#and the complexity of roman's character is that you see him being emotional and have a big heart and then you see him endorsing mencken

[comfycel]

succtwt acts like if you say you're interested in mencken as a character it means you're on your way of becoming a n*z*

[an-exasperated-hades-kid]

So I've been seeing a lot of will solace hate, and I'm here to defend my son.

First of all, he's not a toxic person at all he's a human who can mess up at times and be unintentionally rude, like in that one scene boo where he says

‘Oh, please.’ Will sounded unusually angry. ‘Nobody at Camp Half-Blood ever pushed you away. You have friends – or at least people who would like to be your friend. You pushed yourself away. If you’d get your head out of that brooding cloud of yours for once –

^ that is rude but he didn't have bad intentions because according to him nico wasn't scary and the people that he hung out with - Lou Ellen and Cecil- didn't think that nico was scary either as they were both friendly towards him when they met him at the Roman camping area outside chb so while his delivery wasn't good he meant no harm and he also helped nico realize that not everyone hates him and then there are a few jokes that he made that people consider toxic or offensive but nico was never offended or sad about these jokes he only rolled his eyes and acted exasperated so he knew will meant no harm .

Will is canonically described as a laid-back and calm person, but he is also stubborn when it comes to certain things like medical related things which is understandable since he can feel everything physically wrong with a person by just touching them and is persistent that they don't die and Take care of themselves which is understandable since he saw majority of his siblings die and doesn't want more ppl to die .

Will is actually quite a complex character he's calm and laid back but he's stubborn and strict when he needs to be he's supportive and loving to nico but since he's a kid he struggles with being understanding sometimes hence why he asks persephone for advice on how to be there for nico properly showing that he's mature enough to ask for help . He's also someone represses his emotions because he thinks that as head counselor, he has to be a perfect example, and he told this apollo in the 1st toa book. He's also pretty insecure about his abilities, as shown in boo

Evidence:

You did,’ confirmed Nico. ‘But it was the way you did it. You made it clear that you wanted me around. You said you wanted me to come to the infirmary and help, because … because you could use a “friendly face”.’

‘It was true. And you did help.’

‘You brought me closer instead of rejecting me,’ Nico said, his voice cracking. ‘I’d never been called a friendly face. Ever. You made me rethink everything – my place in camp, my crush on Percy, my future. It took you scolding me like you were the camp director to make me realize that I was … wanted.

___

But with Nico … It’s hard, Persephone. I want the best for him, and he seems to disappear into his darkness, like he’s hiding in a place where he doesn’t want my light.’

‘Then why not offer him your darkness

_____

Nico sighed in exasperation. He hated working with other people. They were always cramping his style, making him uncomfortable. And Will Solace … Nico revised his impression of the son of Apollo. He’d always thought of Will as easygoing and laid back. Apparently, he could also be stubborn and aggravating

_______________________________________

In conclusion will isn't toxic and he isn't perfect and if I'm wrong about something please point it out cause I haven't read the books in a while and if I missed something please point it out and I'm sorry for the typos I wrote this without wearing my glasses as 3 am after studying for a test

[andreadesantis3806]

I see many people saying (or mixed opinions) saying Aemond's High Valyrian was weak, the grammers not correct, the pronounciation all wrong and stuff. But how so exactly?The show creators might be complete assholes towards the writing, but one thing they ARE good at, is creating the world of ASOIAF. And in no way they would let a character's actor get in front of the camera without a proper knowledge of what is written in the script, or having been verified by experts. Plus , con lang english romanizations exists. The actors just get a brief idea of how to drag and pronounce certain drag and rolls on the letters, rest are just memorized from what is written in the script.

It is why actors, during games in interviews are not able to answer what is the meaning of basic valyrian words such as ''Zaldrizes'' or ''Perzys'' etc. Cuz they spend much time on perfecting their roles and getting thru to learn an entire diff language. Romanizations are always written in the script, they just need to take the time to memorize and perfect their accents.

Yet people are coming and saying Aemond's HV sounds horrible, or stuff is not correct. But Where? He said what he was supposed to say, with perfectly emotions laced to it. Sometimes it is difficult to get grip on the theme you want to interlace within the language u are speaking; esp languages u r def reading memorized from script. So one needs to focus on the language itself, AS WELL AS the emotions they want to convey. Aemond sounded mocking, sarcastic and definitely intended to get on Aegon's nerves; thus his HV adapts that way as well. You will notice when he speaks HV, he very much sounds like his own self; that is Aemond's own soft, almost evil-siren-smooth tone he goes for as in Common Tongue. So considering it, the HV came out really well, breaking off and chaining back to a gentle flow.

Besides, the construct of the sentences and hard words were DELIBERATE. Aemond was taunting Aegon, knowing his brother cannot for the life of him piece two HV words tgthr. This complex constructions, now smhw seemed like mistakes to yall.

HV's accent does not roam around one singular one. We saw Dany's one being clear and frankly, HONESTLY not rolled and flowy enough. It was like she was pronouncing english words. But it was expected. Targaryens were nearly extinct and Dany learned her Val mixed with Essosi and Lyseni dialects. She even says ''Dracarys'' in a way it LOOKS like it should sound, whereas it actually shud lean heavily on ''Thra-ka-ris'', The way she had said to that Slave Trader holding Drogon.

Then when HOTD came out, it is set in a time where Targaryen dynasty was flourishing and thus the Valyrian culture amongst them was heavy; all having Dragon Keepers and their own fam members to guide them thru. They all have different accents you will notice, Milly as young Rhaenyra has one that flows naturally and multiples words chain into the other which often cannot be understood when matching with the written romanizations. She pronounces her ''J''s like ''h'' or at times a mildly heavy ''g''. Daemon's one is, tbh one of the best and he rolls his accent perfectly, although still leaning on a heavier side. Emma's one is more similar to Matt's too. All actors are given even a small amount of freedom in how they speak HV in their terms; and the accent varies. It gives a look into the character they are playing. Everyone learns the language in the same way, but they adapt it to a form comfortable in their own mouth and goes with it. Bcz that is what Valyrians are supposed to be, they are not fixed to one single form; they are open to everything. It is at the end of the day the language sinking into your character, as a part of who you are.

So Aemond's HV was good. Not only that, but brilliant as he is supposed to be, as a person who trained to immaculacy all his life. He managed to not sound robotic in a language Ewan barely knows and tried to pour the theme aimed for and how Aemond would talk in Common Tongue in the HV. Besides, if u match it with romanizations in the script you will find that not a single one of his words are incorrect. His rolls on the ''Y'' and ''a''s are fascinating and somehow suits just right for character.

So do not come at him yall, he would not speak if it was not approved by the showrunners, or that he does not roll the accent or forms the sentences in ways that you feel it is incorrect. The showrunners are fools, but they are not THAT big of fools to not review the foreign language speaking with respectable experts.

Even if they ARE fools in this regard too and somehow overlooked certain things, do not blame aemond or Ewan. It is the producers own doing. But i doubt the latter will be the case knowing how concentrated Condal tends to be on small details.

[andreal831]

If you don’t mind, can you make a post ranking all of the mothers in TVDU (e.g. Esther, Lily, Hayley, Caroline, Liz, etc)?

Ranking of TVDU Mothers, Worst to Best:

16. Dahlia

While Dahlia is not Freya's biological mother, she raised her. She was the only maternal figure Freya had over a thousand years. It goes without saying why Dahlia is dead last. While she is an excellent villain with a complex backstory, it doesn't change the fact that she was awful to Freya. So much so that Freya tried to take her own life, causing her to lose her baby. Dahlia had no love for Freya, only seeing her as a tool for power. She was ready to discard Freya as soon as a more powerful, easier to manipulate option came along. Dahlia never viewed herself as Freya's mother, which explains why she put no effort into being a good one.

15. Kelly Donovan

It's honestly surprising how good of a guy Matt is considering he had Kelly as his only role model. Kelly abandoned her kids when they are both in high school to chase after a man, forcing Matt to work nearly full time to afford to live and take care of Vicki who had a known drug problem. She only ever showed back up when she needed something and wound up causing havoc in her children's lives. While we can feel sympathy for Kelly losing her daughter the way she did, Kelly then continues to abandon her son, forcing Matt to deal with the loss on his own. Matt throughout the series is seen struggling much more than his friends due to his financial insecurity and his very warranted emotional attachment issues. Every other male character is given slack for having mommy-issues, but Kelly really did a number on Matt and he is given no sympathy by anyone. Not even the other parents on the show who could have stepped up and helped.

We also can't forget her SAing her son's best friend, Tyler.

