#because I feel like having their siblings around changes the nature of the grief

[yusuke-of-valla]

So the four factions of the PvP section are "I want to go back", "I want to move forward", "I want us to stop fighting before we decide anything", and "I don't know what I want".

How do you think the berries would align, because if we achieve a four-way split that'd be insane.

You can justify anything if the character is traumatized enough!

Naoto's team "I want to go back" because hahaha he's Not Prepared to be the oldest, learning that he's not great at being in charge and looking after the kids as Mina and Ham. Also I think it's funny if Naoto is BOTH team "change the past" and "let's extra judicially murder this guy"

Ok hmmmm splitting up Kasumi and Sumire is hard but I think Kasumi is team "I want to move forward" because "everything's fine, we'll get through it, nothing's wrong" is also a core thing for her I think. It's the same reason she doesn't see issues with Sumire until things are already boiled over, she's ALWAYS looking towards the future (what coping issues? Not really processing trauma? What are those?)

I'm gonna be honest I felt this way when I first watched the answer and I still feel this way now, I think "I don't know" and "everyone stop fighting" are the same team to me. Like I don't know why Junpei and Koromaru are fighting Aigis.

What I'm saying is that I don't think it super matters who goes where so I'll say Sumire is team "I don't know what I want," and Yusuke is team "I don't know what I want but please stop fighting"

And Shinjiro is not here. He's still in a coma. Idk I can barely account for whether two people should get the Wildcard powers, much less Shinjiro

[obsidianstrawberrymilk]

A short list of things I would have changed in HoO

It takes place ten ish years after the end of PJO. Percy and Annabeth aren’t a part of the seven but instead appear as cool older mentors to help out the Lost Hero trio. They both have careers and live in New York and go to Sally’s house for dinner every weekend.

Caleo isn’t a thing. In fact, let’s not even mention Calypso. At most we mention she was freed after the last war as idk proof demigods have some power or something.

More than 1 Asian character. Give this one ADHD and dyslexia bc shocker Asian kids can be disabled as well.

For that matter a properly disabled character. I have a deaf OC I would use if I rewrote the series.

Leo is aroace. His arc is about learning that his self worth doesn’t have to be tied to the people around him and his friends love and care about him and he doesn’t need romance to be complete. His flirting is overcompensation bc he doesn’t feel romantic or sexual attraction and is afraid he’ll be alone forever.

Drew and Piper become friends. Drew’s mean girl bullshit is outdated and boring and it would have been a lot cooler to see her icy exterior thaw and her help Piper with her charmspeck (explaining how Piper learned how to use it to begin with) and take on an older sister role

Neither Leo nor Piper become head councilors to their cabins because that’s dumb

Keep the chapter title style from PJO. It was so fun and one of the highlights of the series for me. The relatable nature of PJO in general was kinda lost in HoO and it’s a shame bc there was such a variety of characters for people to identify with there.

Give Reyna a girlfriend or at least a homoerotic friendship that can become an actual relationship in the next series or something

Frank is 14 and he and Hazel aren’t dating, they just have mutual baby crushes on one another.

For that matter what the fuck was ‘Frank is magically not fat due to Mars’s blessing’ bullshit? Frank is a fat character who stays fat but learns to be confident in himself and his body type.

Stop The Adultification of Hazel 2k23. Hazel is 13, she’s the youngest member of the seven and despite her trauma I think that should be obvious. I think emphasizing her relationship with Nico could be fun here - he’s in his 20s so him taking a more ‘that older sibling who toes the line between parent and sibling’ role here could be fun.

Also, I don’t want Hazel to have Hecate’s blessing or whatever. Between her being a magical horsegirl and the daughter of Pluto there’s already a lot of room to expand on her powers that was never used - I think doing more with her cursed jewels and metals powers and her learning the other aspects of her powers, like Shadow Travel, would be fun.

Instead I think having a daughter of Hecate as a part of the Seven would be cool, because we could still have a witchy character with mist manipulation and magic powers.

Give Jason an actual personality, please. Bro’s been a child solider practically since age 2 and has spent his whole life with the weight of other teenagers’ lives on his shoulders as praetor - give him perfectionism issues and anxiety. We’re told that he’s spent his whole life helping others compromise instead of being his own person - show that. Let his arc end with him deciding to try and live a mortal life and find out who he is beyond being a war general.

Show us that Octavian’s a piece of shit, don’t just tell us.

Leo and Piper are the ones who fall into Tartarus. Nothing romantic ever happens but we get heavy emphasis on their friendship and we get to see their grief over Leo’s mom and Piper’s grandfather respectively

Piper’s grandfather has died a few months ago and she cut her hair herself when her dad didn’t want to let her due to that (correct me if I’m wrong but it’s a tradition in Cherokee culture to cut your hair when a loved one dies, correct?), which is why it’s all uneven. A lot of her insecurities stem from going from growing up in rural Oklaholma (not in a reservation bc there aren’t any there) without much money to suddenly being catapulted into a millionaire Hollywood lifestyle and having everyone criticize everything about her and be really racist, all while her Dad drew farther away from both her and her grandfather. Her arc would be reconnecting with both her culture and Dad and learning to find who she is and her self worth again.

They defeat Gaea in a way that isn’t so anticlimactic and fucking stupid

[howlsofbloodhounds]

You know, I think Killer getting reunited with his brother after his escape with Color would be really interesting, whether it goes well or horribly wrong.

