#I know people love to demonize him post-canon and keep him awful but I think he also healed and got better

[nephriteknight]

so a while back i made a post about what my blorbos' playstyles would be like in botc/social deduction games in general, and at the time i didn't include tma because they have so much highly specific trauma and dangerous eldritch appetites that this would be terrible for, but i just can't stop thinking about the very silly scenario where the tma characters play botc together. it would go so badly.

the banned character list includes fortune teller, spy, snake charmer, oracle, evil twin, vigormortis, no dashii, pacifist, cannibal, cult leader, fisherman, pixie, golem, plague doctor, organ grinder, and ojo, because elias keeps cheating. ojo and oracle somehow keep ending up in the bag anyway.

daisy gets way too into hunting down the demon. Guns Will Be Drawn.

jon and tim handle this game Extremely Predictably. i just know s1 tim would adore botc but s3 tim is having an awful time. oh great yeah one of our friends is a shape shifting demon lying to our faces? perfect. jon is on the verge of a panic attack but instead of breaking down he's just interrogating everyone very aggressively. hey, at least everyone believes he's on the good team.

basira solves the game right away and spends the rest of the game trying to convince everyone else. only georgie believes her.

martin is very good at being evil in these kinds of games (and also benefits from people not expecting him to be good at it), so when he pulls the demon he could demolish good, but, uh, he's honestly not sure jon could handle that right now so he gets caught on purpose without letting anyone else realize he threw.

elias insisted peter would attend and he did not in fact show. luckily no one believed he would come so it's not really a problem. ("you called it a 'social deduction' game, elias, it's in the name! no i'm not coming--")

...annabelle's the storyteller? i mean. she obviously would if she was there. i feel like sasha gives me st vibes as well but i might just be projecting again.

multiple games are ruined because jon accidentally compels the demon to tell him their role. one of those was not fully an accident.

simon is having a grand old time but he really doesn't give a shit about winning/the game which is less of a problem when he's good but very much a problem for his teammates when he's evil.

melanie draws the psychopath "by chance" several times and enjoys it way too much. daisy handles an outed evil player whom town can't easily execute exactly as poorly as you'd expect. i cannot emphasize enough how unlikely it is that canon team archives could play this game without at least one person getting hurt, killed, or giving in to the dark powers completely.

helen is eating it all up. literally. (elias is still pissed that the spy got banned.) she still never outright lies, which unfortunately for everyone else but fortunately for her (and simon, who thinks its hilarious) means she can't tell outright truths when she's good either or it'll look suspicious when she's evil. no one is ever fully certain what she is or what she's doing. pure chaos and we love her for it. (we being me; team archives does not in fact love her for it.)

elias is still cheating, but when they threaten to fill the room with eyeless dolls he decides to quit while he's (not) ahead and just watch from his office like an eldritch twitch chat.

[obae-me]

Omg Hi!!! It has been so long since I have seen you on my dash! How are you doing love? I hope you are doing super well ^.^ I recently saw your Mc with trauma post. I loved it so much, and it has also given me a lot to mull over the past few days lol.

Honestly I love the idea of a traumatized Mc and the brothers feeling like absolute shit for the way they treated them in the beginning... but yk another part of me wonders when I imagine my own traumas in that scenario... that for people (the bros- literal demons) who have faced so many things and traumas in their own lives, whether my feelings or pain is even comparable to that. Ik you can't compare things like that and the brothers would probably even be mad if I think of my feelings this way since it's the "Ohhhh someone always has it worse. It's not even that bad so just suck it up" self-deprecating part of me. Despite knowing ALL THAT I can't help but think that I am not traumatized enough to deserve empathy lmao (I realize how stupid it sounds saying it out loud).

So that is what REALLY got me thinking. What about an Mc that is genuinely terrified of scrutiny, being a nuisance and just basically inconveniencing anyone for things that are just basic needs. Idk if I am explaining it well enough oof and a mc like that (like me lmao) certainly won't bode well with Lucifer. Atleast not in the beginning. I could hate him (I could never but if I did) but still be terrified of disappointing him. This is what I mean when I say I love him but he reminds me too much of my father habits wise 🤢.

I am thinking a Mc who is afraid of asking even their basic needs at the beginning once Lucifer mumbled about them being too much trouble. Mc who feels so extremely guilty when the brothers get anything for them, cuz they feel like they have to work for it or they don't deserve it. Mc whose blood freezes over when they break something and try to replace it as quick as possible so no one blames them. Mc who never expresses their concerns so as to not add to the brothers' already full plates or worry them. It hurts to bottle it all up but seeing the brothers' concerned faces with so much PITY is a thousand times worse. Mc who never complains and adjusts to even unfair situations so as to not be a bother. Mc who just takes, takes and takes everything bad and doesn't say a word cuz they feel like they deserve it. Mc who tells little white lies to hide their flaws and be the perfect exchange student and avoid scoldings and criticisms ; only to stew in shame, disgust, self-loathing when someone eventually catches up on one of the lies (the person probably didn't even make a big deal of it/ was only mildly disappointed but Mc feels their heart breaking in two as they think they have broken their trust forever and would never be trusted again)

Gosh this got way longer than I was expecting >.< and a lot of signs like these aren't really obvious until you are close to that person. I think so many of us are so hard and rutheless to ourselves when sometimes the thing we need the most is a little compassion and understanding ;-;

Hi! I love seeing you in my inbox and thank you! I've been in recovery mode for the last few months but am finally coming back out of that cave and working on my hobbies again (seriously going too long without writing almost feels like going without food for me)! I hope you've been doing well too!

And oof, yes, I understand what you're saying completely. I'm like that too in a lot of ways, keeping certain details or complaints to myself because "Oh surely what I've been to is really nothing". And sometimes I let something slip and people get very concerned. Which is validating in a way, not that I need to be validated for it, everyone goes through their own pain and awful things SUCK no matter to what extent it is and I've had to learn that through my life.

(Wow that MC really is just me, huh? Calling me out are you? /j)

Honestly this type of MC is just canon to me. (I mean, the more pithy responses the MC has in original OM might just be due to writing but to me it just seems like the calm and general response of someone throwing out NPC answers as a survival tactic.)

They suck things up and soak up everything that's been said to them and work hard to remain a normal functioning being.

And of course Lucifer is an interesting character to think about with this MC because on one hand the human could absolutely despise him for the way he treats them. Or on the other hand (if you're like me I guess, which I realize is hella unhealthy, oops) the MC could look up to him and work extra hard to try to gain his validation, because getting praise from someone like that means you must not be a failure, right?

And just...the dynamic of that is so appealing to me, because Lucifer loves when people work hard and do what they're told, but then if he finally comes to the realization that they're burning out and actually almost putting themselves in more danger and harm because of HIM? And at the end of the day he's doing more damage than any of his chaotic brothers? (I like to have him spiral and be humbled just a bit)

Just all of the brothers doing some deep introspection once they come to care for MC and needing to sit down and realize that probably made their human feel so much worse and then spending the rest of eternity trying to fix that. And then the "I can fix him" mentality from MC turns into the "I can fix them" from every other character. A special Uno Reverse, if you will.

Oops, this turned into a fairly long ramble of my own...

Thanks for popping into my inbox with your thoughts! Traumatized MC deserves some extreme love

[whumpbby]

Idk if there's a right way to say this but Jiang Cheng's biggest crime in and out canon is being not that pleasant to be around and i rlly wish people would acknowledge that instead of trying to paint him as The Worst in order to justify their weirdly intense hatred towards him

I'm going to ramble,sorry, that how I put thoughts in order:)

I think that's the perfect way to say it actually. And 100% fact imho. His biggest flaw is that he has no patience with other people's shit and no filter on how little patience he has. He lets people know he's unhappy with them. All his care and dedication is in his actions.

