn't really minfilia's fault. but she did not help his self-perception. & to this day he doesn't really know how to feel about her. they have a connection due to both having the echo but the more rebellious part of him that's resurfaced thanks to (gestures vaguely at shb/post shb/edw/lachesis) like. it feels like he's pushing up against an authority figure that isn't even there anymore when he thinks of her. thinks of all the ways he could've handled situations better. of how her being the authority figure among the scions is also why she ended up becoming hydaelyn's vessel. & she fully accepted & welcomed it, but also like... it does put her on higher footing, doesn't it?

it took him a while to warm up to urianger due to urianger being the way that he is. not much to warm up to for a while. found him amicable but intimidating as a figure who'd often be standing in the back saying... clever things. the warring triad did make him less subconsciously wary of urianger but initially he really felt like one of the "higher ranking scions", so a Superior, &. see above. urianger showing more of himself through being around unukalhai helped hilde see him as his own person rather than just Some Sort Of Authority, & the "betrayal" with the warriors of darkness is what really got him intrigued. obviously don't get to get to know him much more until shb though. & so after everything in the msq they are close friends as fellow Not Fucking Sharing Shit About Their Inner Turmoil guys! urianger was willing to open up with him which meant a Lot but even without that like... i mean hilde isn't stupid he could tell how much it sucked for him back in post hw too. & in shb too. urianger is not good at concealing his emotions when things come to a head. urianger is also one of the scions least likely to judge or admonish hildegarde for his grief & generally very strong emotions that may conflict with what his reason tells him. that is to say his immense compassion for the ascians & all that. how he wishes he could've done something to give elidibus a kinder death, or another chance at life entirely. how he wishes it could've ended differently with emet. it's probably not something he shares until post elpis but like he does share it! i think uri & him tell each other stuff they don't necessarily tell others except for y'shtola bc good fucking luck trying to hide something from y'shtola. also they clown on thancred together so it really gets to hilde when urianger takes thancred's side literally anytime

speaking of THANCRED... man. theyyyy got infatuated pretty quicklyyyy & his tendency to put everything on himself awakened the I Can Fix Him in hilde in arr. looking at the magical knowledge he already had & the fact he was pretty damn good at magitek shit despite not giving a fuckkk abt it solely bc he asked nero endless questions back in the day he was like. if thancred is going to feel responsible for people being tempered i will simply have to find a way to cure tempering so he stops blaming himself. cue the start of one of the most unhealthy relationships he's ever had with a person that didn't wish him ill 🎉 they NEVER got official bc thancred's always everywhere so good luck getting ahold of him long enough to get anything going but also they just didnt talkkk about feelings like thatttt. they spent some time together in post arr during downtime but well. emotionally unavailable thancred & doesnt know how to people hildegarde 🫶 great going chucklenuts. during post hw while hilde was very relieved to see him back there was some friction over thancred getting protective wrt aymeric asking hilde to do stuff like participate in the tourney thing & all that. it was one of those "i don't mind doing this! the scions aren't any different in asking me to do things for them! ... hey wait a minute the scions aren't any different in asking me to do things for them" moments that gave hilde pause. not nearly enough to get anywhere healthy with his views of himself though, just enough to side with aymeric (another thing that could've pushed them closer together... but alas. the msq. well they did get closer but. yeah) late & post stb was a good amount of hilde beefing with thancred over petty things bc he was on edge but not enough Heavy Shit was happening & anyway why are you always gone?? you're impossible to talk to! it's like you don't want to be around me or something! (thancred passes out) Uh Oh (regret) & then well shb. all that shittttt. they finally got closer LIKE TWO NORMAL PEOPLE but well the end of shb kinda. um. hilde was way too broken for. anything LOL! they had a talk about whatever the fuck situationship they had, decided to Not go forth with anything but to actually like, start relying on each other better. & so they do. but there's also animosity bc of ideological differences & thancred being a hater so they have sort of frequent spats... clears throat. they're not always serious but uh. likely thancred will have things to say when he finds out about emet's return. lol. i'll. work that out later XDDDD

papalymo! 🎉 one of the first scions he's met! also an Authority Figure but also he's small & lyse never everrrrr takes him seriously which put hilde at ease. lyse really did a lot to put hilde at ease intentionally or not in retrospect. best friends forever! like i said! anyway hilde misses papalymo & yes he does. kind of. blame himself for papalymo dying. he's got the blessing of light right? that has to mean his aether is like special right?? surely if he stays papalymo's entire aether won't get obliterated!!! papalymo please!! (cut to shb) oh my god his aether is special. oh no he's the monster he always thought himself to be. oh no- this isn't about that. but it is also similar to his thought process whenever he thinks of papalymo. leads to him thinking about all his failings & all the wrong he's done... yeppp. he appreciated papalymo for well. being reliable. for helping lyse too, retroactively. & he is grateful the two of them introduced him to the scions of course (even if again not good for him at all at first)

lyse... eugghfgu. well ive said it already. & yeah she was one of the people who he got on with fastest. not as fast as alphinaud but . yeah

y'shtolaaaaa. can't hide anything from her & at this point he doesn't even try anymore! matter of fact, in post shb he relied a fair bit on her to stay somewhat sane (he was Deeply Not Sane but ignore that) by checking with her how his aether was doing like. everyday. going up to her like do i look weird? is it still gone? is it really over? so on so forth. he trusts her a lot because of just. how much integrity she's always had. she was intimidating at first but out of all the scions i think he ended up adopting values closest to hers. she was always bold & uncompromising with the things that mattered to her, & that was really impressive & admirable to hilde especially considering how noble her beliefs were to him. she's kind of the platonic ideal of a scion in his mind. her not recognising him in shb after he already had concerns about the light absorption really hurt him even if it wasn't malicious or anything, it was more... a concern that she, too, believed him to be a monster - because if she of all people, the one who'd been arguing in favour of the, eh, "beast tribes" from the start, agreed with him then certainly he was done for. that she couldn't tell him from his aether bc of how bad he was corrupted? mannnn. that sucked. he kind of kept a fear of her thinking ill of him for some time afterwards, but ultimately she IS one of the scions he relies on most. rated top 3 scions he likely tells about his plan to give the ascians a chance at an actual normal life. yeappp. doubtless they do a shit ton of research together that would not be sanctioned by sharlayan or whatever other authorities on Knowledge there may ever be 🫶

g'raha voted also top 3 scions hilde tells about the Ascian Rescue Plan (basically what it is innit...). he has an incredibly unique lived experience & is trustworthy in all the right ways for him to be made aware of it. his reverence for hilde did put him off a lot initially but once he got past the awkwardness of being regarded so highly (& once g'raha became less starstruck) they got to become better friends. admittedly going through a bunch of horrific shit together helped, as miserable as it was, but yeah. i'm getting eyes seepy so im probably gonna type shorter now but like. yeah! that's his friend. they talk about concerning things together. they'd die for other people together. raha is also one of the least likely to judge him if he ever did admit to like... genuinely wanting to head to the tempest on his own & let himself transform. one thing about raha is that he's a FREAK! he's got an interesting moral code & we are so lucky he uses his scheming mind for good rather than evil

