#His trauma is so underrated

[dysany]

I've had this headcanon for so long, but something about the idea of Will not being able to remember Lee's face is deliciously painful.

They were so close. Will had clung to Lee like a puppy from the first second they saw each other, even before Apollo's sign claimed him. Lee was his protector, his big brother, his idol, his safe haven. It was Lee who introduced him to the camp, who introduced him to the others children of Apollo, taught him how to heal. It was Lee that Will ran to when he had a nightmare or when he felt homesick. It was Lee who taught him to smile despite the stress that demigod life caused. People joked that Lee looked more like his father than his brother, saying how Will was a little shadow clinging to Lee wherever he went.

But it was true. And Will hoped that if he ever got to meet Apollo, his father would be as kind and caring as his brother was.

But then came the war. I can see Lee sacrificing himself to save Will in the midst of all that chaos. Little Will, who was almost crushed by a cyclops, being pushed aside and suddenly losing Lee there, in a matter of seconds. Will would definitely try to heal him, but the only thing he could see was Lee's face covered in blood and with his golden hair covering his eyes.

Since then, Will has not been able to remember his face. He knows that Lee was considered attractive and brilliant, the perfect image of Apollo, but he only remembers the red. His memories are hazy, his favorite brother's face always a mere blur. There's a picture of Lee with some other children of Apollo hanging somewhere, Will can't look at it for long.

Without realizing it, Will has become the spitting image of Lee and has picked up many of his habits. He drinks black coffee even though he doesn't like coffee, always wears his healer's coat, and has the most random and useless things. These little things that Lee did and Will copied without realizing it, becoming a bond with him

The elders in the camp like to point out how much he looks like his brother, but Will can no longer say if that's true..

[gingermintpepper]

Obsessed with the way Evadne's relationship with Apollo is described. Obsessed with the way Apollo was especially gentle with her because she was sheltered, hidden away and hadn't had any sort of experience with love prior to Apollo (and due to it being described as her 'first learning Aphrodite's joy' through Apollo', it was probably her first time even being attracted to someone). Obsessed with the way when she runs away, she stops in a violet patch to give birth. Y'know, violets, very famously the flower so strongly associated with Aphrodite that they were used in love potions? Those violets. Obsessed with the way that when Apollo realised his lover was going to have to deliver their child alone, he sent BOTH the goddess of childbirth and ALL THREE OF THE FATES to help and support her. Obsessed with the way that Apollo sends snakes to feed his baby honey straight from their fangs because Evadne abandons their son out of straight primal fear when her stepfather finds her and how the description of that honey is 'sweet venom' [ἰός] of the bees and is DEFINITELY a poetic pair/pun with [ἴον] aka violets and that every single thing about this relationship, conception and birth is a complete and utter fairytale down to Evadne's insanely overprotective stepfather having an immediate change of heart when he learned Evadne's child was an actual, legitimate Son of Apollo and the babe, after being cared for by his dad's honey-fanged snake buddies, was found perfectly healthy five days later swaddled in a blanket of violets (y'know the flowers so strongly associated with Aphrodite that they were used for lo-) and they called him Iamus aka Boy of the Violets which is AAAAAARRRR I AM GNAWING AT MY ENCLOSURE

Iamus was made of love. Everything about him was surrounded by deep and profound love and like, let's not even talk about his whole Thing of when he came of age and was like "I need to find out what my purpose is" and he literally had a Disney Protagonist moment where he ran out into the wilds and was like "Father!! Grandfather!! Tell me what I'm supposed to doooo!!" and then APOLLO FUCKING ANSWERED AND LED HIM TO ONE HIS TEMPLES ENTIRELY BY TALKING WITH IAMUS AND LETTING HIM FOLLOW HIS VOICE FOR THE WHOLE JOURNEY LIKE -

What do y'all know about the kind of SSS tier romantic escapades Apollo had fr?

[therealjustpeachesback]

my man… my man..

[clarissaweasley-10]

I get the Grayson x Lyra hype but can we show some love to Rohan x Savannah as well?