14. Greta Sienna

We don't know much of how Greta was before Klaus killed her husband, but Greta allowed her hate and need of vengeance to consume her, shifting her focus away from her children, Roman and Antoinette. While she did care for them, risking Klaus' wrath to protect them, she then largely abandons them to lead her cult. Greta attempts to influence her children with her ideals, however, when Antoinette does not follow her beliefs, their relationship seemed to suffer. Roman also spent 50 years desiccating before Greta saves him. When they are reunited she uses him to get close to Hope, putting him in danger of angering the Mikaelsons. She then drags Antoinette into the conflict by manipulating both her daughter and Elijah with lies. Greta repeatedly put her own anger and hatred over her children, and it almost cost them their lives.

13. Lily Salvatore

We are told that Lily cares for her sons, and we even get glimpse of it throughout the show. But like Greta, Lily largely abandons them for her cult. She gets some credit for attempting to take her sons and run, but then quickly loses them for letting her son take the blame for the missing money and be beaten by his father. Lily then fakes her own death, forcing her sons to mourn her, all the while leaving them behind to face the abuse she was aware of from their father. While she is a ripper and potentially worried about harming her children, the fact that she didn't hunt down Giuseppe and kill him puts her pretty low in the ranking. Damon and Stefan would have been better off being orphaned at that point. But we see her getting control of herself enough to form her new family, never once going back for her children.

Even when she is released from the prison world, she prioritizes her new family over her sons. While I have sympathy for Lily for what she likely went through with her husband, it doesn't redeem her as a mother. Stefan does attempt to repair their relationship, but it is in a large part due to his forgiveness and less of an effort on her part. She is a better mother to her heretics, but even then, prioritizes Julian over their needs until the very end. She gets a couple of points for sacrificing herself to protect her heretics, who she viewed as her children more than her own sons, however, it does little to help her rank as a mother.

12. Isobel Flemming

Isobel does get some credit for knowing she wasn't ready to have a child since she was only a teenager, hoping Elena would have a better life with the Gilberts. But her caring more about her ancestor, Katherine Pierce, than her own daughter puts her pretty far down on the list. It seems that a lot of her actions against Elena are either from being compelled by Klaus or just fearing him, however, nearly all of her actions throughout the show seem to be putting her own daughter in harms way.

While Isobel clearly never wanted children and does not appear to be very maternal, she at least had the compassion for Elena to tell John to get Elena away from the Salvatores. While, as an audience, we may love the supernatural relationships, as a mother, Isobel did not want Elena to be invovled in the dangerous, supernatural world.

11. Katherine Pierce

Katherine was forced to give away her daughter and that clearly stuck with her. We see glimpses of the mother Katherine could have been had her life been different, but that unfortunately wasn't the mother Nadia had. Katherine did attempt to search for her missing daughter when Nadia was still a child, which is more than a lot of these mothers do, however, when given a second chance with Nadia, Katherine struggles to bond her.

Like everyone, Katherine has some valid reasons for her actions, but it doesn't fix how she treated her daughter. Much of their relationship seems to be Katherine using Nadia, prioritizing Stefan over her own daughter. She gets some credit for being by Nadia's side at the very end, however, it's a little too late.

10. Esther

This is a complex one because on one hand, Esther tried to murder her children multiple times. But on the other, she truly did lover her children in the classic toxic, Mikaelson way.

Esther only has her children thanks to her sister, Dahlia, and a bargain they made forcing her to give up her first born child. Esther is clearly devastated by this deal when she realizes just what it cost her, effecting her relationship with each of her children later.

Like Lily, Esther should have done more for her children to protect them in an abusive household. However, unlike Lily, Esther never leaves them. She does attempt to shield them from Mikael's abuse, often putting him to sleep or lying to Mikael to protect her children from her mistakes. Even after Klaus murders her, she still shows him forgiveness. Yes, she is attempting to kill him at that point, but I can't fully blame her.

At least the next time when Esther comes back, she attempts to give them another option rather than just death. While her actions are questionable, she does it out of love, which is more than a lot of the mothers on this list can say. At the end she sacrifices her life for her children. Similar to Katherine, it is too late, but it is clear she has a complex relationship with all of her children. They all show a fondness for her at points, signifying that there is mutual love there. Her sacrifice at the end at least allowed her children to attempt to remember her fondly.

9. Abby Bennett

At least when Abby abandoned her daughter, she left her in good hands. It is clear Abby loved Bonnie, but for whatever reason decided she couldn't raise her. However, watching her prioritize her adoptive son over Bonnie was devastating. Bonnie didn't deserve that.

She gets some credit for showing up a few times when she was needed, however, the fact that she didn't even know Bonnie died shows just how out of touch she is with her own daughter. Abby's motivations are unclear as to why she couldn't be more present in Bonnie's life. They hint at it a few times, but the fact that Abby didn't even bother to show up for Bonnie when Grams died or when she lost her father speaks volumes.

8. Liz Forbes

Liz and Caroline have a complicated relationship. Liz ends up raising Caroline on her own after husband abandons them. However, Liz's focus on her career tends to put a strain on their relationship. It only gets worse when Liz finds out Caroline is a vampire. Liz takes a lot of time, but eventually comes around to it and accepts Caroline, even saying she is proud of her. Liz standing up for Caroline against Bill was such a great moment for them.

Liz has the benefit of living longer than a lot of the mothers which allows her and Caroline to repair their relationship and even develop a close bond.

But she loses massive points for ignoring the twenty-something year old man hanging around her daughter and then later befriending him. Yes, she didn't know what Damon did to Caroline, but still. I need her to be a little more invovled in Caroline's life and recognize what she was going through. She is a cop after all.

7. Carol Lockwood

Carol is yet another example in the series of a mother allowing their child to face abuse at the hands of their father. Like the other examples, we can't dismiss how difficult it can be for a woman and her child to escape abusive men, especially when they are well connected like Mayor Lockwood was. Carol seemed to be a better mother after the death of her husband. Although her elitism likely contributed to much of Tyler's bad behavior in the early seasons.

Carol gets massive points for never turning on her son even when she finds out he is a werewolf. While Carol doesn't appear to be an overly affectionate mother, she did everything in her power to protect her son with no hesitation. She was definitely in over her head trying to protect the town from the supernatural, it was still clear that her son was her priority. Her last words were trying to protect Tyler.

6. Pearl

The worst thing Pearl did to her daughter was befriending Katherine Pierce which led to them being separated for a century, leaving Anna alone. We don't know much about their long lives, but it is clear Anna and Pearl had a close bond and clearly loved each other very much.

5. Jenna Sommers

Again, Jenna is not biologically a mother, but she does become Jeremy and Elena's legal guardians after their parents die. Jenna is still so young when she takes on this responsibility, balancing school on top of managing two children mourning their parents. Jenna is far from a perfect parent, often letting her emotions cloud her parenting, however, she has a closer bond with her children than most of the parents on this list. She allows them to be messy and imperfect, but makes sure they still feel loved and safe. In her last moments, she spends them trying to protect Elena.

She gets massive points for finding Damon hanging around her teenage niece weird. But does lose some for not actually doing anything about it. Jenna likely would have been even better had they trusted her with the truth. A lot of her struggles was her attempting to make sense of what was happening with only half of the information.

4. Caroline Forbes

Caroline clearly loves her daughters and would do anything for them. If we were only looking at TVD, then she would be right up at the top. But we can't ignore Legacies. While the writers do a better job of implying Caroline is invovled in the twins lives, there are just too many moments that it didn't make sense for her not to be present. She essentially, like so many of the TVDU moms, abandons her daughters due to writing.

I haven't seen Legacies, but even I know that Lizzie dies and becomes a heretic and Caroline doesn't come back for an entire season. While I believe the excuse is that Caroline is seeking a way to end the merge, the twins are still years away from the merge and her daughters needed her. Especially with how neglected they felt with Alaric prioritizing Hope. It's a shame the writers ruined Caroline as a mother because she was clearly dedicated to them when they were little.

3. Freya Mikaelson

While Freya wasn't Hope's mother, she essentially becomes a surrogate parent to her when the rest of the family is forced to separate. Freya is willing to do anything for family and oddly enough that does lose her some points. At times she does allow her determination to keep her family together to put Hope in questionable positions. But it always comes from a place of love. She is also one of the few family members that stays connected with Hope after she loses her family. Freya would do anything for Hope and she proves it by being willing to turn into a vampire and take the Hollow to save her. Even though Freya is a late arrival to the Mikaelson family, she winds up having one of the closest bonds with Hope out of any of them.

She and Keelin also have a child later, so honorable mention to Keelin because, even with zero evidence, I just know Keelin would be such a great mom.

