#I understand why the headcanon is common. It’s not on purpose but it is in between the lines somewhat

[kittykatninja321]

I know it was completely on accident but the way most of Jason’s “volatility” in his original Robin run was centered around cases involving sexual assault/exploitation does not leave the mind. And then you think oh you sure did spend a large swath of your childhood extremely vulnerable with no proper adult supervision didn’t you. Robin Jason was exhibiting behavior that would make a school counselor pull him to the side and go “hey if there’s anything you wanna talk about please feel free to stop by my office” like…

[badwolfrose34]

Girl in the Fireplace Rant (cont.)

There was at least some engagement on my last post about this so I decided I will in fact post a follow up. GitF was 100% a bad faith episode. Moffat wrote it because he is classist and misogynistic and hates Rose. Unfortunately, part of his purpose for the episode was to show that the Doctor will always prefer a “classy” aristocrat over Rose and he wanted to have her treated as nothing. So, all of us Rose fans have to come up with a headcanon that undermines the writer’s intentions.

I think the most common one is to believe the episode was the Doctor’s attempts to push Rose away because of her mortality and how that scares him.

That never worked for me because a major part of the Doctor’s character is his protectiveness. He would never push her away to the point of danger or abandonment. For me, I feel that fictional or not, the actions of the Doctor in that episode would be entirely unforgivable if they did happen. So my headcanon is that this episode was a nightmare Rose had.

If you are like me are also one of the fans for whom the pushing her away theory doesn’t work, read on for my explanation of why I don’t think GitF could be an actual event within canon. Moffat may be a BBC writer but it doesn’t give him a right to completely undermine the show, it doesn’t actually belong to anyone outside of financial concerns. If you’re content with believing he needed to push Rose away and that the episode did happen, you can ignore this.

Why the events GitF did not happen within canon (but could’ve happened as a nightmare)

1. Doctor Who canon is very loose as it is. With multiple writers across multiple mediums, things do contradict each other and us as fans get to decide for ourselves what fits with canon and what does not.

2. The Doctor has been clearly shown to be in love with Rose. He is protective of her to the point that if a decision will kill everyone else but give her even a slight chance of survival, he can’t actually make that decision. He almost did in Dalek, but after she didn’t get through the barricade the first time he was incapable of significantly reducing her safety for the good of everyone else. He snapped awake from a regeneration coma just because Rose said “help me”. He freaked out when Cassandra had her body and again in Tooth and Claw when she was in trouble. If you count Stone Rose that almost certainly took place before GitF and he once again, lost his mind over Rose being a statue.

I do understand seeing Sarah Jane age freaked him out. And I could’ve understood him distancing himself from Rose a bit in some way. But his instinct to protect her is so strong he’d never sacrifice her safety to push her away. Leaving her alone with clockwork for an extended period of time while he partied and invented drinks is impossible enough. Let alone the way he believed he’d have no way back to the ship when he went through the time window for the last time. Not only had he just promised she could spend the rest of her life with him, but her and Mickey would’ve likely died alone on that abandoned spaceship.

Simply, it’s just too out of character to happen within the rest of the Ninth and Tenth Doctors’ canon.

3. The horse. I have been a big horse person my entire life. Horses have extremely strong flight instincts. Even the most trusting and well trained horse in the world is never going to jump through reinforced glass. I do realize as Sci Fi fans we have to suspend disbelief for a lot of things. But we are never given an explanation as to why this horse would behave so dramatically differently from another horse. Every bizarre thing we accept in the DW universe is explained to some extent. There is a book where the Doctor tames a horse with psychic paper. But that horse is never asked to violate its instincts. That horse behaves as any other tame horse behaves. That is an example of acceptable DW suspension of belief. There is still a sci fi/alien technical explanation and I can absorb it. I cannot absorb a horse jumping through a firm glass window unless they were running from something even scarier. No matter how well trained a horse is, it’s not jumping through glass just because a humanoid asked them to. Nothing was chasing Arthur and his body language did not suggest any kind of fear to indicate he was running from something even scarier. All the droids were already in the other side of the window as well. It’s simply bizarre and impossible, even in a sci fi snow. Within this very show the Doctor states you can’t hypnotize someone beyond their survival instincts. I believe this applies to horses and a horse’s instincts is to avoid jumping through or into a reinforced barrier.

Next, we are given no explanation as to how this horse jumped through glass unscathed. Glass that was said to be so strong only a truck could break through. Horses are also extremely delicate and many have fatally injured themselves just playing in the paddock. Even for injuries not that extreme, every horse person knows that even small things result in giant vet bills.

Finally, it is once again grossly out of character for the Doctor to take a living animal and make them do something he previously calculated would required a truck.

4. Things are back to normal as if the episode never happened by the Rise of the Cybermen. If the Doctor had really developed feelings for another woman so strong that he would leave Rose for dead, then lost her, would he just be back to being the same old Doctor the very next episode? I doubt it. The Doctor is also a character known for holding on to guilt. Even if Reinette was mechanism to push Rose away, the way he abandoned her would’ve caused enough guilt he wouldn’t just be normal the very next episode. The show carries on as if Reinette never happened because Reinette never happened.

The only reference to that GitF is some clockwork droids in John Smith’s journal. Which could be explained by another encounter with the droids or by the Doctor looking at Rose’s mind to see the nightmare. Which would be an intimate enough moment to imprint on John Smith’s subconscious. The words “a girl in every fireplace” can once again refer to the Doctor seeing Rose’s nightmare or another off screen adventure entirely. There is no reference strong enough to confirm the actual events of GitF ever happened. The show functions exactly the same way without it. Because, it never happened.

5. The events of the show make perfect sense as a nightmare in Rose’s head. Take it from someone with a degree in psychology. Rose has abandonment wounds from Jimmy Stone. She also has abandonment wounds from her father dying when she was too young to understand it. School Reunion, the episode right before GitF triggers her abandonment wounds by making her see the Doctor has previously left companions and did not come back for them. It also makes her wonder if she is special to the Doctor. These doubts combined with her past trauma are a perfect recipe for her to have a bizarre nightmare where she gets abandoned in the most horrific way after the events of School Reunion.

I will leave you all with my fic where this was all a nightmare. Or you can write your own if you prefer. My point is that for those who feel the way I do about this episode, we do not have to accept the events as canon. We do not have to believe the Doctor has ever treated Rose this way except in her worst nightmares.

Update to address Deep Breath:

1. Doctor mentioned seeing clockwork droids before, but we know that the Doctor has many off screen adventures. He could’ve encountered the droids at any other point in his entire life besides GitF.

2. As for that episode stating the SS Madame De Pompadour existed, that still doesn’t confirm anything. There was a real life ship called the USS Queen of France. This was named for Marie Antoinette. Jackie dated a sailor once and Rose had a friend named Keisha whose brother was a sailor. This means Rose could’ve heard one of them discussing historical naval ships. This how she would imagine a ship named after Madame de Pompadour in the first place. She and the people who built the SS Madame de Pompadour and SS Marie Antoinette would’ve simply drawn inspiration from the same place. Also, there’s the fact that someone named a fictional ship Titan many years before Titanic ever existed.

Update 2: Rose was going to get an A level in French if she hadn’t run off with Jimmy. So she could’ve reasonably been familiar with some aspects of French history and able to imagine all of these things in a dream, even if it wasn’t a historically accurate dream, everyone knows weird things happen in dreams.

[luonnon-varainen]

I can't stop thinking about the fact that Collie is a teeny tiny eldritch horror(headcanon). Knowing the darkness secrets of the universe. Possessing a knowledge about the nature of existence, time, overall scientists far beyond mortal comprehension. The little god, raised as a one in a belief of their superiority over mortals. Allowed to decide about fates of those beneath. The eldritch who adores the life and wants to both understand and protect it, while being the greatest threat to living. Also they are extremely similar to the creatures from the deepest and darkest trenches of ocean. Relaying on lowest instinct, primal force who brought then to being. Moving blindly through the emptiness of the universe in search of the precious energy, the life to fill the endless void, which consumes them from the inside. Never meant to experience satisfaction nor rest. Left only with vague sense of purpose, which they will execute at all cost. But they are an actual kid, who loves games and warmth of other creatures. And those natures of Collector are equal and complement one another, forming whole picture of who they are. Leading to those "clashing situations" when Collie is a kiddo and just "breaks the character". It could be the most unsettling, unhinged behaviour/information about themselves, casually explaining the most complex theories from all the science studies like it's common knowledge with no reason, reacting weirdly to any old cultural/history texts, but never mentioning why, treating the mortals with some distance, sympathy and objectify or just entering a little hunt mode out of nowhere. Casually remind that they surely a kid but the primal god's kid. The moral backbone, all the social cues, all acceptable behaviours might simply not apply to them, never been taught. All this burden to show Collie how to be good mortal is on their surrounding. Not always in the best way, but still. A cute, adorable and perfect for snuggling kiddo, but that uncanny feeling being around them, similar to facing a wild dangerous animal, knowing it could tear you apart, but it just passed by, never leaves.

[linktotheheart]

One of my personal favorite legend of zelda headcanons is that Lynels were either not always bestial monsters who would attack on sight (or can evolve to be an intelligent social race after being freed from Ganon's influence, but I like the deep lore of them having been corrupted by Ganon and being able to return to their previous state once he is gone).

They're already clearly very intelligent. They're the only enemy that can figure out you're not a Lynel when you're wearing the Lynel mask just by looking at you. They're able to fire an arrow up into the air and hit you even if you're standing behind an object that obscures you. They switch from ranged to melee weapons based on how far you are from them. It shows they have some reasoning abilities and even understanding of physics beyond a very base instinctual level.

I like to imagine that Lynels would still be largely solitary creatures in their uncorrupted state, sometimes moving about in small groups based in either family units or teams united for a common purpose. But maybe they did at one point in the very distant past have a homeland where they could congregate, perhaps outside Hyrule which is why it's unknown in the present.

I think they'd actually be very academic, and would travel a lot to study and document in their chosen field, hence the largely nomadic lifestyle. The combination of hardy hooves and dextrous hands would help them easily traverse places that would be impassible for normal hooved creatures and footed creatures alike. They are capable of feats of both great strength and delicate dexterity, and once produced great works of art.

Given the way they seek out very high, isolated places, astronomy may have been a common chosen field of study.

Their fall was concurrent with the beginning of the imprisoning war, which was the first time they were recorded appearing in Hyrule in official histories. They had previously traveled into the wilds of Hyrule, but any accounts made by people of the time were lost to the ages, and the accounts from the war only survived due to the fact that so many Lynels appeared together that they were witnessed by many people.

