#// there are so many layers to his madness. this is just one aspect of it

[sunshineandspencer]

Friendly face

A/N: Aaron Hotchner, thank you for being there when our fathers weren’t 🙏🙏

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Receptionist!Reader.

Summary: The higher ups decided that the BAU needed their own reception area so that visitors and the agents had their own friendly face whenever they come back from a case. Hotch already has a soft spot for her.

Word Count: 741

Warnings: just a little fluff for my first Hotch fic, because receptionist!reader and Hotch makes me feral

Part 2!!

When they first told her that she’d be moved from the normal reception to a special one being made for her up in the BAU, she thought that she’d been sent a spam email. Laughing it off and getting back to her baking.

Until her boss escorted her up to her new desk the next morning.

Thankfully, all her belongings had been boxed up by other staff, and had already been moved up in boxes for her to unpack. 

Her days were long, and she was routinely one of the first people in the building, which meant she had more than enough time to sort through her boxes before any of the actual team turned up for the first time.

Apparently they’d had a few issues with people getting in that weren’t the most savoury of characters. So she was moved up as an extra layer of protection before the public were allowed into the bullpen. But being on the same floor as profilers wasn’t going to stop her from decorating as she always had.

Besides, she didn’t have to share this desk with anyone, so she got the entire space to decorate herself.

Putting her box of biscuits, made and decorated the night before, on the top of the desk, she got to work. Getting into her own little world as she sorted out the boring bits first. Putting away important files she always needed to have on hand, and setting up the monitor to make sure all the information worked to let people in.

Eventually, thankfully, she got to the more fun aspects of her unpacking.

A lilac notebook, a collection of glittery pens (that, sadly, still had to be black ink), a sweet bowl since she knows how many agents have kids, and a plush lilac blanket over the back of her chair. She runs cold, and will have that over her lap if she starts to freeze.

Just as she started to unload her pretty, pastel post-it notes, there was a voice from beyond the desk.

“Are these for us?”

She shot up, hand going to her chest, thankfully also somewhat startling the man in front of her desk. At least she recognised him, SSA Aaron Hotchner, she’d been the one to sign him in most days when she worked downstairs.

Giving him a small smile as she leant over to pop the lid, the smell of shortbread biscuits immediately hitting the area and making them both hungry.

“Of course, sir, and since you’re the first here, you can have two.”

Her original shock lessened as she smiled up at the man, who did immediately take two biscuits for himself. He’d never say no to her baking again - it had made her upset and she hadn’t spoken to him for three days.

“You don’t need to call me sir, not now we work together. It’s good to have you on the floor.”

“It’s good to be here.” Smiling nervously as she shifted into her chair, the clock telling her that more people were going to start coming in soon. “I can only deal with Maria’s constant bad date stories before I go mad.”

There was that small smile on his face, one she’d seen very few times, but still made her all warm and gooey whenever she did. Brushing her hair back behind her ear and glancing away to boot up the monitor for the morning.

Looking back at him one last time, just to catch him sneaking a sweet from the pot, not even stopping when she caught him. Shoving it into his pocket and stepping away a little.

“I’ll stop by later on, make sure you’re settled.”

He nodded, as if he’d do that for anyone else, and she smiled. God. He could drown in her smile.

But as he went to walk off, she waved a hand for his attention, neither of them noticing Spencer coming through the elevator doors, freezing at seeing the interaction between them. Not sure what to make of the smile on his Unit Chief's face.

“I’ll save a biscuit, so you can take one home to Jack. I’ll sign you in, go on, you workaholic.”

Accepting and returning his little wave until she turned back to her desk with a stupidly daft smile on her face. Which she didn’t even try to dampen when she spotted Spencer, beckoning him forward.

“Morning Doctor, have a biscuit, I’ll sign you in.”

Want more?! Good!

[cocoa-rococo]

i CANNOT stop thinking about the watson and sherlock dynamic from the awakened. there's something so utterly vulnerable about it.

like. sherlock, in the mildest terms, is Fucking Going Through It. lost his mom, is on poor terms with his brother, and is grappling with the idea of this otherworldly, cosmic entity connected to this case not only existing, but being real enough to influence his mind, the one place he considers -- perhaps on some level -- sacred, or at the very least, an important part of himself. he is desperately trying to keep a grasp on himself and what he knows to be true, on top of keeping strictly on professional terms with watson instead of letting him in, even when it's obvious he's very dear to him.

this whole case has him going off the deep end and sinking further and further into this mystery. the fact that he doesn't feel in control of what's happening -- or even know what's happening, really -- is the one thing he's terrified of, in a way. he's scared that if he goes mad, or loses his mind, he won't have anything left of him. it's why it's one of the most pressing options during his confrontation with rochester.

it's also why his announcement to rochester of "i have made a friend," is so oddly tender in that scene. because if nothing else -- if he's either mad or still sane, if he knows that this is the end, if nothing else really does matter -- that much is true, as well. and that's not even getting into the ending and final cutscene of the game.

and watson! oh my gracious, watson. watson has no idea what the fuck he's doing or why he's involved in any of this, how he got dragged into this mess, only that he's following sherlock to help him and this case. watson underplays himself so much in this investigation, thinking himself as a coward in so many aspects, even when he's shown multiple times to be braver than he thinks; lying to gygax to eventually get the key, standing up to mycroft, being willing to follow sherlock practically into hell to help him, even if it makes him uncomfortable on multiple layers. he's trying to keep himself put together enough for the both of them.

he practically word vomits onto wolff in edelweiss about how he's stressed and confused and sort of wants a strand of a normal life again, and is just. so very clearly involved in this only because sherlock asked him to be, and how -- even when he CANNOT explain why -- he finds himself thrilled by it all and alive. and he does this only because wolff will forget almost immediately!!! and watson can act like nothing happened and he didn't say something absolutely devastating!!!!!

it's also why his standing up to mycroft for sherlock is also very tender. his comment of essentially, "i know you know him, i just wished you respected him". watson has no IDEA why the fuck he's following sherlock this far, but he respects him and his wishes, and cares for him enough to know when to help and when to step away, ("you asked me to intervene if i saw you cracking. this is me intervening!")

they are both so desperately trying to cling onto each other for this whole case, because they're BOTH damaged people trying to hold onto the only thing they each know to be true. they're each other's fail-safes, only going to stop if the other honestly -- sincerely -- wants to, but they won't!

it's also exactly why they manage to survive this ordeal together (not win; you don't win in a lovecraftian horror, you survive). they both are living in the past -- and would probably wallow there if allowed -- but the other brings them into the present and centers them on what's important.

[lostbetweenvampiresandmusic]

Been a while hasn’t it? I don’t know if you’re still posting for the prompt list but if you are could you indulge a Marko fan and do #16 with him please?

Oh my god, I am so sorry to let this request go unanswered for so long. I'm so sorry for the wait and a happy new year!!! (Seriously, it's been months since you asked this, and I just completely forgot - so sorry!) But yes, I can absolutely make this - I hope you like it!

16. "Come in, please. I'm mad at you, but I don't want you to burn to crisp."

------------------------------

A sigh escaped me as I laid down on the flat roof of my shed, staring up at the night sky. It was a clear night, and not only could I see the stars and the moon brightly, and if I really stared, I swore I could see an actual nebula. I smiled.

Next to me, a little less relaxed than I by the sight of it, laid my boyfriend. It wasn't that he didn't like stargazing - after all, he had suggested this. He tried his best to relax and to enjoy the night, but I noticed how tense he was. I sat up as I looked at him.

"Are you alright?"