If it goes well, it would be really interesting to see how Something New Paps deals with Killer not really being his brother (though I am of the idea that he'd love Killer for Killer as well. I just also think it would mean him grieving his brother yet again. This time knowing he'll never have his brother back). It would also be cool to see how he'd get along with the Epic Sanses. I also really would love to see explored what his tentative new dynamic with Killer might be, and how that may change Killer's dynamic with the others too (would he be less codependent with Color with Paps in the picture? Or would he just become dependent on both?).

If it goes horribly, well, it would be interesting to see exactly how horribly. Would Killer panic enough to kill him again? How would he react to that after so long? Would Killer even believe that that's his brother? Would he just deny everything and turn away and then be haunted by the possibilities forever?

I just hhhhhhhh. I've been thinking about them so much. I've never see content about them explored, ever, and the possibilities are giving me brainrot

Yes! This is the stuff I want to see with killer from this fandom. Not more of the same! Let me watch these doomed siblings suffer or heal. The angst having to grief the person you never knew you lost while they’re right in front of you, looking at you, looking through you—only it’s something else with your loved one’s face. Uncanny valley im telling you.

I personally think Papyrus will have a difficult time actually accepting that his brother is gone. Hed subconsciously see signs in Killer—same smile, same twist of the corner of the mouth even if the nature of the smile is different from when Sans told an awful pun, because now Killer is smiling like that when he tells horrible stories he seems to think aren’t horrific at all.

I think how this reunion unfolds definitely depends on the exact situation. If Killer is still trapped under Nightmare or not, or if Color has rescued him.

And if Papyrus has any memory of what Killer did to him and everyone else—because Killer did spend years upon years murdering and horrifically torturing Papyrus and all the others as if they were nothing more than toys.

Killer could look at him, and all Papyrus could see is that empty, dead eyed look as he screams and cries while Killer breaks his bones. As if Killer didn’t recognize who Papyrus was, and if he didn’t care who he was.

And Papyrus, how his reactions during those times could’ve affected Killer. He was in unimaginable pain, terror, and confusion. Hatred and anger and spite are understandable reactions. What are some things he might’ve said to Killer during these moments that stuck with Killer? Begging and pleading, cursing and screaming? Attempting to get Sans to “remember who he is”?

As the world Reset around Killer, did others eventually start changing too? Even if only in small easily missed ways, even if they forgot by the next Reset. Chara and Killer were always in search of something new, after all.

Could Killer trust himself at all around Papyrus? Or would he immediately start thinking about how he has killed him before, how Papyrus could be here for revenge or even worse—for Sans.

Would some part of Killer despise Papyrus for being weak enough to forgive him, just like he always did for the human? Would Killer feel the need to kill Papyrus again—believing it’s what it has to do to prevent something even worse (Stage 4), or perhaps out of panic as you mentioned, or even that anger at Papyrus or just the unimaginable confusion and stress and pain that Papyrus’ presence brings (Stage 3).

Would Papyrus’ presence disjoint Killer’s “placement” in time.

Would seeing him make Killer think he’s back in the Underground with Chara, and thus Papyrus is another enemy he has to deal with. Would he be unable to accept that the Papyrus in front of him is his Papyrus, or would he think it’s just one Papyrus out of a gazillion more, and therefore not worth wasting energy on?

I can definitely see Stage 1 being reluctant to actually be around Papyrus. Not because he hates him or is disgusted by his “weakness” and not even because he thinks he has to kill Papyrus—although he’s very aware that some parts of him very likely do think those things—not only because he can’t trust his own mind, his own desires, but also because he just..feels horrible around Papyrus.

He idealized this image of Papyrus and the life he thinks they used to have, but he has changed. He has done a lot of things. He couldn’t even accept a hug from Papyrus for very long without pushing him away in tears. I think he’d definitely benefit from having his brother back in his life, although I doubt it’d be a very frequent thing.

I can see many instances where guilt, fear, and shame just leads to him trying to “hide” from his emotions in Stage 2, which leads to the usual avoidance behaviors. Which may also lead to him subconsciously blaming Papyrus for being able to have any effect on him at all—given how Stage 2 views it when situations and people are able to make him “feel” anything. As if they are attempting to control him.

So many interesting possibilities—especially given how much Papyrus may know. How much knowledge is he working off?

{ @stellocchia }

[fullscoreshenanigans]

When do you think each of the fullscore trio realizes their feelings for each other?

Copying from this post but I generally hold these sentiments:

Sometimes I go back and forth on this with Emma realizing it earlier but keeping it to herself so the boys have more time to digest and put a name to their feelings so as not to pressure them. She has a very acute emotional awareness.

…except maybe when it comes to herself, lol. Feel like the comparative obliviousness on the matter is the final roadblock for most of her ships with her Type A personality. If she’s aware of it and knows it’s mutual, it’s so hard to see her not just going for it, especially with these two with how badly they can get stuck in their own heads.

As for when exactly it happens, Ray realizes Emma and Norman are special to him early on, though he doesn't conceptualize that love to the full extent it would eventually become. Again borrowing from earlier posts, but:

(Chapter 181.1 | Chapter 93 | S1 Episode 6)

He loved them more than he feared the consequences of revealing what he knew to Isabella. They comforted him when he'd have nightmares that left him screaming and crying in terror, even when they couldn’t understand what was upsetting their friend so badly and he couldn’t articulate to them what was wrong.

But he's also the last to act on his feelings after years of self-loathing and his firm commitment to ensuring Emma and Norman survive as a set.

