#He’s actively making the effort to unlearn that

[brokendoor16]

My favourite part about ‘morally grey’ characters by FAR is like. The dichotomy between who they are and who they’re trying to be. Does their moral compass naturally point to Good, but they’re trying desperately to abandon their morals in order to survive?? Or are they so broken down already that it’s naturally pointing to Evil, even as they consciously try to do The Right Thing?? Idk but either way it is AMAZING to read (when done justice ofc).

[starboyshoyo]

Hold Me Close

Characters: Riddle Rosehearts, Deuce Spade, Ruggie Bucchi, Azul Ashengrotto

Fandom: Twisted Wonderland 

Genre: fluff

Physical affection headcanons with some of the NRC boys!

Riddle Rosehearts 

The teacup tyrant isn’t the most experienced when it comes to physical affection, or even fondness in general. He probably hasn’t gotten a hug more than twice in his life. When you give him a taste of what love is supposed to be like, he’s hooked right away. 

The first time you convinced Riddle to sit on the couch in his room together, he couldn’t believe how good it felt to be held. He has always considered cuddling to be a waste of time that could be used for studying. He had definitely collared couples he had found snuggling up in public as well, ranting about proper conduct in the hallways and inappropriate public displays of affection and whatnot. But now, he can understand those people who couldn’t wait a single second longer to have their lover in their arms. It takes a lot of self-control not to leap into yours every time he sees you. However, Riddle’s strict mindset can’t be unlearned overnight. It’s practically ingrained in him to worry about the opinions of others, and he won’t do anything to damage the pristine public image he’s built up for himself at NRC.

The most PDA you’ll get out of him is holding hands or linking arms in the hallway while he walks you to your next class, gentleman-style. If he’s feeling a bit bolder, then he’ll give you a chaste kiss on the back of the hand or forehead when saying goodbye. It’s not that he doesn’t want to be closer to you in public; he’s just too nervous to actually take initiative. 

In private, Riddle still holds true to his stiff nature, but he’s much more mild. He doesn’t mind you hugging him tightly or cuddling into his side when the two of you are in a room alone. Normally, he will automatically assume the position of the ‘holder.’ He wants to be your protector and make you feel safe with him, like a traditional gentleman. He loves it when you hug him by looping your arms under his and placing your hands on his upper back. It reminds him of the position used for ballroom dancing, an elegant activity that he associates with fairy tales and true love- intimately close, yet still proper and pure.

The only time Riddle’s rational brain will shut off and his inhibitions disappear entirely is when Riddle is upset. After collaring someone in public, he’ll rush for privacy. When alone, his frustration tends to pour out in angry tears. He’ll immediately seek refuge in your arms when this happens. Please, just hold him close. Let him bury his face in your neck and cry his heart out. It’s quite sad to see, but crying helps him get his stress out in a healthier way than screaming at Ace and Deuce. 

Finally, when Riddle is in a serious, committed relationship, he’d be willing to share a bed with you. It would take a long while to get to this point- he wants you guys to have discussed and laid out plans for a future together before even considering it. Sleeping is when he’s in his most vulnerable state- the fact that he trusts you enough to ask you to stay with him at night is a testament to how much he loves you.

A lot of time and effort would be spent in a relationship with Riddle, but in the end,  you are the only one who gets to hold him at night. And seeing his relaxed face and peaceful breathing while he rests on your chest is all worth it. 

Deuce Spade

In spite of the honors student act and tough-guy demeanor that Deuce tries to maintain, he is so very soft. No matter how much time passes, Deuce will never not get excited and flustered when you cuddle with him, even if it’s just a simple side-hug in the classroom after a lesson. He’ll sit up straight and stiffen, cheeks burning and lips pressed together in an effort not to let out a shrill squeak. If you kiss him, expect him to pull you in closer and hold your hands, gazing at you with wide eyes and telling you he loves you as if he’s confessing for the first time, all over again. It's enough to cause anyone around you to gag on the sweetness and sincerity that pours out of this boy.

Deuce is inexperienced in romance, and pretty shy when it comes to initiating things. He doesn’t want to come off as pushy or disrespectful, so for a while it might just be you who asks if you can hold hands. The more you show him that you want affection from him, the more confident he’ll get at initiating it himself. Slowly but surely your boyfriend will begin to brush his fingers shyly against yours, and lean in just a little closer when talking to you, hoping you’ll get the hint and just kiss him already.

If you ask for a hug, Deuce will say yes, no matter what. He spent years playing the part of a delinquent, and refusing the hugs his mother offered him at that time. It pains him to think of how much that must have hurt her, and he never wants you to feel that way. In a way, Deuce sees your affection almost like a second chance to do things the right way. 

In public, Deuce wants to uphold the image of an honors student. That means no making out in the open. He will want to hold your hand, hug you, and spend moments snuggled up side by side on benches around campus, though. While a bit flustered that someone would want to be so close to him, he’s never embarrassed to be seen with you. He  wants the world to know that you’re together. You love him! … You love him. 

Deuce changes his levels of PDA depending on who’s around, and how comfortable he is with them. Deuce wants to earn the respect of his housewarden (and also doesn’t want a collar around his neck) so he’ll hold off on kissing in front of Riddle. He’ll still hold your hand gently, and Riddle will be able to see how hard Deuce is trying to be proper for you. He can’t fault him for that. 

With Trey and Cater, expect a very shy but affectionate version of Deuce. While he won’t initiate anything on his own in front of them, Cater will probably make a comment that gives him the push he needs to give you the attention you’ve been waiting for. Trey is more subtle about it, but don’t be surprised if he ‘accidentally’ brings one less fork than needed for the treats he baked, so that you have to share one. He might even teasingly suggest that you feed Deuce, if he’s feeling mischievous.

Around the other first years, Deuce is a lot bolder when it comes to affection. Ace and Epel seem to enable him a bit, with their constant teasing, and besides, they already know how Deuce is as a person. There’s no pressure to act proper, so he’ll pull you in for lip kisses and be direct when holding your hand. If you point it out though, he might become shy again and push his face into your shoulder to hide the flush on his cheeks. Please don’t tease him, he just wants to love you. 

Ruggie Bucchi

Ruggie is a bit unconventional when it comes to contact. His main form of physical affection is play-fighting. It’s not unlike the courtship rituals of certain animals that will wrestle and chase each other around before pairing off. Ruggie will take the slightest bits of affection as an invitation to tackle you and roll you onto the couch or bed or even the grass. It turns into a tussle, with the both of you trying to pin the other and make them concede. 

This usually ends in one of two ways- Number one is the normal outcome. You’ll roll around until one of you ends up sitting on the other’s back, with a few bruises to show for the effort. The loser has to buy lunch that day! (It really doesn’t matter who buys the food, you end up sharing all of it anyways.)

Number two is when Ruggie is feeling romantic and realizes that wow, your face is super close to his right now, and that he really, really loves you. Abruptly, the wrestling will stop and he’ll pull you closer to him, burying his face in your neck and giving you a gentle nip. When you yelp, he’ll giggle into the spot- shishishishi, I gotcha now. Even when drunk on love, Ruggie is playful.

When it comes to traditional PDA, Ruggie is as shameless with you as he is with his meals. Doesn’t matter if you’re in class, walking around campus, or straight up sitting on Leona’s bed. He will try to make out with you and no, he doesn’t care who sees. He wants the world to know that hey, he’s yours. You chose him and he chose you. There’s nothing they can do about it, so don’t even try! If you are uncomfortable with the level he goes to though, he will ease up and opt for cheek kisses or slinging his arm around your shoulder instead. 

