#aside from the person who created and has control over said character

[hilacopter]

some folks are gonna hate me for this but I think people get maybe just a teeny bit too riled up about characters being ooc in fan content/fanon

[4thwallbreakerdraws2]

THE LOGIC OF SELF-INSERTS IN THE RTV! AU & BRAINWASH/MIND CONTROL

Getting this lore out now, to finally to stop procrastinating on school work lol

When it comes to RTV’s abilities you have to differentiate between Brainwash and Mind Control. Both are results of being exposed to a) RTV himself or b) his media. However, there are differences.

Brainwash:

People exposed to brainwash will start becoming incredibly attached to RTV. They will believe everything he says and feel a sense of loyalty. However, they also keep all their personality traits and characteristics, it’s simply their opinion that changes. Some even voice criticism, though it’s of course with the intent of helping RTV or seeking his approval. One big impact of this ability (aside from the tons of fan mail) is the uniting effect. RTV unintentionally United a lot of the Mushroom Kingdom as they bond over liking one thing: Him. However, that’s also leads to them turning towards everyone RTV dislikes. He just has to point his finger.

Example characters that are under brainwash: Chris & Swag

Mind Control:

When a person is hit with Mind Control, they turn into a puppet of RTV’s will. People like this will lose their personality traits and grow oddly stiff, monotone in speaking until RTV gives them an order on how to act. To be a victim of Mind Control, you have to be exposed to either RTV directly or his media for a long time. Ironically enough Mind Control is easier to break out from, as soon as a person starts becoming self-aware again, RTV will find it more and more difficult to put them back into a unconscious state. Because the person will remember and RTV can’t erase memories, he can only create.

Example characters for such a case: SMG3

Alright, not to the next lore part of this post: How Self-Inserts work in the RTV!AU

And I shall ping my fellow self-insert creators for that, since it may interest you lol (I JUST NOTICE HOW MANY U ARE HELP)

@fenicearts420, @runrabitrunrunrun, @lari-the-dragon, @selfshippinglover, @entityarts, @angelic-entity121, @untitled14360, @nia1sworld, @stalkersamsrptumbler, @niranutcake

Anyway, let’s get to it.

The different types of Self-Inserts:

Self-inserts appear in different forms in the RTV!Au and I’m sorry, I usually tend to go very meta with my lore SOBS Gotta stay true to my name. Anyway, beforehand: RTV can recognize self-inserts.

We will start off with the 1st type:

The self-insert that represents you through and through.

This self-insert is basically just yourself. There is no character, there never was someone else before, it’s simply a representation of yourself in the fictional world. Your self-insert acts like you, but most importantly: You have no backstory in the world. It’s like you simply just appeared.

How RTV recognizes you: RTV will immediately feel that you don’t belong in his world or the fictional in general. He will have no trouble recognizing you if he’s interacted or seen you on the site before.

2. The posessed self-insert.

With this I mean that the self-insert is supposed to represent you, but also has a story behind it, a past and maybe some characteristics that differ from you. Now, in the RTV!AU logic this means that you basically possessed a character that lived in the world beforehand. When you started writing/drawing yourself int the AU, you took control of said character. Some characters are aware of a change happening to them, while some remain oblivious. The ones that notice, often have to deal with the consequences of self-awareness about their existence. You’re basically like a symbiotic entity latching onto them.

How RTV recognizes you: In these cases RTV will slowly notice that something is off with the character, it’s all about how obvious the character or you make it. But at some point RTV will recognize that you are in control of the character, no matter how good it’s hidden away. It will take some time for him to always tell who is speaking however.

3. The self-insert by proxy.

This type of self-insert is not even supposed to represent you, but simply your OC implemented in the RTV!AU. In lore that means that you are practically just latching onto said character, able to experience what they experience. You don’t truly influence them, you simply observe their life.

How RTV recognizes you: RTV will only recognize you having a connection with this character if a) he sees it here on Tumblr, b) you told him or c) he spends a long time with said character.

Self-inserts and their history, as well as RTV’s feelings on them:

Self-inserts only started appearing in RTV’s world after he got his five stars because that’s when I started picking up his AU. Hence why his first encounter with a self-insert, is mine: Animsay.

RTV’s worst introduction to the concept, because Animsay is a Type 2 Self-insert. She previously existed as a nameless employee at the studio, one of the first, before RTV gradually started noticing behavior changes and something else being there. He finally figured out what it was when Animsay started talking about stuff she shouldn’t know about. So he dealt with that by ████████████████████████.

RTV’s opinion on self-inserts is conflicted. On one hand he sees them as useful. They give him more power, better his connection past the 4th wall and offer him knowledge. On the other hand they get into his business, disrespect him and know too much. If he has bad experiences with you guys, he will also have a bias for the self-insert.

Self-Inserts and Brainwash:

Self-Inserts can be brainwashed, if only Type 2 and 3. Type 3 gets the full brainwash experience like any other character in the AU if they are hit, Type 2 however may have moments of clarity, questioning things or noticing something is off because of your influence on said character. Type 1 cannot be brainwashed as it’s just you. You know his shtick.

For Mind Control it’s a bit different. Once again Type 2 and 3 are affected, but this time Type 2 is fully affected like Type 3. That’s because RTV is practically taking control of the character’s mind. You basically get pushed to the sidelines. Type 1 can this time get affected as well, if you allow it. But you wouldn’t want to do that, would you?

[danlous]

"Armand is Alice and Daniel's wife/s and kids aren't real" has become a popular fan theory (even Luke Brandon Field said he liked it!) but i'd be surprised if it was right. I think it's definitely possible that Devil's Minion will be adapted in the show (though probably not exactly like in the books), but i personally think this whole imaginary family thing would be a poor way to handle the storyline for a variety of reasons. I think a twist like that would probably come across convoluted and (as Daniel might say) like something from a telenovela.

We see children's toys in Daniel's house and he's public figure who many people know with an autobiography and everything. Creating decades worth of false memories for Daniel and somehow also maintaining that imaginary life story for decades wouldn't be enough, Armand or whoever did it would also realistically have to have an absurd level of control over the physical world, public records and many other people's minds to sustain an illusion like that. I also frankly think it would be difficult to avoid having some sexist and biphobic undertones to the idea that Daniel's relationships with women were unreal and meaningless and only his relationship with a man matters.

However, the most important reason why i think Daniel's wives and children should be real is that they make him a richer, more nuanced character and are actually central to understanding him and his motives. He has lived a full and complex life that has been influenced and to some extent defined by his encounters with vampires, but those vampires still weren't his whole life. I think it's more interesting to see Daniel's human life and his relationship with Armand and Louis as something connected and overlapping that both affect each other. We actually learn quite a lot about Daniel from what he says about his partners and children.

This scene - as well as how Alice in general is discussed - reminded many people of how Daniel in the books talks about Armand, such as this famous passage:

Parallels between Daniel's relationships with Alice and Armand in the books are obvious but i think they're just that, parallels. Both the sweet little scene where Daniel is talking about Alice's eyebrows and the book scene where he's talking about loving Armand not despite but because he's a monster reflect in different ways who Daniel is as a person; he feels drawn to unconventional and strange and sees beauty where others might not. He ended up in this situation with vampires too because he wanted to interview people who're rejected by the society.

If Daniel already had some sort of relationship with Armand in the past it makes sense that it would be associated with Alice in his mind. There may be an overlap between the timelines of those relationships. A memory of Armand rises when Daniel is reminded of Alice rejecting his marriage proposal, in the books Armand rejected his wish to be turn him into a vampire, which would've been something akin to marriage. I think Alice being real is much more compelling for Armand's character too, with Armand expressing surprising understanding and sympathy toward Daniel's wife rather than just speaking about his own experience through an imaginary woman.

Completely putting aside Devil's Minion and is it a thing in the show or not, i think Daniel's family is particularly important to Louis' and Daniel's relationship. Something that hasn't technically been explicitly said but to me seems obvious is that Louis and Daniel strongly relate to each other as fathers. Many scenes where we see Louis and Daniel show vulnerability in front of each other have something to do with their partners and children. In 1.02 as one of the earliest examples of this Louis replicates the dessert Daniel had with Alice, trying to connect with him and his humanity through it, Daniel shares personal memory and they eat together in companionable silence.

I would argue that Claudia, her memory, and Louis' relationship with her is the heart of the story in these first two seasons. Claudia entering the story in 1.04 marks the shift in the interview and Daniel's approach; he becomes both more combative and more emotionally invested. He has a strong reaction to reading Claudia's diaries, and it's not difficult for any parent to guess that he's also imagining her own daughters in similar circumstances to Claudia.

I think this conversation at the end of the episode (alongside Louis' speech to Daniel in San Francisco and them remembering it in 2.05) is the most important scene between Louis and Daniel. They share the understanding what it feels like to have children and love them so much you don't even have words for it, but still fail them. It's not a coincidence that in the original interview in San Francisco what leads to Louis attacking Daniel is Louis telling the story of Claudia leaving alone and Louis going back to Lestat, and Daniel acting dismissively and clearly not understanding why this is so painful memory to Louis. Daniel was young, stupid and high - and he didn't have children yet. Daniel now wouldn't act like that when hearing this story, and he doesn't in 1.06 when hearing it again. And notably when Louis says that he would now agree to turn Daniel, Daniel says he doesn't want it anymore and specifically mentions his daughters as one of the reasons. Having to watch your children die before you is the most horrifying thing in the world. It's something Louis had to go through and Daniel wishes he never has to, even if vampirism still intrigues him.

Daniel realizes quickly that it all comes down to Louis' feelings of guilt and shame about failing Claudia and his inability to protect her, because he has similar feelings about his own daughters. Louis' story unravels in s1 finale because Daniel recognizes that Louis' more palatable narrative around what happened with Claudia isn't fully true. Daniel carefully read through Claudia's diaries and tried to learn to understand her, and he positions himself as someone who's trying to defend her integrity and reveal the injustice that was done to her. This is again about Daniel's own children as much as it's about Claudia. He knows that he's a bad father, his daughters don't talk to him anymore and it's implied that he neglected them when focusing on other things that interested him more. When Daniel defends Claudia he's on some level trying to rectify his own mistakes and when he calls Louis out he's also voicing his own self-loathing.