The way he cares about Wei Wuxian and then Jin Ling - even his scolding is an expression of care, always concerned about the way their behaviour can bring harm to them or to their sects. The way he sacrificed his life for Wei Wuxian without a moment's doubt and neve mentioned it. The way he was fighting a war and rebuilding the sect at the same time. The way his sect became absolutely notfuckwithable. The way he kept throwing himself in the way of danger for his loved ones in the Temple.

This is not some villain who only cares about himself - the way he's being painted by the antis.

There was this post somewhere saying that the biggest flaw in a fictional character is being boring - they can be a war criminal, as long as they're not boring.

I think for some people who are looking for pure escapism and feel-good simplicity (and nothing wrong with that, everyone does that) the "boring" gets replaced with "ugly". The depiction of trauma survivors that didn't "go through all that and ended up kinder". That didn't get over the tragedy in their lives to an appropriate standard. That are functional, but not happy. That bring back the bad stuff that happened because it still influences their lives and behaviours and reactions.

They want all the tragic trauma of the past, but without long-lasting consequences that aren't leading directly to cock-healing or fawning.

Like, if you think about it, no one went through the war in that book and came out "better". Absolutely no one. Lan Zhan drowned himself in guilt and directed all his anger towards Jiang Cheng. Wei Wuxian didn't stop running for even a moment and he became an intensely careless, emotionally dishonest person. Lan Xichen settled into not really doing much, coasting on his sects' position and JGY's help. Nie Mingjue became a bona-fide warlord who basically said "fuck these people, hunt them for sport for all I care". Meng Yao learned that you can stab your problems away. Everyone around them became incredibly trigger-happy for a long while.

And yet JC is the only one singled out as the Evil Walking The Land, because his trauma response isn't pretty and stoic and is specifically, understandably, targeting the Innocent Cinnamon Roll Protagonist and isn't fixed by the end of the book. He could have saved the world, but as long as he's not polite while he's at it then fuck him.

This is, like, primary school level morality were facing here xD

I cannot tell you how surprised I was when entering the world of The Untamed - prepared by Tumblr to see jC as this demon of a man and instead found this guy who, by all accounts, is in the right 99% of the time. Then I read the book and was staggered by the final reveal. And the absolute bullshit I was fed by people that wanted to sour me on the character before I could make my own mind.

Not even gonna get into how these people treat Wen Ning - whose whole existence is a horrific chain of horrific events ending in his absolutely awful existence of an actual slave... But he's such a cute puppy, eh?

Tldr: people who keep making excuses for hating JC do it to somehow justify the fact they can only accept Trauma Light in their fiction.

[goblin-the-clown]

I feel like I've said this before but I want to make a full post about it. You're not supposed to hate any fnaf characters except from William. (Very long rant under the cut).

William is quite literally the face of evil in this universe, you're not supposed to like him or feel bad for him because he continuously does terrible things and he feels no guilt from doing them. Practically every other character has suffered his abuse in one way or another, sure he's had moments where he's been depressed, he had to deal with the death of his children, but he doesn't deserve your pity or sympathy. You can like him because he's a well-written character or villain, but I genuinely don't understand people who actually like the guy. I fucking hate him and I would like to sentence him to a thousand hells.

Now allow me to go over the other fnaf characters I see getting hated on that absolutely don't deserve it whatsoever.

Michael. Believe it or not there are some people who don't like him. He is continuously abused, neglected and manipulated by William. He's a victim, just like every other character I will list here. Just because he did something stupid and awful doesn't make him any less of a victim. I honestly don't think the bite would have happened at all if William had just paid closer attention to his children, I'm not entirely taking the blame off of Michael but it's something to consider. He likely did it for attention and it's very obvious he had no idea what would actually happen. After that he mainly only does good things to make up for this. He goes to find Elizabeth despite knowing there's very little chance of her being there, he tries to burn William in the fazbear frights fire to stop him from harming anyone else and he works with Henry to free the remaining souls in the pizzeria sim fire. It might just be me bc I'm a massive Michael fan but the hate is undeserved.

Elizabeth. Holy shit this one actually pisses me off so much!! There's way more Elizabeth haters than there are Michael haters (this probably partly has to do with her being a girl) and I don't understand it all. I actually don't believe she is Williams favourite at all, she is the only one who is canonically shown being abused by him and people somehow take this as her being the favourite?? I also don't believe William made Baby for her, he just said he did so nobody would find out the real reason he made the funtimes. She's not a spoiled brat, Scrap Baby practically proves this. Why would she be so desperate to make her father proud of her if he didn't constantly neglect her and make her feel like she's not enough? Also, she's a child. I don't really have time to explain the Baby and Elizabeth are separate theory so I'm only gonna count her actions as Scrap Baby here. She obviously had intent to kill Michael in pizzeria sim, which isn't a good thing but keep in mind she's been trapped in this metal body for so long she's hardly herself anymore. My point is the hate is undeserved and I love this complex gal so much. Stfu if you hate Elizabeth Afton.

Cassidy. This one makes a little bit more sense to me but I still ultimately hate this take. I've heard people say that they're just as bad as William which is pretty fucking hilarious actually. Tbh if I got murdered and stuck in a robot suit forever I'd be on that hate game as well. Once again, victim. They were literally murdered by that man. I honestly don't think that they thought Michael was William, afterall they hate him so much that they'd probably remember his face very clearly. I like the idea that Evan was just like "Oh shit that's my older brother, he killed me. Don't try to kill him though because it was an accident.' and they were like 'Ok.' and then tried to kill him anyway because they can't imagine not wanting to get revenge on your killer. William deserved everything that they made him go through in ultimate custom night, though I agree with "Leave the demon to his demons" and I'm glad they decided to let all the souls rest. Overall, undeserving of hate, that's a traumatised child. Same goes for all the other missing children.

Those were all I could think of for know but let me know any other characters you see get a lot of hate. I hope this brought some sense to any Michael, Elizabeth or Cassidy haters out there. Feel free to reblog with your own opinions, even if you disagree I'd like to hear your takes.

[20001541]

I don't know if you'll agree with me, but I feel like All for One would be a bad person even if he preferred Captain Hero to Demon Lord, like he'd probably be a lot like how Number Six was in relation to O'Cloak, like he would create his own villains and enemies manipulate situations to be more heroic and gain fame, even eliminating heroes who could be a threat to his Status quo and shit

Oh I fully agree, I've mentioned it in another post a while back that I feel he would be hero similar to the ones found in the The Boys tv show. AKA a hero who is more concerned about personal gain and successful rather than actually helping people. He would create this perfect hero image for himself in the publics eye while doing some terrible things underhandedly.

At the end of the day the only reason why he became a villain was so he could have everyone's eyes on him and he found it to be the most convenient way of doing it. If the Captain Hero comic had convinced him being a hero would be the easiest way to do it then he would be a hero for that sole purpose.

I think I said too that in order to keep AFO from being entirely awful his mother probably would've had to survive child birth and be there to raise them as I don't think any orphanage would want AFO and Yoichi. Remembering how AFO had the holes on his palms even as a baby so it would quickly give away the fact he has a quirk. Yoichi would be considered contaminated by association.

But even then I don't know if having their mother around would keep AFO from walking down the path he did as being raised by a homeless prostitute would mean he's in for a rough childhood. But he would have love still so hm... Idk maybe not as terrible as he is in canon but would still be a person who exploits for his own gain. Perhaps if his mother had a home and money to take of her needs along with her children's then we would get a semi normal AFO.

[myths-tournaments]

Awful Characters Round 1 Part 4 (1/8)

Propaganda under the cut!

