#adults in power can be so cruel towards teenagers

[kitsunebattleboxer]

Not at school, but one time as teenagers a friend and I went into a Crate and Barrel to get out of the heat and marvel at weird adult appliances (which is literally so innocent?) but we supposedly got to “close” to a “window” and triggered a security alarm. The manager chewed our asses out and said shit like this wasn’t a hang out place. Still pisses me off, we literally weren’t doing anything wrong.

what's the most demented thing you guys got in trouble for in school mine was when an english boy in my class made fun of my name and called my mum a (derogatory word for irish travellers) so i told him my ira uncle was in town and was coming to blow him up after school

[stardustizuku]

I’ve recently been thinking on why there’s people who interpret Kuro in such a drastically different way.

And something I notice is that you can easily tell how someone experiences the series, based on what they think of the GWA.

The way you interpret the Green Witch Arc is indicative of of how you have been interpreting the story so far, and how you’ll interpret it going forward

Generally, there’s two interpretations:

1.- The Reaction Ciel had to the mustard gas, are his true feelings coming afloat

2.- The Reaction Ciel had to the mustard gas, isn’t how he feels.

The first interpretation (and I’m really not trying to be mean about it this time) comes from a very, uhm, shall I call it Teenage-Like? mindset of how pain and trauma works.

I call it Teenage-Like, because I’ve seen it in mostly literature aimed at teenagers, be it fanfics or YA. It comes from an inability for teenagers to actually voice how they feel towards their parents. A helpless feeling of being ignored.

I don’t wanna point fingers but this is the basis of a lot of Self Harm tendencies (physical, emotional, psychological, or others like EDs or digital self harm) come from. A need for people to notice you are in pain. But because you feel like you cannot voice it yourself (or don’t deserve it, it can vary) you start to lash out. Put yourself in higher risks, to have someone find out there is something wrong with you.

So the moment the main character finally breaks down, or has a moment of weakness, it’s interpreted as someone finally being truthful.

This is how Ciel’s reaction is interpreted by the first half.

The mustard gas is simply a trigger of pain, that causes all of Ciel to unravel. He’s in pain right now, cause he’s always in pain. He’s avoidant to Sebastian, cause he’s always been scared of him. He doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t trust adults. Finny is the only one who actually cares.

This makes the fact that Sebastian ,essentially, slapped him to get him to react, come off as cruel.

The boy is finally being honest, and you just tell him he’s being childish? Horrible.

Obviously, that’s not my interpretation.

Okay so, what happens once you’re not a teenager? Once you don’t have an adult figure to take care of you? What happens once you start avoiding telling your parents the pain you’re in, not because you think they won’t care, but because they’ll care too much and get worried and you don’t want them to get worried?

You start to realize pain is not the end of the world.

While, when being a teenager, getting sick meant someone gets to take care of you and maybe notice you aren’t okay, as an adult getting sick potentially means - not going to work. Which means your won’t have money to buy food, which means you’ll probably go hungry.

So getting sick becomes less of a way to get away from the responsibilities you have, and more of a burden.

That’s why you’ll see, in media aimed at adults,mental breakdown less depicted as an opportunity to be honest, and more of a sickness that needs to be healed.

You can have a more honest and truthful conversation, while you are sound of mind. There’s no power dynamic between friends, like it would with adult figures and children. So this song and dance, isn’t necessary.

You don’t have to be sick to be understood. And your friends will rather try to help you, than understand you when you’re suffering. That’s the nature of adult relationships.

This is more or less the framing that comes from Ciel’s breakdown (in the second interpretation).

The Mustard Gas isn’t showing Ciel’s true nature - it’s showing Ciel at his most vulnerable. This means, not in his sound mind.

Saying things he normally wouldn’t, hurting people he normally would hold close, and clinging to people he generally would never try to get close to.

Simply put, it isn’t just “a bit of pain to make him unravel” but a “Ciel is getting psychologically tortured by a weapon used for chemical warfare”.

He’s past being honest. He’s having such a severe reaction, that he cannot function. He’s being tortured and broken, to the point he is no longer himself.

He isn’t being “truthful” he’s scared.

And fear can make you do things that, in your sound mind, you would never do.

The point is that, Ciel isn’t saying what he truly feels or being “honest”. It’s him scared out of his mind, saying everything and anything to make the fear stop.

And the biggest proof is how he treats Sebastian.

The fact that Ciel asks Sebastian to “go away” or “not come near” is perhaps the most glaring reason as to how badly this Gas messed with him.

I’ve said this before but to Ciel, Sebastian is a lifeline. He’s the only tool he has for his revenge. The thing that, even after he lost r!Ciel, he was willing to sacrifice it all to achieve.

And at this point in time, Sebastian is also the only emotional anchor Ciel has.

As far back as the second episode, Ciel has asked Sebastian to stay. Even when he’s having flashbacks, even when he’s having an episode. In fact, Sebastian leaving him is a great source of anxiety - since as seen in BoC in the Asthma Scene, without him Ciel feels powerless enough to die.

He feels more protected with him, because he KNOWS Sebastian will protect him and that Sebastian will follow his orders.

Again going with the analogy of a dog - He feels more comfortable having the chained beast by his bed, simply bcs others are trying to hurt him and the beast won’t eat him right now.

So him asking Sebastian to go away, is throwing away his biggest safety net for a surrogate for r!Ciel, just means he’s reverting to the mentality he had during the cult.

If Sebastian is constantly telling him “it’s okay, they can’t hurt you anymore, you’re outside the cage, you can do what you WANT”

Ciel clinging to Finny is him going “no, im staying in the cage bcs at least the cage is familiar”

And no matter what the first camp tells you, staying in the cage, trapped inside your pain ISNT the healthy option.

(We could argue Ciel’s need for revenge rather than healing is also unhealthy, but no one in the second camp would even call Ciel anything other than a villain in someone else’s story)

So, Sebastian slapping him and going “no, that’s not what you want”, isn’t as cruel as it would be in the first interpretation. Because as we see, he’s right. That’s not what Ciel wants. And it’s proved by the next scene where Sebastian talks to Ciel about what he truly wants.

Rather than Sebastian telling Ciel to “get over it”, it’s closest to a “snap out of it, something’s wrong”

This is further proved by the fact that, Sebastian first instinct isn’t to scare him. He does back away, he does try to wait and gently coax him. But Ciel literally cannot reason with him.

That small but significant difference in interpretation has wildly different outcomes in how you perceive both, the characters and the story.

If you pick the first, you’re reading Sebastian as an enemy. Someone who does not respect Ciel. You see his attempt to eat Ciel’s soul as a breach of trust, and proof that he doesn’t care for him.

But if you pick the second option, you see Sebastian as an ally. Someone who’s running out of time and ways to save Ciel. His actions, while crass, ultimately help Ciel. What he was trying to do, was help.

Yana, very clearly, wanted the second interpretation. However, I cannot, in good conscience, tell you it’s the only interpretation. People are free to pick and chose how they read the text, irrelevant of how little of the actual text they’re reading.

But I will say, picking the first is symbolic of a less mature way of thinking. Common on those who like to infantilize trauma and trauma responses. It’s the easy, safe and comforting way of reading the text. As I said, it’s common in those who want their pain to be acknowledged.

That reading of Kuro is one that speak to me, that you’re not really ready to confront pain. And someone with that mentality, is not someone who’s reading of the text I find particularly interesting. Sure, you can share it, I’ll never stop you, but know you’re speaking to me in an entirely different language. You’re interpreting the text so differently, that I don’t think it’s even the same text anymore.

Again, you’re essentially writing analysis on fanfiction. And I’m not all too interested in dissecting your own trauma sloppily painted over British Aesthetic.

[ell-arts]

I wanna theorise the Ghost Gang's ages

I think it's widely accepted that the Ghost Gang are believed to be kids, or at least the same age as the Pac trio. Their exact ages are never mentioned of course, but it has never really been brought into questioning either.

It's often a point of interest when fans talk about the Pacworld Wars or the Repository - either that Betrayus was cruel enough to enrol children to fight in his army, or that Stratos/The Freedom Fighters were cruel for supposedly allowing children to be sent to the Nether.

I've thought about this a few times, also as someone who saw the Ghost Gang as teens, but recently I've looked a bit more closely at the semantics of it all, and it's led me to this one big question:

Why are we assuming that the Ghost Gang ARE children?

Don't get me wrong, we have good reasons to believe they are.

They sound young

They often display childish or immature behaviour

They're familiar enough with the Pac trio to get along in ways that teenage friends would

Pinky has a crush on Pac, so we assume that they are both at least the same age...unless Pinky is a closet cougar.

But when you think about it, these traits can sometimes carry over into adulthood and do not always indicate child-like or teenage behaviour.

I've thought more on the matter, and I've come to realise that we also have a few reasons to believe that the Ghost Gang are in fact adults, or at least young adults.

Blinky is a Pac-Fu Master. The art of Pac-Fu is considered a powerful form of martial arts, supposedly more powerful than Kung Fu, and thus would take years to master. I highly doubt that a child would be able to reach Pac-Fu Mastery before becoming an adult, unless its a child prodigy. I think its safe to assume that Blinky spent several years mastering the art in order for him to reach Master level, so it makes more sense for him to be an adult. A young adult, at the very least.

Clyde speaks 9 languages. For a person to learn new languages, they have to reach an age of proficient academic understanding and dedicate some years to be able to speak multiple languages. According to google, it takes 2-3 years to become fluent in a new language. Multiply that with Clyde's languages, and he must be at least 27 years old. A loophole to this theory would be if Clyde learned all of his new languages in the Netherworld after he became a ghost.

Perhaps a gray area, but Pinky did allude to having a very busy social life. This could mean many things; either she's a teen who just likes to socialise or she's a young adult that likes to socialise. Leaning a bit more towards the latter, it could be that she's independent/old enough to make her own choices regarding dating and maintaining her busy social life (even though she spends most of her time with the boys).

A bit of a messy point, but it doesn't make a lot of sense for the Freedom Fighters to deliberately allow children to be turned into ghosts. These guys fought for freedom against Betrayus' war and tyranny, and good people like Zac, Sunny, Sir C, Spheria, etc were all part of the side that fought against Betrayus. Compare the Freedom Fighters with Betrayus and his army, and it's more likely that the Freedom Fighters would've opposed sending children to the Nether. So how did the Ghost Gang end up bodystripped? Probably because they weren't children, but were old enough to join Betrayus' army and thus face the consequences of such a choice. This makes it all the more likely that the Ghost Gang are young adults, between the ages of 18-30.

In the real world, some countries allow citizens to become part of the army as early as the age of 16. If we apply this to Pacworld, then we can stretch the perimeters a bit and speculate that the Ghost Gang are between the ages of 16-30. It would definitely make more sense in Inky and Pinky's case, who seem to act the youngest/least mature out of the four.

The Pacworld Wars and the politics surrounding who got bodystripped, and the bodystripping/soul-extraction matter itself, is quite the can of worms. For me, knowing all that we know, it would make more sense for the Ghost Gang to be young adults. They would be within the age of enforced enrollment in Betrayus' military, and that subsequently puts them in the same category of soldiers to be bodystripped.

What do you guys think? Am I reaching too far with this theory? xD

With all that being said, here is a ROUGH estimate on how I hc the Ghost Gang's ages to be, slightly tweaked from my previous guesses:

Blinky - 23

Pinky - 16

Inky - 18

Clyde - 27

Again, this is just a theory! If the Ghost Gang are legit teens, then they're teens I guess. This is just me trying to plug in the holes in the story for why children were fighting in the war in the first place - and send to the Nether in the first place.

[sendandburn]

What was so funny about Mulciber attacking Mary Macdonald with Dark Magic that Snape described it as "just a laugh"?

"Let’s make something as clear as possible. We have no idea if Snape and Lily were even present when whatever happened to Mary Macdonald happened. That is how little information we have available. The only two people in the series that discuss it. And we don’t even know if they were there at the time. Let that sink in for a moment.

Snape says it was just a laugh. Lily says it was Dark Magic. And states thatJames and the Marauders do not use Dark Magic when Snape tries to compare what they do with what was done to Mary. She also considers Mulcibers sense of humour sick. There are a few ways to interpret this.

Snape was there and is lying/does consider it just a laugh when someone that isn’t him is being bullied. Lily was also there and finds what was done to Mary worse than what James does in SWM.

2. Snape wasn’t there and has heard secondhand that it was just a laugh or bit of fun that got out of hand. He appears to believe said account. Lily was there and knows it was worse than SWM.

3. Snape was there and considers it just a laugh. Lily wasn’t there and from what other people have told her about it considers it to be Dark Magic and worse than SWM.