(2020 Exhibition Interview)

One of the immutable truth's of his universe is the two of them belong together, and he would never do anything to jeopardize that, even if it meant remaining silent about how he felt.

Norman feelings for Emma are evident by his eleventh birthday in the fourth story of the first light novel, "A Gift from the 39th Girl."

He admires her deeply, and she inspires him to do better and strive for the seemingly impossible.

(Chapter 14)

With Ray, Norman always had someone he could show his more prideful and impish side to.

(S1 Episode 2 | Mystic Code Book Chapter 2)

I disagree on the wording a bit here because it's not that Norman doesn't show his true nature to Emma, but that the two of them are seeing different facets of a multifaceted person. Emma sees Norman caring for and helping their siblings all the time, and he's not disingenuous in those actions, even if in his pragmatism his mind immediately jumped to just him, Emma, and Ray escaping after being confronted with the truth. Ray was someone he valued and trusted enough to show aspects of himself that he didn't share with anyone else openly at this point in his life.

But it's after two weeks of hating Ray's guts that Norman discovers the true motivation behind Ray's plan at Grace Field:

I adore the way the anime adapts his realization of this, further discussed here:

(S1 Episode 5)

Norman reaching the same conclusion is one of humbling, relief, and grief. Since Krone first arrived at the house, he suspected Ray was the traitor. He hated himself for it, but that didn’t change the conclusion he drew, and he spent two weeks stewing around in those negative, vindictive thoughts. This is the only time I believe Norman ever truly hated Ray as a person. His being aloof and withdrawn might have been annoying and frustrating when they were younger, but he still accepted Ray as he was and didn’t hate him. This development, however, was infuriating. Norman would have been willing to sacrifice Ray, like Ray tells him he should have done, if he hadn’t talked to Emma in the flashback from the manga that instead plays out chronologically here. It isn’t stated by him directly how he aspires to be like her, but it does cause him to pause, reevaluate, and take a step back from adhering to his more rigid sense of morality. And then he realizes Ray’s true motivation and is humbled even further. In the final seconds of the song, the distorted crackling cuts out, and we’re left with the last rueful notes of the string instrument as the camera zooms in on a single child’s drawing, one that we know is Eugene’s based on the chapter 31 extra of the Grace Field House art gallery… …A good use of resources to convey to the viewer the same affirmation Ray had given to Norman: whatever his machinations might entail, his motivation has always, always been his two most precious friends. There’s relief in that realization: Ray isn’t out to maliciously harm them, but there’s also grief in how Ray doesn’t see himself as worth saving. A very humbling experience when just a few hours ago Norman had been so willing to throw him away, just like Ray wanted.

This settles something in Norman—that Ray is once again firmly in the "dear friend who must be saved and protected at all costs" category of his mind, reflected in his resolute stare in these two additional frames in episode 11 of season 1:

Ray intends to die. From what he said, he's doing it so you and I don't get killed. He didn't include himself in the numbers. He's not escaping. Ray has decided to die inside this house. He's going to set himself on fire to distract Mom in order to let us run away. That's his entire plan. But I won't allow him to do that. Not ever.

But it also leads him to begin reexamining what exactly that all entails, and he has over a year to pore over those thoughts in Lambda.

By the time he razes the facility to the ground, he recognizes that he cares for Ray in the same way he cares for Emma (@vinokurinner conveys it beautifully through this comic)

(Chapter 74 | Chapter 129 | Volume 18 Inner Cover | Chapter 145 | Chapter 153 | Chapter 181.4)

Emma's cherished the boys as her best friends her whole life at Grace Field. As they're inspired by her, she in turn is inspired by them.

(Chapter 5 | Chapter 88)

But when exactly she consciously puts a name to those feelings and recognizes them in their totality, I don't have as specific of period for because I like to play around with it.

(Chapter 123)

But there's the beat of pronounced, wide-eyed clarity when Ray mentions Norman's special to both of them.

(Chapter 153)

There's her bold declaration of "I'm never letting you go!" to Norman, firm in her conviction that she'll won't let him sacrifice himself or be separated from them again.

(Chapter 161)

There's the faith that now that she has both of them at her side again, they can achieve the impossible.

(Chapter 180)

And there's the visions she has of them in her dreams after they arrive separately in the human world and she's lost her memories, because not even a god can remove the place they hold in her heart.

[signed-sapphire]

OKAYYYYY. @your-ne1ghbor, I love you for these wonderful questions. Tumblr, FUCK YOU FOR DELETING THIS DRAFT FOUR TIMES.

Ahem. I swear if this deletes again I’m going to stab something. Maybe Asha’s parents.

Anyways, I’m going to break this up for easier comprehension.

Light versus dark magic

This is going to be quicker because if this deletes again I SWEAR I’M SCREAMING buuuuut, at first I thought about doing light v dark magic like @oh-shtars, with dark magic being the same, but quicker and at a cost.

Then I thought about how Stars work in the TFS universe.

And I decided that magic comes from emotions. The stronger the emotion, the more powerful the spell. If magic is casted with good intentions and reaps good consequences, it’s considered light magic.

For example! Magnus taking the wishes of Rosas. He has good intentions— keeping them safe— and reaps good consequences— Stars don’t attack and kill them. Thus, light magic.

A good example of dark magic would be Maleficent cursing baby Aurora. Bad intentions— jealousy, bitterness— with bad consequences— death of an innocent child. So it’s dark magic.

