#along with other things obviously but grief mostly

[ghostlandtoo]

thinking about the abandonment issues present in every member of the buckley-diaz lineage…

1) buck. like, obviously, number 1 is buck. we don’t have to rehash this. we all know. familial, romantic, and platonic—that man bas been abandoned by many and it has deeply affected his psyche. NEXT!

2) christopher. he also has abandonment issues—mostly stemming from shannon leaving and her death, but from eddie as well. eddie did miss out of the early years of his life, and chris might not remember that as clearly as shannon being gone, but he did tell eddie “i miss you all the time.” and now, he’s been in texas for however many months, and while that’s so his own choice, he can still feel abandoned by the fact that eddie took so long to move/make a decision regarding that. additionally, his brief period two-timing middle schoolers because they end up leaving anyway. we can attach his ideas about dating to eddie’s series of failed relationships.

3) eddie. firstly because of his dad not being present while he was growing up. and then because shannon left him. i thought you were coming back. shannon’s death right after she asked for a divorce means eddie’s grief is such a complicated thing, and he never had to come to terms with the fact that she wanted to willfully leaving him (and chris) again, besides the fact that she left them by dying. and we can say that during the lawsuit arc, eddie also felt abandoned by buck! he needed buck during that time, but buck separated himself from the entire 118, but eddie and chris specifically.

4) bobby. honestly he’s right up there with buck, but this latest episode really let us see how his dad’s death and his mom walking out on them deeply affected bobby. “i will not apologizing for leaving,” his mom says, about 40 years after the act and knowing what bobby has gone through since. (and whatever you may think about bobby forgiving her, it is both the show’s MO to forgive, and also bobby is an alcoholic in a 12-steps program. he forgives.) we see in s1 especially that his self-worth and his history effects what he thinks he can bring to relationships, even friendships, and how he closed himself off from them.

i think the show has shown all of them working through this, even if christopher and eddie are still in the middle of this emotional arc. buck still has his emotional reactions to him perceiving being left, and knows that and works to right it. bobby has forgiven his mom and dad in a way that works for him and his recovery. so on buck’s side of the family tree, they’ve worked through their issues to some degree.

now the diaz side… shannon truly haunts eddie and chris’ relationship, in the way that they’ve never talked about her directly to each other. it’s eddie passing a letter along, it’s christopher running away instead of talking. it’s something that they need to actively address with each other, rather than letting her hang over their necks.

i’ve always loved how bobby and eddie are mirrors of each other with the same grief, and it’s interesting to me with how they’re mirrored with bobby believing his mom would come back and eddie believing shannon would, too. eddie might have worked through some of that grief with kim-as-shannon but it’s still there, because he’s never dealt with how it affected christopher. “she left me, not him,” he asserted to everyone (the same way ann left tim but not bobby, since bobby chose to stay), but that doesn’t change the fact that christopher was left too.

and from what we know about the show and how it handles these topics, it probably won’t be the same as every fanfic of eddie and chris cutting helena and ramon (eddie would not.), and them having complicated feelings over shannon and each other, but the nuance is already there in how these issues run through the family, and how they’re everpresent in their narrative and character foils.

[spxllcxstxr]

Being Eddard Stark’s Second Wife • Headcanon

(Gif not mine)

Request: Eddard Stark second wife headcanon? ❤️❤️❤️ -m — anon

Warnings: fem!reader, heavy canon divergence, mention of dying in childbirth (not reader, no other mention of pregnancy/having children), assumed age gap? Ned stark being THE man <3

A.N: I feel like these are a little short but I actually like this one! I love Ned so much so these were also just fun to write…I hope you like them! :) also I always struggle to find more diverse gifs along these romantic lines and I’m so sorry about that, my works are always inclusive

•

You marry Ned Stark after Catelyn dies delivering Rickon, her youngest

Ned certainly did not believe that he would marry again, he was incredibly heartbroken by the death of his wife

Additionally, he now had to look after 6 children and be the Lord of Winterfell

Even though he had servants and teachers and maesters to look after his children and keep them preoccupied, he was still stretched very thin due to stress and lack of sleep

You had been a close friend to the Starks even before Robb was born; some daughter of a lesser known Northern house who had come to Winterfell for a change of scenery

Despite your lower ranking, Ned and Catelyn became close friends of yours

When Catelyn died Ned’s grief almost consumed him; but you were his light in the deep and dangerous darkness that had fallen over his life

While throughout the many years of knowing Ned you occasionally felt a spark, not love, but it certainly wasn’t platonic, you pushed it down, never rushing anything that would harm your friendship and Catelyn in particular

Becoming Ned’s second wife is a gradual process

Ned comes to you almost every day, whether it is due to his grief or to ask your opinion on something, you become even closer than you were before

It takes maybe around 2 or 3 years of mutual pining for the two of you to really acknowledge what’s going on

Robb, Jon, and Arya definitely have a hand in this, they’re old enough to see what’s going on, they certainly drop hints to the two of you

“Tell me, my Lady, why I cannot stop thinking about you…”. He takes off his gloves, just to place his rough palm gently on your cheek. “You are the first thing in my mind when I wake, and the last thing when I finally succumb to sleep.”

“Ned…”

“If you do not feel the same tell me now, before I kiss you,”

The kiss is obviously what starts it, and the wedding comes very quick after that

Ned is very protective of you

With anything

He knows how harsh the Northern wind is, so he makes sure you have the finest furs and the warmest boots

Even if you say you’re fine he will insistently add another layer onto you

He does it with a grin on his face and a kiss on the forehead

Ned loves you so much

He will also teach you how to defend yourself

He is already teaching his children so training you isn’t a problem, he doesn’t like to think about it, but he knows there might come a day where he may not be able to protect you from the evil things of Westeros (or beyond)

His kids are mostly used to you before you end up marrying him

Sansa is really the only one to have a bigger issue with her father taking a second wife but she quickly warms up to you

You know you aren’t their mother and you try not to smother them like you are, but you are protective of them as if they were your own

Ned loves watching you help them with their studies or their interests

He’s seen you sneakily teach Arya how to punch properly

And Sansa’s needlework has improved since you moved into the castle

He adores how you treat Jon no differently than the others, Catelyn always did. He doesn’t blame her, he had to lie to her, but it warms his heart to see you act so kind to him

Ned is a loving husband and he shows that to you every day

He’s always gentle towards you and respects your opinions and what you have to say

He’s truly #NotLikeOtherMen lmao

•

[phobiaexists]

WOOO!

I’m so glad I was the one to find out Jane’s corruption. I’m so happy about its existence too! (Cough and the fangs-)

I love me some corrupted Jane, and it’s VERY cool to know that she has her own branch of corruption. Even though it isn’t quite as active as John’s. I think that it would mostly show itself in significantly more aggressive mood swings, whether it be grief or anger. A survivor or two has definitely caught some strays from said mood swings. I’m definitely interested in what you have to say about the effects though! You’re the boss after all!

- that one anon that found out Jane had corruption

Honestly, I’ve always been debating on whether if I should have it where Jane’s own corruption can manifest in a more physical way (aside from it making her teeth sharper) like claws or something, so far aside from being inconsistent it’s also been mainly “indirect” kinda in how it manifests itself in the eyes of other robloxians— like shadows, unlike John’s corruption which is obviously a bunch of crystalline growths and scales overtaking his body. Jane’s corruption also pretty much isn’t really “predatory” or as “instinct-driven/animalistic” and “physical” like John’s own corruption is (and it also didn’t really have a desire to spread like John’s own initially did before it stopped overtaking him and then eventually settling down and melding itself with his mind) and she deliberately made sure that was the case before assimilating with it, but I think it would be cool to eventually try out showing how Jane’s corruption could look/act if she were to use it for self-defense like claws or setting traps or something. She’s been for the most part able to handle herself just fine with her shotgun and hunting knife, but her having no choice but to use her corruption to physically hurt others, perhaps her using it out of an instinctual response that she couldn’t keep in check, would be really interesting and would probably fuck her over mentally a little for a bit but it’s fine