4. Neither Snape not Lily we’re there. And both of their assessments come from secondhand information from people who either sided with Mary or Mulciber. People who could quite easily have lied to one or both of them.

One is the most unlikely possibility. Since Lily doesn’t argue that Snape let his friend Mulciber do xyz to Mary Three is likewise unlikely.

As Snape being there would have likely been mentioned to Lily if she heard the news secondhand and she’d make the same argument as above.

Snape being friends with someone doing evil stuff behind his back makes sense given the arguments she makes in canon. Not Snape already being aware of what his friend is doing and letting it happen.

That leaves two and four. And personally I tend towards four.

Given Lily does not say something like “I was there Severus it definitely wasn’t “just a laugh”” But as you’ll notice I’m talking probability not certainty when I say I find it most likely neither of them were present for what happened.

We have a fairly wide disparity of reactions but if we assume that what Mulciber did was Dark Magic and both Snape and Lily’s friends told the truth here’s what I think happened; Mulciber cast the Imperius Curse on Mary under his breath. And forced her to do relatively harmless but embarrassing and humiliating things for his and some mates amusement.

If we assume they’re prejudiced and cruel let’s say kissing the hem of their robes, calling herself a filthy Mudblood and things to that effect. If confronted by Mary’s friends or a teacher he lies and insists it was just a powerful Confundus. Or outright denies it was him.

As no one can prove it was Dark Magic/ that Mulciber did it he gets away with it. Facing light punishment at worst. Snape’s friends tell him of the stuff they forced Mary to do in a way that he finds amusing in the telling. He is convinced they were just having a laugh and it wasn’t as bad as what James has done to him. Lily’s friends tell her they’re sure Mulciber used the Imperius Curse. And she gets told how Mulciber wasn’t even punished properly for it. How upset Mary was etc. She believes it’s considerably worse than what she’s seen James do. Because she saw what it did to the person afterwards.

Now for a mature adult it’s pretty obvious this kind of mental violation is deadly serious even if no physical lasting harm was done. But a teenager hungry for acceptance could relatively easily not linger on that form of harm. And think “they weren’t actually hurt so where’s the harm?”.

If my scenario is accurate and Snape was told outright that it was Imperius not Confundus they used. He should not have found it funny. He ought to have considered it a significant violation of another person. But we can say exactly the same of everyone in the crowd during SWM. Remus and Lily are the only people outside that have any issue with what Snape was being subjected to. SWM was slightly less severe (provides my scenario is accurate and everything that Mulciber did was cruel but petty) but the people there actively witnessed someone being hurt and tormented. No secondhand accounts. No distance from someone else being upset and hurt. Yet they laughed and found it amusing.

Should we consider the people in the crowd psychopaths or as empathic as Death Eaters? Snape is a teenager. The people in the crowd are teenagers. Teenagers can be very s**tty under the right circumstances. (...) Snape is wrong to find it amusing yes. Just as the crowd is to find his humiliation amusing. But it doesn’t make him abnormal, sub-human, evil etc. He did choose a pretty dark path and took time to turn back from it as much as he did. But people like Remus who know it’s not cool to laugh at someone else’s suffering. But who don’t do anything to help/stop other people laughing are a bit depressingly rare at secondary school. People like Lily who for whatever reason can tell when things go too far and actively try to stop it even more so. " (Analysis by Alex Forbes)

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

Playing with this idea for a one-shot, so it's not fully developed yet.

Whumpee protag is a young successful businessman, real alpha personality, comes across as cold and cruel. But as a minor he was sexually abused by his adopted father. When the father killed himself, whumpee took over his company as just a teenager and ran the company even better, but gets tricked, betrayed and abused by his first new business partner. As a young adult he approaches his bodyguard, his right-hand man, who's much older than him, to abuse him in very specific ways (all the ways that he was abused before). Even if he frames it as kink, it's still very uncomfortable stuff. Bodyguard is terrified and has no idea how to answer; he doesn't want to see him hurt and has been protecting him since the abusive father died. He's also afraid that if this is what the whumpee has his mind set on, he will find a way to get it, one way or another, and isn't it safer for the whumpee if the bodyguard agrees instead of him finding someone else? Bodyguard doesn't know about any of the previous abuse, but once he agrees to participate, he starts to realize what must have happened to whumpee with the business partner—under his watch. He wants revenge, he wants to apologize for his failure, he wants the whumpee to feel loved, but he rejects everything gentle and kind. Whumpee thinks the cycle is doomed to repeat, so he thinks he's taken control of the cycle.

Not sure if it should end there with the realization of why, or if they deserve some kind of happy ending. Any thoughts?

tw: mention of childhood sexual assault.

this actually reminds me a little of my own blorbo — not every single detail is similar, of course, but maybe because it reminds me of my blorbo, I’m a little biased, so the more I read your ask, the more my mind goes “oh yes, yes, this is a brilliant and fascinating trope! I love this and I wish the trope got more recognition!”

(I mean your character and my blorbo share the same childhood trauma inflicted by their adoptive fathers who are now dead. and my blorbo also turned out an asshole with money and power who’s actually very abused and traumatized, but since no one knows about what he went through as a child, they simply see him as an asshole with money and power; it’s complicated, but this isn’t about my blorbo, so I’ll just stop right here.)

as for whether your story should end with your character acknowledging his trauma or if he should get a happy ending moving forward, I’m afraid I can’t offer a precise answer to that, since I don’t have enough knowledge/information about all the little details in your story, if that makes sense? and I believe every little detail does matter when it comes to how a story should end, which direction it should go. and only the author knows that.

could he eventually heal, move on and grow from his trauma, or should his story end with him realizing he’s traumatized and is haunted by his own past?

I really believe the answer depends on how you write him. there’s no right or wrong path for your story to take, since either of these can make for a perfect ending of the story. it can also kind of… be a mixture of both? but obviously, these are just my thoughts without having enough knowledge about his character.

that being said, the advice I can give you from firsthand experience is that you don’t have to make that decision — about how your story should end — right now. more often than not, I couldn’t make a decision about which direction my story should go until I was writing it and it just felt right for my story to head towards this direction instead of the other one. so as long as you write what feels right for you and your character, you’re doing it right and are giving your character the respect and conclusion arc he deserves.

[masonuf]

Post for 2/14

I’ve never read nor watched Sailor Moon before, but the manga was an interesting read for this week! My first observation was that many characters, regardless of their gender, seem to suffer to a certain degree from same face syndrome. I mean, it’s a good face and all, but I wish that the artist would mix some more variation in. At least the hairstyles are distinct enough for you to tell people apart. I personally never really understood the appeal of Sailor Moon prior to reading the manga (though I never really looked into it, either), but I think I’m starting to understand it better now. Reading it feels uplifting! Plus, there’s a talking cat, so what’s not to love?

“Beautiful Fighting Girl” pointed out that beautiful fighting girls are particular to Japan, which is something I hadn't considered before. I guess at first, the notion of sending little girls into battle sounds like a rather cruel one, but if you can pull off the execution in a lighthearted way like Sailor Moon did, then maybe it’s more reasonable. I think I’ve been noticing more heroine fighters in the media that I consume as a young adult compared to my early teens, which is nice to see. Off the top of my head, some examples are Jinx and Vi from Arcane, Eowyn from LOTR (okay that one’s pretty old but I rewatched it recently), and like half the cast of Elden Ring.

I think what the author writes about in “Girl Power” makes a lot of sense. On one hand, to market Sailor Moon toward teenage girls, the producers had to make Serena resonate with the audience by giving her qualities that were relatable to teenage girls of that era (dating, avoiding homework, playing video games, etc.). On the other hand, the “tough girl” style of feminism still needed to stand out enough to encourage the independence of young and impressionable women. There seemed to be a certain balance to strike.

Image from http://sailormoonnews.com/2017/07/03/the-new-japanese-sailor-moon-blu-ray-sets-look-good-but-not-great-in-hd/make_up_sailor_senshi_usagi_and_luna/.

[vazelbeak]

Do you think theres anything that would make Loona less insufferable?

I wouldn't quite consider Loona as harsh as insufferable, but I do see her as very inconsistent and that itself grating. The thing is Loona reads like an apathetic teenager, always on her phone and not caring about the things going on around her. She dresses in a goth style, she has no qualms being mean, has an overprotective dad, and has no friends. The thing however that makes this not work as well is Loona isn't a teenager, shes an adult and this makes her character come off differently.

It's harder to understand as a teenager, but looking back as an adult (im 23 as i write this) many habits we have in our teenage years are very much products of how we are in this "too old to be a child too young to be an adult" stage. Kids are often on their phones because they can't go anywhere to socialize, they're starting to see how unfair the world is and either bleeding hearts or cruel to others because it gives them some semblance of the power and agency they wish they had, they're often apathetic to outside conflicts because they're figuring themselves out. Teenage years are when you go through a lot of changes. As much as people say teenagers are selfish, its not unusual or uncommon for them to seek a sense of identity amongst their peers and outside of their parents. And of course many teens struggle to have friends, highschool is a time people are nitpicked for not liking popular shows, being on popular social media sites, playing popular games. You can be ostracized sheerly for just not sharing those interests. Its why some teens seek identity through fandom. And that's not to talk down about them but when you want to find friends quick you'll probably wear your MHA shirt to find people who also like it.

But Loona is an adult and that means she's not implied or shown to be under the same conditions that those traits are often a product of that we can sympathize with as readily. She's on her phone all the time, but we're not shown any solid indication of what she does posting stuff if she doesn't have friends and what she gets out of it. Does she use it as a creative outlet for things like art? Is she an influencer of some kind and advertising I.M.P? Then there's her apathy where as an adult unless she's having some kind of midlife crisis in her early 20's she reads as just inconsiderate because we're presented with nothing else going on that's taking priority for her to care about outside of Blitzø, Millie, and Moxxie's shenanigans. She doesn't have a life outside of them or specifically Blitzø to take priority.(and she should!)

Then there's her attitude towards others. The fatphobia aside because we're all aware of that, while you might be inclined to argue she says this to Moxxie to feel better about herself or feel she has more power over him, we're not presented anything that suggests this. Loona is an adult who Blitzø provides a home and job for. She hasnt been shown to have much im the way of responsibility outside of helping Blitzo as a receptionist and that in itself was at most vaguely touched with by implying Loona scares away clients and with an apartment so small it seems like that could teeter them on homelessness, but that itself would be a reach to make with what we have.

And tying into that Loona's lack of friends doesn't read the same as it would as a teenager. As teens you can be ostracized over not liking things that are popular, but adulthood is when those become endearing traits people love or just interesting. And often by adulthood if you somehow lack a friend it starts to become a matter of why? And that's not to say Loona MUST be hard to be friends with by any means. What I'm saying is they presented that she doesn't have any friends and should be showing is why. But all we see is her being mean to her father and his employees. The thing is mean is a personality trait, but it is not a personality. Is she expected to work for so long she never has time to go out? Does she lash out because she's so isolated the smallest things set her off because it's all she has?

I think overall we never get to see her as a person. She's Blitzø's daughter. The way her flashback was also through his eyes and our closest moment to Loona having a chance to stand on her own is propping up Blitzø and Stolas. She needs to have hobbies, and motivations that we see drive her. The fact we never see her interact alone with Stolas makes her whole speech about their dads trying to feel hollow and especially when she barely seems to get along with Blitzo. It would sooner make sense if she saw Stolas freaking out over Octavia being missing and she just said that he was panicking or even took video of him intending to post it later to sinstagram, but now despite Moxxie saying it wasn't funny its actually important because Octavia wouldn't have believed her otherwise. We should know more about Loona because she's intended to be a main character, we're already at season 2, and because maybe if Viv focused more on the entirety of her main cast she could implement some build up to these emotional moments and actually allow them to carry weight.

[eiffel-cat-tower]

i don’t have the best reactions i guess but it’s mostly angry/relief with Liam. i’ve long since moved on from the band, i’m not broken up teenager crying. my few tears have not been for him at all.

it’s relief that he won’t hurt another woman again, it’s anger that he very much did this because of maya- a man killing himself to hurt someone emotionally is not a uncommon phenomenon, especially after a victim’s story comes out/gets more traction. it’s anger that he couldn’t take responsibility, but it’s not like abusers see much jail time if even that.

i remembered hearing stories before maya and tried to find them again, stumbled on a trivia piece where he asked a girl out 22 times and was rejected. *before* he dated sophia. he openly said that story! he never had much boundaries from the start.

i’m angry that he used his fanbase to hurt her, that he knew people would harass her and people wouldn’t believe her to intimidate her from coming out. i believe her. the people who believed in him, he used himself, while lamenting how he was the being used. is the music industry cruel and adults put him through hell? of course. and he saw that and did worse in ways that are so so typical for m*n who should’ve never had power in the first place.

i’m not sure how much of that is simply “rehab” and getting clean would fix fundamental values. i can not help but feel relief that he’s gone. if it was simply severe depression/mental illness that wasn’t so vile and abusive specifically towards certain women then maybe i would’ve felt more. i look at old posts and see nothing but the illusion, maybe with the occasional small specks if humanity.

it’s important on supporting maya given the statistical likelihood that this was directly to fuck with her. i can’t be that sad for him when i am angry that he would stoop to doing something like this. he smashed that laptop for a reason.

