#and offers a different perspective to things

[firendgold]

Harry and Lily's motivations and thought patterns can be said to be similar, though, even with how cruelly they were separated.

Harry did not have the chance to be raised by Lily, true. Personality is not solely shaped by genetics: also true. But Harry still shares Lily's stubbornness, cutting tongue, and her strong sense of justice. He shares her belief in the value of sacrifice, even when that sacrifice is personal, final, and has no guarantee of leading to the most ideal outcome. Like both Lily and James, like Sirius and Remus, Harry has no fear of sacrificing himself for friends and family—no fear of dying for what he believes in. He believes in doing things for the benefit of the many, even at his own expense.

This isn't because he's been "groomed" to be that way. It is an innate part of his character from the moment we first meet him in chapter 2 of book 1. It is a part of his character that is clear to characters like Albus, Sirius, Remus, and Severus without Harry ever having to express it in words. It's not an aspect of his character many people like that much, much less accept, but it is a distinct tie between Lily's character and Harry's.

The wizarding world has only a vague idea of who Harry is, and Harry is only infrequently bothered by their opinions of him. His strongest rejection of any role they might put him in is during year 5, when the general public's denial of Voldemort's return is literally threatening his life. But the Ministry and the general public don't have the slightest idea of who Harry is and what he's motivated by—ironically, very similar to many members of Harry's own fandom.

As for Lily's home life, we know that her parents adored her and she had a strong friendship with Severus. But we also know that all was not rosy (no pun intended) in her early life before she grew up and joined the fight against Voldemort. She and Petunia had a rocky relationship which only worsened the more Lily leaned into her identity as a witch. Her first best friend splintered off at some early point during their school years, splitting his time between her and a group of people who thought she was sub-human and a thief of magic. Of the other close friends she may have had, none seem to have outlived her, and she spent at least some of her last days on earth getting news of their deaths.

Lily does not get the screen time she deserves, and much of her behavior is left only to our speculation as fans. But Lily's words and choices in light of the few things we do know about her speak to a deep strength of character, an inflexible sense of right and wrong. Lily Potter is an altruistic woman who is able to empathize with others even without suffering a quarter of the harm that her son comes to experience once she is gone.

Harry was most certainly abused: neglected, treated as less than his cousin, left alone to handle problems no child should have to handle. But I'd argue that these things did not take away his sense of identity, or prevent him from having one; and that it's a common fanon misconception that Harry is either a beaten-down butterfly or a blank-slate everyman.

One of the thing many fans miss about Harry (despite how much his mistreatment is discussed) is that even with the way the Dursleys treat him, Harry does not bend or break before them. A different child might have been submissive, shy, obedient. They might have taken on some of the same ugly beliefs as their 'caretakers'. At eleven years old, Harry is and does none of those things. He is defiant. He is snarky. He is strong-willed, and extremely opinionated, and loyal—though he doesn't fall in line behind the first person with power or wealth or even a winning smile. As he matures throughout the series, these core traits mature with him.

The Harry who sends his friends away for help and decides to face Voldemort at eleven, knowing he will likely die, is the same Harry who goes in secret to face Voldemort at seventeen, knowing he will most certainly die. And he shares this choice, and the belief system it's based on, with the woman who threw herself in front of her killer, her son's would-be killer, and said please not Harry. Have mercy.

Harry Potter wasn't raised to be a soldier or a self-sacrificial lamb. Harry experienced criminal neglect in his early years and realized that no one was going to swoop in and save him when he needed help. He took that to mean that if he wanted something done, if he wanted to help others, he needed to do it himself. By the time he met with adults who did want to help him, and could have helped him, their hands were tied by murderous half-dead men and bureaucratic conservatist systems and discrimination and their own misconceptions of him and a million other things—and that cemented the part of Harry's personality that insisted he must handle things by himself.

And that, acting where others don't or won't, is a choice he makes on his own throughout the series. Harry has plenty of chances to run away from his issues, and a host of people who might have been glad to let him do it. But he doesn't, because he never wants to be a bystander. He never wants to be the type of person who turns his back on the suffering of others—like Wormtail, like the Death Eaters, like the Ministry of Magic. It is a trait he shares with his mother, who could have just as easily packed up and moved clear across the world when Voldemort started terrorizing Britain—but didn't.

Whether they are loved or hated by others, villainized or lionized, both Harry and Lily choose to make personal sacrifices to fight for what's right.

All this to say—I agree with the OP. Harry Potter is not James Potter and he is not Lily Evans Potter either. But I also believe Harry does have some of his parents' less obvious traits, traits which shine through in some of his most perilous moments and give him the strength to overcome his opponents. Still, Harry should NOT be written or interpreted as a carbon copy of either of his parents, because it was Harry James Potter alone who had the personality, the strength, the wisdom, and the selflessness necessary to destroy Voldemort.

Harry Potter is an extremely complex character who deserves actual deep analysis of his choices and character that aren't tied to what his parents said or did or how fans feel about his sacrificial tendencies.

harry potter is NOT james potter.

I love parallels. I love people reminding others of those they've lost along the way.

But Harry Potter is not James . And that is so vital to his entire character.

When people see Harry, they see James. They see a James who sees the world through Lily's eyes. When they see Harry, they don't see Harry.

And that is so vital to his entire being. It's vital to how people see Harry. The people that didn't know James, see the Boy-Who-Lived.

The people who did, who were close to Harry, to James, to Lily. They see James and Lily Potter. They see the people who died, people they were close to, people they miss every day but will never see again.

Remus, Sirius, Snape, McGonagall.

At first, they see James and Lily. And then when they meet him - apart from Snape- they quickly realise he is anything but.

Harry is not arrogant, rich, spoilt. He doesn't have an ego, he doesn't play pranks, he isn't a chaser, he doesn't pick fights.

Harry isn't exceptionally bright at everything he does, he isn't inconceivably forgiving for those who don't deserve it.

He is not Lily and James.

When peole write Harry as a golden retriever, as effortlessly good at everything, they aren't writing about Harry.

Harry who grew up not wanted. Harry who grew up believing something was wrong with him. Harry who was forced into the wizarding world with no knowledge. Harry who is as stubborn as a mule,. Harry who is loyal to a fault, who forgives those he loves, Harry who isn't his parents.

He has traits of them, their anger, their ability to love, and much much more.

BUT Harry Potter isn't them. He isn't the 'best of them both' he isn't James or Lily or Sirius or Regulus.

Harry Potter is Harry. Just Harry.

And that is why he doesn't get along ith Snape. That's why McGonagall believes Harry dragged Neville out for a joke in first year.

When people see Harry, they don't see Harry. And by writing Harry as somebody else, or as 'so-and-so's child' you're not doing the character justice.

'I want a complex character with complex relationships'

'i want an angry character'

'i want to read a book that makes me think'

you couldn't even handle Harry Potter.

[ryssabrin]

i feel like people who don’t like solas or solavellan have such a warped perspective of what the romance is and how fans of it actually engage in it. like i’ve seen a lot of (most likely het dudes lol) on reddit say they tried it to see what the fuss was but felt it was “demeaning” and i’ve seen it described as literally a horror story where solas is manipulating and using and lying to a young impressionable lavellan who gives up her entire identity for him and becomes a complete doormat to all the awful shit he does. that’s never been my experience and i kinda just want to ramble about how i see it and what i find romantic about it?

so full disclosure, if veilguard had come out a few years ago with how they portrayed lavellan and solavellan i might have been pretty disappointed. i think there is a subset of the solavellan fanbase that likes the wolf/halla or student/professor thing and they play their lavellan younger and agreeing almost without question to everything solas says. i see the appeal but i never played my lavellan that way and i really like the dynamic of it when lavellan actually goes against his advice at times. solas is a character that needs to have his preconceived biases questioned. especially in inquisition when he’s still coming to terms with the fact that the modern people of thedas are in fact people lol. so i was concerned at the prospect of my lavellan being taken out of my hands and having to listen to her make excuses for him and submit to everything he says. (which tbf i don’t think is how she actually comes across in dav, but that was a worry.)

however when i replayed my canon dai run this year, i realized i was closer to the age i always saw my lavellan as (early 30s), and as my lavellan is probably the bioware pc i’ve always played closest to my own personality, i took the opportunity to tweak her a bit and make some different choices. i’ve (hopefully lol) matured and grown a lot since i was 24 and so rather than going for the snarky sarcastic cool girl vibes i opted to play her with more diplomatic and caring choices. it made me see the solas romance in a completely new light. rather than some sort of student/professor dynamic or a pride and prejudice-esque rivals-to-lovers vibe where lavellan is fighting for his respect the whole time, what stuck out to me was how much their connection builds simply because lavellan is kind to solas. she hears him out when he wants to give his opinions and advice, she respects his expertise on the fade and spirits, and she offers him comfort and friendship when she sees he needs it. she impresses him because he finds himself wanting to indulge in her closeness. he finds a connection to someone he never expected to and it makes him rethink everything about the broken state he put the world in.

it’s worth noting that lavellan is always making the first move. she kisses him first, she pursues him. he tries to brush off the kiss as a spontaneous lapse in judgement and she doesn't let him. he only ever gives in to her advances, he doesn't make them himself. he calls their relationship "selfish" on his end. he knows he shouldn't be encouraging her but he can't help but long for her companionship. that being said though if lavellan shuts it down he respects it. he probably feels a little relief because the temptation is now out of his hands lol.