I like the idea of, after the events of ToTK, the Lynels regaining their full intelligence and appearing to speak to Zelda. Link immediately moves to attack but everyone is startled when the Lynel speaks. Zelda orders Link to stand down and gives him the chance to explain, and he does so and offers allyship of his people, who mean to reestablish a society outside of Hyrule. Zelda offers aid and they accept, and though all the races of Hyrule are extremely nervous about them, they start to interact and work together.

Also, in any story where a version of Ganondorf is saved, is able to return and be reformed, etc, the Lynels at first regard him as a mortal enemy for what he did to their people, and only eventually tolerate him if he proves he has changed (or, alternatively was corrupted by a being/force like Demise himself, in which case many Lynels actually turn around and accept him and mourn over what was done to all of them together).

I have so many fanfic ideas now, tbh.

[phoenixcatch7]

Okay you know what actually yeah. I was tired but I had a point.

Why. On earth. In zelda fics. Do people not shut up about everything being hylia's fault forever and ever.

Like, the one deity out of a dozen odd who got cursed into this right alongside Link. All the focus on one great all being power who then gets blamed or blessed for everything that ever happens. It's just... I don't know, it just seems like a culturally Christian thing. Not even that - American catholic.

Especially Legend omg when people write him he never shuts up about how everything bad that's ever happened to him is all hylia's fault and she's doing it on purpose with no thought to her poor beleagured hero. He sounds like someone who grew up in an American conservative household who turned out to be queer and never bothered to unpack any of it and acts like he's now atheist.

But even then you could do something interesting with that!! The common headcanon that Legend is hylian royalty - of course that family would put immense worth and worship on hylia as her descendants, she who founded their kingdom. And maybe legend could feel bitter about not inheriting the magic, or the throne, or whatever meant he grew up away from the castle. Give him some unexamined religious trauma! Heck, he could bond with Flora over disappointing your family's expectations or something! They could work on unpacking it together! If you must make it part of his character at least think about why!

Because that belief is wrong, because hylia is literally the one deity we can pretty safely understand is not all seeing, all knowing, all being.

Every time she has a voice, a role, we see her make mistakes or be tricked and have regrets.

Skyward sword, she's literally zelda. She's a young protective warrior goddess (she used a sword and lead armies to battle against demise) who was created by the Three to guard the triforce and keep watch over hyrules lands. By the time ss starts she's already made several tough calls, not limited to yoinking hylians into the sky. When she was zelda she hated every second of leading Link around and even then!! It all hinged on him being completely willing! He was never forced to do anything, she didn't even have her memories with the plan until after she'd fallen to the surface! Their relationship was entirely genuine and she very nearly overestimated her own willingness to go through with the plan! And even then she still managed to get kidnapped lmao. That's not what happens when you're in charge of fate.

And in botw and totk - she's in her full divine form, her full divine powers, she's ancient and magic and worshipped in every corner of the kingdom. And (spoilers!) she loses contact with one of her own mf statues. Not just any ten apples high chibi statue you see in the towns, no, it's The Big One. She's got no idea what happened to it, but she's (rightfully) worried, and asks Link to check it out. And in an entirely separate instance, her OTHER big statue in the ToT gets overridden!! By a triangle head! And ol creep in the deep is the one who releases the statue! It's been what 20k years of power and worship - if she's not all powerful then she never will be.

Hyrule - every hyrule - is very, very polytheistic. She's not even a goddess of time to be in charge of stuff like that! There's multiple of them: Naryu, Cia (and Lana), Farosh to an extent, and many artifacts that can cause time travel, like the harp of ages, the ocarina, the big portal in ss, those time shift stones in the same game, the statue in wind waker. Please stop treating her like the magic elf equivalent of Monotheistic American Christianity God.

She was introduced in skyward sword. The game that came out before botw. She did not exist in any of the games that came before that. There was a lake hylia! In the kingdom hyrule! That's it! Her name or even existence wasn't even hinted at before that. It's actually canonically pretty unlikely any of the chain (cough cough legend) have even heard of her! And her assigned job is protector of the triforce. That's it. And she can't even use the thing. She can very explicitly as a main driving force of the ss plot not use the triforce she protects. And the triforce, shockingly, is not even in every game.

Cases that hylia often gets the most flack for (links awakening and all the trauma from that, Link failing in botw, the events of totk) hylia has absolutely zero part in. Hilariously. And she has zero power over wishes made to the triforce or who makes those wishes or what the triforce does about it.

She even gets all the blame for the cycle of the hero, the reincarnation! Which? We know exactly how that happened. Blaming her for a curse she herself is a victim to?? Demise, in skyward sword, explicitly, on screen, doing it ON PURPOSE, cursing the spirit of the hero and the blood of the goddess.

Hylia, I don't know if you've noticed, also has her own blood. Whether or not she lost that blood upon return to her divine form, she still couldn't break the curse. Link, spirit now tied to whatever demise had cooking up, is basically to reincarnate in time for whenever the Interesting Times happen. And it's demise's fault, who, again, did it on screen, on purpose, explicitly, pointing at the camera with text bolded and everything.

So why do people even blame her? I think it comes down to this:

Her name matches the kingdom. Whatever her connection to the people with the same name, I don't know, but she did found the surface kingdom as a mortal. Being named zelda at the time I wonder who chose the name XD!

Her worship in botk as a high ranking deity. Again, not monotheistic, there's temples to the Three and there's Malanya and Satori and the great fairies and the yiga worship ganon, but hylia is the most widespread for all she's basically a side character working for the new heart piece situation. Again, this is only the case in ss/botk, she doesn't appear in even aoc.

A misguided belief spread in fanfiction that in linked universe, hylia is the one opening and controlling the portals. To my knowledge, lu canon is that the portals are opened by dark link, or at least that's the working theory. I think it's assumed that hylia is the one who gathered the heroes together to combat it? If that's true? Congratulations! We have one (very plot necessary) act of hers in a fan comic. That is not canon to The Legend Of Zelda series.

An american Christian (I hesitate to say evangelican?) cultural understanding of religion. The differences between polytheism and monotheism. How one might feel if the divine was proven real on earth. Zelda is a Japanese property, it is not a Christian country. Though it draws aesthetic inspiration from western medieval fantasy it is not and never will be culturally western. The majority of ao3/tumblr users are American or at least English speaking, and that will always affect interpretation. It's giving 'be thankful to God no matter what for he always has a plan. Trust in him and your suffering will be rewarded' which is not a universal religious belief.

Something I've noticed to be surprisingly common in fandom, is where a mentor or figure of authority who is anything less than perfect or all forgiving can very quickly have their reputation ripped to shreds by the fandom. And then newer authors come, read those works, internalise that about the characters and produce new works that assume that character's cruelty to be par for the course. I will not be listing those characters or fandoms for a variety of reasons lol. But it is amazingly common and very hard to untangle, especially in larger fandoms. It's character bashing in a way near identical to cancelling people irl. It's not 'giving them depth' or 'making it more realistic' (grittier equalling realism is an ice cold take proliferated by dudebro comic authors and wrong besides.) Have some critical thinking.

Lately, I've also been running into a great many fics (not so much comics) that make hylia do some fairly heinous stuff... And then unironically blame her for it. They do remember they're the ones deciding what the characters do, right? She's not an abusive master playing with her puppets until they break, she's quite the opposite! Use the right tags (dark hylia/ooc characters/character bashing/author made them do it, idk) or dial it back. This is a growing percentage of fics and I'll never restrict content but yanno, if you're going to make hylia evil or manipulative at least understand it's a canon deviation (and do something interesting with it, I once read an amazing botw fic with evil hylia and fierce deity!).

TLDR, To summarise, hylia is canonically incapable both emotionally and physically of doing the majority of things characters in fics blame her for. Stop using her as a scapegoat especially when demise is right there. Please give your whumpees deeper characterisation than hating on hylia. Please give legend deeper characterisation than hating on hylia every time he or someone else is sad. Please remember wild can talk to hylia if he wants. Please double check anything you're not sure about :D!

[basilknell]

Vasily's Ethnic Background

Hello! I tend to ramble about history books I read adjacent to Vasily on my private accounts, so I figured I’d accumulate some of the information I read regarding headcanoning Vasily’s ethnic background. This’ll be a big post, so I’ll stash it under a read-more for anyone interested.

This isn’t meant to be taken as a concrete ‘Vasily is canonically ethnically x’ post, and as you’ll read none of the options I cover are necessarily concrete as there’s overlap and conjecture to be found in every choice. Nonetheless, this post's biggest purpose is reference for myself, as I rotate what I headcanon him to be often; I’m hoping some others might take an interest in alternate backgrounds for him from this, as I only ever see him portrayed as ethnically and nationally Russian.

I’d be happy to provide further reading/direction for certain information covered if wanted, and a special thank you to RSTRPV for some of the information I could not find! I will also occasionally update this post over time as I read more documents and come across more evidence/contradictions.

Please be aware that much of this can be a sensitive subject, and I have condensed most of this information to be understandable to the average reader which means nuance is lost. This is especially true in regards to the intersection of ethnicity and nationality of Cossacks when relating to Russian and Ukrainian history. I especially suggest further research beyond my simple blog if you have any interest in headcanoning Vasily as a Cossack because of their history of being imperialistic hands for the Russian Empire, while also being victims of it. I stress it, even. I try my best to tread the history and terms, but a short blog can only touch upon so much. Serhii Plokhy is a great Ukrainian writer who has some of this subject in English to research with.

Russian

To address first and foremost, comes the ethnic background the vast majority of fans (and the other characters in the series) ascribe to Vasily – an ethnic Russian. There’s not much information I need to corroborate regarding why exactly one might find Vasily to be ethnically Russian, and it is the easiest background for him to tread if you wish to play it safe regarding headcanons if you don’t know much about Russian history. He is, after all, assumed Russian by the other characters in the series.

Vasily, given his first name and appearance, has no contradictory elements to him being Russian. His first name, Vasily, is one typically only ethnic Russians use, but we'll discuss this further in a bit. He speaks Russian in the show, though a large portion of non-Russian ethnicities do sometimes speak Russian even during the imperial era. Visually, he has an appearance typical of an ethnic Russian and is found to be in a WWI Russian Imperial Army (RIA) uniform – though I’d like to add there was mandatory conscription for most all males in Russia starting in 1874. This means that a more than just ethnic Russians were conscripted into the army, and some ethnicities, such as Jews, had a higher conscription comparitively rate at times. So, regardless of ethnicity, typically most men who resided within the empire could be conscripted into the army, give or take some exceptions. I'd like to note that one time we see Vasily without his shinel (greatcoat), he’s wearing a non-issued gimnasterka, a military style of shirt based upon Russian kosovorotka. It was rather common for soldiers to replace their issued gimnasterka with their own version, and Vasily seems to have replaced his.

(Pictured Vasily’s gimnasterka.)