[racfoam]

I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!

I have written 350k words of Fem Harry in a fic so I'll try to give an answer, but I'm pretty sure there are more great replies in the comments of your post. I love both M/M and M/F Tomarry equally, really. As long as the genderbend, be it Harry or Tom is done right.

Okay, first things first. We need to get the psychology out of the way. And that is....

1. Heteronormality/Heteronormativity whatever its fucking name is fuck my English

For now, we need to put M/M aside, the graveyard scene originally being sexually buzzing for M/M aside... Put Fem Harry in Harry's place in the graveyard.

Put a girl instead of a boy.

All of a sudden, it's even more uncomfortable, isn’it? Girls are considered more vulnerable than boys by the eyes of society and Harry has a few descriptions in the books — he is skinny and more lithe/lean than bulky as a boy. Honestly, this is completely normal for teenagers, nothing unusual about that. Harry's been underfed his entire life, so it's obvious he'll be skinny.

Harry is only fourteen in the graveyard scene. Literally imagine Harry as a girl, in the scene "I can... Touch you... Now."

Have you done it? Now tell me that isn't incredibly sexual from a heterosexual perspective. Tell me that isn't incredibly predatory but also the general audience can't help but be slightly, strangely... lured toward the tension between them.

Another example. Voldemort whispering in Harry's ear. It's creepy when it's Harry. I can tell you the general audience's ass would be shaking in their seats if Voldemort did it with Fem Harry.

Put any scene, oh and especially Voldemort demanding for Harry in DH Part 2, and the general audience will feel the sexual tension. Again, heternormality. It would be downright innapropriate. Like a "Are we really sure he wants to kill her? He just seems obsessed with her."

The general audience, were it Fem Harry wrapping her arms around Voldemort's neck up on the balcony — would think in that moment — here comes a kiss. It wouldn't. But they'd THINK it, the tension would be so fucking high, people would GASP, just as the M/M Tomarry and Harrymort shippers do. There are many M/M Tommarymort shippers who are heterosexual.

However, yes, heteronormality definitely has a role here. I don't know whether that’s bad or good, it's just.. there? Sort of how we all subconsciously think Harry/Tom M/M has great chemistry the others who maybe are just for M/F would think the same for Fem Harry/Tom.

Okay, next thing.

2. The Presence of Fem Harry Compared to Presence of Canon Harry

Harry is a fighter, survivor, fight now, think later, save everyone you can type of character. That's Harry, at the core.

Fem Harry is a girl. This changes a bit on the understanding of the scenes. She could be more fragile-looking, appear more breakable, and Voldemort is a very powerful force of masculine presence for Fem Harry. He's confident, powerful, cruel, always carries himself upright and straight — he towers over Harry in M/M and he towers over Harry in M/F surrounding, too. Fem Harry may feel smaller in his presence. Canon Harry became a man and was Voldemort's equal and even grew to a height of six feet which impressed the fact he is now facing Voldemort on equal grounds — two men. It's sort of the lens with which we watch the movie that we comprehend the change in gender. It's such a little thing, but also can change the air.

Imagine just a simple fourteen-year-old girl (with glasses! with clear vulnerability, numerous physical disadvantages (just as canon Harry) because Voldemort is an adult man) fighting against the Dark Lord. A girl who is scared, alone, just saw her friend get murdered, a girl who only has her wand with her and still isn't sure if any spell will beat the evil waiting for her on the other side of the gravestone.

And remember, by heteronormativity, viewers would be aware Voldemort may do worse to Fem Harry before he kills her. It wouldn't be implied, but for the heterosexual adults it wouldn't have to be implied. I think kids would subconsciously understand Voldemort can do worse than kill Fem Harry, especially if older teenagers are watching that scene.

To the general audience, Voldemort becomes more creepier when put with Fem Harry.

2. Heroine/Villain

I think this explains the prevalency the best. Most most number by fics on AO3 M/F are heroine/villain. This is why Fem Harry/Tom wins over Fem Harry/Draco by number of fics.

Look outside the fandom into other fandoms for M/F ships. I know most aren't familiar with Shadow & Bone, but Darklina (The Darkling/Alina) has the most fics in M/F category on AO3 and are the most popular M/F ship in the fandom and the general audience. Thing is... Darklina is VERY VERY VERY Tomarrymort coded.

There is no denying it. If Harry was a girl in the books and movies, the most popular Harry-centric M/F ship would be Harry/Tom. Without a fucking doubt. The thought that for them to be popular with general audience, that the general audience even starts amusing the idea of them together, they'd have to be a hetero couple when all the chemistry and tension is already there with them in canon but is massively overlooked makes me sad. I don't know these dummies that is general audience. You don't have to be gay to see these two men have chemistry and incredible sexual tension and to want them to fuck 🤣

(sidenote: Approach to Fem Harry) - This is what makes or breaks the fic. Fem Harry needs to stay in-character. Harry needs to be Harry. That's the most important thing. That is why some fics fail and why some succeed.

(sidenote: Fear of the Monster) - You either like Snake-Face Voldemort or you don't. In the stats @cindle-writes wrote, it's clear even Fem Harry is preferred with the handsome version of Voldemort and teenager Tom Riddle from snake-face Voldemort. This doesn't surprise me at all, though it makes me sad as someone who enjoys the monsterfuckery of Harrymort, be it M/M or M/F. Again, we have the Handsome Villain trope — if Voldemort came out of the cauldron Handsome DILF Voldemort the general audience and their grandmother would ship Fem Harry with him a LOT.

Of course, he didn't come out handsome, and maybe there's beauty in that, too. Because at the end of the story, whether Harry be girl or boy, Harry does what Harry does. Harry gives Voldemort one last chance. Harry sees Voldemort, this skeletal, terrible wizard who took everything from him, and is willing to forgive him.

That is Harry, at the core.

3. My Conclusion

Fem Harry is prevalent because people want to explore that possibility, the plot and how Fem Harry’s relationship would be with Tom|Voldemort and everyone else, how it influences or doesn't influence the story and the dynamics with Voldemort and other characters. There is no denying that Harry's and Voldemort's scenes together in the movies would be more intense to the general audience who is used to seeing M/F relationshios if Harry is a girl. The sexual tension between them is great to write as equally as it is with M/M Tomarrymort.

4. In The End

Harry is a wonderful character, and the gender should not change the heart and soul of the character. And hey, in the universe where Harry is a girl, Tomarry has the most fics and beats Drarry. 😏

I consider that an enormous win. 🥳

this is gonna sound pretty weird but anyone know what's up with the amount of het in tomarrymort? specifically with like, fem harry? especially compared to other harry-centric big ships like drarry or... whoever else canonically male gets shipped with harry (i don't wander out of my sphere too often).

i don't hate het or fem harry, far from it, (i do actually have a few het stories myself i haven't yet shared) but i do find it a bit strange that it's so prevalent. is there a specific reason people like fem harry in tomarrymort? does anyone want to talk to me about it? am i wrong, even? that's also a possibility. maybe i'll gain some interesting insights too, who knows.

[hamliet]

Love (is) blood screaming inside you to work its will

(The title is from Buffy the Vampire Slayer but that’s not what this review is about. Mostly not, anyways). 

*clears throat, dons fandom oldie glasses* BACK IN MY DAY WHEN YA WAS GOOD--

No but seriously, in light of the upcoming Vampire Academy TV series, I took the plunge and reread these classic young adult vampire romance novels--both the Vampire Academy and Bloodlines series. I’d read them the first time like... eight years ago? Seven? I don’t even know. It’s been a while. 

And, in doing so, I was reminded why I love young adult literature in the first place. But that’s for the end of this review. For now, let’s get on with it, starting with the Vampire Academy series. 

Vampire Academy

I think VA gets a bad rap for being derivative of Twilight (vampires and romance) and Harry Potter (a boarding school setting). But it’s really got a lot more in common with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in that it is firmly young adult, uses magical worldbuilding as metaphors for the real-world struggles of teenagers, and actually has character arcs (sorry Twilight). In many ways it is more successful than BTVS in terms of its metaphors (it avoids a lot of the icky subtext of Buffy, particularly around sex), if in general less successful in its character arcs. 

But? Vampire Academy is also incredibly fresh and unique in some ways. 

To start with, in any other YA series, protagonist Rose Hathaway would be the sidekick, and Vasilisa Dragomir would be the protagonist. I mean, think about it: Lissa is the quintessential YA heroine. She’s the last survivor of a royal lineage, has a super secret and dangerous power that could destroy her or save the world, is destined to become queen, and her love interests (and a favorite character of mine, Christian Ozera) is a bad boy with a heart of gold.

Rose is even literally Lissa’s textual sidekick: as a dhampir, Rose tells us from the first chapter that her purpose is to stick by Lissa’s side and protect her life no matter what. Rose is bold, brash, doesn’t think, and has a very casual attitude towards physical romantic encounters. These are all typical traits of the YA Protagonist Sidekick.

But, Rose is the protagonist, not Lissa. It’s an interesting subversion, helped by the fact that both Rose and Lissa are characters with genuine flaws: Lissa is genuinely selfish at times, and Rose can be a jerk who uses people. Their love interests also have real flaws: Christian may have golden intentions, but he has a genuine cruel streak too (and a fascination with fire). Dmitri’s self-sacrificing nature winds up just hurting everyone around him, including Rose.

Which isn’t to say the story doesn’t have issues. It does, and in many ways you can tell Vampire Academy was the author’s first story. The climax in the first book is pretty much entirely told to us rather than shown, to the point where I’m surprised an editor okayed it. Frostbite introduces a bit of creepiness (the tunnel scene is genuinely chilling) and complexity, but doesn’t ever really let the setting and premise breathe because it’s too busy arranging characters to where they need to be for book 3. It’s really not until book 4 that the story really allows its characters to take a breather, and with their inhalation digs deep into the core of what makes Lissa, Christian, Rose, and even Dmitri who they are. Book 5 nails the emotional climax (Lissa and Christian restoring Dmitri’s soul), and Book 6 is an exciting finish. In other words, the story improves with each book, which is exactly what you want to see when reading.

That said, the story’s best strength was, as said before, its characters. They have flaws and strengths, are likable and unlikable each, and have their own unique dynamics with each other. The romance is very present for Rose/Dmitri and Lissa/Christian, but Rose and Lissa’s friendship manages to also pack a major emotional punch, as does Rose’s friendships with Christian, Sydney, Mason, Jill, and Adrian. The overall story’s biggest flaw is that it didn’t spend as much time calling the characters out for their flaws as it could have--it really could have gone deeper in a lot of ways, but as the author seems to settle into her groove, the story winds to a close. Adrian’s question to Rose at the end really cuts to the heart of her character flaws, but the story ends only a few chapters later; we know approximately where she’ll go from there, but it would have been nice to see it. 

"Not just me, little dhampir,' he added quietly. "There's been a lot of collateral damage along the way while you battled against the world. I was a victim, obviously. But what about Jill? What happens to her now that you've abandoned her to the royal wolves? And Eddie? Have you thought about him? And where's your Alchemist?”

Speaking of the romance, Dmitri and Rose are essentially Buffy and Angel, but done well: shown, not told. Also, despite Dmitri also losing his soul right after sex with Rose for the first time, it is clearly not because of sex that he lost his soul: if anything, that helps him hold on in some ways. Hence the metaphor is much more on the sex positive side. That said, yes, it’s problematic that a 24 year old teacher is in love with a 17 year old (okay a week from 18) student. It makes me uncomfortable, and that’s actually usually a huge squick for me. Yet for some reason it works in this series, which is odd and a testament to how the author writers it. 

On metaphors, I loved how at the start of the series, Rose’s automatic “they come first” (with “they” being Lissa for her) isn’t questioned, but is thoroughly unpacked later on. Her friendship with Lissa heals and kills both of them; Lissa can share some of her darkness and mental struggles with Rose, but the toll it takes on her is agonizing to read. When separated, the girls both struggle; they clearly need each other in their lives. Yet depending on each other so intensely is also detrimental to both of their growths. Their shadow-kissed bond is a metaphor for codependency, and it is very well done. 

Speaking of mental health... 

Bloodlines

Bloodlines is honestly where the author knocks it out of the park. Technically a sequel spin-off series, you might think it was trying to recapture the magic of the former, but it becomes both a perfect continuation and a gem in its own right. 