i feel like there’s also this perception that he’s constantly shitting on the dalish while lavellan just has to put up with it and that alone is reason enough to find the relationship demeaning. he mentions the dalish in one optional conversation chain where you ask him for his opinion on the state of the elves and then in the balcony scene where he realizes he’s misjudged the inquisitor after his personal quest. in both instances, lavellan can stick up for the dalish. in the optional conversation, lavellan can say that if solas had a bad experience with a clan once (which we know from dav is exactly what happened lol), that she’d like to correct that misunderstanding about her people.

it's worth noting as well that lavellan doesn't know solas is the dread wolf when he's criticizing the dalish. from her perspective, he's essentially a city-born elf who had some dalish look down their nose at him for not being a "true elf" like they are, something that not only happens in canon throughout the games and lavellan would be aware of, but literally happens to solas specifically, right in front of you. he doesn't say a single word to mihris and she doesn't know a thing about him other than his face is bare and thus feels comfortable referring to him with what is essentially a slur. but rather than confront her directly about it he just passive aggressively speaks to her in elven almost exclusively for the rest of the quest lol.

far from the dynamic being that lavellan is just putting up with someone talking down to her about her culture, i think it's reasonable to see her view is more that they're both members of the same marginalized group, but from different cultures. his position in criticizing the dalish is not punching down it's lateral. she loves her culture, but is able to recognize it has flaws and not every member in it treats other cultures well, particularly even when they're from the same marginalized group. (and it's also just really meaningful that the first "flirt" option you get in the solas romance is lavellan recognizing that solas has put himself in a very vulnerable position as an elven apostate joining the chantry-led inquisition and with whatever power she has she will make sure that it's not held against him.)

i do think the writing conveys that he does have his mind changed about the dalish at least a little bit, but one of his pet peeves is when people are ignorant and refuse any information that challenges their worldview. as a manifested wisdom spirit, it is a particular sticking point to him to not be listened to when he is providing knowledge. i think criticism of how he is towards the dalish is lacking without taking into account his nature as a spirit. obvs we didn’t know that in dai but we do now. when wisdom isn't listened to it turns to pride. "i told you so," "i'll prove i'm right," "you should have listened to me," etc. etc. he got his feelings hurt when the dalish didn't believe him (and according to dav, literally tried to kill him) and his ego's held a grudge ever since.

when it comes to the vallaslin, to me it’s less about solas wanting to dismantle part of dalish culture (he offers no actual opinion on the dalish during that scene) and more that it clearly bothers him a lot that he fought so hard to free the elves from slavery and the one community of elves that’s closest to the descendants of the people he wanted to free still wears tattoos honoring the very tyrants he wanted to free them from. if lavellan says she wants to keep them and that the dalish reclaimed them and they mean something else to her, he doesn’t argue. i actually don’t like that solas’s post breakup banter with cole implies that lavellan thinks he might have broken up with her over the vallaslin. it’s putting thoughts in the head of my character that i personally don’t see her having. the way the breakup plays out, there’s not a single indication that it has anything to do with the vallaslin. i like to pick the “i believe in us” option because it shows lavellan having some idea that there’s something solas isn’t telling her and that’s the main reason he’s walking away. and the irony of course is that we learn in dav that that was the moment he came the closest to just giving up everything to just be with her.

so when i played through dav with my solasmance lavellan and she talks about what drew her to him it all just felt so right. he was kind and wise and sad but he made her feel like she was the only thing that mattered to him. (and that was very almost true!) there was a passion and intensity to their relationship that made her think he was the person she wanted to be with forever. when she says "i thought i would have followed anywhere he asked me to" you could read it as her saying she would have joined him in tearing down the veil if he asked and depending on your lavellan that might be true (though in the next bit she talks about how she would have been trying to change his mind anyways). but you could also read it as what her mindset was while she was with him during dai. before joining the inquisition, she knew him to be someone that traveled the world looking for lost secrets and history. why would she not have wanted to join him in that? is that not something you do when you're in love with someone?

something else that i find really compelling about solavellan is how solas relates to the inquisitor (not just lavellan) as a figurehead stripped of their personal identity. he knows from personal experience exactly what that's like. in the romances (not just solas's), the inquisitor is able to find someone that knows and cares for them for who they are, not what they represent. this aspect of the inquisitor's arc is honestly why i like keeping the vallaslin. my lavellan wants people to be able to look at her as the inquisitor and see a dalish elf. it's one small act of defiance and in reclaiming her own narrative. so thinking about what she might want to do after her responsibilities to the inquisition are over, it's reasonable to think she might want to just go wherever solas goes? because she loves him and feels like herself around him. even her asking him to let her come with him in trespasser feels more motivated by the fact that lavellan sees solas isolating himself and closing himself off and she's sad about it because she cares about him. that was why she wanted to grow close to him in the first place.

and i genuinely don't think it's all that wild that lavellan still holds a torch for solas 10 years later. i personally was friends with this guy in high school i always had a crush on, and towards the end of senior year it looked like it could actually end up turning into something. but then he immediately left for a summer abroad after graduation and eventually moved out of the country full time for school. we kept in touch off and on and caught up when he was in town, but nothing romantic ever happened. for years after i would catch myself thinking every so often what could have been and what he was up to. for solavellan, they were actually together. they had mutually expressed feelings and though their time together was maybe a few months at most, it was intense and passionate. they split up not because anyone's feelings changed, but because of solas's baggage. it's really not unrealistic for lavellan to continue wondering to herself what would have happened if he had been honest with her sooner. if she could have convinced him to change course. and it's not like she has the luxury of retiring and just not thinking about him anymore. that's not a conscious manipulation on solas's part to string her along, that's just the reality of their situation.

and even with all that in mind, in dav lavellan is still able to have the self-awareness to understand that the good in him that she believes exists and all that they had together and what she meant to him could all just be wishful thinking on her part. that she's giving him the benefit of the doubt "imagining his broken heart" when he doesn't deserve it because it makes her feel less foolish. she's not blindly faithful to him. i just loved everything about that scene and every word out of my lavellan's mouth felt spot on and perfect for how i saw their relationship. i could not have been more relieved lol.

as for the ending, i really really dislike the bad faith read that the only thing that matters is mythal and that he somehow loves mythal more and if that weren't true then lavellan alone would be able to convince him to stop. varric says about solas that he wants to be a hero, but it's easier for him to play the villain because it means he didn't fail, everything bad he's done is a choice. once you've done one bad thing, betrayed one friend, manipulated and sacrificed some pawns, committed one lil genocide, etc. lmao, it becomes easier to do it again. you've already crossed your moral event horizon and now you just have to find an end that justifies the means of all your misdeeds. what i've said about solas before is that what's frustrating is that he does genuinely feel remorse about the shit he does, but he needs to believe it's necessary and he will keep doing it. he needs to believe it will all be worth it in the end. it's not that he thinks feeling sorry makes up for it necessarily, but that he had to do it. he had to be the one taking on all of the bad things to hopefully one day do a good thing and it will all work out.

(as a side note when solas says "i would not have you see what i become" in trespasser i always thought that meant he was going to resort to some awful corruptive magic or something but it turns out what he actually meant was "i'm about to be a real asshole and do some incredibly awful things and i don't want you to see that side of me" which is much sadder.)

so when rook says "you don't have to do this" solas counters with "i've betrayed and fucked over and killed so many people who trusted me and if i stop i will have done that for nothing." so then the inquisitor jumps in with "as one of those people, i'm telling you that you can stop." but then we get to the heart of it. he thinks he failed mythal when she died the first time and was unwilling to listen to her as flemeth. he needs to make that mean something. he needs to justify to himself what mythal made him into. so he needs to hear from his mythal, not morrigan's mythal who has the benefit of the wisdom and hindsight centuries of living among mortals gave her, but his mythal, the one closest to who she was when she died that what he is is broken. that she's the one that broke him and he alone doesn't have to bear the weight of everything he did because of her. it's not about loving her, it's about the specific relationship he had with her. with that baggage unpacked, he's not only able to let go of his prideful need to prove himself right by tearing down the veil, he's also free to choose what he always really wanted: lavellan.

and still! yet again! he does not ask or assume anything on her part. she offers! of her own free will. something that really rustles my jimmies about a lot of solavellan criticism is that people act like lavellan has no agency. that she couldn't possibly make the choices she does of her own accord and it has to be solas manipulating her. that has never rang true to me at all. she always made the first move. i think this more uncharitable read might unfortunately be encouraged by how many actual solavellan shippers play into the wolf/halla thing but i personally don't think that's the dynamic that weekes actually wrote. it is lavellan that pursues solas, not the other way around. and weekes was honestly so careful in how they wrote the romance so that when solas's identity and plans are revealed, it doesn't feel like he intentionally tricked you or took advantage. i actually really like the ambiguity of whether or not they slept together because to me it does feel like that's a line solas wouldn't cross, but i get why that doesn't matter as much to other solasmancers.

i also think there's this perception that solavellan is a ship with an unhealthy power dynamic that needs to be "fixed" in some way or at the very least apologized for before you're allowed to like it. for me it's honestly kind of the appeal? not that there's some goofy dom/sub thing going on lol but that in spite of how "superior" solas may or may not feel to lavellan and the modern elves, he still falls hook line and fucking sinker for her. lavellan has so much more power in the relationship than she realizes. she changes his entire perspective on modern elves and his ultimate goals so bad he had a complete crisis of faith and had to run as far away from her as he could. how could he have broken the world so badly he needs to catastrophically break it again to fix it if it could create someone like her? someone he wants and cares for so desperately? it's the push and pull of him trying to stay away but selfishly indulging as long as he can that's so juicy to me! it's so good and i just wish other people could see that, even if they don't care for the character.

anyways. i don't have a conclusion. i don't want anyone to think i'm vaguing about them. this is honestly the result of some thoughts that have been brewing for a while and a lot of common criticisms i've seen over the years. i didn't want to respond directly to anyone in particular bc i learned my lesson about not doing that waaay back in the shenko fandom iykyk lol. i just really like the ship! i think it's tragic and romantic and lovely and poetic and mythological and all that good stuff. it humanizes solas as a character and makes me think about empathy and compassion and how much faith you can have in someone if you love them. or how it might feel to sacrifice love for something you think you need to do, only to ultimately realize you never did and find that love patiently waiting for you to get your shit together. or to love someone and know they love you back and that they love you so much they had to leave or they would have given up everything they thought they needed for you and then to be able to actually get through to them and get them back. "she could save him if he'd only just let her"! it's a very niche wish fulfillment fantasy and it's me! i'm the fan being serviced!