The use of dark magic warps its wielder. Magic is a living thing, it breathes and lives in every living thing. But dark magic, full of ill intent, can poison its user and make their heart dark. It also curses their appearance, whether it be slow or fast, slowly corrupting them.

That's my hc on why a lot of Disney villains don't look human. I'm scrapping the idea of "bad guys based off of queer people bc being gay = bad" and changing it to this because I said so

A good example of the distinction between the two would be Elsa's magic. When she's happy and safe, she uses light magic.

However... her fear. It’s too powerful of an emotion to be handled with light magic. The only way to contain it is via jagged, sharp icicles of dark magic.

Therefore, her striking Anna in the heart was dark magic.

Bad consequences, bad emotions, "bad" magic.

I truly think if Anna had died, Elsa would’ve succumbed to dark magic and become the Snow Queen from the original tale.

So why does Maggy take the wishes?

Magnus uses magic for two things:

To maintain the barrier around Rosas

To take people’s wishes and turn them into wish orbs

Both of these things are to protect Rosas from attacking Stars. I went into it a bit here, but Stars can sense ungranted wishes. Taking those wishes and storing them away prevents Stars from seeing them and attacking. But just in case, a barrier surrounds Rosas, tinting the sky a beautiful pastel purple.

It’s been established Magnus has light magic. He’s keeping his people safe, giving them shelter and a chance to have a good, unbiased Wishgranter.

Surely taking people’s wishes, no matter the intent, is still okay! Taking their drive and spark doesn’t make them feel as if something is missing from their life! This has no bad consequences whatsoever!

Do Magnus and Amaya hate the stars? Why?

It’s… complicated.

For Magnus, at least.

He didn’t have the most lavish life before the Stars. He had a small circle and liked it that way. He wasn’t the best person, but he did what needed to be done.

Then the Stars attacked, and killed the only one he cared for.

But still, Magnus knows that without that incident, he never would’ve met Asha or Amaya, and never would’ve founded Rosas and saved so many other people from experiencing the same grief he has. The Stars deserve no love or empathy, but if he could rewrite time, he… wouldn’t.

Amaya, on the other hand? Definitely. She had a big family, with lots of siblings and nieces and nephews. She left them all to pursue her dreams of potion making, and came back to not a village, but a pile of ash.

There weren’t even any bodies left to bury.

She hates them.

Can Amaya do magic as well?

Magic may be in every being, but only a few can naturally harness it. Magnus’ magic capabilities were passed down generationally (ha), while Amaya’s wasn’t. But she studied magic, and to make potions work, you have to understand the magic in them.

However, she can cast a simple fire or levitation spell in a pinch.

Did they ever teach Asha any form of magic?

Asha is also one of the people who has to learn magic in order to master it. However, magic is a fickle thing and doesn’t like her intentions. But Asha has a workaround! Surely, when she turns eighteen, she can just wish to become a great sorceress!

…

…right?

How did Cielo get to earth?

I went into that a bit here :3

[witchthewriter]

𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐞'𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞

⤷ female, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!  

a/n: So Jace has grown up, he’s around in his very early 20s

Warnings: spoilers kinda, talks of death, grief

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ        

ENFJ

Gryffindor

Chaotic Neutral

Aquarius Sun, Virgo Moon, Aries Rising

𝑺𝑭𝑾🌿

・Jace had grown up quickly in those years after his brother died. 

・ Daemon proposed the match and Rhaenyra agreed; they both thought this would be a great alliance

・The first time Jace saw you, he was absolutely astonished. You were nothing like a princess, well you didn’t look like one. With your fingers full of rings, hair completely wild and dark liner around your eyes

・You looked beautiful, intimidating and ... aggressive. 

・He knew you weren’t a meek woman. One that would be silent and let him take the lead. No. You were going to change his world. 

・Jace is aggressively protective of you. Because of what happened to Luke, he is so scared that something bad will happen to you. 

・Aemond Targaryen is his number one enemy, well, that position is shared with Aegon, his cousin who usurped his mother’s throne. However, whenever Aemond is brought up, his neck and face turn red to the point where he has to leave the room. 

・Never forgets special occasions and gives you the perfect gift. On your most recent birthday, he gave you a necklace with an amethyst stone the size of a thumbnail with six little diamonds placed around the golden casing. 

・Rhaenyra absolutely loves you and thinks you’re great for her son. She has had many talks with you about wanting to keep him safe and the grief she feels about Luke:

    “I will never move on from my son’s death. But I want you to help Jace move on. To live life. You give him hope, I know you do.”

・Was a bit wary about your witchcraft. But he’s seen what you can do, and how you can bend the natural world to your will

・You create protection amulets for those you care about, and enchant their clothes with such intent as well

・Animals flock to you. They know you’re a good person. You cannot help but attract them

・You’re absolutely amazed by Vermax, and he’s enchanted by you. He accepts you as Jace has. You can be around Vermax without anyone else, the dragon likes you that much

・Jace likes how you’ve decorated the bedroom. It’s covered in herbs and flowers, both fresh and dry. The fire is always going, and jars and candles line most countertops. Books about all things are stacked against the walls and the windows let in the sunlight, warming up the room. It’s homely and so cosy. 

・Jace’s younger siblings, Joffrey, Viserys and Aegon, absolutely love you. You’re like their mysterious older mentor who they look up to.

・You always make the younger boys feel safe, as Rhaenyra is often absentminded with grief and the thought of vengeance. At times you’re like a mother to them. 