While not a form of physical contact, Ruggie loves it when you wear the few articles of clothing that are actually his and not Leona’s hand-me-downs. Things like his bandana scarf are precious to him because he worked hard to be able to call them his. So seeing you in them makes him feel like you’ve accepted him into your heart, truly and fully. 

Azul Ashengrotto

In private, Azul has no problem giving you a gentle kiss or two or letting you sit on his lap and lean on his chest while he works out new ways to scam his customers. It makes him happy that you enjoy spending time with him even while doing mundane things. Time passes so much quicker when you’re around. However, when it comes to more intimate activities like makeout sessions, he cannot initiate one without dying inside a little bit. How is he supposed to ask for something like that with a straight face? 

Please run your hands through his hair. He loves it and cannot get enough of it. In fact, Azul just loves being pampered in general. He always wants to be the little spoon when you share a bed or lay down together. Rub his back, tell him he’s handsome and shower him in kisses. He will eat it up like a starved man. 

Azul is suave in public, and very good at hiding his emotions. But even he can’t hide how much he adores you. It doesn’t matter if you want to hug him around the waist in public or nuzzle into him- he can’t say no to you, nor does he want to. He’ll try to deflect the flustered look on his face and stay calm, but he just can’t when you’re so close to him.

Just like Riddle, Azul will have to be very comfortable with you before he trusts you enough to let you sleep in the same bed as him. Azul actually reverts back to his octopus body when he’s exhausted enough- and early on he’s terrified that you’ll be disgusted at his true form. He’ll go to great lengths to make sure you never see it- at least until you get serious. Then, he’ll tentatively reveal it to you. When you tell him he’s beautiful, he’ll bawl his eyes out and squeeze you tight enough to crack a rib. You’ll have sucker marks on your skin for a week after that. 

Oh dear. The octopus escaped his pot again and now he’s clinging onto your leg. Once Azul gets his arms around you, he will not let go for anything. He’s desperate for sincere love and will milk your attention for as much as it’s worth. Indulge him for a bit- he needs the reassurance that you want him as much as he wants you.

Comments and reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[umalvie]

what iroh should have been, and how it would've impacted zuko and azula's arcs

in terms of canon atla, aside from my criticisms of the orientalism woven into the show's fabric, its pattern of telling not showing, the tumor-like presence of filler episodes that don't do enough as character studies or dynamic studies (mostly in book 3; in book 1 i'm more forgiving of these since atla was still finding its groove), and my issues with zuko's redemption arc not challenging his political beliefs in a meaningful way, the thing that i would consider its biggest failure writing-wise is the fact that iroh is not intentionally portrayed as a morally gray character.

the thing about iroh is that he is a longtime war criminal. they try to soft retcon some of that in book 3 by making his nickname "the dragon of the west" about him pretending to have hunted the dragons into extinction and by making him a part of the white lotus, but this to me is not only grievously boring but also a waste of his character.

i understand why the idea of iroh as little more than zuko's loving, wise, and kooky uncle makes people happy. it means zuko gets to have a father figure who loves him unconditionally and makes him feel safe. that's a lovely concept! but not a very interesting one in terms of the narrative, nor is it one congruent with iroh's initial characterization.

think of the absolute contempt and terror he struck into those earthbenders who tried to arrest him in book 1. think of the fact that he besieged ba sing se for 600 days straight well into his adulthood (his age is unclear, but i'd presume he's somewhere in his mid to late 50s throughout atla, so he would at youngest in his 40s when he lead the siege of ba sing se). think of the fact that iroh only changed his mind about his very active part in the war as a grown man once his son was killed. think of the fact that iroh spent 3 years with zuko in exile without ever once actively making a real effort to help zuko unlearn the fire nation propaganda he was indoctrinated with from birth or to truly help him understand that ozai abused him. think of the fact that the white lotus didn't really do much of anything throughout the war to end it.

what picture do these facts paint? is it really that of a reformed war criminal? no, not really.

iroh loves zuko unconditionally. he is patient and kind and loving with zuko. i don't think there's much, if any, room to argue with that. i am not denying that to zuko, iroh is a loving, wise, and kooky uncle.

however, i am saying that iroh is multifaceted. he is zuko's loving, wise, and kooky uncle, and he is also a war criminal who, despite the show telling us has reformed his ways, is not shown to have done so in any meaningful way. he does not do much to help zuko to unlearn imperialist propaganda, does not do much to discourage zuko from trying to capture the avatar, and does not do much at all to end the war.

this makes for an incredibly interesting and dynamic character! this is a character who believes that his personal kindness absolves him of his heinous political misdeeds. that is why he does not do anything meaningful to challenge imperialism where he sees it. that is why he is also a kind, loving man. he's hugely flawed, but he also has virtues that make you want him to overcome his flaws! there is so much room for him to develop whether it's negatively or positively, and there is so much that can be done with the relationships he has, especially his relationship with zuko! furthermore, this is the summation of what the canon material overall most strongly presents us with.

but it's not how the narrative wants us to view iroh, so it's not how the narrative treats him.

instead, we are told that iroh is a reformed war criminal (and later even the notion that he was in the wrong for his military service to the fire nation is soft retconned) who is now nothing but a loving and supportive uncle to zuko. he's unfailingly kind to both zuko and the gaang, ty lee lets slip that she actually rather likes him despite azula's contempt of him to show us that ty lee is an antivillain who will be redeemed (despite her political beliefs never being actually challenged in a meaningful way), and really the only people iroh is unkind to or who dislike him are azula and ozai to highlight to the audience that they are villains.

this makes for an incredibly static character who essentially only exists to love zuko and act as his moral tether despite the fact that iroh never actually challenges zuko's political beliefs. iroh does not need to grow or develop within the narrative atla tells us exists. he has already done his self-reflection and repented for his behavior. he is a figure of moral authority. while this makes him feel safe and good to viewers who accept what atla tells them without question, in addition to not aligning with what's actually shown, it also makes him insanely bland from a narrative perspective.

but what if atla intentionally portrayed him as morally gray? what if they leaned into his shortcomings?

here's the thing about if iroh is intentionally portrayed as morally gray: zuko's redemption arc improves drastically, and azula's is given a much better opportunity to begin.

hear me out. if iroh is morally gray, then he is not solely there to show zuko what real, unconditional love looks like so that zuko can replace his abusive father with a loving father figure, giving him the strength to do the right thing and join the gaang. i'm not saying iroh no longer serves this function in the narrative; i'm saying that now that iroh does this, and his failure to meaningfully repent for his war crimes and to challenge imperialism creates conflict with zuko. you see, if iroh is morally gray, then his failure to challenge zuko's political beliefs (i.e. imperialism is good) is something that zuko is forced to reckon with throughout his redemption arc.

this would mean that zuko is finally actually challenged in his political beliefs as opposed to simply accepting that people are afraid of him because he is a destructive firebender/the prince and thus representative of the harm they have endured throughout the war. furthermore, it means that zuko has to go against a father figure who has treated him well, so his redemption is no longer a matter rooted in kindness but in moral conviction. zuko doesn't have to lose his love for iroh to do this; in fact, that would be a very boring way to portray this. it is far more interesting if zuko has the internal conflict of both loving his uncle and condemning him politically as he struggles to do the right thing in spite of that love.

the idea of zuko managing to grow beyond iroh and do the right thing even though it is hard, even though it means not only going against ozai's malice but also iroh's complicty, is one that would round zuko's arc out better.

it's also one that would open up the gates for an azula redemption arc a lot more than what canon does (although canon azula is still redeemable).