ESTINIEN MY MAN!!!!!! very good friends with hilde. the era of heavensward conflict is long gone! they are just hanging out. i think they travel together more than the game shows, even if they don't necessarily stick around each other. they just both travel a bunch so on occasion they make the trip together. estinien is so incredibly chill & non judgemental bc he's super straightforward & doesn't really bother with like... the nerd shit the other scions give a shit about. & it's a presence hilde really needs sometimes! so there's stuff that probably no one else has heard about that estinien knows about hilde because he just Does Not Gaf Like That. very nice safety net to have emotionally. hilde's headmates also really like him & while hilde is usually fronting if the convo even slightly appeals to another headmate they get dragged into front instantly. & well it doesn't really weird estinien out. have i mentioned estinien is a system to me. anyway yeah they're. yeah!! pals! hanging out!!! trust in each other! woo!

krileeeeeeeee ohhhh krile. hilde cares a lot about krile. surely he would've had a similar relationship with minfilia if she hadn't been. y'know. the antecedent. there's kinship there bc of the echo even if it manifests differently. they don't really share a lot with each other generally but they don't, need to? krile doesn't have the same amount of baggage as everyone else & seems to be coping pretty well with shit all things considered. they do hang out every so often to get food or just go sightseeing though. dragging krile from her office job of restoring the students of baldesion to go hiking in coerthas

tataru, alphinaud & alisaie are undeniably the most important scions to hilde. how could they not be!!

tataru is always there for him. she doesn't know all that happens, he certainly does not tell her jack nor shit, but she's always doing the most to help her fellow scions & was also one of the most welcoming members when he first joined. & with the whole heavensward shit... yeah. going somewhere without tataru to cheer him on from the sides feels wrong. maybe that's why shb went so badly. joking but. yeah lmao. there's shared experiences they have (with alphinaud too) that formed a really unique & important bond to him, & he will always take time out of his schedule to check up on her if he can. she's been there for him from the start & he will always return it to the best of his ability.

from the very beginning alphinaud & alisaie were set apart from the rest of the scions. they came to eorzea on the same carriage as he (& also they're 16 so def not intimidating or authority in any way lmao), & therefore while he felt like an outsider with the scions it was always different with them. alphinaud was certainly vainglorious but he was also a young, naive teen with big dreams, & when everyone was captured it was just him & alphinaud for a time. & then again in heavensward. life wanted for them to spend a lot of time relying on each other, which forged a strong bond. hildegarde would not hesitate even a second to lay down his life for alphinaud, & the same goes for tataru & alisaie - though he only got to bond with alisaie properly later he was always concerned for her when she wasn't around. she was a 16 y/o going around doing dangerous stuff on her own! when thancred brought her back unconscious it became an automatic "yeah sure i'll fucking die for her too who gives a shit not me that's for sure". getting to spend more time with her in stb & post stb cemented their friendship & the kind of... mentor, sort of parental vibe hilde has for the twins? & then shb obviously. he ran to find alisaie first. how could he not, with how distressed she'd been at their parting? yeah. yeahhh. hilde loves the twins. they're like his kids. they're not gonna like the stepfather (joking. we know they don't hate emet)

so um. yeah! quick shoutout to the others like riol coultenet hoary boulder & ofc our departed legends moenbryda & ysayle. they COUNT!! TO ME!!!!! & I LOVE THEM & hilde misses them. hilde thinks riol is like cooler thancred, jokingly

also another shoutout to ryne she's another daughter to hilde & she ALSO COUNTS. would've stolen him from thancred if he hadn't been the father who stepped up 10/10

[tea-and-formaldehyde]

I need some real help right now with my mind... family... things...

Okay. So here's the deal with me. -In my family, there's constant fighting. Lots of it. There's never a day without some petty argument that turns into full blown fights. It makes me receed into my room, staying there because I'm scared I'll trigger a huge fight. I'm scared I'll get yelled at for standing there. I try to hide myself at home the best I can. I can't handle bad conflict. At least not well.

-My brother's abuse or 'love' towards our dog (I think he may end up being a zoophile with the way he views/treats her)

-I'm fine with people that AREN'T my family making physical contact with me. If it's ESPECIALLY my Mum, I hate it. I don't know why. I've never been physically or sexually abused by anyone. Emotional on the other hand? Oh, there's plenty.

-I don't hate my family! We have really good experiences with each other sometimes! It just always concludes in a fight!

-My dad will sometimes yell at me to shut me up. Because he can't handle me trying to resolve problems with my input. One time, we were lost and I had a really good idea to get us to where we needed to be, and when I tried, he yelled at me saying he didn't want my input/help because I'd only get us more lost. He also has really really hard expectations for me.

-My Mum makes me really....uncomfortable. Though I'm not sure she's aware... or maybe she is, I don't know. She's saying she's 'my number one fan', demanding to touch me when I say I don't want to, saying I have physical bits of me inside of her which I really hate, staring at me for long periods of time which I also hate... and yet she's always commenting on things I do, my appearances, my choices... she's sometimes wanting to look to me for help with herself. She says that she'll do whatever i want, whenever I want. That she'll let me do anything. Consistent attempts at guilt tripping and stuff, which I've tried to stop... I understand why, but...

-The place I love the most, the place where my heart is supposed to be, my home, is definitely NOT where I live. I feel like I haven't even found it yet. The best experiences I've had are always ones away from home. With others. Where I can be with my friends or alone where I can be myself.

-My mum is saying she supports me with whatever I do, yet she hates the fact that I'm trans. And she gets even worse when I'm not hypermasculine. She's for some reason okay with me being nonbinary, presumably because she can make me feel like a girl or hyperfeminine that way, being neutral. But when I say I want to be referred to as a boy, especially a non-hypermasculine one, she HATES IT. She is saying that I'm mentally ill and insane, and that I need to go to *retches* CONVERSION THERAPY

-I seek support in people who AREN'T my family.

-I sometimes break when I'm at my comfort places, saying that I refuse to go home

-I isolate myself a ton on the time because of how uncomfortable life at home is. Yet, I love being around friends + comfort people

-I often form parasocial relationships with people I don't know/wish to know, specifically parental ones

-I can't connect with my family. They don't show interest in my true passions so I don't share a lot with them.

-I'm huge with self blaming.

Theres for sure other things but I cant think rn and im tired

[wing-dingy]

for the oc ask meme; microscope for isamu, compass for bao, and shooting star for ying yue!! but feel free to do any of these for others too if you want<3

🥺thank you for care my ocs again its only you hjbgj

microscope: zoom in – describe the little, insignificant details about an OC.

I'm gonna assume this means like. physical details. so lets go.

Isamu's got freckles scattered along, most prominently on his face and shoulders but they do start to trail off down his arms and chest and scatter on his thighs. He's littered in scars from various injuries on his adventures, all varying in shapes and sizes, you can tell what's a silly lil accident, what's from a trap, and what was an animal. Eye bags of course, with some under eye wrinkles, it's gonna be where most of his wrinkles are. His eyes are more lidded, which tends to make him look constantly tired and well he kinda is. His eyes are a dark brown, closer to a duller, cooler tone. Muscles and muscles lines like abs tend to show up easily but theres a good reason it's because he tends to go without eating or drinking, too caught up in exploring (not much to eat or drink out there anyway). Doesn't smile a lot, that's just how he is, he's not very expressive with his face, but when he's happen you'll notice his eyes tends to open up a little more and his features soften, like his jaws brows and wrinkles.

compass: who’s the moral compass? in general: what are your OCs’ morality like? do they have high morals, or not? are their morals self imposed, or do they base their morals on religion/family/influence of others?