2. Sheila Bennett

We don't know much about Sheila as a mother to Abby, but she took on that role for Bonnie and excelled. Sheila was one of the few adults who was actively invovled. She would do anything for Bonnie, even watching over her from the otherside. Anytime Bonnie needed her, she was there. They had such a special bond and Grams died far too soon. Grams knew just how kind and selfless Bonnie was and attempted to protect her from herself multiple times. But Grams wasn't much different, performing the complex spell, knowing it would likely take all of her energy. If Grams had lived, I just know she wouldn't have allows Bonnie to be taken advantage of the way she often was throughout the series. Sheila Bennett was a force to be reckoned with and no one was allowed to hurt her granddaughter.

Again, extra points for warning Damon to stay away from Bonnie, but she could have held that same energy for Stefan. We needed more mothers protecting their teenagers from being preyed upon by these 100+ year old men.

1. Hayley Marshall

There's no question who the best mother, no best parent, in TVDU is. From the moment Hayley decides to keep Hope, she does everything in her power to make the best life she possible can for Hope. Not only does she protect Hope's physical safety, but she also protects her emotionally and mentally, something that is missing from a lot of the other parents. Hayley will do whatever it takes to protect Hope, even if it is not a popular decision.

She was at a large disadvantage since many of the threats to her child were leagues more powerful than she was, but she never backed down. The amount of enemies she faced off with, knowing she likely didn't stand a chance, all in the name of protecting Hope. She was ready from the beginning to die for Hope and inevitably did.

There is also something to say about the bond they have throughout the show. Hope clearly feels safe and loved by Hayley, even when her life is in complete chaos. I don't think a mother-daughter bond comes close to the trust and love Hayley and Hope have for each other (besides Grams and Bonnie). Hayley had to be killed off in TO, because there is no way Hope would have been able to go through what she did in Legacies if Hayley was around. Hayley got one phone call from Alaric and dropped everything, traveling halfway across the country to bring Hope home. She disciplines Hope, but also talks to her, making sure she understands the deeper reasons for why Hope was acting out. There is nothing Hope could do that would make Hayley hesitate for a second to love and protect her.

I just know if Hayley had heard about a 150 year old vampire (Roman) hanging around her daughter, she would have immediately gotten invovled. She had gone down that path and wasn't about to let Hope get dragged down it as well.

Honorable Mentions:

Jo Laughlin - If Jo had been given the chance, she would have been a great mother. She was a very maternal person and loved the twins so much. Unfortunately it's hard to judge since Kai took that chance away from her. Valerie Tulle - Valerie is another one that I am just assuming she would have done a great job if given the chance to have her child. While she did a lot of questionable things, at the end of the day she was a compassionate person who would have done anything to protect her child. Miranda Gilbert - Miranda seemed like an overall good parent, seeming supportive and compassionate to Elena when she was having issues with Matt. I honestly don't remember how much she knew about the supernatural world or the vampire hunting her husband's family was into, so potentially problematic if they were dragging their family into the supernatural world. However, we don't know much about Elena's mother, but we do know how much she loved her. Hayley's Mother - Again, we don't know much about Hayley's mother, except for the fact that she agreed to her daughter's arranged marriage when she was an infant and that she sacrificed her life to protect Hayley. From what we are told, it seemed like Hayley's parents were on the right side of the war, but it is hard to say. Nadia Petrova - We assume Nadia had a child so she is in the honorable mentions as a mother, but we have zero information on what she was like as a mother. Kai's Mother - I'm just going to assume she was awful. We know Kai grew up not being allowed to touch others, and being isolated. We don't know anything about his mother, so it could be that she had no control over her own life, but considering she is never mentioned, it doesn't seem that her kids have fond memories of her. Tatia - People often forget that Tatia had a child, but she did. We know she took her child and ran to protect them after her husband died in battle, but not much else. There is no mention of what happened to her child after she died. However, she was a mother so she gets an honorable mention.

[pencilpat]

*materializes into existence*

Hey there :D

I heard ya wanted asks about your personal headcanons for the Sides? I'm curious about your thoughts on Remus & Roman, and just them being brothers. You always have the coolest takes and fanarts with them!

So, yus: ✨the twins✨

And also Virgil's and Remus' relationship with each other if ya want :3

Anyway, have fun :D

Hello my favourite breakfast food mutual! /j

I have so much to say about the twins and their relationship to each other.

To start with, I want to clarify that the two of them very clearly have a lot of issues to work out, and although I love them being brotherly, I do think a lot of their fighting might be a little... more genuine than that. They are very much pitted against each other both by their natures and by the other sides, and Remus is intentionally antagonistic to Roman a lot. It's not healthy, but they are brothers nonetheless, and like most sibling relationships they have a lot of complexities to them and their feelings on each other.

Now getting into headcanon territory!

I don't really ascribe to the common fanon of a big "splitting" event that resulted in the two of them. I also don't think there was a King as fun as that headcanon is. I think the original creativity was something more childlike, like a puppet/muppet looking fella or a stereotypical cartoon character trope - maybe something disney based. When Logan talks about them splitting like an ovum, he seems to be talking about a much slower, gradual process as Thomas had those catholic ideals of thought crimes and repentence forced into him. Religious thought like that is integrated into a child's mind in a much slower fashion than that of which would cause a sudden and massive separation.

I like to think that Remus came about the way mold or a nest parasite does. Slowly growing off of and out of the original creativity until he was his own being entirely. Strong enough to pull off of the 'host' and grow on his own. I like comparing him to a cuckoo bird baby. He didn't understand why he's so much hungrier, so much bigger, than his sibling. He didn't understand why he was so out of place and different from his foster siblings in the nest. He didn't understand why he had done something very bad, but he knew that he had. He is so hungry. So much bigger than the rest. He is so much - too much. He has done something very bad. He doesn't know what he's done. He's done something... horrible. He is something horrible.

Remus and Roman have been compared to each other and placed above or below the other their entire time of existing. That creates really difficult feelings about your sibling when you're raised like that. Remus having to always be seen as 'worse' created self esteem issues that manifest as him purposefully making himself as unlikeable as possible. He absolutely can't handle positive attention or praise, and tends to see it as not genuine or that the person is fooling themselves when he does receive it. Roman, heralded as the 'good creativity' and always put on a pedestal, is the opposite. He cannot handle negativity towards his creations or himself, and being the Ego doesn't help with that. Roman is very easily hurt by criticism because he used to always be praised for anything he made, when Thomas was a child.

Remus and Roman get in a LOT of physical fights, being imaginary has its perks such as "I can decapitate my annoying brother and he will be fine and still yelling at me." It helps them blow off some of the animosity between them, and usually they patch each other up after which also helps with that. I think they drum up entire battle scenarios in The Mindpalace with dragons and manticores and all sorts of beasts to tear each other apart, only to laugh and put each other back together.

I think that sometimes, even though most of their relationship is fighting and bickering, they really are the only one that can comfort each other. They understand each other's painful emotions and self esteem issues so well that the other sides couldn't get anywhere close to the ability they have to make each other feel better. They're brothers, no matter how much they dislike that fact, and they know each other inside and out.

This is very long so I will talk about Remus & Virgil at a later date! You can see a tiny bit of my thoughts in this post though.

[wollemi-whump]

WIJ Day 17 - Recent Whump Obsessions

Well, I'd say there's quite an obvious one to be mentioned, the same one I wrote about for Day 5. Before that though, let me talk about my most recent interest.

I am always a slut for emotional whump, so I absolutely loved the first four parts of the bahkauv by @deluxewhump which I read per @whumpsday 's recommendation. I've also read about half of the Max and Carlo main series which has been wonderful as well. The writing for both of them is incredible, and I basically had that really-tense-adrenaline-filled-terror feeling the entire time I was reading, so you know it's good lol. I really enjoyed the characterization in the bahkauv. I kept forgetting the names (because I kept accidentally skipping the dialogue tags) but it didn't matter because the characters were written well enough that I could automatically discern who was saying and doing what. Very good story, love it much.

Ok, back to the other one. I've calmed down about it by now, but for a solid week I could not stop thinking about the lovely whumpy movie I had watched: The Eagle (2011).

Since this is the obsession post, here's some of my thoughts about it that I wrote a while ago comparing it to the BBC radio series. This is not at all a comprehensive review of the radio series, I literally only got through half of the first episode (of four I think), so don't be like discouraged from listening to it, it was actually good!! I just didn't feel the need to listen more since I'd already seen the movie and enjoyed it a lot. Anyway. Slight spoilers.

Episode 1 (halfway through)

There's quite a few major differences already between the movie and the radio, the most apparent one being that the events of the entire like first 10 minutes of the movie aren't in the radio. Rather than seeing Marcus get hurt, we just start there.

(Side note: I have to commend Tom Smith (Marcus's voice actor) on his tremendous sounds of pain. It's lovely.)