Vasily’s birthplace, Yeleninka, was, and still is, in Russia, though there was a number of other non-Russian ethnicities living in the Orenburg district in 1897. He also never bothers to correct other characters that call him Russian either. Though, this could also be in part that he either could no longer speak at all after being shot, he didn’t find worth in arguing about it, he still identified as being Russian as his nationality even if his ethnicity was not Russian.

But, regarding Vasily’s clothing, there are some major inconsistencies beginning with the fact Noda clearly had little idea about the Russian uniform or military organization in 1907.

To begin with: an ethnic Russian being a border guard was unusual. Not impossible, by any means, but not exactly the norm. Border guards at the time were found to be one of two categories: Cossacks (I will be discussing them later) or a specialized military unit called the Special Border Guard Corps (SBGC). While Cossacks were typical to find as border guards, and oftentimes had their own separate units from ordinary military units, you often could find ethnic Russians in the SBGC, though border protection more often than not belonged to Cossacks in the Far East. You might also find the occasional ethnic Russians serving as a Cossack out East, but again, this will be further discussed below as to what that meant.

Neither Cossacks nor the SBGC wore the uniform Vasily and the other members of his unit are found in. In fact, technically the RIA did not either, as the uniforms of Vasily and his comrades are WWI uniform designs, as I mentioned briefly above. It's important to note here, however, Sakhalin was not monitored by the SBGC in 1907 as there was a lack of funds, and as such Cossacks exclusively guarded that border. An argument can be made, however, that normal RIA members also helped in guarding the border since it had not been long since the Russo-Japanese War had ended, and stragglers to protect that specific border with Japan was warranted. I mention the SBGC for those that might wish to find justification for Vasily being in the corps and on the border somehow.

It’s far harder to pinpoint Vasily’s outfit had he been a Cossack, namely because he could have been in several different uniforms depending on which voisko (AKA a Host – think of these as state/territory distinctions between Cossacks residences) he originated from. To be a Cossack on the Sakhalin border, he could have been from a number of different voisko that created the East Siberian District that together covered Sakhalin. Simply though, no Cossack uniform matched the uniform Vasily canonically wears either. Nor does it match the uniforms of the RIA at the time.

So what uniform is Vasily found to be wearing, then? His outfit is a generic foot soldier uniform of low-ranking members of the RIA, lacking any tags to denote which unit Vasily prevails from entirely. However, the bulk of the uniform Vasily is found in was introduced in the year 1907 (in reality, 1909 when the changes finally took place) by order of complete uniform overhaul by Nicholas II, but other elements come from post-1910 reforms seen most typically in use during WWI. Given Vasily being in the Far East, it would be rather unusual for Vasily to wear a newly-issued uniform such as the one he’s found in, and because these uniforms did not actually take effect until 1909. How would a soldier presumably on a remote border have such a newly printed uniform (albeit, anachronistic in some aspects such as his Papakha being from a 1910 reform)?

All of this culminates into a couple of pieces of important information regarding Noda. (1) He was entirely unaware that the regular military did not cover borders, and instead it was the job of Cossacks and the SBGC. (2) He intentionally avoided pertinent information on Vasily’s uniform and gave him a generic one from the very year Russian uniforms were massively changed lasting until the Revolution. In fact, Noda had made edits to Vasily’s uniform between the original release of his appearance, and the volume releases, meaning he wasn’t thorough in depicting the Russian soldiers. (3) To culminate most of this, Noda had simply cobbled together information that created Vasily to be versatile for several different headcanons, not just as an ethnic Russian. 

There is a reason why most fans label Vasily as ethnically Russian, aside from general lack of knowledge on the subject, but in that same vein much of the evidence that he is ethnically Russian can be refuted in the same breath. Regardless, it's a headcanon to choose if one wished.

Ukrainian

While Vasily’s silence and the series text tell one story about his background, his name itself tells another. Specifically, his surname! ‘Vasily’ is found typically upon Russians and those who want to Russify themselves while 'Vasyl' is the Ukrainian equivalent, but his surname, Pavlichenko, is distinctly Ukrainian and not Russian. His father’s family, at the very least, had to have been of Ukrainian origin. It would be up to interpretation if his mother was also Ukrainian, but it does not conflict history to state his family could have moved from the regions of Ukraine after the abolishment of serfdom to different areas, or had been forcefully relocated as was common in Imperial Russia. Being leased onto Cossack land to farm in the Orenburg voisko, where Yeleninka was located, was common for laborers and poorer non-Cossack locals. An ethnic Ukrainian being found in Yeleninka is not as outlandish as one might think and is entirely plausible, as a portion of the Orenburg district was, indeed, 2.6% Ukrainian (about 3.4% when not accounting for Turk ethnicities) by language. They were the fourth largest ethnicity in this district behind Russians, Bashkirs, and Tatars. However, the 1897 census only calculated ethnicity by first language, so the true ethnically Ukrainian population would have been higher, as some might not have spoken Ukrainian as a first language due to imperialistic pressures. And, as discussed in the previous section, when assuming how an ethnic Russian was a border guard, the same logic can apply to a Ukrainian simply being in the RIA.

It’s difficult to explain away Vasily’s surname without him being, in part, Ukrainian. But again, part of this information likely comes from Noda’s lack of research into Russian history. Vasily’s last name is taken from a famous sniper, Lyudmila Pavlichenko, just as Vasily’s first name and birthplace are taken from another sniper, Vasily Zaitsev. Despite her last name being Ukrainian, though it was a married name, Lyudmila is often regarded as a ‘Soviet’ sniper and she is indeed Russian. It is due to this, Noda was likely unaware that (1) Her name came from her husband and (2) ‘Pavlichenko’ is actually a Ukrainian surname. Her popularized name is the Ukrainian Pavlichenko, not her maiden Russian name of Belova.

Vasily's first name not being the Ukrainian variation of 'Vasyl' could be explained by that stated mixed heritage. However, it was also not uncommon for Ukrainians in the past to go by a russified name. For example, the famous writer Nikolai Gogol's true name is actually Mykola Hohol – his name is often russified. Vasily could very well have chosen to start going by a Russian first name while in the army, or had it changed for him, as it was not uncommon for well-known Ukrainians to have these double names.

If you’re a stickler to the specifics despite Noda’s intention, Vasily’s Ukrainian surname cannot be argued against as easily as many of the ethnic Russian factors for him. Whether that means you’d find Vasily to be exclusively Ukrainian, or a mix, that is up to one’s own headcanon and interpretation.

Orenburg Cossack

Cossacks are a very long and convoluted subject in Eastern European history, but I will do my best to explain this as clearly as I can without dredging into too much history. First, and most important to remember, is that ‘Cossack’ was not necessarily always a distinct ethnic identity from other ethnicities within the Empire. But it was an ethnic identity to some.

The Cossacks first emerged from various ethnic backgrounds in the area that is now modern day Ukraine. They culminated into existence as different groups fled from varying situations they found themselves in and drew into banditry together. Ukrainians (or Ruthenians, as was the more popular term in the 16th-18th century) and eventually Russians fleeing serfdom, Poles fleeing the hetmans, those of Turk background such as Tatars, etc., all became a hodgepodge group called ‘Cossacks’ in that area of modern-day Ukraine and parts of Southwestern modern-day Russia. Over time, this group obtained special privileges from Imperial Russia, then Muscovy, in return for their extensive military service. Cossacks in said original area began to develop into an ethnic identity separate from Russians, Ukrainians, and Turks. Their own culture was Slavic mixed with Turkish culture – distinctly blended so they did not identify as one or the other. This was not always the case, and often the further back in history you go, the more often you would find Cossacks who identified with an ethnic identity outside of Cossackhood. You might often hear the term 'Ukrainian Cossack' in reference to Zaporozhian Cossacks because of this, as many of these Cossacks would have identified as being kin to Ruthenians (now Ukrainians) rather than having a distinct ethnic Cossack identity. But, later in the empire, certain Cossack groups did distinguish themselves as ethnically different from the Russians, Ukrainians, and other Slavic groups in the area.

However, because of these special privileges given to them by the Russian Empire, a legal definition of a Cossack had to be applied to persons. Due to this, as Cossack voiskos began forming further East into Siberia where the Russian government wanted Cossacks stationed, they would often bestow the title of ‘Cossack’ to people living in certain areas who ethnically had no connection to Cossacks, or even Slavs, whatsoever. This created situations where those who did not want to be involved in the military were now legally obligated to give military service, and it was now possible to find even ethnically Chinese Cossacks in Eastern voiskos. A Cossack had become both an ethnic identity and a legal title to be bestowed, though the vast majority of Cossacks in the west of the empire still remained those of the ethnic background.

To summarize, Cossacks found in Western Imperial Russia sometimes regarded themselves as distinctly different ethnically from other groups (Russians, Ukrainians, Kalmyks), such as with Don, Kuban, and Ural Cossacks. This is often exemplified in Russian Literature (although written by those who are romanticizing the Cossacks) where it is highlighted that Cossacks consider themselves a separate ethnicity from those around them. However in the more Eastern voisko, while it was possible to find Cossacks who believed themselves ethnically Cossack, sometimes being a Cossack was simply a legal title and held no other cultural or ethnic significance. It’s also, I believe, important to note that Cossacks were often the hands of Russian imperialism in both Siberia and the Caucasus. While Cossacks were sometimes victims of the empire, as the military might of that same empire they also contributed greatly to its imperialism. There is a fine line to walk regarding their history, and I highly suggest researching them beyond this blog.

Now, in regards to Vasily, border guards were often Cossacks in Imperial Russia, as it was one of their duties when not in an active military turn. This immediately gives him claim to potentially being a Cossack, as you could choose to headcanon him as a Cossack border guard rather than a simple RIA soldier sent to the border to stop the “Tsar’s Assassin”. But, specifically, Sakhalin was only guarded officially by Cossacks until the succession of the Soviets. Now, as stated above, Vasily was far more likely to consider himself ethnically Cossack (which would explain a Ukrainian last name, but not consider himself Ukrainian due the blended nature of Cossacks) if he was from a voisko further West. But Sakhalin was one of the Eastern-most points in Russia, and lacked a specific voisko to cover it. Instead, a group called the East Siberian District chose to cover Sakhalin, which was a collection of different voisko. If one was to headcanon Vasily as being a Cossack from any of these Eastern voisko, it’d be much easier to state several things at once: (1) Vasily is legally a Cossack and (2) Vasily considers himself to be ethnically Cossack, Ukrainian, Russian, or whatever else one might choose to headcanon him as. The only background you cannot headcanon such things in conjunction are legally Cossack and religiously Jewish for a number of reasons discussed further below. Nonetheless, if an ethnic Jew converted, they could indeed be dubbed a Cossack. Antin Krzyzhanovsky is a historical figure notable for doing this.