BELOS

So, he is a horrible person, I will not deny it, he willing went into a realm of demons, ignored any possible chance that his upbringing as a witch hunter could be wrong (different from his brother Caleb), and had a years-long plan to commit genocide to every witch, palisman and living being in the Boiling Isles. I'm not going to say he's a "misunderstood poor babygirl". But the fandom just completely HATES anyone who ever sees Belos as anything other than an irredeemable monster! I personally really like his character, he's a really compelling villain, who (despite the haters saying otherwise) has a nuanced underdeveloped backstory of how he was raised on the witch-hunt era, and the betrayal he felt when he saw his brother abandoning everything they stood for as witch-hunters for Evelyn, the witch Caleb fell in love with. He clearly regrets killing Caleb since he makes MULTIPLE grimwalkers of him to try to keep Caleb with him, he's haunted by Caleb's ghost, the moment he saw Hunter (his most recent grimwalker) with Willow, his first reaction is screaming Caleb's name, he is way more than just "evil incarnate" (which is one of the problems I see in the finale of the series, but that's another story). Does this means I think he should be redeemed? No, of course not. But I don't blame the people who do, it could be an interesting plotline outside of canon, and I have seen some good ideas for how this could work! BUT HERE COMES THE FANDOM… I don't know specifically about Twitter users (deleted my account years ago, Goddess bless), but people hate Belos so passionately on Tumblr and Reddit and in YouTube videos that I would be surprised if Twitter of all places was more open to people loving Belos. I decided to search and check some places and I found people on the anti belos tag here on Tumblr that were calling people who wanted a Belos redemption or made Belos Redemption AUs literally ABUSE APOLOGISTS, I wish I was kidding! There's posts of people just liking Belos in general filled to the brim with hate in the notes. Again, I get people not liking Belos, he is a genocidal tyrant (not fascist because not every totalitarian character is fascist), but nothing excuse this amount of hate because of a FICTIONAL WITCH-HUNTER!

he is the worst guy one could ever imagine honestly like he’s literally a fascist so uh he really doesn’t have any redeeming qualities as a person. but as a character? oh boy. he’s soooooo interesting like. he makes you wonder what’s going on inside his head AFTER the episode where you see what’s going on inside his head. and the caleb ghost scene. oh my GOD the caleb ghost scene

NANAMI

Literally killed a kitten and yet is so iconic you can’t not love her

[veliseraptor]

probably this is ill-advised for several reasons and I do feel like I just did it but you know what I feel like it. 150 words meme. usual rules apply: fics under the cut, send me up to three numbers and I'll write 150 words in the/each project you chose. twelve fics five fandoms aaand go

1. And then there was Vegas.

It was like a switch flipped. One day he’d had a baby cousin who might be a brat sometimes but Kinn still loved him, not as much as Khun or Kim but more than his uncle for sure. Sometimes he seemed like more friend than family.

The next he had a bristling tiger watching him simultaneously hungry and wary. (Tilted Axis)

2. “I asked you then, didn’t I?” Wei Wuxian said. Xue Yang did remember that. At the time it’d just been a question from the shameless young master with the interesting talismans. If it weren’t for what’d come later he would barely even have registered. He’d been busy watching Xiao Xingchen instead. 

“Seems like it must’ve been another boring question if I didn’t answer it,” Xue Yang said. 

“One you don’t want to answer, anyway,” Wei Wuxian said. “I have to say when you do that it makes me even more curious.You’ll admit to killing all those people without hesitating, but you don’t want to tell me anything else about it.”

Xue Yang scoffed. “Obviously I’m going to take credit for my work, Wei-qianbei.” 

Wei Wuxian hummed. “Wouldn’t be obvious to everyone,” he said. “I know you know something you’re not sharing about Chifeng-zun’s murder,” he went on, “and I can think of a lot of reasons you’re not talking about that.” 

Xue Yang widened his eyes in an expression of perfect innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Wei-qianbei. What would this humble one know about the affairs of such an important person?” (demonic cultivator team up)

3. It was dark.

No, not just dark; it was nothing. There was nothing, he was adrift in a void, cold and empty. It was so cold, and he had never been so profoundly alone. But above all was the despair, the misery so thick he could choke on it. He’d done something awful. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to exist, even this much, couldn’t bear it. He wanted to rip himself apart like a piece of paper; he already had and it wasn’t enough. 

Xiao Xingchen woke up crying with Xue Yang shaking him. “Xingchen,” he said. “Xingchen, hey, wake up–” 

For a moment Xiao Xingchen hung in limbo, bewildered and confused, somehow two places at once. Then reality and the weight of the nightmare came crashing down on him at once and he threw himself at Xue Yang without thinking, smashing his face into his shoulder, limbs slithering around him. (Redux)

4. He turned around and walked out. Half expecting to feel the keenly remembered pain of a bullet tearing through flesh. Or maybe he wouldn’t, if they went for the head. Nobody fired, though, and then Pete was behind him, between him and the guns again. He wasn’t supposed to do that and Vegas was going to have to try to make him understand that his life wasn’t worth any less than Vegas’s now. But he couldn’t really think about that, not when he had to focus all his energy on keeping moving, head up, stride steady, don’t scream, don’t scream, not here, don’t let them see how weak you are.

Thankfully, Pete stayed quiet. Vegas was pretty sure if he tried to open his own mouth to say anything he wouldn’t be able to control what came out.

He made it to the car. He got in the car. Pete said a few words to the driver that Vegas didn’t hear and got in on the other side, scooting over to be next to him even if it meant his legs were a little cramped. 

“Are you okay,” Pete said, voice level and calm, so fucking calm. This car was too small to hold everything inside him right now. He felt like a bomb about to go off. Three fatalities, no survivors, he thought wildly. “Vegas,” Pete said. “Can you look at me?” 

“Not now,” Vegas said, somehow managing to talk without the threads holding him together snapping. (post canon vegaspete long(er) fic)

5. Tuor said nothing. Idril turned away, dashing a hand across her face. 

“I don’t want to grieve for him,” she said, a mixture of anguish and anger. Tuor felt an odd pang in his chest and looked back over his shoulder. He thought of the hollowness he’d seen these past months. He’d tried again to make overtures, pity stirring his heart, but if Maeglin no longer seemed to hate him it was only because he no longer seemed to feel anything at all. 

It was doubtful Maeglin would thank him. But Idril didn’t want to grieve, and despite what he’d done Tuor’s pity was a stubborn thing.

“Go,” he said. “I’ll be right behind you.” (time for all the works and days of hands)

6. You’re fucked up, he thought, washing his hands. You’re so fucked up. Get it together.

The thing was, Pete had started to wonder if there was a together to get, or if this was just what he was like, now. No going back, no fixing it. Vegas had ruined him for good. 

Pete wondered if he knew that. Or maybe if, with Pete not right in front of him, he’d already forgotten about all of it, and it was just Pete who couldn’t stop circling around and around, trapped like an animal in a cage.

A hedgehog, maybe, he thought in the shower, and started laughing until his stomach hurt. (jiggety-jig)

7. Discussing a night hunt with Xue Yang was…strange. There was the unsurprising part: the continual need to remind him to consider the safety of other people.

(“Why?” he asked bluntly. “There’s no such thing as harmless innocents anyway, and these people are playing with something bloody and nasty.”

“We don’t know that all of them are involved or even aware,” Song Lan said. “Until proven otherwise, I will consider them all potentially in need of my protection.” Something ugly flashed briefly in Xue Yang’s eyes, but it was swiftly masked behind an edged grin.