He nodded. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"You look constipated."

"No I don't."

I gave Marko a look that clearly said 'yes, you do', but didn't say anything. "You know that if you're bothered by something you can tell me, right?"

"Babe," he sat up now too, "there's nothing wrong. I'm just hungry."

"We can order some food-"

"Not that kind of hungry."

"Oh." I swallowed, nodding as I was thinking. It had been a short while since he told me what he was, and if I was being honest, it was a difficult thing to wrap my head around. The guy I liked was undead. At least a hundred years old. Somehow, I was still more grown up than him, and it made me wonder if maybe that was a problem sometimes? Not just a night owl by choice, but by natural force.

Needless to say, it was quite a shock to experience that he was, in fact, a vampire. Even though I had managed to wrap my head around the many aspects of his vampiric life, the blood drinking - arguably the main part of his life since it was his literal life source - was one I still felt a little uncomfortable with.

Maybe it was because I knew he'd hunt people like me. Because I knew he'd flirt with them before killing them. Maybe it was because I couldn't fathom the thought of drinking blood. And maybe it was because I was a little scared. Because what if he bit me too? And i hated myself for thinking that because I knew he would never hurt me. I also hated myself for thinking that because a part of me, deep down, hidden far away, found that thought to be incredibly hot.

"If you need to hunt, then-" I was about to say something else but Marko interrupted me.

"I'll be back soon, babe."

With those words he left, and as I saw him fly off, I climbed down the roof, cursing myself for not getting a ladder while climbing up there, and went inside my house. I barely greeted my house mates as I walked past them to my room, locking the door behind me as I entered. There, on the bed laid his jacket. He had dropped it off inside earlier this evening when he found himself bothered by the heat, but now, all alone and quite frankly missing him sinc the left so suddenly, I was beyond glad he left it here.

I changed into my pyjamas, just a tanktop and some shorts, and slid the jacket on. The sleeves were a bit too large for me, but the softness was ever so surprising. The coat was heavy, as i had expected. Marko had added so many layers of patches, chains, and decorations that it almost started to feel like a weighted blanket. I smiled as I pulled the jacket close, laying down on my bed.

It didn't take long before I drifted off to sleep, dreaming a wonderful dream. My window was slowly pushed open, a gloved hand wrapping itself around the windowsill as a figure pulled himself up. Marko climbed in, vamped out but clean from all blood. He smiled at my sleeping form, walking closer and closer until he sat on the edge of the bed. There he leaned over me, leaving a trail of kisses down my cheek and neck, his fangs softly grazing my thin skin.

I shuddered.

I woke up with a quiet groan, feeling another added weight on top of me. Marko was giving me a soft kiss in my neck, and once he realised I was awake, he began to kiss me for real, kissing my lips and deepening the kiss.

I didn't mind, we had talked about this before and I had told him that kisses were fine. I quite liked waking up to soft kisses, but tonight, something seemed different. The kisses were more urgent and more forceful. As I tried to ask him what was wrong, he shut me up immediately, his mouth trailing down my face to my neck and there-

I yelped out in pain as I felt two fangs enter my neck.

He bit me.

He didn't listen when I called his name, didn't react when I tried to pull him off, or when I pulled him by his hair. Only when I slapped him when he didn't react for the fourth time did he look up, his expression frozen in horror.

"Why the fuck did you bite me?!"

"I don't know, I-"

"Forget it," I hissed, glaring at him. I had been clear about this from the very beginning. No biting. "I don't want to see you here again. Get out."

He didn't respond, he just stared at me.

"Get out!"

He disappeared as if he had never even been there, everything still remaining the exact same. I sat up, tears welling up in my eyes. I shook his jacket off, laying it on my desk chair, and went to my window to lock it.

Before going back to bed, I made a small detour to my bathroom, a small space that held the only mirror I owned. I looked into it and saw two puncture marks on my neck. I inspected them closer and saw to my relief that they weren't deep. Still, I thought quietly as I laid back down and pulled the covers over me, he bit me.

A week passed before I saw him again. An agonisingly long week in which I wasn't sure about him, about me or the relationship that the two of us had. I couldn't help but still feeling angry, and little betrayed even. I had trusted him not to do this and yet here somehow did.

I woke up one early morning by the sound of rocks hitting my window. As i lazily opened my eyes I heard the first birds of the day starting their songs, and walked to my window with a slight surprised look. There, outside, standing in the shadows was Marko.

I unlocked my window - the first time that week - and looked at him. I then looked at the sky and realised that the sun was really close to rising.

"Marko, come on!"

"What?!" He called back, not coming any closer.

"Come in, please. I'm mad at you, but I don't want you to burn to crisp."

In less than half a second, he stood in front of me within my room. I quickly closed the window again and pulled the curtains shut.

"What were you doing out so late? You could have burnt!"

"I needed to know you were alright."

"You bit me!"

Marko nodded, looking rather shamefully down to the ground. "I'm sorry it happened."

"Why did it happen?"

"I just fed and -"

"What, you wanted some desert?"

"No! Yes, no," he shook his head, "I wanted to wake you, to spend some more time with you."

"So?" I shrugged. "I don't bite you when I need attention."

"I know! But - I haven't been totally forthcoming to you."

"About what?"

"About what you are to me."

"I thought we were a thing," I sat down on my bed, looking at him. He nodded, so thankfully that wasn't it.

"We are. But-"

I froze. He couldn't be serious. A 'but' in a relationship talk was always a bad thing. Always.

"But what?"

"We're more than that."

I stared at him, not knowing what to say.

"What are we then?"

"You are my mate," he said, leaving no room to argue, "and when I came back and saw you asleep with my jacket on, instinct took over. I needed to make you mine."

I sighed, realising that he really had no ill intentions and was instead acting upon someone vampiric urges. I looked at him, realising how bad he must have felt that it happened. How glad I was that he found his way back here now that the sun was rising outside. He came back. He came to me for safety.

So I looked at him, pulling him closer when I smiled at him.

"You don't need to bite me to know that I'm yours."

[kindlespark]

this is gonna be SO long and rambly sorry anyway i saw a post abt how babel does queer characters and it got me thinking abt why the tropes it uses would usually turn me off other stories but didn’t here

MAJOR BABEL SPOILERS //

i feel like i’d be more mad abt how robinramy ended up in babel if it marketed itself as queer lit at all or if its fans were going “WOW AMAZING QUEER REP” abt it. but no one told me any of that, so finding out they were gay was just a fun little bonus surprise to me. i get why ppl are eh abt robinramy not getting together/technically still being subtext (which i dont think is really true btw like the book literally says “robin was falling in love” but idk i guess if you were stupid you might’ve assumed that it was falling in love with oxford given how romantic some of the other language is (WHICH IS ALSO THE POINT bc i think robin’s friendship with ramy blurring into romance is why he romanticised like all his friendships/experiences in oxford BUT IM GETTING OFF-TOPIC)). i just think robin’s repression abt being gay was intrinsically tied to his attitudes on imperialism (wrt refusing to acknowledge anything that complicated his life until it was too late) and i don’t consider it a cop out or queerbait. like i genuinely don’t think robinramy could ever have gotten together without drastic alterations being made in terms of plot and character. plus i think it’s clear that kuang didn’t want to write a story with any kind of focus on romance at all, because it’s not that kind of book. there’s no successful het romance either, so it grates a lot less. the only reason romance is included at all is to show the ways in which white entitlement manifests. so the tragic way robinramy played out just made sense to me.

and i speak as someone who accidentally spoiled myself on You Know What in the middle of reading and i was like ugghh boooo dreading it the whole time expecting to roll my eyes when it happened but then when it did i was like. wow im actually not that mad LMFAO 😭😭😭 actually thematically the book sets it up so well that i believed that this was unfortunately the only way it could’ve gone. babel is about the loss and tragedy and grief that colonised people experience. it’s about the lengths people will go to to uphold empire and the lengths ppl will go to to tear it down like idk 😭 i guess it is bury your gays but it didnt bother me this time because i thought it fit thematically ❤️ i enjoy tragedy as a genre a lot and i would’ve made it gay anyway you know. thanks rf kuang for doing it for me so i didnt have to.