I think it's actually a disservice to the series to not have that scene or a scene like that. I liked it in the movie because it obviously shows how Marcus gets hurt (which the series does briefly), but it also shows off his bravado and courage, which I think really define his character and make it easy to the audience to understand (among other reasons) why he wants to go after the Eagle.

I think that scene also does great work to make Esca's character more complex. Rather than taking him for his word, the audience knows Esca is telling the truth when he describes how the Romans have fought the Britons. You can't deny or brush off all the objections Esca had towards Rome and Marcus himself.

Which brings me to the other greatest change: Esca. I will say that we've only just met him so maybe this will change, but Esca in personality seems so different than the movie. I don't know if this is a book thing <A/N: Yes this was a book thing> or just a decision by a specific person but Esca seems almost content? Which is strange? He is absolutely not living in the best or even good circumstances, yet you wouldn't sense that from his interactions thus far. Even describing the terrible things that have happened to him, he sounds strangely and comically upbeat.

One of the things that I loved about Esca in the movie is that he's absolutely not content with his situation, which helps with making him a very well-rounded character. He hates being a slave, and he hates being a slave to Marcus, and he hates Marcus and Rome all together. And that conflicts with the honor he holds himself to of repaying Marcus for saving his life. And yet he's even further upset about that because he doesn't want mercy, nevermind from a Roman. His personality gives him a lot more agency than I've seen with the radio version thus far.

It all goes towards giving Marcus and Esca a very interesting dynamic in the movie that seems very different from how it is in the radio series.

@whumpmasinjuly-archive

[trippin-over-my-fandoms]

The tv show Dexter is my Roman Empire

I absolutely fucking love the show Dexter and its title character but I’m on my rewatch and ooooohhhh my gosh it pisses me off so bad especially with knowing everything that comes next. And you wanna know why? Because Dexter Morgan was done a terrible disservice. And look I know you have to have conflict to have a show and I love it for the complexities I’m probably reading too far into but its so frustrating to see it all go down. Which if your like me is how you get sucked into wanting Dex to come out on top and get his justice but then New Blood comes in and wakes you up and you’re like left like …. whoa.

Let me explain-

* Disclaimer: this is my personal interpretation of the character of Dexter Morgan in the tv show Dexter, I am in no way a licensed therapist or psychologist but I am neurodivergent and diagnosed with Borderline Personality (potentially ADD and OCD but we’ve yet to explore those in full) and my view is heavily influenced on my own experiences with mental health. This is also not a “oh we should give all bad people a chance” post this is on Dexter specifically thanks *

Before I started my rewatch I was always on how Dexter frequently expresses that he has no emotions or does not have the typical range someone who’s “normal” would. He often thinks on emotionally difficult situations as trivial and he cannot put himself in someone else’s shoes. But he is not void of emotions. He very clearly cares for Debra, Rita, and his children. When Brian is a threat to Deb’s life he is incredibly protective of her, when he’s forced to kill Brian it so visibly upsets him, going through therapy and coincidentally unlocking painful memories, Brian’s death leading to a nervousness that hurts his ability to kill, the pain of losing Rita and his son being left the same way he was as a child, etc etc

Now you might say hey these are all negative emotions but there’s plenty of examples of positive as well. Anytime he receives closure and is put at ease, endorphins released from his addiction to killing, spending any time with his children (I fully believe its not an “act” especially the longer he’s with them), feeling like someone sees and understands him for who he is and accepts him despite all his flaws (the absolute most painful imo), etc etc

A lot of these examples come from the first season alone (also that I’ve seen twice, I’ll update perhaps as I continue) where he has so much potential for healing that I believe gets ripped from him more and more as the show goes on.

It is my firm belief that Harry groomed Dexter to be a serial killer and enabled his negative state of mind therefore ruining any chance at healing from trauma and dealing with a clear neurodivergency he exhibited for whatever sick sort of fantasy he had and could act out through his adopted son. And it pisses me off to no fucking end.

Constantly we are fed as a core foundation of the show and main character that Harry Morgan is who “helped” Dexter live the life of a serial killer. He taught him how to get away with numerous murders, how to avoid police suspicion, how to channel his desires, how to dispose of a body, and most importantly how to fake being like everyone else. He didn’t give Dexter a true chance. You don’t look at a damn child who kills an animal and think “oh he’s gonna be like that for forever so let’s either get rid of him or teach him how to do it safely” (but if you do- fuck you dude), no, that’s a CHILD and in Harry’s case one he KNEW came from a horribly traumatic background. You see a child clearly struggling and you help them. You don’t look at them and tell them that everything they have ever done wrong is part of an evil they will never be rid of.

Dexter looked up to Harry. Dexter and Deb both saw Harry, as most children do their parents, as some super being who knows all and could never do wrong. So when an idol looks at you and tells you for so many years that you are a monster and there is no cure to this darkness inside of you? You believe them. It becomes your identity. Because surely they know everything so why would they be wrong? Why would you question it? You go along with what they say to do and the only relief you get from your trauma is the destructive way you are taught to express it. In Dexter’s case that is taking a life. It doesn’t help that Harry hid so much from him. It doesn’t help that he made Dexter feel as if he was alone instead of getting him proper help and not taking advice from a gosh damned therapist that also grooms children into being serial killers.

Get him into taxidermy or even encourage bloodwork from an earlier age, teach him to be a coroner or mortician or euthanasia tech. Get him someone to listen to how he feels if you can’t do it yourself so he feels heard and seen so he doesn’t grow up thinking that his problems are terrifying so he must bottle them up because no one can handle them. Dexter spends so much time feeling so alone when all he needed for years was someone to just listen to him and not be afraid. And it’s honestly so damn sad as someone who spent so long feeling similarly.

I mentioned I have borderline personality and while I don’t often experience the rage commonly associated with it I do heavily experience depression and anxiety frequently as a result of struggling to understand my connections with others. Similar to Dexter I encounter hardships with empathy and I constantly second guess my relationships with everyone to the point it was so bad in junior high and high school that I began to believe that no one would ever understand me and I would need to keep my thoughts bottled up. I struggled with intrusive thoughts that ranged from self harm to sexual whether it was of me or of others. I find dead things and anatomy fascinating as well as how graphic deaths can occur interesting. I’m not phased by certain things people deem so morbid. Until I got therapy to accept myself and my interests and understand that I am not my thoughts I felt crazy and weird and like I was a square block in a puzzle box. So it is heartbreaking to see Dexter treated like a monster.

I love how New Blood went and I love that Dexter died. I don’t believe as much as I feel bad for him that he “deserved” any sort of happier ending in fact I feel like it fit the story very well. And I above all absolutely loved that Harrison broke the cycle. The show to me overall is terribly tragic and it’s difficult to watch at points because of the statements i have made. But I do love it. It’s very entertaining. Very thought provoking.

And to those who find themself in similar thought patterns to myself or even relating to Dexter as I do- you are not your thoughts. You are not too far gone and you are not any sort of monster for thinking those things. You are cared for you are loved you are seen you are not alone.

[pynkhues]

Hey, just wanted to know your perspective on Shiv's decision. There's a huge discussion going on whether the decision was emotionally driven just to spite Kendall? Was it calculated in any sense considering her children's future or getting any power through Tom? Was she seeking Tom (the powerful man now)'s approval?

What do you think? I personally think it was multi faceted and complex and included all the things a little bit and lead her to the decision.

Would she have taken the same decision if she had no idea that it is infact Tom that Mattson's eyeing?

Hey! Oh man, it’s such a great moment and it’s one I’ve been thinking about a lot. I agree with you in the sense that it was such a multi-faceted and complex choice, and one that had many trigger points both in the sense of Shiv’s reality, her sense of power and control, and the real and mangled emotional root of her place in her own family.

Do I think it was strategic? A little, but I think she was passed the point of being able to strategise in part because she was out of time, but also in part because Shiv’s impatience means she’s just not very good at it.

I think one of Shiv’s greatest strengths is also one of her biggest flaws in that she tends not to see the wood for the trees. She’s a big picture thinker, she sees the end result she wants but not the daily machinations to get her there, which we see over and over again. She’s impatient, lives life on the backfoot so is always trying to hurry, overtake, skip steps, take shortcuts to get ahead, and when she’s asked to operate in a system where she’s forced to stop and acknowledge the reality of the moment, I think she can for once see everything for exactly what it is.

Funnily enough, I feel like the telling moment in terms of Shiv in that finale isn’t actually with Kendall or Tom at all, it’s the moment Sandi says yes in the boardroom. It’s the tiniest of beats, which Sarah plays beautifully, and it carries over from Stewy telling Shiv only moments before (after Kendall offers him Chair in their father’s office) that he thinks Shiv can still sway Sandi. We don’t see the scene, and I kind of wish we had, but the outcome is felt all the same. Shiv can’t do it, she doesn’t convince Sandi, the only woman she’s on any sort of equal footing with to vote with them, which means she has no accomplice at that table, no allies, no position, no weight, only brothers who have shown just how quickly they’ll shut her out.