・Jace comes to you for advice when he’s unsure of his next move

・You understand that he’s in high demand, and at times you can go up to 2 months without seeing him

・But he knows you’re missing him when he sees a raven 

・You’ve grown close to his family, especially Rhaenyra. She has found a friend in you. She sees you as the daughter she never had.  

𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑷𝒆𝒕 𝑵𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒀𝒐𝒖: Love, Princess, My Future Queen. He’s actually very proud to have you as his significant other, and gladly calls you these pet names when others are around. 

𝑯𝒊𝒔 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆: Quality time and Physical Touch. He loves when he can feel you, a hand on your thigh or waist. 

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈:

The Kings and Queens of Old by Harry Gregson Williams 

𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒑 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔:

Moral/Emotional Support

Arranged Marriage 

Love at First Sight

  𝑵𝑺𝑭𝑾 🔞 minors dni!

・Jace is a very tender and gentle lover. 

・You’re his first. He didn’t mean to save himself for marriage, but Rhaenyra barely let him out of her sight after the first few months of Luke’s death. 

・And romance wasn’t on Jace’s mind. 

・Until he met you, and love swelled in his heart ... and his ... cock.

・His favourite position is cowgirl, seeing your tits bounce up and down with his hands on your hips ... it drives him crazy

・Likes to leave hickies on your chest, especially on your breasts and neck. 

・Has kissed every. single. part. of your body. 

・Has a mommy kink, not going to lie. But also loves when you call him daddy, sir or my lord.

・The first time you gave him head he nearly cried from pleasure

・And he was eager in returning the favour 

・He will spend hours just getting you to the edge and then leaving you there, without an orgasm, just to tease you

・Likes it when you suck his fingers

・And LOVES to make you gag on his cock

・He’s very well endowed, around 8 and a half inches when he’s fully hard 

・Nips at your lips when you aren’t paying attention 

[mushroomnoodles]

So Simon is just gone just like that!? That must've been horrible Morri to see when he woke up!😢 like imagine saying goodnight to your dad and thinking what you'll do the next day together and he's just...gone. And how did Marceline react to Simon's death and Morri now down a parent?

tw parental death, grief, angst in general, god kid is raising themself

churning out some of these questions that i wanna answer with no art, mostly because i want people to know what happened/my thoughts even if i don't feel like drawing or don't have time to.

it was absolutely horrible for little 13 year old (250 year old) morrigan! they were very distraught and confused, because simon didn't even age or give them a warning. a thing they won't forget is the coffee machine was still on, with a full pot.

the emotional devastation sorta kickstarted their dormant god powers, and when they were silently trying to preserve simon's body (they didn't want him to rot, they wanted him to stay with them forever) they initially turned him to stone. morri has been highly intelligent since conception, so they don't exactly think like a teenager, more like a naive adult i'd say, but they're also still a child if that makes sense? they want their papa, they feel safe around him, they love him.

after their initial bewilderment they realized they could sort of force his body into whatever they wanted (remembering those long past memories of grasping for things with their powers while simon was still carrying them, changing those objects and hearing simon react to it) and turned his corpse into a crown that they could hold onto.

they couldn't really bear to be in the house, and they just wanted their dad back, so they simply left with some stuff they thought they'd need (they did want to be an adventurer when they were younger, so they had a loose idea of what to take).

when their judgement wasn't so clouded by leave me alone, my dad is dead, they were afraid pb would do things like she did when they were still in the womb without simon to protect them and also feared that they would be suspected for simon's death due to their. uh. nature. and they didn't want to tell marceline.

morri chose to navigate their puberty alone (and it was such an itchy one, growing spikes and claws) and when more powers came in (portals to other parts of the world, portals to other universes, floating) with no stable guide of their own they took to.. less than healthy coping mechanisms when they found bringing their dad back to life was going to be a lot harder than anticipated. every now and then, they'd hear of marceline looking for them, and they'd avoid her, ever so determined to "fix" things so they could go back to normal and their family would be fine.

morri did have a few on and off parental figures, especially when they were younger- kind strangers looking out for them for a bit before they scampered off again.

marcy, by the way, was having an equally terrible time. from her point of view, simon and morrigan both up and disappeared without a trace. why? how? she couldn't find simon, and with morrigan's inability to be physically documented, it was very difficult to pinpoint where her little sibling went. at first she thought GOLB had something to do with it, and sort of still does. but the thought that simon has died has crossed her mind many a time.

marcy is a bit harder for me to characterize so i think i'll leave it there for her.

[prying-pandora666]

I Just Need To Vent

So I’m a writer and storyteller who also sings and sews. I know this is a strange place for this but I NEED to vent about the most insane choir practice I’ve EVER experienced!

Let me introduce you to the choir members in this story because it is WILD.

First we have the actual choir director. Let’s call him… Boss.

Secondly, the students. This isn’t all of them, but at least the ones I can remember. The names have been changed etc etc.

Manuel - Top of the class. Total teacher’s pet. The kinda guy who follows all the rules to the letter, even when it’s annoying. He really loved his pet birds and was all around a fair and likeable guy though, despite being kinda naive and easily fooled.

Good thing he had his gf.

Valencia - Manuel’s gf. Super smart, both book-wise and street-wise. You couldn’t fool her. She was also really athletic and SUPER GORGEOUS. Anytime she entered a room, she lit it up. She was that radiant. This one guy Micheal was down bad for her, but we’ll get to him later.