[stilljuststardust]

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"Bringing things back" A rant.

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I feel like people are going to misunderstand this post so let me be clear: Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. I just don't think we should be shutting down someone else's desires on a minor technicality.

For a long time a hot topic has been the belief that you cannot "bring back" anything from your DR. So when someone expresses the want to return with pictures, possessions, and keepsakes, they'd often be shut down and told it's not possible.

The general consensus is if you do it you'd just shift back to a reality that's identical except for the item in question, and therefore it doesn't count because it's not this exact reality.

To be clear: a reality exactly like your original all the way leading up to the shifting and coming back except now the desired item has appeared in your room.

In my opinion, why does it matter? Why does it have to be the exact reality you left? Why should someone give up on something they want over a technicality? From your perspective as a shifter it is an experience that is identical to what you wanted anyway.

Think of it this way:

If a friend told you they shifted to their Hogwarts DR a second time would you tell them they're wrong because in-between shifts they scripted in a new pair of socks and therefore they haven't shifted to their Hogwarts DR a second time because they're technically two separate realities? Or is the difference small enough that it doesn't really matter enough to correct your friend?

Personally, if someone lectured me over a pair of socks I scripted I'd be very annoyed.

I have seen multiple people express the desire to bring back photos, proof, etc and they're flat out shut down or scolded. I cannot believe that so many people act as if it is entirely out of bounds because of a small technicality.

We're shifters. Alternate timelines are supposed to be our WHOLE thing and you can't accept this because it's technically a different reality???

If you can believe that you can go to Hogwarts or be a superhero you can believe in a reality where you come back with a small keepsake.

You have limitless potential, you can become anything you want do not throw that away for ANYTHING.

Stop centering this reality so much. It is not the only one that matters, it is not the end all be all, it is not the determiner of what is and isn't possible. If you only wanted what this reality had to offer you wouldn't be here reading this in the first place.

STOP crushing your own dreams because of what @closemindedoldfart3 says is possible. You are not here to give up on the thing you want you are here because you refused to accept this reality as all you were meant for. So stop putting limits on yourself. Do what you want instead of what you think you're capable of.

If you want stuff from your DR in your CR there is literally no reason not to get it.

"Can I-" yes.

"is it possible to-" yes.

"I want to-" yes.

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[hazamacore]

Eva's crow motif & Wolfgang's sheep motif - the relevance of animals in Project: Eden's Garden going forwards

As a disclaimer, Wolfgang of course has two animal motifs - the sheep and the wolf. In this specific post I will only cover the former as I believe it is most relevant in relation to Eva and this first chapter in general. I personally think that his wolf motif will become more apparent as the story progresses and Wolfgang continues to haunt the narrative. As for Eva - many of the things attributed to crows also apply to ravens and some have absolutely pointed out the associations ravens specifically have (Aesop's fables, the Tower of London myth, Edgar Allen Poe) that relate to Eva. I will not be touching on that in this post and am instead focusing on the different species of crow.

With that out of the way - major spoilers for chapter one of Project: Eden's Garden ahead!

& This is a text only version of my tiktok post, if you are more visual and would prefer to read it there!

WOLFGANG & THE SHEEP

The most blatant is that sheep hold great Biblical significance not least because Jesus Christ himself is referred to as the "Lamb of God" and the term "sacrificial lamb" derives from exactly that in Christ's sacrifice to atone the sins of humanity. Wolfgang as a Christ-like figure being killed by Eva named after the first to sin paints the perfect picture for the commencement of the killing game.

Wolfgang is treated by the majority of the cast, barring Eva, Damon and arguably Ulysses and Wenona, as a "saviour". The most explicit example of this thinking is asserted by Desmond after Eva's trial as he refers to Wolfgang as "one of the only people who could've handled this situation" who could have "made progress on escaping". He acts as this guiding light towards salvation for them as sheep are social, flock animals, and shepherds symbols of guidance. Until he is killed and the ideas of atonement and salvation die with him, even as Diana attempts to "resurrect" his image.

"And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord their God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord." (Bible, Moses 5:7, Adam and Eve sacrifice a lamb to God)

If we take Tozu's role in the academy and killing game to be equivalent to that of God, then his animal motif being a ram/goat neatly links to Wolfgang's sheep and Christ symbolism. Tozu is the father, Wolfgang is the son, and Eva (as the bird) is the Holy Spirit and all three are bound together as one in this murder case that implicates them all. Not to mention how Eva literally sacrifices Wolfgang, the lamb, to Tozu, the God.

Shakespeare is an interesting perspective to take into account considering Tozu's theatrical nature and the consistent references to theatre within P:EG (EG: Tozu referencing Horace in the prologue). In Shakespeare's plays, sheep are often symbolic of vulnerability and used as a means of "peripeteia" - the turning point where the narrative's tone darkens. Wolfgang's murder, the first murder, abides by this perfectly. His death symbolises the death of any semblance of order and justice within this situation and opens the way for the killing game to truly begin.

"We were as twinn'd lambs that did frisk i' the sun, And bleat the one at the other: what we changed Was innocence for innocence." (William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, 1.2.85-7)

While lambs are symbolic of sacrifice in many cultures, they are not entirely passive and become aggressive when cornered, usually by gearing up to ram or buck. This reflects how aggressive Wolfgang becomes when drugged and essentially herded in a corner by Eva, leading him to lash out at Diana. Wolfgang is the only character whose animal motif is an animal classed as livestock which is another way upon his sacrificial lamb symbolism that he was destined to die - he has been slaughtered and his metaphorical fleece has been repurposed for Diana to wear instead.

EVA & THE CROW

Firstly, crows tend to be seen either solitary or paired in nature. While they can be social animals, this is not the trend. Instantly this relates to how Eva has endured isolation and exclusion throughout her life, including in the academy. Damon is the first person she forms any sort of bond with and from the moment they wake up in the same area they are cemented as a "pair". P:EG overall has "pairs" as an extremely prominent theme due to the entire concept of Eden.

Her isolation can connect also to how crows have been observed to hold grudges. Eva's history as a victim of bullying instilled in her a victim complex and "me vs them" mentality where she takes any sort of negative reaction as "proof" that people are out to get her - something her Ultimate peers triggered with their mocking of her actual talent and confusion over her lies alike. Her targeting of Wolfgang was based in a grudge born from him singling her out as untrustworthy and how she believed he was turning everyone against her with his influence. Crows are opportunistic creatures - Eva saw the opportunity to get rid of Wolfgang and frame Diana in one fell swoop and took it. Much of her plan relied on that opportunity.

General populations deem crows largely as pests and they are, as a result, vulnerable to hunting by humans which ties into not only how Eva was and believed she was viewed by her peers, but also in how she was being "hunted" by Tozu every moment she did not kill after claiming the perk. That traitor's perk giving Eva access to the cameras essentially provided her with a "bird's eye view" of the happenings around the academy - something made further apparent by how she was watching from right above the murder as it happened.

Crows are known widely as thieves much like magpies both in the sense of them stealing prey from predators and the reputation they have gained in many human cultures for stealing precious items for their nests. It does not feel unintentional, then, that her plan saw her steal from her peers' rooms ("nests") to kill her prey. Additionally, crows have been reported to cause power outages through contact with power lines/poles which directly parallels the blackout during Eva's murdering of Wolfgang.

Most glaringly is how crows hold the familiar associations with evil and the Devil in Gael culture; in the 18th century, shepherds in the Scottish highlands would make offerings to hooded crows ("hoodies") to deter them from attacking sheep.

"In Pennant's Tour in Scotland (1771) there is described a curious ceremony in which offerings were made by Scottish herdsmen to the hooded crow, eagle and other enemies of sheep to induce them to spare the flock. (...) The crow killed lambs and annoyed sickly sheep." - Ernest Ingersoll, 1923, Birds in legend, fable and folklore, p.165

This blatantly links to Eva's murder victim being Wolfgang, whose animal motif is literally a sheep to her crow. The only "offering" made to Eva was Diana's extension of friendship, but at that point the crow had already taken flight. The hooded crows indigenous to the highlands would migrate down to the more temperate southern England during winter where they gained the local name "Royston crows" due to how they feasted on the carcasses of sheep in the sheep fields of Royston, Herfordshire.

In Shintoism, crows are associated with the idea of rebirth after tragedy strikes due to the image of them feasting on the slain after great battles. Much like Wolfgang's "Lamb of God" symbolism, this will likely come to fruition in Eva's presence never truly dying, that she will be remembered after death, and that Diana will "resurrect" her image just as she is attempting to do with Wolfgang.

So: HOW MUCH SHOULD WE CONSIDER THE ANIMAL MOTIFS GOING FORWARDS?

The plain and simple answer is that it depends and must be applied on a case by case basis. Our analysis cannot start and end with the animal motifs nor can it hinge on them as they are one angle of analysis among many - most prominently Biblical allusions and characterisation and, above all, how all of these aspects link to each other. For instance, you cannot just say "this character will kill because their animal motif is a predator" because there are far more layers to it than that.