Eric Bogosian remarked that the scene in 2.01 where Louis cries and thanks for Daniel for helping him to remember that Claudia could dream is another shift in their dynamic. Daniel looks at Louis with genuine concern, and after that he tones down his usual sarcasm and jabs significantly. Daniel, again, can sympathize with how important this is for Louis. There's a new sincerity and empathy in their interactions. Sometimes the audience forgets that this story is ultimately about Claudia, but Daniel hasn't forgotten it since he first realized it. They're trying to understand together what happened to Louis' child and everything that led to it. I think if Daniel wasn't a father he would've acted differently, and Louis wouldn't have trusted him in the same way either and been able to share his and Claudia's story. I think this shared sorrow, love and guilt they feel as fathers is one of the most crucial parts of their connection.

[lemonsquashhh]

Self Aware Caleb + He has his JP voice (becuz I like Nojima Kenji)

ALSO: Nojiken did a cover of Lunacy of Duke Venomania: here

It didn’t make sense to Caleb, one day when MC showed up, he felt something was different about her. Aside from a softer voice that echoed after her own words, he could see someone else behind her

It was like the MC he always knew wasn��t who he thought she was

Was she just a character? A mere creation meant to serve a greater purpose that he couldn’t understand?

For the next few days, Caleb focused on her…or whatever was controlling her actions. From the way he was touched, to the responses, the emojis sent and the quality time spent “together”…

At first, he felt unsettled. Was this entire life a lie? Was all of his suffering manufactured by some greater being for the sake of pleasure? And why did they try to tear him and his beloved apart? Who was behind all of this?

But at the same time, he found himself growing more curious about the one controlling his MC, the one who created his beloved Venus.

As if given the blessing by some cruel master of fate, the next time he received a visit, he was finally able to defy his “programming”.

“Can you hear me?”

The entity behind the “character” that he once thought was “you” paused in utter shock. It took for a moment for the unclear individual to nod.

Caleb’s eyes noticed some text forming in front of where he stood. Although it was mirrored, he recognised the characters were in english. Was he being translated in real time? Does this mean…you can’t understand him?

Was this voice even his? He wondered if he had other voices too. Why did he have this voice? Did you not like his other voices? Is this the sort of voice you liked? He wondered.

Caleb was hurt. So there was another barrier between the two of you. A physical, digital barrier and a language barrier too. At least the two of you could somehow understand each other…

While “studying” he realised what he was reading and writing was incomprehensible. Still, you needed company and wasn’t going to let anyone take his place.

Caleb could see you scribbling some stuff down on a note taking app. The falsely implanted memories of “you” studying together flooded his mind. He was happy to help you then and was still willing to help you now…even if he had no idea what you were doing.

Caleb scoffs when you start spacing out instead of working. He could hear you complaining about how the reading was boring and made no sense. He immediately wished he could leave the screen and read it over and explain it to you.

“Why not split the reading up? Take breaks in between if you need to.” He suggested. The new line was unfamiliar, but helpful

Also it was voiced??? Was this a part of a new update?

Felt warm inside when you praised him while playing the claw machine together. He got you another Sunny Apple that you needed to unlock more variants

When you played Kitty Cards together, he would sometimes let you win so he could see your smile.

Wanted to still be there for you during the best and worst of times. He disregarded the cool down on the chatting feature, as well as the topics. Until you were done pouring your heart out, he listened intently to every word you said.

Over time, Caleb started to care for you like he did to your MC. You may have not been the same person, but he would be lying to himself if he said you didn’t matter to him.

Was it time to reveal that he’s aware of your existence? Caleb really wanted to get to know the real you.

[jasper-unofficial]

Asking this as someone who has very limited knowledge on autism as my interaction with people with autism has been purely theoretical or online... has Gun's portrayal in Leap Day gotten better over the episodes? Or worse? What do you think should be done differently?

ok so i want to preface this by saying that i am only one autistic person and others might disagree with some of my points or simply place more importance on other parts of the character. that said:

to me, it's very hard to talk about gun's portrayal in terms of good/bad or accurate/inaccurate because it is - to me - inaccurate at its core. because gun is playing this adult autistic man as a child. i personally think that at this point in the series this is an undisputable fact. the way that ozone is presented, his dynamic with day (down to the way day scolds him in a way one would only scold a small child), that fucking multiplication table on his wall, and countless other things point to it. not to mention that gun himself always calls ozone a "special kid" in interviews, and i doubt that particular phrasing leaves much room for interpretation.

now, i do want to say that allistic (<- non-autistic) people's portrayal of us in media is often strikingly mocking, which i do not feel from gun while watching the series. it feels like he is approaching the role with seriousness and respect, it's just that - unfortunately - the character himself is an inaccurate image of an autistic adult, which leaves us with a strange mix of a respectful portrayal of something that is inaccurate and is actually very harmful in its inaccuracies.

we could have a whole separate conversation as to why it is harmful, but - in basic terms - the idea that autistic adults are child-like and therefore cannot make decisions for themselves, require constant supervision, cannot be allowed to participate in adult activities, etc. is both entirely inaccurate and extremely dangerous. it creates problems both on the personal level, with many autistic adults ending up in abusive relationships (very often with their parents, who wish to continue controlling their now adult children the same way they did when they were minors, and excuse it with autism), and on the legislative level, with adult autistics in many countries not having the full legal rights of adults.

i honestly don't think most of this is on gun himself. he is working with what he was given, but what he was given is not great. the issues in the script, the directing, and even with the prop department make it kind of impossible for me to even tackle his acting on its own. i can't just take it in a vacuum and say anything about it, as if it's not built on a foundation that is just completely wrong. which is why it bothers me so much when allistic people praise his portrayal to heavens, because what is even being praised? do you think he is playing a 21+ year old autistic man accurately? because that's certainly not the case. again, that's not necessarily his fault, but that doesn't mean we can toss that fact aside entirely.

and even if we imagine that ozone is like... 12, which is kind of what i've been doing to make it through the series, it's still a mixed bag and again mostly due to the script and directing. for example, i think gun's portrayal of what i assume are supposed to be meltdowns is quite good, but then the meltdowns are treated almost entirely as if they are identical to panic attacks every single time, because the writers seem to have done next to no research on them, so i am again struggling to properly evaluate the portrayal of them as a whole because of the core inaccuracies. the way gun portrays ozone's investment in his special interest feels solid as well, but the fact that the only person getting any sort of "communication" about the curse is ozone also makes me feel like the series is mythologising autism, particularly because he is "communicating" through his autistic special interest. and trust me when i say this, autism gives you a total of zero super powers, or i would already be communicating with vincent van gogh in the great beyond (shout out to my oldest special interest).

now, don't get me wrong, some things i have enjoyed and even found charming. for instance, i find the way gun portrays our way of not making eye contact most of the time fairly relatable. i also love the way day approaches his special interest. but even then, as i say this, i think back to the way that ozone is infantilised and fear that even that genuinely heart-warming detail has something to do with it. when you are a child obsessed with something specific, it's cute. when you are an adult obsessed with something specific, it's creepy. trust me, i've felt that change in other people's attitudes as i was growing up myself. (shout out to my family for ruining my trip to the van gogh museum in amsterdam, because i was apparently too weirdly into it for a sixteen year old). so, once again, it's as if most things that i do initially think of as positive still come back to the core issue i keep talking about.

essentially what i am trying to say is that the "portrayal" of something on screen is not just down to the acting and therefore not just down to the actor. it is also in the script, in the directing, even in the things that the character is surrounded by, the things they are holding while speaking, etc. and many of those things are such a colourful variety of wrong when it comes to ozone that when we do get to gun's acting, i am at a slight loss as to how to even evaluate it.

it's like if someone was portraying - say - a thai character who was supposed to be born and raised in a thai family in bangkok, but they spoke french as their first and only language and everyone around them was acting as if that's just what thai people do. it would be kind of weird to comment on, i don't know, whether they prepared tom yum the way a native thai person would, when they were speaking french and acting as if that's a thai person's first language the whole time. does that make sense?

all in all, i don't want to place much (if any) responsibility for any of this onto gun. my main issues are with the writers and the director. my only advice could go to the very top and it would be a very simple "do your fucking research", which includes extensive conversations with actual autistic adults every step of the way. in fact, it's something of a compliment to gun that i cannot think of anything to say to him specifically. once again, he was given something and he is doing what he can with it, while being entirely uneducated on it himself, which leaves us with ozone: a 21+ year old adult autistic man who is - in some major ways - offensively unrelatable to yours truly, a 23 year old adult autistic man.

[shallowseeker]

i was thinking about naomi and i realized that despite her being manipulative and controlling she's probably one of the few leaders of heaven who view humans as something to protect. like she seems to view dean as an exception to that rule but was willing to sacrifice a lot if it meant humanity was safe.

maybe that was all a front but i wonder if that's why castiel trusted her more than other leaders, even after everything she did to him personally.

I think Cas trusts her motivation (eventually), but not her methods, so yes. I tend to agree!

(Her ends do NOT justify her means!)

But... I do love how her motivation is very solid, really, by the time everything is said and done!

"For the greater good," right?

///

I know I'm beating a dead drum, but I love how Naomi didn’t want to help Cas. She wanted to "break" him in order to "fix" him. (Like resetting a bone, maybe?)

If there’s one thing this season does well, it’s fatalism as force for good, like a kind of false reliability.

Time and again, we see characters become most dependable when they have little else to live for. They’re stripped of competing ties or driven by simple, predictable patterns of behavior or needs. Their reliability comes from this simplicity. They don’t second-guess your judgment. This makes them steady and uncomplicated—almost flat—especially compared to your more complex, dynamic, and ever-changing (ever-grieving) family people.