if zuko outgrows iroh enough to challenge his inaction, then he has outgrown iroh enough to start to really see his flaws.

one of zuko's main flaws in canon is that he has a very black and white way of thinking. this is a hugely defining flaw for him. it's why he struggled to accept that ozai abused him, why he struggled to see that his pursuit of the avatar and thus the war as a whole was wrong, why he got physically ill when he was confronted with the fact that he was harming people, etc.

but if zuko starts to see that iroh's inaction as a flaw despite the fact that iroh loves him so sincerely and is so kind to most everyone, then he can start to break this black and white thinking. like ozai, iroh is no longer on a pedestal in zuko's mind. this would lead to the unearthing of more of iroh's flaws.

in conjunction with the fact that zuko has now seen proof of azula's pain (her psychotic break in the last agni kai), this means that zuko can start to place blame where it's due with people over her pain.

i am under no delusions about the state of zuko's relationship with azula in canon. i've expanded on my thoughts about the love between them here if you'd like to see them, but i can sum it up as so: while azula cares about zuko in her own deeply screwed up way, zuko doesn't really care about azula because he is shortsighted and struggles to empathize with her or even see a need to.

however, seeing proof that azula has been harmed too means that zuko would finally see a reason she is worthy of his empathy. the first, most obvious, and easiest to identify (for zuko) perpetrator is, of course, ozai. like with the war, ozai is clearly malicious. now that zuko has admitted and accepted that his father was abusive to him, it is much easier for him to admit that their father is responsible for azula's pain too. this much i believe is likely in canon as well.

the next person for zuko to look to, which can only happen if zuko has opened his eyes, is iroh. like with the war post 600 day siege, iroh was not malicious in his treatment of azula, but he was still complicit. iroh may not have abused azula, but he did neglect her entirely. he did not give her a chance to ever be anything but what ozai told her she should be. he did not show her love and compassion the way he did zuko. furthermore, he not only failed to encourage zuko to ever try doing so, he actively discouraged him from attempting to.

to be clear: i don't think zuko should be a mentor figure to azula during her redemption. like azula, he's just a kid. he's still growing and learning himself. he also doesn't really understand her at all, even if he has realized that she was hurt too. he doesn't understand how she was, and he's going to have to spend a lot of time reconciling the way their father's abuse colored his perception of her with how she actually is. furthermore, their relationship is complicated and full of pain for them both, so relying too heavily on it to help azula recover and redeem herself would end badly if we're being realistic.

but zuko seeing that azula was abused by their father and seeing that their uncle's failure to ever give her a chance to understand real love is crucial to him realizing that the asylum is not somewhere that gives her a real shot at recovery and redemption.

whether or not azula takes that shot when it's given to her is a more complicated story that would involve both zuko and azula having to reflect more wholly and honestly on ursa than i think either of them ever have before as well as some likely very painful conversations challenging the way she, like all other fire nation citizens, was indoctrinated, but do you see how interesting treating iroh as the morally gray character he is could be?

even if you don't want to see a redeemed azula (i personally do, but the possibility of her rejecting the idea of redemption is also quite fascinating and tragic in this context), zuko's arc and the commentary made about redemption and second chances overall are made so much more interesting and nuanced by this simple choice.

[mal3vol3nt]

What's your favorite ship ((canon or noncanon) that isn't Kataang?

i have a love for all of the canon ships to be honest. kataang is my absolute favorite by a LONG shot, but i do appreciate and enjoy content for all the other canon couples, so it’s a little difficult to pick just one as my second-runner-up, so i’m gonna be a little extra in answering this and just rant about what i love about each couple (sorry!) 😭

sukka -> they are just so cute. i love the way in which sokka seems to love everything about her and how she appreciates all the silly ways he expresses his love for her. he truly admires her as a warrior despite feeling protective over her safety, and takes pride in the fact that she’s taught him not only combat but a new outlook on the world. they’re true equals with leveled respect for one another, seeing as suki is so quick to follow sokka’s lead in battle and he is quick to utilize her skills. also can’t lie, i love it when fictional boyfriends craft things for their girlfriends out of a genuine show of affection, so him making her a flower necklace and sculpting her out of sand was so sweet (despite how poorly made the sculpture was LMAO, but she still liked it)

yue x sokka -> their doomed lovers drama was done so well in my opinion. yue was a young girl with her whole life planned out for her. she had an arranged marriage set and was about to live the rest of her life confined to the restrictive rules of the northern water tribe. meeting sokka allowed her to experience a taste of freedom and true love before her physical death, and i truly think she was his first love. he loved yue, not the princess she was expected to be. he wanted to protect her not out of duty but because he saw her as someone so valuable and beautiful. and in the end he still has such a strong admiration and love for her, a respect for the sacrifice she made even if it hurts him to think about

maiko -> they make so much sense to me. they’re both emotionally stunted teenagers who grew up in fire nation nobility, and their relationship is put through some dramatic ups and downs as a result. mai had an early childhood crush on him, liking him despite all the ways he narratively “didn’t meet the standards” of the prince he was supposed to be. when they first get together, they’re at different points in their unlearning of the propaganda they were raised in. zuko’s just helped take over ba sing se, a huge win for him and his family, but he’s not content. so him and mai step on each other’s toes for a bit, trying to get used to this new reality in which the fire nation is on a clear path to victory and zuko isn’t quite present in the celebrations. his inner turmoil is something mai doesn’t know how to provide comfort to since he’s trying and failing to find balance between what he’s always wanted and these new morals affecting his perception of it

but as he starts settling in a little, trying to make peace with what’s happened, their relationship is able to get comfortable too. he allows himself to relax with her, momentarily get away from his stressors, and we see her do the same. she smiles more and speaks outside of that monotone pitch and boredom she’s known for, and makes an active effort to cheer him up when something sends him down a negative path, such as the mentioning of the war meeting. of course, she isn’t aware of what exactly is causing this turmoil and likely wouldn’t be able to relate to it herself seeing as she didn’t have her own uncle iroh, but she still tries to meet him there

so although they’re not perfect, largely because zuko is still so angry inside and mai has her own conflict due to her upbringing too, it’s clear that they do have a genuine care for each other

and despite their ups and downs and the fact that she may not fully understand zuko’s reasoning for switching sides in the war, she has enough love for him to not stand in his way. this is his choice and she’s going to allow him to make it, even if that means sacrificing her own safety and position in the fire nation. she saves his life and is thrown into prison, and it’s then that zuko sees just how much he matters to her. she’s not choosing azula. she’s choosing him. and even though she clearly has a lot to unlearn (much like zuko did), i think her being willing to turn away from her friends and, thus, her nation as well is a step in the right direction

[the-violet-galaxy]

Moon in the Killswap AU, to go along with Sun! This Swap AU explores TSAMS if Sun had been the one with the killcode – and by extension, Moon is the one Eclipse manifests inside of.

The twins’ backstory is almost the same as canon. Moon was born with no control over the body, and was angry and lashed out at Sun for this (and was an asshole to pretty much everyone else when he did have control.)  Sun was afraid of him, but still tried to reach out. They came to an understanding, became brothers, and found a way to separate.

Where the backstory differed is with Sun. His killcode was like a switch that activated when he was pushed to a limit, reacting to abuse, mistreatment, the breaking of rules. Moon’s abuse was one of the things that could trigger Sun’s killcode, which emotionally destroyed Sun every time he came back to himself to find someone dead by his hands; during these early years, Moon was so bitter about his circumstances that he sometimes egged Sun on and mocked him for his efforts to not kill people.

But eventually, he knew Sun was not to blame, and wanted to change for the better. He wanted to help Sun suppress his Killcode. So, he separated them, so they could start a new chapter in their lives.