[pinnedwords]

Give. Dustin. More. Love.

[agrebel18]

ok now for the past few hours I have not stopped thinking about Gus Porter

[lisbonsteresa]

[vibrates at a frequency only dogs and dolphins can hear]

[arcticsilverreblog]

‼️

really fun duo you have there. mind if i add arbitrary roles to their relationship dynamic so i can write one of them as an overprotective caretaker and the other as a naive helpless baby?

[tired-fandom-ndn]

I think Laios' childhood trauma and CANON hatred for humanity is so underrated and unexplored by the fandom. Like this is a man whose entire childhood was defined by the violence aimed at his family and especially his little sister, whose only escape from that was fantasies of violence that placed him in the role of the monster, and yet he had such a tight control over that hate that it took a literal demon to pull it out of him.

Even through the hate and fear, he stayed kind. He helped people. He gave his love freely, even when it wasn't returned. I think that the discovery that many of his "friends" can't stand him and that the world still viciously hates him must've been so horrible, just a repeat of the constant rejection his family faced and a validation of his belief that he would always be an outsider.

[doctorsiren]

If you're up for it, would love to see some Phoenix and Franziska friendship sketches (criminally underrated duo imo they'd be the worsties ever)

Okay I didn’t mean to accidentally come up with a new headcanon but I did. I think Franziska actually grows to care about Phoenix, considering he is her brother’s significant other and her girlfriend’s basically-brother. She gets embarrassed about it though because she has to maintain her Tough Girl Prosecutor look and can’t be showing sympathy for a defense attorney. When he gets disbarred, that wall still remains because she can’t be seen showing sympathy to a *disgraced* ex-defense attorney. However, she still feels like she should do something, so she masks her concern through the concern of the other loved ones. She ends up having movie nights with him (the same way Miles and Maya watch samurai stuff together) and they bond on the more cynical sides of the world, as well as deep down secret loves for musicals and pretty things. He becomes like a big brother for her in a way that Miles never really was because, while growing up, Franziska was often the one comforting Miles through his nightmares and trauma. That’s just one of the reasons why she refers to him as her “little brother”, as well as her just wanting to project herself as more in charge than she actually is. Franziska also develops a soft spot for hugs because she never really had them growing up. Miles isn’t really known to be the one to initiate hugs (although he does enjoy them), while the Wright Family (and this includes Maya) hugs ALL the time. Much like everyone else, Fran finds comfort in Phoenix’s hugs and is able to let her guard down with him (however, she tells him that if he tells *anyone* about this, she will kill him because she still needs to maintain her reputation as Tough and Scary for her career)

[just-two-blokes]

I lied. Put your clothes back on.

We are going to talk about how Harry James Potter is so criminally underrated in his own fandom, how people completely ignore his trauma and his suffering and act like he is a selfish person with anger issues even though he is just a boy who went through too much too young.

We are going to talk about the infamous sentence 'But xy had it so much worse' even though it‘s Harry who we see growing up in a literal cupboard, who got raised up as a pig for slaughter, who always put everyone else above himself, who could have turned out to be the villain but instead he chose love.

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

Guys guys guys so you know how Tails is famous for copying Sonic's poses and stuff, classic little sibling trying to be as cool as older sibling, right

So

LOOK AT LITTLE KIT STRUTTING AROUND LIKE BIG SIS AND HIS LITTLE FACE OF DETERMINATION AND THE POSE AKFKWANENFKDMAKWMFKSMWKFNVLSNEMFKDAODKO

Just saying, it may have started out artificial and toxic, but I've really been loving to see how Surge and Kit's bond has slowly been changing to an actual bond, almost merely because of their shared trauma, and they're the only ones they trust. 🥺 Underrated siblinghood right here.