You’re right on the money though on it manifesting more intensely when Jane’s in a worse mood, and also the corruption overtaking her definitely having some part in her mood swings/violent tendencies (though, honestly, with what she’s had to put up with for the past few years she’s probably been really fucking repressed about some of those feelings until the corruption came along and intensified some things). She doesn’t have much control over when it appears, but she doesn’t really complain, since it does help her appear more intimidating. This shopkeeper can’t have shit in the realm with survivors (that aren’t part of The Lobby/our current main roster) and also the monsters from outside The Lobby stealing from and/or trying to attack her

[voltronisanobsession]

Hi!! I have some Dad!Miguel content for you >:)

We all know that Miguel is a very busy man, and I don’t think that would change if he had a kid. So what about teen!reader who got bit by a spider and became spider woman? Reader is recruited to the society without Miguel knowing who we are under the mask. BUT PLOT TWIST!!! We get hurt in a fight and our mask is ruined so he finds out just as we’re passing out from injuries :(((

Happy ending? (Or not, your choice >:) )

Miguel finding out His Kid is a Spider Person

I just wanna let you know I was listening to what was I made for while writing this JUST TO GET THAT EXTRA ANGST

This one is really long so I hope you don’t mind😜‼️

HAHAHA I LIKE YOUR THINKING

Like I can imagine Miguel having a kid who has seen EVERYTHING he went through

The loss of his youngest daughter, him spiraling down from grief, knowing their father willingly left for a while just to be able to be with their younger sister in another dimension

Like that shit took a lot from you, making teen!reader feel… unwanted by the end of it all

Imagine this scenario with me

Reader ALREADY knows what’s happening in the other dimension, worried out of their mind, wondering if their dad will make it out alive

Hurt that he just up and left them. You’re sitting in silence when a portal opens, Miguel walking through it, along with other spiders, some limping, others being carried out

As relieving as it is to see your dad ok, you can’t help but feel disappointed, angry,betrayed in a way when you look at him

None of you guys talk about what happened which causes a rift in your relationship

And now that he’s suffered the consequences of a collapsed universe, we all know Miguel is digging himself in more work in the Spider society

He’s still bitter and angry, mostly at himself, and now his main goal is to protect all universes from any anomalies

But that comes at a price of neglecting you, his only child

You continue your life, Miguel rarely coming home most days. You cook for yourself, clean around the house by yourself, taking care of yourself

On a rare day you decide to visit the spider society, you notice a weird flickering coming from an alley way (so original I know)

Unknowingly, you venture through it, only to find the thing causing all the glitching was a small spider. Finding a small container thrown to the side, you try to capture the anomaly, but the spider had incredible speed, running up your arm and under your shirt

You start panicking when you feel it bite you, immediately swatting it away from your neck

After that, the rest is basically history. You’re too afraid to tell ANYONE what happened, especially Miguel. You know how he is, what he thinks of anomalies.

So you go through these changes in quiet. By yourself, again. You learn how to use your new abilities and start making yourself known in your city

While Miguel is busy with the society, you busy yourself as the up and coming spider hero

Of course Miguel catches wind of this, obviously confused on the new spider person lurking in his dimension

With a new mask covering your face, your able to convince (clumsily may I add) your father that you managed to get thrown into this world after a portal opened

This man literally tries sending you back to ‘your real world’ but Jess tells him it’s better to have you in the team

So your spider journey begins! You get your own watch, become friends with the other spiders, hell you even start growing closer to Miguel, your father, but you never, ever take off your mask

The spider mask gives you a new identity, a new confidence that helps build up your relationship with Miguel

You both go on missions together, the older man kinda taking you under his wing

You guys work well together when capturing anomalies

You’re able to joke around him more often, him scoffing at the dumb ones while you laugh

Over time, he grows to enjoy your presence. He becomes kinda protective of you, constantly telling you to be careful when out on missions

He feels a sense of familiarity when around you, though he can never place his finger on why

He just knows you remind him of someone, your laughter so familiar yet not at the same time

You cherish every moment you have with Miguel, whether it’s sitting in silence while he files some paperwork or dragging him to the cafeteria to eat something

And at the end of the day, you wave goodbye to your friends and pretend to go through a portal, only to swing away from the society back to your home in Nueva York

I feel like teen!reader would be a little bitter over their growing relationship with their dad under a different alias

Why couldn’t you have a normal family relationship with him? Did he prefer your spider version over the real you? It’s still you under the mask but would he be the same if he knew? How would he even react if he ever found out it was you under the mask the entire time?

You only start truly panicking when you get seriously injured during a particularly hard mission

Cut deep on your side and mask ripping, you collapse in pain as Miguel runs to you

Your heaving as short and shaky breaths escape your mouth

Miguel tries picking you up only for you to cry out from the movement

Everything crumbles around you as your dad tries to remove your ruined mask to let you breathe more easily

You stop him from pulling up your mask with a shaky hand, fear laced in your voice

He would look down in worry, you seemed more scared of him seeing your face than of the wound gushing with blood

“Please. Don’t.”

“You need air. I promise I won’t let anyone see your face.”

You breathing quickens as he takes off the mask, your eyes closed in shame, tears falling down like a waterfall

You blearily blink your eyes to look at him, his shocked face the last thing you see before passing out, whether from the pain or from the intense emotions you felt is anyone’s guess

I think after taking you back to headquarters, Miguel would be super conflicted on how to approach the situation

In fact, he’s at a loss for words on what to do

He hadn’t seen you in a long time, but now knowing you were right in front of him the entire time

He would feel ashamed. How could he not know it was you the entire time? Did he even know his own child at this point? What kind of father was he?

When you wake up, there is only two ways this can go

A LOT of talking gonna happen. Maybe even some yelling from both parties

It might end in tears and regret, or it might end in tears and anger

Miguel doesn’t know how to talk to you anymore, and you don’t know to express yourself without bursting into tears

I’ll leave the rest into interpretation for you guys, it really depends on who starts the conversation

It’s either Miguel’s regret or your anger

[paperlifted]

There will always be the softest of spots in my heart for 2003 Splinter, who managed to raise as stable a family as he did despite starting life as just a regular ol' street rat. Which isn't to say I don't like Splinters who were human first - that origin usually brings fun narrative hooks and baggage, and is also, obviously, more logical than “this random rat learned master-level ninjutsu through [checks notes] entirely unexplained powers of observation".

But who cares about logic! Because the emotional story of 2003 is so compelling! He was just a rat!! Assuming he had a rat’s natural lifespan, he was something like two years old when the change occurred, and suddenly he has this new, mature body and mature mind with two years’ of animal cognizance bouncing hazily around a space that’s now a hundred times too big for it, and at the same time there are these four strange creatures who have just imprinted on him like a quartet of mutant ducklings.

He doesn’t even know the turtles are intelligent at first. He does, perhaps, understand in retrospect what it was that Tang Shen felt when she looked at something small and hungry and knew she had the power to change its circumstances. What she felt when the creature came to trust her touch, to desire her company, to seek her comfort when hurt or afraid. The turtles, then, are… pets, yes? It is worth the small difficulties of finding them food and shelter to not be alone. Rats are social animals. He is otherwise so very alone.

Of course, he soon finds they can understand the words he has been speaking mostly for his own sake; they can think and learn and begin to speak back to him. They might be the only other creatures like him in the entire world, and it is a trembling relief, an overpowering fear. Their minds are growing, their needs are growing, and still they look to him with blind trust that he will provide for them without fail. He was just a rat, and then he was more; and now he needs to define what more will be.

I’ve seen folks who prefer versions where the turtles have a more openly familial relationship with Splinter (calling him father/dad more regularly, leaning less into the Stern Sensei behaviour), but I am very fond of it as it is because it’s so clearly something the five of them have built for themselves. What does a rat know of fatherhood? What does a rat know of kin? Yoshi never looked upon the rodent as anything more than an inherited pet, kept and cared for in memory of the one he had truly loved, but Splinter examines those memories and names him father because it’s the only model he has. What does a rat understand of family? The sharing of warmth and resources, and the awareness that there are forces who will take these things from you with cruel indifference and leave you lost and alone and starving.

What does a rat understand of grief? Too much, now.

They are children, and then they are his children, and then they are his sons because somewhere along the line he learns that these are the words for what he feels. And to them he is master and sensei because these are the words for The One Who Teaches and The One Who Protects and The One Who Provides. Perhaps he expects too much of them too soon, but there are no parenting lessons for a rat in a sewer and no one else for him to ask to share in his burdens and responsibilities. Perhaps it is unfair to press them all into a martial lifestyle, but the danger is too real and it’s one of the few skills he has mastered. Hierarchy and discipline are well-known to rats and ninja alike, and his children need structure, routine, defenses. It is the best pathway that he knows. He always does - he can only do - the best he knows.