Adrian and Sydney are constantly called on their flaws, with both being challenged to grow throughout the series. Empathy drips off the pages, but their flaws aren’t ever excused either. 

Adrian is a great character, flawed, fun, and lovable at the same time. He’s also one of the best portrayals of addiction and mental illness I’ve ever read about. He is an alcoholic, but he is never defined by his alcoholism. When he falls off the wagon, you feel for him. When we’re finally allowed in his head in book 3 of Bloodlines, we feel his agony, and we too long for release for him. 

It was pretty clear from back in VA that Adrian’s mental issues were metaphors for bipolar disorder (just like Lissa’s was depression), and Bloodlines isn’t afraid to confirm this by giving Adrian the actual diagnosis. Not only that, but Bloodlines goes further and gives Adrian actual psychosis in what is a fairly realistic portrayal according to what I’ve read/seen in real life, yet never, ever defines Adrian by his psychosis. His story is one of learning to live with mental illness, and it’s important. It’s important because it takes a very different approach to mental illness than do most modern books: it doesn’t tell the story from the perspective of “it’s all better now.” Even in the happily-ever-after epilogue, it’s still a part of Adrian. His mental illness is still part of him; not the totality, no, but it’s not not him either.  And it does this without glamorizing it or diminishing the toll (I’m very sick of “mental illness isn’t actually something people suffer from; it’s just different”--for many, it is suffering). Basically, we need more stories with characters and struggles like Adrian Ivashkov. 

Which brings me to a really neat metaphor in the book; at one point, when Sydney refuses to accept Adrian’s feelings for her, she sees Catcher in the Rye on Marcus’s desk. She then thinks to herself how it means Marcus must be “self-absorbed and pretentious.” Marcus then calls her out on this, telling her she is misunderstanding the entire story, and how it’s actually a beautiful book. The Catcher in the Rye is here a symbol for Adrian: rich young boy who pretends to be self-absorbed and pretentious, but is actually a trauma survivor with some serious mental health struggles and a lot of love in his heart. Like Holden, too, Adrian’s future is in protecting the children... but more on that later.

Sydney is a pretty great combination with Adrian: they’re an unlikely couple (opposites attract is a good trope) but beyond that, they actually are fairly similar. Sydney also has an addictive personality--her caffeine habit, eating issues, and her devout faith and morals which she never entirely loses are all dealt with in honest ways. The “reeducation” center they send her to is a very unsubtle metaphor for conversion therapy. Some of the tactics used by the evil Alchemists in the books (like the nausea association) are very real and very much used in conversion therapy for LGBT+ people. It is really effed up, and this story captures the trauma and evil of such a place. 

Adrian and Sydney’s relationship is just hot. It’s passionate, but not melodramatic. It challenges both of them to grow each and every page that they’re together. It could destroy them, but because of their love for each other, they keep choosing to become better people--even when it means pain. It’s hopeful, fun, and everything YA romance should be. Also, the makeout and eventual sex scenes should be examples to all writers about how to write sex scenes that use emotion to perfectly convey the physical, without being gratuitous. They’re explicit about what’s happening without being graphic (or even being erotica; they’re not). 

The “happily ever after” ending is largely earned. There are a million hints from the very first book that the story will end with Adrian and Sydney having a kid--there’s the baby name book, the Callistana recognizing them as its parents, and more. Where the story loses it a bit is in Book 6, which is a shame because while Book 6 was the strongest of VA’s books, it’s the weakest of Bloodlines’ books. Olive, Nina, and Neil were really just introduced to give them Declan, and to make it clear that Rose and Dmitri could have children some day, too. 

To which I say: just do it. Seriously, you’re already going the fairy tale route (like Buffy, VA and Bloodlines are very much fairy tales). So don’t just hint. Do the fairy tale. 

I almost do wonder if that was the initial plan: Sydney and Adrian having a biological kid (even though it’s implied they will, and Declan is very much their son). It fits a little too perfectly with Sydney’s body image issues and her eating issues (particularly around craving foods and denying herself them). There’s also a moment in reeducation where she fears she’s carrying Adrian’s child, but then isn’t, and I honestly wonder if the author flirted with such an idea before scrapping it because a 19-year-old wife and mother might be a bit too much. But the angst and character development potential would have made for a much more satisfying Book 6, honestly. 

But again, I say, wrap up this fairy tale without any apologies. That is my taste, anyways. We have so many beautiful couples, the main ones being Rose and Dmitri, Lissa and Christian, and Sydney and Adrian, but then we have Jill and Eddie, Angeline and Trey, Jackie Terwilliger and Malachi Wolfe, Sonya and Mikhail, Marcus and Carly... it’s an explosion of love, and we even then find out Dmitri and Adrian are cousins (and it works). Just go the whole way. 

Lastly, on the family situations: both series’ show the nuance of broken families. Lissa’s family was whole and happy, but her father still cheated on her mother. Janine Hathaway and Abe Mazur are terrible parents to Rose, but by the end they start redeeming themselves, working to form a good relationship with their daughter--it will never be a typical parent/child relationship because that ship has sailed, but they can make something of their relationships anyways. Daniella Ivashkov and Adrian also fall into this, working together to find a way forward after trauma. 

On the other hand, Sydney and her father, Jared Sage, and Adrian and his father, Nathan Ivashkov, will not reconcile. It seems unequivocally clear that this is not possible, and the story supports this narrative just as it supports the more reconciliatory narratives. This is a nuance stories struggle to hit, and it does it very well.

Along these lines, I would liked some more closure on Dmitri’s family--I’d have liked an update on Viktoria, for example, and I’d have liked an update on Sydney’s mother. Where we left Zoe is very realistic--she loves Sydney and is maturing, but can’t break free from the cult of the alchemists just yet. As someone who left a cult-like religious environment, Zoe’s narrative really resonated with me. 

Final Thoughts

Where I bring it back to YA. 

The whole reason I loved YA, and the reason I write it in my own time, is that it used to be the best combination of plot, themes, character development, and romance--but best of all? 

It asked the questions. 

Nowadays it's all become the genre that has all the answers, and to its detriment. It’s hard to imagine VA not getting Twitter cancelled nowadays. I can’t even defend parts of it as not problematic. And yet it is honest and has an aim as a story that feels real, raw, in a way that contemporary YA of the past few years does not. 

Honestly, and again speaking as someone who grew up in a fundamentalist Christian place, most modern YA is just Christian/inspirational fiction, but with with performative wokeness as finding Jesus. I say this as someone who is still  religious and very much pro-social justice person. But it’s more concerned with purity than the messy reality of struggling to navigate a complex world. “Empathy” is lauded, but the word is meaningless, because it's not really empathy. What contemporary YA calls empathy is really a method of seeking power, and comforting readers with instructions on how to be a good person rather than discomforting and challenging. I'm all for tearing down the social structures that have oppressed for millennia. Burn it all. But, without empathy/love... is it even going to change anything? 

I'd like to see this question explored, and reading is such a powerful tool to exercise empathy, too. Especially in stories aimed at teenagers, because teenagers are able to understand complexity but are not yet burdened by the same depths of cynicism that adulthood can bring with it.  

Rereading Vampire Academy and Bloodlines reminded me of the reasons I love YA. I’m very excited for it to get an adaptation and reenter the public consciousness. 

[genshinlover101]

ah yes, good day isnt it? hutao, but- BUT make it childhood friends to enemies BUT here’s the other thing, She secretly loves you and you don’t( one side love</3 ) (gn!reader pls too<3)

Childhood Friends to Enemies w/ Hu Tao (Unrequited Love)

Character: Hu Tao

Warning: none

A/n: yes yes, good day to ruin someone else’s with angst 💪🏻 I genuinely felt so bad writing this but my brain juices were going nuts

• Hu Tao and you used to be like glue when you were children. She had always been bright, reading transcripts at the early age of three. Yet she was always impulsive, you would wake her from her coffin naps to save her a future lecture. To say the least, you were proud to be her friend.

• You would say the turning point was when Hu Tao’s grandpa died in your teenage years. You were there for her as a support outlet, you even set up a cute dinner to cheer her up. But her impulses took over, and you got stood up, your tiny pride was hurt.

• A week later, Hu Tao returned to Liyue. She had been searching for her Grandpa within the spirits. This was the last straw, you finally recognized what everyone was warning you about… about ‘that child’ as everyone commonly referred to her by.

• You continued to restrain yourself for the remainder of your young-adult years, everyone’s rumors about her drawing you farther away from her. Through the gossip, you felt stupid staying by the side of someone. Especially after hearing about what she did to Qiqi.

Hu Tao would visit you frequently, the exchange kept at a brief conversation at your command. You thought because of her eccentric personality she only came to tease you and leave because of your reserved nature towards her.

Today Hu Tao was more pestering than normal. “Aya~ are you sure you wouldn’t like to purchase a coffin, they’re 85% off just for you??” How was that even profitable, you thought.

“Hu Tao please,” you tried picking up your pace in an attempt to lose her. You were traversing the streets of Liyue, picking up some medicinal herbs from Bubu Pharmacy for your mother who was too weak to make the trip herself.

“Come’on most coffins sell for upwards of 10,000 mora, but for you, I’ll offer it for only 2,000. Great deal right?” You stopped abruptly causing Hu Tao to suddenly crash into your back.

“Listen, I cannot deal with your antics today-“

“Then I’ll come over tomorrow-“ she interrupted.

“-Or ever, Hu Tao... I cannot deal with you. I’ve been trying to escape from your voice, your presence, your entire being for years upon years. My mother is dying from a sickness that’s fatality can only be slowed… you trying to sell me coffins is highly insensitive. Forgive my rudeness, but please try to understand my point of view.” You haven’t spoken this much to Hu Tao since your childhood, but every word you spoke was poisonous to her. You were cruel to her.

You’ve never seen Hu Tao’s flowery eyes become so glossy at your words. Her mouth trembled and her normally bubbly attitude was getting harder to uphold even for her. “A-are you sure? I mean… I c-could help you plan the funeral?” She said, forcing with all her power the same cheesy grin that she always flashed.

You never felt more enraged, “Are you serious Hu Tao?!” You shouted for all to hear before storming off. You almost felt pity for the girl, you knew ever since she was young she had much trouble socializing let alone finding friends. Her abstract offers were her way of showing support and kindness for you on the basis you currently stand on.

Not to your surprise, you hit the nail squarely on the head. You later heard rumors of Hu Tao being more gloomy than usual, “did you hear? That one Funeral Parlor girl was crying,” you would eavesdrop.

You admittedly felt guilty for making someone who was formerly so important to you cry. But you still had no further intentions of advancing your relationship beyond strangers.

[lovee-infected]

hello! I read your post where you clarified your opinion on the character of Malleus and to be honest I really appreciated it! I agree with what you say and I have to congratulate you for the detailed analysis!! May I ask (if of course that doesn't bother you) what do you think of Leona's character instead? I ask because I think (like malleus) that some fans have not fully understood the complex personality of this character and I would like to understand more of it too. Thank you :3

Hello dears! First off, thank you very much for your sweet compliments and glad to hear that you enjoyed my Malleus analysis!

To be honest, I think that being mischaracterized isn't the main problem with Leona, the main problem is that not many actually try to give his character a deeper and detailed look which makes us lose a bunch of interesting facts and points about him and his personality. Leona's design is quite brilliant and I guess we all need to take a moment to go through those interesting details in order to understand that he's way greater than we were expecting!

I mainly talked about some possibilities of how he's mischaracterized in part (1),(2) and (12) and in the rest of the parts, we'll be talking about more specific facts and details about his personality that are often ignored.

1) Let Leona be Leona

The simplest yet the most important part to begin with. While we all understand that he has indeed gone through a hard time throughout his life as the second prince and an often ignored child of his family, it's important to realize that this isn't going to change anything about his dark personality.

Accept it, this is just the way he is. He doesn't mind being reckless, doesn't care if he's annoying at the time, doesn't care if anyone likes what he's doing or not, and doesn't see any need to excuse himself for being so.

He's surely got a painful background to go through which him have the right for being so now, but this isn't telling us that he's still a little kitten. Leona is an adult now and considering him to be a soft boy inside who just needs attention and love is totally against the way he actually is. He isn't a child who can sometimes misbehave, he's a grown-up man. He knows what he's doing and how others may think of him because of his reckless actions. This is just how he wants to be, so let Leona be Leona. But I'm not saying that he's gotten to this point for no reason, this claim will be clarified in part (2) and (3).

2) Do not try to excuse his jerky nature

This is somewhat of a continuation of what discussed back in the first part, keep that in mind that this, is just the way Leona is. Saying that he's a cute kitten who just needs more attention and love, and that he'd be a totally different person by just having someone to support and confront him is surely an adorable headcanon, but it doesn't really suit him.