“Seems stupid to me,” Xue Yang said, “but fine.”) (Walking Far From Home)

8. Song Lan gritted his teeth and forced out, *he’s not well.* What are you thinking, screamed his common sense again. Are you really going to make some kind of bargain with this creature, this demon, this dead thing–

He could almost hear in Xue Yang’s voice: dead things shouldn’t throw stones, Zichen. He could see Xue Yang breathing hard. He didn’t breathe now, or didn’t need to except by habit and the comfort of others. 

“What the fuck’s that mean,” Xue Yang said, but at least now he sounded more wary than furious. 

*I mean he’s–* Song Lan reined in his frustration. *He’s not well. He’s unhappy. He barely eats, he barely sleeps.*

Xue Yang stared at him in silence for long enough that Song Lan almost asked if he’d heard him. Then he said, “how the fuck did you mess this up again?” 

Song Lan jerked. Before he could object (can you object? You have failed him), Xue Yang ws speaking again. “I set up everything for you, Song-daozhang, I made sure he was alive again and I gave him back the stupid brat too, and you, made sure he’d see the important stuff fixed when he woke up. You just had to step up and be the fucking friend he thought you were, I figured maybe you’d’ve learned from your mistakes but I guess not!” 

*This isn’t my fault!* Song Lan said, anger rising at the sheer monstrous unfairness of that accusation. *You’re the one who wounded him so badly that he–*

“Shut up!” Xue Yang said, his voice rising to a scream. “Shut the fuck up, you don’t know anything, you don’t–” 

Wei Wuxian whistled two sharp notes and Xue Yang’s voice cut off like his vocal cords had been severed. (Life After Death)

9. But right now Sha Hualing was where she wasn’t supposed to be, deep in Cang Qiong Peak territory where Junshang…strongly discouraged demons from going. It wasn’t her fault that this was the only place she knew of this side of the Endless Abyss where you could find the Silver-Spinning Spider-Beetle, which happened to be an essential ingredient in a poison she was making to – it didn’t matter, it was important. Liu Mingyan seemed surprised, which suggested that she hadn’t actually been looking for her. Unfortunately, Sha Hualing was rapidly losing the advantage of that surprise by standing staring back at her like an idiot. 

“Saintess?” Liu Mingyan said, like she didn’t quite believe her eyes. Sha Hualing smiled. 

“Look who it is,” she said. “Mingyan-niangzi. What an honor.” 

Liu Mingyan’s eyes narrowed and she drew herself up to her full height – unfortunately a head and some over Sha Hualing’s own. She set her hand to the hilt of her sword. “You shouldn’t be here.” 

Sha Hualing batted her eyelashes, still smiling. “Why would you say that?” she said. “I’m just taking a walk in this beautiful place, enjoying the fresh air. Is that so wrong?” Her eyes darted around, scanning for what she could use if Liu Mingyan decided to attack her. And she would wait for Liu Mingyan to do it first, because then she could tell Junshang honestly that she’d just been defending herself, so maybe he should talk to his sect siblings about their behavior, how about that.

(Junshang’s relationship with Cang Qiong was peculiar and incomprehensible but he had been clear about the consequences of causing its members unprovoked harm.) (under pressure)

10. Wherever he was, it was dark, no light filtering through the black hood over his head. The cuffs holding his hands behind his back would be pickable if he had anything to do it with, but even if he could get out of those there was the hobbling on his ankles he’d have to deal with. The ground under him – no chair, that felt rude too – felt like concrete, which told him nothing.

They’d taken his shoes, which for some reason was bothering him more than anything else right now.

Fuck. Pete was probably losing his mind. 

He thought about calling out, but whoever was playing games was probably trying to get to him by leaving him on his own, isolated and disoriented. Sitting up was hard but felt worth the effort and the pain rather than being curled in a heap on the floor. 

If he was lucky, this was a dumb attempt at getting a ransom out of his family. Vegas doubted his uncle or Kinn would spend one baht coin on bringing him back; Kinn would probably at least be tempted to pay Vegas’s kidnappers to get rid of him. Or maybe they’d see it as an opportunity – let these people kill him and then take the excuse as a chance to cut down a potential threat. (All's Fair)

11. For the next couple days almost all of Vegas’s attention went to Pete. He knew he was fussing and he also couldn’t help it. Pete was mostly out of it enough not to get fidgety. Macau’s teasing was half-hearted, which said more than Vegas liked about how shaken up he was. 

Porsche came around to visit. Of course Porsche came around to visit. Vegas thought he was going to crack a molar when he opened the door. 

“Still mad, huh,” Porsche said, sounding more rueful than anything else. 

“Yes,” Vegas said. “You could say that. What do you want?” 

“Just checking on my friend,” Porsche said. “See how he’s doing, say hi–” 

“He’s fine,” Vegas said. “Resting. You can go.” (Undercut)

12. World reduced to four featureless walls and a door as formidable a barrier as the Theodosian Walls, Francis Crawford of Lymond sat, seemingly poised in still and focused contemplation, the impression spoiled only by the sheen of sweat on the back of his neck. Otherwise he showed no sign of weakness or faltering; when he eventually slept it was lightly. 

It might have been morning or afternoon - there was little light to tell by - when the gate opened. 

“Archangel Gabriel,” Lymond said. “Forgive me if I don’t rise at your coming.” 

“Pain makes you snide,” Gabriel said. “But I would rather you not strain yourself anyways, my dear.” There was a towel over his arm and he carried a bowl and a pitcher of water. “Are you hungry?” (et ipsi sunt jacula)

[misc-obeyme]

I'm with everyone else on my first thought being about you when i saw the new card 🤣 I'm debating if i should keep pulling bc i kindaaa want luci, but I'm not crazy for him y'know? I just like the art, but i have two copies of Barb so far

And yes, the last event I ended up finishing at 117 in rank. I haven't ranked this high in a while but my luck was great with the cards and it was the anniversary so i really wanted to be up there. I only go crazy and grind for the anniversary events, or if my fave is in the spotlight. This event i think I'll be chilling, I'm sure I can get all the cards by the last day

anyway how do you think everyone determined what foods are human safe for mc? Like has it just been learning from past humans trial and error?? Do they only use common ingredients?? Like mc DOES canonically eat devildom food (that one brain dish belphie likes is my first thought... Quetzacol...?) so idk??

they just have potions at the ready in case mc wants to try a new dish (i am an extremely picky eater but curiosity might beat me on trying food)

imagine if mc has dinner plans at purgatory hall or the castle and lets the brothers know in advance, and they get all excited to make a devildom dish that isn't human safe 💀

imagine craving something really bad for dinner that night, but mc can't have it. I could be bribed with takeout and ice cream if they want it that bad. Like "yes you can make this dish, but you are responsible for making sure mc eats". Reminds me of my mom making separate dishes for me and my brothers (usually non spicy ones)

Also the first day open at my new store was wild (i think we made $7000 in sales??), and trying to train everyone is hard. I think I'm possibly the favorite manager as well?? I'm the first one everyone seeks out when there's a problem 😭 But that might be because the majority of the team is the same age as me and feels more comfortable. Apparently I'm the 'chill' manager LMAO (I'm just anti social and tired). But this means I'm running around like crazy, I need a step counter at this point. My knees are dyinggg (our printer for online orders is on the second floor until we set up the portable one 💔)

anyway i hope you have a good day !! Or night !! i saw the post about barb/mammon and i was like "aw shit, another ship for me to be crazy about." BUT IT SOUNDS LIKE SUCH A GOOD SHIP, I LOVE IT, OKAY BYEEE

- ✨ anon

LOL it means so much to me that so many people think of me when it comes to Barbatos cards!

No, I totally get it the art is so good! Lucifer also just looks good in those casual skateboard outfits!

OHHH nice!! Congrats on getting such a high rank! I sometimes get higher if I go hard in the beginning, but I usually don't maintain that lol!