But Sun considered himself too weak to ever fully control his killcode – so while they were in the process of separating, he secretly snuck it through the datastream into Moon’s head, who he thought would never be affected by it.

And Eclipse manifested inside of Moon, who was “Sun” trapped alone within the mind of his abuser…

And a year later Eclipse shows up and begins his crusade to ruin the brothers’ lives and to find the Star to bring order to the world! While inside Moon, he starts amplifying Moon’s faults. He eggs on his abusive behavior towards Sun, his assholish behavior to others, and, one of Moon’s biggest struggles: his controlling nature.

Because these are all faults that Moon has, and Eclipse shines an especially strong light on them. This causes tension between the brothers as they try to figure out what to do, when Eclipse keeps hijacking Moon’s body in search of that Star.

(Especially when Sun’s killcode starts regenerating, and as with before, when Moon is abusive towards Sun, that is one of the big triggers to make the killcode’s influence stronger and stronger until Killcode as a sapient entity is strong enough to be born. For Sun’s arc, the killcode is like a metaphor for “taking revenge and hurting the people who hurt you back,” which Sun desperately wants to fight against.)

And so, one of the big parts of the AU is Moon having to learn to be a better person – to keep changing for the better -- to unlearn his abusive patterns. That will be the key.  

Because one thing’s for sure: Sun is the most important person in Moon’s world. Even during the times when he hurts him, he still loves him more than anything. He vows he WILL protect Sun (and the rest of his family that come later), he will keep Eclipse from the Star so he can’t use it to kill them, he will save Sun when Solar is implanted in his head (and later, protect Solar when he is their brother), he will find a way to remove Sun’s killcode when it regenerates and becomes sentient.

(But it won’t be that easy. And, well, when things keep NOT going his way, Moon might end up with a very unhappy arc that ends in disastrous consequences the way it did for Sun when Sun killed Bloodmoon…)   

And that’s an overview for Moon!

Some other notes:

Moon has very little knowledge of Magig. Sun is the master magic user.

Moon is the one who suffered July 16 because of the Blacksun Burn Twins, and boy is he mad at them.

Roxanne replaces Monty and is Sun’s close friend. Whether there is a crush or not, Moon still teases Sun about having a crush on Roxanne.

It’ll be fun to write how Moon interacts differently with Solar and Killcode when they control Sun’s body. (He first realizes Solar is in there when Solar isn’t good at acting happy and jittery like Sun.) (But he haaaaates Killcode’s guts sososo much you guys.)

(It will also shine a light on Killswap Moon’s difference between Old Moon and New Moon from TSAMS canon.)  

That’s him! I should probably draw Eclipse next!

[littlefeatherr]

The Bad Batch S2 Rewatch: Pabu

Phee doesn't tell the batch what they need as a family. She shows them by example and by letting them draw their own conclusions. She's helping them unlearn thinking strictly as soldiers with tactical objectives. Some examples I picked up during my rewatch:

Phee takes them as far from the Empire as possible, where other displaced families have made a life under the radar.

She puts her "pirating" activities in a different light with the batch by revealing that she's acquiring items for the benefit and cultural preservation of the refugees.

Teaching them by example that helping others is important even if you're not personally affected by their struggles, and:

That the preservation of all cultures and art is worth much more than money.

She introduces Hunter to Shep, a single father who's successful in his career and serves his community while raising a happy, well-adjusted daughter.

Introduces Tech and Wrecker to Shep and Lyanna, regular people who aren't clones and who are friendly and don't judge them. Incidentally, up until they met Suu Lawquane and later, Romar, the batch mostly had bad experiences with the regular citizens of the galaxy (Cid, Rafa Martez, Roland Durand).

Phee introduces Omega to another girl her age, Lyanna. It allows her brothers to see how happy it makes Omega to have a little friend and that it's good for both girls.

Shep teaches them that there's more to being a parent than providing necessities and protection. Fun, hospitality, and playtime also teach kids independence (as well as the batch).

In Shep, a big man with a big heart, generous and caring who enjoys relaxing with friends, Wrecker discovers a friend who accepts him as he is. Others in Pabu also befriend Wrecker.

Tech discovers that much of the knowledge he has can be useful to rebuild communities, infrastructure and help people rather than solely for war.

Phee encourages Omega to explore and enjoy nature and wildlife away from her brothers.

She essentially gives Tech and Hunter permission to relax and take time to enjoy the simple things, like twinkling lights at sunset.

The community effort to work together saved them from the destruction of the earthquake and sea surge. This is a brand new experience for the "trust nobody but your squad" batch.

They learned thst community is vital during unpredictable life events, and:

Staying together as a community and sharing resources provides a sense of safety and security regardless of the circumstances.

It's important as a member of any community to help strangers, children, elderly and disabled, risking your own life to do so. Very different than prioritizing your fellow clones over the local people during combat.

The batch experienced being part of a community, giving more than money: each one shared their time, skills, labor, food, and friendship.

These are just a few of the things that stood out to me.

Wrecker sensing the earthquake along with Hunter was also a surprise. He turned to Hunter just as he looked around, and then Wrecker also turned as well. It made me wonder if he sensed the movement or if he heard the noise that accompanies large earthquakes. And just what abilities their enhancements give them.

It struck me that Pabu is the first inhabited planet the batch has visited that was untouched by war - no garrison, no scarred landscape, no Empire, no clone troopers on duty. It struck me that they've probably never seen what peace actually looks like for the citizens of the galaxy. It's a deeply sad realization.

Please feel free to share anything you noticed to this post. 😊

[cryptidclaw]

I have some questions...

1 - How did Firesight's relationship with Shriketail (I don't know how to write his name😭) happen?

2 - Firesight that had the Sand and Shrike kits? Is Sandstorm a trans chimera?

ehehe u give me chance to ramble about my babiessss

First off Shrike is an older apprentice at the beginning of the arc, just to make them closer in age a bit, also I like the idea of establishing Shrike as a edgy teen.

Shrike and Fire had a sort of distant rivalry like in canon until Tigerclaw's banishment, which is when Shrike really realized "oh fuck, I've been aligning myself with all the wrong people, and all that I have been taught to hate is probably a lie". After this Shrike starts to slowly trying to better himself, and Fire starts to take notice! its things like Shrike standing up for Fire when someone is mocking him behind his back, or Shrike actively trying to not teach his apprentice to follow in Tigerclaw's way of thinking.

The two of them are still mostly distant for a while, but they start to gain an appreciation for each other, Shrike can see how badass and strong Firesight is for shouldering all the pressure he is under, and Fire can appreciate the effort Shrike is putting into unlearning the things Tiger and Dark taught him, and trying to be a good person.

They actually start being friends after Swift's death though. Both of them blame themselves for what happened, they both think they could have done more, Shrike thinks he failed Swift as a mentor, and Fire thinks he could have done more to convince Star Bluefrost to make Swift and Bright warriors. They end up having a bonding moment where Fire tries to apologise for Swift's death and it just ends with them both convincing the other that what happened was NOT their fault! they end up a sobbing mess and hug :)

After this they start being friends! slowly but surely they spend more and more time together, also Sandstorm has become friends with Fire as well, and she and Shrike quickly hit it off as besties since they have similar personalities and experiences (and crushes lol)! From there its just friends to lovers for Fire x Shrike and Fire x Sand! they become a polycule with Fire being mates with Shrike and Sand and Shrike and Sand being queer platonic partners!