Or another way of this, saying that Leona may often come off as rude but he doesn't mean to, and he holds a kind and soft heart behind that cold and rough personality.

Look, not all characters are supposed to be kind and good inside. Some are specifically designed to present a cruel and rude personality because this is just the way they are, so trying to excuse his nature is nothing different from trying to change his official design. Leona's past life took on an important role in shaping his personality, but it isn't like he's still a 5-year-old child who'd be calmed down if you talk to him.

His current self, is a result of his past and his personal decisions at the moment; as an adult he knows how to handle his personality and behaviors, and he doesn't seem to really care about what others may think of him now. Both him and the others know that he can be much of a jerk at the time, and the point is: He doesn't mind being so.

3) Leona's childhood has seriously effected his personality and life

While his current personality isn't such a thing that can be changed if you just show him some love and attention, keep that in mind that no one is born evil.

What happens when you're supposed to playing and having fun as child but instead you're working your hardest training everyday to master your magic? And even worse, what if all those months and even years of hardworking result in nothing but your family and people's fear and hatred towards you?

He was just a child, and even if he wasn't going to be the next King he needed to be noticed and paid attention to. He needed his family to be at least proud of him and his powers, but all they did was to leave him on his own because all they saw was an angry kid yet no one ever cared to calm him down-! He might've be raised in a castle, yet there are many things he needed more than wealth and money.

As a child he needed attention and motivation, but since almost everyone around Leona failed him on it, this need of his was never fulfilled and as the result, this part of him would always remain as a child.

He still enjoys attention and being phrased like he enjoys nothing, yet it's not like that's enough to change anything about him. It might've been possible to change him in the past, but now, it's useless. He can no longer be easily effected and changed like a child can be.

4) He is telented and confident

Some may think that self-esteem is a problem of his: "Why he recognize that he's already really powerful?" "Doesn't he know that if he stops procrastinating he will achieve the success he's been always wishing for?" "Why is he always comparing himself to the others instead of recognizing his own telents?"

The answer to all these questions and similar ones is: He knows. He knows that he's talented and strong, he knows that just because someone like Malleus is standing higher than him doesn't mean that Leona is weak, and he knows that he can work way harder than he already is.

We'll talk about his procrastination in part (8) but for now, let's focus on his very own opinions about himself. None of us can exactly tell how much he can do and how talented he truly is, because while Leona is totally aware of his own abilities, he doesn't care to use or show them.

In fairy gala, for example, he turned out to be skilled with posing and walking when Vil pushed him into taking the work seriously, but in the end he just did it to get rid of Vil though he could've done it all in the first place! He did know how to pose, how to walk and how to be one hell of a super model without Vil learning him much about it, yet he didn't show the smallest sign of having the ability and knowledge in!

And when he did it, he was sure that everyone would be impressed, and they were! Though he might sometimes be cocky about it he's sure that if he decides to take something seriously, it'll end up in the highest of quality and the best of result, because Leona knows how to get the best of it.

So next time that you see him not wanting to do anything, know that it isn't anything about him lacking confidence or underestimating his own brilliance, he just doesn't care to show it. And at some point, it may even be because he thinks no one really deserves to get his best. He isn't cheap. He knows that he can do it. He just doesn't want to.

5) He was thought manners

Other than respecting ladies, there's a lot about him that shows his maturity and nobility. Leona is indeed real prince, but doesn't care to show it. With that being said, know that he can go from 0 to 100 in a matter of second, just like he did in Fairy Gala and turned into the prince who stole hundreds of hearts.

The thing is unlike Malleus, he doesn't feel the need to act like the royalty he is, most likely because of the same reason we previously discussed: He doesn't think that anyone is worthy of getting that side of him. He can act like a prince, but doesn't see a need to do so. In summary it's more of a: "Yes, I can be just perfect, but you won't deserve it anyway,"

Give Leona the motivation to reveal that hidden side, and you'll see how it'll impress you. Keep that in mind that we don't even know how stunning he can be when he is serious.

6) He is different from the rest of the NRC

One of the most important facts about him which is often ignored, come on! There're too many things that separate him from the rest of the students but are rarely paid attention to.

First off, unlike many of other students, Leona is an adult, and he's been one ever since he was a first grader. The importance of age explains a lot about one's personality, especially when it comes to a school.

While other students, especially 16 years olds like Ace and Deuce, still have a lot to go through to and are much and less open to learning a new thing from experiencing like they're just doing now, Leona is the least likely (Except Lilia) to face those character developments through his 4 years in NRC because he's already gone through them back in his 16s and 17s.

Even his overblot had the least effect on him and unlike Riddle who tried to come up with a rather softer personality and make a difference in his new self, Leona did nothing but to walk off and even during chapter 3 in which Savanaclaw helped MC to defeat Octavinelle, he didn't treat MC any kindlier than before.

His attitude is already shaped as it is, and since he's no longer a teenager it might be really hard to be changed. This is probably the biggest difference between him and the rest of the students in NRC; his personality is rough and almost impossible to be changed now.

7) He loves to be praised

Remember that we talked about that part of him remaining a child? His love for receiving compliments is a result of it.

Though he doesn't need anyone to bring any of his gorgeous features to his attention, he just wants to see people recognize them and beg him to show them more.

If you walk up to him and say how attractive or powerful he looks he'd probably answer you with either an "I know," or an "Of course I am,".

During his Fairy Gala voice lines he once said: "Sorry, I'm used to compliment," which can be defined into some interesting facts about him.

Since Jack too mentioned that he entered NRC because he looked up to Leona as his role model, we can assume that Leona is more than just a forgotten second prince back in his hometown. And since he said that he's used to compliment, it might be that he's already famous and admired by his fans as he already is.

But just as we said, compliment is something he enjoys receiving in general; it isn't going to effect him in any special way that might change anything about his personality.

It can't be said that he'd ever mind having someone around to phrase him though, he's more of an "Phrase me and don't stop" type and it isn't something that he'd ever reject unless it turns into something annoying.

8) There's a rather interesting stories behind his lazy nature

This one is rather important, Leona doesn't sleep because he's always tired or sleepy in general. And you need to know that Leona's sleeping issues are totally different from someone like Silver's!

Silver literally can't control his sleeping issues and that's how he's often found asleep in weird places but doesn't even know how he suddenly falls asleep while Leona, can stay awake by his own will whenever he wants to, he's just doesn't want to.

In contrast to a rather common belief on Leona being extremely lazy, he can actually be really hard working at the time. This guy had been through some extreme training as a child, therefore he can do way harder now that he's an adult. Sleeping is literally his way of saying "I don't care", so whenever he's got nothing interesting or worthy of staying up for, he goes back to sleep.

If we give it a psychological look sleeping too much often happens to people whose lives have no specific goals, they're neither motivated nor interested to stay awake if they've got nothing to do so -> Sleeping is the best thing they can do. You can tell that Leona sort of lacks motivation in general, because this considerably lazy lion is the same person as the one who's already working his ass off to prepare for the magic shift tournaments.

In the end, all that matters is what he desires. He's also pretty obsessive with his goals so when he wants something, there's nothing to hold him back from doing anything to achieve his goal. He wants it, he gets it.

9) Leona can be childish, but he isn't a child

We previously discussed why his childhood has effected his personality and now, you may wonder how it's effected him. A child's crucial needs are necessary to be fulfilled during their childhood because they. But even as those needs aren't taken care of, they would remain as holes inside the child's personality, because they're necessities which the child's character will always lack. This is much and less of what I meant by saying that this part of Leona always remains a child.

We talked about how he loves to be praised and appreciated, but now let's think of another example that can reveal that wild child. At nearly the end of Octavinelle's chapter, he was literally acting like a big bad boy taking candy (contract) from a baby (Azul). It's not just that, we can tell that he somehow enjoys bullying and teasing others in general. He won't even take it easy on his close friends like Ruggie or Jack, as he repeatedly insulted Jack back in chapter 2 & 3 and was even close to killing Ruggie in chapter 2.

Leona wants to feel powerful, and to be treated like a King. That's why he sometimes enjoys ordering others like Ruggie around all though he knows that before everything, Ruggie is his friend and deserves to be treated better.

He didn't have many friends as a child, therefore he doesn't really get to be a the perfect friend that his allies might deserve now. It's something rather hard to change about him, but those who know and care for him would certainly understand him and know that this is just the way he is, just like Jack and Ruggie are doing now. They could've left him all alone instead of staying by his side all the time, yet they continue to support and be there for him because they do care for Leona.

10) For now, Malleus is the Mufasa of his story

This one's pretty interesting, I really appreciate the creativity used in this design. We all know that Leona's creation was inspired by Scar from 1994's Lion King, therefore I'm pretty sure that almost all of you are familiar with Lion King's famous tragedy:

As the result of Mufasa's reign over the past few years, hyenas had been living in hunger and dread, there wasn't much food left for them to hunt and they didn't dare stepping into Mufasa's territory either. So Scar decided to take advantage and convinced hyenas that their hard and pitiful lives is Mufasa's fault as the King. He gained their attention and support to help him bring down the King, and promised them the wealthiest of lives where they'll never go hungry again in return. And that's how his plan to kill his own brother succeeded.

Now try to use the same plot in twst, but how is it possible? You may think that it must be with Farena Kingscholar because, Mufasa was also Scar's brother, but there's a problem: Farena isn't in NRC.

We don't know what is going to happen in the future storyline where we might get to face a real legacy between Leona and Farena, but for now, he needs someone in the Night raven College itself to play the role of that special rival so he can present his inner villain. And who would that special rival be? Malleus Draconia.

Now think about what happened in chapter two:

Savanaclaw had been the winner of magic shift tournament for decades until Malleus Draconia entered NRC. His iconic magic skills and horrifying powers led to Diasomnia's championship over the last two years. Savanaclaw is pissed off because they literally can't do anything against him and Leona on the other hand is so mad, (This point would be discussed in the next part) and can't stand Malleus wiping the whole Savanaclaw out for a third year. To top it off, he knows that if this happens again, Malleus would find his way to NRC's hall of fame. So Leona convinces the whole Savanaclaw that it's unfair to the rest of the NRC to lose the chance of revealing their talents and using their skills because of Malleus, and asks them to help him bring Malleus down therefore not only Savanaclaw would have a chance to win again, but also the rest of the students will actually have an opportunity to join a fair battle against each other.

See? This is JUST how Scar used Hyenas' weakness against them to make them pave the way for him and bring his enemy down. But the most interesting part is, it didn't end up in victory like Scar's plan did!

11) His relationship with Malleus has a lot to tell

Some may wonder just how does he think of Malleus? What is the feeling is even supposed to be? Is it jealousy? Hatred? Confusion? But I'm not going to talk about how he exactly feels. Instead, I want to talk about why he's feeling so.

First off, you need to know that Malleus and Leona are two sides of the same coin. They're both princes, they come from well known familiesband they're both great and often feared magicians but, there are some big differences:

Malleus would soon be the King, is among the greatest magicians of the world, is respected and well-known throughout the whole Twisted Wonderland and always finds his way to be the number one in anything that he's involved in.

The big difference between Leona and Malleus is that Malleus has gained everything that Leona always wished to have, he achieved them and Leona failed to do so. Malleus presents the picture perfect Leona thad he'd always wanted to be, and that's why Leona can't stand him.

It's not like he can be blamed for feeling so though, even the thought is painful. Imagine knowing that someone just like you exists in this world which has got everything that you once wanted, just why should it be so? Why should Malleus be the one to have them and not Leona? Isn't this life just too unfair...?

And the most irritating part about this is that Malleus doesn't feel the same way. Leona considers him to be his greatest enemy yet Malleus doesn't even consider Leona a rival. Malleus is always calm while Leona rushes to him which again is annoying, as if he doesn't take Leona seriously at all and this is driving Leona crazy.

That's why he can basically do anything just to make Malleus frown at least, he doesn't care if he's okay himself or not because all he wants is Malleus not to be okay. Another annoying fact about it is that it's really hard to insult or use anything against Malleus because he's just...too perfect. Even Leona won't dare underestimate his powers because he knows that it'll end in no good. He's basically looking for each and every possible detail about Malleus to use against him.

Just like how he did back in Malleus's SR robes story. He couldn't use anything better than telling Malleus that he'll never be invited and making fun of his horns to insult him. It's so annoying when you want to torture someone so badly but you just have nothing useful against them. He is ready to do everything to make Malleus angry, to make his calm and respectful expression disappear and finally take Leona seriously as his rival and enemy.

I'm sure that Leona doesn't know anything about Malleus's tamagotchi otherwise he would've told the whole school about it by now.