Ah yes, quetzalcoatl brains. Belphie you little weirdo we love you. I think they are implying that this is some kinda snake, but Quetzalcoatl is an Aztec deity who sometimes takes the form of a feathered serpent. So it's kinda like, what even are quetzalcoatl brains?!? I'm going with the snake theory because nothing else makes sense.

But anyway, I assume part of is trial and error... I can't imagine they haven't tried out all kinds of things on Solomon and possibly other humans who somehow ended up in the Devildom. I mean it's not like you know how a whole different species is going to react to food until you feed it to them, right?

But they do seem to be aware of some things already, such as lunatic pudding and the golden hellfire newt syrup or whatever it's called. So if they know some stuff, then they must have had humans trying it before.

As for MC trying new stuff, I think it's probably okay. I mean they have seven demons at their disposal on a regular basis. And if the brothers can't fix whatever the problem is, I'm fairly certain Solomon or Barbatos (or both) could. I do think MC would be taking a risk with some things, but hopefully they have enough help and their own magical knowledge to help them out!

I personally would fall victim to all the suspicious dishes. I like to try everything, no matter what it is.

I kinda like the idea of the brothers being excited to have something not safe for humans when MC isn't around lol. Like that sounds adorable! They're all guys guys we can have bloody bat legs for dinner because we won't have to worry about them turning MC into a vampire!

I also like the idea of them just having different stuff. Like I would absolutely be like I don't care, have all the bloody bat legs you want, as long as I have something else that I can eat!

I've often thought about what human world dishes I'd make for them if I had to cook. I can make more elaborate things, but I tend to fall on my easy staples because... well, they're easy. You can be sure I'm making them fried eggs all the time. Maybe I'll even put them on some avocado toast! Maybe I'd make a Devildom variant with cockatrice eggs and uh... whatever the equivalent of an avocado would be. Bread seems to be the same? Hmm.

Wow congrats on the high sales!! Training can be tough for sure, especially in a group situation! I don't doubt that you are the favorite manager~ if they're seeking you out, it's definitely because they trust you to help them! Ah, but I hope your knees feel better soon...

Honestly, I'm amazed at how many people seem to be interested in the Mammon/Barbatos ship?? Here I thought I was the only one lol. I just really like to consider different characters together and the way their relationship could go... I find it fascinating...

I hope you have a lovely day/night as well!! 💕💕

[spaghettiandart]

Hello! I’m a recent follower, and I really love your Old Man Phil AU. I was wondering, does Phil ever realize that he was a racist, genocidal zealot who was going to be responsible for a *lot* of deaths on the Day of Unity? If so, how does he feel when he remembers? You don’t have to answer this if your ask box is super full, or if you just don’t want to.

Hey! Sorry for taking a while to get back to this post, it's been a while since I've watched TOH and my interest in the au has died down. But I have thought about how a possible reveal like this would go, though since the au was mostly for laughs (and so I could relentlessly bully Belos) I didn't put much in depth thought into it.

I do love to ramble, though, so let me ramble a bit about how I'd like to portray "the reveal" in the au

Since this is a early season 1 au, a LOT of things are obviously diverging from canon, too many to really write down right now. Thered be different events entirely from canon, things that occurred as a catalyst of either Belos's actions or the actions or people associated with him would either not occur at all or occur differently, so the timeline is definitely going to look a lot different.

That said, I think having Phil realize/remember who he was/is should happen around... maybe mid-to-late season 2? I mean like. I don't know how exactly itd go. Maybe he falls down another set of stairs, wakes up, and goes "HOLY SHIT" like right after

I feel like itd be a huge tonal whiplash. Also itd be like... okay, so memories do shape a person, and the new memories "Phil" forms shapes him. So I imagine if/when the old memories comes back, there's a definite conflict of priorities/moral values going on there. I mean I imagine inherently Belos/Philip is an incredibly selfish person with a list of crimes several miles long, BUT he also believes that everything he's doing is the right thing (for whom, whether it be himself or humanity or whatever season 3 revealed, is up in the air) even when he takes enjoyment from the suffering of others during the process (literally just count any of the times hes hurt someone else in the show) like hes so full of himself it physically hurts, so obviously he'd probably try to rationalize everything to himself. Because I imagine having the willpower to keep on doing shit like that for CENTURIES takes a BUNCH of rationalization and leaps of logic, especially since hes a zealot who grew up within heavily religious and I imagine almost cultish surroundings.

I imagine denial. HEAVY denial. Imagine one day you're just some old dude with a mildly shitty attitude and then the next day you wake up and remember your entire past life where you were a racist, genocidal, puritanical tyrant that had extended his own life by unnatural means and also killed his own brother and did WHAT with his body and also is planning to Literally Murder Everyone. What do you even do in that situation?

I dont think hed be able to look anyone in the eye at all after learning that. A) because these are people past-him wanted to MURDER, and B) because a very decent part of him, after having regained those memories, still feels the ingrained hate and vitriol it once had towards witches.

Its strange to think of where hed go from that point, because you'd have to take into account both his older personality and his newer personality and the morals, memories, relationships, etc both past him and current him had, since they'd all affect what hed do.

But basically: a whole mix of emotions including guilt (at the whole murder and being a terrible human being thing like seriously awful), rage (at losing his memories in the first place), even more rage (at having "played house" with witches and demons), denial, denial, and more denial.

[deafeninggardenerpanda]

if we’ve covered some red flags, what are some of your green flag ships? like of those “fuck yesssssss” ones that you really enjoy

AYO SELF CARE HOURSSSSSS. i do genuinely like talking about the controversial ships but thank you for the positive vibes anon! love that

under the cut, just because the post is a little long:

actually im not super into shipping i think? i definitely value being able to imagine a dynamic for even the nichest pairings and have a lot of fun stretching or emphasizing certain parts of each characters' personalities to get them to work the best while opening up the potential for some development on each characters' side (thats exactly why im doing the ship bingo! its a ton of fun!), but theres very few things i actually like. Ship beyond surface level thoughts tbh. and recently the things i actually do ship have gotten increasingly niche. so enjoy this ramble that mostly pertains to specifically me and only me LMAO /lh

metadede ofc is the big one. not niche obviously. extremely beloved by me hiiiiiiiiii. they just have so much to work with in canon it makes so many varied interpretations which are a blast to see honestly. in general i love seeing how people portray their friendship too. an idiot whos smart to smart guy whos an idiot communication. enemies to friends to lovers..... their personalities bounce off of each other really well and the content the community makes is always a+. actually im going to take the opportunity to share my favorite mtdd fic ever. this is like pretty much peak metadede to me if anyone wants to know what i hope my personal interpretation will live up to [link!]