Despite her parent's shaky and questionable morals, I think Bao would have decently high morals, especially since she wants to be an Earthrealm defender. That's her home, after all. And if she's gonna be caught in the middle, she's gonna be on the side that protects her home. Her morals would probably come from television and books she consumed growing up, you know all those shows with their life lessons for kids and such, and as well some morals would be influenced by Bo Rai Cho and the storm brothers, since they inspired her to be a defender in the first place and they kind of guide and train her. Overall, she's a kind soul that would want to help however she can, so she kinda conflicts with her parents, but that's okay it's not like they fight or argue, its just small stuff like just wonder why Bao would say for example want to help a random person she doesn't know, because its her morals to care and want to help but it's not part of their morals because they don't really care lmao

Her parents probably wouldn't push their own morals onto her, since they want her to grow up with the freedom to make her own choices, morals, and ethics. Isamu doesn't really know morals anyway so he can't influence hers too well LMAO

shooting star: if your OC(s) could have one wish what would it be?

If Ying Yue could have one wish, it would be to have her body back and a second chance at life, even if just for one day. So she can be fashionable again even tho her clothes are missing, get to physically engage with the people she likes, get to taste foods again. She misses the simple mortal pleasures of being alive.

But if that's too much to wish for, she'd at least wish to be able to have her wardrobe back. All of those nice clothes went missing after her death.

[rowrowronnie]

coming in to say that i very much enjoyed the first episode of ms marvel, love the personality and style of the show, the vfx artists went crazy!! excited to see more, hoping it lands on its feet by the end!

[zabadi]

YAY YOU SAW THE MOVIE OF ALL TIME i need to hear more of your thoughts about eeaao if you're willing to share because. i feel like it's a movie that just like profoundly spoke to me about particular philosophies i have and i see that you also resonated with it

oh man ive had a long day and im still kinda reeling from it to be honest but god such a wonderful movie. its an almost perfect specimen of genre fiction and more broadly metaphor as a storytelling device bc the whole point of genre fiction (to me anyway) is that it uses these fantastical or otherworldly conflicts as metaphors for the most everyday human emotional conflicts. it catastrophizes things as commonplace and simple as a child's wish for their parent's love into a fractured consciousness spanning the infinite universe or a black hole that ruptures the fabric of reality. and even though we as the viewers dont understand what it would be like to deal with a conflict on that scale, the emotions being dealt with through the metaphor of the multiverse are so real and so recognizable that the conflict becomes real and recognizable as well. yeah it's an infinite web of real concrete universes with infinite possible alternate selves but really it's the fundamental diasporic question of What if I never left home? yeah it's a black hole that ruptures the fabric of reality created by a being of godlike power but really it's just a young woman tired of the world and her lot in life contemplating suicide. perfect use of metaphor! literally perfect!

And god the CIRCLES! the CIRCLES. the unending turmoil of a human life. you're never going to get back where you were as a kid but that kid will always exist. life is meaningless and therefore not worth living. also, life is meaningless and therefore worth living. thats something i really loved abt this movie was that like. Materially not much changes aside from evelyn's consciousness fracturing like joy's yk? there's no big sci fi resolution where they return to their home universes and live happily ever after. the circle doesnt break because there's not really a way to opt out of the craziness of your life. you're always going to be thinking about where you were and what you did and what you could've done and no matter how hard you try you're going to make decisions w consequences that you're going to struggle to live with. What matters isnt breaking the circle But there's always a different way to see things. theres the bagel, darkness enclosing light, and theres the googly eyes, darkness at the center of light. i see the good side not because im naive but bc how can i live otherwise? the laundromat represents both the endless tedium of their lives and a haven of comfort and love. Lauryn hill was so right when she said everything is everything

and on a level joy knows that from the very beginning! like she's overwhelmed and depressed and despairing that anything could ever get better bc life is meaningless. but when u look at the performance involved with her shenanigans..like the dancing the makeup the costumes! on a level she knows the meaning of life is just what you make it bc she wouldnt have constructed this elaborate theater around the bagel if she didnt get some kind of pleasure or satisfaction from it. it's fun! it's meaningless but she gets something from it! and of course that's not enough she needs the love and support from the people she loves to actually pull her back from the brink but i just love that from the very beginning she's so desperately human even with this insane godlike power she's just looking for something that makes her want to live

like it's an incredibly overwhelming and busy movie but with everything going on it has such a simple profound center to it which is just. Choose love! choose TO love. choose to be forgiving and kind. Bc love and faith are what give life meaning but they are also things that take immense strength to maintain. life doesnt just have a meaning hidden at its heart waiting for you to find. it takes effort and strength to continue to have that love and faith that make life worth living but literally what else can a person do? how else can a person live? Love must be made anew like bread etc.

and it doesnt feel preachy either! it's easy for such a simple message to come off as an out of touch platitude but the dialogue and the story and the acting and the chemistry btwn the characters makes it all so heartfelt! it's lighthearted without making a joke out of itself! the characters are so human and care for each other so much that when the core of the movie becomes clear it feels so so earnest and genuine it actually settles into you it makes it so easy to empathize with and internalize. in my experience its really hard to share simple but essential truth like "be kind" without seeming preachy or shallow bc its the kind of thing that no matter how many times you hear it only really hits you when you are able to internalize it. and this movie just does a beautiful earnest job of it

im gonna stop bc im too tired to make sense anymore lmfao but this is the first time in years ive watched a movie and it jumped to my top 5 within the first hour. excellent excellent movie i am going to think abt it for the rest of my life

[insinirate]

WHO NEEDS SLEEP so like anyway yeah hes been caught by pico and theres a little struggle but pcnj's always been weak to pico so when pico is like "hey cool it, just come with me for a sec", pcnj is like "finally!! he'll end my miserable existence" and pico drags him... to a nice looking place, and pcnj gets Nervous because hey, this looks like a residential area, not a secondary location to kill mofos, and pico opens the door to a couple of voices who happily greet him, and pcnj is just like "oh no" and sorta blanks out and hides behind pico because this is quickly going to become Awkward 2.0 as pico explains "hey this homeless guy is my ex, and i wanted to return the favor to him since he took care of me when i was homeless for a while, so you guys wont be upset if he uses the shower and eats a bit right?" and beef and geef are on HIGH ALERT because this strange homeless man is pico's ex and WHAT IF HE TRIES TO GET PICO BACK so they're not the nicest to him, but pcnj just takes it because he wants to Get Out as soon as he can. so at pico's behest, he quickly cleans himself and tries to leave, but pico is like "hey man have a meal first" and pcnj is like "goddammit" because his dumb feelings for pico never left, and pico himself may or may not have lingering feelings as well, so its awkwardly tense in a way exes tend to be, but pico is still being nice, slips on a smile here and there, an encouraging hand squeeze every once in a while, and pcnj is mad blushing. he cant help it!! hes still stupid in love with pico, but then he sees pico kiss beef and geef, and he looks so happy with them, so content and relaxed and melty with them, and pcnj's little heart shatters some more. beef tries to rub it in pcnj's face that PICO chose them and not him, but geef is a little more hesitant. pcnj's made no moves towards pico, and instead looks more like he wants to get away from it all. he looks like a sad kitten in the rain, and she feels a little bad for him because its obvious that he still LIKES pico, but hes doing nothing about it. pico tells bf to cool it, but pcnj uses bf as an excuse to go "nono hes right, i mean, im pretty much the whole reason you got exposed right?" and the trio go silent as the words sink in, and pico stands up like "pcnj cmon that's not what happened-" but pcnj wont hear it, hes spent an entire year or so wallowing in guilt and now that's all he'll ever know, so he tells pico that hes happy that pico found people who love him, and that he hopes theyll treat and protect him a lot better than pcnj could ever do, and absconds from their place as fast as his twinky legs can carry him before pico can lunge for him again. pico's got confusing feelings, bf is a little conflicted (but not by much), and gf feels a little bad for pcnj. pcnj himself is resigned to just stay brokenhearted and homeless until he fades away somewhere where no one can find him, tired of the limelight and hoping no one ever recognizes him again