But, let us backtrack, as there is further evidence to Cossack Vasily beyond his occupation as a border guard. Yeleninka was located in the Orenburg voisko, and those who resided in Yeleninka were legally considered Cossacks. In fact, regardless of headcanon purposes, when following only factual history and no conjecture, Vasily should have been legally a Cossack if he had been born in Yeleninka itself (if born outside the town or if he moved there young, he could’ve been considered a non-Cossack living in the area. Certain ethnicities like Jews and Kalmyks were exempt from the legal title being applied however). I’ve never found specific statistics regarding Yeleninka’s official ethnic makeup, but as for the Orenburg voisko as a whole: when the Orenburg voisko was created, the government supplanted several ethnic Cossacks in the area, but also legally defined some ethnically Russian (+ Ukrainians), Tatar, Mordvin, and Chuvash persons living in the area into Cossacks as well. I have not seen Ukrainians mentioned in the formation of the Orenburg voisko, but at this time the government often did not see “Little Russians” (Ukrainians) as being separate from “Great Russians” (Russians) beyond linguistics. Thus, one could easily consider Vasily ethnically Cossack, or instead consider him to be one of the other ethnicities previously mentioned while only a Cossack in legal title.

To return back to the discussion about Sakhalin coverage, Yeleninka’s existence in the Orenburg voisko does, in fact, line up with history correctly, though I’m sure Noda was not aware of this. Orenburg was a voisko part of the East Siberian District, and it is entirely plausible Vasily would have been stationed on the border because of that. Though it would have been more likely for a further east voisko to send soldiers to that specific border, but not impossible because Orenburg was part of the East Siberian District.

Ussuri Cossack

Now, the Ussuri Cossack headcanon hinges upon everything I’ve just said above regarding Orenburg Cossacks. Whether or not Vasily is considered ethnically or legally Cossack matters little, only that he is simply titled an ‘Orenburg Cossack’ at the time of his birth, which he otherwise legally should’ve been if he was born in Yeleninka.

As mentioned, the Ussuri voisko was the voisko found furthest East – and because of that, it was the voisko that supplanted the most Cossacks to Sakhalin. However, there is indeed precedent for an Orenburg Cossack becoming an Ussuri Cossack. While it was notoriously difficult for Cossacks (and peasants in general) to transfer between districts in the empire, starting in the 1890s, after a large famine hit the Orenburg voisko the hardest, the government began supporting Orenburg Cossacks in moving to the Ussuri voisko.

So, in essence, Vasily could have been born in Yeleninka, legally considered a Cossack, and then moved to be raised in the Ussuri voisko as an Ussuri Cossack, allowing for a more probable likeness for him to have been stationed at the Sakhalin border. Because of how devastating the famine was to the Orenburg voisko, movement to the Ussuri voisko was a fairly popular choice for some Cossacks. Ussuri Cossacks also had a reputation for being particularly reckless and wild towards the government, often taking bribes and helping smuggle items far more often in comparison to other Cossacks. This might lend to why Vasily so easily deserts the army, though in general it was far more common for soldiers from Siberia to desert in comparison to soldiers from the rest of the empire.

Mordvin (Moksha & Erzya) + Belarusian + Polish

To get out of the way an important piece of information: I am going to use the term ‘Mordvin’ for ease. However, Mordvin is an umbrella term referring to two distinct, but related, ethnic groups known as the Moksha and Erzya. Think of it like the term ‘Slav’ in reference to Poles and Russians.

Aside from Vasily’s place of birth – Yeleninka – and its place in the Oreburg host, there’s not much other specific evidence towards Vasily being Mordvin. There was a decently large population of Mordvins in the Orenburg district, about 2.4% linguistically, the 5th largest language group in the area, and quite a few of them were also legally deemed Cossacks as well. And, while that is the little info I have (mostly because there is very little information involving Mordvins published in English and even Russian), no other information would contradict him being Mordvin either aside from his Ukrainian last name. But, of course, his last name can always be explained as mixed marriage in the past.

Similarly, such same logic applies to Belarusian and Polish headcanons for Vasily. They were 0.14% and 0.11% linguistically spoken as first languages in the Orenburg district as well. There’s not much more to add beyond the extra logical tidbits I’ve discussed that could also apply here. While not historically backed up heavily, it’d have been a fascinating headcanon for Vasily to be ethnically Polish and for him to interact with Asirpa.

Turkish

I’ll quickly preface that Vasily being full-blooded Turkish is highly unlikely. But I wanted to at least mention that it wouldn’t be uncommon for him to be a quarter or half Turkish. The reason why is that during the Russo-Turkish War during the 1860s, Cossacks often brought Turkish brides back to Russia with them after the end of the war. Given that Cossacks already have some mix of Turkic culture, they were partial to bringing these women back with them, though I must stress this was typically not done consensually. Regardless, if one is running with the idea that Vasily is a Cossack, his parents being mixed Turkish or a grandmother of his being fully Turkish is completely plausible.

Jewish

I’m going to attempt this as respectfully as I can, as it would be remiss of me not to entertain the idea of Vasily being Jewish because Jews were a significant population of the Russian Empire. Nonetheless, the facts stack against this headcanon, but I want to lay them out for clarity’s sake as perhaps the info is useful to someone attempting to work with the headcanon. The history of Jews in Russia is quite extensively plotted in academia, and though I’ve read a couple papers and books about it, I could very well be missing important information. Please feel free to correct me.

First and most importantly: Vasily could not have been a Cossack and religiously Jewish. If, perchance, he was only ethnically Jewish but his family kept this information completely hidden or they openly converted to Orthodoxy, then he could’ve been legally defined as a Cossack. But otherwise, Jews were never given the legal title, and even ethnic Jews who had converted to Orthodoxy were heavily discriminated against by other Cossacks. While I’ve never found a specific law mentioned against legally defining Jews as Cossacks, there are social issues to consider. Cossacks, particularly ethnic ones, were notorious in their violence against Jews in the empire and had a long history of using them as scapegoats in political matters. They instigated and typically were the ones who committed pogroms against Jews. If a Jew was to gain the legal title of ‘Cossack’, there would not have been a particularly peaceful outcome to such a situation. Thus, to be religiously Jewish, Vasily must have only been in the RIA which did allow religious Jews.

Next, Vasily’s last name, Pavlichenko, can be explained. While a significant portion of Jews in Russia had Germanic (Yiddish) last names (and ordinarily first names as well), they sometimes had Slavic names. Given that Pavlichenko is Ukrainian as well, it is actually more favorable than him having a Russian last name – Jews in Russia were majority confined to an area called the Pale. The Pale covered what is now modern day Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, and a bit of Latvia. If he was to have a non-Germanic surname, it was more likely to have originated from one of these areas, such as Ukraine, hence him more likely to have a Ukrainian last name than a Russian one.

Unfortunately, discussion of the Pale leads into a major problem concerning Vasily: Jews were restricted to this area. A handful of Jews could be found in major cities of European Russia if they were artisans or merchants, as they were allowed to legally reside in these cities when given permits*. For example, about 4000 Jews resided in Moscow around 1900. However, this only extended to major cities just outside the Pale. Upon my research into the Orenburg district, a 1897 census survey finds a grand total 4 Jews living in the entirety of the Oblast. Though I will say, upon reading other papers, there is mention of a single Jewish Cheder in Orenburg that supported 20 students. This hints that perhaps there were more Jews living in Orenburg than the official census denotes, but not by much. Of course, as stated with the Cossack background, there are ways around this statistic. Vasily could be ethnically Jewish, but his family hid this fact and became baptized in order to live outside the Pale and major cities. 

Finally, if Vasily had been Jewish, it would’ve been strange he didn’t bring up this fact to the Japanese cast. During the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was heavily funded by wealthy American Jews who despised Russia for their strict, antisemitic laws and their recent pogroms. Because of this, Japan was especially favorable towards Jews and during the war would often separate Jewish POWs from the other Russian military POWs, giving them better treatment. To this point, Jews often wanted to stay in Japan because of how well they were treated by the Japanese. I’m unsure exactly how long this favorable view lasted, but it is not remiss to believe as close post-war as Golden Kamuy is, this favorable stance would still hold. Instead of viewing Vasily as an annoying “Russian”, he very well could’ve used his Jewish background to cement himself a more favorable disposition from the Japanese cast.

*There were some Jews living outside the Pale, but not significant numbers. The Georgian and Central Asian Jews of Iranian background were allowed to reside outside the Pale in their areas of origin. There were also some Siberian Jewish communities created by Jews who had been exiled into Siberia, but none of these communities were particularly close to Yeleninka.

End Note

I’ll end this on a note that, with all this information laid out, I only wish to encourage people to choose what they personally feel drawn to for Vasily’s background. While some headcanons have more evidence than others, each has their own difficulties with history in ways, as Noda accidentally contradicted much of the information he applied to Vasily. I hope this encourages more people to do research into the history here – which I think is especially needed if you intend to headcanon Vasily as a Cossack, even if you are headcanoning him to be a ethnically non-Cossack, but legally defined under the title. But a mix of ethnic background is entirely possible for Vasily according to just the factual history, so restricting him to one ethnic identity isn’t needed if one does not wish.

Personally, I often write and draw Vasily as being half Ukrainian half Russian, though in my actual preference I find him to be an ethnic Cossack that was raised in the Ussuri voisko. However, I feel when I present him as a Cossack I want nuance following it, so I’ve never bothered to draw or write him as such beyond a couple sketches. I hope this post encourages some of you to look more into the history here!

[obsessive-valentine]

Are your request open? Can I request a sequel to Barbarian?

I know he's kind and everything but I don't think I could give in to him 100%, like yes, probably return the kindness but never love him. Reader feels a lot of guilt about the attack and I think that after the event and realizing that they didn't have much to do in the situation, they just felt numb about everything, living on autopilot except when they are with their dog.

This is just my interpretation and basically a self insertion sorry haha.

I would love to know about their daily lives! Does the barbarian take reader to war with him? (If you delve deeper into my idea) Would he realize that reader doesn't talk to him much? Would he be jealous of the dog?

Requests are always open, I love to hear about people’s thoughts on my silly little characters lol.

I did focus more on the barbarians perspective on the relationship rather the actual complexity of the whole thing and psychological depth of it all, it was a rather shallow Drabble but I’d love to expand more on his character. I’ll see if I come up with any domestic short stories for him in the coming weeks, love that idea thanks :)

Yandere!Barbarian X GN!Reader Headcanons

The barbarian himself isn’t a good person, morally or in any other way, and he knows that. He understands what he’s done to you -pulled you away from everything you’ve ever known or loved leaving it all in tatters- he understands he’s killed innocent and guilty all the same and will continue to do so for the clan to thrive. And he doesn’t feel bad about any of it.

He definitely tries to sympathise with how his greed effects you, but, he doesn’t regret his actions but does understand to an extent how hard this is for you. This is why he tries to over compensate by gift giving and finding it within himself to be gentle and patient, so as not to damage you further (despite that being the polar opposite of how he was raised).