WHICH IS ALL TO SAY that i guess if you’re going into babel for the queer rep without appreciating that the story is fundamentally a tragedy it would feel like it’s just reusing tired tropes….. but i think the choices kuang made were rly deliberate and not in a way that feels like trauma porn or shock value. the book is fundamentally about the struggles of poc so the layer of queerness that was introduced felt like a subtle extension of the experiences of characters of colour in the book, and i enjoyed and related to it as a queer chinese person who kind of realised they had to prioritise their fight for the liberation of poc over queerness mainly because the idea of western queer liberation cannot be dissociated from imperialism and many aspects of homophobia as we know it was an export of christian european empire into our colonised countries in the first place and FUCK THIS IS A WHOLE OTHER TANGENT ABOUT HOW I THINK RAMY AS A CHARACTER IS EMBLEMATIC OF THE TENSION AND STRUGGLE THAT QUEER POC DIASPORA HAVE BETWEEN OUR IDENTITIES GODDAMNIT OK FORGET IT POST CANCELLED i just rly think babel’s handling of queer characters is fine and makes sense and i like it personally and maybe i will make a coherent analysis about it one day but that day is not today byeeeeeee

[theeyeofeverything]

Brainworms cannot be contained so I need to confess to you one (1) thing...

Yes. I have au where sols can be saved but there is a lil thing I need to mention... not all of them will survive... ACTUALLY THEY MiGHT BE HAPPY ONLY FOR A WHILE ONLY TO DIE AGAIN. Ooops!

So let's call this thing "out of spite AU".

Basic premise is Yi saves as many sols, as he can and all of them have a lession to learn. They given a chance to grow and redeem themselfs. Not in front of apeman or remaining solarians (if there id left any), no. It's a redemption before oneself. Because yes, they will be safe for a while, but the end is the same. Kuafu will be the only solarian to survive in the end... or does he?

Mainly trough this exist to explore 4 things: 1. Dynamics between Sols 2. How they will face their inner conflict (most of them remain their initial core traits, don't worry, but some aspects of them might change a little) 3. Sols interacting with ShuanShuan (it also ties to their inner conflict! He helps others like he helps Yi to understand that life good on its own. Mainly tho its a self-indulingent cute bonding stuff between Sols and ShuanShuan) 4. Jieyi (AM SORRY I HAVE SEVER CASE OF BEING REALLY INVESTED IN GUYS OBSESSED WITH PROTAGS I AM WEAK)

Who will be saved?

- Kuafu. Same as in canon.

-Jiequan. Well, I said it would be really funny concept for him to be saved first of all people. Yi doing exactly that, initially out of spite. But it's ironic that in the literal sense Jieqan did not win - Yi just broke all of his teapods and did not let him die like a hero become a gooquan - but he won the spiritual battle. His torture made Yi better. Well, it's not but it made Yi mad enough to do the opposite of rampage. He is restraind in the pavilion at the time (but not for long)

-Goumang. After thinking (and being really pissed) abou his and Jiequan similarity he desides that he might gone a little bit rough on Goumang. When he is back at the agrocurtual hall she is alive, but gravely injured. It's a miracle she didn't bleed out by the time they arrived at the pavilion. He and Kuafu tend her wounds, but she is NOT happy to be here. At least, at first

-Nuwa. At this point in story Yi is finally giving a rest to his killing rampage. Nuwa is a strange case because she is no use to Yi. Jiequan is a fighter, Goumang is somewhat of the healer in this au. Nuwa is a spoiled mean brat. Kinda just like him! No one deserve to die like...this. He will not let her go near Fuxi, when he's down. She would cry, crawl and bite her way out, but to no avail. I will say she is safe in this au for sake of exploring her personality and how it would change with absence of her brother around. How she would become independent.

-Ji. He is the intresting case because he is wanting to die. He is tired of life. He wants to rest and join dao. However I think he might stay for a while because his hexagramm... lied to him. Jiequan has to much impact in this AU huh. Well, I think he knew Jiequan and Yi's fight would not end good. He forsaw Jiequan die... but now Yi is telling him that the last member of the jie is alive and well! I think that would intrigue Ji, actually. Why would hexagramms lie to him? Did the Yi changed course of history? And additional layer to this if certain someone once also made a hexagramm prediction untrue.

Or, maybe, hexagramms want him to preserve this story too? His last story to tell.

Who will not survive:

-Yanlao. First, at this point Yi was not ignited by spite and did not reconsider his choices! And second - he is a lesson to learn for Yi. A irreversable mistake, that can't be take back. Not that he is greiving for this loss but it kinda make jiequan with his "do you think saving me does you a good guy automathicly? With other you was not that merciful, young master Yi" sting harder. And that is making Yi pissed, but... pissed Yi is a Yi how does rethink his decisions so maybe this is for the better

-Lady Etheral. Well she is no longer in a condition to be saved. She is basicly a brain in a jar and can't be brought back. All they can do is honor her properly. Let her rest at last.

-Eigong. This is intersting case because I belive she is long lost. At least, I think she is beliving herself to be a lost cause. She will not let Yi and Goumang save her. She will go with this ship, because her role is played already. So she would go on her own terms and would not be swayed. I love her so much as a character, but this the vibe I get from her. Besides I need more drama and angst for this AU sooo...

Let's stop for now. There is a couple of aspects I want to talk about more, but I think some of my ideas will translate better trough my art!

Not now, tho. Because I need to finish funny haha comics first and THEN do serious shit.

Feel free to ask about this AU tho!

[atthecenterofeverything]

for fun describe ur general thoughts on foucault (work/life/vibes/etc) since u mentioned him

lol thank you. in the same way that you will see academics of all stripes use his concepts freely you will also see people who usually attach a lot of value to accurate historical sources cite him at length which is always a bit of a jumpscare. in this otherwise very sound elizabeth williams article she was like "and mad people were treated like animals in the middle ages in that city¹" and before I even checked the source I knew it was gonna be from some random claim in history of madness. been discussed to death but i do also sometimes think that missing from his analysis of power as a faceless force (which is an appreciated break tbc) is the role of individuals’ professional interests and motives to shape this power, often aligned with their social and political groups’ interests, but not always. except the people saying that almost always mean it in an idealist great man of history way.

anyway the man can write for sure. some paragraphs in surveiller et punir knocked the wind out of me and I've never really seen an english translation where it shone that starkly. clarity of model but also purely the prose itself. I've had some excerpts bouncing around in my head since I finished it. he also structures arguments in a way I find much easier to follow than other writers: you can easily retrace the thought process, the causes and consequences, the corollations etc., where even when I don't agree with him (or where he's just kind of sloppily making stuff up) I can understand the conclusions and the weight they are supposed to hold.

something that always stood out to me regarding his writing was that his social analysis never pretends to have some kind of so called scientific objectivity but is also thoroughly materialist. when he describes the development of role and discipline in military schools, or the debates about supplices around the turn of the revolution, you never sense a layer of condemnation that needs to point out the evils of a system. his opinions shine through the system analysis itself and I do think that it holds a kind of contained ubiquitous rage ive rarely seen elsewhere.

just generally I think everybody should read critically some of his lectures at the college de france. fundamental to my politics in many ways even just on a purely epistemological level. anti psychiatry wise it's super refreshing to not see people chase after the good psychiatrist and the friendly asylum and get to the material goals of psychiatry since its inception. his writing often takes great care in highlighting the circumstancial aspect of social developments - that things could, and indeed almost did, have turned out differently - not better, but simply different. psychiatry and its discourses developing the way they did was not a given and was not a matter of unearthing a prediscursive list of possible sciences. he gets a lot of shit from marxists that accuse him of some kind of vibe based everyone is a cop everything is a prison baloney but he is literally right about doctors and social workers and therapists lol. also no one who brings up the le monde 1977 age of consent petition as a gotcha has anything interesting or non reactionary to say about it

[horizon-verizon]

I don’t know if someone has already asked you this question, but what made you ship Daemyra?