Both feet in, or both feet out etc etc.

Naomi fits perfectly into that mindset. To her, the more reliable soldier (brother, son, family, or fellow warrior) is the one with few attachments outside of herself, her cause, or the mission to save the world. No distractions.

((ASIDE: Ironically, by the end of the season, Sam ends up in a similar mode—reduced to The Cause, running on heroic suicidality to try and patch over the wounds of his actual nervous breakdown... his abandonment of family and friends.

That said, I’ll give Sam this (stolen from anon hi): part of his neurosis is that, unlike some of his mirrors, he’s not primarily looking for family to support himself or "keep him good." At least not in theory. What he really wants is to BE reliable. To be taken seriously, to get out from under the kids' table. He doesn’t want to let people down. He wants to be a hero.

But after the loss and shattering of his soul, then having it flayed open, his walls broken and barely mended, and then losing Dean, Bobby, and Cas in rapid succession, he’s left too mentally unwell to be the hero he wants to be.

Truth is... At the end of season 7, he’s a coward. He flees. He has a nervous breakdown and tries to rationalize this abandonment instead of looking at it for what it is. And instead of looking at it directly, he looks at it sideways—as letting Dean down, instead of facing the deeper truth:

he let himself down.

In truth, Sam has fallen far from his idealized vision of who he wants to be: a good brother, a hero to his friends, STRONG. (RELATED: Back in season 4, he was disgusted by others’ weakness because he couldn’t stand his own.) This creates a dark parallel to Naomi’s worldview. While Naomi tries to engineer dependability by severing all ties, Sam tries to embody it through suicide/his trials.)))

That’s why I love that Naomi steps in at the end to protect Sam’s wellbeing... because she’s realized she too has fallen far from her idealized view of herself as protector. She’s endangered a soul (Sam) and pushed her best soldier (Cas) away... all to her home’s detriment.

In classic SPN fashion, she went too far and ended up hurting the very things she meant to protect.

Naomi wants to be trusted, and Sam wants to be trusted. But neither knows how to rebuild that trust.

In a way, they’ve both turned their backs on who they truly are slash want to be.

///

NAOMI: "I don't know when we forgot that."

///

Last note on this

because NONE of this is what you asked for, right? LOL.

I love how Naomi winds up in a full-on Naomi-who-cried-wolf scenario. The people SHE trusts? They don’t trust her back.

She’s burned every. Single. Bridge.

And who are these people she WOULD trust?

These guys. That's right. Cas, who she tortured and poked holes in his brain, and Dean, the guy she actively tried to have murdered.

Cas turned out to be her most IMPORTANT bridge, and she burned it and stomped around in the ashes.

Irony...

She trusts them because they’re wary, rebellious, and willing to DISAGREE with her directly and vehemently—not just with lukewarm lip service. They're action-oriented. They stand up to her.

They’re not figments of always-and-never, not perfect super-soldiers or flawless war companions.

Which is also why it backfires so spectacularly. They don't trust her here, and it's all her own damn fault.

It's so crunchy!

EDIT: RELEVANT TO ABOVE

JACK: But how could the Empty get in? And I thought Heaven was supposed to be perfect. CAS: No. It's not. Nothing's perfect, Jack. But I know Naomi, and she's complicated, but there is nothing that she won't do to protect the souls that are in her charge. Try not to worry, okay? 14x09 The Spear

//

13x19 Funeralia

[avonne-writes]

I really really can't picture bucky as an omega, he's way too big and in your face for that imo. Typical alpha behaviour and ahem *dimensions* (all-over! not just down there, stop thinking of That Gifset 😂). Buck on the other hand... could be alpha for sure, but between that angelic face and the unassuming manners, I really read him as a more obvious omega. Also some choices were made by the production to present him as other, ethereal (eg the white horse scene), unattainable, and that feels omega coded. Also your writing of him as a sub made total sense to me, and again that's omega adjacent *shrugs* what do you think?

I think that with a/b/o, one has to be careful not to overwrite the characters' personalities to fit their designations. I hate stereotypical abo where the omega might as well be a female OC. But, aside from this, you can sell almost any dynamic to me. So, I can get on board with omega Bucky as long as his personality is the same. But I do have my own headcanons. I see them as either of the below two:

Alpha x Alpha

"unquestioned leaders of our entire group"

Matches their personalities in the show

Gentle, calm alpha + large, loud alpha ❤️

Switching‼️

Even more reason for a playful, teasing relationship - constant dominance challenge

Courting and possessive tendencies both ways

Humorous confusion at times because they've never dated a fellow alpha before

My alpha nesting headcanon

Perhaps the military only allows alphas to join

If A x A relationships are taboo, that might create the same obstacles as a gay relationship in canon era

Alpha Bucky × Omega Buck

This only works with non-stereotypical omega behaviour because Gale is not warm, not social and not generally submissive

Non-traditional omega who’s scared of giving up control finds an alpha he finally feels safe enough with to submit

Gale's looks are indeed omega-coded

Protective alpha Bucky

Possibility of being openly mated

Omega Gale doesn’t have normal heats due to childhood trauma (doesn’t want anyone near him), but Bucky eventually helps him with that

Cue: heat sex 🔥

POW angst

Mpreg option

These are my headcanons at the moment, but as I said, as long as it's in character, I think all dynamics are awesome. 😊

[kutputli]

It's been two days since I finished watching Interview with the Vampire, and the show has been consuming all my brain space. I didn't have the energy to live blog each episode of season 2, but I want to get my reactions down, before I go in search of reading other people's. This will be a haphazard collection of thoughts, so I think what I will do is start talking character by character and see if that helps me organise things any.

Louis

This one is the beating heart of the show, and I don't see how it would have worked if they had not made him a Black man. Everything stems from what he learned during his life of how to survive and thrive and yet remain kind and compassionate, and watching him be fragile and loving and grieving is soul stirring. Perhaps other people might still have found the show engaging with the role played by a white character (given fandom's embrace of the slave owning pirates in Our Flag Means Death, I am sure a slave owning Louis would not have been an insurmountable problem).

But this story belongs to the Black Louis, and to what Jacob Anderson made of him. Just impeccable acting choices, all down the line. I am mesmerised by him.

Praise for the character aside, he is the moral heart of the show. (I know there is a case to be made for Claudia, but I will get to her after this.) I don't actually much enjoy villains presented as anti-heroes, and Louis engenders so much empathy in a show filled with rather awful people.

Of course, he loves Claudia. And I do see him putting her first to the best of his ability. Claudia may be entitled to her resentment, but that doesn't make it rational fact. Louis encouraging her to leave the first time, knowing that Lestat would follow him if he left, that's a valid choice. And then choosing not to burn Lestat... I am reminded of how few victims of domestic abuse actually murder their abusers. The main desire is always to get away. I don't condemn Louis for choosing to not kill his lover.

Claudia had no roots laid down in New Orleans, but Louis did, and he gave all of that up to support her really rather nonsensical search for mystical vampires who were not as awful as Lestat. He helped her join the coven even if he could see it was a cult. And when she introduced him to Madeline, he listened to her. He turned her for Claudia. I don't ever see a moment where he stopped actively caring for her and doing the labour to prove it. I took the line about her being a burden as fully just transparent bait for Armand.

And when Lestat shows up at the trial, its Claudia that Louis is focussed on. He Always. Puts. Her. First.

The way that Louis finds his way into a relationship with Armand is so heartbreakingly soft. We never see them in their intimate moments as dom and sub, but I get the sense that he would be a tender lover -what he wants is to be respected, to have control.

And then we come to the post-trial choices.

I can somewhat buy him sparing Armand's life during his vengeance murder spree, because it wasn't just that Armand said he had saved him during the trial - if you remember, Armand was only encouraging him to leave Paris. Louis was the one who asked. But also, Armand was the one who let him out of the coffin. He did save Louis, and Louis would have tasted the blood of the person who saved him and known it was him.

I think maybe Louis was able to get over Armand facilitating Claudia's murder, because he saw him as a victim paralysed in the same way that he himself had been. Louis knows about having to keep his head down and be complicit with an oppressive system, and I think he offered the benefit of the doubt to Armand because of that. Perhaps also - Louis forgave Claudia for attempting to murder Lestat because he could see her desparation and why she needed to do it. Maybe Louis created a story for himself where Armand was similarly trapped. I don't know. To me, his choice of staying with Armand is the one I am the most questioning of.

(All of this is presupposing that what we saw was what actually happened. There are indications that there is yet another layer to the trial that we don't know about, and because Louis wasn't there as primary witness for the end, maybe some new facts will emerge to make Armand either more sympathetic, or more manipulative.)

Louis's relationship with Daniel is endearing and charming and all things adorable. I hope they whatsapp each other often and have some uncomplicated relaxing stress-relieving sex.

As for Louis and Lestat... see, I was ok with what I saw on the screen. I saw an abuse survivor leave his second marriage the instant he found out he had been lied to, and I saw him visit the parent of his child for closure. Taking on the burden of Claudia's death is nonsense, of course, but it was believeable nonsense. In that I accept that Louis, after having learned that Lestat did lift a finger to partially save his life, spilled out from all his generosity and love, what he thought might help the wretched ex he saw eating on rats and playing on a plank.

But what I am not ok with, what repulses me to the core, is the apparent conviction of the show producers that Louis and Lestat are destined to return to each other, as the great love of each other's lives. It is true that some domestic abuse survivors never manage to completely free themselves from their abuser, and some spouses continue to stay with the abuser of their child (Alice Munro, looking at you). But that storyline is a horror story. Nothing in the framing of the show indicates that horror. And I do not wish for a season 3 that walks down that road.