He’s not super emotionally intelligent so doesn’t really know what to do aside from the above. Anyone with common sense will learn fast that they can’t fight him off so it’s very possible to become numb and retreat into the mind. If you wont retreat into his arms he will try make it so you feel comfort in his tent that way you’re not always on autopilot but enjoying a craft or something in your quiet tent if even just for a hour.

Honestly though he doesn’t really mind if you’re on autopilot but does expect you to tolerate him, so if you are adamant on distance or fighting him you might trigger his temper. Like pulling and tugging you around, making you sleep in the same bed no exceptions, raising his voice to remind you who you’re trying to challenge etc.

A very tearful darling is a whole other situation, he cant stand seeing you cry, he’d be sobbing, crying, throwing up on the inside while trying to maintain a poker face and think up a solution.

Onto a lighter topic, the barbarians do move camp every few weeks and that includes reader (dont worry he never makes you walk) they don’t have a permanent home just their tents though our barbarian does intend to settle down at some point once the fighting becomes to much hassle for his ageing bones. But never once does he imagine bringing you into one of his raids, rebellions or battles.

He leaves you at camp with the members that aren’t participating that particular day (like the few women, elders or barbarians that just didn’t go-nobody’s forced to fight every battle, just to pull their weight). And of course your beloved wolf dog who he doesn’t regret, he doesn’t get jealous easily especially of the dog he got you for the soul purpose of cheering you up, if he can’t cheer you up at least the dog can and that’s a win in his books.

He’s really not high maintenance, as long as at the end of the day he load up your plate with his finest hunt and sit near you while you both eat, watching whatever fight breaks out in the clan from a safe distance before he has to eventually step in. There’s not much entertainment in the middle of the woods during the evening so you both take what you can get even if it’s drunken fight.

Maybe he takes you and the dog out for walks or fetch if it gets really boring at camp. Will bring you the best stick he finds for you to play fetch with the dog, he sees how much the dog means to you so he treats it with utmost respect. He’ll let you have control over this one little thing in your life for your own sakes.

Therefore while he would prefer you to love him truly, he doesn’t expect it (mostly because half the time he can’t tell the difference between your compliance and you showing affection), doesn’t stop him from trying though. He’s a saint compared to the barbarians before him... only for you though.

[treshmind]

Astarion re-learning basic human skills

Another bunch of headcanons 'cause I can

When you finally start living together (doesn’t matter where exactly – Baldur’s Gate, Underdark etc) you realize how much of a mess Astarion is. Not only mentally, but also in some common things.

You might have noticed he’s a messy eater from times he fed on you but it’s just the beginning.

Now that he owns a place he doesn’t get bothered with cleaning up.

Of course, Astarion wouldn’t be Astarion if he wasn’t a little bitchy about it.

“Honey, why is there a blood all over your new shirt?”

“I have plenty!”

Also, you get a job if not to get money (I bet you have A LOT from the adventure) then at least to help people/fulfil your dream/not to die of boredom…

Which leads to you coming home rather tired and hungry.

To a mess Astarion made throughout the day.

His books are everywhere, an unfinished embroidery, even a painting (unfinished attempt to sketch his memory of you in the sunlight, maybe)! He has just got his life back and living anew, trying to find a purpose, a passion, a hobby. Can you blame him?

But you’re exhausted.

Your limbs are buzzing even from a thought of cleaning up and making a dinner.

Astarion doesn’t initially catch that in your behavior, too excited from seeing you after a day apart. Moreover, you’re clearly upset and go upstairs without saying a word.

He rushes after you, scared he did something wrong and you two… talk.

He apologizes (poor baby with wet cat eyes).

…And the next day you come home catching a smell of some burnt food.

He’s trying his best to make you a meal! But fails critically.

You comfort him and show him how to make some basic soup. He writes it down word-to-word.

(I’m gonna tell you a secret – later on he may hypothetically write Gale a letter asking for a cooking advise, but shhh)

Astarion has a lot to re-learn and that’s alright as long as you’re both patient and understanding to each other :)

(hey, drop in the asks, I don't bite)

[beanghostprincess]

the monster trio are various flavors of audhd (all strawhats are neurodivergent, but they the most)

luffy is high empathy, stimming, bluntness and audioprocessing disorder

zoro is hyperfocus, sleepy, good at maths and flat affect

sanji is infodumping, special interest (cooking), rigid rules (don't hurt women, don't use hands, etc) and difficulty with regulating emotions

Agree completely 🫶🏻 There is not a single neurotypical person in this crew !! That's why they love each other so much, they just get each other. In general, I think that the whole "misfits finding a found family" trope is incredibly neurodivergent coded but I think that specifically with the strawhats there is like, a fundamental obvious understanding that none of them are neurotypical. Like there is no way. I know it's meant to be very general for people who don't fit in to relate, but keeping in mind that most of the time the reason people don't fit in is because of living in a normative, neurotypical society... Idk. I just feel like the strawhats were all meant to be for neurodivergent people.

This being said !!!

AAAAAAAAAA I love the monster trio being neurodivergent. Mainly because I know it'd bother sooo many dudebros. And also because it makes so much sense and it's very very very real to me.

Luffy can't stop moving or doing stuff because it is painfully boring to be doing nothing, so he's always finding new things to do because short attention span and hyperactivity in a crew where everybody has their own stuff to do?? Not a good combo. So he's always seeing what he can do to not get bored. I think he's always touching Zoro's earrings absentmindedly like-- It's not even on purpose. He just does it. Also, being made of rubber has to be the best thing for stimming with your own body ngl. He's sooo direct and honest and blunt because he genuinely doesn't get why people don't think the same as him, but he doesn't have to get it to be emotionally attached and help you out because he makes other people's emotions his. Also add info-dumping right there because I know this guy is the biggest nerd about beetles and will talk to anybody who asks about them. They might be talking about something that has nothing in common with them and he brings them up anyway. Also! I adore the APD headcanon??? You're so right and it fits him SO well.

Zoro is my absolute beloved here because he has so much depth and feels and knows so much but people always characterize him as stoic and emotionless and like,, He just has a hard time showing it visually but he feels stuff deeply. He's always training and it almost feels like the world around him vanishes and he's always sooo eepy. Eepy boy. I get it. I think he almost finds it frustrating tbh like- We never talk about that but I think it's a bit bothersome for him sometimes? Also he's my favorite math genius and he might be shitty at directions but damn he's good at this. Also he likes things to be perfectly placed and everything to be in patterns of 3, thank you.

Sanji is the realest for me-- Don't ask him about the All Blue (please do) because he will start talking like crazy for hours and hours and hours with the brightest of smiles. If somebody wants to know about his cooking like, actually know what he's doing, he won't shut up. Somebody mentions any animal or vegetable or fruit and the guy is already telling you all the ways it can be cooked. He has a lil voice in his head telling him constantly what he should and shouldn't do btw and I also hc that he has to have everything in the right place or else he loses his mind completely. And that's tied to not being able to regulate emotions properly-- So he's constantly extremely anxious or feeling waves of sadness or just, extreme emotions in general.

[piko-power]

Being a Sonamy fan is hard (and just being an Amy Rose fan in general)

*quick note, I have only seen a few leaks regarding Sonic X Shadow Generations so take this post with a grain of salt and please add in some stuff about the game that I should be aware of because I have a feeling that this post might be incorrect about a lot of things*

*contains possible Sonic X Shadow Generations spoilers*

Being in love with Sonic isn't Amy's only trait. She is something more. She's a baker, a tarot card user, she's got a strong heart of gold, and is just a passionate and cheerful cute little weird girl.

As a Sonamy fan, these "changes" are nothing special or big, it's still just Amy being Amy, but this time more than just wanting to be with Sonic. I am aware of that one edit where Amy was trying to give Sonic cupcakes. It's really cute, but it's not the same without the hand over her face. Am I complaining? Yes, and no, it's hard to describe. (I don't have the image with me atm but in the future I'll edited in on this post)

I'm not complaining because we are seeing Amy just doing more than just, loving over Sonic. She still is in that cutscene, and most of the game as far as I'm concerned (I haven't seen all of the leaks), but in a more calmer fashion.

But at the same time, I am complaining because, and I highly doubt SEGA is doing this, at least on purpose, but Amy's crush on Sonic feels like is getting buried in a way.

I kind of worry that a newer generation of Sonic fans will never find out about Amy's crush for Sonic, or just how wonderful their dynamic in general is if this keeps going on.

I know it won't, but still, we haven't been seeing that a lot. But at least if you want to introduce new fans Sonic and Amy's dynamic, platonically or romantically, make sure to not bring up Heroes or a couple of X episodes please LMAO

(But that one episode where Amy and Sam talk about her relationship with Sonic, yeah, bring that one up. OH. and the last episode of Season 2, don't forget about that one.)

Look, we're all high on Son/adow right now, and it feels good, but what about Sonamy? Sonamy and Son/adow have a lot in common and are both really good with angst potential and lots of great character interactions. At least in my opinion anyway. (Topic for another day, if I'm brave enough)

I love them both equally, so I want to see an equal amount of hedgehog dorks being together. Or better yet, Sonamyshad. 😎

But I'm getting slight off-topic...

I don't want Amy's crush to be forgotten. You don't even have to like Sonamy to understand why and how Amy's feelings for him is actually really important for her character. (Again, topic for another day)

I mean, of course, some reasons as of why relate to my personal headcanons, but there are other good in-canon reasons, too!

Hell, even Sonic and Amy's friendship is just as important. They don't have to be a couple, but that doesn't mean we have to pretend that Amy never fell in love with the hedgehog who saved her life in more ways than one.

I also don't want how much Sonic and Amy's relationship improved throughout the years to be forgotten, either. This is why I'd rather have the shot of Sonic's covering her face with his hand, because he wouldn't do this today, and that's the point of all this...

They both started off as goofy, little kids, one wanting to share her love like wildfire, and the other always running off, not understanding the concept of love, and, of course, not loving her back.

Amy was much more loud and expressive about her love, and Sonic, while he knows there is good in Amy, does not want to be part of a relationship, and doesn't know how to talk things out about it, even with Amy not taking "no" for an answer. The solution? Just run away lol

Yeah, there are times where he called her a "pain" and thought of her as "annoying," but those times he was either in a hurry, or in a bad mood. Remember: They were both younger at the time, so it's in-character for Sonic at that age.

Sonic and Amy don't have a lot of moments where they're just, together. And not just for a "date." Sonic doesn't know a lot about Amy other than her love for him. ...Okay, some things he does know, but not a lot.

Their relationship was beginning to shift after the events of Lost World and especially after Forces, which I would explain, but I'm gonna put a link here because I don't want this post to be too long.