12) He isn't one to easily fall in love or to be effected by anyone

Many of the previous parts can reason this point, we talked about his personality, why it's so hard to change anything about him and how we should let Leona be Leona. But still many wonder if he can still fall in love? And the answer is: Yes. Leona as well can fall in love but it isn't necessarily easy.

Leona isn't used to letting people in and accepting that he needs them in life, which is why a relationship with him can have a pretty slow development.

In the first place, it'll take a rather long time for him to first trust someone let alone accepting them as a friend. He's pretty hard to approach you see, mostly because he often wants to be left on his own. He doesn't want to desire or need anyone and doesn't think that he'll ever need any other beings except for the times when he wants to get his room cleaned or have his meal prepared.

Love is something odd to him and it takes a very long time for him to actually feel it. You might think that he won't get it when someone loves him to the point of having to slap and shout: "Can't you see that I'm flirting with you..!??", but he's actually the total opposite. Note that he's pretty smart and would quickly realize it when someone's even staring at him, so nothing would be easier than telling if someone if having a crush on him. But he'd pretend that he doesn't know.

He doesn't really care what others feel about him and even as one loves him, he sees no reason to love them back. Whoever his lover is, they need to be really really patient with him because they must prove him that they aren't giving up this easily. He'd most likely try to tell you off and make you hate him multiple times, it really confuses him to see someone not letting go of him despite knowing how cold and mean he can be. He isn't a stray cat that would that would have his heart melted if you give him some head pats or treat him nicely, gaining Prince Leona's attention is no easy.

Even as he falls in love, it isn't going to totally change everything about him, so we can't expect him to let go of each and every poor manner of his because some of them are basically linked to the way he is in general.

He'd be different though, he tries to be more respectful and charming toward the one he desires, but as a lover he's often the: "Shut up and kiss me" type. He'd still be into teasing, but not in a humiliative way. He just enjoys messing with the people he likes so it's more of his way to play with his darling and showing admiration!

Beware though, if he falls in love, his darling would be his new goal, and he'd take no effort in making his darling his and only his. If he wants the darling, it must be him and only him who will get to have them. Just as much as it's so rare of him to actually reach the level of loving someone, know that he'll be so dangerous when he's serious about it. He won't be messing around when it comes to love.

I can keep talking about him all day but this has already gotten really long and I don't want it to get boring or any longer to read- I must admit that Leona's charater is quite interesting to study and the amount of details about his personality is surely fascinating!

[nanomooselet]

Hello! I'm not a Japanese speaker, so I have to go on second-hand info about word choice in Japanese. However, I'm very very much into writing dialogue and speech patterns in English, so I can voice some opinions on the dub's choices!

In English to me Vash sounds like he's, what's would be the term... switching modes? He's got silly mode and he's got serious mode. There's always a lot going on when he speaks, but it's beneath the surface and he keeps it there. Flailing around and being pathetic or saying something silly it does seem like he's playing it up, and the rest of the time he's putting effort into keeping his voice/tone soft and gentle. The exception is his more extreme emotional reactions, outbursts of genuine rage, pain or grief; they don't sound controlled, which makes sense. They're rare but extremely noticeable.

No notes on Legato or Roberto, heh. They're just very good. Roberto's so funny in English, he's got a knack for verbal flourishes. Legato sounds so… smug and snakey.

Wolfwood in English to me sounds immature. As far as I can tell they're not playing up an accent for him; instead, he talks like his education wasn't great. His articulation is rough and somewhat drawling rather than clipped and officious like Meryl's. The exchange when he's talking with Meryl in the windmill village, for instance - he says "It's not milling," (not the correct term for what he's describing, he's just using it because he assumes that windmills mill) and then when Meryl tells him "It's the way wind power has always worked!" he replies, "A stupid way." He sounds like a surly teenage boy. He also tends towards harsh and crude turns of phrase - not cruel, exactly, but pointedly vulgar. It is less distinctive than his voice in Japanese, unfortunately. As far as his characterisation goes, I think it works. But I do prefer his Japanese actor.

It's funny you say Meryl sounds more mature in English! It's the opposite to me, she sounds thoughtlessly snippy and bossy - best way to describe it might be that she's trying to talk like a grown-up, but doesn't have an adult's consideration for the opinions of others. She likes showing off, she talks fast, and it's easy to get her to raise her voice or assume a superior tone. And her bravado vanishes if she's uncertain, she turns meek and awkward. On the flip side, when enthusiastic she's very open and excited.

Nai! I won't front, I love his actor and I love his writing in English, but the story goes that Orange specifically requested he be more "villainous" in the dub and I couldn't tell you why. Honestly, I like both about the same, but for different reasons. I can tell you that he makes direct allusions to the Christian Bible and his word choice when he does is very, very grandiose - presumptive, arrogant and full of himself. As for Vash, he's gentler talking to him than anyone else, but his tone/word choice doing so, whoof, it's uncomfortable. Dismissive and condescending, at best. At worst it's targeted cruelty, picking away at what he knows will hurt Vash, or just the most disgusting disrespect. For instance, he keeps bringing up Vash doing "tricks", meaning something cute that a domesticated animal does on command, but it can also mean something even more insulting, and I'm sure both meanings are intended. He pretty much never talks to humans besides Dr. Conrad, but talking about them, there's always at least a slight undertone of disgust and contempt.

WRT referring to the Plants as feminine, hmm. Knives comes across as misogynistic towards human women no matter what the language. With the Plants I'd call him paternalistic instead; he assumes he has authority over them as a superior and caregiver. He might call them people rather than objects, but they are still his inferiors and he gets to decide what's best for them and what they need, like how he keeps calling himself Vash's older brother.

Anyway, the rest of the time in the English Knives mostly sounds… a bit insane? It's hard to describe. Like he can't decide whether he's about to laugh or cry and stays perpetually on the verge of both, so his voice comes out almost as a whisper, trembling with emotion. His anger is explosive. In fanfic I tend to base my writing on their English dub voices, because that's the language I can express my thoughts in most clearly - it's much easier to add the sort of texture I like. Plus English is supposedly the language they speak on No Man's Land! But I watch sub and dub both, trying to pinpoint what places they overlap and discern the intended effect. So it's not only based on the English voices - they're just where I start.

So I finally found a way to watch tristamp in English dub (I only ever watched the series in Japanese). I haven’t done any deeper thoughts and analysis, and I’m only halfway through the series but here’s my impression so far:

- I love English dub Vash, especially his gibberish noises, such a chaotic dumbass (affectionate), and although some of his jokes and mannerism didn’t translate as well as I hoped, they did a very good job. They deserved two dozen donuts. (although if you hold me at gunpoint and ask me to choose English or Japanese Vash I will choose the Japanese version with a thin margin because I have personal bias towards Matsuoka Yoshitsugu [he’s from where I live lol, and I’m a big fan])

- I’m also in love with how they play Legato and Roberto, especially Legato, I was surprised by the lack of the feeling out of place (Is that the right word? sorry my brain suddenly stopped working in English) that you usually have when you hear a show dubbed in another language you’re not used to hearing. So smooth. And they nailed the drunkle speech with Roberto.

- I honestly was disappointed with the lack of accent in Wolfwood’s speech (maybe I just didn’t hear it correctly? Idk) because he speaks in heavy Kansai dialect in Japanese, even when he was a child (also casting Hosoya Yoshimasa really emphasized the accent). A huge missed opportunity on the English dub, in my opinion. I was expecting Wolfwood with a heavy Southern accent or something. And on that note they also missed the chance to add some dialect for the worm hunters on episode 4.

- English dub Meryl feels mature and a lot more pulled together to me compared to the Japanese version, which sounds very pristine and innocent until she starts learning about the world. It makes her a little… out of place for me who’s used to Meryl speaking in a very polite formal Japanese to everyone (even when she’s yelling in rage or when she’s cursing people). I think it suits Meryl from ‘98 anime more than tristamp Meryl. Probably because you can’t really translate her distinct way of speaking accurately, it’s not anyone’s fault, just a matter of different language. But I guess I like the Japanese version better for Meryl. I just love the way she speaks, shame there’s no English equivalent to her speech style.

- I don’t like English dub Nai. I’m 100% going with the Japanese version in this. Not the performance, though, I know translations are really hard and I do think the English VA did a great job, but as someone who’s used to how Nai speak in Japanese, the dub just… didn’t feel right. In Japanese Nai speaks in a relatively rougher manner compared to Vash (in how he chooses his words, also the subtle but different way he talks to humans and to Vash) didn’t show as much in the English dub. And his pretentious speech that sounds like some people from the church near my house doesn’t get carried to the English dub, I guess. In English he just sounds like a scary villain to me, while in Japanese I can feel his emotions and (warped) love towards Vash just from his words. I saw someone pointing out that Nai refers to the dependent plants with feminine pronouns, and it’s even more prominent and emphasized in the Japanese version. They’re not wrong. Maybe in English it can come across as a bit misogynistic(?), I don’t know, but I like how he does this in Japanese, because to me it feels like he’s always trying to refer to them as “persons” and not “things”, although his treatment towards them is contradictory.

This ended up longer than I expected but overall I enjoyed the English dub and I love analyzing different languages. I wanna know how it feels for people who know absolutely zero Japanese watching the series in English dub and in Japanese with English subtitles. I know that there were differences in the subtitles and the dub but for me I can’t compare English sub and dub because I’d just go with my Japanese interpretation if I watch the subbed version (or I’d rather just ditch the subtitle altogether because sometimes it’s making my brain confused when I speak both languages).

Also to people who write Trigun fanfics in English, where do you base the character speech from? I don’t know how to translate Japanese dialects, so Wolfwood, for example, is very difficult for me to write in English.

[bowie-leblanc]

ABOUT

Full name: Bowie LeBlanc

Date of birth: October 31, 1993

Age: 29

Gender: Trans woman 

Pronouns: She/Her

Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana

Religion: Voodoo

Occupation: Co-owner of The Broom Closet + a burlesque dancer at Restricted Access Cabaret

How long have they been in Bradford Springs: Four years

Where do they live?: Downtown with River Patel and Fox Lennox

Wanted Connections | Stats | Headcanons

BIO

TW: bullying and mentions of transphobia

*People from New Orleans refer to their aunts as “teedy”

New Orleans was no stranger to the occult, to the extraordinary. It profited off of it, turning it into a gimmick for foreign, drunken tourists to smile and laugh at as they opened up their wallets to buy voodoo doll keychains with no real power or potential as keepsakes. Underneath the commercial sanitization, however, there was a real culture there. The LeBlancs knew that, long before Beau came along.

Hallows Eve amplified the city’s desire to capitalize off of its wicked history, and those who were native to the Big Easy knew better than to venture anywhere near the French Quarters. The sun had long set, and the insects singing their merry chorus in the night could hardly be heard over the merriment in the streets. There was no need for the moon and the stars to light the night sky, the neon signs did the work of a midnight sun.

But miles away, along the outskirts of the city limits where the noise turned from roars of a crowd to neighbors sharing a laugh over a drink or two, Beau LeBlanc entered into the world at 12:03am on Halloween morning at home to April LeBlanc, a single mother, and the family awaiting the baby’s arrival.

And a happy, healthy, beautiful baby boy they were.

Raised by their mother and their Teedy Kenyatta*, the sisters were the first to notice Beau was…different. Bowie, as they were affectionately called, was gifted, gifted like many of the LeBlancs that came before them. After all, New Orleans was a magical place, and Beau’s ancestors were practitioners, priestesses of the Voodoo that made the city so infamous.

But Beau was different in other ways too. They didn’t like being called a boy. It felt wrong and invasive, clashing with who they really were. So one day, at the age of eleven, they went up to their mom and aunt, announcing they actually felt more like a she than a he and would like to only be called Bowie. There was no fuss, no hysteria, just a simple shrug and acceptance. Bowie was a girl and would be treated as such.

Nothing’s ever that simple though, is it? As the saying goes, kids can be cruel, and oh, were they cruel.

It wasn’t like Bowie was very popular to begin with. The LeBlancs had a reputation, rumors and legends trailed them in their community. Good Catholic parents told their little obedient children to stay away from Bowie. He comes from devil worshippers. And the kids listened, but that changed when Bowie began presenting more feminine, coming to school in dresses and skirts. The general disregard for them turned into attention for the wrong reasons. Taunting became relentless, endless, and the adults who were meant to protect them would look the other way.

Bowie never needed the friendship of their classmates, though. They were extremely close to their family, and outside of their relatives, they had the only friend they needed. They had River. The two were already close, but when Bowie’s family took them in after the tragedies transpiring after Hurricane Katrina, they were inseparable. Soulmates who’d undoubtedly shared past lives, who were fortunate enough to find each other in the one they presently lived. Whatever loneliness the kids at school tried enforcing on them, they had love in abundance at home.