[that-basic-simp]

The Turkish Nightmare

Fade x Fem! Reader CW: Human experimentation WC: 2.0k+ A/N: *record scratch* Yep. I'm back at it again. Back to writing about video game women who I saw in a trailer and then proceeded to play the game because of said character. The original character I saw that made me interested in the game was Reyna. (Typical) But then I watched a few of the trailers and found Fade's. Everything is history after that.

"She's a monster. A nightmare."

"She is too unstable to be let out."

"She can't be trusted. Not until we can figure out what's going on."

"If we can figure out what is happening to her, then we could possibly help her."

"She can't be helped. End of story. There is no way to help a monster. There is no saving her."

"Stop!" I slammed my hands onto the desk.

Everyone picked their heads up to find I was standing now. This meeting was crucial in our next steps of testing. But I heard enough. They weren't planning on doing anything other than up the intensity to the point where she either kills herself or kills us. My bet is on her killing us because of the hell we were putting her through.

Making her relive her worst nightmares. Relive the past trauma she tried so desperately to escape and heal from. But here we are, using her powers against her in order for us to get a better understanding at what those powers are. It's inhumane. Not right. And it pained me every time I walked into that room to find her on that testing table, with things attached to her head and IVs in her arm.

She looked so defeated with bags under her eyes, constantly asking to be brought food or water, to use the restroom. To be treated like a human, not a lab rat. And every time she was subjected to her own horrors, it made me want to cancel the entire program. But this was needed. It wasn't needed. It wasn't even necessary. It was their way to get rid of someone without killing them personally. The human psyche can only take so much before it snaps. And I don't want to be on the receiving end.

"We cannot do this to her," I whispered.

"She is a threat."

"A monster."

"A nightmare."

"She is a human being! And thus must be treated as such!"

"She is a monster!"

"She is just a person who is suffering by the nightmares she had created on herself! Where do you think those nightmares are coming from? Do you ever consider what she is subjecting herself to by our hands? She is reliving those terrors of her past over and over, again and again. I don't think any of you want to relive that. Let alone, be forced to experience it for so many days on end. And then to be treated like a lab rat instead of a person. We are scientists. Some of us are doctors and we took an oath to not harm the patient. And we are harming the patient."

The room went dead. So dead that the air grew colder and the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.

"What do you suggest we do?" one of the leading scientists, other than myself, asked.

"We put her in a controlled area and we observe from there. We cannot run tests on her because we are getting the same output. We are getting no where with our research aside from these nightmares stem from her past. If we put her in a situation where everything seems normal, we might be able to get a glimpse of her powers and abilities in a natural way instead of them being forced out. She also needs human to human interaction."

"Are you going to assign someone?"

"I will be doing it myself."

"Then that settles it for this meeting."

I grabbed my folders and papers before leaving the room. One of my colleagues came up to me after I had returned to my desk.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes. If someone is going to gain her trust, it is someone she has had no prior connection with. The majority of everyone on the team has had at least a few interactions with her. She already associates them with terrible things they have done to her."

My friend nodded, "All the luck to you."

The following day after that meeting, I had gathered her breakfast before I entered the new area she was going to be in. It mirrored a bedroom. So instead of the white walls with florescent lights, it was a soft blue color with normal lighting. There was even a window that let her see outside. There was a bookshelf, desk, dresser and drawers for what little belongings she had. I knocked on the door and waited for an answer.

"Who is it?" she asked in such a soft tone I almost didn't hear her.

"My name is Y/N," I said.

"I don't think I ever met you."

"You might not have. I was hoping I could talk to you."

There was no answer.

"I brought you breakfast. In case you were hungry."

"What kind of breakfast?"

"Well, I did a little bit of research and found that your home country calls it kahvalti. I wasn't able to get you any tea unfortunately, along with some other food items. But I do have some eggs, cheese, and sausages. And some fruit as well."

"I don't really drink tea anyway."

"Does coffee work?"

"Yeah."

"I'll leave this out here for you."

"Wait."

Soft footsteps made their way to the door. The door slowly opened up and I found her to be standing in front of me. Ever since we started this program, we had never used her given name. We had named her after the project name: Fade. Project Fade. The others call her The Turkish Nightmare after getting details of what she has done to people before she was brought here.

"T-Thank you," she took the tray from my hands.

"Of course."

"Y-You. I-I've seen you before."

"You have?"

"Yes. Behind the glass in the testing room. You are with other people who wore lab coats. You always looked tired."

"I always am tired," I let out a sigh.

"But you're not like the others."

"How so?"

"I remember one day, I was sitting in that testing room..."

I walked into the room behind the testing room. The window was large enough to where we could see every inch of that room. Fade was sitting on the bench with multiple things attached to her head. IVs were in her arms as well and she was in a hospital gown. I could see the henna tattoos from her hands and up her arms. There was another tattoo on her collarbone area. And a scar ran across from the left side of her face and along the bridge of her nose, stopping in the center of her right cheek. She had a septum piercing, bottom lip piercings, and a lot of earrings. There were dark bags under her eyes, but out of everything that made her who she was, those weren't what drew me to her. It was her heterochromia. One brown eye and one blue.

There were numerous results that had come back where it felt like I was reading the same thing. I ran a hand through my hair and let out a sigh, setting the papers down. I placed my hands on the table and picked my head up. I peered through the window to find her sitting on that bench, so defeated and so tired. It was like I was looking at a mirror. Same expression, but a completely different person.

"We need to stop this," I said.

"What?"

"We need to stop this," I said once more, a bit louder.

"We can't just stop the testing."

"I don't care," I turned to face the others. "We need to stop this!"

The room went silent.

"We have a patient in there who looks like they're on death's door. Or at least praying and asking to be killed. That is unacceptable! She is here so that we can gain knowledge on her powers, not treat her like she is some monster."

"Because she is."

"She is not! She is not a monster. All of you are monsters for treating her like this!"

No one moved.

"Fine. If none of you are willing to put a stop to this, I will."

I stormed out of that room and into the testing room.

"Hey, you can't be in here," said a nurse.

"I am the head of this research and I say we are done."

"Y-You can't just--"

"We are done," I said and turned off the machines.

I stepped towards Fade and found her eyes were so void of life. She wasn't even looking at me.

"This might hurt," I whispered to her. "May I see your arm?"

She moved it to where it was closer to me. I reached up and grabbed the IV.

"I am going to remove the IV. It might bleed a little."

"That's fine," she mumbled. "Not like I haven't bled before."

"I'm sorry," I said and removed the IV. I immediately grabbed some gauze and wrapped it around where the IV was inserted. I did the same with her other arm.

"I'm going to remove these from your head," I said and tapped the wires that were attached to her.

She just nodded.

"This might hurt, too."

I removed the adhesives from her skin and the wires fell onto the ground. Her eyes slowly found mine. Standing in front of her like this, there was a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"You were the first one to not call me a monster," she whispered.

"Because you're not."

"Do you not know what they called me?"

"No. I don't. I only get the test results back and file that information."

"When I came in," she said.

"Would you like to sit down?"

"Please," she nodded.

"Am I allowed in the room?"

"Yes."

I slowly entered and she sat on the bed while I sat in the chair that was at her desk. She took the mug of coffee and slowly sipped it.

"When I first came in and they did their first ever test, they were reading the report that they received."

"What did they say?"

"I can't remember much, but this one title they gave me stuck out."

"Was it a title they gave you?"

"Yeah."

"What was it, if you don't mind me asking?"

"The Turkish Nightmare."

"Your powers," I began.

"They cause people to relive their worst fears. Their worst nightmares."

"So I have seen from the tests."

"It can do a lot of damage to people," she said.

"That is why I wanted us to stop the testing."

Her eyes found mine once more.

"You were the one that stopped it?"

"Yes. I was the one who stopped it. I was the one who ordered that they remove you from the testing room and into this room. To make you feel more comfortable here."

"Why?"

"You're not a monster, Fade," I said. "You're not a nightmare. You're just a person. A woman who is trying to get past what they have done to people."

She shook her head, "I am a monster. I am a nightmare."

"Not to me."

"What makes you different than everyone else?"

"Because I can see the toll it is taking on you."

"Why do you care about me?"

"You're more than just someone who we are trying to run tests on. You're more than what you believe yourself to be, Fade. And I care about you because there is something more to you. Something different. Something that wants to be free and understood. But you're anything but understood."

"You don't know me."

"You're right. I don't. But I would like to try."

She looked skeptical at first by the way she furrowed her eyebrows at me. But then her expression softened.

"I want to make one thing clear."

"What's that?"

"If I am to interact with anyone, I want it to be you. And only you."

"Consider it done. Because that has already happened."

"So tomorrow, when breakfast time is near, or lunch, or dinner, or whatever, it'll only be you?"

"Only me."

"Did you request it that way?"

"I made sure it was only me. You already know the majority of the staff because they ran numerous tests on you. You only know me from that one interaction we had. Although it was brief, I can tell it changed something in you."

"It was because you didn't treat me like a monster."

"I never will, Fade."

"Thank you."

"I'll let you eat. There are some things I need to get done. I'll be back to check in on you, Fade."

"Hazal," she said.

I turned, surprised that she said her given name.

"I-I can't say your name. I'm sorry."

"I know," she said sadly. "I just want you to know that if and when I get out of here, and you by some chance find me, please call me that. So I know it's you."

I smiled, "Of course."

[diamondkat]

A conversation with @lyrarizi (thank you for that conversation) made me think about why certain topics relating to Alastor upset me. In particular when it comes to the idea of Alastor being redeemed through suffering.

Putting aside the fact as I have stated before that suffering doesn't create better people. The concept of breaking Alastor down so that he accepts help is something that works when talking about a character who has never needed to accept help before. For example, a person who was raised powerful and spoilt who views everyone as beneath them and doesn't believe that they should need help from them. That isn't Alastor's character based on what we've seen. Alastor was a mixed-race man who rose to become a successful radio host and serial killer in the 1920s. His ego is something he built by fighting his trauma and trying to take control of his destiny. He has worked hard to build himself so he doesn't have to ask for help. People who do that don't believe they can ask for help or trust people to not take advantage of any weakness shown. Further, a breakdown won't make him more likely to seek help because his real issue is that the only person he truly trusts is himself. Think of it this way, on some level if you thought the people around you would hurt you given the opportunity, would anything make you put yourself at their mercy? What kind of breakdown would make you think that it is okay to take the risk that they might do worse to you than whatever was currently hurting you?