Aaron - You know that guy that’s really good with his hands? That was Aaron. He could fix things, make things, build things. I’d later see these incredible figurines he made and painted. Guy was an artisan. But he was also the kinda guy to bend the rules when he got too excited.

Ulrich - Besties with Manuel. I didn’t know him well. He was kind of a loner, unlike Manuel who was so outgoing. But he seemed chill! He was super into the ocean and marine life. He usually was pretty nice but if you got on his bad side? He had a hella temper.

Yasmin - Aaron’s gf. She was the hippy girl that is super into nature and the environment. She was always planting things. That kind of lady. Surprisingly, she wasn’t too overbearing about it? I only really ever saw her argue about it with Aaron and—ugh—Michael. Friggin Michael.

Tyler - An MMA fighter. Total meathead. He wasn’t a bully exactly? But he was always ready to throw down at a moment’s notice. That kind of energy.

Owen - Had a podcast about surviving in the wild and was super into camping and hunting and horseback riding. Made his own leather.

Vanessa - I think she might’ve dated Owen? I don’t remember. But I know she was Yasmin’s little sister and also kind of an animal loving hippy.

Ester - She was a nurse. Really caring and looked after everyone.

Then there were these three siblings, Manfred, Natalie, and Lanz.

Manfred - A lawyer. Really serious. No nonsense. Kind of a killjoy but fair minded.

Natalie - Grief counselor. She took on so much emotional labor for EVERYONE.

Lanz - Suffered from epilepsy which made him have some wild hallucinations sometimes. He needed a lot of care.

Oh wait! I almost forgot one before we get to MICHAEL.

Noelle - I think she was dating Owen? NGL I remember her the least. She was also a dancer and had incredible body control. But outside of her admittedly very impressive dancing, I can’t recall anything more about her.

And finally MICHAEL.

Friggin MICHAEL.

Look I don’t even know how to describe Michael. But fair to say he is both the protagonist and the antagonist of this story. Here is my best attempt to capture that magnificent jerk-off as best as I possibly can in my own words.

Michael - The most beautiful man you will ever see. Talented at everything. Anything anyone else in this choir group he could do? He could at least replicate at a passable level if not outright master. Give him an evening to learn a subject and he’d be proficient if not an expert

Michael HATED Manuel. A feeling Manuel didn’t return, and often tried to be friendly with Michael only for Michael to pull a fast one on Manuel.

Did I mention these two were BROTHERS!?

Yeah. Imagine what that family home must’ve been like. Yikes.

Okay so on to the story.

So one day, BOSS calls us all in to record this song he’s been working on.

Now you have to understand, this was a musically gifted group. To say they were beyond average skill level is an understatement.

We all knew this was going to be LIT.

So everyone already knows the song. I don’t know if they’d gotten the sheet music earlier or what, but basically everyone was already 100% familiar with how it goes.

But Boss was the kind of music teacher who really wanted his adult students to express themselves creatively.

As such, he basically gave everyone free rein to rehearse the song however they wanted.

Yasmin wants folk rock? Done.

Ulrich is feeling more metal? Sure.

Valencia wants rhythm and Tyler takes that an excuse to SMASH DRUMS while he sings his part? As long as it’s on beat.

You’d think this would create a horrible cacophony! But surprisingly, no. Boss had everyone so well trained that it was like they all locked in and even as they added their own flair and unique flavors, it all sorta… came together?

It was incredible. A mash-up of genres and styles performed by a team of some of the most talented singers in the entire world, as I knew it! I’d never heard anything like it. I was speechless. I couldn’t look away for a moment. Boss was a genius.

There was just one problem.

Michael.

Friggin Michael.

So here’s the thing. Michael was the best singer.

I won’t pretend that’s not true. Even in a group of god-tier choir singers, Michael was on another level. The guy was a stand-out among stand-outs and Boss knew it.

But so did Michael.

And he NEEDED to prove it.

Anyone who has ever been involved in the arts has probably encountered a Michael. That person who is ungodly talented but a so insecure and narcissistic that they just have to constantly PROVE IT? Even at the cost of whatever you’re trying to perform?

Yeah. That’s exactly it.

So Michael chimes in and starts singing OBNOXIOUSLY LOUD. Trying to drown out literally EVERYONE ELSE.

Boss notices but like a patient teacher trying to sculpt Michael’s talents, he just signals to some of the others to pipe up their harmonies more to support Michael.

But a well supported solo isn’t enough for Michael. Oh no. Not content to simply be the star for a section of the song, Michael starts singing IN THE WRONG KEY.

Look, I’m no expert in music, but even I could hear what he was doing. His gorgeous, powerful voice, singing so well. BUT IN THE COMPLETELY WRONG KEY!

I looked at Boss and he seemed to sigh. But instead of stopping, he tweaked a few things, signaled to the others to change their parts they were signing (it all went above my head so sorry if I’m not being very detailed), to work in Michael.

Soon Michael’s discordance actually worked! The song was a little more crunchy rather than perfectly harmonious, but the slight dissonance actually made it all the more haunting and beautiful. In a way it was even better than before.

Like I said, Boss was a genius.

Which only pissed Michael off more.

And so, clearly desperate for attention and pushed to his limit, Michael jumped so far out of line that the line was left in the dust.

He went CRAZY. If Boss’ song went high? Michael sung bass. If the song went low? Michael sung soprano.

It was like a musical battle except Michael was the only one fighting.