The animal motifs are important and should not be disregarded as Diana, Eva and Wolfgang have proven - they just cannot be the sole point of analysis at a stage where we have everyone's characterisation to consider in conjunction with them.

For example, while Wolfgang's sheep motif is absolutely relevant and noteworthy, I don't personally think there is as much to say about it as Eva's crow motif based on what we have so far. How it acts as a springboard for Wolfgang's Biblical allusions especially RE his Christ symbolism is the most notable element of it so far in my opinion. And this could very well be because he has two animal motifs for us to sink our teeth into - I just have not found enough with him and the wolf to warrant a full discussion yet.

My thoughts on his wolf motif becoming more relevant later on in the story relates in part to his name, Wolfgang, meaning "travelling wolf" and being taken from an actual German saint in Christianity - which connects deftly to how Wolfgang is already being treated postmortem. In his book "Teutonic Mythology", Jacob Grimm defines the name as one held by a victorious hero. Overall, I think the wolf beneath sheep's clothing is yet to be truly revealed.

On the whole, Wolfgang and Eva prove without a doubt how important and relevant everyone's animal motifs will be beyond mere aesthetics - as does Diana's speech at the end of the chapter! What must be taken into account when looking into what everyone's motifs could mean is their individual characterisations and other elements of their characters. The animal motifs are only one piece of the puzzle, but they are a necessary piece in my opinion.

Thank you for reading please feel free to add more thoughts! I have no doubt I missed stuff, especially in regards to Wolfgang's sheep motif. There is absolutely something to say about him and being an undesirable “black sheep” in relation to his background but those thoughts aren’t fleshed out enough at the moment.

[larryisinlove]

I completely agree with this post by @apparentlybychance and what I write below is from my perspective. My understanding comes from the perspective of someone who studied marketing since 2019, is a community manager and currently works in a marketing agency. 

You are not compelled to take everything I say as the real and only way to look at it, this is my opinion and I respect others as well.

It's clear that Louis needs a new marketing team, as the current one doesn't seem to be doing its job properly or, worse, doesn't even seem to understand what they're doing. Their attempts to divert attention to topics such as his "fatherhood" or sexuality are way too obvious, while his music is poorly promoted. Many fans try to fill that gap by promoting his music organically, but it doesn't have much impact as we are not an enormous fandom and it's not our responsibility either. Moreover, the fan base shrinks with every failed "strategy", which generates disinterest, anger and abandonment of the fandom. This is also reflected in the organisation and promotion of their shows and music releases. 

The worrying thing is that this mismanagement is not new; it has been going on since the beginning of his solo career. Some justify this by saying that Louis prefers to be an underground/indie artist and be left alone with the usual fans, but that makes no sense, that's just a justification for the bad actions of his team. No artist seeks to stagnate or limit his growth. To advocate without questioning every decision of an artist's background doesn't mean being a "bad fan", and it is important to understand that questioning the strategy is not attacking the artist. 

It is frustrating to see that many fans believe that Louis doesn't really want to grow as an artist, which, again, makes no sense. The problem is the lack of planning and analysis on the part of his team, who act without foreseeing the long-term consequences. I don't understand this image they want to give him, because as a fan for years, this is not the Louis I grew up with. Maybe he's trying to distance himself from One Direction and avoid the mainstream stuff, which is admirable, but this kinda rude and distant image doesn't seem to align with his original (and real) essence. 

Those of us who work in marketing and communication have a different, more analytical and technical vision, which allows us to detect patterns and strategies (or the lack of them). This is not a justification to invalidate other opinions in any way, but to offer an informed perspective. With Louis, it is clear that there is no clear strategy. His team seems to improvise, as if every decision is made without a long-term plan, simply reacting in the moment.

The resurgence of the babygate stuff a few days ago is another example of this lack of planning. From the outset it seems to have been an idea launched without considering the consequences and, now that it has grown out of control, they don't know how to handle it or shut it down for good. This only creates more chaos as the years go by. The exposure of the child has been contradictory from the beginning: How can you justify wanting to protect his privacy when he was initially exposed so much by his whole family, from pregnancy onwards, and then included in the documentary "All of These Voices"? Nothing has any coherence if you analyse it at all.

As for the blocking on Twitter, it is hard to believe that Louis has blocked so many accounts without it being known beforehand. It's an absurd and ineffective tactic to manage the narrative of his public image. I agree with the post that "Louis and his team are no different. They like to use subtle tactics like blocking, following, unfollowing or general interactions on their social accounts (mainly X) to manage the narrative of their public image" as this is part of a strategy that has been carried over from One Direction, like when he tweeted "I am in fact straight" or "Larry is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard".

Or Another example we can name is this 2012 interaction with Rebecca Ferguson, where she expresses the overexploitation she was receiving and "Louis" replies "Success is impossible without proper hard work". That contradictory image does not fit with the Louis that many of us fans have known and followed for years. Why would an artist seek to lose fans and, therefore, limit his growth?

Over time, all this has made their actions feel fake and automated. As a fan, one ends up questioning and analysing every action from another perspective, as nothing seems genuine or truthful. His "Hope everyone is doing alright" tweets seem scripted and even programmed, lacking that closeness that used to exist. While we know that artists' social media accounts are controlled, the fan/artist connection remains crucial to maintaining public support and loyalty. When repetitive patterns and bad strategies accumulate, the authenticity of the artist is lost, turning him into a kind of "robot" with no control over his actions, which can end up damaging his image and damaging the relationship with his fans, often without him being fully aware of it. 

From a music marketing perspective, there are several key aspects that Louis' team seems to ignore. An effective marketing team should focus on  research and investigation of the audience, clearly identifying the artist's target audience, considering factors such as age, interests and content consumption platforms. The lack of consistent branding is evident, as Louis' public image doesn't appear to align with his musical and personal essence, leading to confusion.

A well-planned release strategy should include a pre-launch campaign with teasers, interviews and strategic collaborations, something that seems to be absent in most of his projects. In addition, multi-channel promotion is essential, using social media, interviews, streaming playlists and specialised press, without relying exclusively on fandom. A competent team should also focus on authentic storytelling, creating an emotional and genuine narrative to connect with the audience, rather than resorting to polemical tactics that distort his image.

Fan growth and retention is another key aspect. Good marketing seeks to expand the fan base while maintaining the interest of the current, as opposed to what appears to be happening. Finally, long-term planning is essential, with measurable goals and clear direction, rather than reactive and inconsistent decisions.

In conclusion, Louis' team is not managing his career professionally or effectively. Successful marketing requires planning, analysis and authenticity. His fans deserve a clear and respectful narrative, and he deserves a team that will really promote his music and his career. I hope that for LT3 we have a good promotion, that his team starts to get things right because I don't want his career to continue to suffer consequences from this, besides from his image to be ruined by the mismanagement of those working with him.

[grimaldiapologist]

#(other thought: do you think Cara really realized whats happening?) via @sherryholmes

Lads, we're about to find out what the text post limit for Tumblr is, because this is the longest post I've ever made here. Unfortunately it's also a post I've been procrastinating on for days, and turns out, for a good reason. Every part of this was awful. Trigger warning for literally everything but mostly for child abuse and exploration of chronic trauma.

In regards to Caracalla's mental state in this scene and forwards, there's at least three different perspectives that come into play at once, and of the main two (trauma/dissociation and the complications from his syphilis) neither is inherently more important than the next. Both of his issues affect each other as well as the way he perceives his reality, and to get to how much he's really keeping up with things at the end here evidently required half a day's worth of analysis into the whole of the timeline for this scene, but also Caracalla's past from - and I wish I was kidding - birth onwards. But to start someplace that makes sense, we'll go back just a bit from this scene: specifically, to the night before any of this takes place.

While it's obvious that Caracalla's mental state is taking a turn for the worse throughout the film, it's after the discovery of Acacius's plot that he starts looking really rough. The same can be said for Geta, who, dealing with his own issues in the aftermath, has rather suddenly stopped being a singular, solid, reliable foundation for Caracalla to ground upon. In general, Geta's attention (trust, affection) has been steadily turning for Macrinus, who is offering him everything that Caracalla can't: guidance, someone to lean on, a sort of a fatherly affection that he's been missing his whole life.

In the aftermath of Acacius's execution, each of the twins is looking for something from the other that isn't available: Caracalla for Geta's usual ability to reason them out of any trouble and come up with solutions for their safety, Geta for Caracalla to show one inkling of responsibility to help him or at the very least stop attacking him when he already knows he fucked up and it scares him, and with some of Macrinus's gentle guidance, their stressed-out bickering turns to... a very modest, but still significant, physical assault when Geta - aiming to silence Dondus with a splash of water - spills it over his brother instead. As I wrote earlier, this breaks things between them. And this right here is significantly destabilising for Caracalla in specific.

As others have already pointed out, Caracalla's reaction to his brother's outburst (it was you, Geta, not him) is primarily dissociative. He freezes first: the freeze reaction is part of the fight/flight/freeze/fawn quad of primitive reactions to a perceived threat, where when faced with danger to one's immediate physical safety, a person "freezes" in place to minimise the attention they draw to themselves. This reaction is most commonly portrayed and observed in animals, as in people, depictions tend to focus on fight/flight the most. "Deer in the headlights" is a typical metaphor used to refer to a freeze state: that shocked stillness in a person who doesn't know what to do. But a freeze response doesn't inherently express fear: it can be very quiet, and very empty.