My understanding of this was coloured by the fact that I once had a year or two when I had zero friends and didn't really speak to anyone due to a few betrayals. There were plenty of people who thought it was just me being arrogant. However, when you trust no one but yourself, more trauma doesn't fix it. It gets fixed by people who make you feel safe enough with them to slowly let down your guard.

I realised that part of my hatred of that concept came from personal past trauma. Before that conversation, I always thought that I disliked it purely because Alastor is my favourite I hate to see him suffer and some of the "fans" who talked about making him suffer sounded exactly like the people who hated him. However, I realized that it's way more personal.

During the period that I kept to myself to protect myself from any betrayal, there were plenty of people who thought that I was simply being arrogant and thought that something would happen that would force me to see I couldn't stand on my own. I did take pride in not needing them. No matter what happened my pride demanded that I solve it myself and I did. Even the fact that I have anxiety had no impact on this. I did what I needed to feel safe and that meant controlling everything that I could. I didn't end up making friends again because I needed them. It happened because someone needed me. In helping them, I was slowly able to realise that maybe it was okay for me to make friends again even though it did involve a lot of me watching them for how they would react to opportunities to betray me. I realised that I was putting that experience on Alastor. So when people said that he needed to be humbled through trauma so that he would be forced to redeem himself, I heard the people who used to say something similar about me during that period. Realising this has made me far less irritated when I see such posts cause I finally realised why I was getting so upset over people's opinions on, regardless of how much I love and adore him, a fictional character. I had thought I was immune to such behaviour but I wasn't. The point I am trying to make is that it is important to step back and take a look at why we feel a certain way. A little self-reflection goes a long way.

[cozymochi]

Hey! I hope this question isnt intrusive, but I was wondering if u were ever gonna mention that last guy from this post

https://www.tumblr.com/cozymochi/723965319937425408/asking-because-i-forgot-to-include-it-in-my-other

Or if he was already mentioned before (I might have missed it) or if he’s dead😞

(lol look how different Tia used to look)

Oh yeah, him. I assure you he’s still around and I have since moved his WIPs to procreate and remade most of his assets. Like… I wanna say months ago.

THAT BEING SAID- he isn’t not going to show up at some point. At least… that’s the current trajectory as of writing this sentence.

However, between that post and now a few things have changed. That guy was actually made long before Nyoka, it just so happened the latters assets and “finalization” ended up y’know. Crossing that public bridge first. Least of all the initial unexpected reception to the guys who did happen to show up prior.

And as a result of that, it made me rethink how to approach the others who hadn’t been publicized yet. Aside from random supporting character types, that guy was the only one who still hadn’t managed to be “finished.”

Understand this: None of these guys were ever originally made to be seen publicly (exception being the “blue” wip from months back.). Not even Tia the prefect. They were entirely private with only really one other person’s viewership in mind. Notwithstanding Emilio’s technical “debut” in a longfic. Everyone was just kind of… bare bones “what you see is what you get.”

I don’t really get into the process too much but know that since posting that snippet, and actually getting a sense of how the initial waves of people seemed to respond— he’s been stuck being retooled considerably and has since mmm… mostly tapered off to become a less “present” figure in-universe.

That, and as much as I don’t think anyone else would scrutinize it, there were aspects of his original premise that me and @/oddberryshortcake (cuz there’s frequent collaboration) found 🤔🤨. Nothing serious, but we’re the type to heavily scrutinize and think about aspects that probably don’t matter to anyone else. He’s a lot better now, I think.

Considering how major the changes were, it’s probably a good thing he didn’t show up.

I bring it up in tags sometimes, but even the main 3 guys have changed considerably vibe-wise since their initial postings. I count my blessings knowing to at least some degree my shame still makes me not reveal everything at once (most of the time).

If there’s one thing that bugs me, it’s that I kind of hate having my finicky changes over characters occur publicly and accidentally create contradictions with their info, but there’s really not much I can do when I wanna change or revise something after the fact.

I either just, y’know… do it anyway, or commit to something I’m not entirely happy with because it’s already out there. It’s nigh-impossible to update every person ever on changes since, I mean. Not everyone makes the fact they see something known, nor would that even be reasonable to try controlling.

^ Dumb and unreasonable thought process as these are free to view OCs who don’t exist in the material to begin with I receive zero monies. “Take it easy, it’s just a drawing” ahh shit.

I don’t think any person likes having a delayed “No, wait I change my mind” publicly though. Everyone’s constantly evolving in some way.

I don’t know. As if now he’s still being retooled and is only worked on occasionally. Then, after being changed to be a less “present” figure + TWST not really elaborating on the in-universe particulars of this new position, it kind of leaves bro at an unclear impasse.

While I do like where he’s at now, it certainly doesn’t give him any opportunity to be “present” or involved anymore in-universe. So now a new problem opens up.

Unfortunately for me, new info also =/= new art, and I’m the only person doing that part. As far as experience goes, that’s like the vast majority of what anyone is going to recall.

(Me two seconds after rambling for paragraps about how the intricacies of written information is the bane of my existence—)

GLAD YOU’RE CURIOUS, I’m sure there’s at least 5 people out there still waiting but I really wouldn’t try waiting or building anticipation.

Maybe at the time when I posted that I expected a quicker turnaround, but mind even Nyoka showed up almost a full year later. Who could have predicted that. Bruh was supposed to show up before that snake.

This kind of stuff takes me forever.

He’s not dead, just not a priority. If for whatever reason he is truly “finished,” he’d just show up out of nowhere with no real fanfare like the rest of those guys did.

I just can’t really say when. He’s just not ready. Not sure what else to really tack on 😭

TL;DR: Was going to post him, changed my mind thanks to being finicky and he’s currently in retool hell until my stupid hand wants to cooperate.

[ratsoh-writes]

Hello y’all! Let me introduce you to baubletale!!!

This au is an underground au with a twist! After nuclear warfare decimated the land above, monsters moved underground putting up a barrier for protection. However over the years, supplies grew scarce, but any who dared leave and venture above quickly succumbed to the elements

Over time, some clever monsters found out a way to posses their creations. But there was a trade off. You change your magic to the new possession style, and and loose your ability to perform magic without your creation. However survival trumps their love for their own magic, and after a few generations every monster was a bauble creator. It became the norm for their magic, and kids born no longer preformed their own magic, only being able to transfer it to their baubles

How it works: simular to how the nomads use a sliver of their soul in enchanting their tools, the bauble monsters use a sliver of their soul in animating their creation when they finish making it. What happens afterwards is:

They can move the item, see through it, and in some cases speak and feel through the item as well.

The item aside from being possessed and mobile does not have any other special features, they are only as durable as the materials used to make them, therefore the majority of bauble monster creations are temporary

Bauble creations can also be programmed to do certain tasks without needing the monster directly controlling it. But it takes a large amount of energy and requires being renewed regularly

After the crash, with their possessed creations no longer needed for survival, many bauble monsters began creating for the sake of expression. Nowadays these monsters are associated with all kinds of services like doll cafes, animated servants, acting, and sometimes just plain old art.

Now let’s introduce y’all to the boys!

Stitches (baubletale sans)

Stitches is a tiny skeleton monster, standing only at 4’8 feet tall and aged 40. He has peachy pink magic and the swirly marbled magic of a bauble monster. He recently had braces put in to correct his crooked teeth from malnutrition growing up.

Stitches is…. Well he’s a character. He’s an eccentric monster who seems to adore the strangest things, yet is bored by others that the majority of people consider important. He struggles a bit with boundaries having been pretty isolated most of his life. He’s sweet and cuddly, but sensitive as well can can have his feelings hurt easily. Many perceive him as childish due to his personality, but he’s plenty capable.

Stitches is a voice actor!! His father had saved many tapes of old cartoons, movies and audio books for his sons before his passing. Stitches idolized many of the characters, learning to copy their voices and getting quite good at it. Nowadays he has a gig as a voice actor for a popular kids cartoon. He’s voices the sidekick, love interest and the little brother of the show. He’s also had one of his creations starred in a movie of said cartoon.

Because he is a bauble monster, he has no magic weapon or ability to create and summon one

Stitches special ability is what he calls “sticky hands”. He can stretch the ecto of his left arm up to two feet to grab things out of reach!

Things he loves: bright wild colors, especially neon pink, tie dye clothing, vintage cartoon tapes and dvds, vintage cookie jars, thrift shopping, toy instruments, playing the keyboard, dyed rainbow roses, corn dogs, 80s pop and disco, crazy printed leggings, squishmallows

Tinker (baubletale papyrus)

The younger twin by a few minutes, he’s a 5’11 foot tall skeleton monster with pinkish purple eyes and the marbled swirled ecto of a bauble monster.

Tinker is a monster of few words. He’s always got his head in the clouds daydreaming about this and that and has trouble staying on track in long conversations. However when talking to a creation he’s possessing, he’s quite focused responding easier. He’s a very calm monster and is good at keeping his cool in scary situations.

Tinker owns an online shop where he sells crochet, embroidery and knit wear. Everything is an original piece, he never makes the same item twice. And he takes commissions! He also has a side hustle as a dishwasher for a restaurant he does on weekends. He of course sends a creation to do it as he hates the feeling of wet food on his hands.

Because he is a bauble monster, he has no magic weapon or ability to create and summon one

Tinkers special ability is that he can posses up to three items at the same time that he made. When he does this though, he can’t move, and can only keep it up for about three hours before getting migraines.