people might be able to tell ive been getting very into dametaberge. oh my god im so insane. no one look at me. dmk+jambacult found family Real. i have like three comics in my drafts for them. its mostly dametaberge thoughts rn but i like to think susie joins them later to make a poly ship. dmk and susie are a little tense at first but susie is, "like so over her knight phase," as she says, which dmk is extremely conflicted about whether to be offended or relieved at. and then they learn how to relax around each other and are always the two in the relationship to have awful destructive ideas, which flamberge vetos or approves of on a case by case basis. they get very happy and excited when flamberge approves of their awful plans

and of course my beloved gsa ships.............. theres falsgato which i am incredibly insane about thanks to my friend dragging me into it and now its a thing in my animeverse. enemies to friends to lovers I KEEP SAYING IM SO WEAK FOR THAT. dragato was a huge asshole to falspar for Various reasons regarding the nature of the gsa and perhaps dragatos own personal insecurity, but once they lost the war they got to bond since dragato like, realized how little the shit he antagonized falspar for actually mattered in the first place. and falspars a guy who really sees the best in people and ahahahghdjk its a whole thing its a whole thing i wont go into it rn LOL

theres also metarthur which is my very very beloved longtime rarepair. which i um. uh. ahahahah............. i get very slightly nervous talking about on main because a lot of people hc arthur as meta knights dad or parental figure but i shouldnt be nervous about hc differences really....... anyways theyre supposed to be like parallels of each other. people who are opposites thematically (arthur being leader of the gsa; mk being a former deeply infamous demon beast) who find themselves in similar positions in that they both kinda struggle with their sense of purpose vs their sense of self. meta knight sees his past struggles in arthur and so he finds himself drawn to him. he cant really Solve his situation, but (during their war-time relationship specifically) he hopes to offer some solace to him which functions as a form of catharsis to mk himself too. the two get to connect and understand each other in a unique way. i wont get too into this one right now either lol since the dynamic changes a lot depending on if its their during-war relationship or post-war relationship but theres the basics. i have a comic expanding on their general relationship in my drafts too but its at the bottom of my to-do list tbh. maybe someday though

im only into this one casually nowadays but morphogala... you really cant go wrong with "knight of death saves the greatest warrior in the galaxy from their torturous fate". something something the themes of wishing for the release of death being subverted into yes, death itself releasing you but in a way that actually Saves and rescues you instead. the hope and love in spite of all of the hopelessness AHHHHGH the themes of this one make me so weak. theres so much potential...... i really love this one on an aesthetic level too

you know i take my comment on "not super into shipping" back i think my multishipper ass has disillusioned myself into thinking being insane about like 4-5 ships isnt enough or isnt the norm. maybe i am insane about shipping......... oops

ships that make my thumbs up list in that i like them in concept but dont ship myself would be: marxolor; any of wave 3 x each other tbh. i have them as just besties in my hcs but paired up in any way is very fun; i kinda like shadow metadede but im really particular about the dynamic of that one; fransoos gets a very big thumbs up from me for themes and concept+enemies/rivals to lovers; metagala is. i dont super get it myself but the aesthetics alone are absolutely on-point enough to put this one in the thumbs up category. yayyyyyyy. im sure theres more that im missing but i think that covers any that arent too niche

[memryse]

Au!Scott question! Wann give me the rundown? I've only seen some Fanart (which looked AWESOME) but I don't even know what au stands for >< so if u wanna give me an introduction...? that'd be epic uwu

ive tried posting this like three times now and i think it just doesn’t want to let me include a clip so you’ll all have to do without sorry

ausmp = area unknown smp! it’s guqqie’s server, i don’t know too much about it beyond au!scott bc i got into it just for him like a week ago and haven’t gotten around to watching much else but the vibe i get is a sort of dsmp level vibe of “friends fucking around but also heavy lore”. nobody is fully human on this server and if you think you are? think again apparently :D <- soupforeloise didn’t like that one! scott isn’t in the server from the start and when he does join he takes the role of the main villain.

au!scott is, in cc scott’s own words, what alsmp vampire scott would have been if alsmp had been more lore heavy. he’s a demon, the ruler of hell, and also aimsey’s brother. aimsey is also a demon, but was never as good (evil) at being a demon as scott. they had too much love in their heart, they were too human in nature, so they ran away to escape both hell itself and scott - until scott shows up and finds them :) scott is just. yeah. pure evil here. he’s manipulative and specifically delights in making aimsey’s life miserable. he refuses to do manual labour and everything that he owns is stolen from another player. he’s smug and awful and violent to aimsey’s face (and later eloise’s) but to everyone else he’s the new guy :) he’s lovely and friendly and everyone loves him. nobody would ever believe aimsey - a demon who already has a reputation for causing trouble - over him, right? :) he’s here to take aimsey back to hell, but he wants to stick around a bit first. for funsies. he’s smug, manipulative, lies in every sentence he says and is entirely used to getting his own way. he’s continually learning that very few things - and people - in the overworld are fireproof. he’s immortal and, unlike aimsey, is not afraid of water… no spoilers but let’s just say there is a reason au!aimsey doesn’t like water and it is not because it’s innate to demons. so no fucking wonder he’s smug he’s basically invincible for now (in lore this will change. Outside of lore owen is really fucking mad about this and keeps insisting au!scott is actually also allergic to water)

other than lying his hobbies include manipulation, twisting other people’s words to get what he wants, redecorating other people’s homes with nether items when they’re not in and more lying and making aimsey’s life miserable and more lying. the redecorating usually involves hiding corruption in their walls. incidentally he does canonically know xornoth and has said that this is similar to what xornoth used - he doesn’t personally usually use corruption, he prefers manipulation and outright brute force, but he’s curious about its effects on overworlders. however as i said he puts it in their walls rather than like massive tentacles lol.

he has a rlly fun dynamic with owen too imo. owen is a ghost with a very inconsistent memory, and scott is very interested in him because he senses something darker in him. he keeps pushing to corrupt owen by trying to get him to steal etc but they’re both playing mind games with each other because owen is also extremely sharp and is beginning to cotton on that scott is perhaps not the honest, kind and generous man he appears to be. If youve seen the axolotl thing you know exactly what i mean i watched that at like 6am because i couldn’t sleep and my heart was in my mouth.

in conclusion i love minecraft guys that are just the worst guys imaginable and au!scott is so so very up there.

[goatsandgangsters]

SAB EPISODE THREEEEE LIVEBLOG

I’m really glad I have the subtitles on, because “we could definitely use your arsenal” is NOT what I heard Mal say to Nikolai. GOTTA ENUNCIATE THE END OF THAT WORD THERE ARCHIE OR I’LL BE WRITING A NEW RAREPAIR BEFORE YOU KNOW IT

AW KOVU, HE’S IN THE SHOW TOO. fun fact! if you look up the etymology of the name Kovu, it’s JUST the lion king 2! so in addition to naming someone privyet, I’m fairly certain that Leigh Bardugo named someone on Nikolai’s crew after an oddly good-looking talking lion

I’m so glad I have a visual for the flying ship now, because ngl I was never able to really… picture that in a way that made sense. My mental image of the Hummingbird previously was like. two kayaks strapped to some 2x4’s with a sail on it. this is much better

I like that they’re taking the crows more seriously this season? they felt sort of. silly and comic reliefy last season. but their scenes have so much more heft to them. Freddy is doing an incredible job, AND I’m loving all the more serious moments between him and Jesper (people always short-change Jesper on his depth and that makes me annoyed)

“wHAT HAPPENED TO THE WOMAN WHO WOULD BURN VILLAGES TO KEEP HER CHILD SAFE” AAAYYYYYYY DEMON IN THE WOOD REFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ooooohhhhhh Morozova family scenes SO GOOD, I’m fucking living. these two play off each other so well. I’m also just?? fucking living for getting to see him in all these different contexts? like, in the books obviously we only get him when Alina’s there (and then he doesn’t…. do that much in Rule of Wolves…) and like. genuinely. just getting a lot of canon scenes that’s him interacting with all kinds of different characters is REALLY exciting for me. you know what it is actually? they’re treating him as a character. and not just A Mysterious Figure. even compared to season 1, he feels more like a character and less like a Presence

THERE!! HE!!! ISS!!!!!! oh I was so excited to see the Nikolai switch and I love that he does change the way he carries himself and the way he speaks, HE’S VERY FUCKING GOOD

SPINNING WHEEL?????? ARE WE GOING TO SEE?????????? MY FAVORITE LOCATION??????????????????????

aw I love David. he’s so sincerely like “so these terrifying shadow monsters. explain.” and then just listens intently.