For me, it really comes down to how it ended—pure tragedy. And I’m a sucker for tragic endings, which GRRM himself has said he eagerly gravitates toward🤭 A lot of people argue that Rhaenyra and Daemon weren’t really a romance, just a political match, but I’ve always disagreed with that—especially since that claim tends to come from Rhaenyra antis for some reason🫣🫣

Imo they absolutely fit the tragic romance genre. The love, the loss, the downfall—it’s all there. Their story isn’t just political maneuvering; it’s layered with INTENSE emotion, misunderstanding and devastation. But they were happy once, for years, and for a man like Daemon it speaks volumes

No matter what did or didn’t happen, or what might’ve happened or should’ve happened—it doesn’t change the fact that they are the absolute embodiment of a OTP. They’re messy, unconventional, definitely not the healthiest dynamic lol, but I honestly don’t think GRRM cares about that at all. He made them matter. In a sense they remind me of Rhaelya (they’re different ofc do not mistaken me, but they have some echoes when you really think about it)

They carried on the Targaryen line even after Rhaenyra was usurped and deposed. Their sons both became kings. They married in secret on Dragonstone and were basically shunned for it. And they died five months apart in the same year. That detail alone should’ve sealed it for everyone. GRRM is a deeply sentimental writer—he doesn’t do things like that by accident. There’s a reason why he stated that Daemon’s relationship with Rhaenyra was his favourite aspect of him (“him” being one of his favourite characters). He put a lot of care in them. He REALLY wanted them to be Dany’s ancestors

Sorry I digressed a little, but I love your posts and analyses, they’re always so well structured with solid arguments, it’s refreshing, especially when it’s about book canon🙏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻

Firstly, thank you, anon! I try, hope I don't come across as pretentious.

Answer to the question

This is one post answering why people in general may ship them.

I, specifically horizon-verizon, ship Daemyra bc of the specific duality and how it breeds the passion between them, because their duality has contradictions that nevertheless make things work between them: their sheer compatibility, their matching each other's values, passion, pride, but ability to really understand each other that entails an electric and yet comforting sort of intimacy that entails "softness". They as individuals are very unapologetically themselves, and I also envy that. When they are together, it's dynamo, dynamite, and there's a kind of serenity-of-accepting-who-the-other-is at the core (until of course kids are dying, and their separation does not help that, but that, I have criticisms of how GRRM essentially recreates a "mad-mother" trope). Even in Rhaenyra's order to have Nettles killed (and after @rhaenin-time has both put out posts here and Twitter Abt it, I don't know if Rhaenyra was actually after Nettles in a racist she-couldn't-seduce-him-bc-she's-a-darkie sort of way, but it was still an abuse of power and wrong and self-defeating in so many ways at its core), she is determined to lay "claim" on this man and he her, in lieu of this intimacy they have had for years. Like she can't be "properly" herself without him (again, as I said in another post, Rhaenyra would not give up her kids for him).

So when you say: "it's layered with intense emotion, misunderstanding, and devastation", for me, it's more so the emotion part, but for me their end actually reinforces the feeling of their "unity" to me, again, bc Rhaenyra looking to reestablish that connection she thinks is lost but also because the story is framed in a way were not just her, but Daemon's deaths were tragic not just for their house but women (ironically, considering who Daemon was but again, it's the DUALITY for me!, just differently here) and the realm against the Long Night. It's like they, together, were sort of "meant", if you catch my drift, when you put it all together, and even though I don't really believe in soulmates as in our souls were literally composed by semi-conscious or conscious external forces to "be" together or that we are halves of a whole, I do and have always loved when two puzzle pieces fit together. Whether it's by a sameness or by a difference "fitness".

Rhaelya

It's also why I love Rhaelya, and with Rhaelya it's as you point out about the DEVASTATION--a bit more or at least obviously than Daemyra--as an equal element to the others . I really love how the haunting of RhaegarxLyanna seems to have in the narrative even when they aren't being mentioned: Needs constant and more-more frequent memories of Lyanna as well as Robert's hatred and Cersei's later musings set us up to sense this couple without ever actually meeting them. Not to mention Dany dreams of Rhaegar at least 3 times. They therefore HAVE to mean something to what's going to be revealed later on, esp in lieu of what fans argue what really happened to make them risk so much to want to run away together. We know it's definitely not a thing of logic, so what is left to us is to either reject them or to explore the possibilities of why they did this through examining their emotional ties to others to get a sense of what values and emotional landscapes they had to themselves. And what attracted them together, which I also have already written several times as to why they were attracted to each other and why Rhaegar was not raping Lyanna. And like, Daemyra, this ship or their ends, to me, simply reinforce this sense of them being pretty "perfect" for each other, and like Daemyra OF ONLY THEY HADN'T LIVED IN THE WORLD (really the unfair sociopolitical circumstances and timing out of their control) THEY DID.

It's like they all (but esp Rhaelya) represent an intimacy that can never be or survive long bc the world will not allow it, but is deliciously potent and the "best" therefore it is "worth" great risks. It's also like saudade, in a way. Saudade is a Portuguese and Galician word for the feeling of missing and remembering something/someone that was lost and you can never regain it back again but there's sometimes happiness that the thing has existed, and sometimes it encompasses the feeling of missing something before it even disappears or is lost. And an aspect is that you cannot control the future, like some things are fateful not bc they were predetermined but because loss is a part of life and we can control nothing (or in some cases, we want something so bad we misinterpret things and lose things that way).

In Rhaeyla's case, the haunting and saudade is in how you (reader, Ned, Lyanna, or Rhaegar, take your pick, there are layers to this) miss what was could have been if such and such didn't already happen for it to be nearly impossible but you know what sweet thing it would have been if it had been successful or allowed to happen. Similar for Daemyra, but that one really is more political-political and focuses more on sexism. And since the Targs devolve after all the sexism in their own house to rule the larger sexist realm....ah, I just LOVE IT all!

There's a bittersweet acknowledgement of one losing one's "innocence" in that process that parallels that central loss of saudade, because I sense and the narrative supports that Rhaegar and Lyanna's deaths are INCLUDED in the tragedies of Elia's and those children's deaths. The "innocence" is not the same kind of innocence Elia and her kids had, but it is an "innocence" in that something that "fitting" could not easily be without riding that fine, dangerous line between great happiness or mortality that in itself highlights how very human that phenomenon makes the "riders" (Lyanna, Daemon, Rhaenyra, Rhaegar). You also lost a "pure" thing that for once came from the unmitigated sincerity of yourself, this investment of intimacy that you have "discovered". It doesn't make you a "good" person, it makes you a very passionate and vulnerable and fallable one. I like to think of it in a ITWV way, Lestat and Louis and Pandora and Armand, all such messy people looking for love.