One day his sons will bring home a human woman, and for the first time they will be truly seen and judged in their home: four brothers and their teacher-father-protector-guide. He is seventeen years old. There has been no one to knowingly teach him. He was just a rat, and then he was more, and through endless trial and error he has pulled together the scraps of his experiences and built a family and taught them love.

It counts for something, he hopes.

[secureyourmachine]

This is Not a Ship in Space, it is a Space Whale About to Devour You Whole: Rechs

To preface, I do not consider myself an individual who really engages with cloneshipping, however, these two are not a ship, but an aquatic beast. The beast has devoured me whole. The musings below dip into both personal opinion and canon material.

It boggles my mind that I have never really seen any widespread enthusiasm towards these two (barring smut settings where everyone is put together purely for the sake of having smut of the given pair). For me, they have the most canon material in terms of clone pairs in the Clone Wars and are an incredibly interesting dynamic that is not heavily reliant on sexual or romantic additives/headcanons/extrapolations in fandom spaces. I will elaborate further on this later.

When gravitating towards a pair of clones/two clones that are considered a ship in the Clone Wars specifically, people tend to default to either Codex, Domino twins, or Boil and Waxer. These are nice, easy answers and are slightly larger in following in the microcosm of cloneshipping. However, I find them bland if not a little misplaced. (As a side note, Domino twins are forever and strictly brothers to me and Waxer and Boil are very precious to me but are still...simple.)

Enter: Rex and Echo, or as I have affectionately termed them (I have seen this term used nowhere else): Rechs.

The interplay between Rechs obviously shifts a lot over the course of the war and after Order 66 but two things remain constant: codependency to some degree and intimacy that slides along a continuum from vague sexual acts (rare) to psychosexual to an extreme form of shared closeness that is neither romantic nor platonic. Plus, a lot of trauma bonding. A lot.

Take the above scenes as an illustration of this. The first can be construed many ways but I'll keep it simple. Why did you feel the need, Rex, to smear worm blood on your hand and then imprint your hand over the heart of a shiny with such force that he experienced visible recoil? A painfully psychosexual act, Captain.

Not to mention that Echo maintains that handprint as part of his armor paint job up until the Citadel.

After Echo's promotion as an ARC trooper, this is a time in their relationship that I believe to contain mostly vague sexual gestures--some rushed action in empty barracks, hands in the crevices of plastoid when no one else is looking, etc. There is not much going on here yet besides a need for stress relief, having someone to lean on, and mutual admiration/respect.

It is also worth mentioning as an add on that the effects of war have not entirely broken their libidos yet, they do have needs. (Rex also has a secret thing for the ARC armor and Echo being slightly larger than him post-ARC training, though this could be it's own post altogether.)

During the later end of this time begins a type of closeness not explainable by any of the previous reasons. Lingering seemingly friendly touches, staring for a little bit too long, falling asleep piled on top of each other with the rest of the 501st after missions.

Echo takes off Rex's helmet, puts it down, looks at him hard and says nothing. Rex takes Echo's hand and quietly inspects every knuckle and blunt nail, standing up and leaving with a casual salute in silence. Insert many other such interactions.

Then the events of the Citadel happen. Rex is obviously unimaginably crushed by this. However, war allows no room for such intense grief over only one soldier in an army of millions, right? Rex makes room.

He never stops thinking about Echo in the long stretch of time between the Citadel and rescue from the Techno Union on Skako Minor. This is extremely evident in the Season 7 episodes leading up to the discovery and rescue of Echo.

Rex is visibly and verbally jittery and anxious over the possibility of Echo being alive, especially after the loss of Fives. He is convinced of it, so much so that Anakin has picked up on it and Cody actively tries to let him down softly that Echo is dead by trying to guide him into "moving on." He sits listlessly staring at an old picture when Fives and Echo were still around. He never lets go of the grief, guilt, and adoration (for lack of a better word) that he holds for Echo.

Echo is the perfect martyr, after all, which earns him large amounts of respect/admiration from Rex. But also, Rex never forgot their closeness, the mutual support in their times of need (in any context, whether that be in battle or talking or physically).

Rex goes so far as to become physically violent when Crosshair taunts him over the loss of Echo. He has to assure everyone on that mission so many times that he is so sure Echo is alive. He risks (and loses some) trust in his ability to lead and sanity to stick by this point.

That's his distant Echo calling out from somewhere, anywhere. He has to assure everyone it isn't a trap when everyone else can see how much he is hurting over this and how borderline obsessive and irrational he's become over it. He even states to Anakin something along the lines of how he can't grieve over all the soldiers he's lost, and how he's tried so hard not to get caught drowning over one of them.

Well, Echo is not something he can quite swim away from, not that he'd ever want to anyway.

When Rex finds Echo, you can imagine the sheer horror and relief he experiences all at once. If not for all of the other horrors he's already witnessed (cough, cough Umbara, among many other things), I think he would have gone into shock. Here is Echo, who the last time Rex saw before the explosion had color in his cheeks, fat in his face and body, hair, and was warm.

What devastates him the most is when he climbs up to touch what is left of a vegetative, amputated, emaciated Echo, he feels through his gloves that he's cold. He's cold, but he's alive.

Rex is at a loss for what to do at this point, he's just glad that distant echo isn't so distant anymore. The way his face moves when he's first looking at Echo and taking him down and unplugging everything is truly gutwrenching. They have such deep care for one another but they'll never have the words for it.

Echo never lost hope while on Skako Minor. In fact, he lost the ability to perceive hope rather than actually losing hope itself. This messes with him a lot after being rescued; his lack of agency during all of it and just how little he remembers. He remembers an explosion, and calling for a shuttle long after it would have left, and something hurting badly, and not much else.

I'm putting this here again as a reference point for convenience.

This serves as a direct parallel to one of the first times Rechs ever interacted. Except this time, what once was simply a suggestive action is now the utmost expression of gentleness and care. I could go on and on about this particular scene but just use your eyes and take it in.

It is extremely obvious that they care deeply for each other, that Rex cares for Echo and Echo cares for Rex. They will never be able to directly talk about this but after Echo's rescue, their codependency skyrockets. They have lost so many, they will not lose each other, especially in the wake of Order 66.

Echo does harbor some resentment towards Rex for a while, especially concerning Fives after Order 66. (Why didn't you do more for him, why didn't you save him? He was right.)

There's also a period of time immediately following Order 66 where Echo plausibly thinks Rex is dead, because that's what's been reported, and he feels crushing guilt for holding such resentment, alongside the deep grief now bolstered by the absurdly meaningful reunion on Skako Minor.

After Echo's time with the Bad Batch, he returns to both be with and help Rex. They are essentially attached at the hip after this point. I will reiterate again that they have been through a lot together and have always been close in one way or another.

There is a lot of quiet soothing and keeping busy with the constant whirl of the clone rebellion to keep away from the things that hurt the most. Echo finds that when he is alone or a room is too cold, he feels like throwing up and he can't remember why. This is extremely distressing.

They also probably kiss until they want to throw up but that one is up in the air, I think it happened at least once. There was also one or two incidents of blatantly sexual behavior but only once or twice, everyone.

In summary, I believe there to be considerable canon material pointing towards a relationship between Echo and Rex. While this relationship is not inherently sexual (although there are moments) and certainly never romantic, it is severely strong bond that remains extremely codependent. They love each other, but they'd never use that word, and it falls short of what is felt anyway.

I am not sure any of this makes sense and I know very few will read to this point. However, I heavily enjoy Rechs' dynamic and wish more would. I still could go further on with speaking about them but this post is entirely too long as it is.

As a close-out, please observe the below scene and tell me I'm wrong about any of the above.

[justali-anne]

Undertale Playing On A Minecraft Server!

This is Post-Pacifist, by the way.

Frisk:

Probably the one who created the server, let's be real. They're also the one who introduced the monsters to Minecraft in the first place.

They sometimes like to play in creative mode, but I bet they're willing to take on some of the hardest Minecraft challenges for kicks. Sometimes to the detriment of others on the server.