OH, HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW IF ALINA’S ALIVE?? they BOTH think the other is dead?? they both think they’re just arguing with a dream every night? well. that is juicy

“MY JAW FEELS MUCH BETTER NOW THANKS FOR ASKING” he’s such a shithead :333333

he’s even BETTER as nikolai, I am. very pleased. I am very pleased! i AM VERY PLEASED WE’RE GETTING NIKOLAI DEPTH, BECAUSE I LOVE HIM YOU SEE AND I LOVE THAT THEY’RE TAKING HIM AND HIS DEPTH SERIOUSLY

I WISH YOU COULD HEAR THE UNHOLY SCREECH I JUST MADE. OH WE ARE GETTING THE SPINNING WHEEL???????????? this is not on top of a mountain but I understand production restraints. um. anyway. I would like to take this moment to say SP??? SPINNING????? wHEeehHELHWELHLHWLHELHW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Zoyalina kiss when. ZOYALINA KISS WHEN.

part of me is a little bit mad that “arrive at the spinning wheel and get an exposition dump about how the little palace is a mess because the first army turned on grisha” is…….. a chapter I have already written, for amnesia au, but I have not posted it yet, and now I don’t have Verifiable Proof that I wrote it on my own free brain without show influence. you’ll all just have to believe me on this

WESPER PRECANON HOOKUP????????????????????

Wesper piano tuning adventure, eXTREMELY CUTE

Jesper having feeeeeeelings Jesper having feeeeeeeeeelings

CANNOT BELIEVE WE’RE JUST DOING CROOKED KINGDOM BEFORE SIX OF CROWS. genuinely did not have that on my bingo card at all

oh Inej’s IMMEDIATE “then we destroy him” is A Lot. from the mistrust to “ride or die, let’s kill” oh wow

WOW THEY ARE REALLY DOING KANEJ BATHROOM SCENE JUSTICE

ARE WE DOING????? STAIRCASE FIGHT?????????????????????????? IN EPISODE THREE???????????????????????????????????? IN THPIEOSDE THREE????????

oh FREDDY IS GOOD THIS SEASON. not that he wasn’t good last season, but they are REALLY letting him shine

this episode vacillating between scenes from Siege and Storm, scenes from Ruin and Rising, scenes from Crooked Kingdom, and not-yet-published scenes from my own AU has been a headtrip. IT’S NOT BAD, but I feel like I put myself in a washing machine with all of the books and we’re just going whuubbuwhuuubbbwhuuubbbb together 

my biggest complaint about season 1 was the pacing, and I can’t put my finger on what they’ve done differently because certainly they have even more to cram in and I really thought—if season 1 felt bumpy and rushed and all over the place—there was no WAY season 2 wouldn’t be even more all-over-the-place with so many characters and so many books. but somehow they’re really pulling it off??? I can’t believe this is the third episode only??? I can’t believe this is only haLFWAY THROUGH the third episode???? they are really packing a punch with everything and it’s working. this season so far is TIGHT. I don’t know what they did or what they changed or how, but they are NAILING IT

(interestingly, because each episode feels so meaty and satisfying, it doesn’t feel Designed To Be Binged. this would have rocked as a weekly release. each episode stands so well on its own, I wish they had a full week of breathing space)

ohhhhh poor David, about to be unwilling witness to Morozova Family Drama. World’s Biggest Ilya Morozova Fanboy accidentally has front row seat to watching his kid and grandkid duke it out, dysfunctional immortal style

HM. DON’T KNOW IF THAT’S BETTER OR WORSE THAN EYEBALLS, BUT NEITHER DAVID NOR I WERE EXPECTING THAT LEVEL OF FAMILY DYSFUNCTION RIGHT IN FRONT OF OUR SALADS

me seeing my boy in a fancy vest and gay-ass cravat with his sleeves rolled up: I am living my best possible life

ohhhhhhhh the Kaz Wylan Jesper scene VERY GOOD, FREDDY REALLY BRINGING IT

Ben Barnes with Merzost Tuberculosis was ALSO not on my bingo card, but I’ll be honest, I’m not mad about it. just hackin up a lung in every single scene

why is Tidemaker Woman styled like that. like, her hair, her makeup, she just…. looks like someone who knows what tiktok is? she does not look like she’s lives in Magical Tsarist Russia

OH HE EXTINGUISHED THE CANDLE, OKAY. there was a genuine moment there where I wasn’t sure if he was gonna give alina a wet-willy or flip her off

OH, NOT THE DOOR I THOUGHT YOU WERE KNOCKING ON

I’ll see how I feel tomorrow, I was gonna knock out two more, but I might just do one? I’m enjoying A LOT, but every episode has been so FULL in a good way that I don't. feel like I'm chomping at the bit for more? I mostly want to sit and digest everything so far. TBH I WANT TO REWATCH EVERYTHING SO FAR, ALREADY. god this would have been SO good on weekly release. how the fuck is this so good?????? 

[ancient-day]

Maruki’s wiki really does remind me how tragic this all was.

“He is a torn and grieving man who was the only person in his own ideal reality who wasn’t happy himself.”

[artist-issues]

I’ve been running frequently and must catch up on reactions, though I’m sure art will follow:

— I WISH FIVE HAD BEEN THE ONE TO SHOOT IAN.

— Peter is Simon?! How? How, how, how??  — Where do you think you’re going, Janine, you’re the only counterbalance for all the straight-up goofiness the other characters bring to the table.

— PETER IS SIMON! SIMON’S ALIVE! YESS!

—On Season 6 now and I like the new politics-and-cold-war plotline they’re running with. Lots of “characters fighting their inner demons” tropes, too.

— Aw, Jody and Tom! That was weird when they were hinting at it before. Maybe because she’s the panicky runner who likes to knit and he’s a half-insane war veteran who once kidnapped an infant and tried to carve words into his sister’s arm with a knife, but now their little love story is growing on me.

— SIMON! IS STILL! AROUND! I missed that guy!

— Still don’t like Amelia.  — STILL hate Moonchild. Keep thinking we’re done with her hippy-dippy crap, and she keeps popping into Five’s head at the worst moments, and now they’ve apparently CONFIRMED that it’s really her?? She’s not just a post-traumatic stress reaction or a hallucination? Five has “Moonchild Syndrome?” Do you know what this MEANS?

IT MEANS I HAVE TO KEEP LISTENING TO HER STUPID INANE COMMENTARY.

It also interestingly means Five, as a character, has some more autonomous character development going on. Like, Runner Fuve can’t just be going through this Moonchild thing ambiguously, however the player wants to interpret it. In-canon, Moonchild is really in the character’s brain and is affecting the plot directly. So. Neat. But annoying.

— People keep mentioning Five and Sam “drifting apart” but I am sensing literally none of that so far.

— HOW is Simon alive? I mean, I’m not complaining or anything. But can we establish how? And how the new face? And why everyone at Noah Base just…vaguely gradually realized it was him, without any bug reveals or conversations, but Jaimie didn’t recognize him? I’m confused but just happy he’s around

[thecarnivorousmuffinmeta]

What if Aro and Edward switched places?

As a human, Edward was not aware that he was in any way gifted. efferent places. You probably should have been a little more specific.

But since I'm driving this boat I'm going to arbitrarily pick: since the dawn of time. Edward is born in Aro's place in ages past and Aro is born in relatively modern America.

A Few Caveats

We are all, in many ways, people of our time and culture. Aro who is not Mycenean Greek will be a different person than an Aro born in 20th century America. Similarly, Edward the Mycenean will be different than the Edward we know and love. They'll have different initial values, different ways of seeing the world, and will not be the same person.

We don't see too much of Aro but Edward is certainly influenced by his own time period and readily admits as much to Bella (in the context of why he's so hung up on marriage).