Not only did Elia's kids die unjustly bc of the violence done to them and to her and how it was preventable, the Lannisters (or really Tywin) and the Lannisters and the royal Targaryens are all a part of this feudal system that ensures such a thing would inevitably happen again because of the repressive love vs duty binary that eventually ended with a dynasty self-imploding. Whether as a collective or as individuals, people really are their worst enemies, and this is where the feeling and set up of "entrapment" stems from. We are capable of great evil and great, positive, amazing things and the things are often intertwined or happening at once or feul each other.

I already explained how Daemyra's duality is to me so tantalizing yet so comforting, bc through each other they seem to finally validate themselves--to me, this is what makes it "pure". In Rhaelya's case, there's again that critical element of each individual accepting who and what the other is, even celebrating it as if it's a "at long last" sort of scenario.

This is the "purity" I sense, despite yes how Rhaegar took it way too far to make as if their love would be the "fix" for his fulfillment of the prophecy if that's what he was going for. It was projection, but in a weird dual way, it reinforces just how much he regarded Lyanna bc he saw their relationship as worth that risk AND it's bitter sweetly ironic that the ONE time Rhaegar is purely selfish is when he does this, and it upends so much of the stuff he was working towards, it makes Lyanna run off with a married man to escape a very unhappy and likely-to-have-turned-out-abusive marriage, and kick-starts an already coming conflict towards open war. All things are true at once. Same for Rhaenyra for Daemon if one argued that she risked a lot to marry him; we do see that Viserys banned them from court after they married for a while and IF you were just thinking politically, you may argue that this was Alicent's chance to convince Viserys to remove Rhaenyra once and for all. Emotionally, we know that wasn't going to happen, but you know what I mean. There was an acknowledgement of a possible GREAT risk, but for them, more so themselves the individuals (Rhaenyra losing her seat and that being part of the extent they knew they risked).

Like GRRM, I am both a romantic and a Romantic at heart. Daemyra feels and presents as much more sensual than Rhaelya, but both present a dreaminess in the impossibleness of the possibility they are.

Fandom

Finally, I like how the ship(s) challenge people who wouldn't otherwise look for fiction centering such "Romanticsm" or care to understand it. As much as it pains me to listen to some of them. Too many moral absolutes.

[margaretkart]

I only saw it on one of aliciavance's old asks but since the season 2 just ended, I gotta ask have you seen that The journey of dionysus webtoon? if so what do you think about it? Personally, I think the author is a good artist but I can't stand how they chose to make Apollo the shallow jealous villain. He was one of the brothers closest to Dionysus in myth and he's treated as the god who tried to ruin Dionysus life and drove him to be mad because he was jealous of Dionysus's rising fame in theatre. We don't get a Dionysus embracing his madness and he's reduced to this nice little son of Hades and Persephone who didn't do no wrong because it was all gaia an d apollo's fault. oh and their version of Ariadne is boring. we don't even get to see much of theseus. I said what I said. I ask this because you are my number one reliable source for any amazing Dionysus content.

I haven't seen the manga but from your summary alone i can see it's not even trying to be a faithful adaptation even though there are plenty of sources already written and the author only needed to follow the material.

Apollo being the villain makes no sense. Him, like Hermes have a strong sibling bond especially since Dionysus had to be raised by nymphs then later Hermes to avoid Hera. In other sources in Orphism he helps Athena collect his dismembered body and save his heart so his sould could be reborn to Semele. Apollo if anything has nothing other than love and respect for his brother.

At the same time Ariadne again being a flat character is another aspect unfortunately many not understanding her character. She doesn't need to be something grand but she has many layers.

A soul of curiosity and wonder, smart and adventurous, she stands her ground and does the right thing, she finds love after being heartbroken, she becomes immortal and a good mother to her children. She's worshipped in many occasions as a goddess. How are these traits of hers overlooked is beyond me when we have such access to the internet.

I know a comic is very time consuming, requiring hard work and effort, however there's a need to say that a greek deity like Dionysus, who's been underestimated, mischaracterised so often, deserves better than a surface level adaptation

[defining-skyology]

A Doodle on the Screen and a Doodle of Thoughts (Of Desiring Control)

I had a funny interaction on Instagram and felt the urge to make this doodle.

An extremely long ramble below the cut, but to everyone who just stops here, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. ❤🕯

[[[WARNING: LONG READ BELOW CUT]]]

And now that we're below the cut, so it begins.

The existential madness that Sky has driven me to has had me learning a lot about the Human Condition and how people move through a spectrum of helping and hurting others and themselves.

And one of the central overarching Themes I've been studying is of the concept of "Control".

I've come to realize a potential statement for myself about life:

"The source of all human misery is the desire to Control their circumstances."

Everything you ever feel in terms of loss, passion, and desire, is felt because you have invested different levels of Control into those aspects of your life.

This isn't a bad thing, but rather just an objective study of what makes us want to hold on to things, to keep things, to protect and defend our beliefs and personal morals and attributions.

Realizing this ended up helping me begin to craft an understanding of the Spectrum of Connection vs Indifference that I've been endlessly pouring over.

Through these philosophies that I have extracted from the Core of Sky's messages, I have then taken it all into myself, and applied it to mistakes and trials that I would actively Experience in real time.

My research on what Control is and what it does to our lives on both personal and societal levels has been a direct reaction to realizing that, in so many ways, I have often lived life refusing to Love. In identifying that an obsession with Control is what caused me to not Love others and Connect to them, I've been able to grow.

All because of my research for Sky over this past year and a half. It has been a long process, and it won't ever be done, but Sky is genuinely transforming me into a better person, more and more. It's likely Jenova Chen and those who shared his Vision would never hear my story, even when it is more complete, but I just have to thank this experience for being what I needed. And the best way to thank Sky, is to keep working on being a better and better example of Connection every day. I owe it to every person I've ever hurt, and every person I'll ever care for, to keep learning. 🕯️ 🕯️ 🕯️

"So why am I still here?"

Is a question I think about quite a lot as these years go by.

Okay, so you've learned a valuable lesson from life and that's wonderful. But... it's over now, right?

Why can't I let go? After all, it's just a game. It's just a story. It's just a community. You've been through plenty of those. Why this one? Why are you so caught up? Why are you still here? Every single other person takes in Sky as a brief-to-annual hyperfixation, then either moves on or idly holds onto it as a keepsake. And yet, after everything you've been through, after all the things you've done... you're stilll here.

Is this not Control? If you were to actually Love yourself, would you not take the leap to let go of these things that could have been abandoned already?

"What does Sky mean to you?"

I think it's crucial to see that all this talk of meaning and hidden layers is a Projection. I look for the nuance because I am nuanced. I am never satisfied with a lack of meaning to validate my place in the universe... because I have been constantly unsure of where I stand at all.

"To Find Purpose"

I remain because I can still use this Space as a Framework, to further Understand, to continue to Define what Purpose is and what I want it to be for me. And so I will do that. Not out of Love just for myself. But out of Love for a world that is far greater than just who I am as a person. Not Sky. But Our World. Our hurting world, damaged and broken by Control. I want to understand more about Control, and those who work so hard to maintain it. I think this can be important. And even if it wasn't 'productive'? I will have Loved anyways.