The freeze response is inherently a dissociative state. Because the mind perceives the situation inescapable, the person becomes still and silent in the hopes of becoming invisible. On the surface this doesn't make sense in a survival state, because doing this in a situation where you're very much not going to blend into your environment will likely only expose you to more harm than in any way protect you from it - but to understand it, it's important to note that this is the primary response to immediate physical danger found in children.

In comparison to an adult, who has other means of defending themselves, a child will in most cases be incapable of direct self-defense (fight) and they will be too slow to escape danger (flight), so their best bet is to stay very still and hope somebody else intervenes (freeze). A child who is not saved but is then attacked may enter a further dissociative state, where, if they cannot save their physical self, then they can at least save their mental self - they will lock up, and "go somewhere else" in their heads. This is relevant for context, for understanding what the hell this boy is thinking in general, but for now,

what Caracalla does in this situation is just to the left of that. He leaves the room at Macrinus's suggestion, who's read his state quite accurately: he suggests, in a very paternal way, that maybe Caracalla should take Dondus and go look after him someplace else. Go calm each other down. Re-establish safety. This would be great advice coming from literally anybody but Macrinus, because the appropriate response to a freeze/dissociative state is grounding, but, alas, it is Macrinus who says that.

Macrinus, who instead of being a nice person and telling Geta next to do the same and then go fix what he broke, uses this opportunity to go fan the flames. I hate this man, have I mentioned this anywhere before? I hate him so much for what he does to these two.

(I'm keeping myself grounded by looking for illustrations here, and I need you all to know that my screenshot folders have over 4 000 pictures in them. 98% of these pictures are just of Geta and Caracalla with some left Marcus Acacius on the side for spice. I'm normal. Anyway,)

Upon leaving the room, Macrinus easily locates Caracalla again: in a logical continuum in terms of tracking his mental state, he's found here hiding under a table. In essence, after a brief burst of the flight response, he's just moved elsewhere to freeze again.

At this point, and every single point from this moment forwards at the very least, Caracalla's clearly exhibiting another trauma response: regression. While not exclusive to trauma per se, regression involves a person's mental state returning to an approximation of a younger state, a state where that person has previously experienced a similar lack of control in their circumstances, but where they may also have experienced safety and care from their caretakers.

Going by what script!Geta says to him not too long after this scene, it seems reasonable to assume that what Caracalla is doing here is what he's done before to escape his father's explosive rages and violence:

He's... a very small guy. He's likely been a very small child, too. He says to Macrinus that Geta has always had it out for him - even in the womb, Geta tried to cut/grip his umbilicus so that he couldn't breathe, presumably to be the only surviving twin. Now, there's a lot that Caracalla's saying in this scene that needs to be taken with a grain of salt, but he's almost certainly relating here a "memory" that he has about what someone else has told him, or what he's otherwise heard. He probably did have a difficult birth, he probably did experience asphyxiation, and this may have been Geta's "fault" somehow - twin births are significantly more dangerous than solo births. We won't know what exactly happened, but umbilical cords and babies throughout history have not mixed well; hell, I was born significantly after the year 180 AD surrounded by much better medical care, and still the most likely singular cause for my learning disability is that I thought hanging myself by that thing in the womb was a great concept.

Asphyxiation injury in babies can cause poor growth, along with - as indicated above - lifelong disability and difficulty with development that results from brain damage, and I think this seemingly throwaway line is here specifically to tell us why Caracalla is so small and sickly, why he is so vulnerable, and, to a degree, also why Geta is so protective of him. He's never thrived, he's always been smaller and weaker, and

their father hated that. Their father, in general, seems to have despised his sons, but by Geta's description, he went for Caracalla first. Geta got in the way, took the beatings, protected his weaker brother from the violence. The only thing a small child in that situation can do is hide, and Caracalla here, under the table, is doing that again. He remembers that danger, and he remembers that hiding under the table meant a semblance of security and shelter against the danger. He remembers that, when he was hiding, there was someone there to protect him.

There was an excellent post on this by someone in the tags that I will link here pronto if anybody can find it for me, where the poster theorises that Geta's outburst, which is so reminiscent of their father's, has essentially put Caracalla in a PTSD flashback. With the regression, this seems more than plausible: he seems to have recognised his father in his brother's actions just as much as Geta himself must have recognised them, and they are both, in this moment, dealing with what that means - or not dealing, because they're both hiding, one in a curtain and the other under a table. It's interesting to me that this mixing of their past, their father's violence, never leaves Caracalla's mind after this time. He feels haunted by the man and his own actions to some degree in his mind become determined by his father's will, his father's hatred of his brother, which he's had to witness so many times in his childhood.

Now, diverting for a second from the trauma reactions and returning to Caracalla's stories to Macrinus, we can also see the effects of his neurosyphilis here. Which is a condition that's been fun to research because any information on it now is so clouded by mandatory patient direction telling me to go to the doctor and take antibiotics, which, honey, I'm sure Caracalla would have loved to do that, sincerely, but it wasn't an option, so what we get is this:

When Caracalla tells Macrinus about his memories from the womb, Macrinus asks him, "you remember that, do you?" and Caracalla says to him, "certainly; one cannot forget."

This confirms to Macrinus as much as the audience that Caracalla's experiencing delusional thinking, and, being the utter turdbag that he is, Macrinus knows exactly the kind of an opportunity this gives him. When a person is experiencing delusions, it's recommended to neither a) play into them nor b) try to directly contest them, as both ways of confrontation tend to root the delusion deeper into a person's thinking. Macrinus takes route a) like that diverting car meme, and starts telling Caracalla more absolute nonsense that he thinks will hit up nicely with whatever he's already experiencing, and based on all of this evidence, with how he's playing Geta like a father and treating Caracalla like a mother, he knows where his vulnerabilities are. He knows how to turn him against Geta - or at least he thinks that he does, because it doesn't quite work, not all of the way, anyway. But he gives it a good old fucking attempt and I despise him for that. Alas,

now we get to the ugly climax of his manipulation of these two traumatised young men whose lives, safety and futures are breaking down all around them, and who both desperately needed guidance and reassurance from someone who cared about them. He's told Caracalla that Geta intends to betray him, so go ahead and do what you must - you've always wanted to be something on your own, but he's always stood in the way, and by the way, he hates you, too. He says that he loves you, but he doesn't, he lies. You know what to do.

Fortunately however Geta knows his brother, and unlike Macrinus would like Caracalla to think, Geta does love him. No matter how annoying he is, no matter how much he gets in the way, no matter how difficult it is to be an emperor and a carer to a sick brother - Geta loves him. And that's enough, though, before we get to that point,

... mandatory reminder that Caracalla really gets off on blood? Like really gets off on it? This is also another excellent example of his regressed state: he cuts Geta, and this excites him. So much. He's probably never felt this powerful in his life: he did that. He did that. After basking in that feeling for a moment, still smiling like a little gremlin, Caracalla goes for Geta wholesale. He seems to be treating this is as some kind of a game, shifting between two states, one of whom is deeply hurt and driven by Macrinus's lies, and the other is just... being a boy, playwrestling with his brother because for the first time ever, he feels like he's got a winning edge.

In terms of Geta's ongoing Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day however, having his hand slashed gods know how deep shows us that something like this doesn't even make him flinch. After receiving the injury he just stands there, looking at his hand, looking at Caracalla, showing the exact degree of the beatings he's been taking his whole life. This, too, is dissociative, and stems from their childhood dynamics: Caracalla knows how to hide both in his head and as a first response to overwhelming danger, and Geta knows how to block out his emotions as well as physical pain, even significant, major pain, like a deep gash in his hand. He ignores the whole thing, the injury and his own personal hurt and fear, like these factors don't exist, because he has to protect Caracalla first.

Nothing Geta does in this scene is for himself. He's afraid, yes, but he's afraid for Caracalla more. And if that doesn't break your heart then I don't know. Good for you. I can't watch this scene again. And he literally dies holding Caracalla's face with his injured hand, looking him in the eye, because he loves him, and that's it for Geta.

In this godforsaken fucking piece of cinematic history, when Macrinus takes Caracalla's hand and butchers Geta with it, Caracalla is - understandably and visibly enough - back to freeze/dissociation again.

And I think some of that might be Geta's doing, in a sense: in order to break Caracalla out of their shared PTSD flashback which he started, unintentionally, by momentarily being the worst of himself to the one person who relied on him the most, Geta's now recounted the exact abuse, the exact circumstances, of Caracalla's memories back to him. He's done this to fix the narrative: I protected you. I love you. Our father hurt us. Doing so, he's put the pieces back together for Caracalla: Geta is not their father, Geta's his brother, and he protects him and loves him. He has always protected him.

So, now that Caracalla can recognise Geta for who and what he is: who takes his hand, then, and directs the blade? Is it not Macrinus, the man who has in all senses become a father to them? Does Caracalla's father then not hold his hand to punish Geta for getting in the way, again, like he always does?

The question was, do you think Cara really realized whats happening?

And after this essay of utter pain and suffering, I hate to say it, but yes, he does absolutely realise what's happening, but he is just as incapable of incorporating any of this into his reality, into any reasonable narrative that isn't controlled by the ghosts of his past. For Geta's death specifically, though, yes. He does realise it. Very much. He looks Geta directly in the eye while he dies, and every bit of his expression screams "I'm losing you and there's nothing I can do to stop it from happening."

His body might be in a freeze state again - limp, controlled first by Geta himself, then taken over by Macrinus - but he sees what's happening. He knows what's happening. The way he goes from this:

to this:

tells you that he knows. He knows.