My point being that this post is going to go wild places for that alone with a lot of hand waving extrapolation from me.

Edward in the Ancient World

As a human, Edward was not aware that he was in any way gifted. He suspects that he might have been good at reading people when human (which is hilarious as he's awful at it as a vampire) but he isn't sure. I suspect he showed no particular signs of being extraordinary.

Now, Edward is born human, he has a sister, and he lives in a world run by demons. Aro purposefully sought out immortality and likely used his gift as leverage to be turned.

Edward may or may not choose to do this. It's a very dangerous thing, the gods are fickle and petty and easily offended, and divinity isn't granted to just any mortal. Very few mortals ever are elevated to divinity. By having the sheer nerve to ask Edward could be turned into a spider, a goose, or even a grotesque monster.

So Edward may very well choose to live out his mortal life, probably not as close to his sister as Aro was in his place, and dies an ordinary mortal death.

If he seeks out divinity then he has a good chance of being eaten. Without a visible, impressive, gift as leverage Edward is just a shmuck.

If the temple god takes pity on Edward, or likes the look of his pretty face, then Edward gets turned and promptly becomes something of a vengence demon/god of wrath. He eats those who offend him/society with glee and hunts down the persecutors of those who worship him in his very small temples.

(Ever heard of the god Edward, yeah, neither has anybody else.)

Edward lives as many vampires did in that era and the Volturi is never formed. Mankind probably goes extinct at some point due to overhunting.

Aro in the Modern Era

I'm going to take the cheap route and say that the Volturi still, somehow, come into existence and somehow survive to the modern age. How does this happen, I have no idea, I don't think it would. Regardless, these are the parameters your ask implies.

Though how Carlisle would be remotely the same person is beyond me.

ANYWAYS.

Thanks to his mother's plea, Aro is turned by Carlisle. And holy god, Aro takes one look at this guy's face and he is in love.

Of course, Aro in this case is not Mycenean and he's very young. He comes from a society where homosexuality is not simply taboo but viewed as predatory. Aro may have issues accepting his feelings.

But... this is Aro and I just don't see that from him. The man we see in canon is practiced at making terrible choices and doing things no other would dare. He seeks out immortality, he turns his sister when very young despite the risks, he decides to make vampires a secret, he murders his sister to keep his rule, he offers Carlisle (on the crazy person diet) a position among the coven.

It's not so much that Aro does what he wants but that he hardly lets anyone else's opinion stand in his way. For better and for worse.

I imagine modern American Aro was delightfully odd, probably the despair of his parents, and about as openly gay as he could get away with.

Aro, thus, makes it his mission from god to seduce Carlisle.

Well, this is actually fairly easy. Carlisle at first finds this very uncomfortable but Aro made it plain from the beginning that he did not view himself as Carlisle's son or brother (where Edward immediately dove into the role of son with glee). Carlisle's also incredibly lonely and turned Edward (and now Aro) in desperate hope for companionship.

With Aro on the diet, and being such an interesting person, it's really only a matter of time.

Whether the rest of the Cullens get turned is a matter of debate. Depends if Carlisle and Aro happen to be in the right place at the right time (I imagine, rather than going to high school or what not, Aro develops various obsessions with things like cars, planes, trains, you name it and demands the move all across the world to see such things. Carlisle can be a doctor pretty much anywhere so he doesn't say no.)

If they are turned I imagine they find Aro... a very very odd person.

[therealvinelle]

Hi I love your meta, especially the one about Aro's brain and Aro/Carlisle! What do you think is Carlisle’s draw to Aro?

Glad you like it! And that’s a great question.

(This is the post anon is referring to.)

Alright, so we can all in this fandom agree that Aro is a fan of Carlisle’s, to the point where we just take it for granted. Aro loves Carlisle because he loves Carlisle. (Insert joke here)

However, I haven’t seen any posts addressing why Aro likes Carlisle so much in the first place, so here’s my attempt to explain.

Before I start listing my reasons, though, I should clarify one thing - I do not see Aro as a heterosexual man, nor as someone who sees his marriage to Sulpicia as a monogamous thing. I mean, you have a beautiful man from Mycenaean Greece form a close friendship with another beautiful man, commission artists to immortalize his beautiful friend, they live together for decades- I’m getting ahead of myself. Point is, I think Aro is gay.

(And yes, I know that everyone on this site already knows that, but I am orderly. Also, I’ve seen people post “Aro has a crush on Carlisle” like that’s a hot take)

So, Carlisle. What about him makes Aro think he’s so great?

Carlisle is hot even by vampire standards Frozen in his best age, tall, muscular, exotic eye color and with a hair color that has been considered desirable among many civilizations, the Ancient Greeks among them, Carlisle’s features would be considered ideal to a lot of people. More, he is so ridiculously beautiful that when Bella is awed by his beauty when she wakes up a vampire. The only other vampire to get that kind of reaction is Edward. Not even Rosalie, nor any of the Volturi or the guests who come in BD, get fawned over the way Bella fawns over Carlisle. So, Mr. Hottie walks into Volterra, and I think that even if he’d been a himbo who couldn’t read Aro would still have tapped that. He wouldn’t have been invited to stay for several decades, though.

Carlisle is smart Aro is a scholar who lives for knowledge, but finding someone who shares his interests is easier said than done. And even if he does find someone who likes arts and academics, they could still be an idiot. True intelligence is hard to come by. And then if he does find someone intelligent, what if they’re an ass? What if they’re boring? Carlisle is a very intelligent man, ridiculously charming, and loves the academics so much that his first thought after deciding not to kill himself was “I’m going to study all the things!” Just, Carlisle, you absolute nerd. Aro must have squealed when he saw that brain.

Carlisle is a saint 99.9% of vampires drink human blood, rat blood drinker George is an outlier and should not have been counted. Seriously, though, when Carlisle woke up as a demon, he would have thought his soul to be forsaken already. He had nothing to lose by giving in and quenching his thirst, and yet he defied his newborn instinct to feed and tried to kill himself so he wouldn’t hurt anybody. There’s being a good person, and then there’s being the kind of person who’ll destroy themselves before they hurt others. I’m not going to get into all the ways in which Carlisle is a saint, that’s a post of its own. What I’m getting at is that being beautiful is great, Aro’s tapping that. Being a nerd is also great, now Aro has a BFF. But Carlisle’s more than that. He’s a good person, the kind of good that’s daunting. And Aro can see his mind, see his every virtue and his incorruptibility. I think Carlisle rocked his world. I mean, he’s so impressed that the poor guard has been listening to him go on about how amazing Carlisle is nonstop for the past three hundred years. Jane thought he was exaggerating. Just... Carlisle’s wit and beauty was already great, but the whole saint thing appears to be what made Aro become the hardcore fanboy we meet in canon. (I also think the whole “Stregoni Benefici” thing was at Aro’s behest or at the very least with his hearty approval. It happened in Italy, and on his own Carlisle is actually pretty damn good at keeping the secret. I strongly doubt something like inspiring his own myth could have happened without Aro’s involvement and consent. Caius, of course, cried)

The Didyme Factor This one is really a post of its own, because boy do I have thoughts on Didyme. What I’ll say is this, from what we hear about Didyme she is reminiscent of Carlisle. An absolutely wonderful person, loved by all, her gift was to make everybody happy, she was so precious to Aro that he came back for her. And he ended up killing her. And since I don’t subscribe to Ever So Evil Aro, I think this was an Agamemnon and Ifigenia kind of situation where he sacrificed the thing he loved most for power, and now he has power but no sister. The Didyme Factor isn’t so much one of the things that draws Aro to Carlisle, so much as it is something hanging over Aro and affecting his relationships.

So, these are my five cents on why Carlisle rocked Aro’s world.