Take care, be aware, be conscious of what you try to Control, and reach out to others, out of Love, out of Connection, not because you are obligated to, not because "it's healthy for you"

But because this universe is full of Love. You are Loved, everyone, and you are Love. Take care everyone. It will turn out alright. ❤❤❤❤❤🕯🕯🕯🕯🕯

[9w1ft]

Hi! Love your account! So I am a recent convert to gaylorism and I tend to align with LSK, but I cannot fit in the timeline Taylor’s sad heartfelt rendition of “I can’t stop loving you”. What’s your take on it? Where they in an off period of their relationship?

hi! happy to have you here :)

i think that in general the post-masters purchase period of 2019 (the back half of the year) was a period of mourning and sadness for many reasons for taylor. the argument could be made that she had just given up her coming out plans. her work had been sold to scooter. her mom was reported to be very sick. maybe there were other sad things that happened, but i don’t think that a kaylor breakup had to have been one of them.

i do however believe that there was a tactical value to taylor and karlie distancing themselves from one another during this period, and i do think it’s possible that they may have played into the perception of their relationship even in the eyes of the people who were in the know. i think that the songs mad woman and vigilante shit both plainly suggest that karlie was the one who got the dirt on scooter and gave it to taylor. because she was the one who still, as we saw, had access to socializing with him and his circle after the masters were bought. i know that a sort of double-agent theory probably comes off as farfetched but i really do believe that at the time taylor was not concerned with how kaylor appeared to kaylors or gaylors. rather, she was laser focused on “inconveniencing herself to prove a point” and karlie (and her relationship to karlie) was one important ally for her in these circumstances. from her perspective, in this situation, platforms like bbc radio one live lounge can be seen as an opportunity to convey a distance between her and karlie, leaving karlie in a position to more freely be around scooter and his circle without his guard being up.

and now, knowing what we know now, i think it’s pretty obvious how people should interpret the line ��she had the envelope, where you think she got it from?” — maybe some people are still stuck on the top layer: where you think she got it from? yael got it from taylor! without considering the next question: where did taylor get it from?

anyway, this is sort of my personal and developing interpretation of the time period, please don’t take it to be consensus opinion, i don’t think there’s been much consensus opinion discussion about this time period with kaylors, not on tumblr at least.

finally. here are some posts i’ve written about different aspects of it! in case you’re interested:

[johaerys-writes]

What do you find most influences your characterization of Achilles when you’re writing? I love all your fics so much btw! 💖

Aah this is such a good question!!! Honestly a lot of the time when I write him I think about his Iliad characterisation, I think it's my favourite. He is so abrasive and self-centered and it makes so much sense within the context of the story and his situation that you can't even be mad about it. I love how intensely he feels all his emotions, Achilles doesn’t do anything by halves: he loves to the max, hates to the max, grieves to the max. There is something so powerful about the fact that his love and his grief go hand in hand with such monumental destruction, like he’s so SCARY in how torrential his passions are but also so very human, and that is always an interesting thought experiment trying to apply those characteristics in different universes or stories. I love that throughout the Iliad we get glimpses of not only how deadly he is, but also a sweet, caring, honourable man that genuinely cares about his fellow humans in his own way, and also about justice and fairness, and it's so painful how that is turned against him in the end. He's just such a complex character with so many layers, and with every fic I write about him I want to peel back those layers and see what I can do with them lol. He contains multitudes and I honestly think he's one of the greatest characters ever conceived in one of the most compelling stories ever written and that inspires me the hell out of me lmao.

Also the fact that he's a demigod, and that he is intentionally written differently from other characters in the Iliad (in the way he speaks and acts and moves, the way he expresses his emotions, in his powers, his connection to Thetis and the sea), like he’s a weirdo by default but also extremely relatable and I find that so endearing. Achilles' weirdness is something that features quite a lot in my works.

I am also inspired by his TSOA and Hades characterisations, as well as his appearances in other ancient greek works (I think I would be lying if I said that TSOA isn't in the dna of most of my patrochilles stories LOL but I usually inject other bits and pieces from other works into his characterisation depending on the fic). I love seeing how other creators were inspired by Achilles and what they decided to do with him, which aspect of his character they chose to focus on, it's always so interesting. It's a good thing that he appears in quite a lot of stuff, both modern and older works, both in writing and in art, so we're a bit spoiled for choice.

Edit: also the fact that the myth of him hiding in Skyros dressed as a woman is so old and embedded into his general myth, and that he was feminine-looking and graceful enough to pass makes me feral....!!!!! ABSOLUTELY FUCKING FERAL!!!! And ALSO that even in the Iliad his role in Patroclus' funeral mirrors that of Andromache in Hector's funeral, like he doesn’t care about gender norms Patroclus is his HUSBAND and Achilles taking on the role of the wife is just!!! Genderfluid Achilles until the day that I die 🥹✊️

Okay I'll shut up now haha I hope I answered your question!! I'm glad you're enjoying my works 💕

[trilobitepunch]

What are some of your favorite character relationships/dynamics in TMNT, and why? Is there anything that you particularly like seeing explored with them in fan works (art, writing, comics, etc)?

Awww I gotta get my brain into answer-questions-mode...

Le's see....

What I really love is the exploration of family bonds, especially in the last two show iterations for 2012 and 2018. The original 198something one didn't really seem to dip too much into it, from what I remember, anyway, and only in hindsight do I realize they didn't really seem very teenagerish either, or at least that aspect just seemed lost to me. It's been a bajillion years and I know I never watched its entirety. Not even touching the comics realm- no idea what's going on there.

I completely missed 2003, but 2012's version was the first one that made it clear that they were- aside from being mutants trained as ninja in the sewers by a rat father- teenagers who loved each other but also could be annoyed at each other and mad at each other, tease and fight but still remember who they are to each other by the end of things. I'll tell you now, I've never been a big romance-oriented person and I don't think those relationships in that show really added much to anything. Funny at times, amusing, yes, but that seemed to be about it. Friendship bonds can be just as strong and meaningful!

Where 2012 dipped into relations between the brothers, 2018 pushed it further. The lads were mostly on their own due to a negligent father, although this new aspect of Splinter was refreshing and I love the idea of all of them basically trying to find their way around things and this nebulous duty bound to their family. I love that April's become more of a big sister to them and still shares some bond even with Splinter, similar to 2012's for the whole master and student angle. I think her relationship with Donnie is a fun one, her go-to for technical issues, for hanging out and homework checks, but she's not afraid to speak her mind and set the boy right when his brain is working too much.

The layers and directions they take with each character just makes it a fun mix when they throw everything together. I love that they don't even outright hate the villains and some of the villains don't even know why they hate the turtles but hey! We'll fight 'em just cuz! Ahaha, these poor kids. I do have to add that I'm also glad that no one's overly lamented about the fact that they've been mutated in this show except for poor Splinter at first, but all the villains basically kinda vibe with it like 'oh, I guess this is how my life is now /shrug'.

I like Raph's self-instated role as the oldest to be the protector, and how he especially looks after Donnie when things get sweaty. Or tries to, anyway, look- his heart's in the right place, even if half the time he ends up smashing his squishy brother by accident. I like the competition that goes on between Mikey and Leo, whether it's just at who's better or who's right, it's a fun dynamic. Of course I love Leo and Donnie antics too, and even though there aren't too many, the implications that they have dove into many a hair-brained scheme is just too funny. ...just going to go through all of them I guess. I'M SORRY, THIS GOT SO LONG AGH Right, Mikey and Donnie, a classic team-up, I love that they support each other so much, and the chaos they can get up to. Even funnier, I love that they actually succeed most of the time. And then Mikey and Raph's little bro vs oldest bro dynamic, which is in a way the same as Leo and Raph in that they can see eye-to-eye and get along, but when they clash, they clash hard. Classic.