As Bowie grew into a teenager, they stayed in tune with their religion and the gift they harnessed. When it seemed the bullying would take a turn towards violence, Bowie didn’t break a sweat or shed a tear. Instead, they turned to the practices of their family, calling upon their ancestors.

First, it was Emma Lee Granger, whose gorgeous, red hair went from shedding more than usual to falling out in clumps. And then it was Jenny Kane, who couldn’t talk about the roaches coming out of the bathtub faucet without crying. Jackson Huckabee, who got into a freak accident that ended his chances of ever playing baseball again. It was a shame, really. He could have made it to the pros, that one.

There was no proof, but it had to be Bowie, right? They were a satanist freak, who had been bullied by the three for years. Fear trumped any desire for retaliation, and finally, Bowie was left alone. They survived the rest of high school with River, unscathed and at peace, finally ready to leave it all behind them. Hugging and kissing their family and River goodbye, Bowie went off to Pratt in Brooklyn for fashion design. And despite loving the city, all it had to offer, and the amazing, open-minded people they met, it was only a matter of time before they fell irreversibly homesick. Just shy of their 20th birthday, Bowie dropped out of college and returned to the one place they loved more than any place in the entire world. They returned home.

As an adult, Bowie thrived in New Orleans. The second time they came out, this time as non-binary, was met with the same indifferent shrug and acceptance. They laughed and loved, living at home with their mother while working at a LGBTQ+ bar in the Quarters. Life was fun. Every shift was a party, and the people she worked with became another family. It was the life Bowie was meant to live. A life that was bright and loud and flamboyant, surrounded by people who accepted one another. They were the same people who threw Bowie a going away party when they decided to join River in Colorado.

It was an easy decision, one fueled by how much they missed having their best friend in their life. With the unexpected news of the small trust left behind by River’s parents and the idea of opening up their own metaphysical shop together, Bowie packed up their things once again and made the move. That was four years ago, and Bradford Springs had been unlike any place they had ever visited, much less lived. It was an adjustment, but it was a place they grew to love – though they still received care packages from New Orleans regularly. However, life was a little quieter, a little slower than it had been in the city, and they loved being surrounded by nature. A natural born people person, they also loved how much easier it was to run into a familiar face or make a new friend. They had two jobs they loved, one as co-owner to The Broom Closet with their best friend, and another as a burlesque dancer at Restricted Access. Bowie curated a life for themself in Colorado, happily taking up space in a world so different from the one they grew up in. With the right community, on a good day, it almost felt like home.

*Bowie’s back to using she/her pronouns 

[ultraericthered]

OK, I will say first off that themattress is NOT an Azula apologist who infantalizes her, argues she did nothing wrong, and that other characters are entirely at fault for the evil shit she did. A lot of what you two have been arguing are based on ad hominems and strawman arguments you've been pulling out rather than anything that was actually posted. And this here? Not helping your case.

Yes, if Iroh had tried to extend a hand of compassion, understanding, and help towards Azula, Azula needed to be receptive rather than shun him as the weak, soft-hearted failure her father insisted he was. But no one is blaming Iroh for not successfuly rehabilitating Azula or giving her unlimited chances to change her ways well before the events of the show proper or during them - people are critical of the fact that, as far as we can tell not from JUST what's depicted within the show but in canonical side material like Legacy Of The Fire Nation, Iroh has consistently put in almost zero effort to even TRY to extend his positive influence to a warped and nasty young Azula due to his aversion to his brother's cruelty and mentality that she was taught to gladly follow and to the echoes of Iroh's own younger self that came from her, and the reason he acts the exact opposite way towards Zuko, even if Zuko is receptive to that kindness whereas Azula is not, is for reasons that can be boiled down to favoritism, the very thing he condemns his brother for doing in regards with Azula over Zuko. This isn't Iroh bashing; it's a canonical character flaw of his that fans, even us Iroh fans, would like to see get addressed.

Also, I should not have to explain to you why it's fucked up to argue that when a grown adult seems lax in trying to steer a child in the right direction compared to what another adult has put her on, the largest, heaviest responsibility is on the child to be receptive and willing to embrace this adult's guidance. It's like that wretched "Ange was really at fault for how badly her and Eva's relationship went" argument in the last original Umineko VN. No. The age difference and power dynamics matter here. By the time Azula's a teenage militant and a secondhand abuser to her brother who forces him back towards his toxic family influence, damn near all of what's wrong with her and done wrong by her are entirely on her. But in the time where she was living her childhood and becoming that monster, there was blame to go around on different adult characters that influenced her development. That's what themattress was stating to begin with.

At sokkastyles response in particular - holy shit, you actually went for the "Iroh and Ursa are depicted as Good Guys so there is simply no way they could have done anything so wrong as to have any bit of culpability in Azula becoming a monster, while Azula and Ozai are depicted as Bad Guys, so everything they have done since birth has been wrong and evil and entirely their own damn faults" argument that themattress lampooned here. How convenient and boring!

But secondly, lack of being shown him reaching out to her doesn't mean that it never happened. Especially considering Iroh's character and the way he is consistently portrayed, it would be bizarre to interpret him as uncaring towards his niece just because we are not shown it onscreen. The writers expect you to fill in the gaps based on what we are shown onscreen, and what we are shown onscreen is that Iroh, even before his redemption, cares about his family and gets his niece and nephew a gift. We are also shown onscreen that Azula, even as a young child, is cruel towards everyone who is not Ozai, including Iroh, and burns the gift he gives her. Since these characterizations are consistent - Iroh being kind to others, Azula being cruel to others - we can interpret that the reason Iroh and Azula do not have a good relationship is because of what we already know, and that Azula is the reason they do not have a good relationship, and that she would reject whatever attempts Iroh might make to reach out. If the writers wanted to establish that Iroh was uncaring to Azula, it would need to be shown onscreen, since it contradicts everything else we know about his character, and everything we know about Azula and Azula's relationship with Iroh.

A lot of Azula's alleged abuse of Zuko is never shown onscreen either. There are a scant few moments in Book 2 and 3 where she acts abusive towards him, but otherwise it's just dysfunctional sibling stuff between them whether they be against each other or on the same side. Does this mean we should conclude that Azula isn't that much of an abuser after all? Hardly. And we also shouldn't conclude that Iroh was nothing but kind and caring to his niece only for her to be the sole problem in their barely existant relationship because "Fire Princess Bad". We saw little of that kindness and care onscreen save for a tone-deaf, gender-based gift for child Azula; the rest of what's onscreen shows Iroh thinking of Azula as little other than the Mini-Me of his brother Ozai that Ozai groomed her to be, even after he goes and makes the claim that a child having the blood of both Avatar Roku and Fire Lord Sozin, due to being birthed by Ursa and Ozai, is pre-destined to struggle with the good and evil within themself, the legacy of those men and of the nation itself lives within them, and this makes them alone uniquely qualified for changing the nation's course and destiny....even when that describes Zuko AND Azula, and Iroh should have no room to speak as he's entirely of Sozin's blood.

I also think even if Iroh did reach out, he would find it both difficult and extremely painful to be around someone who gleefully made fun of his trauma over his son's death.

So Iroh totally reached out to Azula offscreen and she rejected his attempts to "fix" her, but we can also say "even IF Iroh did reach out" and just assume his feelings would be too hurt by Azula's cruelty for him to keep up the effort to help her any further. So did he make an actual sincere effort to reach Azula or didn't he? Which is it?

Imagine, if you will, him inviting both of the children to play pai sho with him one day shortly after his arrival home, aware that he needs to get his niece and nephew away from their father, who now is their only sole parental figure, but also the most powerful man in the country, while he, Iroh, has been reduced overnight to the kooky, disgraced uncle. Even if Azula had accepted that invitation, I imagine that she does not respond well if she were to lose a game to the uncle she thinks is not a real general or the brother she thinks is weak and deserves to be abused. Imagine Iroh trying to problem solve between Zuko and Azula while Azula is shouting at him that he's just a loser who cries all the time because his son died. Meanwhile, Azula is also trying to burn Zuko for taking her piece in the game, and eventually Iroh just has to seperate them both.

Now we're just proposing fanfiction ideas? It's honestly not a bad idea for a character interaction fic, but are we talking canon or not? Again, you gotta pick one.

Yes, the vast majority of us love to hate Azula and we adore Iroh, but there is a lot of nuance in canon, including some pathos for Azula and flawed behavior from Iroh (and Ursa for that matter if we're going by the comics). Acknowledgment of that is not "hate" nor "apologism".

So about that post we're both included in...the good thing about being at work when I saw that come through was that I wasn't able to respond. lol

I've decided not to respond but something they said that really irked me and wanted to get your thoughts on was this: In all that time between his return and Zuko's exile, there's no evidence that he (Iroh) ever tried to reach out to Azula

This comment and other's like it always irritate me because they always seem to leave out the idea that Azula has to be receptive to Iroh's help. They act like that all Iroh had to do was extend a hand to Azula and she wouldn't turned out the way she did. As if we haven't been shown that Azula has been dismissive of Iroh from a very young age. The idea that Iroh was ignoring her that whole time between when he moved back into the palace and leaving with Zuko, is just another way of blaming Iroh for not loving her enough. I highly doubt Azula was eager to spend time with Iroh around then and tried to avoid it as much as possible. Zuko was trapped on a boat. 😆 You cannot tell me that whatever short time they had together, that Iroh never left the door open for her. At some point, doesn't Azula need to reach out as well?

I'm not sure what I'm asking, I think I just wanted to vent instead of responding to that person. But if you have any thoughts on this, I would love to hear them.

P.S. Sorry for spamming your inbox while going through your old posts. 😁

No problem! Sorry that person reblogged your post to try and continue the argument with me.

You are right that Azula has to be receptive to any attempts Iroh would make to try and reach her, and what we know from canon is that she wasn't. That's why these people always say the doll doesn't matter, because it's evidence of Iroh doing something kind for his niece and her violently rejecting it because she thinks her uncle is a weak fool and her father taught her that people like that deserve to be treated cruelly.

But secondly, lack of being shown him reaching out to her doesn't mean that it never happened. Especially considering Iroh's character and the way he is consistently portrayed, it would be bizarre to interpret him as uncaring towards his niece just because we are not shown it onscreen. The writers expect you to fill in the gaps based on what we are shown onscreen, and what we are shown onscreen is that Iroh, even before his redemption, cares about his family and gets his niece and nephew a gift. We are also shown onscreen that Azula, even as a young child, is cruel towards everyone who is not Ozai, including Iroh, and burns the gift he gives her. Since these characterizations are consistent - Iroh being kind to others, Azula being cruel to others - we can interpret that the reason Iroh and Azula do not have a good relationship is because of what we already know, and that Azula is the reason they do not have a good relationship, and that she would reject whatever attempts Iroh might make to reach out. If the writers wanted to establish that Iroh was uncaring to Azula, it would need to be shown onscreen, since it contradicts everything else we know about his character, and everything we know about Azula and Azula's relationship with Iroh.

It'd be like me trying to argue that Ursa hated Lu Ten, since we never see them interact or get an indication that Ursa feels anything about him one way or the other, except for seeming sad about his death. But that's enough, because we know through everything else we know about Ursa that she is a kind person who cares about her family. Just because we don't see Ursa talking about or interacting with Lu Ten is not evidence of a negative relationship.

I agree that from what we know of Azula as a child, she did not want to spend time with Iroh and probably avoided it. Given how she talks about his reaction to Lu Ten's death, I also think even if Iroh did reach out, he would find it both difficult and extremely painful to be around someone who gleefully made fun of his trauma over his son's death.

Not only does Azula have to be receptive of Iroh, but there is a certain point where Iroh does not need to submit himself to cruelty just because Azula is a child. Azula is also a child with fire powers who is the princess of her nation, and her cruelty towards Iroh is approved by Ozai, who is now the firelord. Can you imagine what it was like for Iroh coming back to that after his son's death, in a world where he was widely seen as a disgrace? How much power does he really have in that situation?

Also imagine that Iroh also has to protect Zuko, who has newly lost his mother, from both his father and his sister.

Imagine, if you will, him inviting both of the children to play pai sho with him one day shortly after his arrival home, aware that he needs to get his niece and nephew away from their father, who now is their only sole parental figure, but also the most powerful man in the country, while he, Iroh, has been reduced overnight to the kooky, disgraced uncle. Even if Azula had accepted that invitation, I imagine that she does not respond well if she were to lose a game to the uncle she thinks is not a real general or the brother she thinks is weak and deserves to be abused. Imagine Iroh trying to problem solve between Zuko and Azula while Azula is shouting at him that he's just a loser who cries all the time because his son died. Meanwhile, Azula is also trying to burn Zuko for taking her piece in the game, and eventually Iroh just has to seperate them both.