They're likely to play along when Alphys wants to roleplay. A well-behaved child.

Spends time with everyone as equally as possible! They love everyone on the server, so of course they would wanna do that!

Shows everyone the ropes and gives them tips. They help out Asgore the most.

Sometimes they like to play survival properly with Papyrus and Undyne, sometimes they like to troll them with Sans. They're kind of a wild card when it comes to that.

Since they're the host, they're always on the server when it's running.

Toriel:

She doesn't play on the server that much - she's often too busy with grading homework and taking care of the school. But when she does join, it's a nice treat.

Because she doesn't play as often, she's further behind than most of the other players on the server. Luckily, Frisk and Papyrus are kind enough to supply her with materials and food.

I'm sure she would love to build a pretty cottage in a forest biome, surrounded by a nice farm and do her own thing.

Sticks by either Frisk or Sans. Often tries to reign them in when they're taking their pranks too far. Sometimes she even distracts Sans while Papyrus and Undyne are doing something important. She's an unsung hero in that regard.

Although, on occasion, she might be prone to a little bit of pranking herself... Mostly on Sans, because he needs a taste of his own medicine.

Sans:

TROLL.

Trolly troll troll trolly troll trolly troll troll!

No, but seriously, this guy is a menace! He steals important materials, messes up Papyrus' organised chests, knocks players off of cliffs, you name it, he's gonna do it.

Well... apart from griefing. Sans wouldn't go that far. He's not mean-spirited.

He also uses cheats. Like, all the time. It's a miracle he hasn't been kicked off the server yet. Probably because Frisk is too nice to kick him and besides, he's one of their best friends!

Obviously targets Undyne and Papyrus the most, but sometimes he actually stops trolling and helps them out.

Possibly has the dumbest skin on the server, let's be real.

He likes it when someone gets back at him! He finds it very humerus!

If someone genuinely gets upset at him, though, Sans will back down. As stated earlier, he's not mean-spirited.

Plays very often, in fact, he's almost always there when the group plays! What can I say? He just likes spending time with his friends.

Papyrus:

Absolutely adores playing Minecraft, and would pester Frisk (kindly) to start up the server so he can play.

He likes to set himself challenges so he would never get bored. He'll defeat all the bosses, then make a challenge to defeat them again and again... IN THE SAME AREA.

Will explore every inch of the server and build landmarks (statues of himself, farms, buildings etc) to keep track of where he's been.

Likes to keep all his chests organised and tidy, and fumes when someone (cough cough Sans cough cough) messes them up.

Rages easily, especially when Sans is around. It takes a lot for him to rage quit, though.

I don't know why, but something tells me Papyrus would be good at redstone. He could use it to make cool Minecraft puzzles! And then test them with his friends! Isn't that cute?

He likes to play along with Alphys' roleplays when Undyne isn't around. He's sweet like that.

Would go out of his way to ration every resource equally and keep some extra for Toriel. Iron, food, heck, even diamonds and netherite. He's very generous.

How often does he play? Pretty often, actually! He and Sans are a bit of a package deal, so when one shows up, the other inevitably will. I forgot to mention that before... Well, unless he's at work. Papyrus is no slacker.

Undyne:

Loves ALL challenges! She's in it for the thrills and would go for every boss and achievement.

She's a pretty intense player. She rages easily and is very reckless, which leads to a lot of deaths and a lot of lost resources. Chill, Undyne.

She doesn't really spend a lot of time building things, so she just leaves the building to Papyrus and Alphys. Thanks to them, she no longer lives in a dirt hole!

Sometimes she will rage quit, only to come back 2 minutes later. It happens so often that everyone is used to it now. "Oh, Undyne quit? Maybe this time she'll- Oh, look, she's back again."

She'll roleplay with Alphys, especially cool anime battles and stuff like that. She has a bit of a guilty pleasure for this. And besides, who could say no to Alphys?

Often sticks by Papyrus since the two are best buds. Though she's just as likely to go adventuring on her own.

She doesn't play as often as Frisk and the brothers, but she's very frequent and plays like 80% of the time... ish? When possible, of course. She's busy too, you know!

Alphys:

She's the type who loves to roleplay. She even builds settings for them.

Heavily inspired by anime. She actually likes to be in Creative Mode most of the time for two reasons. 1. So she can get all the resources she needs to build her humble town. 2. Because she doesn't like the creepy mobs coming out at night and attacking her.

She hates creepers and phantoms with a passion. Creepers destroyed her builds more than once and jumpscare her easily, and she's the one the others have to coax into bed because she insists on building and gathering materials all night, so phantoms are definitely gonna spawn and annoy her.

Building and roleplaying isn't all she does. Like Papyrus, I'd imagine Alphys would pick up on redstone very easily. She's also the one who creates the best material farms so she can gather resources quickly.

Occasionally, she will join Undyne and Papyrus on their challenges.

Avoids Sans most of the time... For obvious reasons. The two definitely still talk to each other, though. No hard feelings.

She doesn't play too often, but she has a lot more free time than Undyne does now that she's on the surface. And let's be honest, she's kind of a shut in already. She'll only join the server when she's up for it, as in, mentally.

Asgore:

Oh, sweet sweet Asgore.

The poor soul, he fumbles most of the time and doesn't know how to play. He dies the most often, but the sweetie is a good sport about it.

Thanks to Frisk, he gets the hang of the basics, but there's still a lot he doesn't know. And to be honest, he doesn't have a lot of time to get to know them, since I imagine he would be busy with other important things.

Will gladly roleplay with Alphys. He doesn't usually take part in the adventures. Not unless someone drags him into it.

He's a pushover and just follows everyone else.

Doesn't play much at all. Like Toriel, it's only on rare occasions, but when he does play, it's a treat.

Other characters:

Flowey - Used to play. Got banned because he was a lot like Sans, just 100X worse.

Monster Kid - They love playing Minecraft, and they like the server too! However, they also have a server of their own, so they just play on that most of the time. They love playing with Frisk and Papyrus, though!

Mettaton - Doesn't play at all. Sorry, darling! He's busy travelling the world and doing tours! He's got fans to please!

Napstablook - Also busy supporting Mettaton with his tours, so they don't play at all. However, they have played ONCE and never again. They didn't know how to play, and just gave up after one little mistake in typical Napstablook fashion. Bless their soul.

W.D. Gaster - ☟︎☜︎🕯︎💧︎ 😐︎✋︎☠︎👎︎✌︎ 💧︎☟︎✌︎❄︎❄︎☜︎☼︎☜︎👎︎ ✌︎👍︎☼︎⚐︎💧︎💧︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ 💧︎🏱︎✌︎👍︎☜︎ ☼︎✋︎☝︎☟︎❄︎ ☠︎⚐︎🕈︎✍︎✍︎ ☟︎☜︎🕯︎💧︎ 😐︎✋︎☠︎👎︎ ⚐︎☞︎📬︎📬︎📬︎ 👎︎☜︎✌︎👎︎✍︎✍︎✍︎ ☟︎⚐︎🕈︎ 👍︎✌︎☠︎ ☟︎☜︎ 🏱︎⚐︎💧︎💧︎✋︎👌︎☹︎✡︎ 🏱︎☹︎✌︎✡︎✍︎✍︎✍︎ ✋︎ ☺︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎ 🏱︎🕆︎❄︎ ☟︎✋︎💣︎ ☟︎☜︎☼︎☜︎ ✌︎💧︎ ✌︎ ☺︎⚐︎😐︎☜︎📬︎

[shrinkthisviolet]

For Talk Shop Tuesday, do you have any headcanons (or background development for your OC's) that you want to put in a fic, but you haven't found the right opportunity to slip it in yet?

Oooh what a great question! There is indeed quite a bit of that. Starting with background OC development:

Morgan is left-handed (Jesse appears to be right-handed, and E1 and E2 have swapped dominant hands)

Morgan’s blood type is O+ (Jesse’s is PZ-, which appears to be the E2 version of O+ due to both types being very common on their respective Earths. And Morgan ofc would have the same blood type as Jesse). This adds some heartwrenching symbolism to Barry being O- (he can donate to her, she can't donate to him. Which just sums them up, really 🥺)

I’ve talked extensively about James’s backstory/family background here! It’s popped up here and there, but not extensively yet. One day I hope!