I think its that failure with Sandi that ultimately untethers Shiv, because with that loss comes the loss of any way forwards for Shiv at the company. She’s no longer an heiress of her father’s making or even one of Matsson’s, she’s just a little sister, staring at her big brother, at the best friend he offers Chair to as a joke in his office when she could only play ‘behind the scenes’ so it didn’t look ‘wonky’, the person she’s spent her entire life trying to catch up to and beat, and I think she meant it, what she said to Kendall after.

She can’t stomach it.

If she can’t have it, he sure as hell can’t, and at least with Tom she has some sort of in, she has something. Not an accomplice at the table, but a trap door she could sometimes scratch her way beneath, someone who might not want a relationship with her, might not be loyal, but someone who’s bound to her, if nothing else, and someone who has no use for her brothers anymore.

Shiv would rather break the toy than let Kendall have it, even if she cut her own hands in the process, and honestly, it’s one of the reasons she’s a character of all time to me. She’s a survivor in a way none of her brothers are, but she’s also petty and selfish in the way all three of them absolutely are, and to see her really do what none of them could and cut their strings in the 11th hour was so thrilling to me. She’s kept her in, but she also knows she’s out, but at least Kendall and Roman are too. At least the three of them are locked out of the house together, even if, for a moment, they’re apart.

[transmutationisms]

do you think the kids will ever realise logan is human and therefore fallible? obviously he’s been somewhat immortalised in death but kendall watching that vid on repeat struck me because logan looks so powerless and frail and human there. having makeup put on him and being told what to do by a director is just in total opposition of the image he projects. kendal watching it on repeat was grief & missing his dad obv but part of me was wondering if he was thinking about how he could surpass his father & finally having the realisation that all children have — that their parents are fallible & flawed & in some sense, pathetic

i think this is a good example of how the characters' outrageous levels of wealth and power stymie their emotional growth. like, grief is a common emotional experience, and so are many of the complex feelings the kids are having about their abusive dad whom they loved and deified. the issue is that, especially for kendall and roman, they're in this insane position where they can cook up immortality fantasies and actually have other people go along with them. like, in episode 6 we can see how no one wants to tell kendall No because they're afraid he might break. and then the investors don't tell him No because they're taken in by the spectacle and have their own fantasies of eternal life and youth. so it's like, how is kendall ever supposed to move past this very infantile deification of his father when the whole world is accommodating itself to him at every turn? same with roman and his reign of terror, and even shiv playing boss more subtly. like, there's nothing inherent in the kids' psychologies that would prevent them from coming to the kind of realisation that you're talking about, but in these material circumstances? i'm not sure it's possible.

[xxextrie]

Your rant about Alastor seems so misguided. In fact, it's bordering on white savior complex. So let me give you some input as someone who's actually Black.

(Let me be clear, Viziepop can be criticized for a lot. I'm not defending her at all. But this is about Alastor specifically)

Africans owned slaves (as did the Romans, Greeks, and a bunch of other civilizations). In fact, owning souls in HH is way closer to that slavery as opposed to US slavery. But even disregarding that, the other Overlords own souls too, not just Alastor. It has nothing to do with him being Black. I saw nothing wrong with Alastor. And if he's Creole, it's very likely that his family came to New Orleans after the Haitian Revolution. Many Black people in New Orleans at the time were rich, influential, owned businesses, etc. because of this. So Alastor more than likely wasn't oppressed like other Black people in the US were at the time.

Also, your comparisons to Dr. Facillier are odd. I mean, yes he was probably heavily inspired by him, but voodooism is a real religion that Africans practice and was brought to New Orleans. There are so many rituals and facets that ensure power after death, so him practicing voodoo is actually a great plot point as to how he got strong enough to take out so many other Overlords so fast.

As for him being Ace, you do know that there are Ace people who are actually "heartless," right? They don't care about other people, have admitted it, and have repeatedly said that it isn't a problem. You're talking over an entire community (two if you count the Black community) because of what you've deemed is bad representation.

But even if that wasn't true, it doesn't matter because Alastor DOES care about people. He cares about his mom, Rosie, and Mimzy. I would even go as far as to say he's actually starting to care about Charlie. He was also friends with Vox at some point. So your accusation really holds no water on either end.

Please, do research before you get up in arms

So I do want to say I do not wish to speak over black people I wanted to emphasize what they have said and I am sorry if I was incorrect, I do not wish to be a white savior and I meant to communicate that poc who were mentioning this were being ignored. My mistake I’ll attempt to make that more clear. A lot of my discussion on him ‘owning’ Husk was more related to an earlier misinformations I had gotten and changed in my post thinking he had been changed back into a white man, apologies. I connected him to facillier due to him generally feeling oddly similar, and since he has been in-depth compared to him in terms of bad repersentation of voodou and the community. I have heard Alastor being criticized in his antagonistic stereotype of voodoo and those who practice it and wanted to show what I have been seeing Black, Creole, and Haitian people saying about him, to hopefully use whatever platform I have to uplift and support people speaking on vivziepops use of voodoo in the show.

What I can speak on is his asexuality in which I find your statement that ace/Aro people being ‘heartless’ is a aphobic stereotype due to their lack or lesser amount of romantic or sexual attraction. Please don’t refer to us as heartless there are so many other forms of attraction a lot of us feel such as platonic, sensual, emotional, familial, and yes the aspec is a spectrum so sexual and romantic as well. Alastor in his character is portrayed to be a villain and is shown to be evil and heartless, now it’s ok to have a character whose ace and like that but he is the only repersentation in the show, vivziepop chose not to add more to show the range of how the aspec people act and present, causing him to be a stereotype. And for him caring about other characters that’s not what people really see about his character I’ve never seen any allo talk about his platonic bonds on the forefront. I cannot talk on the race aspect so I will leave that to people more qualified and will ask you to not spread aphobic stereotypes as that is very harmful to a underrepresented community even in queer media.

[archetypesanalysis]

Wrecker's Anima

This is the second part of the character analysis for Wrecker. You can read the first part here. I will be referring to “Goddesses in Everywoman” by Jean Shinoda Bolen for this analysis.

Wrecker’s anima is Aphrodite, or Venus as the Romans called her, and she is the Goddess of Love and Beauty. Her influence is so great that she has many relationships with other gods and mortals, and she makes many mortals fall in love. The Aphrodite archetype helps a person to enjoy love, sensual and sensory experiences, to appreciate beauty, and to be creative. Wrecker has shown to have this archetype multiple times. When Rex, Jesse and Kix first meet the Bad Batch, Wrecker is the first teammate to take off his helmet and create an engaging and charming impression of the team (an active Aphrodite trait). This helps to make them less intimidating to the regular clones since Rex has heard about their 100% success rate and their aggressive and unorthodox ways of completing their missions. Wrecker acts as Aphrodite the Lover when he wants Tech to get with Phee, and he teases Tech that he has competition upon seeing the closeness Phee and Shep shared (an attempt to incite jealousy on Tech so he will make a move on her).

Wrecker is shown to be a sensual person, especially in “Reunion” when he caresses and kisses a proton torpedo. His sensuality enables him to enjoy the pleasure and beauty this life has to offer. In “Battle Scars”, he creates a tradition to have Mantell Mix with Omega after a mission, teaching her to let loose and enjoy life amidst all the danger and chaos. In “Pabu”, he is so satisfied by the local food that he gladly expresses that he has never been full and he enjoys this place. In “Rampage”, after the rancor Muchi drops from exhaustion, Wrecker pats her to sleep, showing his gentleness towards living beings. In “Entombed”, he encourages Omega to find anything that catches her eye in a junkyard, which shows that he has the ability to see beauty even in the things that are perceived as garbage. This is evident in how he appreciates Gonky the defective Gonk droid and he even gently places Gonky down in “A Distant Echo” (I headcanon that Wrecker is the one who takes Gonky in and Hunter allows it). This does explain why he supports Omega’s desire to go for a treasure hunt with Phee because as the “liberator of ancient wonders”, Phee can appreciate the cultural value of the ancient artefacts she collects (instead of monetary value), which is an Aphrodite trait as her values are subjective in nature.