[dalishious]

Zevran Arainai is an Underrated Delight

There is so much depth to Zevran Arainai’s writing that is often overlooked in favour of either sexually objectifying him or ignoring him altogether… which is kind of ironic, considering that’s how so many people in his life have treated him within universe. And then, of course, there’s the biphobia directed at his character back when Dragon Age: Origins first released. He was a joke in many Gamer Bro circles about how they killed him for flirting with their male protagonist. It’s such a shame, really. Because personally speaking, Zevran is one of my favourite characters in the entire Dragon Age franchise.

Zevran’s introduction to the game immediately sets him apart from every other character who is capable of joining the party. He first appears as an enemy; an assassin hired to kill the Warden by Loghain, the Warden’s political opponent. You immediately have the option to either kill him, or add him to the party roster. Zevran does not initially join the Warden’s cause out of the goodness of his heart; he does it because he knows that the Antivan Crows who essentially own him – which we’ll get to – will kill him for failing to assassinate your character. This really paints his original placement within the group’s dynamics in an interesting light. No one really trusts him; Alistair and Morrigan both outright voice this. Zevran himself believes he is only safe with the Warden so long as he makes himself useful, per how he sells his worthiness to the Warden when trying to convince them to let him join. There’s tension there that really makes getting to know him extra interesting, because before anything else, you need to build trust. So, when he’s finally ready to start revealing parts about his personal history, you the player really get to feel like you’ve earned something special from his character.

Zevran’s mother was Dalish, but fell in love with an elf from the city and left her clan behind. Unfortunately, Zevran’s father was assassinated, leaving her with nothing but his debts to pay. She turned to sex work, until she died giving birth to Zevran, and all that debt fell onto him in turn. Zevran was raised by the sex workers in the brothel his mother worked at, until the age of seven, when the Antivan Crow Guildmaster Talav Arainai bought him for seven sovereigns; one of eighteen children made into “compradi” (recruits) that year. In his training, Zevran was tortured in a variety of ways, and in his own words, “taught to know nothing else but murder”. Of those eighteen, Zevran was one of two who survived the training, the other being a human boy named Taliesen. Then, a woman named Rinnala (“Rinna”) was placed into House Arainai from the Azul Contract that dictated the Crows were to take in unwanted bastard children of the Antivan Crown. For a time being, Zevran, Taliesen, and Rinnala worked well together as a professional and romantic trio. But when Zevran and Taliesen were tricked into believing Rinnala betrayed the Crows in an internal Crow scheme, they killed her. When they learned otherwise, Zevran took it particularly rough, combined with the realization of how little he himself mattered, too.

The trauma that Zevran has experienced is something he often makes jokes about, or speaks detached from. I’ve been called out many times on doing the same thing with my own trauma, and I know it’s a pretty commonplace response in others as well. That makes it feel all the more real; his responses are so authentically relatable. It’s also in a way, I find a little therapeutic to get to comfort a character whose survival mechanism has been to downplay his trauma for so long. The Warden is able to tell Zevran that what he’s been through sounds horrible, and even though Zevran tries to excuse things as not being that bad, you gain significant approval from him, just for showing him sympathy. Sympathy is something he’s severely lacked in his life. For all Zevran jokes about his traumatizing experiences, they clearly left a mark on him. Zevran eventually admits to the Warden that he did not actually anticipate being able to kill them, and that what he really wanted in taking on the job was to die. Again, sorry to get personal here for a moment, but I too have attempted suicide, and honestly I still struggle with ideation sometimes. And yet again I must say that I find something really beautiful in a character like Zevran, who is able to find peace and happiness on the other side of surviving such a thing.

As for Zevran’s romance… oh, Zevran’s romance path is such a delight. He is so multidimensional in that he’s very flirtatious and fun, while also showing genuine vulnerability in time. He admits that his role as a Crow meant he was encouraged to use seduction as a tool. His only experience with a true relationship ended very poorly, with Rinna’s death and a wedge forming between him and Taliesen, who he is eventually forced to kill too in the game. One of my favourite moments in the entire game, is when you invite him to your tent and he says no… and if you accept his consensual rights, that is what changes everything for him and the Warden’s relationship. Zevran feels safe and loved, and he gets to be happy. As of Dragon Age: Inquisition, a romanced Zevran is still at the Warden’s side, too, if they’re alive.