But if you have read it, then the next couple of texts would have some context lol

Anyways, after all that, Sonic and Amy's relationship was a lot different now. Amy was more calm but still cheerful, just not showing a lot of her love for Sonic because she's fully aware that none of that is important, and Sonic was more gentle around her because he wanted to be better than how he acted towards her for a while.

They both just want to hang out and start over as proper friends, but eventually, Sonic would find out what Amy was going through mentally, and how long she kept this from him.

Perhaps after that, Sonic wouldn't mind being closer to Amy, but he still has a world to look after. But hey, maybe slowing down and letting Amy catch up with him won't be so bad. Besides, he's finally seeing her happy with just him for the first time in a while, and he never realized just how much he missed it until now.

Buuuuut, those are just my headcanons, like I mentioned earlier. We all have our reasons why we love or dislike a ship (as long as it's not gross), and I have my own.

These two, just like son/adow, hold a special place in my heart because of what I went through myself, and how much they both have grown, and I truly hope that their relationship and friendship won't be forgotten.

I know it won't happen, but I still have that feeling... Probably because no body cares about their dynamic as much anymore.

Because of the past and people misinterpreting the ship, and Amy's character as a whole, the fandom seemed to care less about it. I mean, I don't blame them, but... it's still pretty messed up.

It's fine if you don't like sonamy, but I really hope you dislike it for a genuine reason, and not just because of some fans getting some things, or worse, everything about Amy and/or the ship wrong.

Amy's character arcs through the games, and her and Sonic's dynamic through the years have been overlooked as far as I'm concerned. Not like heavily overlooked, it's just that it's been a while since I've seen people give a damn about Amy Rose, especially SEGA.

I know we got The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, but I feel like that's not enough.

What's going on with Sonic X Shadow Generations is pretty strange, but first of all, it's not Ian's fault god dammit, and second, I don't see it as a big deal. I haven't seen most of the leaks, but as far as I'm concerned, it's not that bad.

(But I have heard about that one cutscene with Knuckles and Classic Sonic and I couldn't help but laugh my ass off over it XD)

But with how the game is handling Amy, please be aware that this isn't the first time this happened, and it's not even that bad either. I mean, yeah I did mention how I'm worried about it, but I was over it once, I'll get over it again lol

There have been discussions about this since the Fast Friends Forever bio thing that happened last year, and I'm getting kind of tired of the arguments by now.

Amy stopped chasing Sonic not because she doesn't love him anymore, but because she doesn't need too. She is part of the team and has been closer with Sonic for a long time now. She doesn't need to follow them around when she already have proven herself to be useful and a fighter.

I'm really happy Amy is being recognized as something more than having a crush on Sonic, but having a crush is the heart of Amy's character.

Looking up to Sonic and wanting to be like him is what made Amy Rose... well, Amy Rose. She pushed herself and fought hard to be the person she wanted to be, and it's all thanks to Sonic.

He inspired a lot of people around him, especially Amy, so it's no wonder why she loves him so much. Plus, her tarot cards told her that he would be the love of her life, but I feel like even if the cards are wrong (not saying they are lol), she still loves him.

I want Amy's feelings for Sonic, and their friendship and their potential relationship to be remembered for a long time. I don't want them to be pushed to the side forever.

I don't want people to believe that her crush is her only trait, even though it's so important to her character.

I don't want Amy to change too much. Friends or not, I don't want her to give up on Sonic entirely.

I don't want this fandom to forget about Amy Rose.

[lord-squiggletits]

On the MegOP fandom trend of saying "Optimus should apologize to Megatron"

(Speaking specifically for IDW1, though it applies to a lot of MegOP especially ones that do continuity soup with heavy reference to IDW1)

I was talking to a friend in DMs and they mentioned a common headcanon/fanfic trope that I also concurred with, and both of us said it's something that bothers us: a common take in the MegOP fandom goes basically along the lines of "If Optimus had just apologized to Megatron, the war would've ended" (or other variants including "if he'd tried harder to understand Megatron/work in collaboration with him").

And firstly, this is incorrect for a number of reasons:

There were attempts at peace negotiations during the war, but they fell through. So Optimus WAS trying to work with Megatron to the point of participating in formal diplomatic meetings.

Optimus tried multiple times on page to convince Megatron to just stop fighting and work with him for peace (Autocracy, Chaos Theory) that Megatron rejected. Given that these on-page examples take place at the start of the war and at the end of the war respectively, it makes sense that Optimus asking Megatron for collaboration is something he was trying/willing to do the entire time. So again, Optimus was always willing AND ATTEMPTING to work with Megatron and find a joint solution

Even before the war when Optimus was still Orion, he was very explicitly inspired by Megatron's writing and names Megatron as one of the people who "opened his eyes" to the wrongs of Cybertronian society. So how is it that people claim "the war went on for too long because Optimus never tried to understand Megatron" when OP literally named Megatron as one of his biggest idols, thus implying that OP does understand Megatron's ideals

But the primary purpose of this post wasn't to defend Optimus, actually. Even though I personally think Optimus did plenty (dare I say, everything) to try to end the war, there are some who may still think otherwise, so instead of arguing about whether Optimus did "enough", or who should apologize to whom, or who "deserves the blame" for starting/continuing the war, I'd actually rather talk about this:

No matter who is most "to blame" for the war, it's my firm belief that neither Megatron nor Optimus would even expect/demand the other to apologize to them at all.

On Megatron's side, he would never seek to judge Optimus negatively for the decisions to the point of saying "you wronged me, apologize." Whether it's evil Megatron who doesn't care about atrocities and revels in an opportunity to expose Optimus as a hypocrite, or post-war/Autobot Megatron who knows that his own evil actions are irredeemable, the idea of Megatron judging Optimus and demanding an apology for the war specifically strikes me as out-of-character. Why would Megatron demand or even want an apology from Optimus when Megatron knows fully well that he has his own sins to bear, he prolonged the war for his own selfish/material gain, and that he is responsible for an untold amount of suffering? Demanding an apology would imply that Megatron sees himself as the wronged party and Optimus as the wrongdoer, but by the end of the war, Megatron is too aware of his own part in the war to ever demand such a thing of Optimus. Even if he DID think that Optimus was "equally to blame" for the war (which he doesn't/wouldn't, btw), Megatron's own feelings of guilt would prevent him from trying to seek the petty satisfaction of the moral high ground or making Optimus beg for his forgiveness.

Additionally, Megatron knows Optimus very well as a person: he knows that the position of leadership is full of "loneliness [and] agonizing self-doubt" for Optimus (Chaos Theory) and that "when Optimus hurts others, he hurts himself" (MTMTE). Another reason that Megatron wouldn't demand nor want an apology from Optimus is because Megatron knows Optimus so well that he already knows that being a war leader fills Optimus with immense guilt and suffering. Given that Megatron knows about Optimus' self-doubt and guilt, why would he even need an apology when he already knows how much Optimus regrets the war and desperately wishes/wished for it to end?

Then, as established in the previous paragraphs, Optimus is too full of guilt for his part in the war (both before it started and in being unable to stop it sooner) to demand an apology from Megatron. Again, demanding an apology would put Optimus in an implied position of moral superiority and/or victimhood, but Optimus doesn't see himself as morally superior or as a victim (or rather, he sees himself as being responsible for these bad things happening and internalizes this as a duty to do better/fix wrongdoings). In other words, Megatron and Optimus both share this view of themselves and each other: Their hands are so dirty, and they both feel such guilt over this, and they know each other well enough to know that the other feels this way as well. Because both of them feel blame for the war and are acutely aware of their own flaws/part in suffering, both of them feel far too responsible for the war happening for them to ever blame their archnemesis for "not trying harder" or "being responsible for the war."

Hell, if you even look at the socio-political climate of Cybertron before the war started, neither Megatron nor Optimus were the ones who put this conflict into motion. The corrupt legacy of the Primes, Functionism, class issues-- all of these things existed before Megatron and Optimus did. Even once they started doing things like writing about social issues (M) or fighting against the Senate (OP), both of them were "underlings" in sense that they weren't leaders:

Megatron's writings may have inspired the Decepticon movement, but that movement existed as an independent entity with its own leaders and speakers long before Megatron became the "official" ruler of the Decepticons. He wasn't even the leader of the 'Cons until he took control of the gladiator arena and the nonviolent sections of the Decepticons were (presumably) subsumed into the underground, exploitative battle culture that Megatron created.

Optimus-as-Orion was a police officer to start, but even once he started going against the Senate, he mainly worked in collaboration with others like Senator Shockwave and Zeta (later Zeta Prime), who he either saw as his idols or who were literally superior to him in rank due to government/military structures.

So with this in mind, even from a social level, while Megatron and Optimus may have been "catalysts" of a sort that caused the war to escalate to an outright planetary/galactic level, the scenario is too complex to solely lay the blame for the war at either of their feet. I'm not confident in saying that Megatron/Optimus would explicitly think of this when talking to each other, but what I'm trying to say is that M/OP were just catalysts in a long chain of brewing tension that exploded into a war. Even if one could claim that one of them "started" or "escalated" the war, the social issues that caused the war and the positions of power that allowed them to become leaders in the first place were falling into place before either of them actually BECAME leaders.

In other words, this shared fate of being the final reaction that exploded a societal conflict into outright war... Megatron and Optimus both have that in common. And because of this, I really don't think either of them would even think to ask the other to apologize because they're both in such similar positions, with such similar feelings of guilt and responsibility, that they understand each other's feelings without words. To demand an apology would be akin to taking that shared vulnerability/guilt and stepping on it, attempting to claim that one is right/superior and the other is wrong/inferior, and that the inferior one needs to grovel and take responsibility for the bad things that happened.

[aliens8n]

Nsfw ABCs [ Rollo Flamm ]

Hello! This is my first blog and writing so bare with me but I feel the primal urge to create such things! For now I’ll be taking requests for headcanons and Drabble only Twst only!  Anyway, time to feed the Rollo simps!