Jean Shinoda Bolen describes Aphrodite to have a unique quality of consciousness, in which she calls it “Aphrodite consciousness”. The Aphrodite consciousness is more focused and intense than diffuse awareness, yet more receptive and attentive than focused consciousness (these are explained in my character analysis for Omega). It is like a limelight that effortlessly draws our attention on what is being illuminated on the stage. Whatever or whoever is under the limelight becomes fascinating, and we are moved, energized or inspired by what we see. A person who has an Aphrodite consciousness can draw people out and attend them in a loving and affirming way, making them feel attractive and interesting. This consciousness also serves as a natural method of relating and gathering information for people who like to be surrounded by other people and focus their total attention on themselves intently.

Wrecker uses his Aphrodite consciousness when he is annoying Crosshair by playing around with the head of a battle droid in “The Bad Batch” and shoving him with his tooka toy Lula in “Aftermath”. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite gravitates towards people who are creative, complex, moody or emotional. For Wrecker, that person is Crosshair because he is an emotionally intense person. Unlike Wrecker who can move from one emotion to another swiftly, Crosshair stays in one emotion intensely and it takes time for that emotion to subside. Wrecker is aware of this and he knows that it is not exactly healthy for Crosshair, for example, Crosshair will stay aggressive even after the battle is over, and he may make others feel uncomfortable with his aggression even when it is not directed towards them. To attend to his emotional needs, Wrecker annoys Crosshair, shifting his focus towards him which helps his emotions to subside faster. He attends to Crosshair in a loving and affirming way as he does not get hurt when Crosshair responses angrily or rudely towards him because he knows that Crosshair never means it and his responses are just a drawback of his emotional intensity. Besides, as long as Wrecker can distract Crosshair, he considers it as mission accomplished. Since they always have each other’s backs in the Clone Wars, I am certain that Crosshair does appreciate Wrecker’s efforts to care for his emotional needs.

Wrecker’s way of distracting Crosshair reminds me of the myth of Atalanta. Atalanta is an Artemis woman (the Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon) as she is a heroine whose courage and capabilities as a hunter and a runner are equal to any man’s. After taking over her father’s throne, many suitors come to win her hand despite she keeps telling them that she is not interested in finding a husband. So, she sets up a footrace, saying that she will marry the man who can beat her at it, but she will murder anyone who loses the race. Race after race, Atalanta is always in the lead. Until, one day, the unathletic Hippomenes who truly loves her enters the race. He prays to Aphrodite for help at the night before the race, and she gives him three golden apples to use in the race. During the race, Hippomenes throws the three golden apples in Atalanta’s path three times, which manages to distract her long enough for him to cross the finish line first and take her as his wife. In Greek mythology, Artemis and Aphrodite are the opposites, and this is shown in the myth where Aphrodite makes Phaedra falls hopelessly in love with her stepson Hippolytus because Aphrodite is displeased that Hippolytus has dedicated himself to Artemis and to a life of celibacy, and he refuses to honour her. Taking the myths as archetypal forces, Wrecker and Crosshair are the opposites, and Wrecker acts as a transformative agent to Crosshair by helping his Artemis anima to loosen up.

People who identify as Aphrodite are usually emotionally intelligent, and Wrecker is one of those people. He usually can manage his emotions well, like knowing when it is appropriate to be aggressive. He can understand other people’s emotions well, just as he does with Crosshair as stated above. He can accept criticism, responsibility and feedback, like in “Replacements”, he accepts Hunter’s criticism of him not considering Omega’s needs and puts an effort to improve himself. He knows why he does certain things and can make adjustments to his behaviour. For example, in “A Distant Echo”, Wrecker knows that he is afraid of heights and says that he needs to fight some droids to distract himself from his phobia. In the same episode, he is shown to have a strong sense of self-awareness when he explains that he can get excited in battle, which foils the stealth mission, and he learns not to repeat the same mistake.

True to Aphrodite nature, Wrecker likes children, and children are charmed by him. He can draw out a child’s feelings and abilities in a way that the child feels special and accepted, which gives the child confidence to develop their talents and individuality. He can get into the spirit of play and make-believe easily, can charm children to behave well, and can inspire them with his infectious enthusiasm. These qualities make him a wonderful parental figure.

The Aphrodite archetype is associated with creativity as all creative works come from an intense and passionate involvement, and it is an “in-the-moment” sensory experience. Multiple interactions ranging from senses, spontaneity and skills are combined to create something that never existed before. Wrecker has shown to have immense creativity throughout the series. In “Replacements”, he turns the ship’s gunport into a room for Omega so the Marauder feels more like a home for her. In “Ruins of War”, he and Hunter find some broken-down Separatist tanks. Hunter thinks the tanks are useless but Wrecker thinks otherwise as he already has an awareness of the complete creation in his consciousness. His Aphrodite anima gets activated when he becomes absorbed and involved in what he creates, which prompts Hunter to provide firing cover for him. Wrecker’s spontaneity, combining with his skills and knowledge on heavy weapons and artillery, leads to the creation of a portable cannon, which gives them an advantage over the Imperials.

In Greek mythology, Ares and Aphrodite are long-term lovers, and this pairing serves as the archetype combination for Wrecker. Both Ares and Aphrodite are temperamental, intense and sensual. They are reactive rather than reflective, they live in the here and now moment and they act without thinking of the consequences. This archetype combination is full of fireworks, which explains why Wrecker likes to blow things up. However, when there is a perfect balance between love and war, it can produce harmony, just like Ares and Aphrodite have a daughter named Harmonia (Harmony) in the myths. Since Wrecker has both a positive Ares and a positive Aphrodite, he is in harmony with himself as his innate archetype and his anima share mutual tolerance and acceptance.

The Aphrodite archetype does have some limitations. People who identify with this archetype view life as nothing more than a sensory experience, and they may respond as if there are no future consequences to their actions or no current loyalties that may conflict. As stated in the first part of this analysis, Wrecker is an impulsive spender as seen in “Battle Scars”, which is not just a problem for Ares, but also for Aphrodite. Experience becomes the best teacher for him as he must learn to be more reflective of his actions and to control his impulses and emotions.

Wrecker’s Aphrodite anima has been modified by his life experiences. His military training has resulted in the development of Artemis and Athena, and they help him to focus on what is important. For example, in “Entombed”, he is able to focus on his task of finding a compressor for Tech despite being surrounded by many items in the junkyard that may catch his eye. Moreover, Omega’s presence helps to give rise to the Demeter anima in him, which ensures him to be consistent in showing his love for her. It is possible that his Hera anima exists at least in latent form as he is loyal to his teammates (and no amount of explosives is going to convince him to betray them and join the Empire).

The Aphrodite consciousness is present when there is a good interaction between two people or between the person and the work, where change and transformation can happen. This transformative influence is so powerful that it can deeply move both parties in a conversation or lead to a new creation like a new song, a new dance move, a new theory or a new life. It makes a conversation more meaningful regardless of the content, and it makes work more invigorating rather than draining. We have seen how the Bad Batch and Omega change each other for the better through action and communication, with notable examples like Hunter appreciating Echo for who he is and offers him to join the team, Wrecker becoming more considerate of Omega’s needs, Tech opening his feelings up to Omega, Hunter expressing his willingness to learn how to raise Omega, and Omega reassuring Crosshair that it is not his fault, which briefly softens him. We even see Crosshair changes for the better through his interactions with Cody and Mayday in season 2. This makes me believe that all the Bad Batchers have an Aphrodite consciousness (with Wrecker having the strongest influence), and it has always been there because they are able to love themselves and others for who they truly are.

People who have an Aphrodite consciousness have the ability to become vision carriers, who help other people to shape and live out their dreams. Vision carriers nurture the dreams for others by believing in their dreams, cultivating the skills they needed to achieve that dream, and encouraging them throughout their journey. Vision carriers also provide a sanctuary for others where they could imagine that dream being achieved and their hopes for doing it being nourished. I have always dreamed of a world where we can live authentically and we can accept each other for our differences. However, I feel that dream is impossible based on my real-life experiences as I get judged by my family for being different and not conforming to social norms. Sometimes, I am afraid of showing my true self and I experience a lot of self-criticism and self-hatred. I am sure that I am not the only one struggling with this.

I see the Bad Batch as vision carriers because they can love themselves and others for who they are, which is empowering for us. They teach us to accept our true selves and embrace others for their differences. The Bad Batch fandom does feel like a safe place for us to escape from the harsh realities of life and to strengthen each other’s hopes for a better future. Through watching the series, reading up many headcanons, appreciating the fanart and fanfiction, and interacting with other fans, I feel that my dream of a better future is possible to achieve, and my hopes have been strengthened. I feel the presence of the Aphrodite consciousness. Although the fight for a better future is full of obstacles and setbacks, I am willing to take this difficult journey. That is why I am writing these analyses because I want to share my knowledge and findings to many people, hoping that they can understand the powerful messages from these stories that may change their lives.