Carla & Caitlin remind me a LOT of Morgan & Thawne (obviously it’s not a perfect 1:1, I don’t mean to say Carla is as bad as Thawne per se, but they are similar), and this hasn’t yet come up, but it will. Mostly because it’ll fuel Caitlin’s guilt that she missed the signs of Morgan’s neglect despite a) being a mandated reporter (all doctors are) and b) having a similar upbringing (even though her having a similar upbringing actually perfectly explains why she’d miss it)

Marina Scout in general honestly. I came up with her after finishing Severance s1, and I have quite a few ideas for her (shipped with June Kilmer (who plays a more active role than in canon), comes in contact with Irving’s Outie somehow), but…between having a hard time finding a faceclaim (Dichen Lachman is a hard woman to find an ethnically-appropriate lookalike for omg, someone please let me know if you find a good one) and needing to finish watching s2 for missing backstory pieces, it’ll be a while

Morgan generally has a terrible British accent. But due to being raised by Tina in her formative years (7-13), she still uses British phrases and terms. And when she does, her accent for those is pretty good. It baffles everyone 😅 (based on a true story—I pronounce certain words with a Pakistani accent rather than an American accent)

Now for (non-OC) headcanons:

My (admittedly angsty) headcanon that Caitlin fell for Iris because of Iris’s kindness towards her during Barry’s coma but never built the courage to confess, in part because she was already unsure enough on how to be Iris’s friend. By the time she did build that courage, Iris was so smitten with Barry that Caitlin thought she had no chance and didn’t want to ruin their sapling friendship (this could also be an explanation for why Caitlin and Iris’s friendship seemed to ebb and flow, not really develop except in s1 and s4). That’ll come up in the Snowest/Killerwest fic!

In relation to the prior thing, I think Caitlin has trouble befriending other women her age. She gets along well with Felicity, of course, but that’s because they bond over science…and she seems to be Caitlin’s first real female friend. This is probably in part because of her mother—not only is Carla Tannhauser a terrible mother, but she also clearly passed on her “ice queen” traits to Caitlin, who embodies them especially in moments of grief, and certainly around strangers…at least up to (and including) s1. It wouldn’t surprise me if Caitlin therefore felt like she had to “compete” with other women, even if she didn’t want to, which would mean she has a hard time befriending them

So this has actually come up in my CK AU already, but Sam, Aisha, Demetri, and Eli/Hawk all being childhood friends is a dear hc of mine and something I want to explore more! It adds a lot of dimension to them, I think. And especially with me cutting out a lot of s2’s shipping drama, replacing it with platonic/friendship drama is going to be such fun

Idk if this counts as a headcanon, but this CK AU fic is based on this scene. Ever since I first saw it, I thought “omg this with Sam (but with her family) would hit SO HARD”

Iris has watched Star Trek, Star Wars, Back to the Future, and Terminator enough (with Barry) to absolutely know their basic plots and tell them apart, even if she’s not a fan of them herself. Her “mixing them up” is her messing with Barry 😂

I think that’s about it, but…knowing me, I’ll probably think of so many more things later 😅 and I will add more things as I think of them

talk shop tuesday!

Taglist (send an ask or DM to be added or removed):

@arrthurpendragon @ocappreciationtag @raith-way @vexic929 @ironverseocs

@thechaoticfanartist @negative-speedforce @tempests-of-hope @starstruckpurpledragon @angst-is-love-angst-is-life

[theriverbeyond]

this is such a random question, but on the subject of theories i was wondering what would have happened if john and the erebos had arrived at the aftermath of canaan house before boe and found the non-lyctor survivors. like would he have just let corona, judith, and camilla go home or get rid of them because they knew too much? is “knowing too much” even a concern for john? for some reason neither option feels totally right to me, but i would love to hear your thoughts!

I honestly think he would let them go home! I think one of John's major flaws is he fundementally both misunderstands and underestimates the people he sees as "his", and I think this does extend into the houses.

I don't think he would see non-Lyctors as any kind of threat, even if he knew that said non-Lyctors had figured out the secret to Lyctorhood. At most I think he would sew their tongues but honestly I think he would take one look at Judith "on life support from catastrophic gut wound" Deuteros, Camilla "catatonic with grief" Hect, Coronabeth "inconsolable because Ianthe age Babs and not her" Tridentarius and be like wow! these kids are having a bad time I should send them home to their parents.

Remember -- if John had arrived at Canaan House before BOE, this is *before* BOE took out 18,000 soldiers with orbital radiation missiles. this is *before* Augustine's betrayal, and Mercymorn's, and *before* the Sixth House defected. The only betrayal John would have felt was Cytherea's, and she failed, and as we see in HtN he mostly pities her.

I do think this could lead to a very interesting AU wherein Camilla is sent home (with the bones in her pocket), Judith is fixed up with proper medical care from the start (and then packed back off to the cohort), and Coronabeth is probably (on request) taken to the Erebos with Ianthe.

I can see this leading to Camilla spending a lot of time trying to free Palamedes' soul while on the Sixth, potentially needing to join the cohort (Alexandrite Cam, anyone?) so she can reconnect with Judith, who despite having several sticks up her ass is the only person Cam feels she can really go to about this (due to them both being the only people left in the Dominicus system who actually know what happened at Canaan House). Maybe Camilla convinces Judith to poke around in the skull bones -- Judith isn't as good as Harrow, but maybe they do bring back some shadow of Palamedes into the bones.

THEN maybe eventually they run into Coronabeth, who perhaps was not allowed all the way to the Mithraeum, but WAS given some sort of very strategic and fancy seat in the cohort so Ianthe can keep tabs on her. A very nepotism hire situation, and despite Ianthe's desire to keep her safe Coronabeth HATES it all because she was once again left behind. When the opportunity to track down Ianthe arises, she takes it.

I see this unfolding over several years post GtN timeline. Perhaps the three of them end up collaborating with other characters along the way that they feel they can trust, some more likely than others -- Mia (Pro's wife) and her children, now grown enough to want more information about their father's death. Ram and Capris Asht, who don't believe that their brother would kill the eighth house heir he had sworn to protect. Kiana can get in here too. maybe the Third house Boy Who Loved Shuttles helps them with a getaway once. Abigail's younger brother, who she named as her heir -- maybe he helps with Palamedes' soul. Jeannemary and Issac's younger siblings. A neo-niner or two -- John renewed the house, and involving a character or three that was ressurected from our modern times would be super interesting and also fill out our merry band. Maybe the neo-niners Remember Things that make Cam connect some dots.

Harrow is still out there, obviously, and in this AU I am imagining Number 7 as NOT speeding up and really taking 5 years to get there, just to even out the time line and allow all that to happen before Number 7 comes and Augustine drowns the Mithraeum.

anyway. events occur, things happen, and intrigue abounds. Alecto awakens, Harrow Remembers, Ianthe doesn't get the girl. Cam is on a warpath. Judith is dragged alongside. Coronabeth isn't going to be left behind again.

what was your question again? this answer has gotten deeply out of hand

[hopelessfandomfreak]

what’s so interesting about allison is that, rewatching the first two seasons, you realize she’s always had this kind of forceful edge to her that becomes so obvious in season 3. she uses her powers to get her way (like with her career or with claire), or occasionally to hurt someone (like forcing the racist asshole at statdler’s to burn his hand with hot coffee), but usually her way is more morally correct, so we don’t think of it as wrong or villainous. but then in season 3, she starts using her power in ways that are very clearly messed up (sexually assaulting luther, being an overall asshole to viktor) and it’s like “hey…she’s kinda been doing this all along.” but because she’s been doing it mostly for the right reasons or in ways that benefit her without really harming anyone, we turn a blind eye to that controlling side of her character. it’s only when she starts to lose her moral compass that that trait becomes a BAD thing. and even in season 3, when she does some genuinely messed up things to her family, you still feel for her and can empathize with her grief and struggle. that’s a big part of what makes her such a complex, unique character: her actions are obviously wrong, but the audience is still able to see why she’s done the things she’s done and appreciate her complexity. it’s just interesting to consider how characters can have these traits that really aren’t inherently good or evil, it’s what the character makes of them based off their current situation, mental state, and level of self control. of course this is true in real life as well as fiction: people are complex, and I love how allison represents this idea so well. it seems like a simple concept but it’s WHY certain characters are more interesting or boring than others.