...unless? i have a bandaid to slap onto this whole situation. of course, pcnj STILL wont end up with pico, he lost boyfriend rights forever, BUT he can at least have a shitty apartment again if you're interested in this shitty bandaid i have for sale

im running outta time i'll just pitch this bandaid and you decide to keep it or not. geef goes outta her way to find pcnj because she feels bad and shes a sweet gal, she can see that pcnj means... SOMETHING to pico, she likes her chew toy to be happy, so since pcnj is homeless, the least she can do is... offer him a job? but in what? the best thing she can come up with is "social media rep for her parents" because the imps are doing a poor job managing her parents' social medias, and humans are good at social media right? right! so she finds pcnj, drags him against his will to see her father, pitches her offer to her daddykins ("please daddy please please please hire him 🥺") and dd is leery of this greasy man and hes like "how experienced are you" and pcnj's like "well im a disgraced, cancelled twitch streamer who got doxxed by nosy fans who wouldn't stay out of my business, but before that i managed my social media well enough that i had millions of fans i interacted with often enough that people knew of me in the gaming sphere" and dd is like "well that's more than the imps so i'll give you a week to try the gig out" and pcnj, who expected to be turned down, goes "you're kidding" and gf is happy for him!! now pico's other ex has a job that she helped with!! pico will be so proud of her :) but pcnj is like "no dont tell him, i might not even keep this job if i do bad" and shes like "then dont do bad? but okay :(" and pcnj ends up wandering back to the dearests everyday for a week to show off his skills, and hes surprisingly good at maintaining and managing both dd AND mm's social med platforms, so he keeps the job and gets his first paycheck which makes gf proud :) but then he accidentally runs into pico AGAIN for Awkward Exes Reunion 3.0 at the dearests, pcnj leaving a meeting with dd and pico about to enter a meeting with dd, and they both kinda stare bewildered to even SEE one another in this godforsaken mansion, and pico grabs him before pcnj can scramble away again, and tells him to just. wait, okay? they need to have a real talk for once. and pcnj, a sucker for pico always, agrees and waits for him to finish his meeting with dd. they end up having a little talk, pico telling pcnj to stop blaming himself for something he couldnt control and pcnj reminding pico that he broke up with pcnj for a reason, and pcnj himself is already disappointed and ashamed that he couldnt do the bare minimum, which was keep pico's identity safe. pico admits he did run away because he thought it was his best bet, but now thanks to gf, dd played a hand in keeping pico's identity again through demon shenanigans, so hes safe now and it's okay and could pcnj please stop avoiding him. pcnj goes "no 💜" and says that it's better that they dont see each other often, especially since pico is dating to other people, one pcnj is okay with and the other pcnj wishes would shut the hell up. pico relents but asks if they can still be friends, and pcnj agrees reluctantly before getting surprised hugged by pico, and it really hits them then just how much they missed the other

they part ways and pcnj determines to stay distant from pico regardless, and settles into renting a shitty, small apartment and works with a decent laptop that can play maybe a game or two. he never returns to streaming and keeps his identity more or less on the down low so people dont randomly recognize him. pcnj ends up doing the "i'll love you from afar and admire your smiles in secret" thing with pico, keeping his distance so that pico will never notice him, but catching enough passing glimpses that he can still love him from a mile away

[inkdemonapologist]

How does everyone act when sick?

oh THATS a fun question!!! Answering for the Escape!AU cast below the cut b/c theres like 9 of them:

Allison and Tom are both pretty reasonable. They let the others know, lean on each other and keep to themselves no matter which one got sick. Allison says she doesn’t want to give it to anyone else; Tom also says this but it seems like maybe he just wanted to be left alone while he’s not feeling great. Also if one of them gets sick the other will guaranteed catch it after. If they’re both sick simultaneously, Tom insists on being the one who will Do Things Anyway. Allison obviously doesn’t cook for everyone when under the weather but she’s sure the others can handle it!!

Wally moans about how miserable he is CONSTANTLY and probably goes into more detail than needed about his symptoms, but still does his chores and any work he has to do, and if the plumbing dares break he still fixes it, the whole time swearing that if ONE more thing happens he’s going straight back to bed. Everyone wishes he’d stayed in bed instead. 

Norman gets scarce; he lets a couple of people know what’s up if there’s chores or outings he was expected to do so they can cover for him -- Alice, Susie, and Tom are the most likely to get a heads up if he needs help with something -- but he mostly keeps to himself. Which is… impressive, since he doesn’t have his own bedroom so like??? Where did you even go, Norman????

Buddy gets immediately parented by literally every member of the escape house. He appreciates the thought but is frustrated about being so aggressively encouraged to sit back and do nothing but rest when he can still help a little. Left to his own devices, Buddy would take it easy but still try to step in if he’s needed. 

Jack doesn’t want to be doted on and makes light of how sick he is, though he doesn’t hide it and reacts warmly and gratefully to anyone looking out for him anyway. Sammy frets over him and everyone gets vibes that this is Sammy’s job and they need to not barge in. Any offers to help go through Sammy first. 

Sammy is a nuisance who will hide the fact that he’s sick, holing up in his room and making aggressive excuses/ being generally irritable in order to get out of his chores. Jack, as his roommate, can figure it out and run interference, and any offers to help end up going through Jack. You won’t get a “thank you” from Sammy but he might try to do you a favour later.

Henry’s willing to take a sick day and let the others handle general chores and outings for him when genuinely ill (he appreciates it a lot), but if he feels needed as a peacekeeper he’d immediately get involved anyway, and isn’t able to let go of his duty to keep the house running smoothly. After one round of this, “Henry’s sick” becomes a warning in the house to drop a conflict and deal with it another time. If nothing else, the escapees can agree they don’t want to keep Henry from recovering. 

Susie is a bit of a drama queen about it and fully expects the others to look after her. When they do, it genuinely means a lot to her. Alice hates this, and will tend to give orders if she actually needs help, and do things herself if she’s only miserable. Because of this, Alice tends to be out more than Susie when they’re sick… eventually, Susie also appreciates Alice as being one of the people looking out for her when she doesn’t feel well. 