Jean Shinoda Bolen believes that vision carriers have the power to help others to discover and develop their gifts, which is called the Pygmalion effect by Robert Rosenthal. The Pygmalion effect is described as the power of positive expectations on the behaviour of others. It is based on a Greek myth: a mortal named Pygmalion fell in love with the sculpture of the perfect woman that he had created, and that statue was brought into life by Aphrodite and she became Galatea, who then became his wife.

Robert Rosenthal coined the term “the Pygmalion effect” through his research where he found that our expectations have a strong influence on others. For example, a teacher who believes in the abilities of failing students can help them improve their grades, transforming them into exceptional students. Likewise, a teacher who is convinced that failing students cannot learn will cause their academic performance to deteriorate the longer they stay in school. Jean Shinoda Bolen describes the Aphrodite’s Pygmalion effect as alchemy, which is a process of mixing different substances to transform the mixture into gold. Through love, Aphrodite’s creative, alchemical influence can turn whatever is ordinary and undeveloped into “gold”.

We have seen the Pygmalion effect on the Bad Batch. In the Clone Wars, Hunter positively affirms Crosshair’s sharpshooting skills, and he offers Echo to join the team, allowing him to develop his unique skills. Even Crosshair gives the similar positive effect, like in “The Bad Batch”, he has faith in Wrecker to save Cody even though the regular clone troopers doubt Wrecker’s capability to do so. The Bad Batch also helps Omega to discover and develop her gifts, which shapes her individuality. Other characters also have demonstrated the Pygmalion effect. For example, Rex encourages Echo to join the Bad Batch because he respects his individuality. The brotherly love Crosshair shares with Cody and Mayday finally causes him to turn on the Empire in season 2. It is evident that the Aphrodite’s Pygmalion effect has turned the Bad Batch into the finest troopers in the galaxy as they can embrace their true selves and others for their differences. I have been experiencing their alchemical influence throughout my archetypal studies done on them, and I am changing myself for the better. I hope you can experience it as well as I do.

[magmacannon]

✨🍀🧠🎓 for both roman and averone? :]

aAA thank you!!! These are fun questions bc of how old Roman in particular is... here we go

✨ - How did you come up with the OC’s name?

Roman is my own name but just with a Letter Flipped... pff More interestingly to me, his middle name is Judas because that was close to Judith to me phonetically but (imo) kicked significantly more ass kfjhgfd

Averone was a mouthfeel name if my memory serves correctly but also I literally just looked it up and it's???? also a Book in the Myst series????? which IS what I based Averone's initial character concept off of in 2017 so.... Hello. Did I forget that???? Unsure but here we are

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

Roman was! a genderbend of Me for a fantasy setting WAY back in 2014 when that was pretty dang popular (both as a thing and a term) and I was in middle school. He's changed pretty significantly since then in a lot of ways but that was the extremely basic inspo.... and ofc a wizard bc I Love Wizard

Averone was an FR dragon! I'd wanted to make a character 'out of time'/space that utilized mechanics from Myst (namely, the ability to travel through books/have worlds that were written into existence). He initially had a Myst-like Book with him, and while he still has a hand-written Book at his side in his current iteration it's a lot less powerful this time around lol

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

For Roman, I love seeing how he's changed over time... he's fat now (he escaped eternal twinkhood, bless) and happily married (he was gay before I was) and way more complex than he was in past iterations (now with nuanced struggles and emotions instead of being Super Good Always save an Edgy Moment ala middle school characters, as you do). He means the most to me of any character I have because he's changed through my life for a Long Time now (as seen below!)

Averone's storyline is probably one of my favorites that I've written because it's SO focused on identity and random chance and ofc love. He's far from perfect or even a Good Person in a lot of ways that become revealed as his 'plot' progresses, and he makes a good number of selfish decisions while feeling awful for them in search of an unattainable and terrifying past and future. In the end it's a story about surrendering who you were and deciding to purposefully become something you're proud of (and also about unimaginable horror and how life continues beyond it).

🎓 - How long have you had the OC?

The first physical Proof of Roman I have existing is a sketch my wife made of him from January 7th 2014.... happy 10 years!!!! He's slightly older than that in concept but that's a good date for him I think

Averone's dragon on FR is from May 31 2017, so I think his character concept was probably an early May 2017 event! He only really become an Actual Guy in late 2018-early 2019 so he's about 5 years old lol

[murdererofthumbs]

I’m not even going to try to talk about Roman’s breakdown in this episode, because frankly I can’t go through this scene without having to pause it every 5 seconds, just to take a breath (I think it’s the keening, whimpering noise that he makes that just pierces something in me).

But I wanted to talk about some people who comment on this scene saying that Roman deserved this, that they were laughing through that scene, that it’s karma for being a piece of shit in the last episode. And… should you really be watching this show (or any other mature show, with any layers, for that matter) if you see a character that was clearly abused (in the family that is so twisted and dysfunctional it’s likely only held together by the scrapes of their shared company) and laugh at this, honestly heart-wrenching, meltdown? Are you not capable of critical thinking or do you not understand what this show is about? The poison drips through. It’s a relay, hurt people hurt other people, and when you grew up in the constant dog fight, when it was beat out of you to show any emotions and behave like a human being and lying, manipulating, and destroying other people was rewarded with the biggest gift of them all - the affection of your father… well then how do you fucking expect for them to behave any other way? I’m not saying that because Roman had a shit childhood, therefore it’s okay for him to treat other people awfully. I’m just saying that the whole point of this show is that human beings are not two dimensional cardboard cutouts; you don’t just get a “good” or “evil” stapled on your forehead, people have layers and feelings and past experiences which shape who they are. And living in a bubble with a monster that you love more dearly than anything else might turn you into that monster, but somehow worse (and Roman is essentially a broken mirror of Logan, or what Logan used to be - a tantrum child, sent away and sick with guilt and shame, and abused for something he had no control over; he is Logan junior, a weak dog before he bit his way to the throne).

I think that watching all Roy siblings go through periods of being despicable, which are intertwined with showcasing their pain, and hurt, and trauma, is what makes this show so fascinating. Because they cannot fully be like Logan. Somehow even Logan was not actually that high above the ground as he wished himself to be, some part of him permanently tainted with the guilt over his sister’s death. And some people laughing at the, frankly extremely tangible, emotions portrayed by Roman in this episode are just a bit baffling to me. It’s a lack of empathy and understanding of people, wrapped up in the pretence of protecting their leftist ideology (which I’m sure we all personally share, obviously). Yet again, I find it pointless to judge morality of characters who by nature don’t actually have much of moral compass (because t’s a show about bad people doing bad things?). Them being somewhat awful for the country is really a baseline, or rather a foundation of the show, but it’s not all of it. The heart is actually the family dynamics, and people getting stuck on calling out karma, or keeping score of who was less moral during certain episode takes away from the rich variety of complex emotional conflicts that happen between characters. Like honestly, what are you watching this show for?

Majority of fans thrive on analysing each and every character, but sometimes you get like a comment that is such a shallow analysis and overall a really L take (or reaction) that it blows me away. And kinda makes me doubt in some people’s capacity for empathy. Like, you see a character, a fool stereotype who always cracks jokes in serious situations, break down (for the first time in 4 fucking seasons) during his father funeral in front of whole fucking church. You listen to him keen like a dog, and whimper, and break down in half like a child, and you, what, laugh? Mock the real, tangible grief? How are you better than these characters then? As a viewer, we have a unique opportunity to not have to take a moral stand in our character choice, you can like and feel for people who are otherwise awful. There is literally no consequence because you don’t have to share ideology with fictional person to see them as complex, and interesting, and tragic. Reducing it to morality destroys the whole point of fiction. Be aware of what you’re watching, be aware that these are bad people and not just completely innocent “baby girls”, but like don’t fucking box yourself in these dumb moral wars, because there is so much more to this show.

Anyway, that was a bit of a rant, but it always strikes me when I see people having awful takes on complex characters (especially abused characters), and wish they would suffer (not even for personal angst reasons, more like vendetta, revenge fantasies), when really that is pushing it a bit too far.

[sophia-sol]

Island of Ghosts, by Gillian Bradshaw

I first heard about this book from sholio years ago, and I'm glad it rang a bell when I stumbled across it in a used bookstore! I picked it up, and it is GREAT.

This is a historical fiction book set in Roman Britain, which is a time/place I've only ever seen get attention from Rosemary Sutcliff, so it was honestly a little bit disconcerting - I kept expecting it to be more Sutcliffy than it was! But Bradshaw has different interests and different prose styles than Sutcliff. (Some better, some worse, some just different without judgement!)