If someone else tried to contribute a neat little flourish or solo? Michael RAN UP TO THEM and drowned them out with his bullshit! I’m serious!

I thought for sure Boss was going to stop the song, but no.

Boss was starting to lose his patience. That much I could tell. But still he persevered, trying to just get to the end of the piece at the very least!

Soon some of the other choir members started dropping out. Michael was ruining it for everyone.

As I remember:

Valencia stopped, rolled her eyes, and refused to engage any further. She sat down and waited for the piece to end.

Vanessa broke into tears which got Yasmin to stop and glare at Michael.

Several of the others either lowered their voices or stopped altogether.

But not Manuel.

Goodie two-shoes Manuel had just tuned out the class and was only looking at Boss for instruction. Singing the song exactly as he was supposed to.

Nothing made Manuel miss a single note or beat. He was in the zone. No matter how chaotic or awful Michael’s disruptions got.

This only served to piss off Michael more, who started singing at the top of his lungs RIGHT at Manuel.

But Manuel didn’t even flinch. It was like he had Michael on IRL server mute.

So Ulrich, who had sat out with Valencia, sees this go down. He realizes this is getting to Michael.

Remember how I said Ulrich was usually chill but had a temper if you got on his bad side? And how he was besties with Manuel?

Yeah, Ulrich also couldn’t stand Michael.

So Ulrich gets up and decides he’s gonna be Manuel’s ride or die. Ulrich starts singing again. Louder.

The more mad and crazy Michael gets, the more Ulrich backs up Manuel on the part they’re SUPPOSED to be singing.

Michael notices he’s been challenged and just goes HARDER. But Ulrich is in it to win it and won’t back down.

This gets Aaron’s attention. Never one to say no to a chance to try something new, especially if he gets to bend the rules a little bit, Aaron gets hyped and stands by Ulrich, joining him in his crusade. Now it’s Aaron and Ulrich backing up Manuel while Michael rages and sings furiously at all three of them.

This whole time? Manuel obliviously just keeps singing.

So Tyler, who at this point is only half-assedly doing a note here and there, realizes this has turned into a fight.

So HE squares up and starts copying Ulrich and Aaron. He just wants to be a part of the conflict. Classic Tyler. 🙄

Natalie thinks Tyler might lose control so she gets up to chime in and temper him a bit.

Manfred won’t leave his sister to herself so he tells Lanz to rest with Ester and joins in to back up his sister in the good fight. Manfred always liked order.

Owen at this point decides, yeah okay whatever, let’s do this. Noelle hasn’t stopped dancing so she just starts singing again.

Soon most of them are back in it now, all of them backing up Manuel who has just been oblivious to the resistance movement he has accidentally started. He just wanted to sing the song real good and make Boss proud.

But everyone else knows what’s up, especially Valencia, who rallies the stragglers.

Michael is LOSING HIS MIND at this point. I’m not even sure he’s singing. He’s practically just screaming. Even Boss can’t work with this anymore.

Still, Boss expertly conducts so that Michael’s strongest and most triumphant notes still fit into the wider song. It’s a war zone.

FINALLY, with great frustration and a giant crescendo, Boss at last ends the song.

Everyone stops, winded, catching their breaths and surveying the room in confusion. No one says a word.

Michael stares right at Boss. Unblinking. Daring him to say something.

Boss reveals he’s been recording this entire time.

He pulls out his computer and plays it all back for us to see what we have created.

And with great authority, he looks right at Michael and says that he chose every single one of them for a reason.

That their talents he has fostered in them for so long are exactly the ingredients he needed to complete his magnum opus.

And that INCLUDES Michael’s shenanigans.

Every sour note.

Every crunchy bit of dissonance.

Boss wanted it all in there. It’s his masterpiece. And it’s just the way he wanted it.

Michael, predictably, throws a tantrum and storms off to the corner like a child. But everyone else is awed with the result. For a first draft, it’s phenomenal. Unlike anything anyone’s ever made before. They can’t wait to start workshopping it to get the finished product.

Anyway that’s all. Thanks for listening, you guys.

This is Vera, storyteller and weaver, signing off.

——————————————————————

If you’ve followed the story thus far, I am ready to reveal to you that this isn’t a real life event.

This is the Lord of the Rings creation myth. I just tricked you into reading the beginning of The Silmarillion.

And if you’re dying to know what happened next?

The book is widely available and written with language so beautiful it will make you cry.

So check it out and find out what happens to that asshole Michael aka Melkor.

Because Sauron ain’t got a THING on him!

[vacantgodling]

Hey! Heard it's Hya's birthday month. Wanna answer some for Hya?

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

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

it is!!! birthday boyyyy <3 thank you so much for asking!