...sorry I'm still not done, one more section...!!

When it comes to fanworks, I just like to see more of what was set up in the shows and the movie, but I also like being pleasantly surprised by wild and creative takes now and then. It's like... the reason I RP a character is to get more story, to see how so-and-so goes through and deals with this situation or another, the friends and enemies they might make in a different setting or opportunity. Fanart has glimpses of such things, fanfics and comics explore them in depth. Y'all are amazing, for the record, just saying.

OKAY SHUTTING UP NOW, here's my term paper *hits submit*

[wordslikesilver]

A positive experience I really wanna share with y’all about being trans that I think is so so important to think about. So I’m white, very much from a well off background, all that, also trans so I have experienced plenty of frequent bigotry in my life. I’m doing my damnedest to be aware of and understand the concept of intersectionality and how different layers of identity add different types of privilege or burdens in our society. But you know what else life has taught me so much about as a trans woman? Community.

I’m wrapping up a treatment I’ve just given to an elderly black woman. She looks terribly disparaged at her phone. Ask her what’s up, she tells me oh it’s just there’s so many bigots online. I sit and with a long sigh and small smile I tell her, “yeah. Yeah I know. All too well.” She looks back at me and takes a moment to think then smiles and says “yeah, I suppose you would know.” I feel seen like never before by another person.

I’m at my darling wife’s new year’s celebration at her relatives’ place. We’re playing scattergories. She’s mixed race, lots of black relatives, someone brings up police in passing about something and me and one of her cousins at the same time roll our eyes and both say ACAB and go wide eyed looking at each other, smiling and laughing together about it. It’s a moment of like omg hell yes you totally get me, we know that same anger!

In a women’s space having some girl talk. We talk about makeup and clothes and love. Beauty standards, our bodies, anger, men, love. Cis women asking me tips on eyeliner. Sharing my knowledge and experiences growing as a man and living as a woman. Laughing together about how good it feels being a lesbian, how freeing it feels, how hard it can be. I don’t have periods, but neither does the woman who’s gone through menopause. I’m laughing with them about hot flashes and how miserable they can be. We talk about traveling on the subway, being catcalled, being harassed feeling unsafe. We’ve all been there. They too, are sisters to me.

I’m at a kink party. I’ve brought a bible for some funny impact play. I’m an ex catholic and I love me some heresy in the name of the lord. Emulating the disciplining of another queer person in attempt to cleanse them of sin, deriving pleasure from the ironic madness of the situation. An ex Muslim guy brings out his Quran and angrily reads passages about finding salvation in Allah at the sub we’re having fun with, joining in on the religious heresy. Later in the night, we talk about our experiences and relationships with our religious backgrounds, he’s telling me if he ever went home he’d be killed for his bisexuality. He scorns the radical Muslim faith as strongly as I loathe the radical Christian faiths of the US. We see eye to eye with each other, how of course it’s not all bad, but that doesn’t erase the bad either. I understand in that moment what feelings I didn’t recognize we both have felt caused by our own ways of life we were raised in. The similarities in spite of the world of differences.

I know, I’m just a white girl with a lot to learn in her life about philosophy and privilege and power and a million other little things that separate my experiences from those who’ve lived very, very different lives to me. I will never understand the experience of transmisogynoir and being a trans woman of colour. But that doesn’t mean I can’t empathize with aspects of it. That I cannot build community with them just the same as the people just like me. As I live and learn, I slowly become more aware of the experiences of black peoples, black women, black trans women. I become a more emotionally intelligent person, stumbling into moments like where I, a white trans woman and another, a black cis man, both recognize each other as fellows who’ve known the same pain even if for different reasons. It’s genuinely a favourite experience of mine. The community, the symmetry, the unexpected feelings of “Oh. I didn’t realize we’ve both felt that before. The world feels less lonely than ever, suddenly.” Communities are distinct from each other for experiences unique to them, of course! It’s so beautiful, the rainbow of differences between us all. It is also beautiful, discovering the natural bridges that connecting each other, bringing us together in unity, making us feel so much less isolated in this technicolor world. It’s truly a thing of beauty to me.

From the bottom of my heart, I’d love and appreciate it if folks would reblog/reply with similar experiences they’ve had to this, I think more than ever it is important for us to recognize how close we truly are with the wide and wonderful spectrum of other people around us, nurturing the unity that makes us all shine brighter and stand taller together. Moments where despite how different you were from another person, you could bond with them over experiences you had both lived through and could understand the feelings of. Moments where you found community where you never expected it <3

[shinelikedew]

1,2,17,19,22,23

I think some of the others don't apply since we're a small fandom...Sorry if this is still a lot loI I tried to pick the ones that wont  get ppl too mad at you

Thanks for the ask! Yeah, this fandom is pretty small and chill.

1. the character everyone gets wrong

Gonna get a little salty here and say--even the official screen adaptations mess up Bigwig's character! His characterization in the miniseries is especially egregious here, but it's not so great in the 1999 series either. Because sure, he has a bit of a temper in the book, but in the miniseries he's just so mean and violent all the time :( And in the tv series he's unusually militaristic.

Fandom-wise, it's a little harder to answer because there are so many different versions of each character due to the number of adaptations! Sticking with the Bigwig example, something that's out of character for book!Bigwig might work perfectly for miniseries!Bigwig.

But one thing I'd like to say about one particular guy: tv!Campion is deeply hypocritical and not as noble as everyone thinks. He betrays everyone a million times and his moral compass pretty much points to the nearest rabbit he cares about rather than any greater ideals. I love the guy but he is NOT the paragon of integrity the other characters act like he is. honestly vervain is kinda right about him

Also? Another thing I think is overlooked is how paranoid and insecure Woundwort is—I think he's driven by fear, and he wields his power so oppressively because he is afraid of losing it. He might not be afraid of stoats or dogs, but he's certainly not fearless either.

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

Ok I'm going to respond as if this said dom/sub because top/bottom is just sex positions and that's not so interesting to me.

ANyway. 'Never' is a strong word, but I think tv!Campion definitely leans submissive because of his devotion complex thing. As I see it, he's a guy who has no identity or self-worth beyond who he can fight and die for, who defines and values himself solely by what he can do for others, and as such he can’t live without wholly devoting himself to someone. (like...in s3 he's out of this dynamic for a few months and he spends the entire time wishing he was dead.) I think he wants to be told what to do. I think he wants to show loyalty through service. I think this would probably be the case with whoever you want to ship him with given how obsessed he's gotten with like 4 separate characters. And obviously kink is not a 1:1 reflection of what a person is like in everyday life, but I think Campion is just so Like That that it affects every aspect of his life.

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

everyone should draw/write about the rarepairs i invented :) /hj

19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

Hmm this is a vague question so I'm not really sure how to answer it. But honestly, being someone who enjoys angst and whump in general feels kind of weird when all the characters are bunnies... Trying to figure out how "dark" I actually want to go with various things is difficult. who knows what direction my campion/primrose divorce fic will go in... (it's efrafa-era so. yknow)

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Aaaa I have so many favorite parts! I'll just pick some things that people don't talk about much.

Book: Blackavar isn't necessarily ignored, but I do wish more people talked about him! His backstory is so interesting and he has like 17 layers of trauma and I want to know more about his friendships with Holly and Bigwig and Hyzenthlay!

Tv series: all that Primrose/Campion/Hazel stuff! They had so much more chemistry than Campion and Blackberry... (caveat that i don't hate camp/bby, it was just way too sudden) Ok I guess this question says "part of canon" and they are not a canon ship. but they DO have canon interactions and I think we should talk about that more.