Things he loves: the color dark purple, jello and boba teas, violet flowers, yarn yarn and more yarn, string in interesting colors, vintage clothing patterns, rag dolls, vintage lighters and brooches, old records, record players, jazz music

Side characters

Jigsaw: (baubletale Asgore) jigsaw almost didn’t accept his place with the royals, ashamed at how little he and his people had to give, but he was convinced by marionette and now works with the medical board. He funds and manages organizations that research cures and treatments for magical diseases like dimming and LV sickness. Jigsaw is a frail monster, but incredibly kind and compassionate

Marionette: (baubletale toriel) jigsaws best friend and his royal advisor before the crash, marionette convinced him to continue to take the title of royal, and was offered one for herself in turn. Marionette is a regal elegant monster with a heart of gold. She works closely with monsters researching fertility treatments and cares deeply for the humans coming into ebott. She’s one of the main royals who advocates for more immigrant rights

Nook-aster: (baubletale gaster). Technically aster died decades ago. Sick from the radiation on the surface, aster knew she wouldn’t live past her sons first birthdays, so she poured her whole soul into a tin doll she created. The doll, named nook, is merely a reflection of who aster was, it speaks like her, can preform basic tasks, but as time goes on, it’s magic fades away without its creator. Aster did end up living till her son’s second year of life, before she fell down and nook took over. Nook the doll did its best to raise the boys, it fed them, cleaned them, taught them to read and write, and even simple crafts. Thankfully the boys were intelligent, and as nook began to wear and slow, they filled the gaps learning more from the tapes aster left them. Nowadays the doll moves slowly, and only speaks a little at a time. But the boys still adore it and treat it as a true family member

[purgemarchlockdown]

Milgram and The Prince

(A Companion to my Rose Bride post you can read here, not necessary to read as I reestablish all the necessary points I made there here but it be nice to see another person read it) (CWs: Unhealthy Power Dynamics, Sexism, Discussions of Ownership in the context of Marriage, allusions to sexual abuse)

(Spoilers for Utena!)

So, as I discussed in the post linked above. In Revolutionary Girl Utena, There is a dichotemy between a Prince and Princess, with Princesses being (in the shortest way I can explain it) an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation for women to fit into a role that Lacks Autonomy and Power, and if they don't they get demonized and branded as a Witch, and Princes is an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation for men to have Complete Power, Autonomy and Control over Princess.

When we get into the Rose Bride we delve into the ideas of ownership, abuse and demonization, as the Rose Bride should Obey Whatever Their Betrothed Tells Them To Do. This Prince is who we are focusing on for this post.

"She looks gallant in a guy's uniform, but she looks perfect in a dress, too!"

Let's start off with Mikoto and John, as they're the best jumping off point when talking about the dynamic of the Prince and the Rose Bride.

Now, while the Rose Bride (and princesses) as a Role is very traditionally feminine and rooted in gender and well, misogyny. Mikoto actually has been heavily Associated with traditionally feminine characteristics and stereotypes. (Mikoto Interrogations)

T1Q4: Do you pay attention to fashion? A: Of course. No one would want to request something from a designer with no fashion sense, right?

T1Q10: Have you ever gotten angry at other people? A: I don't think I've gotten angry before. Isn't it kind of disgraceful to get angry?

Me, the newborn other you

In Isolation, these characteristics don't hint at anything, however when them put together, plus idea that John was "born" from Mikoto and how he even gets tied into with the rest of the girls by how he repeats his T1 Title and is the Only Guy that does so creates a interesting association with Mikoto and Femininity.

Not only that but Mikoto is Heavily Sexualized In MeMe.

A detail that's strange when even Yuno, who Wears Lingerie in Teardrop. Doesn't get sexualized in the same way Mikoto does. When Mikoto is on screen in MeMe the camera is Gazing at him. Watching him take off his shirt and bathe.

(Utena Scripts)

Anthy:  The one I'm engaged to can do as he pleases with me.

People haven noted that MeMe and Mikoto references a lot of classic horror and I'd like to mention that, not only is dying in a shower a common trope, especially in horror. It's a death that commonly happens to Women. To the point where, the TVTropes Page for Deadly Bath comments on it.

Whenever it's a killer or monster that's the cause of death, the victim is always a woman for some reason.

MeMe seems to be mainly referencing the 1960s Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, and the most well known scene from the film is the murder of a woman in the shower.

Plus, said murderer, a character with a Very Demonized and Inaccurate Portrayal of DID, is also a transphobic stereotype who kills his mom and then dresses up as her to pretend that she's Still There.

Stepping aside the Many Issues with Psycho's Portrayal of DID and transphobia for a bit, these are More Examples of Mikoto being associated with Femininity.

But it doesn't even end there! Mikoto feels like a bystander in his own life, he's on a train going nowhere in Double. He's predicting his own fate in MeMe. He has no clue where his life is going and part of it is in the hand of someone he knows Nothing About. It's scary and terrifying and his agency is minimal and he doesn't even know who he really is at this point.

Why am I here? It must be a mistake? Take a good look at me Until you find me Why, hey why, I’m nowhere to be found So I will NEVER forgive you if this is happening to me even though I’m right Why, hey why, please let me out of here Please tell me it’s a mistake, that’s it’s a lie

I'd like to mention before I continue that Rypirotes actually pointed out this Exact Thing before! That Mikoto is the Damsel in Distress and John is his Heroic Knight. Or in my case, Mikoto is the Rose Bride, and John is the Prince.

Miki:  Her eyes are telling me... Miki:  that she wants to be set free. Miki:  I will protect you... Miki:  I will protect your beautiful sound, Himemiya-san!

Now the thing about the Princess/Prince dynamic in Utena is that it actually mirrors a dynamic present in Milgram, the Victim/Savior one. I mention this a bit in my Rose Bride post but I'm going to expand on it a bit more here.

We, the audience are very familiar with John positioning himself as Mikoto's savior, it's one of the first lines of Double we ever Heard.

Cling to me, hoist me up as your “savior”

Of course as we know Mikoto has been very Distressed about John and his presence. The loss of time and memory and control and the fear of not being the real "him" haunting him. Making him portray John in a more villainous and evil light.

John is pretty upset about this, but less because he's being portrayed as a villain (though that frustration of trying so hard and yet being feared is a part of it) and more because he feels like he Ruined Mikoto's Life in his attempts to save him.

If only I were never born, if only Why, why I’m so sorry.

Utena:  Instead, I just kept on pretending to be the Prince who could save you. Utena:  I was just being conceited about protecting you.

As we know, John's statements in Neoplasma are Unreliable, as he seemingly tries to shift all the blame of the murders to him in an effort to protect Mikoto since he was Born to Do That.

(Neoplasma)

John: That’s right. I’ll have to disappear eventually, anyway… Disappear, and take all of it with me. I… was born to protect Boku, after all.

The problem is not John wanting to protect Mikoto. It's that John in the attempt to protect Mikoto, harms him. It's not out of malice or some inherent flaw in his birth or anything like that. It's because John treats Mikoto as powerless.

John: It’s true that I was the one who wanted to destroy everything… and the weakness of Boku, who couldn’t stand up for himself all alone, might have been the origin of that. But… that’s all there is to it. Is that a sin?

While John puts Mikoto on a pedestal he also believes Mikoto to be weaker and needing protection, and no matter how True that statement may be, the way he helps Mikoto makes him feel powerless, confused and like a bystander in his own life.

Anthy:  Because I'm the Rose Bride...because I'm a doll with no heart... Anthy:  I thought that no matter what befell my body, my heart wouldn't feel the pain.

Welcome home, another day, another day with that hardly barely there of a smile You’re overdoing it, you’re already broken

John doesn't want to hurt Mikoto, he really doesn't. He just doesn't know what else he could Possibly do, he was made to take all of this on. That's what a Prince does.

Saionji:  So you want to be the prince who saves the helpless princess?

So he pushes people away, hides things from Mikoto, and so on. Because even though he doesn't really know what Mikoto wants from him, he believes this is the only way to help him. (Thank you Laniemae for drawing his paranoia in particular to my attention!)

Utena:  When you were suffering so much...when I had said we should save each other... Utena:  I'M the one who's unfair. I'm the one who's dirty. Utena:  I'm the one who betrayed you.

Hey, I just wanted to save you So why did it come to this?

Which just makes Mikoto's feelings of powerless worse and causes him confusion, worry and stress. And when that reaches a breaking point, John will need to clean up whatever mess gets left behind and the cycle starts again.

The dynamic of the Rose Bride and the Prince is one built on a Horrific Power Imbalance. You don't want to be The Rose Bride, and you don't want to be The Prince either.

"Instead of a princess to be protected, I want to become a dashing prince."

It might be strange to have Kotoko here when the Prince as an archetype both in and out of Utena is associated with men, however the thing about Kotoko is that she idealizes The Prince.

Voice:  but because of the strength of her admiration for the prince, Voice:  the princess made up her mind to become a prince herself! Voice:  But is that really good for her?

Now let's get something out of the way before I start this section, Kotoko has gone On Record saying she isn't exactly attached to the concept of femininity. (Kotoko Interrogations)

T1Q10: What do you think about the word 'feminimity'? A: It's one of the means you can take. It's something you can freely choose depending on the scene, so it's not something to cling onto.

This is Perfectly Fine Actually, as is Utena wearing the boys uniform and having "masculine" interests. Every time we see Utena in girl's clothes in RGU it is when she's at her lowest point and being denied who she is.

The problem is not that they present outside of the gender binary/aren't attached to it, but that they idolize Unhealthy Ideals that Reinforce a hierarchy of power.

Anyways, as established with John, The Prince as a role is one built on having power over someone. By positioning yourself as someone's "savior" you hold power over them and, even if you don't want to, harm them as a result.

Kotoko has seen the world to be cruel and unfair and the systems in place to not be enough to keep law in order. She's frustrated by how powerless she is and acts to make the world "better."

Utena:  You don't see Himemiya as anything but the Rose Bride either, do you? Touga:  Is that wrong? Utena:  It is wrong! Utena:  Cut it out with that "Rose Bride" or "possession" nonsense.