[bloodbenderz]

Can I ask what your season 1 Lok reboot looks like?

this is about 3k words i checked lmfao dont say i didnt warn u

a key part of the whole thing is that korra gets way more perspectives and more experiences representative of like, normal people in republic city bc i think something that really defined what a good avatar aang was was how many people he met and got to know and how he didnt exclusively or even mostly associate w cops and bureaucrats and leaders. so mako and bolin. well first of all their backstories are a little more fleshed out and we get a less black and white view of the “triads” (lol) and mako and bolin’s experiences w them. cuz the show very much does the whole thing of like Criminals Bad but dont worry even tho mako and bolin did commit crimes theyre not Criminals!! so just a little more nuance on the alleged gang problem and the poverty in the city

korra does start out very naive w very black and white ideas (ex. “you guys are CRIMINALS?”) i think a really good way of developing her away from her sheltered naive worldview is putting her in whats clearly an incredibly complicated city w an absolute cesspool of political conflicts, ethnic tensions, the lasting effects of colonization, etc and having her try and understand the needs of “the people” in a more complicated way than “i have to save the good guys from the bad guys” ykwim? and i think the absolute WORST way to do that is what they did. bc we get mako and bolin who could contribute genuinely compelling thematic elements to the story: one parent who was indigenous and one who was from a colonizer background in the decades directly following the end of the war, kids who grew up in poverty apparently without any familial support, and who now are trying to be “respectable” members of society (especially mako). and then most of that is pretty much tossed aside bc asami swoops in w her capitalist dad and her piles of money and the class issue is just never talked about again.

so the way i’d fix all that is like. introducing more, like, normal people. some nonbenders, more workers, more immigrants, etc, to show what daily life is actually like for people. because. we dont know! we dont have any context about whether the nonbender oppression thing is actually an issue bc we dont KNOW any nonbenders with normal lives! and spoiler: the nonbender oppression thing is not an issue. bc it doesnt make historical sense. lok is set 7 decades after the end of the war. that is not by ANY stretch of the imagination long enough to heal from the scars of imperialism, ESPECIALLY not when lok is also set in a settler colonial state. like that fact should have featured PROMINENTLY in the political and social setting! realistically, nonbenders arent an oppressed class, earth and water nation people are, regardless of bending status! as in all settler colonial states, the colonizers and their descendants (in this case fire nation people) retain most of the financial and political capital, leaving the colonized and racialized immigrants (in this case earth kingdom and water tribe people respectively) generally impoverished and politically suppressed. like aside from the fact that theres no way toph would have become a cop, it’s so ridiculous to think that an established privileged class of fire nation colonizers would EVER accept being policed by earthbenders!

imagine how much more nuanced and interesting it would be to set republic city as a remnant of a colonial past still fraught w the violence and tension that colonialism and the associated ideology imposed?? instead of some vague ideas of criminal who wear 1920s outfits and harass shopkeepers think about why extralegal and violent groups like that might form! earth kingdom people trying to push for the reclamation of their land? ethnic groups protecting themselves against corrupt cops? ESPECIALLY w the history that the fire nation has of SPECIFICALLY jailing and killing earthbenders and waterbenders BECAUSE of the potential they have to resist against fire nation imperialism like it just makes no sense at all that earthbenders would be privileged on land that, 70 years ago, they would have been imprisoned on! like these various paramilitary groups falling along these different ideological or ethnic lines, fire nation or earth kingdom or water tribe, pro colonization or anti colonization, pro cop or anti cop, pro immigrant or anti immigrant, and then you juxtapose that w depictions of a govt thats failing to keep this all under control w tenzin trying desperately to keep it together despite the fact that it’s becoming increasingly obvious that the state has no interest in taking the conflicts seriously and would rather just point vague fingers at criminals and gangs? and THEN you bring in korra, who has no idea about any of this and thinks that all its gonna take is kicking some ass every couple days, meeting normal people who offer all kinds of different opinions abt the efficacy of the state and the different violent or nonviolent groups and ideologies clashing in the city and the way all this shit is affecting people’s lives and livelihoods and relationships w other citizens??

theres so much good shit there so many incredible things u could do w that like Where do we go after colonial atrocities? is it possible for a settler colonial state to take revolutionary or indigenous ideas seriously? is liberal reform enough in a state like this? and then all the growth that korra could do going from a simple black and white life about mastering the elements to this messy complicated sociopolitical knot of a city? and all the different kinds of characters u could introduce in this city? like why would u EVER think that the most interesting characters that this story has to offer is a police chief a congressman and a billionaire????

but anyways. that’s what the Setting of my idealized version of lok is. as for the actual plot, it is as follows

it starts out similarly as the show. republic city is MUCH more fraught w political tension and violence and korra knows this but assumes that it’s just a matter of throwing a few gang leaders and corrupt officials in jail. tenzin manages to come see them in the south pole and intends give korra real lessons while he’s there but they receive news of a terrorist attack in republic city only a few days after he gets there so his family has to pack up and leave again.

korra stows away to republic city (katara catches her leaving and gives her blessing im a SUCKER for that moment). she does have a hard time adjusting but she doesn’t do what she did in the show lol the first person she meets in the city is this older woman who works on the docks, directs her to a place where she can eat and gives her a roof to sleep under for the first night. so korra’s first exposure to republic city is just about forming connections w ordinary people like ship workers and a family owned restaurant and people practicing their bending in the park. and by the time she reaches air temple island a day or so later her head is spinning w all this new information and the way that nothing is really what she expected it to be. tenzin gives her his own perspective on everything and pema gives her her own perspective on everything and even those two seem wildly different from all the people she’s already met. and so korra starts to get a kind of outline of the conflicts plaguing the city as extremely complex and a lot more influenced by older ideas of fire nation imperialism and earth kingdom land reclamation than she had any idea about.

mako and bolin are still pro benders but not like. super famous like they are in the show. korra’s picked up a couple friends by now and one of them takes her to a gym where a lot of amateur pro bending (is that an oxymoron? lol) matches happen and thats how she meets mako and bolin and joins their pro bending team. Unfortunately for korra, this gym is run by lin beifong, and also has the distinction of being one of the most notoriously anti settler state organizations in the country. lin beifong is NOT a cop but she runs this gym (and the pro bending league) as a way to offer support to local earth kingdom/water tribe youth, teach self defense skills, a center of community organizing, and sometimes to act as a front to hide revolutionary/combat organizing against the pro fire nation paramilitaries/police force. tenzin is DISTRAUGHT that korra does this and this is where the friction btwn them comes from bc (from tenzin’s perspective) she does things like this without thinking or even fully understanding the context behind them and tenzin will have to deal w the political fallout of the avatar openly aligning herself w a very divisive figure in the community and (from korra’s perspective) tenzin is too unwilling to take sides in a conflict that’s claiming lives and when the state is clearly not taking sufficient steps to protect people well then why the hell shouldnt she align herself w lin beifong, who IS taking steps to protect and support people?