Also nobody ever remembers Aspen :(

Miniseries: NETTLE!! but we knew I would say this

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

you know this answer, you wrote the fanfiction!! Ww/Hyz was never something I thought i could get behind, but you made it interesting. *hat tip*

Only works in very specific aus though

From this ask game

[deadlykitten404]

Okay im sure people have done this before, but its time to mash together the hyperfixations, here's my take on stp Princesses x tma Fears

Title explains it ig, but i just got through the episode where gerry explains the fears to jon, so i dont feel too spoiled to reference the wiki, so here's the fears i think each of the slay the princess routes align with/are avatars of

(for the sake of post length and potential spoilers, pairings are under the cut. also ive color coded them for fun and bc its easier for me to read, i apologize if its straining, i can remove it)

Chapter 2 Princesses:

Damsel - The Stranger - She seems normal, until you dig deeper into who "she" is, and she devolves into a more and more uncanny version of herself until she gets yoinked

Prisoner - The Lonely - This one is weird, because the Princess is pretty resigned in her fate, regardless of what route you take. Having said that, I was torn between Buried and Lonely, but ultimately chose Lonely since Prisoner isn't exactly worried about being trapped (she's okay with both being decapitated and with waiting it out). She feels more Lonely, since her instance is self-inflicted, she had to kill Quiet so they could move on, which in turn trapped her even more than Chapter 1.

Witch - The Desolation - This one is more emotional than Desolation is usually thought of, but the Witch is convinced that after Quiet's actions in Chapter 1 his only intention is to break her down further. Additionally, she's fine with killing him regardless of what that means for her because then it will feel like revenge (unless you guilt trip her lol)

Beast - The Hunt - This one's easy, her entire goal is to eat Quiet lol

Adversary - The Slaughter - This one was also difficult, since many of the Fears are tied to "senseless" killing, and Adversary just wants a good fight. She's more of a mma fighter than a murderer, but her main motivation is still murder, though definitely in more of a human way than an animalistic way, so she went to Slaughter.

Tower - The Web - Her entire thing is manipulation, she doesn't even want to bloody her own hands if she can help it.

Razor - The Slaughter - Unlike Adversary, Razor does find joy in senseless killing, so she fits right in with Slaughter (I did also consider Hunt, but her goal isn't it work down the player, just to stab him) (also this is applied to "No Way Out" and "The Empty Cup" since they're just continuations of Razor and not their own Princesses)

Stranger - The Spiral - i know, it seems like she would go to the Stranger, but she actually knows exactly who she is, just not why. In Chapter 1, she acts more like fractions of herself, her world descending into madness. Her madness leads her to not know who she is, not the other way around (if it was that would lend closer to Stranger).

Spectre - The Lonely - Spectre is one of the least aggressive, and doesn't really align with many of the other fears, but her personal fear is being trapped again after getting so close to getting out.

Nightmare - The Lonely - Like Spectre, her entire motivation is centered in being left behind after being teased with being released, her pre-death monologue is an increasingly more desperate "Let me out," scared of being left behind again (though her outward motivation aligns more with Slaughter, with wanting to spread fear and terror for fun).

Chapter 3 Princesses:

Grey (Burned) - The Desolation - Both for the fire aspect, and the bodily destruction. Burned Grey doesn't really have much malice, but the only thing that she knows is to destroy to try to get what she wants

Grey (Drowned) - The Vast - Unfortunately there isn't really a Fear connected to revenge, so Vast works best with Drowned Grey since its connected to deep ocean. Ironically, it's one of the shallower connections, but Drowned Grey is made up of layers of frustration, betrayal, and anger, which is more like sadness than fear (although she is more unsettling than Burned Grey).

Thorn - The Buried - Thorn is also tricky, since at this point she's basically just tired, not scared or threatening. I've given her to Buried since she is physically trapped, and wants to get out but doesn't trust the Quiet to actually let her out because of their rocky past.

Wild - The Eye - Wild is really the only one that doesn't quite align with a Fear. I was going to assign her to Vast, since Shifty describes her as endless, but I settled on Eye since she is inherently non-aggressive, knows more because she's one with Quiet, and can locate the Narrator when the others aren't aware of him. I guess she also aligns with Slaughter since the only thing she expresses fear of is pain, but a few others get Slaughter, so I've given her to the Eye.

Den - The Hunt - Just like the Beast, but even more. She's only an animal at this point, and her only goal is to kill and eat.

The Eye of the Needle - The Slaughter - Like the Den, (and Razor, to a more direct extent), Needle is an expansion of Adversary, so her goal doesn't change, she's just more focused. This form fits Slaughter a bit more though, since there are some routes where she'll attack you outright.

Fury - The Desolation - Though Fury is also an extension of Adversary, she's more concerned with the means of death than the actual killing (I'm also not keeping her under Web, since she is now going for Quiet directly instead of trying to manipulate him). She doesn't just want to kill Quiet, she wants it to hurt.

Apotheosis - The Web - Unlike Fury, Apotheosis gets to keep Web since she isn't concerned about killing Quiet, but she does now have infinite power. Also potentially The Vast, but that's purely because of her physical size.

Wraith - The Web - While Adversary has the emotional manipulation, Wraith has the physical manipulation. (I also considered The End because I hadn't assigned any Princesses to The End, but this was purely because she's a skeleton, so if you want a Princess a Fear, feel free to associate her with The End).

The Moment of Clarity - The Lonely - Like her prior counterparts, Clarity just craves companionship so inherently that her fear leads her to violence.

Well, that's all of them! To anyone that read through this, thanks! Might end up doing this with the Voices as well, though they would likely end up just aligning with whatever Fear is assigned to the Princess that causes them.

Of the Princesses (to me), none align with The Corruption (though the devs did say that the Stranger started as a bug princess, so i guess she's Corruption in spirit), The Dark, The End, or The Flesh.

[sketchy-tour]

Finally FINALLY finishes House of Leaves

And I am about to RAMBLE because I have so many thoughts and I'm already gonna have to reread it again someday but AUGH this is. My FAVORITE book ever.

SO! Gosh! Never before have I read a book that encourages you so full heartedly to engage in the madness of it. From page one I felt like I was latching on to a cursed object, which more accurately I now feel like I was stepping into an endless labyrinth, unaware of the journey I would be going on.

And that's just it! The book is a journey. From what I see from others who read this book, everyone's paths and thoughts and opinions and theories are all so wildly different which gives me this beautiful sense of everyone starting at the same point of a maze and yet all becoming separated through the winding halls.

ANYWAY! Johnny Truant, though polarizing to a lot of people, was by far my favorite aspect of the book. Most of my need to reread comes from wanting to analyze him and his actions and stories and wanting to pinpoint what I believe he's telling the truth about and how much of it is a lie. But in the end, I want to understand HIM! His view of himself and the world he's in.

Through the layers we get to see Navidson, Zampano, Johnny, and then ourselves all get thrown into an obsessive spiral that we can't quite shake out of only for it to consume us. We see the paths the others took and yet still find ourselves taking a different route entirely. Shouting across planes of narrative to try and make sense as to where we are within the cold dark walls.

And in the end, we are the Minatour, trapped in our own minds and becoming our own beasts unto ourselves. Fueled by our obsession.

What makes a home? What happens when a home is inhabited? What happens when we inhabit ourselves? What happens the possession instead posseses you?

I have so many thoughts and feelings, I can't feasibly make it all connect and make sense.

But needless to say. This is, by far, my favorite book.