I love them so much T-T

ANnnnd for the babies: Firesight is a trans tom, Shrike is a cis gay tom, and Sandstorm is a trans molly and a chimera, which is why she is still calico! Cats can have litters with more than one sire so both of Fire's litters were sired by both of his mates, each having one kit from each mate!

[iersei]

there's a certain sense of tragedy in how the close family only got worse.

at the end of season one, they left with hope. they were so hopeful that maybe, even with the tangled web of emotions and identity that the timeline shift left in its wake, that they could find a way to make this mess of a family work.

glenn explicitly said that he wanted to be in nick's life. he didn't want to be like his dad.

but that's not enough.

because you have to try. and you have to keep trying.

it's so easy to say that you want to try. you can want it all you want. but it requires change. it requires an active effort that you have to stick with.

there's a tragedy to how the outcome of the trial only made them worse.

isn't it funny? isn't it cruel? that the universe pretended that this was supposed to make him better? give him a better life? all it really ended up doing was replacing both of your traumas with different, worse trauma.

what are you even supposed to do? when the universe itself tells you that the only way you can ever do Justice to your son is to send yourself away? lock yourself up to suffer alone and let someone else, someone better, raise him?

what is it like to spend years locked up inside your own head? to have it all reinforced?

the only way that you can help him is if you leave.

what do you do when you leave this prison? what do you do when you never really left?

these patterns don't go away. not when they're baked into your subconscious. and obviously you can try. you can try. you can try. and if you try and if you have a good support system and if you learn and unlearn what you need to, then you can change.

it doesn't change all the hurt that you've caused. you can know that. you've been an awful person. you can know that too. but how do you fix that?

if the only way you know how to fix things is to remove yourself from the equation. to sink deeper into the hell of your own making. fall back into all that you have ever known. even if all that you want is to be better. what do you do when you don't know how you're supposed to change? when no one is there to tell you how to do it differently? to drag you out of the deep depths of despair you have lived in all your life?

what does it mean to change?

you have to try. but you have to know how to. you have to work against the patterns ingrained into your subconscious. you have to know what efforts to make. you have to figure out how to fix this.

there is no fixing this.

it only ever got worse, but they loved each other. they really did love each other.

the love was there. it didn't change anything. but it still matters that the love was there.

i am your judge, jury, and executioner.

[chewing-drywall]

METALOCALYPSE HEADCANNONS

(Part 1/??)

Buckle in yall this will be a long ass post

TOKI WARTOOTH

Earlyklok! Toki

-the most sincerely homophobic in the beginning. You don't just get raised the way he's been and not have some WILD ass beliefs about the world, he eventually unlearns it but being surrounded by dude bros who constantly call things gay as an insult and his tendency to take things litterally DONT help. And it's not like active hate or anything it's just getting raised that gay people are sinners and are gonna burn in hell is definitely a topic you gotta make an effort to unlearn.

-seeing two girls kissing on the streets of florida for the first time??? SHOCKED, litterally did a full head swivel to check if anyone else had seen it and imploded when no one seemed to be as surprised at he was

-Doesnt really even understand why the rest of the band likes casual sex so much, it feels good but at first he thought it was strange there were all of these girl fawning over a him, a technical stranger, and he just goes along with it.

- got his ears pierced about 4 months into earlyklok sitting on the ledge of their shared apartments crusty bathtub

they were all packed into the tiny bathroom, talking over eachother, the room thick with weed smoke, skwisgaar perched over him in the bathtub holding his head straight

pickles did it with a safety pin and an icecube, joint hanging off his lips as he squinted in concentration

Toki didn't flinch, didn't even stop talking to Nathan about the newest Cannibal corpse album that Nathan wanted to buy a cd of

He liked the feeling of skwisgaars hands engulfing his face, it was a touch that wasn't cruel. Plus knowing that the best guitarist he's ever heard in his whole life hands were soft was a fact that he's gonna ingrain into his head.

Murderface and Nathan actually looked mildly concerned at tokis complete lack of reaction

- the kid will offhandedly say really cryptic shit, through broken English and weird reactions to what they think is normal stuff. the band gets the gist that they'd have to be a hell of a lot drunker to handle his truth (toki: oh don't worry I'm used to the dark! :), everyone else:👀)

-got a lip piercing but didn't take care of it properly, so of course it got infected and had to be taken out

-this is when he starts age regressing but doesn't realize he's doing it,

-he'd watch a kids cartoon in complete silence until the season ends and it's the only way to keep him completely still and quiet

-is attracted to bright and colorful things even if it gets him made fun off by the guys, secretly LOVES Lisa frank art

Regular adult toki

-AUTISM AUTISM AUTISM

HATES tables that aren't clean, when it's noticeably sticky or there's crumbs that stick to his arms when he leans on the table

-same with the feeling of spilt beer, has gotten used to it over the years but the feeling of dried sticky beer still has his skin crawling

-has drunken bong water as a dare (all of them have as some point but still)

-has also smoked weed through his nose (again on a dare)!

-if you look really close into his eyes, his eyes go so light blue it looks pale yellow

-very very kind and pretty eyes, the downwards slope of them make him look sad with a neutral face

-LONG AND THICK EYELASHES

-works out mostly regularly to keep his shape, he gets too energetic for the others to handle so it's a good way to blow off some steam

-Likes the idea of wearing feminine stuff, skirts seem sooooo comfortable but doesn't wear them cause yknow the teasing would be absolutely relentless

-medium thickness chewed on lips, does it mindlessly

-knows hes capable of incredible violence, the band is also very aware and whenever he gets legitimately pissed off during a argument (like a genuine, seriously bad argument) they'll usually just back off and wait to bring it up later when toki doesn't look like he's three seconds away from curbstomping them

-FAT crush on Nathan but for some reason gets really shy around it??

-Nathan will compliment him and toki will deadass write with a fluffy pink huge glittery pink pen in an equally pink journal kicking his legs and giggling

*Nathan told me when I got that chord I kept fucking up correct that he could *see me improving* EEEEE he's soooo big He could throw me Like a football

-fond of murderface, knows people deal with their own shit in diffrent ways so he doesn't take his insults to heart (usually)

-relationship with skiwsgaar is. Weird.

I'll probably get into it on another post but it's SO complicated like. Were both emotionally constipated around eachother, our relationship used to be so kind and gentle skiwsgaar was tokis mentor and wanted to see him grow but has such anxeity around toki surpassing him he purposely beats him down; and toki doesn't have the work ethic or drive to truly get to thay level and it impedes the progress of the band. But engages with this weird rivalry thats also a form of love and respect like. Your the only one I could ever be worried about being better than me and I've watched you grow so much and I don't know how to express that properly YADDA YADDA YADDA

-loves pickles very much, he was the most welcoming in the beginning and always made a space for him at the table, later on a shoulder to cry on.

[thatstormygeek]

Like a lot of unfathomably wealthy people who have the resources to harvest their own beef, Zuckerberg now reportedly considers himself a “libertarian.” He has spent a lot of time in recent years attempting to cultivate a personal brand as a sort of happy-go-lucky #GirlDad. His new politics are not as ominous or viscerally off-putting as the red-pilled divorced energy of Elon Musk. But they are a politics. Deciding that you no longer want to advocate for a path to citizenship as part of comprehensive immigration reform is as political as the act of advocating for it was. Responding to years of conspiracy theories and personal attacks from conservative politicians by cultivating closer relationships with them is a political tactic. According to the report, Zuckerberg twice talked to Donald Trump by phone this summer, while his new Republican political attache has sought to reassure the ex-president that Zuckerberg has no plans to spend money shoring up election infrastructure this year. It does not really get more political than a pleasant phone call with a man who tried a coup. Zuckerberg’s efforts to discourage political activism among Meta employees (per the piece) mirror his own efforts to discourage political content on the platforms he controls, such as Facebook and Instagram. Attempting to mute or disincentivize political speech is, of course, a political act, and it betrays an ominous worldview. In that sense, at least, he and Musk aren’t so different; they’re collectively building a “digital public square” where you can find everything but reported, factual news. Zuckerberg has made it clear that he is frustrated with specific kinds of political speech—including criticism of him. The truth is there is no such thing as an apolitical oligarch. Zuckerberg’s fortune came from a monopolistic enterprise that’s been used to foment ethnic cleansing and collectively unlearn a century-and-a-half of germ theory. His wealth is sustained and protected by political structures, and his spending and strategic priorities can make or break communities, newsrooms, and democratic norms. When he puts his foot down, you notice it. But when he lifts his foot up, you notice that too.