And that's sad. It's so sad. I imagine it breaks Iroh's heart to see what is happening to his niece, what his brother is turning her into, just as every cruel jab she aims at him tears open his wounds over the loss of his son, his regret that he might have done something to help her, just as he might have done something to help his brother as he saw Ozai grow into the kind of person he became. We know these are things that are built into Iroh's character, but we also know that he's also not going to allow an abusive person to continue to be enabled, and there's a certain point where what Azula stans seem to want from Iroh is exactly that. They hate him because Azula hates him, and need an excuse for it other than the truth, that Azula was learning to be hateful from her father. They also hate him because he committed the sin of trying to protect Zuko from her and not allowing her to continue the behavior Ozai enabled.

We're also shown this dynamic between Iroh and Azula in the show, from the moment Azula shows up to try and trap Zuko and Iroh immediately susses out her intent and she resents him for it, tries to prevent him from helping Zuko think about what she is saying, and identifies that she needs to seperare Iroh from Zuko. Abusive people are really good at picking out vulnerable people, and also are good at recognizing the people who are less vulnerable and alienating their chosen victims from anyone who is going to be an obstacle, like a protector or guardian. That also increases her hatred of Iroh, that he sees right through her and knows what she's trying to do, and won't allow it. She's not going to respond to an attempt from him to help her because she wouldn't see any benefit to it, because he isn't someone she can manipulate or exploit like Zuko. And she hates that. She hates that she can't control Iroh the way she is used to controlling people, the way she thought she had even her mother under control. Until she learns to let go of that need to control, she is not going to respond to Iroh. Further, he is an obstacle in her continuing to have access to and control Zuko, which increases her hatred of him.

[miraculous786]

I vote Damian to be Mari's Persephone because it would be hilarious to see him making flowers bloom when his wife is happy and when she's sad he brings out the hawthorns on anyone that made his Queen cry.

Note: Thank you so much Nonnies and @loveswifi for the help with this! Hope you enjoy it! ❤️❤️

Masterlist

A Hidden Hades Hunting For (Hopefully) Her Husband

Damian is son to Talia al Ghul, the goddess of harvest, sacred law, and the cycle of life and death. There are rumours that beneath her sweet exterior is a woman of high authority and challenge, but none have been confirmed.

She is believed to have wooed Bruce (Zeus) into having her child, however it is more widely accepted that she used her magic and power over fertility to have his offspring without him knowing. His wife Selina refuses to believe that such a brooding yet faithful man would cheat on her after he rid of his playboy-persona millennia ago.

In this AU, Jason is Ares, Dick is Hermes, and Tim is Athena.

Only those who know her well are aware of her true bubbly personality. They’re mostly the deceased souls of those who’ve died.

Marinette is Hades - goddess of the Underworld. She took visits to Earth in order to experience what life was like for mortals years ago, except stopped when gossip flew about around her being dark, despicable, evil.

Marinette laughed. Her domain didn’t need any worshippers in order to prosper, but she didn’t tell Lila that. She only sat back and watched, a grin on her face as students with glowing eyes accused her of unspeakable acts. It was only when one that she viewed as a sibling of sorts - Adrien Agreste - did as well that she decided to do something.

What happened was that a class of teenagers she came back to frequently were put under the spell of Dolos, or Lila who she took the form of. She sensed Marinette’s ichor and threatened to turn her followers against her if she didn’t conform to her will.

It was only after all of their deaths that they learnt what happened.

With a flick of the wrist, a crack formed in the ground beneath Dolos, soon enlarging into a crater as limbs made of fire pulled her screaming form down into the depths of the Underworld. The class watched, stunned, but then a fog began to clear out of their minds. They seemed to wake up, apologies on the tips of their tongues, only to realise that Bridgette and Adrien weren't there anymore.

Dolos was doomed to having to solve an infinite puzzle, whilst Adrien was allowed to live as an equal to Marinette in hell. The class, now adults, are sentenced to be souls who help them in their duties. They aren’t mistreated, however. On the contrary, they’re viewed as friends to her.

Now, we skip to present day.

Damian is sitting on a bench in one of the gardens that he is confined to on the orders of his mother, when he suddenly hears what sounds like a bark. He turns around, only to be met with something shoving him to the ground.

He whips out a vine, wrapping it around the creature to inspect its species. That's when he realises that it's a dog. A very happy dog that starts to lick his face all over and leave its saliva everywhere.

Despite his cold personality, Damian has a soft spot for nature and animals of any sort. He picks it up, stroking it gently and trying to fight off the urge to smile at the way it leans into his touch.

He's touch-starved himself, to put it simply.

Damian sits with what he realises to be a male dog for a few minutes more. He doesn’t bother to keep an eye out for Talia - he’s too busy creating vines that his new friend bats at with his paws. It explains why he doesn’t realise the person walking up to him until they put a hand on his shoulder.

A polite voice calls for him, asking if he found their pet.

He turns, only to be met with a beautiful face framed by a black hood. The woman smiles at him, then suddenly calls out, “Titus!” with a surprised expression.

The animal in his arms leaps forward, starting to lick her whilst jumping up and down happily. Her laughter causes Damian to freeze, since he starts to sense the magic surrounding her. She’s a diety, he realises. But how did she get in here?

That day is the day that a friendship blossomed between Damian and Marinette.

She convinces him that she’s a nymph of sorts, citing that the reason some plants wilt around her are because of a curse set upon her by Talia. It makes him cautious and understandably distrustful until she assures him that she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

They keep their meetings a secret for years, though it doesn't feel like that long because of their immortality. Titus is usually the communication between them, and leads Damian to where he needs to go within his mother's gardens to find Marinette.

She has earrings that preserve her identity and prevent nature around her dying - however, plants still wilt and weaken enough to be on the brink of death. They are brought back to life by Damian almost constantly when she is in his presence, meaning she can touch them without worry.

As time passes, the two become closer. Instead of words, they begin to trade flower crowns and daisy chains. They always have blushes on their cheeks when talking to one another, or even thinking about each other.

This doesn't go unnoticed by Talia.

She plans to figure out once and for all why her son's demeanor has changed, at least until she's called to Olympus by the higher-ups in order to discuss something. Something involving Damian.

This only makes it easier for the two to get away with their escapades.

One day, whilst her and Damian are sitting under a tree, Marinette pulls out a black ring. She shyly offers it to him, making him flustered as he slowly takes and slides it on his finger.

What he doesn't know is that there's magic laced within the jewellery.

They relax for a few minutes in silence, until she breaks it by calling his name. She takes a deep breath, preparing herself as she explains that she's not really a nymph - she's a diety. A diety that he wouldn't like if he found out about the domain that she ruled over.

A soft hand cups her tear-stained cheek. She looks up, only to hear Damian whisper, "I'm sure that's not true, Beloved."

That's all it takes for her to yank him forward into a kiss, which he returns full-force under the watchful gaze of her sibling Adrien in the shadows. It takes all of his will to not jump up and down from joy.

They officially become a couple that day.

Marinette returns to the Underworld in the evening with a dazed expression, causing Alya and her friends to grin and float up to her. She deals with their relentless teasing, trying to cover her face out of embarrassment whilst she hesitantly tells them all what happened.

Adrien is the first to suggest courting Damian, though she immediately shuts it down and expresses fear at being found out. Her reputation was tainted, after all - and maybe he would go back on his promise of still loving her true self.

He manages to convince her of his sincerity by reminding her of all their interactions (he may or may not have watched over them to keep watch and see his ship sail), and Marinette eventually comes to the decision to start courting.

As she prepares lavish gems to gift him in the future, she is unaware of what is happening in the skies way above.

She'd refused to give him up - saying that he was her pride and joy and the perfect soldier for them to use in battle against future enemies trying to overthrow them. That made him even more angry.

Bruce, after a long conversation with Selina and his many children, had decided to have a conversation with Talia about his youngest son not too long ago. He showed interest in wanting to have custody of Damian on Olympus instead of her having him on Earth, making Talia lose her sweet attitude and gain a scowl.

Lightning struck harsh that night, and the goddess of harvest had returned home with her tail between her legs and a newly-formed resentment towards Damian. He was too busy thinking about his 'nymph' friend to notice, however.

In Olympus at the current moment in time, Damian is kneeling before Bruce. The god tells him to stand, his sons and daughters at his side displaying various levels of shock as he begins to explain why he is there, and why he will be in the future.

Everyone had agreed that Talia wasn't a good fit for him, due to her revealed intentions for his birth. He doesn't have time to argue about the situation before he is whisked away into a room fit for a royal, high in the clouds and miles away from his girlfriend.

The next morning, a dinner is set up with all of the gods in Olympus, including Tim, Jason and Dick. Dick is enthusiastic, trying to make conversation with Damian as his brothers are eating (or drinking coffee...). However, he has none of it.

He's too busy thinking about Marinette. How she would think that he'd broken his promise, or had abandoned her, or forgotten about her. His demeanor switches to his defensive one - cold, cruel, uncaring.

Marinette returns to Earth with a crown in her hands the next day, which has a shining jewel in the centre and spikes with the finest of gems at their points. She looks around excitedly, smile on her face as she and Titus wait for Damian.

Hours pass.

Up in Olympus, said diety is being introduced to family friends and other gods, that all coo at him much to his displeasure. He growls under his breath after every new person he meets, only cementing in everyone that he is a child. A young one that needs to be watched over like a hawk lest he attempts to go back to his mother.

Just as he enters his room with a heavy heart, he senses something strange in the mortal world. Large fields of crops near to his old home had just been destroyed - their roots upended and ripped out. His eyes widen.

Damian rushes to Earth, taking a route that is unknown to most whilst trying to keep hidden from his new siblings. He reaches his destination in a matter of mere seconds, but it's too late. He only breathes out a shocked sigh as he gazes down at the crater in the ground.

There's a glint of something gold at the bottom of it, and he picks the item - the crown - up with almost invisible tears in his eyes. The ring on his finger burns as a reminder of Marinette's emotions.

Below him, a frantic Adrien is trying to calm her down, but it's no use. The goddess of the Underworld is hysteric, crying rivers of tears filled with betrayal as souls all around try to ease her too.

Damian spends the next centuries and millennia on Olympus, sometimes returning to Earth when he wants to remember Marinette.

He keeps her a secret from all of the gods except for one of his friends - Jon (Artemis) - though he only mentions that she was someone important that handed him the crown that is always on his head.

He reluctantly begins to view Tim, Jason and Dick as brothers when enough time has passed, but never admits it. Selina and Bruce, however, catch the glints of relief in his eyes when they're in his presence. He finally has someone to talk to without worrying about Talia, excluding Marinette all those years ago.

Speaking of which, she had slowly become closed off and harsher in her treatment of the dead in the Underworld. They see that she's spiraling, hiding her depressed state under a constant frown, but can do nothing about it. Even Adrien is unable to bring back her kind personality in the absence of Damian.

That is, until he catches word from the messenger, Dick, that he is up in the skies on Olympus.

It's a slip-up, of course, but he still manages to catch what Dick says and act like he didn't. He waits until he's gone before he rushes back to Marinette and tells her what he suspects.

A small smile spreads across her face. One that is cruel like the rumours say, yet happy like she once was. Of course he didn't want to leave her, she thinks. He was simply forced into doing so.

Damian is talking to Jon about another recent affair in the middle of a mortal forest, when suddenly, he freezes. He feels a familiar burn at the ring on his hand, along with fields full of nature dying in an instant miles away.

He uses a zeta portal to teleport to the area, leaving behind a confused Jon. He zips around, eyes wide as he senses the plants around wilting slightly, along with some of the nearby animals inching away from him.

Everything becomes quiet. That's when he catches a flash of black darting around in the corner of his vision. He turns there, his eyes widening in recognition when seeing a dog wagging its tail happily.

"Titus!"

Damian takes a step forward.

A large crack forms in the ground beneath him, revealing the depths of the Underworld in all of their glory. Just as he's about to fall down, a chariot of the darkest colours hovers below him, soon speeding off without a second to waste with him inside.

He tries to command vines to capture the person at the reigns of it, but can only muster enough energy to sag back. Strong magic fills the air around him, forcing him to stay seated on plush pillows.

The last thing he sees before his sight is shrouded with nothing is a glint of red at his kidnapper's ears.

~*~*~

More to come!

There will be a second part, which will include general headcannons and what happens after this. Feel free to send in an Ask if you have any suggestions of different legends in Greek mythology that could be included. :)

@northernbluetongue @moonystars14 @soupfilledboots @vixen-uchiha @starsshineandgivehope @professionalfangirl1738 @queen-in-a-flower-crown @pale-lady-dreamer