[karoochui]

I just wanted to say I am so enamoured with Binary Insurgence! I eat up everything, every little crumb, you drop about it and the entire idea is so interesting to me! I'm so in love with stories and worlds like this! I'm also curious to know about the relationship between Sun and Moon, if it's alright to ask. How was it before the fire compared to after? Does their relationship begin to mend (because I'm certain over the years it deteriorated) when y/n comes back into the picture? If any of this is too spoilery or you just haven't fleshed it out yet then you don't have to answer! I'm just super curious about the boys and how you see their dynamic/relationship. I just look forward to seeing how their bond has grown and/or broken and how it may be mended over time.

AHH im glad you like it so much!! Im happy to talk about what i've got, but you are right not everything is fully fleshed out. I have points i wanna get to but while im brainstorming and planning i make up a lot of stuff as i go and then go over it again later to see if i like it or can connect stuff in any way. I have 3 chapters for Arc 1 fully summarized as of now! (Which probably doesn't seem like a lot but i like my chapters long, so it's quite a bit actually).

I wanna say, too, that i'm planning for the first story to be more in the perspective of the reader, so most things about Sun and Moon's personal thoughts and feelings are gonna be more implied than said. I might have some switching points of view, i'm not sure, but i haven't found a place i'd do it or think it's relevant. The sequel is gonna be more from their perspective since it'll mostly be about them.

NOW! I see Sun and Moon as brothers, so they really treat each other in a way that's like that. Before the fire they get along pretty well. Most instances of issue would be when Moon blocks out Sun when he fronts, or just mutual panic over the fact Moon lost his shit w/ the virus. They'll have their disagreements about things (i havent planned specifics yet) but generally they're chill. Sun just worries about Moon hurting people, but Moon worries too. With the way the virus functions in this AU it's hard for Sun to fully fault Moon for what he does, especially because he's also affected by it but not nearly as bad. (I'm gonna explain this more in another ask i have).

Plus, even before the virus they were always glitch/bug-ridden because technicians fucked up their programming continuously after removing them from the theater to work in the daycare. So they had to kinda navigate through that together, glitches and errors on both ends (though not deadly). They hate P&S bc of this, obviously. Hardware fixes suck but they fucking HATE software examinations.

Later on though some issues come into play whenever Sun starts getting worse by being further exposed to the virus (it gets worse for him when they eclipse) because it presents itself in Sun differently than it does Moon. He gets snappier and angrier at times (that comic i made that's captioned "well someones snappy") and while they both understand he doesnt mean the shit he does it's still not great. And nobody's gonna just let themselves be talked to like a dog even if the reason it's happening is because of something the other person can't really help. They're still relatively fine at this point, though.

It's at the end when shit goes really bad, because this part of the story does end badly. I won't spoil specifics but after the fire Sun loses his shit. He starts trying to put the blame on Moon for everything (the virus enhancing his already bad habits/fucking with his line of thinking) out of grief and anger. That carries over into the apocalypse and he just gets worse in general. He gets irrational.

It's a long period of time though, so he eventually also manages it, in his own way. But! I did say before in an ask that in the sequel he's "not evil, persay, but he's a fucking nut". He damns Moon to an hourglass to just fucking get rid of him about 100~ years before they meet you again (he fully thinks he's in the right for this (and he also just hates him) and the only reason he really even stayed around after that was to make sure Moon didn't get out again). He's not a bad-intentioned individual, but he's off the fucking wall at many times bc of the virus having made him worse. He's stubborn as all hell to an infuriating degree, he's irrational, hard-headed, reckless, and while a good bit of his old, kinder self is still pretty prevalent he can be downright fucking mean if provoked. Again, worse than before, and it doesn't take much these days! I always imagined him to have more dramatic, snappy, diva aspects to his personality (even before Help Wanted 2 came out) bc hes so theatrical and intense, so basically take a Sun that's like that, crank it up to 100 and put him in a Bad Situation. That's what Round 2 Sun is like at his worst. He's not a complete lost cause though, and he's far from dumb when he does stuff, just clouded by his own judgement. He doesn't think anything's wrong with him (or does he?).

Moon doesn't really hate him like Sun hates Moon, because although he knows that what happened (the ending of the first story) is technically both of their faults he just feels guilt. They do fight a lot, though. Most of it is Moon trying his best to tell Sun that he's basically full of shit and not seeing things right after Sun starts something, but Sun's at the point where he's gotta learn by consequence. Part of the reason he's so bad is bc 1: hes been infected by the virus for so long now and 2: in his grief, anger, and resentment he's learned to live with it rather than fighting it.

But the sequel is gonna be a feel-good story! Falling in love w/ the reader all over again, i want things to get cleared up - or at least some kind of middle ground between Sun and Moon - the whole sha-bang.

[odusseus-xvi]

q!BAGHERA post because I am ecstatic

I want to talk about what happened yesterday (just in case, this isn't about drama or whatever this is talking about what the evolution of the character might be, no discourse, no drama, this isn't the subject of this post) because of HOW MANY POSSIBITIES IT OFFERS for Baghera and how TERRIFYING they all are.

Let me tell you I am terrified (ecstatic I love the angst gimme) because Baghera yesterday, discovered what BBH did (only partially, she doesn't know about the torture yet.. OH and when she does...). But that's the thing. She was upset at BBH, but what's worse is what BBH did to her. As of late Baghera has been lost, scared, and while everyone has moved on in their grief (they are all still grieving obviously, but they are at a point where they have grieved quite a bit and are now trying things) she has not even gotten the occasion to at all. She is trying to grieve her missing children AND her childhood she remembered she never had, AND Bad which is very obviously looking terrible, but everyone is moving along, trying to pass on to other things or trying to find solutions. Forever comes and tell her to try and be happy, but how can she ?

Here comes yesterday. Here comes BBH. I always suspected, and it was proven multiple times that Baghera was very much his moral compass. But at the time she came back, it was already to late. It was done. He did the mistake. And the thing is BBH is one of the only ones she decides to trust with some of her secrets, because it's her bebou, it's her partner in crime. It's the father of her children. And Bad decides to do the same, except HE puts her at test. She doesn't know it yet, he asks her to make the promise not to tell anyone and not to intervene. She oblige, obviously. And he shows her.

And she is shocked, she is starting to stress out. She is obviously angry at Bad, and at the same time... She promised, but it's fucked up, but it's her best friend, but it's too similar to her childhood she has to help, but it's Pomme's father she can't betray him. And when she makes it clear to Bad she is not happy he starts behaving in a way he never did with Baghz (when I tell you I got chills) , when he lied to her before it was mostly playful, but there it felt like manipulation, he cut her words short, "Is he oka-" "Yes he is don't worry.", he doesn't let space for her to be mad.

She promises to Ron. "I'll get you out of here. Give me one or two days"

And then when Forever etc. comes around she is still processing all this and she makes a quick decision, a terrible one. She lies to them. She protects Bad. But it's also to protect Ron. She may have an occasion to free him. And in that moment, she hates what she is doing. She doesn't want to lie but Bad has put her in an impossible position. And in trying to solve everything, to not betray anyone, she is forced to betray everyone. And she realises it. She hates it.

And that's where we get for what happens then. Because she is already lost and lonely, and one of the only person she could have used to get out of this downward spiral has betrayed her. He has lied and made her betray everyone else. And she will have to betray him soon. She will feel truly alone. She feels like she betrayed Forever, and in a way she did. She feels terrible, she can't trust him anymore, she has crossed the limits herself, she is too afraid. The French suspect her of things, she suspects them in return. (obviously she will still play with all of them because cc!Baghera is still friends with all of them, what I mean is she will just bottle up all those feelings again.)

That leaves three options.

First is Fit. But even if there is mutual respect in their respective secrets, that respect includes NOT giving away their secrets.

Second is Jaiden. "We have to stick together." But unlike anyone else, this will most likely end up in a downward spiral as well. They will just comfort each other in their compassion for Cucurucho, and in the end their past with the Federation.

Last is her "true and only" family. When she will truly be alone, there will be one option, that will always remain open.

The Federation.

Basically, unless there is an unforeseen turn of events, that can always happen, I want to say she is doomed.

And I can't wait to see what cc!Baghera comes up with.