[anonzentimes]

hi zen!! o/

i am coming into ur inbox purely to tell you thank you for making an effort to become more active about your interests despite being scared bc it kinda helped push me to do the same thing? and i’ve been doing it for the past few months and OHH my god it’s so scary but also i’m having crazy levels of fun and i probably would not be nearly as far along with it as i am bc i’ve seen you do the same thing. it’s really cool to me !! um so i’m Being Brave and sending you a little appreciation ask off anon bc it is 2 in the morning so i do not have the energy to be scared !!! and also i think it’s really really good to celebrate being authentic in our interests and such :3 so thank you <33

to include something on-theme with the blog um um i !!! am also a big nagito komaeda fan !! he’s my favorite little guy !! hajime too but in an “ough he’s just like me fr” way. i enjoy komaeda so much that i’m going to be playing him in my next dnd campaign and nobody knows it’s him except for my DM who is complicit in keeping it a secret from my party members >:] i want them to realize at some point mid-campaign i think it’d be really funny. also that same DM has made an npc who is secretly just izuru kamukura and i’m gonna get to have a romance arc!!! and i’m very excited about it :] MORAL OF THE STORY share your interests with your friends bc they’ll happily enable you lmao <3

ok that is all. have a nice day or night or afternoon \(//∇//)\

HELLO???? YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HEARTWARMING THIS IS AHHHHAHA <33 I'm so touched by the fact I can make a positive impact I'm really happy to hear it. I think unlearning shame or just becoming less anxious with even small things like interests is one of the best things you can experience in life, or at least it has been for me. It's really relieving and being able to just simply enjoy things is an entire major reason to live for me. It's sort of funny I never really expected or intended on having audiences, other than Youtube because well yeah, but I get attention for being authentic and unapologetically myself which apparently I've been told is contagious LOL. It's just kind of how I am and to know people can be positively impacted by that is really nice. I've always been like this but now I have the words to express myself and the mentality to not feel much shame or anxiety over it, again, it's incredibly relieving. Anyways, mostly just being sentimental and saying thank you for sending a little appreciation thing haha! I have trouble understanding I can have an impact sometimes, it's definitely a snap back to reality when something undeniable confirming my presence happens Lol.

HELP IT'S REALLY FUNNY TO ME THAT I SOMEHOW ENDED UP JUST MAKING THIS THE NAGITO BLOG.... IT WASN'T EVEN PLANNED I JUST CAN'T CONTAIN MY THOUGHTS... but I mean, guess that just goes to show how much he IS my thoughts lol. Anyways, totally agree Hajime's definitely a "oh he's so me fr fr" type of character and GOD. GOD I WOULD DO THAT IF I PLAYED DND TOO HONESTLY.... LMAOO THE IDEA OF GETTING STARTLED BY NAGITO IS SO FUNNY... a Romance Arc sounds really cute too!! I hope you have fun with it, sounds like a great experience! Sharing interests with friends is wonderful, and overall I think if loved ones don't enable your interests that's like a red flag to me a bit.

[justanotherhh]

aspec headcanons for some hazbin hotel characters (minus alastor, cos that's canon babey)

charlie: allo-ace and bi, potentially leaning on demi-ace in her sex neutrality, but overall really not that interested in sex, beyond how it functions as a partner bonding activity. hasn't actually had sex before vaggie, not because she hasn't had offers -- this is hell after all, sex negativity isn't necessarily the problem -- but because she hasn't been in a relationship she deeply cared about and felt that safe in

vaggie: romance favourable aroallo lesbian, however has to unlearn internal sex negativity after previous bad relationships + some of heaven's more hypocritical ideas about what sex constitutes, and so being with charlie is a good way to slowly explore her attraction. more kinky than she would admit to... yet....

on the whole both of them fit into gaps around each other, and their relationship simply works because they believe in one another -- vaggie becomes attached first, when charlie patches her up, and then charlie, especially when vaggie becomes the biggest fighter for the hotel. that's the structure of their relationship, and the rest can be talked about. vaggie knows how important romance is to charlie and doesn't mind that being a part of their dynamic in the same way she'll join in on the hotel bonding exercises even though they're not really "her thing," and the two of them have sex as a way of being close (and at some point maybe they'll open up their minds to the fact that there's no bond as strong as that forged in bondage...)

niffty: aroallo het. also very kinky, very much the domme in any situation. this wasn't necessarily true while she was alive in practice, but it was in her heart. unfortunately hasn't had much opportunity to put it into practice in hell either, yet, due to being, well, on the far end of the terrifying scale. one of the reasons she and alastor get on so well is that they understand that their ways of relating to people are so different to the norm that they end up somewhere next to each other, even though he's repulsed and she very much isn't. still, they're in hell, someone should get that girl sub, stat! (some kinda big, scary-lookin guy for her to punish ideally)

sir pentious: token allo straight ally ✌ reads all of the literature once he discovers it's a thing. knows more about this than any of the others, even though it doesn't apply to him

cherri bomb: aroallo bi, likes sex, and also likes being swept off her feet, it's just she's too used by now to nobody making a damn effort. she's not romance repulsed, but she's not about to embark on a monogamous romantic relationship with anyone. she likes that someone would be into her romantically, as long as they don't get weird about it. the rituals of romance are fun, someone taking her out for dinner, treating her like she's someone special, not just like a one-night stand, but she's not giving up the one-night stands either. or the orgies! still, nice to have a familiar couple of dicks to return to

husk: i believe the word of god says pan, so let's run with that. on the aspec front my guy has loooooooow sex drive on the whole, and sexual isn't the kind of attraction that he understands in general, but secretly longs for a deeply romantic relationship of some kind, something out of an austen book or a knight in shining armor type myth. you know the kind: he takes the hand of his suitor and almost kisses it, but not quite, wining and dining, perchance even... cuddles..... (if sex is involved he might get with the programme, but it's not something he needs or initiates. this has made it difficult for him to get into relationships in the past)

angel dust: gay and on a spectrum of aspec that is trauma-informed, but also complicated by being naturally hypersexual. doesn't connect sex to attraction, and doesn't feel sexual attraction, so much as sex is a means to an end (scratching an itch, entertainment, power, work, intimacy although it's been awhile since that's been put into practise, etc). not sexually monogamous, and has no idea if he'd be into monogamy romantically either. in fact, is not sure if he is alloromantic, because there's no precedence that isn't related to power and control. may need a whole new kind of language for whatever relationships he'd form (not just with husk, but generally with the hotel gang) that lie outside of the structures he knows

that being said, all he wants is someone treating him gently, whatever kind of relationship that relates to