NSFW| Rollo Flamm x GN reader |

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Rollo is a proper gentleman and believes that follow ups like after care should be common sense for anyone. If you have sex with someone, you’re supposed to clean up your bodies as he would consider it filthy if not. Though he would rather you be self-sufficient enough to do it yourself, he will clean you up nice and gently if you’re too drained; though expect some minor insults to slip out as he wipes you down with a warm rag. Rollo wouldn’t admit it but he does take pride in a way when you’re too much of a mess to do it yourself. After all he does believe that one should clean up the mess THEY caused. On a small side note since he would be relatively new to pleasure another, the aftercare part he was always more one of since he found it the easier thing to do in a sexual relationship.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of their partner’s)

He would absolutely love your hands. Oh how soft and comforting they were to hold. He loved the way they loved when they squeezed around the sheets on the bed as he kept his pace nice and steady as your hole squeezed around him. Rollo would have the tendency to slowly slide his hands down your arms only to then intertwine his fingers with yours and give em a nice firm squeeze. Even out of the bedroom he would randomly take your hand when he could and give them a soft kiss along each finger if he has time.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Due to not liking filthy things he usually pulls out and cums into a napkin or cloth he had placed out beforehand. Though on a very rare occasion he might cum right onto your back or stomach depending on the position. His cum would usually be thicker than the average person’s due to not really masterbaiting or having sex too often in general.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

Rollo secretly likes temperature play though he wouldn’t act upon this liking all too much. On special occasions when he does want to drabble in his weird sexual interest it would consist of you blindfold to raise your other senses as he holds a candle to your body and just inches the flame closer. Your reaction to the threatening flame would have him pretty rock hard. Don’t worry he wouldn’t let it burn you, the worst he would do  letting a few drops of wax drip on you.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Absolutely not. He would of  been a happy virgin for as long as he lived if he hadn’t met you. He had a low libido though it would have raised up a bit once with you. You would need to guide him through it the first few times until he got how to please your body the way you like it. Rollo might have crossed some erotic scenes in his books but he would be keeping notes. What he knows is what is taught in sex ed so that is about it! At least he would be aware of the clit and the purpose of it, but don't expect him to blow your socks off the first few times.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Basic missionary is all he requires and likes. It is a simple position that allows him to see most of you and get the job done. He wouldn’t be too reluctant if you asked for a different one as long as it wasn’t too much of a hassle to do. The only other position he enjoys is doggy style, once again, it is simple and gets the job done.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Rollo is a serious man and wouldn’t understand why anyone would goof off during sex. If you were to try to make a joke during an erotic moment he would go soft and lose interest almost immediately and probably give you a cringed out look too.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

He would keep himself very well kept! Anything you expected from his normal appearance would be the same down below, nice and tame. And he would expect the same of you as well. 

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

The first time would be more like you’re a teacher so it would go quite slow as he wants to make sure he is doing it right of course, as well as study your reaction to certain things he does if he goes off script. After a while once he feels confident in his ability,  the pace would be about the same as he wants you to feel every little thing he does to you. Rollo wouldn’t admit this openly, but  he cherishes your body and the fact that  YOU are allowing him, of all people, to do such things to you.

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Rollo doesn’t have the time nor feel the need to jack off. If he feels pent up he will come directly onto you or have you sent to his office to fix the problem head on.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

As mentioned in another letter,  he would enjoy temperature play and some very soft bondage. He isn't a very kinky man but he might discover he likes orgasm denial if you manage to get punished by him. 

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

 His office or bedroom. He will NOT do it any other place, and if you try to get frisky with him outside of those two places, he will end up ignoring you for the rest of the day and even cover his mouth with his handkerchief to hide his disgust. Thankfully, you are his lover so he wouldn’t be mad at you for too long- but definitely never try it again.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

The simple things; such as the way your hips move as you walk, or how serious your expressions get when you’re determined or focused. What he finds most attractive is how you stand up to him and speak your mind; like you are the same level or better than him. Oh he can’t wait until he is alone with you to remind you of your place.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

There’s a lot of no’s coming from this man. No heavy pda such as making out; a small kiss and hand holding for a bit is okay but any more than that going to get you shunned. No spitting or anything dirty. Rollo absolutely wouldn’t tolerate being degraded at any point during sexy time. 

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Rollo prefers to give as he finds it less dirty than to have his own dick sucked. Since he was previously an inexperienced virgin, it would take him a bit to get the hang of it and he would have an inconsistent tempo, BUT once he gets some practice you will be cumming- or get real close to an organism. Now, returning to the receiving end: you would have to practically beg him if you want to give him head. Though he does find it a bit gross…HE WOULDN’T SAY HE HATES IT!

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

He is in between both fast and rough and slow and sensual. His speed is a moderate one. He wouldn’t be dreadfully slow, but he wouldn’t be  ramming in and out either. Rollo’s main goal would be to please you,  so he wouldn’t be in a rush to finish. 

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Quickies are a waste of time. He doesn’t have time for them and if he did he would fill that time with something he deemed more productive. Rollo believes that  if he feels horny,  he will save that feeling for a time when he can have a full session with you. 

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Nope! Safety first! He would always be sure to have condoms, and if you don't like that then that's fine since sex would only be in the safety of his office or bedroom- nowhere else; and during times he has NOTHING but you scheduled.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

As many times needed until both parties have cummed at least once. Rollo has a decent stamina due to the lack of masterbaiting, and the use of his energy in general.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

No toys for this strict, used to be a mega virgin,  man. Toys are of no use as he has you if he wants pleasure. Now he wouldn’t say no if you brought one and requested him to use it on you. Of course, after you explain how and show him how it works, but he would never seek them out himself.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

At first, he would barely tease as these were learning sessions. Once comfortable, he will get a bit more adventurous and branch off from following your lead; he likes the foreplay more than the actual action of the deed. Rollo will plunge his fingers in and out of you until you beg him to just fuck you,  but you better be good at begging because a simple please and a few tears won’t satisfy him enough to actually fuck you. There will even be times when all he will use is his hands and possibly a toy if you request it. 

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

For the most part he is trying to keep his normal poker face, but if you get lucky enough you might look up to see a small scowl with his cheeks a light flush of pink. As for noise, he keeps it all in but you can catch a groan or two slip  as he thrusts in and out.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Though he may not say it, it would be clear that after a while you will notice he seems to like power play as long as he gets to be the one in charge. Even during the first few times when you are teaching him, he would act  as if he was the one demanding you to show him- as if you were no more than a mere little puzzle for him to toy with.

[nevermorgue]

Hello Hayley! I've been binge reading your Nevermore headcanons and I LOVE every single one. If you're taking requests, may I ask for some Montresor and Morella friendship headcanons please? I feel like they would tease each other, but be able to bond over a shared love of food. Thank you for all of your work :D

YES!!! I was so inspired by pluto’s morella and monty platonic art in the server. i love the idea of them getting along. but to start, i’m gonna be evil

- Obviously things wouldn’t go so great. Morella doesn’t like him and actively stands up against his nonsense. Montresor probably only sees her spectre, really. He understands that her defense skills are necessary. Probably thinks she’s too kind hearted. Probably also thinks she’s stupid to some degree, but not entirely because of how she stood up to him.

- I can only imagine their relationship changing if Morella just kinda forced herself to tolerate him to keep the peace as much as possible. She doesn’t want unnecessary problems to arise (like the wall thing) nor does she want to feed into what he wants (her to snap/react)

- So her method is to attempt to treat him the way she treats everyone else. Montresor finds it amusing, using her kindness against her and purposely being worse to get her to break.

- That backfires. He’s trying to put her on a Will/Ada level, but Morella is too headstrong to be fooled. She’s kind to be kind, and his pleasantries don’t work on her. If anything, she’s more responsive when he drops the whole charisma thing- because he’s being REAL.

- With this dynamic established. Imagine. She’s a great cook. She ends up making a big meal for the misfits and is oh so kind enough to save a bowl for him. She knows damn well he doesn’t deserve it, but her continuing to be nice to him despite how horrible he is…it’s kinda like a game between them now. She’s trying to say she’s better than him with every kind act. And he’s not only entertained/mildly pissed, but he’s stubborn and wants her to snap and drop the act so he plays along.

- “Lemme guess, doll. Poison’s in here. Naw…maybe dirt.”

“Just spices and care, Montresor. Try it!”

And of course, it tastes fantastic. He says it tastes like shit and slams the door in her face. He eats the entire bowl.

- As time goes on, Montresor doesn’t realize it but he’s starting to see her as less of a game like his lackeys and more of a neutral company that he doesn’t really necessarily hate. And he can tell that their ‘game’ goes more and more stagnant as Morella becomes less faux-kind, allowing herself to pout or scold him. It’s become less of a “try to get the other to back off” and more of a natural sort of interaction.

- She genuinely asks him if he’s ever brushed his hair in his life. He proceeds to answer by running his fingers through his hair, only to cuss when he hits a particularly nasty knot.

- She just kinda tosses a spare hair brush at him. She’s not willing enough to touch him/comb his greasy ass hair for him, but at least gives him the means to do it himself.

- I do agree that they bond over food. They have big stomachs and Morella is just so good at cooking.

- Ada invites Morella to sit with her and Monty in the common area once. She was hesitant, but agrees after she’s encouraged by the misfits to go for some strange reason.

- But once the interaction starts, Morella can tell that Ada doesn’t really want her there. She keeps glaring and tugging Montresor’s sleeve, as she always does.

- It doesn’t dawn on her why she was invited until Ada spills it.

“Why did you want her here so bad, dear? I wanted my alone time with you…” Ada would whine. Ada doesn’t HATE Morella, but she’s still not very happy about their argument in the cellar.

Morella can’t believe what she’s hearing. It wasn’t Ada that wanted her here- but Montresor

- She grins. She has no idea what their relationship really is or if it can be anything other than a okayish neutral, but perhaps this moment right here is proof that Monty can feel something that isn’t cruel or unnecessary.

- And Montresor? Refuses to look her in the eye. She’s not terrible. But don’t get him wrong, it’s only because she’s in the middle. Not smart enough to be on Annabel or Prospero’s strategy levels, but not pushover-y enough to be of any use to him. That’s it.

[jam-mystery]

Xezbet headcanons! (under the cut, because there's a lot)

I posted these on Discord before, now it's about time I post them here!

Either by pure chance, or by some idea of the astral plane, Xezbet is, in fact, a mirror image of a man with whom Xerbet himself denies similarities - Roman Stilnsky. The first has all the same as the second, but the opposite. For example, while people can molest Roman, Xezbet himself will molest anyone if he needs to and if he thinks that this will not have too severe consequences for that. He shares some space of the Astral Circle with Drugia Fleuretty, with whom he is not exactly at enmity, but also is not in too close a relationship.

Xezbet's trademark smirk will unsettle almost anyone with its constancy. Seriously, no one has ever seen the corners of his mouth even slightly lowered. Because of this, it becomes difficult to understand what is on his mind, because even he is angry or holds a grudge with a grin on his face. Xezbet is not at all afraid to express his displeasure and/or threaten. "I could pluck out your eyes right now, they don't work well or you can't see that my ID is correct."

One of the interesting things happens if, under the condition of a real absence from the list, Xezbet is asked why he is not there. "I'm not on the list because I was summoned to the earthly realm." And here I have two options:

- Yan Luo summons him there. I remember a post where the author described her as a neutral deity who comes to those whose time in this world has already passed. And that she sometimes takes Xezbet with her;

- The inhabitants of the first floor of the Astral Circle bear the names of demons, so Xezbet can probably be summoned like a demon. For what purposes I do not know yet, but the argument about the origin of the name seemed interesting to me.