as korra more fully integrates herself into the city and learns more abt how different people think abt everything going on this is where the real exposition abt the equalists begins. they’re a paramilitary group w an ideology thats gaining increasing support among middle/upper class fire nation people, esp nonbenders. on the face theyre abt putting checks on “bender oppression” but really it’s an excuse to persecute and surveil earthbenders waterbenders and airbenders, bc fire nation people have all this leftover fear about benders who arent fire nation Rising Up Against them and these people who r using their Savage Excuse for Bending to terrorize good innocent (fire nation) people. theres all too frequent terrorist attacks that the equalists claim credit for mostly against monuments to earth/water/air nation people and earth/water nation community centers (one like it was the event that forced tenzin back to republic city) but also like the govt doesnt take a lot of these seriously or if they do only a couple people are charged without doing damage to the entire organization

this is also around the time that they meet asami and she becomes part of their friend group. asami likes pro bending but her dad HATES it so she sneaks out to watch matches at lin beifong’s gym (korra says ironically like don’t u know how ~divisive~ that is and asami answers that the only reason its Not divisive is that gyms like beifongs are the only place where nobody recognizes her). and asami alongside korra is also kind of developing a more nuanced perspective on the city that she lives in cuz obviously the only worldview she’s ever been exposed to is her father’s right? and she keeps pushing it off making excuses not to bring mako and bolin and korra around to her house or even not to be seen w them in certain neighborhoods until they call her on it and she’s like Well honestly my dad might do something awful to u! and i dont wanna risk it!

and as time goes on we see more abt asami’s home life like her father’s hyper conservative politics and asami keeps these secrets abt her hobbies and her friends from him but she’s still clearly under his influence and mako bolin and korra r getting increasingly worried abt it cuz like...asami seems to tend to make excuses for him so that she wont have to be drawn into conflict and originally they think its just her being privileged and thats def part of it but the more they find out abt it the more they realize what a tight fucking grip he has on her and the way that like. asami sneaking out once or twice a week is the Only thing she does for herself. and it really starts freaking them out how influential this billionaire is and all the information theyre getting from asami abt what a piece of shit he clearly is. and so that whole plot thing comes about and shows us how deeply embedded these “equalist” ideas are in conservative republic city politics and how much influence theyre actually having in policy making and law enforcement.

asami suffers in the aftermath of this like being forced to truly confront the harm her father is doing both to the city and to herself. and she ends up leaving home when this discovery really breaks. but bc of the deep corruption in govt and police sato isn’t really....dealt with? like this big story breaks and everyones like Oh, My God! Hiroshi Sato Is Funding An Illegal Paramilitary Group! and theres all kinds of inane political discourse about it and he’s arrested but he bails himself out immediately and his finances are examined but he maintains control over them and after a few weeks the gang (bc they Have become close among all this w much less interpersonal drama lol) has to admit that this news story hasnt done what they thought it was going to it hasn’t dealt the equalists a real hit its just given them a very high profile ally

and this is when things really start to ramp up in terms of action like up until now korra’s daily activities are mostly like hanging around in the city w her friends  (which in part entails doing little avatar stuff that people dont feel comfortable going to police with, like Can you help me my ex husband wont pay child support or Please help i got robbed and i really needed that money for rent next month or Help my son keeps skipping school can you talk to him cuz im worried abt him being safe and doing well in school) and pro bending and airbending lessons (which i know ive neglected this part of the story in terms of her whole spiritual/physical conflict but it’s more of a subtle thing like it’s one of tenzin and korra’s more frequent arguments like tenzin says she needs to focus on spirituality and korra asks why she even needs to bc republic city is a sociopolitical problem not a spiritual one) but now the equalist threat seems to really be looming on every level of society like the storyline of equalists preventing pro bending matches happens here and everyones just at a total loss of what to do next. plus increasing and scary rhetoric about tenzin and his family that destroying the last airbenders is necessary to preserving the integrity of the united republic

and so theres the equalist takeover of the city. the people who are mostly resisting this are lin and ragtag group of people who have been resisting colonial rule for a long time (including suyin, who is part of a communist anti colonial community outside the city, because i said so and i think it would be fun), people who have been visiting her gym for years, members of her amateur pro bending league, plus asami and korra and tenzin. korra and tenzin have a sweet moment (bc they do genuinely care abt each other a lot even if their relationship has been marked w a lot of tension and arguing) where tenzin says like you know i think that ive lost focus on the kind of spirituality that might actually help you. korra says what do you mean? and tenzin kind of gestures to where theyre sitting with people buzzing around organizing to take care of innocents and civilians and to fight the equalists and he says this is a kind of spiritual too, isnt it?

and something something plot plot blah blah i havent decided on the details of the plot climax yet but that’s the climax of korra’s character development and what helps her connect w her spiritual side in order to protect the city: the realization that community is its own kind of spirituality. and it kind of represents the real development that i want her to have going from somebody who thinks that the world is divided into criminals and victims and she has to save the victims Into the kind of avatar who understands the people that she’s bound to serve. she becomes an avatar of the people!

and then happy ending lol korra and asami get together lin and tenzin reconcile after years of being at odds the show ends on a hopeful note that the inhabitants of republic city and the united republic as a whole Can move on from the scars of colonialism by reckoning w the remnants of fire nation colonial ideology and reparations to the earth kingdom people whose land this is and destruction of colonial systems that have maintained and enforced colonial violence all these years

[residentquirksupport]

Confliction on Several Points

Please excuse my shitty shitty writing, I have no idea what the fuck I’m doing.

—

“Back again, Miss? You know you could say no, right?” Michiko pauses, before shrugging. She’s heard the story again and again, to the point she stopped caring.

“Probably the best, ain’t it, Ren?” She spoke quietly,”But I don’t have much to lose.”

Ren frowns, tilting his head,”I reckon you have lots to lose, Miss.” Nonetheless, he lets her in.

Tartarus was one of those places she shouldn’t be all too familiar with, but unfortunately, that was exactly what she was with this place. She’s been coming here since she was 7, after all, and it was because of one person.

“Okay, I’m here. What do you want?”

“Oh? No need to be so rude, my dear.”

She wiped her hands on her pants, staring blankly at the man bound to the wall. The man who was smiling at her almost... warmly (can a man like him even SMILE like that? She didn’t know.).

“So,” All for One spoke, smiling still,”You entered UA.”

“And?” She raised an eyebrow,”What of it?”

“I didn’t peg you to be the heroic type, my dear.”

Her hands clenched (why did he have to sound so... normal?), and she spoke through barely gritted teeth, “I’m not.”

“Ah, so you’re in the background? Doing all the work and getting none of the credit?”

Michiko tsk-ed,”I’m fine with that. My quirk isn’t suited for heroics anyways.”

“Clever.”

“I don’t need your praise.”

“Oh but you do.” His voice was deep and smooth like honey, “Especially after how your mother treated you.”

Ouch, she thinks, that was low, even for him. Her jaw clenched. The clock ticks on.

“...” her body relaxes a bit, and All for One had to laugh. He was right, he knew he was. Such a shame she had to treat their daughter that way too.

“I have a gift for you.”

“?” She raised an eyebrow. This wasn’t uncommon heck, she got gifts from him more than from her mother. Michiko spots the box sitting on the desk before her.

“Come on,” her father goaded,”Its harmless.”

“That’s reassuring.” She mummered under her breath, checking the small box to make sure theres nothing unusual or suspicious. All for One just watched her (watch? He doesn’t even have eyes!) patiently, a small chuckle leaving his lips.

Gloves. They were simple and white, with small golden cufflinks. She looked at him, eyebrow raised.

“Your quirk activates via physical touch, correct?” He spoke,”And I recall you mentioning you run the risk of enhancing someone by mistake if you’re not careful.”