[dogs-with-lightsabers]

like i know that the merge is my idea but idk how the fuck it works

i am mostly sure that it’s the 3-5 persona wielder cast taken from Kotone’s world and (taken?) into Akira’s world

The 4 cast is in a weird ish place but it went mostly the same except for how Adachi was treated by Yui vs by Souji. Souji, being a transmasc teen, does not vibe with Adachi, at all, in the slightest. Yui, at the time still just Yuu and very unaware of her future gender realization, is just kind of naive and trusts Adachi. (because family friend/cop. i guess)

Souji’s team sort of insures that Adachi serves like 10/20 years? like they know he isn’t actually remorseful. everyone is just sort of better off for lack of a better term. Yui’s team thinks that Yosuke’s actions are too drastic and so his trust in them starts fading around this point (in heaven specifically though, with the maziodyne)

Yosuke leaves regardless. Souji’s team is distraught but they understand because they read the letters he left for each of them. Yui’s team burns them and forgets him. (Yosuke misses his friends but can’t go back to Inaba for his own well-being. Rei lives, more worried for her pregnant partner and years down the line, accepts a custody request for ‘distant relative’ Ren Amamiya, adopted child of either Yukichie of Kannao.)

i don’t know precisely how the 4 merge works - Souji and Yui would be non fraternal twin half siblings (separate fathers but born at the same time, somehow nearly identical). Yosuke had mostly the same life, main differences being Rei and treatment near the end of 4. everyone else has at least mildly better lives in Souji’s world.

i do know that everyone who died in one world but not the other gets a second chance. Rei gets to live with her partner and child, Yosuke’s age old grief quiet and finally fading and their child now a teenage deity. Ren has to relearn their parents, the same but new at the same time, their newfound friends both the same yet different. Kotone and Minato remember their lost twin and get along like they were never separated, like neither ever died and entire universe apart. Shinji’s ‘friends’ are both the same but mourning, and it’s just weird for him.

Thieves - get their memories of the past year, sort of combined into 1 person apiece. Akira is the city kid, Ren is the country kid. By far the simplest of them all, minus Akira’s own 3rd semester; the thieves all feel somewhat guilty, even Ren to an extent. deity Akira takes precedent over their other self, but they do take their memories and put their alternate soul to rest.

Shadow Ops - Kotone, Minato, and Shinji all get to live. also maybe Ryoji. the twins did both ‘die’ and come back, so i think Kotone’s non-team social links get their memories but don’t get the specifics that persona users do. they could’ve ’relived’ their lives from 16 to present to fix everything, as a new game + thing, but they decided against it. (so essentially, they came back from the dead. yes they did the meme, akira bullied them into doing it lol)

Investigation Team - Souji and Yui both obviously coexist. Yosuke gets Rei back? Probably? Still kinda iffy on everything but I think main okwd Yosuke needs her back at least for a little while. Souji’s team is the one that seems to front and foremost in terms of memory gain for the others, having better experiences despite leading mostly the same lives. All in all, I think that these guys are in a more awkward place?

I’m gonna try and simplify this here: the Merge is a merging of souls between two separate universes, not two of the same person in one body. With the exception of the separate wild cards, they are the same person with separate experiences. (example being a Yosuke who lost his partner before she met their child, who left Tokyo and got stronger than the average persona user suddenly also having saved her, both of them having raised their child in the city. post merge, he remembers both lives, even though the main storyline takes precedence in his case)

@verysexyseagull and here you can witness my thought process! (agh) i do appreciate thoughts! please🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵🩵

[plounce]

emet-selch is a tragic figure obviously but i was thinking about how he's the most popular ffxiv character which is one of the reasons he played such a pivotal role in endwalker - obviously the primary reason is that his narrative threads hadn't been tied up and his story wasn't fully told, but him being a fan favorite doesn't hurt. and the thing about emet-selch is that he doesn't ever really realize the error of his ways. he grows to kind of respect you and he does help you, but his growth over the millennia is from seeing sundered people as familiars (unalive Things) to children - which still aren't adult humans. and i was thinking about what characterization a flashback like elpis serves, and one path taken could've been to have hades be a nicer person who is like "i would never do such atrocities" and have that be a contrast to what his grief twisted him into. but no, emet-selch protests that he'd make a fake amaurot, but doesn't seem especially aghast at the WoL's other accusations. and the thing about emet-selch is that he didn't change. he just got worse. his worst traits grew and grew because of his titanic grief and how he didn't have his loved ones with him (because one of ffxiv's themes is the importance of love and bonds in keeping someone in their brain) but he was not that different in terms of values. because he's an ancient, and the ancients could not adapt in that way. they could not cope with life-altering tragedy because they had never dealt with smaller tragedies. they would just continue sacrificing and feeding lives (both their own and those they don't consider Their Own People) into the maw of The Personification Of Tragedy rather than not go along with the current of fate and What Is Most Logical (and thus meteion found that nihilism is Most Logical...). and then i think "well emet-selch was able to stay mostly sane over the 12000 years of desolate living, compared to hollowed-out elidibus and cartoon craAaAaAzy villain lahabrea" and well... i guess it's one thing to be able to perservere, and another to be able to adapt to your surroundings. anyway. it's my turn at the cash register now. i continue to think about my sympathy for the devil

[sukibenders]

As a brown Latina, the dumbing down Mari this season for comedic relief (Mari having the” L” backwards as comments like “Mari’s so dumb she chipped her tooth on her vibrator) didn’t sit right with me especially in todays political climate where we are seeing harmful stereotypes about us being thrown at us from every corner without repercussion.

Then Mari- who is obviously indigenous/mestizo was stripped down, hung from a tree and had her hair taken to dress a white woman.

I feel like this is a show where the writers and show runners pride themselves on being so diverse in different areas but with choices like these and more, it makes you wonder if there were any POC sitting at these table meetings and being involved in these discussions and creative decisions? It doesn’t seem like it.

Hello, it's nice to have another perspective on the matter especially from someone who is Latina, like Mari. But I completely understand what you mean. Now, give me some grace as it has been a minute since I've seen s1 and s2, so some things about Mari's character that I remember mostly revolve around s3. From what I can remember though, she did have moments of great bravery such as going with Akilah to help Nat find Lottie during a snow storm, as well as willingly agreeing to being a decoy so the others could get help, but also that she could be scared at times (not only with her screaming in fear during s1, but also seeking comfort in mainly Akilah rather than really anyone else). Due to her being a secondary character who mostly consisted to the background, she didn't have much plot to pull from. But then s3, which was leaning towards making her more crucial to the plot, added more to that. Though, not by much as it seems more so focused on making her this not all there, lacking street smarts kind of girl but for insult purposes or comedic relief. And, while that within itself isn't so bad, it's not great with the fact that Mari is one of the poc characters who isn't given much depth in comparison to her yte counterparts. Paired along with a writer's room that often puts poc in harms way....not very great.

The show even had an opportunity to tie into her standoffish and bratty "mean" girl persona with the mention of her baby cousin. Having to be the only person there while a baby dies is traumatic, but even more so when it's your own family. This trauma could've made Mari develope an outer shell (she's easily snappy, resorting to mean and bratty retorts when unnecessary, seeing any flaws or weaknesses and airing them out, not wanting to tend to those who are sick, I could go on). Her being reluctant to help tend to Lottie and breaking down after could've been a result of her untouched grief. Her instantly clicking with Akilah could've been because she saw the same innocence from her cousin in her. When Shauna was giving birth, that could've been a perfect opportunity for her to grapple with what the loss reminded her of (just hiding it behind "Wilderness, please don't let Shauna die!")

And bringing it back to Mari's intelligence, the way she gravitated toward people in power or with high status so easily should have been noted better. Her connection with Jackie could have been just them being friends, so it would be a given that she rallies behind her. But for Nat and Lottie, this isn't the case or more so in the beginning. Mari makes snippy comments about Lottie and her visions, seeming to hold little interest in her besides deeming her as crazy. But once they're stuck in the cabin for the winter and Lottie becomes prophet like, Mari changes her tune. Could this be because she's afraid and needs something to cling too? Sure, but also it follows the pattern of her and people with status. She's very defensive and protective over Lottie, almost similar to how someone is regarding a religious figures and this impacts their relationship. There's layers too it. However, once Nat becomes queen and others begin to grow dismissive over Lottie and flock to their new leader, Mari follows suit and goes back to throwing insults at Lottie and viewing her as crazy. From what we've seen, Mari and Nat haven't really been that close to one another prior to s3, which shows them being allies. And while this could do with them trying to find rescue and oppose Shauna, Mari taking the time to have a heart to heart with Nat was a surprise. She's often more willingly to show a softer side of herself with those in power than others (with the exception of Akilah and, surprisingly, Gen who regards her [Mari] as her friend).