The ongoing Sutcliff reminders did make me worried going in about emotional devastation, but that's not what Bradshaw wants to write about, and you know what, I'm here for that, much though I love having Sutcliff rip my heart out. Also Bradshaw is interested in her female characters actually having their own names and identities and goals and drives apart from the men in their lives, which I am ALSO here for. (even the fridged wife,Tirgatao, gets brought up often enough and with enough specificity that she felt like a real person!) I missed Sutcliff's nature porn though!

Anyway, Island of Ghosts is about a bunch of Sarmatian warriors who were defeated by the Romans and get sent to Britain to supplement the Roman troups in keeping back the British barbarians at Hadrian's Wall. The main character, Ariantes, is a prince and a leader among the Sarmatians, but despite the warrior culture of his people he has become sick of war. As well, he is caught in a difficult situation between remaining as Sarmatian as he can, and needing to learn how to interact with and ingratiate himself with the Romans in order to better agitate for good treatment of his men - which then leads him to be seen as a Romanizer by some other Sarmatians.

It's a book where the central conflict, then, is about identity and what it means, and how much you can or should change your identity when circumstances change. This is present among the Sarmatians, but it's also a recurring theme with various secondary characters who are of a British background and are to a greater or lesser degree assimilated into Romanness as well. And is there such a thing as a pan-British identity, rather than specific tribes being important? And is one's identity as a not-a-Roman sufficient to make people allies?

All of this is fascinating and wonderful, and I love the complexity with which Bradshaw addresses these questions.

There is an actual plot as well, not just questions of identity, but it's not the kind of book that's interested in maintaining the reader's sense of tension by withholding information from the reader. It's obvious from fairly early on who the main antagonist is, and it's more about how the issues will get addressed.

I am a little annoyed though about Aurelia Bodica being the Designated Evil Person to the degree that she's an animal abuser and baby killer. She can be self-centred and ambitious and cruel without adding those kinds of short-hands to make her extra-hateable!!

I do love though how so many characters beyond the protagonist are allowed to have things that really really matter to them, even though they aren't of any importance or interest to the POV character. And they have delightful complexity too that makes them feel real! And not everybody who's an ally of Ariantes likes him at first (or even necessarily ever). Facilis and Longus are both so great!

The other thing to talk about is the romance arc. It's rather too love at first sight for my tastes really, but honestly this works far better for me than love at first sight usually does, given the particulars of the situation and the people involved! I can see why this is how these particular characters might actually feel! Also, after this, they end up having to have multiple ongoing conversations with each other about the issues and concerns that arise in their relationship, especially due to the cross-cultural nature of it, and how much work it still does take to understand each other despite the bond they have. So overall I'm here for it!

I also love the note the book ends on, a bittersweet refocusing on the ways that life continues to suck even as Ariantes has succeeded wildly in all he's been attempting to do over the course of the book. He wants a world without hatred, but that is impossible, but there IS still joy to be had in the world he lives in.

Overall an excellent read! And now I have a list of other Gillian Bradshaw books to seek out as I have the opportunity.

[algumaideia]

How the fuck is Octavian "autistic coded". How does this manipulative, cruel sociopath make you people think "yeah he's totally meant to represent autistic people". As someone who actually has autism, I give you a wholehearted FUCK YOU.

Hi nonnie!

Before answering you, I'd like to say that if I sound rude or condescending in my reply, that is not what I wanted at all.

First I'd like to say that I didn't start seeing Octavian as autistic because he a manipulative, cruel sociopath. It started with @zazzander post, you can find it here.

She explained it way better than I ever could, so I recomend you checking that out. But the weird way people describe him making eye contact, his facial expressions don't seem to match what people expect (especially on the Gwen's death scene), how he is "obsessed" with the Sibylline books which I see as his special interest, how he uses his teddy bears as a way to deal with this emotions... Zaz has another posts where she talks how his autism affects his character.

However this is all a watsonian perspective, since I believe Rick had no intention to write Octavin as autistic. I don't think Octavian is meant to represent autistic people, or that he is good autistic representation. Especially considering Rick obviously had no interest in Octavian's character, thus writing him in a shallow and inconsistent way. My view of Octavian is heavily based on how I decided to interpret the character and change canon to try to make him more complex.

I'm gonna discuss about why I decided to see Octavian as autistic, but first I'm gonna to disagree as how you described him.

Octavian is not a sociopath. First he is still a teenager and teenagers cannot be diagnosed with aspd. Secondly, considering how little we know about him and how inconsisten he is it seems very weird to try to give him a definitive mental illness like that without changing or expanding canon. And finally people with aspd are impulsive, Octavian is not. He is strategist. Sometimes he reacts purely on his emotions? Yes, but a characteristic that I think wasn't that inconsistent is that he is a planner.

Edit: Considering someone bad or evil only because they have aspd is ableist. Mental illness does not define how good or bad a person is. Sociopath should not be used as a way to describe someone as bad.

I also wouldn't describe Octavian as cruel. He is not the best person ever, that is true. But considering Camp Jupiter culture and how violent and agressive it is, Octavian is actually okay. I mean him wanting to kill Percy because the guy lied and promised with his life that he would protect CJ, is just the way a Roman would react. Hazel herself said that Romans take oaths very seriously. Also he is not the only character to shown desire to kill someone. Other point is that he especifically showed desire to not want a single Roman to die when according to the information provided by canon he is hated by half of the camp and the other half only likes him because he bought them. I think Octavian showed a lot of compassion to the people that hates him.

I think circunstances made Octavian into the manipulative jerk he is today. The ostracization he suffered could be explained by his anemia (he was also coded to be anemic) that didn't allow him to be physically strong and good in combat something really valued in CJ and a cannonically reason to be looked with disdain (Frank is the one who provides us this information) and his autism. He having problems to make friends could be explained by him being autistic. I know that people with autism are mocked for having "childish" interest, which for me in Octavian is represented by him constantly hanging out with teddy bears and his "obsession" with the Sibylline books, both seen as ridiculous.

For me seeing Octavian as autistic just makes sense because of how he was treated and seen by the people in the books. I don't think he is supposed to be the most amazing autistic representation, it is just my headcanon to a character that I grew to really like in the past couple of months.

I'm sorry if my takes on him or how I write him are ableist. But I cannot do better and learn if I don't know where I'm failing and why.

Also sorry for the messy answer.

Best regards,

Me.

[golden-songbird]

traits that i’ve given to roman in my fanfics and aus that i don’t see enough PART TWO!

-his selfishness extends to other people.

what i mean is that so often, i see a one dimensional roman whose selfishness is only towards himself. this is not only boring to read in my opinion, but also not really true about roman.

i think one of roman’s fatal flaws is selfishness, but i think this selfishness extends to where he feels the same positivity and superiority towards other people that he feels towards himself.

he calls himself the most beautiful prince to ever live. then he looks at logan and calls him the most beautiful teacher to ever live. roman lifts up other people the same way he lifts up himself, which can make for endearing, and slightly annoying dialogue in which he may be unwilling to admit defeat or inferiority in any way. i think this is a more realistic trait to give roman than complete selfishness and it adds an edge of humanity that makes him more fun to read/write about.

-making him too trusting

on the topic of fatal flaws, i think roman’s number one fatal flaw is that he trusts too easily, which leads to him being manipulated and led to do things that he doesn’t truly want to do.

i see this sometimes in fanfics, but not in a way that isn’t shallow. he isn’t just a poor prince being coerced into becoming a dark side by janus and remus.

i want to see roman being told to do things he doesn’t want to do through a guilt trip, or something that exploits his need for validation. roman has a high emotional intelligence, but isn’t great with social cues. i wanna see that carry over into him being coerced because it’s such a realistic trait to abuse.

-making him super poetic

i feel like so many people make him cheesy, but i find it so fun to write him as this poet whose almost every sentence is something flowery and colorful! i think he has a lot of inner life that he loves to share, and he sees ordinary things as inspiring.

an example? i have an au in which roman and logan are dancers. while logan likes to focus on the technique end of dance, roman is one of those dancers who are all like “dance expresses all that words can’t say with movement. how romantic is that? imagine somebody sitting in the audience and feeling something they’ve never felt before because of something you did onstage. there’s something so connecting about human movement because everybody does it, but we make something so ordinary beautiful again.”

and logan’s just like “lord…” but it’s fine lmao

-my god does this guy have a hero complex!

roman is such a good character to write a hero complex for! it’s so him!!

show me this man feeling guilty when he comes out of a fight unscathed.

show me this man trying to be the “savior” in the relationship because he thinks it’s the only way to not be abandoned.

show me this man not wanting to talk about his problems because “other people have it worse so he needs to suck it up”.

show me this man still trying to protect even while he’s hurt or exhausted.

i hate seeing people make him some invincible mr. fix it with no emotional repercussions. being put in that position over and over is DAMAGING yo! it’s trauma!!

also i still have ideas so i’m definitely making a part three!