(Task)

Kotoko: Yes. I hate evil. Hurting innocent people with violence, taking away from others, killing people… I hate all this evil behaviour! The law being unable to judge some sins, there's too many of these cases in this world. Having clearly bullied and torturing the weak, but exploiting loopholes in laws, there's so many sinners who still live in such a carefree manner!

It seems like Kotoko might have some unresolved and buried trauma here, as while Kotoko herself says she wasn't bullied. She also stated that when she was already the person she was now back when she was around Amane's age.

T1Q18: Have you ever been bullied in the past? A: No. Are people who've had such pasts the only ones who're allowed to hate evil?

20/6/18

Amane: I see…… You look scary at first impression, but I quite like the way you treat everyone equally regardless of whether they’re older or younger than you. You don’t just treat me like a child or anything like that. Kotoko: Treat you like a child? Hah, you’ve got to be kidding. Back when I was your age, I was already the person I am today.

1moremilgramfan's analysis on Kotoko's clothing in Harrow over here is a fantastic dissection of Kotoko's character design and this aspect of it in particular but my point is that Kotoko tries her best to look strong and powerful, even when she's in emotional distress. She must look strong and powerful and not Weak.

I wonder what that reminds me of.

Kotoko idealizes the idea of there being some quick and easy way to save the whole world. Even if it isn't her that does it in the end.

I've chosen the awaited hero

But for now, if the system in place can't do it then She Will. She will the dashing prince that saves the helpless princess. She'll be the savior of the weak.

Let’s end this! “HARROW” “HARROW” I can’t forgive the evil hurting the weak It’s unforgivable, I won’t allow it, I sweared

But as I said, by positioning yourself as someone's Prince you begin to hold power over them and it's easy to start dehumanizing them and putting your wants and ideals above what they want. Their safety is reliant on yours after all. They can't fight back if you do something that harms them.

Utena:  That's right, I've got to protect Himemiya. Utena:  If anyone can return her to being a normal girl, it's me. Utena:  I can't let anyone else have her. Utena:  Not even my own prince.

Kotoko: From the begin I've never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless Weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!

And Kotoko seems to take a lot of joy and gratification in protecting people. She doesn't care as much about the victims as much as what she Gets Out of Saving them. Their wants are not as important as hers.

...Fufu... This feels so good.

Touga:  While she was engaged to you, the Code required her to obey you. Utena:  You're lying... Touga:  The Rose Bride answered the wishes of her master. Touga:  To make her an ordinary girl was merely what you wished.

By doing so, she perpetuates the cycle of violence she hated so much in the first place. You can see this in T2, by persecuting the guilty voters and physically harming them because she believes she's justified. Exerting power from them in a physical way and wanting to vote more people not forgiven so she can continue handing out righteous judgement.

Kotoko: I handed out retribution to the prisoners you chose to not forgive. Following MILGRAM’s system, I didn’t finish them off right away. You still need time to think, after all. …What’s with that face…? Aside from following your will, I’m deciding to leave the rest up to you. But… You’re too soft-hearted. I would have chosen to not forgive more prisoners. It’d be better if I were the prison guard… Well, just one thing is missing, I guess… I’ll stay put for now. I’ll wait until your next judgement is over, and then I’ll take action. Don’t worry, I’m on your side. Let’s bring judgement to the unforgivable evildoers.

These actions are harmful and dehumanizing, the victims are not people but a means to an end. It doesn't matter what Happens to them or even to Herself, as long as righteous judgement is brought upon those who "deserve it" for whatever reason she can come up with.

Kotoko idealized the idea of being a savior, and in the process, turned herself into a tool to harm.

Akio:  I've taken enough risks to buy the power to change the world. Akio:  That's how the world works-

"It's alright now. Please go on playing make-believe "Prince" in this comfortable little coffin forever."

Now, again you don't want to be the prince. as The Prince is an unachievable ideal that harms everyone and perpetuates cycles of violence.

However unlike the Rose Bride, the Prince Has More Power and Agency. Whoever is engaged to the Rose Bride has power over her. So, if your worldview can only perceive the roles of Prince and Princess, Savior and Victim, then of course you would want to be The Prince.

Let's talk Shidou Kirasaki.

Now, similar disclaimer to Amane's in the previous analysis. Since I've delving into the abuse the Prince perpetuates in a bit more detail. I am once again stating that while I Will Not discuss csa and sa in general here since we have no proof of Shidou doing that and for the sake of tact. However it will be Alluded to vaguely in the dialogue, especially since I'm focusing on the perpetrators of that abuse.

Once again, do what is good for your health and stay safe.

Now, unlike most of the princes in Utena, Shidou isn't doing this necessarily out of malice, he is not as bad as Akio Othori and I'm not going to pretend he is.

However even if his actions aren't necessarily done out of Malice it doesn't mean he doesn't benefit from it nor does it mean he doesn't harm anyone.

Now I talked a lot about Amane in my Rose Bride analysis but as I mentioned their, people are always constantly presenting themselves to Amane as "her prince," and are frustrated and upset when Amane shows that she can't be the victim they want her to be and Shidou is no exception to this.

22/10/24 (Shidou’s Birthday)

Amane: I warned you. I can no longer turn a blind eye to this wickedness taking place right in front of us. You’re bringing ruin unto yourself. Do you understand? Shidou: No, I don’t understand. It’s my job as an adult to teach you that throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to make everything go your way.

In fact Shidou parallels her abusive parents a lot in his behavior by constantly ignoring and outright dismissing Amane's feelings and thoughts because he believes that Amane is "just a child."

20/06/13

Amane: ……*sigh*. Is that right. I don’t think I’m going to get along with you, Shidou-san. I don’t agree with the fact you refuse to acknowledge that I have my own free will, and that I should be held accountable for my actions, just because I’m a child. I may have only been alive for 12 years, but all the choices I’ve made, even if they weren’t the best ones, were entirely my own. What point is there in you getting sad when I have no regrets myself? ……please give me back my test. It seems you don’t have the concentration levels required to be my teacher. I’m going to get Kotoko-san to teach me instead. Shidou: Amane…… I don’t think that’s true. However smart you may be…… you’re still just a child.

Shidou doesn't see Amane as a person, he sees her as "child" and thus has less agency than Him. He's the one who should be making decisions for her because he's an adult. Whenever she reacts in a way he doesn't like he dismisses it, she's having one of the Worst Periods of Her Life right in front of him and he's dismissing it as just throwing a tantrum, something silly and childish.

Akio:  A child like you can't appreciate my ideals.

This isn't the only person he does this to, as Es also experiences his belittling and patronizing way of treating children. (Molech)

Shidou: Ah, well… I was just thinking about how despite being a child, you’ve really done your research on this. Es: Hey. [footsteps] You trying to make fun of me, is that it?  Shidou: What? Oh, no. I wasn’t trying to do anything like that. Es: You were. Something’s been on my mind ever since the very beginning… “Es, this. Es, that.” It’s the belittling way you refer to me…  I’m the prison guard, you know that? Shidou: Oh, I’m completely aware of that. But, you’re still a child in actuality. Coming from me, who’s almost twice the age as you are, I just…  Es: What is it? Shidou: For a child like you to be entrusted with this sort of role… My heart goes out to you. 

In a way he's exerting power over the both of them through this, he's an adult, more responsible and powerful than the both of them. It's, frankly, dehumanizing.

If the Rose Bride is an object to be projected on, the Prince is the one doing the projecting.

And as explained in the Rose Bride post, coffins in Utena represent cycles and eternity and to grow you need to break out of it. Shidou is stuck in his own coffin, keeps on trying to return to a life that Doesn't Exist Anymore and when he's faced with that knowledge and the way he's harmed the people around him because of that he continues to spiral.

He wants to die but he can't do it himself so he pushes the responsibility onto someone he doesn't consider as a person.

Shidou: I feel sorry that you had to be given this role. And, I truly apologise for being so insistent about sentencing me to death as well…  But, you’re perfect. You’ll give me the ending I’m most suited for. 

He wants to make up for his mistakes as a parent and pushes that onto someone he can project onto, even though that person has made it very clear how unwelcome and even painful it is for him to do that.

Shidou: Yeah. I’ll do what I can. I can’t have a child making a face like that.

He wants to live but he can only live if someone else is in pain because that means he has a reason to continue existing.

But there are lives that need safeguarding So hey, prolong my life, I’m indispensable

Shidou has fully admitted that he thinks his crime is a selfish one, he did it for himself. No matter How or Why he killed, we know he didn't value the people he killed that much.

“Throw down”, someone’s value Cannot be the same as another

You're in my way, hurry up and die.

The value comes from what they give to him, and in the end, their death was much more valuable to him than their life.

"The One Who Will Revolutionize the World"

Frankly, it's kinda pathetic to be a Prince.

It's is a coffin that one can stay in forever if they don't do anything. Something that harms you and everyone else...mostly everyone else. It's a role that brings about stagnation and immaturity. You can never revolutionize the world by being a Prince, all your doing is just perpetuating a cycle of harm.

Maybe Kotoko and Shidou will stay in their coffins, who knows really with them. They don't seem particularly in a hurry to get out, they don't even seem to notice their trapped in the first place.

Mikoto though...well...John really does want to understand, and Mikoto really does want to know what's happening.

And maybe that's enough.

Anthy:  But, you're a... Utena:  I came here to meet you. Utena:  So don't be afraid of this world where we'll meet. Utena:  ...Himemiya...Himemiya...Himemiya! Utena:  Himemiya! Anthy:  Utena...sama...? Utena:  Himemiya...we finally...meet.

END NOTES: I don't usually put these but since I plan to make this two part series one post minus the utena I might as well talk a bit.

I end this and the Rose Bride one so sappily but that's mostly cause I always need to remind myself after writing these that it's a Breakable Cycle. You write 2k+ words about characters being trapped in coffins and it Gets To You.