Okay, now I talk big stuff. Thanks to some random inspirations from other media I kinda imagine Xezbet being capable of doing something like Weirdmaggedon due to his chaotic nature striving for fun...well, he could, if he wasn't... let's call it "lowered".

Yeah, Xezbet used to possess more power than right now, but due to, again, chaotic nature and quite the irresponsibility for his power usage, the Astral Circle residents had to drain his powers since he couldn't just get killed. The forehead scar is its aftermath. So he only has his soul absorption power AND the ability for taking the appearance of anyone he sees (although it's illusional, not actual change) and faking any voice he hears thanks to the fact he got at least one doppel soul. Yeah, Xezbet can steal powers from souls he gets, but it isn't all that easy. If it was, he'd have recovered already. So he's basically only able to easily take the souls of nearly/already deceased beings. But these do not really give him anything when it comes to gaining power. So the name origin comes out again. If he wants a more "living" soul, he'd want to make a deal for it. Sure, being called "the demon of lies" isn't very assuring, but I guess it can get Xezbet somewhere. Oh, and he'd need the blood for it too. Maybe, it's just a coincidence, but another response to being absent from the list includes something like: "...someone will pay with blood for this". That's why he has some on his clothing. He also isn't above killing someone just because he can, although it isn't a very common thing for him to do. Anyway, he doesn't really bother washing it off, so it has dried up.

As one of the "miscellaneous headcanons" I will mention the fact Xezbet can eat stuff other than souls. And he's quite a glutton - he wouldn't mind trying anything you offer. It's not like he can die from poisoning or something.

As for now, he's like one of those loser antagonists who try very hard, but they never succeed anyway. Kinda like Gargamel, who I like to reference. I mean, I kinda see Xezbet being interested and/or having some alchemy skills. It could give him at least a fraction of the lost powers. Although it's probably temporary and incomplete.

Me wondering who has read it all:

[hana-bobo-finch]

IT IS TIME FOR ANOTHER WONDERFUL ROUND OF RANDOM PIKMIN HEADCANONS OKEY DOKEY

• Hocotate and Koppai are in the same solar system. Koppai is much further away from the sun than Hocotate so it has a colder climate than Hocotate. Creatures on Koppai have thick fur to compensate (and Koppaites have thicker body hair) (this is an excuse for me to draw fluffy things heehee)

• relating to that, one of the reasons Koppaites struggle with agriculture is because of the cold temperatures

• ^ and because the government sucks! I had a long drawn out conversation about this topic before and I will not just regurgitate all my points but the Koppaite government is corrupt!!! Yay!!! The food + poverty crises are used as a way to take advantage of people (not saying the government STARTED them purposely but they sure as hell didn’t try very hard to stop it)

• Most planets have their own native languages but over time and with advances in space travel they got less common. It used to be that only frequent travelers would learn the universal language, but as travel became more accessible more people started learning it and teaching it to their children by default.

• ^ even then a lotta people still have VERY thick accents.

• Koppaites have much worse hearing than most because of their rounded ears. While others have more of a cone shape to their ears, Koppaite’s ears are more flat and don’t pick up sound as well (and they can’t pinpoint where exactly sound comes from. You ever see how a cat twitches their ears aroun when they hear the slightest sound, that’s how most species are. Meanwhile Koppaites have the Bad Inferior Round Ear Gene)

• Ohrians have very specific pheromones they give off. YES this is because of the stupid comic I made where yonny “smells gay” it’s not MY fault everyone loves it for goodness sake even my friend who knows nothing about pikmin and who I didn’t think would find that sort of thing funny thought it was the funniest thing ever I’m so confused help

• Giya’s culture focuses heavily on dogs. Like how in Tokyo there’s these big ass billboards with hyper realistic 3d models of cats

• ^ dingo was so SO not prepared for that when he moved to giya to join the rescue corps. Save him. He is a pathetic creature. He didn’t do enough research before moving there he just wanted to become a ranger already. It was a horrific realization. The soggy-cat-of-a-man had a panic attack and almost made the impulsive decision to Get The Heck Outta There and move back to ohri. Bless his cold, dead heart

• Speaking of which! Dingo joined the corps about a year before yonny did. It was absolute torture for them both to have to have a long distance relationship ermmm friendship

• yonny only joined as the doctor because the old doctor FUCKING DIED!!! i don’t know how they died I just think it’s funny for there to be such a dramatic reason. maybe they got mauled by ravenous space bunnies. Sure let’s go with that.

• Hocotate freight is very very stuck in the past. Even for our standards. The president is a huge boomer who thinks old is gold. What he does not understand is that the fact that their equipment is falling apart is why they can’t stay afloat

• puddle wants so. SO BADLY. to do fashion experiments on the Koppaites. He thinks their different anatomy is so incredibly fascinating and he NEEDS to take full advantage of it (the only outward difference is their round ears but HE DOES NOT CARE.) He has on numerous occasions tried to manipulate the three into letting him pierce their ears. Guys come on. It would be so awesome. Please. Your ears are so cool let me look at them PLEASE

• ^ all three never let him. It makes puddle insane. He is normally such a nice and chill guy but it makes him so feral. Keep him away from them do not let him go near alph’s emo brother he WILL chase him with a piercing gun

• Hocotate Whiz (what, you don’t know what that is? It’s the company that spams your mail in pikmin 2 offering to help Hocotatians change jobs, I can’t believe you didn’t know that (I did not know this until a few minutes ago)) is ran solely by the families of Hocotate Freight workers. They spam the emails of the ships to try to convince the workers to change jobs because they KNOW that it is a hellhole and they NEED TO GET OUT. SAVE THEM. SAVE THE WORKERS OF HOCOTATE FREIGHT

• Bernard is Santi’s sleep paralysis demon

• Yonny has rusty and bloody medical equipment strewn across his lab for the sole purpose of freaking people out. He’s actually incredibly sanitary to the point of being borderline germaphobic

• as if Collin didn’t have enough work to do already he kinda fills the role of the team’s unofficial therapist. He doesn’t actually mind all too much bc he’s Way Too Nice but. Save him.

• the paint shepherd has under her eyes? It’s to reduce sun glare? WRONG. It’s because it looks AWESOME and she would totally paint her face with incredibly detailed designs but apparently looking like a walking painting is “unprofessional” and “disturbs the people we’re rescuing” and “stop spending our budget on face paint”

umm there’s probably more in my noggin but I am getting a headache so that is all 🧍

[detentiontrack]

THANK YOU FOR ASKING! I have been dying to talk about it. @banyanas

Sasha Waybright was traumatized before amphibia even happened, and here's why (coming from someone who is studying to be a psychologist and also has trauma):

Notes:

I am only going based off of things that are canon, and while I do have headcanons and suspicions on what exactly her trauma is, I don't have canon evidence to back it up, so I'm just going to go over the SYMPTOMS of trauma I see in her

Cognitively and behaviorally, Sasha is not normal. I feel like a lot of people see her blonde mean girl Californian cheerleader traits and just sort of assume she's your stereotypical mean girl. What they fail to remember is that Sasha is 13, and her motivations are different. Sasha is not a mean girl in the sense that she is mean to others for power or just to be mean. Sasha does use her social status occasionally (Ie threatening Margo w not inviting her to her pool party in the reunion flashback scene), however Sasha's mean acts do have a purpose. Sasha believes that she alone knows whats best, and to help those that she loves, she needs to take full control. She feels like Anne can ONLY have a good birthday if they skip school. She believes that they can ONLY go home if they execute Hop Pop. She believes that they can ONLY be happy if Sasha has control of amphibia and the box. She feels like the only way to take care of people and herself, is to be in complete control, and that is extremely common in victims of trauma who feel like they can't trust or rely on anyone.

Her manipulation skills are also developmentally abnormal. A well adjusted 13 year old with no adverse life experiences would not have such an extensive history of manipulating. In Jail break, Sasha says that a tactic she uses all the time is to "Make everyone love you, and they'll do whatever you say." Sasha has the ability to talk her way out of almost any negative situation and easily take charge. This is also really common in people with trauma and an unstable life. Often times, someone might have to talk their way out of being harmed, or to have their needs met that weren't otherwise.

Sasha has a complicated relationship with the concept of family. She has not mentioned her parents even once throughout the show, whereas Anne and Marcy have. In the reunion flashback, Sasha acts as if Anne going home to her parents is a bad thing. She remarks on how babyish Anne's party is, and she doesn't seem to understand that it's not even the party Anne wants, but to spend time with her family. In True Colors, Sasha says in a cutting tone "Say hi to your parents for me" as she thinks that she's sending Anne back to earth forever. Her tone implies irritation that Anne even has parents she wants to go home to, and perhaps even jealousy.

Sasha was fully prepared to live in and rule amphibia once she took over Newtopia in true colors. She did not want to go home after not seeing earth or her family in 5 months.

When Marcy confesses, Sasha's first thought is anger at the betrayal, not missing her home.

Back on the topic of what's developmentally normal, I found the scene of when Sasha first met Anne and Marcy interesting, although I could be reaching. Once baby Sasha aggressively gets the bullies off the the swings, she starts to walk away. She is surprised when Anne and Marcy introduce themselves and ask if she wants to play with them. At 5 years old, Sasha had the idea that she was only useful and wanted when she was doing something for other people. At 5 years old, a person without adverse experiences would not have this mindset.

The Marcy journal filled in some of the gaps about her parents. It confirmed the theory we all had since froggy little Christmas that Sasha's parents are divorced, and had been divorced since she was "4 or 5". Her father remarried and her mother has a long term boyfriend with kids of his own. In this entry, Anne says that she didn't know a ton about Sasha's home life and Sasha has always been very private about it. She says that Sasha always felt "lost at sea when it comes to family" and speculated that maybe that's why Sasha always kept her and Marcy under her thumb. This entry really hit gold in terms of understanding Sasha because it's when a bunch of possibilities clicked into place when I first read it. Sasha, Anne, and Marcy, despite having issues, were very close. The fact that Sasha didn't share anything about her homelife in the 8 years they were friends, is a HUGE red flag. Divorce is not inherently trauma, however if it's handled poorly, then it can be very bad and traumatic. Even if you take away the possibility of Sasha being directly abused, it's still really difficult to watch her parents fight before and during the divorce process. The state of California typically likes to give 50/50 custody, so it's difficult for her to go back and forth to her parents houses while watching them get into new relationships. She felt lost at sea and abandoned during all of it, and she felt like she couldn't even tell her best friends. In situations like this, especially so young, a person really can develop and strong and tough exterior, while also learning skills for manipulation and taking control when you feel you're in a situation that is out of your control. Sasha Waybright is 13 years old, and she was able to immediately become a Lieutenant to the toad army and then later a Commander of a resistance during a war. Sasha Waybright has numerous markers of someone who has gone through a life of uncertainty, abandonment, hurt, and neglect.