valentino: aroallo pan, but youknow. evil about it. could just be fucking left right and centre without making it such a big hassle for everyone else, but noooooo he has to go and own their souls too and make things difficult for them, and it's not just because owning souls is good business, he likes the ownership itself. that's part of the kink. does have favourite types of dynamics, in particular likes weird powerplays, whether or not he's topping or bottoming in them

vox: allo grey-ace bi. but evil about it. falls desperately in love and then becomes obsessive and possessive forever over that person, whether or not it turns to hate along the way. val had better watch out he never gets on vox' bad side... angel is already on thin ice simply for being one of val's favourites (RIP). that being said vox isn't really in it for the sex. he's in it for the power. and then every once in awhile he's in it for the sex (but only if it's got power involved). gets deeply weird about it all in a way that signals to everyone that it's a "once in a blue moon vox really wants to fuck val" time, so they can get out of the building sharpish in case it involves disemboweling an employee as foreplay

all of this is why voxval aren't a couple, aren't friends, but a secret, third thing (evil about it)

velvette: aroace, and not evil about it. she's just evil in other ways. honestly think she and alastor could get on in a different afterlife. she's not repulsed, she's simply strongly disinterested and somewhat annoyed with how much space all of this seems to take in everyone's heads to one extent or another. sort of a classic aroace in the way people in the past might have said "she was simply too busy for Romance," and yeah, she is busy, but if she wasn't she'd do literally anything else than get involved with any of *waves hands* that whole thing, just because it does seem to remove everyone's braincells -- she does write most of the voxval smut though. sometimes watches back videos of them going at it. just those two though, that asexual study-like-a-bug fascination. does she get off to it? that's her secret. okay so maybe a little evil about it

carmilla: aroallo (i wanna say bi, considering her and vaggie's tension), but not practising RIP. zestial would in a heartbeat, but she is unfortunately too busy, and not in the "aroace" coding kind of way, she just is. she's got two kids and an arms-business and millions of souls and potential heavenly invasion to think about! but yeah, she might feel more relaxed if she were to read his signs...

lucifer: alloace (bi?), but like. in a "i fucked your ex-wives" bragging rights kind of way. like yeah, he did that, but that's because he'll simp for a beautiful woman, not because he's particularly looking for sex. he'd be happy doing literally anything for a hot woman. big sub praise kink energy. (and this is why lucifer and adam could never have sex without a third-party dom/me involved -- what're two subs gonna do RIP?)

adam: lol, ok idk what would be funnier. alloace? aroallo? aroace? grey? demi? whatever says "talks a big game, but actually wouldn't know what to do with the whole thing if he had the chance, and hasn't had sex since eve left him, and that was kind of a lot of pressure being the only two humans and all, and like, was god watching all that, anyway, yeah ive had sex ive had all the sex (with one woman, missionary style because god might have been watching), did i do a good job, was that okay, of course it was, im not self-conscious about that, i fuckn love vaginas, yeah i can spell that word, can you spell uh, deeznuts, because that's what humanity came from babey, and now i never have to do it again, wait i didn't mean that last bit, anyway... where was i? do you think lucifer was better at sex than me?" -- whatever that is

lute: aroallo lesbian (and evil about it, but she's been indoctrinated, maybe she can chill out one day, we'll see). no, whatever she and vaggie had going on, i feel like it was incredibly toxic, did they have sex? didn't they have sex? did they have whatever a homoerotic subtextual sexual scene would look like? like when you watch those macho soldier movies and one of them is bullying the other into submission and there's a veneer of sweat and shame over the whole thing and close-ups of writhing muscles, but they never appear to have actual sex onscreen... that but with lesbian angels. lute is not over vaggie not submitting to her/her choosing to be in a (spits) "romantic" relationship (with a demon)

[andreal831]

I personally headcanon that Celeste set Elijah straight while they were together and got him more invovled in the abolitionist movements, because I refuse to believe Celeste was fine being with a man who was fine with slavery.

////

Hi! I’m so sorry to intrude on this conversation here, but as a black woman, I take a little bit of an issue with this (the part in bold). I’m not you and your headcanons can definitely be whatever you want them to be, but there’s a pattern with white people in which they always want black women to be “helpers” to their white female or male counterparts. We see this a lot in TVD, specifically with Bonnie Bonnett, in which she is relegated to the magical helper negro role. In fact, we saw this in real life, when Julie Plec herself tweeted at Megan Thee Stallion (who at the time was recently shot) that she sees black women as superheroes who will save us all! And no, I am not trying to say that you are as horrible as Ms Plec or that you’re a horrible person at all, I’d just like you to examine certain headcanons of yours. Celeste, as a black women, cannot “set a 1000 year white man straight”. Nobody can, really, but especially not her. Black women cannot change people’s minds and hearts, it is up to them to change themselves. Dating a black woman does not make someone stop being racist and it also seems weird if the only reason a white man would even consider not being racist is to date one… Do you see the issue? I would prefer it if you headcanonned that Elijah had changed and developed on his own over time or something like that, and not because a black woman wouldn’t be with him if he was alright with slavery (because if you change yourself for someone else, it’s not true change, and it’s also unfair to her to put her in that role). Anyways, my apologies if this comes off rude, I don’t mean to be impolite or insulting. Your headcanons are yours and only you can decide to change or keep them as they are. Thank you!

Thank you for pointing this out. I apologize if I made it seem that I was trying to put it all on Celeste. That was not my intention. I have a long headcanon for that period for Celeste and Elijah's relationship and I didn't phrase it correctly.

I personally felt that Elijah was more apathetic to humans rather than blatantly racist. Like he just believed humans all lived short lives and it wasn't up to him to interfere because what was the point. I know people do find his character blatantly racist and I'll never tell them he is not. I am very aware that my headcanons and interpretations are my own and not everyone has them.

We are dealing with characters who are the most privileged. Not only are they wealthy, white men, but they are vampires who can compel and manipulate humans. We know Elijah started the Strix in an effort to create a society of elites who could affect change in the world and he said it was a mistake. He saw what negative affects he could have in the world so at some point, to me, he pulled back from the world. He no longer cared or strived to make it better.

So when I said "Celeste set him straight," I do apologize for the phrasing, I didn't mean for it to sound like she changed his mind or made him something he was inherently not. Rather she reminded him of what he once was, of what he used to want to achieve with his immortality. Similar to how Katerina reminded him to believe in love, Celeste reminded him to believe he could affect positive change in the world.

I definitely understand the dangers of putting that pressure/weight of education and helping on POCs. It is up to each individual to understand and unlearn their own racisms. But I never felt that Elijah stopped being racist simply because he fell in love with Celeste. There are plenty of people who are actively racist while in interracial relationships. Rather, she pointed out how his apathy was racist and he reevaluated. He had the privilege to look past the pain and suffering of the enslaved people that he was actively profiting off of and Celeste forced him to look. So it is not that she changed his mind or made him a different person. He did the work on his own, but he needed someone to call him out on his racism before he knew he had to work on himself.

And I apologize if I put that on Celeste. It was never my intention. I personally feel that Celeste would 100% have been invovled in the abolitionist movement, especially as a powerful witch and as a powerful member of society. Being surrounded by people like that rather than his family would push Elijah to reevaluate his views and his lack of interest in human affairs.

Thank you for saying this! I am not trying to put this on you, because it is not your job, but if this is still problematic, please let me know. I do try to be aware and not put further harm on the POCs in TVDU or in the fandom.

[greyves-under-fire]

god, i wish so many people weren't so selfish. my partner doesn't deserve the constant anxiety of dealing with a friend who cares more about his delusion than he does about him.