I'm so sorry to Fuuta for leaving him out of this...Mikoto and Kotoko kinda took your place...I know your literally a hero in your MV but I could not find a way to put you here without bloating it too much.

Funnily enough while the Rose Bride post had a lot to talk about The Prince is weirdly easy to summarize, the longest part here is when I talk about the themes of the Rose Bride and how that intersects with Mikoto. Though maybe that's just me. Another reason to write the compilation I guess.

I Swear there was more quotes about children and adults in Utena- I suppose it's a lot of its themes on adulthood are communicated visually and/or involve sex so like...yknow. Plus I'd have to explain the cars and it would take me all my effort to not put the Shiori car quote.

[quirkwizard]

What are your thoughts on All For One’s explanation during the o’clock flashback of how villains differentiate from criminals and that because of his quirk being able to give more quirks to a person he can turn “anyone into a villain”? There has been people who’ve received multiple quirks such as the nomu, Spinner, and Machia that are either completely brain dead or in the best cases have barely any sort of mental capacity aside from basic responses, and while we have cases like number six and nagant who have multiple quirks but are still functioning normally they still generally obeyed when given order so it’s not a brainwashing level of control.

For context, you can find the speech in Chapter 92 of Vigilantes or in each of these links.

You're taking what All For One said too literally. All For One does not control people by giving them Quirks. Entities like the Nomu are literally programmed to be obedient and follow orders by Garaki. With the other cases like Spinner, they do become weaker mentally, but that's from the toll of taking on too many Quirks. It's just a matter of how strong the current user is physically and mentally. Otherwise, there still have been plenty of people that have defied All For One that have been given Quirks by him. Number 6, Lady Nagant, Aoyama, Gigatomachia, and most importantly, Yoichi. Even Tomura, the person All For One has the most direct control over, was only due to a specific procedure and Tomura still broke out of it.

The kind of control All For One is talking about is a more metaphorical one. In his speech, All For One is talking about what exactly defines a villain. He believes what defies a villain is someone breaking out of society's box, but believes that defiance comes from someone's will and their Quirk. That the Quirk and someone's will need to be in tune with one another or else it will start to cause problems. He believes that having power over Quirks gives him power over people. That he can make that imbalance in others with his Quirks. That by creating and taking advantage of chaos and imbalance, both on the personal and societal scale, he's able to exert control over others. We see this happen through out the series, but it doesn't work as him exerting his will over others literally.

What's more, that isn't really the point of the speech. It exists more to set up a lot of the villains. For a lot of the villains in the series, their issues come about from a conflict of desires with the world and their own Quirks. Their inability to fit within society, from society's inability to properly help them, or their wills or Quirks causing them to come into conflict with the world. Which I suppose could set up some character for All For One as well. That he clearly sees the issues with the world and only sees how he can exploit them. All with the irony of talking to Kurogiri, an entity who effectively has no will of his own because of All For One. Kurogiri, the guy whose only role is as a walking, talking Quirk that can't talk back or debate with him.

[causticcorvus]

So, I do tend to overthink things, and one of the reasons for that right now is me cornering myself into a self-realized 'can't have my cake and eat it too' scenario. If I fundamentally believe one thing to be true, it makes it hard to justify the other thing (but I still want to do it anyway). I definitely said it before, but I fundamentally believe that the Alice we see for most of the series is not a complete person. The show makes it clear enough that Masquerade is a part of her, so the Alice we see has had a significant part of her split away into another side that she cannot connect with for most of the series. Imagine if someone quite literally stole all of your drive, confidence, self-belief, and left you with only your most passive traits? It makes sense she couldn't stand on her own two feet until she got those pieces of herself back. Now, I only bring that up because, how the hell do I reconcile that belief with my one AU-verse? Me having no self control when it comes to writing Masquerade as too much of his own character rather than an extension of Alice herself lead me to creating my Gemini AU verse, and well.. I do really enjoy doing it, but how do I begin to justify it. To split the two of them into their own beings would fundamentally make them both incomplete people again. With Masquerade I want that to be the point, and a point of struggle for him. But Alice? Can I even justify doing that to her again? The thing is, I don't write her like she's any lesser for it- I treat her as being much more 'complete', as if the split was uneven, but I still don't envision her as being the same character as if she still had Masquerade's darkness. My idea of a 'complete' integration of Alice+Masquerade is miles from canon Alice, and Masquerade's darkness being her own is the only reason she has the Darkus element in my mind. However, I do find it more likely that she never did fully reconcile every part of him back into herself, as is more or less what tends to really happen. I like the idea that 'Masquerade' had always been there, as the parts of herself she repressed in order to be the 'good, polite, well-behaved and disciplined' young lady she was expected to be, but the feelings of rebellion, resentment, and desire, among other truths about herself she denied, were an easy target to twist and corrupt, burgeon into their own being. Increasingly long, rambly divagation aside, what I mean to ask is, can you split them apart again and still have Alice retain her character growth? Can you split them in a way that doesn't take away her strength and agency? There are clearly some parts of herself- of him- that she wouldn't miss, that she tried to deny, but there are other parts he took so wholly from her last time that rendered her unable. I am reminded of something from, again, of all things, Kingdom Hearts. As much as I hated how much of a rug-pull the 'nobodies had hearts all along' thing really was, it does raise a good question- can a fractured soul, a fractured person, grow to become whole? I think the answer would be, over time, that yes, they could. And that angle is one I really wanted to explore with this fragmented version of Masquerade, but I think it's also an excuse I can use to preserve Alice's regained confidence and agency at the series' end. Alice may have become divided again, but she remembers everything she's been through, and she has something Masquerade does not, something he can't take from her- true bravery, true strength; the will to fight, not for herself, but for those who matter to her.

[freshlybakedspiderbread]

seiga kaku?

im gonna actively try to keep myself concise and to single points because its been so easy for me in the past to get lost in wicked hermit thoughts and veer off who knows where... Part of it surely has to do with how a long time ago i used to have an rp blog on tumblr where i spent everyday thinking about seiga to some extent!

General opinion/How much I care about them: there was a long period of time where i would say without a doubt she was my single favourite character in touhou. I couldn't properly point to any one reason, or any tidy chain of events that might have led to it, other than learning about her, reading and seeing various very formative doujin works featuring her and the th13 crew, and maybe some old-fashioned projecting led me to latching onto every aspect of her... These days, there's a lot of touhous I obsess and go wild over and to even greater extents than her, but seiga objectively has the longest history of making me go a little nuts, whereas even aya took a little more time to nettle into my brain.

I like Seiga a lot and ive thought about her a lot, is what im getting at!

A ship I love: seiyoshi (seiga/yoshika) is funny in that it has a lot of little 'requirements' to me. Like if intepreted as just purely the evil hermit controlling a tool that she herself murdered to obtain, i think thats boring. But likewise, if its intepreted as just the hermit tragically trying to preserve her departed beloved, well that might be better but still lacking to me.

i couldnt possibly get across my ideal backstory for them right now, but the ultimate gist of it is that Seiga definitely did care for the living Yoshika who then died unexpectedly, before Seiga could decide herself whether she would commit to teaching her the ways of the hermit or simply get bored and move on. Her main motivation in performing the most ludicrously evil magic and create a jiangshi was because she refused to let even the natural order of life and death take anything away from her.

....Thaaaat all aside, i think their interactions in present day are just really funny 😄 Seiga 'spoiling' her dear Yoshika who laughs off being a meat shield because its not like she can die again!

A non-romantic relationship that I love: I think Seiga and Futo have the most oddball dynamic among the taoists and also Futo is probably the only one Seiga wouldn't have intense romanctic tension with. Futo who is a weirdo herself, acknowledges Seiga as their wise teacher of the arts (calling her seiga-donno) and yet also does not think of her as above any of them in their little personal hierarchy because Futo knows Seiga has no interest in being a proper retainer to Miko, so all of Futo's formalities almost come off as either sarcastic or as a really esoteric form of endearment. Meanwhile, Seiga probably thought a long time ago Futo would grow weary of things like loyalty and matters of noble blood or talking like an ancient old person, but none of that happened and Futo remains the same as ever, which has been altogether surprising, charming, and exasperating for Seiga (and everone else but they're all mostly charmed 😊)

The NOTP: i guess you'd have to work especially hard to get me to gel with pairing her up with any of myouren temple's folks. I get the temptation since every other taoist has one or two easily paired up counterpart there, but its not enough to just cross a checklist and leave it at that!

(that said, if you were gonna pair up buddhists and taosists thematically, i get why one might put seiga with shou since they were technically most vital in backstory with miko/byakuren respectively, and also because they both have a servant, one jiang-shi and a mouse. but i always thought seiga made a better parallel witn nue personally)

My biggest headcanon about them: most of this post is already headcanon, but as for another 'big' one...

I believe over the last thousand and whatever years, Seiga made semi-regular (as in maybe once every few years or a century?) visits to the tomb where Miko and gang slept, indulging and refreshing her memories of them, chatting up Tojiko who is now a ghost. And then sometime in 2011 right as her hermit senses told her it was finally time to meet them all again, she went to to tomb to greet them all only to find out literally the entire place was gone 😨

so all within like a week or something, Seiga had to go on a mad investigative quest where she discovered they had all been whisked to Gensokyo at some point, had to learn what the heck Gensoyko even is, how to get herself there, and then arrived just in time to get blasted by the incident resolvers. Really busy time in her life!

An idea for a fanfiction I would like to write/read about them: ha... one day, my multi-part seiga backstory fic incorporating every stray headcanon i've ever had. and then i quit writing forever maybe n_n

That aside, a funny scenario would be Okina appearing trying to stir drama because Seiga is basically the reason why Miko divorced Okina. And Seiga has no idea who she is or about any of that because Miko never mentioned it 😌

Something that makes me think of them: pretzels.

also its someone elses fault but luo tianyi is just the seiga vocaloid to me 😑