Michiko blinked. He remembered? That conversation had been three years ago! Should she feel touched? No, she shouldn’t. He may be a better parent than her mom but he’s still the evillest man alive.

And yet...

“...Thank you, father.” She meant those words.

“I knew you’d like them. Consider it your reward for your entrance.” In the moment, he seemed almost normal. Like, a guy who could and was... her dad.

She left Tartarus wearing white gloves and a conflicted yet blank expression. Damn her feelings sometimes, Michiko shook her head.

He was evil, no doubt.

So why are the gloves so nice and warm around her hands?

—

All for One hummed. She didn’t trust him, which was a wise choice.

Michiko was much like himself. Analytic, Clever, Charismatic, Calm. Able to worm her way into the hearts of everyone around her. It was such a shame that she had to have develop such a rebellious streak and have such a heart.

“...” His smile faded. She reminded him so much of someone that had been long gone for years. It was amazing, truly amazing that there was some tiny bit if humanity he thought he squashed decades ago to still care about his own flesh and blood. He couldn’t help but scoff though, emotion is weakness, and he was not weak.

...Well, if she won’t join him now, then she will soon. The smile returns, thinking of how useful her dear quirk could be to him.

“Haha...” he chuckles, softly, “I hope to see your potential in the coming future, my darling daughter. I truely hope those heroes can do at least that.”

—

SO! To put it simply, the relationship is... weird. As stated before, AFO is evil yet he’s the better parent. The visits are periodical and he even sends the occasional gift (don’t... ask how he can even make those, idk—). It leaves Michiko overall very conflicted on how she views him. Yes, he’s evil and beyond saving, there’s no doubt about that, but also he’s a surprisingly present father. She doesn’t know if anything he says is genuine (and she’s certain most of it isn’t) but the contradicting scenarios leave her view on the Most Evil Man Alive to be rather foggy.

Well, at least he gave her some nice gloves.

[iridescentides]

i watched the ep twice bc i didnt take notes the first time BUT. hsmtmts 2.04 thoughts under the cut

gina first. my favorite part of the episode was when she admitted that she feels out of place living in someone else’s house and that she wanted a bigger part in the play. i was SO worried they were gonna just let her happily sideline herself in a “yay she learned her lesson about not being the center of attention” kind of way bc i would not be able to handle that two seasons in a row. let her be angry!!! she has a lot to be upset about

the gina/carlos conflict was awful bc theyre making carlos unreasonably annoying this season. last season he was nice, he was enthusiastic, not competitive and just rooting for other people. idk why they needed to flip him so drastically to being spoiled, rich, selfish, pushy, and bitchy. and on top of that i have not been vibing with the pieces of dialogue theyve been giving him this season just to score woke points. its so unbearably obvious that even though hes a brown gay character, he was written by a white gay person who thought, on some level, that he was giving the gen z kids the #hashtag representation they wanted. his delivery of every line that screams “remember, im mexican” is so awkward, it doesnt land well, and im begging them to stop. they want so badly to commodify his character and parade him around as a “look how diverse our show is!” thing and im so so sick of it bc you can tell, with all the surface-level pieces of dialogue, that they dont actually care at all

(”look around, theres not a lot of me at this school” we GET it, this show wants to be glee so bad)

im honestly starting to slowly ship rina less and less. in season one i loved seeing someone make gina happy, especially since she had no friends before opening up to ricky. but now its just a whole mess and i wish she would love herself a lil more to realize that its not worth all this stress. he made a choice and no amount of conflicted moments of eye contact is going to fully take that back. im not necessarily against love triangle plots, but i HATE the whole “women wait around hopefully while male character, whose decisions have already hurt multiple people, makes up his mind” bullshit

that being said, gina handled the situation like a CHAMP, im dying over how quickly she was able to mask her pain and make the joke about the twix bar. im love her

we were absolutely ROBBED of an ej/big red performance this episode!!! i am at my LIMIT we better get gaston next week or i will riot

on the ej train, him not getting into duke was extremely predictable. we all kinda saw that coming and knew that would be his main point of growth this season. im glad they didnt wait super long to do it. now please @ writers i am BEGGING you to give my man more screen time than one scene per episode

its very odd that they keep making mr mazzara have emotionally tough conversations with the students. i will do a parallel gifset of those once the season ends. i liked his convo with ej for the most part, but he really didnt have to beat him over the head with the “youre an emotionless robot” thing again. its clear ej is gonna throw himself into av club or whatever (even though at the end of last season that was supposed to be big red?) and discover that he has a lot going for him. because he does, he literally has everything going for him, thats why they had to make his “problem” not knowing himself. bisexual ej caswell ftw

i love the parallels between ej and nini this episode? i think since the beginning ive felt that there was a lot about them under the surface that was similar. it was interesting seeing ej tell nini about duke first, instead of the obvious choice of ashlyn. i wouldve loved to see how that scene wouldve gone with ricky, gina, carlos, or big red though bc each reaction and attempt at comforting him wouldve been so different. i didnt love that nini had to be pulled away from the conversation, but im glad they can still talk to each other after everything that went down. and i love the juxtaposition of ej’s convo with mazzara directly following nini’s convo with miss jenn bc theyre essentially the same.

speaking of, i loved miss jenn in this episode. her stories are always so funny, but i loved seeing her care so much for nini and guide her, like a teacher. i loved how she pointed out that everyone who loves nini just wants her to be happy

im glad nini is leaving yac bc there was no good way to keep that up honestly. but im pretty annoyed that they were so obvious about it? like, they immediately made it the worst place in the world without exploring it very much. the place is super unrealistic, ive never been to drama school but im sure it wouldnt be like that. no creative arts place for KIDS would be so impossibly limiting. plus the weird bluish coloring in comparison to the nice warm tones of the rest of the show was, again, a dead giveaway. why send her to the school at all if it wasnt even gonna matter?

even though im glad nini left yac, im NOT looking forward to the way miss jenn is about to bend over backwards to put her in the play somehow. she plays obvious favorites and im so annoyed

(sidenote: nini just? decided to leave yac without consulting her parents??? ummm)

granted is a very good song, one of my faves so far

ricky deciding to tell nini he wants her to stay was stupid. what did he think that would accomplish? who in their right mind would drop out of a good school for you?

i loved when nini said yac was missing something, and miss jenn said “ricky” and nini said “you.” that was so so sweet and cute

i think the kourtney/howie thing is gonna grow on me. i hate amatonormativity so im not a big fan of them introducing a whole ass character exclusively so kourtney can have a love interest, but i loved the gesture he made of bringing her the pizzas and her flashcards. i feel like kourtneys love language is acts of service, and she was literally this meme when he did that for her:

i liked seeing ashlyn try to be there emotionally for gina! i want more of them together

overall this episode was okay. not enough songs, and i wish they were spreading out the emotional conversations through the season instead of packing them all into literally one episode, but what we did get was pretty good.

after watching the preview i see that next weeks episode is gonna be about carlos’s party, and i love party episodes. BUT i hope that after that ep we finally get an advancement on the north high stuff! i dont give too many fucks about lily, but i wanna see my son asher angel

[happikattwuzheere]

the one where gansey befriends a deer: the au

hey remember that time ronan dreamed up a deer that was described with language suspiciously similar to how adam’s described, because i sure do!!! anyway

OK.

ok. so. this au’s actually evolved a lot since its initial already-pretty-fleshed-out inception one sleepless night, so me talking about it’s gonna be more than one post, but here’s the first one well actually the second technically yesterday’s warmup doodles were also from this au but i didnt talk about it at all so

and I’m gonna start with more or less the same pitch I gave to a couple people on discord

SO. starting out: it’s standard fantasy times, vaguely medieval but no specific time period because I don’t care enough to be digging into that quite frankly, but it is somewhere in England where this is happening. Story starts with just Gansey, Ronan, and Noah. Fey are very real and known entities and there’s been a conflict in England between the fey and humans, if not in the whole country then at least in the lands that the Ganseys are the lords of but probably the whole island tbh, and Gansey’s not inherited the lands yet but he’s going to and wants to maybe find a peaceful resolution to the conflict. It’s not open warfare by any means but it’s been a big problem. 