It's so lonely over here in our area. It's so hard to make friends similar to us. He deserves to have the friends he makes be fucking good to him.

he deserves to know people that care if they make him anxious. he deserves to know people that treat him like a friend instead of a fantasy. God, he deserves so much better. He's so kind, and thoughtful, and way more generous than anyone should be, and he deserves peace. He deserves peace, man. He deserves peace. He deserves so many more people that care. I've never met someone i loved and trusted more with everything about me.

There's so much to him. There's so much to the way his brain works, and the way his heart works, and the ways he looks at the world. There's so much to his perspective, and i love him for all of it so much that it drives me crazy.

There are parts that i may not understand, parts that i do, and the parts that frustrate me *because* i don't understand them. But he's so worth being patient for, and learning how to be patient for if it doesn't always come naturally. He's so worth being gentle for. He's so worth being loved, and talked to with sympathy, and understanding.

He is this genuine, strong minded and open-hearted individual, and i admire him. And saying all of this makes it sound like some of it is a choice or sacrifice I've had to make, but it's not. (of course, being in a relationship means often making the choice that wasn't taught to you. It means actively learning how to listen and respond in a healthy way, and actively unlearning everything else, which is hard. It doesn't always come naturally. But it can be easier when you remind yourself why this person is worth putting in the effort for. And he's so fucking worth putting in all the effort for.)

I always want to be the person he can feel safe and soft around, or safe and loud. I always want to be someone who reassures him when he's been convinced that something's his fault, and even when it is. especially when it is. I always want to be the person who seeks to understand him, and who a lot of the time, just fucking does. I always want to be his best friend. I always want him to be mine. He's my best friend. I know i don't have power over the friends he meets, and i shouldn't wish to, i just want it out in the universe that he deserves good ones, and hope something real comes of it. He deserves people that want to be good to him because it should be obvious that he's worth being good to.

[songsofbloodandwater]

Gm! How’re you?

9 and 20?

Hello! I'm well, thank you, hope you're too! i'm sorry for the wait, took me a bit to be able to organize my thoughts and life got a little in the way of me writing them. But here they are:

9. What’s something you wish more people understood about the craft?

For the longest time, I wished more people would see how ancestral veneration (or at the very least, acknowledgement) is, in my opinion, essential to a well matured craft, and to a well matured person in general. In a way, my prayers were heard. Recently I've been seeing more people show interest in ancestral veneration and at least mention working with ancestors in their witching endeavours, but I think there's still an important aspect of ancestral work missing: unlearning and decolonizing. Acknowledging one's ancestry without actively working on healing any wounds it may come with (white guilt and how many run from their family's history and baggage, colonization, assimilation, all the internalized sexism, racism, etc, the list is endless) is honestly not only incomplete work but most times, actively harmful to others, as it perpetuates structures of genocide and cruelty.

We don't only inherit magic from our forebearers, we inherit our understanding and our ways, the good and the bad, and that makes a big part of the whole society we live in. It's our job to do our part to learn from Our Ancestors' errors and merits, better ourselves, and make the world better for those to come. That is as central to ancestral work and veneration, as a strong ancestral foundation is central to magic.

20. What’s something you’re currently interested in and/or learning about?

I've been working on deepening my understanding of our deep ancestors, to strengthen a relationship with them. I say our and not just my, because it's Ancestors who would've lived thousands of years ago and there's a good chance we share more than a few.

I've always worked with my ancestors very closely, but this is more like following the Ancestors of those Ancestors. Ancestors shared across the family tree and across societies, who've shaped much of what we know and do in the present in much of the modern world. I showed interest a while back, and after being consistent in my efforts and proving an honest heart, a certain someone answered back. I've been following their footsteps backwards, through the different eras and regions, letting the Ancestors' hands hold me and guide me on where I should make my next step like a blind man, while following the voice of an Entity or God I call The Father of Wilderness.

It's... interesting, to say the least. Not only because it puts our entire history as a species into perspective (which was the reason for my initial interest as an ecologist, how changes in our cultural and spiritual understandings over thousands of years have reflected in the respective changes in our behavior as a society, how we relate to other humans, but also in how we relate to nature and the ecosystem around us) but also because they have so much to teach about what truly makes us human. Regardless of all differences you can find between the lifestyle of someone in the modern day and someone who lived 20.000+ years ago, or even 200.000+ years ago, we're all human. It's the things that we can find in common across the ages, the things we can learn from Them about our own humanity, that fill my heart. Again, learning from Them across time and space, recognizing their errors and their merits.

I also have fun finding parallels between how the Father of Wilderness, Patron of this work, revealed himself to me, how he wishes to be honored, and with other people's deities or cults of similar figures. There's very specific details, differences, in our views and approaches, that are fascinating to see and keep my mind busy trying to untangle the why's of it all. I've been trying to put all my findings and thoughts into a written little something but it's long and it may take a while before I'm satisfied with it. If you're interested, eventually it'll see the light here as a blog post.

(You see a little bit of it hinted at here already, when I mentioned the value of an honest heart. It's not just words. In my experience, it's a must, a prerequisite to have the attention, guidance and favour of the Father of Wilderness.)

Thank you for asking! Getting all of that out of my brain and into somewhat not totally coherent words was a very good mental exercise.

[obstinatecondolement]

I mean like, as a non-binary trans person who prefers they/them pronouns (in settings where I'm comfortable being out) who is closeted and has limited emotional, psychological and physical energy to 'make an effort' that effectly communicates a disconnect from what people consider the 'obvious' way to gender someone with my body type, vocal register and hair length (forever annoyed that being bad at scheduling haircuts for months at a time reads as 'choosing' to have a 'feminine' hair'style' but whatever), it does kinda hurt my feelings when trans people who exclusively use he/him or she/her pronouns, and who pass well/make a very obvious 'effort' to present as exclusively masculine or feminine, say things like "If you misgender me you look like an idiot, because I Obviously look like a man/look like a woman."

Because like... I get it, and I do get the frustration of cis people defaulting to the pronouns associated with someone's AGAB if they knew them before they came out/after they find out their trans, or if they default to they/them in the same circumstances, and that is transphobic and it does suck, as is the all too common thing where visibly trans people are the only ones asked for their pronouns in nominally trans friendly events.

But, like... it's never obvious what someone's gender is. You can make a pretty good guess most of the time, but you can never know with only visual cues to go on. And that's like... kinda the point of asking people what their pronouns are, under ideal circumstances.

Someone could have a full beard and be dressed in a suit and want you to use she/her pronouns for her. Someone could look indistinguishable to you from an AFAB he/they transmasc and be a they/she transfem. Someone (me) could "obviously" "look like a woman" to you and find that assumption deeply hurtful. And I don't think misgendering people like us is inconsequential compared with respecting conventionally gender conforming binary trans people? It feels like this is a perpetually hot take, but closeted, non-passing and GNC trans people are as trans as any other trans people and respecting our wishes about how we want to be addressed and spoken to about that should not be considered a lesser priority?

Like, again, I am not for one second denying that efforts to normalise asking for people's pronouns and not assuming people's gender has put scrutinising visibly or out binary trans people in a highly othering and transphobic way to the very top of the agenda for cis people who are trying their best and misunderstanding the brief, trying their best and defaulting to transphobic biases they have not unlearned, not trying their best and actively trying to be hurtful in a way that flies under the radar, or some other explanation on another point in the innocent but hurtful to actively malicious spectrum. And that isn't okay and the needs of people hurt by this should also not be a lesser priority than mine. But, like, I feel like there has to be some kind of middle ground here between 'are you a boy or a girl' woke edition and 'you must be this passable to use these pronouns and you're a fucking idiot if you think I should ask before making assumptions.'