And to wrap this horrific fucking thing up all nice and good before I print it out just to chuck it in a fire, I'm including the bit of the scene at the Senate that evidently we didn't need to see in the film:

This is Caracalla, trying desperately to make sense of his reality, the things that were done with his body against his will, his unspeakable and indescribable loss, and the lies that Macrinus has told him all over it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go have a nice day in some other place where none of this happened and Macrinus never existed at all. As a fellow survivor of childhood abuse at the hands of a parent, fuck you, Macrinus. Fuck you for what you did to them. You're the single worst kind of a person on earth and if you were real I would eat your entrails for lunch.

This has been a post, good timezone.

[impval]

slowest heart

omega!Cate Dunlap x fem!alpha reader Warnings: a/b/o, mentions of rape.

Yeah, Godolkin is chaos incarnate. A bunch of young supers with so much freedom at Godolkin - it's like a recipe straight out of a reality TV show. It's like they wanted the place to turn into a teen drama. The idea of a deadly virus that could wipe out all the supers? In a world where superpowered beings are treated like celebrities and tools and threats, it was only a matter of time before shit like this happened.

Indira wanted to kill all the supes?

Oh goddamnit, no way, the villain is British? Fuck, what a damn stereotype.

When Jordan and their girlfriend came to you seeking your help, it was hard to focus on anything but Cate. Why would she get involved in something like this? Was she coerced? Blackmailed?

You like Cate.

You had always been drawn to people like her - sharp, powerful. Despite being an omega, Cate's powers and status meant that she was rarely, if ever, belittled or diminished due to her biology. People respected (feared) her.

Back when Luke was alive, you respected Cate's decision to be with him, even if you thought their relationship was a bit strange. They seemed more like a pretty picture than a real, happy couple. But after he died, you didn’t want to impose on her grief. Who hits on an omega right after her boyfriend died? It just felt wrong. So you kept your distance.

Experiments, Vought, the Woods.

You knew why Jordan and Marie approached you. You were possibly the only person on the planet who couldn't be mind-controled. The perks of your power. Jordan and Marie deal with Sam, and you..

In a timeline where all of this never happened, where this shitshow never started, you would never have met Cate. And everything would be so different. Carnage. Blood. Death. A missing arm. In another universe, you never would've been born.

But you were in this universe. The one where you did exist.

When you saw Cate, you knew instantly what Jordan was rambling about. The blood, the madness, raw and untempered, in her eyes. Now you could believe that she had killed Dean Shetty. You better understood now just why Jordan was so reluctant to deal with her and her power. The omega was terrifying, with a determination in her eyes that could only be halted by violence.

Or a alpha.

Heats. Just one word. And all it brought with it. The sweat, the pain, the lust. The loss of control that came with it. Cate had experienced all her heats on her own - because she was locked away in a room. Then it was her choice. Every single damn time. Even when Luke gave a gentle offer. Even when the alphas stared at her with hungry lust.

This time, Cate had ignored the symptoms - the aches, the need - because let's be real. With Luke dead, with Indira and her orders, she had bigger things to worry about than a simple heat. Cate wasn't going to let her own biology or desires distract her - because she sure as hell didn't deserve anything good. Not after all the crap she had done. The death, the pain. Cate didn't want this, but who gave a fuck?

Cate had come so goddamn close. If she held on just a little bit longer, a little bit longer, a goddamn bit longer...the Woods would be empty, just as she wanted. A pathetic, cheap version of redemption. That was all Cate could really do.

Her scent was not that of a sweet, submissive omega. Nothing fragile, nothing warm, nothing easy. Her scent was sharp, demanding, heavy, dominant. Screaming and loud.

She picked up on your scent long before you were even in front of her, eyes widening in quiet surprise as your scent washes over her. Alpha. Alpha, dammit. Honestly, you're way too soft for an alpha. Or lazy, but that depends on perspective. You've never seen the point in fighting for power, dominance, status. And you have never been on-board with the Stone Age alpha-omega bullshit.

As an alpha, you could pay no attention to the whole mess.

But Cate is an omega, and she could not. She had lived her whole life fighting for her own freedom, her safety, and her own body. Maybe it was that, that made her start spitting out threats the moment she saw you, baring her fangs. Like a wild animal.

Or was it your scent. It was soft - nothing like the dominating, heady scents of other alphas. Despite the fact you are, a goddamn alpha. And if Cate had paid better attention to her own body, the all signs - she would never have gotten into a situation that was basically every omega’s nightmare.

Looks like the epic battle is going to have to wait for a different time.

It's ironic that Cate was such a walking, talking disaster that a mere minute with you - a minute of conversation - was the only thing she needed to have her heat suddenly flare up, nearly bringing her to her knees.

No.

"No," Cate gasps, even as her hands curl around your shoulders. Her skin's clammy beneath your touch. "No," she repeats more firmly, even as her body arches against your chest.

Cate is afraid. She is well aware of, knows exactly what most alphas do to omegas. How the hell they use them as playthings. She had not wanted an alpha. Not even Luke, and despite how terrified it made her, a part of her was actually relieved when he died.

Her back strains as if trying to arch away from you and even her skin looks inflamed, the flushed skin of her face spreading all the way down her exposed neck.

She's so fragile in your arms, so impossibly light. Too thin, too bony, too weak. And fuck - you had never been a fan of Luke, but you had thought, believed that he mattered to her. That he cared. Apparently you were incorrect, he had clearly not given a fuck, because...

Her scent is bitter - the sharp tang of fear, of horror, and all the madness, the raging fire that had been flaming in her only a blink of an eye ago, has vanished suddenly. Your own alpha instincts are going wild.

Protect, claim, guard, mine, mine, mine.

This entire situation is so wrong.

Cate hates feeling weak and helpless like this. She can barely move, let alone control the pathetic whimper that drags itself out her throat as she's laid down. She doesn't want to be here. Cate knows you, understands that for some damn reason, her powers do not work on you. You are the singular person who is safe and who is immune to her powers and, what's worse - you're an alpha.

The room smelled entirely of you, it was your damn room, after all.

When you return with a pills and water, a flash of fear appears in Cate's eyes, and she starts to sit up - only to sink back against the sheets with a bitten-off cry.

There was so much of Cate in the room, her heat, the scent of omega that it took all of your will-power to not react. You moved away the moment you placed the pills and the bottle of water on the bed, ensuring there was distance between you and her - letting her at least keep the illusion of security.

Cate stares up at you, lips parted, breathing heavy and ragged as she tries not to let the pain show across her expression. She hates being so exposed, so vulnerable. You could do anything to her, and all she can do - all she's capable of - is lie here and take it.

And yet you don't do anything. You retreat, you give her space.

Fuck it all to hell. You could always just, leave - lock her in your room and go somewhere far away. Somewhere where you can’t smell the heat in her scent, or hear the whimpers, but for whatever damn reason - you don’t. Must be a sadist, because you are both suffering.

No demands, no commands. Despite your physical power, you're not using it over her. Maybe you're just biding your time, but you don't act like it, smell like it. Your scent is soothing, a warm blanket, a promise of comfort and safety.

Cate's breath trembles as she tears her gaze away. She takes a deep breath before pushing herself up on her hands. Despite her obvious pain, she tries to sit up straight. Cate has a fucking genocide to start, an entire revolution (a carnage) - but she is stuck in the cage of her own biology. What a shame.

The pack of pills in her hands do look like painkillers. The name is familiar, the look is familiar. She takes a couple and washes them down with water, praying it's not a trap.

It's not a trap.

Ten minutes later, Cate's trembling somewhat eases. The pain's still there, but it's numbed enough to be more of a dull ache. It's also enough for her to realise that you're still sitting there, and her tongue feels thick and heavy in her mouth.

All this time you work through every single damn breathing exercise you know, counting sheep, and trying not to think about Cate on your bed. You want to touch her. You long to take away her pain, caress away her suffering and mark that lovely neck of hers. You would be so goddamn good to her. Better than Luke, better than anyone.

But you continue to stay seated on the cold, uncomfortable floor.

"You're...not gonna touch me?" Cate asks quietly, and she'd be embarrassed by how weak and broken she sounds if she wasn't already overwhelmed by everything else.

You have helped other omegas in heat before - lend a helping hand. However, it was always at the consent, the request of the omega. You have never understood - cannot comprehend the alphas who have taken, without caring about others, disregarding the pain, the tears of their omegas.

Despite how loudly your instincts are roaring, demanding that you take her, you don't even move or try to touch Cate when she's made it so clear that she's terrified of it. You briefly wonder over why Cate is so terrified of you, of alphas (?). You truly don't want to think on the sickening possibility that it's from personal experience.

Your hands have clenched in your lap as you take a shaky breath, trying to stay in control. “You said no."

No.

One word. A simple, but powerful.

It's been a long time since Cate's had any sort of positive experience with an alpha. Luke, of course, was an alpha, but he was...well, Luke. He was with her only for status. In a way, he was using her. This is the order of things.

Cate has always known this.

Her own mother, a cruel, indifferent alpha who did nothing to soothe her daughter’s suffering. The media that has forever painted omegas as helpless and empty. The arrogant alphas on campus who would leer, smirk. Only Cate’s power, her status, and Luke’s status had provided her any form of protection.

Twelve (?) minutes ago Cate had been screaming threats and insults at you. It is obvious that Cate is crazy. It would be logical for you to do what every other damn alpha would do, subdue and take the bitchy omega, force her into compliance. Claim her and make damn sure that she doesn’t cause further problems.

She doesn't know what to say, much less how. Her brain's still half-melted, but there's one thought that just keeps repeating in her head.

safe safe safe

Safe? There’s no such thing as safe, never will be again. Not after what she did. Broken, broken, broken. Twisted and ugly. Pathetic.