This could even tie into her protective and defensive nature as well, specifically towards people she cares about. With her easily flocking to people in power, there's a contrast to how she views and treats Shauan. For better or worse, mostly worse, she sees Shauna for who she is and doesn't back down but rather challenges her (to her downfall). There are many instances from the plot that could explain why Mari doesn't vibe with Shauna, from her hurting and indirectly being the reason Jackie dies, to her brutally beating Lottie, to being antagonistic to Nat, to her (as a result of making them have to stay another winter) making Akilah want to die---all of these people are close to Mari and have been harmed, directly and indirectly, by Shauna. So it would make sense that she wouldn't like her nor support her in any way. This also would've made her last words even more impactful, as she really gets the last laugh of karma with Shauna's life in the adult tl falling apart. Chef's kiss.

Season 3 had a lot of opportunities to build up on Mari's character, especially with what they had from the previous two seasons. However, they decided to the fumble the ball over an interesting woc and give more value (and some of her possible plot points) to a random yte girl who said one funny line and that was it, but held no importance further down the line of the plot after. This is a consistent theme with the Yellowjackets writers, who have made many of their woc actresses have to literally beg for more screentime and development for their characters. That within itself isn't a good look, but the lack of racial sensitivity in their script as well shows that there weren't any poc in the writer's room either. Because if there were, I don't think so many, especially Taissa who is a main, would've had their stories pushed to the side or revolving around white characters (eg. Travis). If there was, an Indigenous mentally ill girl wouldn't be brutally beaten by a white girl to help fuel her development and have their relationship never be mentioned again besides her (Lottie) being viewed as an antagonist in Shauna's mind. If there were, then you wouldn't have, not only, most of the Latin characters all die on the show, but have a brown girl be dehumanized by a white girl who took every opportunity she could to be cruel to her and wear her hair as a trophy. If there were poc writers for Yellowjackets, a lot of these implications would've been realized and handled better. And it makes it worse because some in the fandom, largely Shauna fans (though not all) are being either obtuse or purposely dismissive over the complaints. Some saying it's just "payback" for Mari trying to take Jackie's jacket, even though 1.) What Shauna did to Mari is in no way comparable to taking a jacket to use during a blizzard and 2.) Before Mari even dies, Shauna makes her take off her jacket so the comparison was already made by that point. Others are even going as far as to say that Mari is white rather than poc, as a way to dismiss the racial implications and the "Shauna is racist" jokes. And it's so laughable because when you put Mari with the other actual white people on the show, she does not give off white girl vibes, she is definitely a brown girl, like they are lying so hard to justify what Shauna did to her. It's so disgusting.

Sorry if this is all over the place and rather long, my rant would've been better formatted but I'm in class so I was at least trying to answer you before I forgot my thoughts. It's sad that myself and other fans of the show and Mari have come up with a better plot and more development for her than the show ever did, but that often happens a lot especially for characters of color. It's so bad, how Mari was treated, that I have a fic waiting to be made to give her more justice. I don't even think I'll tune in for s4, largely because of the treatment of the poc characters but also just the direction of the show as the writers have now admitted to just focusing on theories and doing whatever they want. This is big because I usually can stick around and/or come back to a show, even with some questionable and critical elements (eg. The TVD series and its spinoffs). But that doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't sad or disappointing, especially with, as you said, the current political climate (killing off most, if not all, your Latin characters and having a brown girl, Crystal, be killed just to serve as a plot device for Misty, a white girl, is not great) and how stereotypes can be harmful, especially towards poc (Simone being reduced to the "disposable black girlfriend/partner" trope, Tai's storyline revolving around yte characters, just to name a few). The Yellowjackets are in the corner, shaking hands with Julie Plec (J Plague) and Stephanie Meyer, which isn't good at all.

[angry-kid-with-no-money]

Okay soo I’m procrastinating like five other things I should be doing right now- mostly school work- but I’ve been having many thoughts about a grishaverse/aftg crossover au and I needed to get them all out so

Tada

mandatory spoiler warning for shadow and bone trilogy

-Neil as Alina, obviously. Non-negotiable. He would be the overpowered MC if there was magic in aftg and we all know it

-obviously in the books, alina does not have a family that we know of, but in my little au, Nathan works for the Ravka gov and Mary gives up Neil bc she can tell he’s gonna be a powerful grisha I guess? I don’t care that that’s not really a thing, it is now

-anyway- Andrew is Mal. I’ve talked extensively about how similar I think Mal and Andrew are as characters, especially in the way that they are both so protective over the people they care about, to the point of being self-sacrificial but they cannot cope with someone doing the same for them, in fact both of them get angry with their significant others for attempting to ‘save’ them. I also think for both of them, this behaviour stems from seeing themselves as less than the people around the, we see it more obviously with Mal but I think Andrew is the same

-so in this au Andrew and neil are childhood friends, they grow up together in the orphanage and stuff. I haven’t thought much about fitting aaron and nicky into this so they may just be not related in the au tbh

-the two of them join the second army as we know- Andrew as a tracker and Neil as a junior cartographer- and during an attempted crossing of the fold, neil’s summoner powers reveal themselves

-in the books, prior to using her powers, alina is described as pale, sallow, sickly-looking, generally unattractive, and we discover that this sick appearance is caused by her suppressing her powers. Anyway, I think that prior to using his powers, neil has very dull blue eyes and his hair is more brown than auburn but afterwards we get the bright blue eyes and auburn hair Andrew is obsessed with

-the darkling is kevin btw- originally I had him as Ichirou but wrote myself into a whole I couldn’t get out of so evil kevin it is

-ichirou is Vasily, and riko is nikolai, the king is kengo and annoyingly in aftg riko’s mother is not named so we’re sticking with Tatiana

-back to kevin- I debated between abi and Kaleigh for a while but I’m gonna go with Kaleigh as Baghra just because I love her and I get more creative freedom with her personality. Wymack is ilya so he’s dead, soz

-we also get the absolute joy of Andrew, kevin, riko, and Ichirou fighting over neil despite neil being madly in love with Andrew and not even realising it

-even though alina was somewhat reckless about the amplifiers she was still wary of the risks and such, I think neil would be far more reckless, I don’t think he would has hesitated as much to kill the stag or the water serpent and instead the issue would be kevin’s men being closer behind them than they’d thought and catching up at the last second

-I don’t think anything would have slowed neil down once he’d set his sights on the goal of collect all three amplifiers and destroy the fold, he would have been non stop going and dragging Andrew along with him, up until he realises he has to kill Andrew at which point everything comes to a crashing halt

-neil would be much less willing to believe it, he would be convinced Andrew had made a mistake and there was still a firebird out there somewhere, just denying it and denying it and denying it until he physically can’t anymore, and once he’d accepted Andrew was the amplifiers he’d be helplessly looking for other ways that didn’t involve him dying up until the last second. Even then, I think Andrew would be doing the majority of the work towards neil killing him.

-the last battle of siege and storm would just be neil in a haze of rage and grief, absolutely merciless because Andrew was always the voice of reason, the one to stop him from going too far, but he can’t anymore because andrews Dead

-I think the aftermath, where neil finds out that andrew’s been brought back to life would a haze as well. He doesn’t quite believe it’s real but also it has to be because he doesn’t know what he’d do with himself if it wasn’t. it’s neil’s idea to fake his death, not to protect his egacy but to keep Andrew safe, to start again somewhere knew

-if you thought they were codependent and attached at the hip in aftg, it is nothing compared to how they act post andrew’s resurrection

-yeah, sometimes neil misses his power, missing the feeling of being invincible, but he’d rather never have that again then even risk losing andrew’s presence by his side

-I still have not read rule of wolves/king of scars so pls don’t talk to me abt that

-I will maybe add more in the future, especially of the middle of the trilogy because I mostly just hit the beginning and end