I love Zevran Arainai so much. He truly is an amazingly well done character, and deserves so much more respect and interest than he gets.

*Sourced from in-game dialogue and World of Thedas vol. 2

[ghost-bxrd]

okay so this is an idea I’ve seen brought up maybe once before, but maybe Jason (before the Bats find out who he is) accidentally lets something slip that makes them realize that he’s literally, like, a child (seventeen, sixteen, I’m not sure how old he is at that point exactly, but either works)

and Bruce “adoption addiction” Wayne promptly looks at this obviously traumatized teenager and decides that he should adopt Red Hood.

I just think Jason would be so confused (maybe a little pissed too)

I’ve touched on that a little bit in What you’re longing for (you claim to abhor)!

I think this trope is wayyy underrated. Like, Jason is still so, so young. Basically a child. Even if he died at sixteen and then spent two years with the league (even if we’re counting the time he spent dead as aging). He’s barely even legal when he returns to Gotham. Or if we’re being generous let’s say he’s nineteen.

Doesn’t matter, he’s barely out of his teens (maybe he’s still IN his teens if you bend the timeline of your fic a little) and he’s experienced horrors that would have most people become utterly unable to function. But Jason? That boy takes his trauma and channels it into anger. Which, not exactly healthy, but well.

Anyway, getting off topic:

YES. Jason is still basically a kid when he debuts as the Red Hood, and you know what else he is? A good boy who’s not gonna touch any alcohol until he’s officially 21.

“But why would he do that? He grew up in Crime Alley! Ain’t nobody got time for age limitations!”

Hear me out! Let’s assume he grew up in a household where his father, Willis Todd, drank quite a lot on the regular in addition to his mom’s addiction. Jason experienced the aftermath of this (perhaps domestic violence?) every time his dad returned from a job/jail and he grew to loathe any and all substances, including alcohol. Knowing Jason and his convictions it wouldn’t be too far fetched to assume he’d never touch a single drop of alcohol at all.

So that’s one way he could slip up while taking to his goons (and having the bats overhear) or even straight up talking to one of them where maybe Dick banters a bit and goes “Hey, perhaps you should chill out a bit. Have a drink maybe” and Jason just instinctively goes “Fuck you Dickwing, I’m seventeen/eighteen/nineteen! I’m not allowed to drink!”

And Dick just— bluescreens. And immediately goes to tell Bruce, obviously.

OR

The Bats assume Jason is this old guy (Bruce’s or Drathstroke’s age maybe) and consequently they keep alluding to things that happened way before Jason was ever even born and at first he’s so? Confused??? But eventually it just gets really annoying and eventually he just— snaps.

“How the fuck would I know which Nokia gen hit the market that year? I was born in fuckin’ XXXX, I’m an iPhone kid!”

“Stop referencing the Cold War dipshit, I’m fucking seventeen! I’m glad I remember my own damn birthday!”

“I don’t know, I was like— two back then.”

Bruce, obviously, would take .1 seconds to realize:

“Omg. That’s- that’s a whole child. That’s a whole damn TRAUMATIZED child, killing people and sawing off heads. Omg someone must have hurt him so bad. Don’t worry tho, son, Batman’s got you. You won’t have to hurt anybody ever again. We’re here for you. Would you like the room next to Tim’s or Dick’s?”

Meanwhile Jason: “what the fuck”

[nadiajustbe]

Underrated HMC moments I've never seen anyone talking about part 2

Howl choosing "H. Jenkins" for the shop's sign wich is the one and only moment in the series he actually uses his legal initials, as "H" can stand for "Howl" and "Howell" in the same time

Lettie being so angry about Prince Justin calling her "a sweet lady" that she said that she would prefer ever Howl over him. Wich is. Telling.

The King assuring that he never pushed Justin off and that everyone who knows them both wouldn't assume that.