But being here, in your bed, in your presence, is safe enough to allow her body to relax, just slightly to ease some of the cramping and tension. The pain still lurks, just waiting to rise at the first sign of any stress, and Cate isn't about to test her luck.

You can notice it even now, in the midlle of her heat. Cate is not okay, not okay at all. A heavy feeling settles deeply in your stomach. You should had asked Jordan more questions.

But you can begin now, and you’ve always wanted to get to know her.

Cate was with Luke, but he had never marked her. And then he'd died and it had turned out she was sleeping with Andre, but not once was your eyes drawn to the sweet, unmarked skin of her neck.

You swallow and can't hold in your damn curiosity any longer. “Why didn’t Luke mark you? You guys looked perfect together."

Luke and Cate seemed like the perfect couple. The most popular couple at God-U. The golden couple. Everyone looked up to them, and Cate would lie and pretend that her relationship with Luke meant anything at all. It was only Indira who had demanded, ordered her to be with him. Maybe Luke had instinctively known that she was manipulating him. Perhaps that’s why he had never marked her.

Now that she thinks about it, it's funny how much of her life was filled with lying.

"Appearances are deceptive," Cate mutters quietly, forcing herself to keep her breathing even.

Her mother locked her away, afraid of her power, of her touch. Indira had been kinder. She had touched her with such kindness, with a gentle smile. But she had also pushed Cate over the edge time after time - erasing memories, hurting and breaking people again and again. Cate had always been a needy, desperate, touch-hungry omega, yet it was Indira who had molded her into a pathetic, truly broken creature.

Cate can't help but scoff. If Luke had known how much of a manipulative psycho she really was, he'd never have touched her. No one wants that kind of crazy.

Cate's hands clench in the blankets, nails digging into her palms as she tries to calm her breathing. It's hard to remain calm when she still has a raging heat, and even just the thought of a mate triggers her instincts.

“Why…Why did you get in my way?” the question hangs in the air.

Why hadn’t you just stayed away, why had you even searched for her, why hadn’t you let her fall into madness?

Why are you looking at her so softly?

“Well, I would’ve missed this entire party, but Jordan literally stormed into the classroom, dragged me right out of there." you answer honestly. "They were so nervous, like the apocalypse was about to start."

Cate wants to scream and laugh. Indira truly did love her, it was true. She loved her, used her, and abused her trust. Yet Cate had chosen not to trust Indira, but instead her own friends, and where are they all now?

For those she called friends, Cate was nothing but a freak, a monster, a feral animal. They couldn’t even fucking face her. Of course they threw you at her. You, who couldn't be controlled by Cate.

Truly, Jordan was her favorite, the only one who was even close to a friend. Andre only desired her, Luke saw her as a damn trophy, and Jordan… the beta was the only one of them who tried to understand Cate.

You see something dark pass over Cate’s face, as if something in her heart, her chest is breaking right in front of your eyes. It only lasts a second before she buries it behind a anger, and pure stubbornness.

“Did Jordan tell you? About the Woods? About the things humans do to us. And all that bullshit is right underneath us, right now,” Cate spits, her voice bitter.

Cut, electrocuted, injected with gods know what. Students were nothing more than lab rats, nothing but specimens to be studied.

You never realized that you could have been one of them. You could not be more grateful that your power was not more interesting, that you were just yourself. You were fine with stupid jokes and a somewhat stable psyche. Brink had never shown the slightest interest in you, and Indira hadn’t even looked your way.

But Cate was not so lucky.

You refuse to take your eyes off of her. “Yeah, they told me. They also said that they had a plan to deal with it,” you said, hoping that they really did know how to handle it. Anything was preferable to letting the traumatized students out of the fucking torture chamber.

Cate gives a strangled sound before pulling the blanket tightly around herself, hiding her face from your gaze. She was sweating, shaking in your bed, surrounded by pillows and a blanket that served as a makeshift nest.

Right.

"So..a killer virus?" you can't help but ask.

"I helped Indira. I did what she wanted. That’s why Luke is dead. He couldn’t handle all of the bullshit." Cate touches her head and you know what she means.

Jordan has given you the details. Mind control, erased memories. You can’t help but pity all of them, losing memories, literal pieces of their own selves is awful. It was even worse when it had been done to them by a friend, someone they’d thought they could trust.

"I didn't want this."

You say nothing. There’s nothing that you can say. After all, you can’t bring back the broken memories without the pain. Luke won’t return from the grave. It would be a still huge fucking mess.

So you just stay quiet.

An hour, maybe two had gone by and still no one had sent even a single text. At this point, it was getting dark and you had absolutely zero idea of what was going on outside of your safe bubble.

Cate was as quiet as possible, but she was unable to stop herself from a pained sound, or an occasional tear. Even with painkillers, this heat is horrible.

Maybe it's the heat, or the pain, or just the intense vulnerability of the moment.

"Why would you even here? If not to use me? I'm crazy." she's almost scowling, but she can't keep the tears from welling in her eyes. "I have issues. I'm damaged."

Your head snaps up quickly, surprised by the sudden question.

Oh god, Cate… is beautiful.

Even with her hair slick with sweat, eyes bloodshot and face pale, she’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever laid eyes on. She doesn’t need force to make you do anything, you do it all willingly, on your own accord, of your own free will.

Your entire body, aching from the hard, cold floor, and desire. So desperate, so close to her. You lick your dry lips.

You hadn’t given her a second thought, back then. It was the incident, that’s what had made you notice Cate.

"We used to have a class together, you know? We sat next to each other, but we never spoke. I'm not even sure if you remember that I was there."

Two alphas flirted with you. Lots of muscles but not a single thought in damn head. One of them started grabbing you, right in class, like this was the norm. And you didn’t even blink, you dealt with them so quickly, that I didn’t have a chance to open my mouth. All it had taken was a single touch to you to get them to beat themselves between the legs down at the sports ground. And you just continued to read your book. I can remember thinking at the time: wow, what a damn shame she is with Luke, I totally would have asked her out.

Cate is looking at you, really looking at you.

You…

You remember that?

For Cate, it was just one of many occasions where she used her powers as a tool. It was a way to gain more popularity. To make herself look tough and powerful.

But you remember it as the first day you saw her, as the first time you became interested in her as an omega.

"You like me?"

Goddamn it, you didn’t want to say it, but you wanted to be honest with her. Your cheeks are burning red and you nod. “Yeah…I tried not to press you. You’re so… independent. Even when you were with Luke, you looked like you hated the idea of anyone having any power or control over you.”

It wasn’t just that she hated anyone having power over her. It’s more like she was so used to people trying to get control of her that even Luke’s very existence felt oppressive.

"I don’t like people telling me what to do." Cate mutters.

Even with her powers, she felt like she couldn’t be her own person. Even when she had all the power, she still felt helpless.

"I’m a difficult omega."

You can't help but laugh a little. "I’m a a weird alpha."

Part of her finds it amusing. Part of her finds it very attractive.

"You are a weird alpha." she agrees, giving you a slight smirk.

It is this realization that finally helps her to relax.

You want her, yearning for her. Cate knows what to do with you, how to use your want, your need, your desperation. Even immune to her power, you are still alpha.

Luke is dead, Indira is gone too, Andre doesn’t want to even look at her. Let Jordan and Marie deal with the Woods and all the consequences.

Cate, on the other hand...Cate can just let go.

"Come here."

Oh god. You weren’t expecting this-

But how could you possibly resist, when Cate looks at you with those eyes and asks (orders)?

You rise, your legs a little sore from the hard floor, moving in towards the bed, step by step. Until you are stood at the bedside, and waiting for her response before you move any closer.

She’s expecting you to push her back onto the bed. She’s expecting you to force her to submit, to tell her what to do.

But of course, you don’t do that. Instead, you hesitate, almost awkwardly, waiting for her to tell you what to do.

Even when you’re standing above her, standing beside the bed, you’re so sweet and submissive.

She loves it more than she thought she would.

She pats the spot next to her.

"Sit."

Maybe, maybe Cate has found the one she's been looking for her whole life. A person, an alpha with whom she'll be safe.

Your heart is pounding in your chest, your pretty sure Cate can hear it. Your scent is mixing with hers and it just feels so… right.

You sit yourself down on the bed, still watching her, like a puppy waiting for a command.

Normally, Cate hates the way alphas smell. It’s a sharp, musky stench, like rotting meat. Like death.

But yours is different. It’s like cinnamon and firewood and honey all together. You smell like a home. A home that she just wants to get closer and closer to.

She scoots closer.

"Lie down."

Part of you just cannot believe that this is happening. That Cate, the girl you’ve wanted for such a long time, is looking at you like this now. The other, alpha, is singing - so ecstatic that she has finally noticed you.

Now you’re lying down, on your back. And Cate, despite being the omega of the two of you, is straddling you, sitting on top of you and looking down at you.

She’s not touching you yet. Her thighs are touching the sides of your hips. Cate is in complete control. And she isn’t even using her powers to do it.

She can see the way you are laying under her, unmoving. She leans down, her blonde hair falling forward and tickling across your face.

"Kiss me."

A simple order, and you follow it happily. Her lips brush against yours, tasting you.

You kiss her slowly, gently and lightly, your hands cupping her face. It feels so amazing to have her weight upon your body, to have her above you.

You don’t try to overpower her, to force into her mouth. You let her take control, like a good girl, and she can feel the way your body goes soft and relaxed under her. The sound of your lips against hers is the sweetest sound she’s ever heard.

Finally, she pulls back, panting, feeling the first waves of exhaustion. it’s not the right time, Cate thinks, annoyed at the timing.

Your lips are swollen, your pupils dilated wide. You are willing to give in, to be soft, pliable, obedient and give her everything she wants, everything she needs.