To the effect of solving that, he heads to some little village that I haven’t named but it’s right next to a known fey forest called Cabeswater. This village has avoided being stomped by the local fey because, despite witches not being particularly liked by the nobility of the time, there’s a big old coven (the psychics of Fox Way, essentially) situated right by this village that’s kept things in check. Gansey’s made his excuses to his parents about why he’s officially going there but really he wants to talk to the witches and get a better grasp of the conflict from the people actually dealing with it.  He and Ronan set out from home together, pick up Noah along the way--who is not a ghost in this AU, he’s a fey who owes Gansey a life debt, that’s a whole other post and THIS post is mostly about gansey and adam--but anyway they get to this village and NOBODY gives gansey the time of day. 

the witches don’t let him into their house because they don’t like the nobility right back thanks and the next time he tries to visit Cabeswater won’t even let him get to the coven’s dwelling, the one witch’s daughter who regularly stops by the village for supplies and to check if anyone needs anything has a big argument with him the first time he talks to her so that’s going nowhere, and, well, the villagers are polite, but they clearly don’t take him seriously. He’s just the lordling playing at things and potentially meddling in their business to them.

So he starts hanging out just barely within Cabeswater, even though he knows that’s not wise, because he finds this perfect spot by a stream, and he’ll sit out there and think and work on the journal he keeps of all his thoughts and plans, and one day while he’s there has a straight up Disney princess experience when a deer stops by the stream and seems incredibly unafraid of him. he cherishes the experience but accepts that it probably won’t happen again.

and then it does. several times. gansey’s losing his mind. this deer??? apparently likes listening to him info dump?? it’s very therapeutic and also very magical and he’s amazed 

a few times in, he names the deer “Pryderi” after a character from a welsh legend, because “such a handsome creature deserves a princely name,” [[muffled blue laughing and whispering “princely” in the distance]], and he tells ronan and noah about this experience but ronan doesn’t believe him at ALL. 

one time after gansey’s particularly upset at how bad his attempts at getting along with the villagers, Pryderi actually lets Gansey touch him for the first time and gansey cannot shut up about it to ronan who’s finally like “i think you’re bullshitting me about this deer thing. im coming with you next time” and gansey’s like “well he’s a deer he might not show up if a stranger’s around and he doesn’t come every time i go down there anyway” and ronan’s like “this sounds like a lot of excuses, dick, you’re not making me believe you any more with this” and gansey’s like “>8\” 

but pryderi does show up, and gansey is delighted, and ronan stares really hard at him and then goes 

and gansey’s like what? nooo. but ronan keeps arguing it for the duration of the visit and the deer actually starts to look annoyed and at the end ganseys like ok maybe but i doubt it. and then hes like “well since you are a fey apparently (/sarcasm) i ought to say farewell with respect” and bows very mockingly and then the deer makes direct eye contact with ronan and bows back and gansey loses his shit

gansey continues meeting up with pryderi but even while his infodumping still happens it does so now with the knowledge that He Does Actually Understand What Im Saying, he may be a fey but he seems like a friendly one and hey that’s way more than gansey thought he would get out here, and also this deer is his friend now thanks, 

he, ronan, and noah (who’s amused by Pryderi but keeps his main thoughts to himself for now) make some excursions into cabeswater, but the thing is noah’s not really native to england, he’s from the european mainland, again i’ll get to it in another post sometime, but. he can sort of help navigate cabeswater but not all THAT well so they get lost a couple times, and every time it does happen pryderi shows up and helps guide them out. there’s some very funny moments of a very jealous ronan getting into weird conflict w/ a very smug deer 

anyWAY one day there’s like a festival, everyone’s drunk because its the middle ages and there’s not really a drinking age, gansey’s making another effort to make friends with anyone, and this one guy about his own age is like “ok look here i’ll teach you the folk dance everyone’s doing ok?” and gansey spends the night dancing w/ a handsome stranger, yes he will recognize the irony in the morning, but for now it goes. well badly because they’re both drunk but it’s fun, and then the guy says “ah, fuck it, i’ll finish teaching you next time we see each other” and gansey’s like “thats a little forward but ok!” and the guy (adam. its adam) panics and leaves while gansey’s back is turned and gansey doesn’t remember that last snippet of conversation the next day nor can he quite recall the stranger’s face. ronan does, because he was watching and not sure which of the two he was jealous of, but neither of them has any idea who the guy actually was. 

and then like, 3 days later, gansey falls asleep at the spot he usually hangs out in in cabeswater and wakes up in the early evening just in time to hear people yelling and for Pryderi to burst into view with an arrow in his flank. he collapses in a bush. gansey snaps into “protect friend” mode and gets the hunters off his trail by being all “oh a strange buck? i saw it pass that way over there friend!” and then when they’re gone he comes back and is all “alright pryderi they’re gone, let me just--” except pryderi’s not a deer anymore. it’s a boy. 

(Adam. its adam. the deer is adam.) 

gansey takes him home, gets the arrow out, noah’s like “i mean he’s not a fey, i dont know what turning into a deer is about but if he were fey the iron in that arrow would already have him dead. he might be partially fey but so little that he’s human in the ways that really matter”, over the next couple days they figure out that pryderi is in fact from the village and is a young man named adam parrish who’s been labelled a changeling and is assumed dead since he was yknow shot, gansey decides for now its probably best to keep him that way, but adam’s not getting better--apparently even having had the arrow in him as briefly as he did has poisoned him, he’s desperately ill and on the third day is finally like “get persephone” so gansey tries again (he’s tried several times over these days, they’d worked out that to have survived this long he must have someone else with a small degree of fey blood teaching him the ropes and the most likely suspects are the witches, but he’s hoping adam specifically asking him to will grant him permission enough to go in) and runs into a very frantic blue en route who as soon as he makes it clear he’s got adam is like “move your ass over on that horse im climbing on too” 

they get persephone, who turns into a fox rather than a deer, she saves adam, everythings cool except adam’s pissy now because he cant go back to the village and he has to give up on the attempts he had in the works to get out of town by working his way out and he takes it out on gansey who doesnt deserve it because this friendship is a mess, he’ll feel bad and take it back eventually but thats yet more posts ANYWAY YEAH theres our starting point 

(also worth noting: due to cabeswater being Right There,  p much everyone in this village actually has a small degree of fey blood, adam just won the genetic lottery) 

tl;dr adam’s a fey-blooded witch’s apprentice and he’s been the deer the whole time and thats the start of this au ty for coming to this ramble