Sophie being so RAGED with the whole weedkiller and daffodils situation she wasn't saying A SINGLE FULL WORD for about a page in the least. All of the sounds were like "argh!" and "Sophie gave the wordless glump of range"

The seven-league boots having the funniest description of use ever, as every time someone used it then the effects were simply narrated as "Zip!"

Howl raises the skull and quotes Hamlet directly to it, wich becomes a hundred times funnier when you remember that this Skull is canonically and ironically the only "person" in the room who can understand the reference.

Howl saying "Denmark" in the same sentence. And, again, they're in a fairly tale fantasy word. Sophie has absolutely no clue what to hell is Denmark. For Howl this is the basic knowledge of elementary school level.

Poor Percival being almost KILLED for transforming in the middle of a valley because people thought he's a WEREWOLF.

Poor Percival being STROKED with information of him being made of part of two other people right after experiencing heavy trauma, beheading, physical damages, not really well-planed adopting and moving a house.

Percival describing laying on the shelf and looking at the other parts of himself. What a lovely kids book.

Sophie accidentally making cayenne pepper magical. She would make a great seller-witch career because she doesn't need to know the spell in order to make. She takes random powder. She says it will do the duel fair. It makes the duel fare by making an opponent sneezing uncontrollable (wich is also just a way cayenne pepper affects people lmao)

Sophie's first thoughts after she heard that Howl is leaving the black door knob where it is being "Of course! There's miss. Angorian!'. Sophie, dear, he has a family out there.

Michael, apparently, hiding the money under the same brick Sophie will soon describe in CITA as "the brick where we're hiding money from Howl"

Miss Angorian and Howl acting like the spell in a modern Wales is the most normal thing ever. "That's a spell!!" "Oh yeah of course I suspected that"

“Didn’t know I used to fly up the wing for my university, did you, Mrs. Nose?” “If you were trying to fly, you must have forgotten how,” aka Sophie absolutely not understanding modern world sport terminology

Drunk Howell trying to get through the door MULTIPLE times, bumping on it before "discovering" the door

Calcifer "taking" that huge mention they lived (and almost never visited) in without buying it. It was literally said the owner is just Not Here.

Sophie loosing an acces to her own room. Wich must be really sad.

Witch of the Waste leaning on a swing when literally capturing Howl's family

Additionaly: Howl canonically NOT altering his clothes while rushing to save his family. He was running around in a long-sleeved medieval closes on a welsh playground

Sophie and miss Angorian having a whole fight over the guitar pulling it back and forward while it was making horrible sounds

Sophie literally pushing miss. Angorian off the house using the said guitar

Howl immediatly reacting when someone mentioned that the star Michael tried to catch looks sad.

Scarecrow literally running around with parts of Justin's body on its sticky shoulders for eighty percent of the book's finale

Howl saying he could be "the evil fairy at his own christening" which is probably a reference to the "Sleeping Beaty". Also. rises a question: did Howl HAD a christening. There's a huge chance he actually did.

Ben and Justin just. smiling at each other for enough amount of time for Sophie's narrative to say "If she had paid any attention she would see them". Am I interuppting something???

Lettie hating Howl's courting SO MUCH she asked Percival to bite him several times.

Additionally: Ben apologising to Howl for trying to bite him. That's also probably first time they're interacting

Howl ignoring all of it because sOPHIE HATTER

[asthedeathoflight]

Underrated detail of the whole trial situation is that in the end Armand DID save Louis. Like I get that we're mad at him because he didn't save Louis when we thought he did, but the fact remains that Armand was totally fine with watching Louis die, and then at some point he changed his mind! Whether it was about Louis or his trauma from being starved by the Children of Darkness, he made a decision somewhere in there. And Armand is allergic to making decisions, so that's worth noting! I really hope we get to hear his side of Paris eventually because I would love to hear what his narrative of that moment is, why his reaction to his murder plot failing was to save his would-be victim and then dedicate the rest of his life to keeping him alive. Did he misjudge Louis' strength? Did hearing Lestat's side make him change his mind? Did watching Claudia die make it all real for him? Was he hedging his bets, or was he sincerely sorry??? I would like to know!!!!