"Cate?"

“I’m…I’m fine. Just tired.” She admits, suddenly feeling a little bit weak and vulnerable in spite of her position on top of you.

Oh. Her heat must have taken a lot out of her, her body exhausted. She is sweaty, pale, and slightly shaking. You smile gently, stroking her cheek softly and reassuringly. “We can just lay together. Just sleep.”

For some reason, that’s exactly what she needs to hear. Cate is suddenly overcome with exhaustion when you say those words. Like just the reassurance of those few words was enough to release her from the stress.

Cate is in no rush. Now, with Indira gone, there will no longer be experiments. No more orders and violence. It will be just Cate and her life. If others want to deal with the mess, she let them.

And Cate...Cate will take what she wants.

She lets out a breath and suddenly lets herself soften, sinking down onto you so that her head is on your chest.

“Just sleep.” She agrees, nuzzling into you.

Her eyelids are so heavy. Suddenly, the exhaustion is all she can focus on. She’s not even aware of her own soft purring.

You wrap your arms around her, pulling her close, covering you both with the blanket. She’s unnaturally hot, and you know that her heat will very likely not go away until the early hours of the morning.

She’s been fighting her heat for this whole week. It’s been a struggle everyday to keep her body from acting up, to keep her mind in control. But now, she’s lying here, in your arms.

And finally, finally, she can sleep.

[canarydraws]

Putting wips of your characters from different campaigns on the same page is a mistake I was just trying to compare them for height reference and I accidentally created a fairy gf/goth gf dynamic! Now I’m SAD and MAD because these two are my own characters and the only way I’ll ever get to see them together is if I go off the rails and actually draw AU content for them!

…which I might. I have no idea what I’d draw but literally them just standing on the same page is cute and I want to see what my 5’5 space paladin and my 6’3 pf magus would do if they ever existed in the same room

[sysig]

So much experimenting to be done, where to even start (Patreon)

[thegreatyin]

and with that, evolution is complete.

i do think the scoundrel made the right choice, in the end. maybe- potentially- they think so too.

[curiosity-killed]

i love my sister and for the most part, we are very close and genuinely like each other a lot but the one place where i'd just really, really, really like to see inside her brain is the part where she is still incredibly comfortable and cheerful—and even thinks it's really funny—talking about how much she didn't like me as a child while I'm like. yes. I am and was aware. and it sucked so so so much

[bylertruther]

sometimes. people on here will say things where i know if i point-blank asked them "hey, do you like butches, femmes, and people that do not 'look' or 'act' queer?" they'll of course say yes duh. and i know if i asked them, "cool. do you think that an androgynous person or 'very gender nonconforming' (for lack of better phrasing) is more queer than someone that isn't?" they'll say no of course not.

but then you read the things they've said about how queer people present themselves, how they "should" present themselves once they've reached a fully realized state, and how it relates to gender and relationships and its like Hmmmmmmmmmm. i don't think you do like any of those three groups i mentioned actually if that's how you really feel on those issues lmao.

it's the same school of thought behind the perplexingly popular idea that because noah wears athleisure, he couldn't possibly be gay (before he came out, this was the common sentiment; and even now, people act like finn is more queer than noah, just because he "looks and acts" like it according to them). this idea that you have to look and act a certain way to be Actually Queer or Queer Enough, and if you don't, then that's because you've fallen victim to conforming or you just aren't as comfortable with your identity. (what? as if there's a single queer identity to begin with?)

that if you're a queer guy and you behave or look masculine, then you just haven't come out of your shell and accepted yourself or experimented enough. that if you're a queer woman and you're feminine, then the same applies, or you're not as queer as a butch woman, who does exhibit gender nonconformity, for example. and if you're butch or femme (+ other equivalents), or in a relationship with your counterpart, then you're perpetuating heteronormativity, as if that's even possible, and we all know that's so very, awfully, terribly Bad, you're a stain on the community, and you have issues you need to work out.

people don't have to look or act in a particular way to be acceptably queer enough. we don't all gravitate towards certain expressions of gender nonconformity or androgyny just because we're queer, and a failure to do that doesn't suggest that we're uncomfortable with ourselves and our identity. you can continue to be yourself as you were even after realizing you're queer. that's not impossible or a bad thing.

femmes and gay men that are masculine in any capacity are not traitors, confused, or less gay. some people are the way that they are, regardless of their sexuality. we don't all morph into the same person when we realize we're queer. that shouldn't be a difficult concept to understand? that's literally just... being a human and treating queer people as such.

those evil gay people who are in "masc/fem" relationships aren't perpetuating heteronormativity either. just because they exist outside of your realm of understanding, or have the kind of relationship that you wouldn't personally want for yourself, that doesn't mean that they aren't members of your community—which is the queer community, in case you forgot—and don't deserve respect, too.

like. it's just so demoralizing lmao. what's so hard to understand about accepting that people are all different and that just because we may belong to the same community, that doesn't mean that we are all the same and must fall in line? it's so tone-deaf, insulting, and just plain unrealistic. you may not mean it that way, but it is. that rhetoric just is.

feminine gay women exist. masculine gay men exist. sometimes they may experiment with their gender expression once realizing this, but they don't always and they don't have to to be considered queer. butch/fem relationships and other similar relationships are not imitations of heterosexuality, because they're fucking gay, and they do not adhere to traditional heterosexual roles, because, again, they're fucking gay.

your experiences and beliefs are not universal. gay people are not clones of each other. stop invalidating or speaking down on other queer people just because you can't relate to them personally. i know some people don't mean to insinuate these things, but you do. you are. constantly. and the people that fall in those categories you've deemed unacceptable and other, see it.

it's so... exhausting to face that in this space, which is supposed to be a respite from the physical world where that happens, too. and those actions, those beliefs that people share, they also bleed into the physical world and how you interact with other people in your community. it's not just little words that you write and have no meaning. it doesn't start and end with a fictional character. the things that you say matter and sometimes they're very troubling.

people who have been in those "fem/masc" relationships, or that identify with any kind of similar label, have not lived a life that's an imitation of heterosexuality, nor are they any less queer than you just because you haven't been in/participate in relationships like that.

[table-top-romulan-playing-games]

RE: the last post about Deanna becoming a Bridge Officer...

Wasn't she technically already a bridge officer? Or is there a difference between her being a Senior Officer/Counselor who happens to be on the bridge at all times next to the captain as a senior advisor, and a Bridge Officer who does the exact same thing but gets to sit in the captains chair?

If memory recall serves me, you can be a bridge officer without taking the Captains Test or whatever it's called, including the kobiyashi maru test, bc not all officers on the bridge are eligible to sit in the captains chair should it be requested???

Like for some reason I assumed that if you were allowed to be on the bridge working and manning stations, you were a Bridge Officer... But apparently in order to be a Bridge Officer you have to complete a test for Captains, although Crusher has the Bridge Officer Status, even though she doesn't operate on the bridge...

Literally the only difference I can see between you average Officer on the Bridge and a Bridge Officer is whether or not they are eligible to sit in the captains chair once in a blue moon..

Like Deanna is a Senior Officer, With Rank, who is frequently seen doing shifts on the Bridge as an Advisor and Picard's aid in Diplomacy, and your telling me she doesn't have the title of Bridge Officer bc she didn't take an exam to sit in Picard's Seat every 3rd Tuesday of the month????

Like "Line of Command" or even "Acting Captain Eligible" would've been better maybe???

[butchlifeguard]

something i was thinking about on stand yesterday.. danganronpa shsl lifeguard who tries to save a dying person they find, bonus points if they dont come clean about it at first because they think they actually killed that person with their efforts

[bookwyrminspiration]

I don't really have a final conclusion for this, I've just been thinking recently that I appreciate the effort Shannon made to say its okay to learn differently than others and have unique needs, however Exillium being the medium through which that message is conveyed in Unlocked falls short (at least for me) because...that's also the punishment school. Having different educational needs and being sent to a different school--not to mention one that's not even part of formal society and is literally in the wild--for poor behavior/choices are two very different things, but they've been lumped together.

Yes, it's entirely okay to learn differently and have unique needs, but that's not why kids get sent to Exillium. It's not a school to help accommodate their learning. Kids are, from what we've seen, sent almost always because they've caused problems and are deemed unfit for the typical schools. Disruptive, problematic, criminal, lesser, etc. So also having it be the alternative learning school kind of implies a correlation between having different needs and making poor choices/having problem behavior. Like none of these students "learn differently" (that we've been told at least) they caused problems (intentional or not) that people didn't want to deal with. Maybe this isn't representative of all Exillium students, but it's all we've seen so far that I can recall.

And yes Exillium is improving and did have a positive initial intention, but as it is right now I find myself (personally, these are my feelings) uncomfortable at it being used to say its okay to learn differently. Because it doesn't feel like it follows through on that message. Having the school where kids with criminal behavior are sent out of sight separate from the rest of society being the school for alternate learning styles just doesn't sit quite right.

And yes, some of the kids sent there were just labeled disruptive/problematic and they didn't actually do anything wrong but be themselves, but their being fucked over by the system doesn't change that that is how the system works.

I'm not really going anywhere with this and it's difficult to articulate (I'm sure I've missed a few clarifying points because I keep debating with myself back and forth) because I do think Shannon meant well, I'm not an expert, and there are always arguments to be made to the contrary (like I said, I've been debating with myself). It's just something I've been thinking about because I always feel icky reading that part of Linh's Exillium commentary, but maybe I'm making a problem out of nothing.

[nururu]

hiyori and Zoro is one of my fave Zoro ships and one day I'll write an analysis on them and convert all of you.