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

all of the nobility in paramour actually have plant-based names. my thought process as i was digging deeper into the worldbuilding of paramour (and the country of galere in general) is that, because galere is a heavily steampunk inspired society, that i should add elements of nature via the naming conventions of the people. however, these plant names only extend to those of noble birth (which makes hya's name interesting as he's a bastard; its something that i would get into the weeds about more in any au where hya has further connection to the slums, but in canon, clematis gunn-his shit father-was the one who named him, as he used the promise of fully adopting hya and treating him well and accepting him as a 'legitimate son' as a bargining chip for hya's mother to continue seeing him until she said 'fuck all that noise' and dipped). i should mention as well that these are the scientific names of plants, to give their names a bit more of an interesting edge. its more interesting, imo, to name a character something like 'helianthus' instead of 'sunflower' y'know? (which is the actual name of lavendula's husband btw lmao). i also kind of take whatever part of the scientific name that sounds best as a name, but ik what i'm referring to lmao.

more specifically, i chose the specific plant names for hya and his siblings and their immediate family based on the language of flowers, and relating them to their character. to break it down, i'll give you the general gist of all the main cast that i really thought about lol:

hyacinthus -> hyacinths (obviously) -> one of the reasons i have him wear and allude to gold so often is that i want to draw back to yellow hyacinths specifically with his character. the meaning of yellow hyacinths is jealousy.

tagetes -> marigolds -> grief & jealousy lol

iberis -> candytufts -> indifference

narcissus -> daffodil -> unequalled love; but i did partly name her for the myth surrounding narcissus in general, because much of her story is actually centered around learning to love herself in a healthy way

lavendula -> lavender -> distrust

aloe -> surprisingly, actually the scientific name for aloe as well lmao -> affection, but also grief

helianthus -> sunflowers however i had helianthus as a character be a tall, imposinf figure because tall sunflowers -> mean haughtiness

belladonna -> belledonnas; i basically used the same name like aloe but for her i changed the spelling so it flowed better -> obvs nightshades, but also it means silence.

not everyone is named with THAT much thought, but i did specifically want all the gunn siblings to have names that really related to their arcs and their personalities lmao.

🧠 - What do you like most about the OC?

if i'm not allowed to say everything (which, literally everything hya is built to be a man i lose my shit about), then i think honestly it's his unwavering, stubborn obtuseness, and the fact that it still somehow gets people to care about him. in many ways, hya is the "self" that i feel on the inside, and a lot of the bad habits and whims that i perhaps wish i could act on (some days), but i think i love the fact that he can be unashamedly unapologetic about being himself, not acknowledge his feelings and yet people still fight for him and his affections. yes, amon does--but so does aloe, so does lavendula who admires him, so does tagetes in their weird sort of way, etc etc. he is a man who is unmoved and shapes the world around him, but he doesn't have to change himself, even in his worst of habits, to gain love and respect. i wish i could be like that in a number of ways. so, i guess what i like the most about him is wish fulfilment? indulgence? something like that

[marshmallowprotection]

hello!! I saw requests are open & got inspired by one of the last asks you answered, so RFA with an MC that has a kid when they get lured to the apartment. let's say the kid's about 3-4

-embroidery anon (don't know if you remember me or not. it has been a While. I fell out of the fandom for a bit, but I'm happy to be back & see that you're still here <3)

Yoosung won't know what to do with himself. He, himself, is hardly an adult compared to the rest of the RFA. He definitely doesn't want people to see him as a child because he is finally coming into his own as an adult, but he still has a long way to go no matter how much he tries to grow up! But, the same could be said for everybody, because we're always changing and growing even as we get older. You will get wiser with time but there is always plenty more to learn.

But, in the context of this situation, it would be a lot on his shoulders the second he realized he had feelings for you. There's going to be a point of contingency in his head all about what it means to be mature and what it means to be immature. You're definitely ahead of him in terms of maturity and there's no doubt about that in his mind.

You have a kid and you're doing your best to take care of that kid. It makes him feel like any of the problems he complains about are silly in comparison since you have so much more to deal with than he does.

It wouldn't change the fact that he cares about you and wants to do everything he can to make sure that you and your kid are taken care of. It doesn't take much for him to start putting in the work he knows he needs to put in. After working out his grief and all the feelings that came with it, he would put a lot of time and focus into trying to be the best man he can be for you.

It's not that he thinks he needs to be some sort of Macho Man that takes care of you so that you never have to work again, it's more so that he wants to be reliable enough that you can turn to him in a partnership the way you're supposed to. You mean the world to him, and so does your kid.

Speaking of your kid, he finds it easy to talk to them! They take to Yoosung like lightning! Yoosung is still young in the sense of "Oh! I get what you like! My friends have siblings around that age! I know these things and I can adapt faster than older adults might! I get it!"

But, be warned, Yoosung is young, and stepping into the role of a step-parent is no joke. It's not that he's not prepared, it's more so that he just doesn't have the situational experience to get on top of this situation and know what's coming next. There are a lot of heavy talks you would need to have with him but it's doable and feasible with a lot of proper care.

Jaehee is... complicated. It's not that she doesn't like children or anything, it's more that she's been babysitting a cat for so long that it's hard for her to imagine doing any child-rearing. Imagine you've spent months of your life trying to make sure that a cat doesn't do a triple flip off of the ceiling fan and now imagine having a child in front of you that could do worse than that in a dangerous situation.

Not only is that terrifying, but it's also a lot to deal with when you're not used to being around kids all the time. She hasn't been around anybody that young since she was in school so her know-how and knowledge of being around kids is pretty slim to none.

It's not that she couldn't adapt easily with the right amount of focus, it's just that some people take to this more naturally than others and it would be difficult for her to jump into that role smoothly.

She is a planner and a doer. She can make sure that everything runs smoothly without a shadow of a doubt every step of the way. It would be easier for her to step into the role than most of the other characters if we're being honest.

It is a hard responsibility to take on but I feel like with the way the romance plays out in her route over time, it would be only natural for her to settle into a relationship with you in the coming months and build a healthy dynamic with your child before everything changes. 

You don't wind up with her romantically at first, because it is something that will take time for the two of you to ease into, and that adds an extra element that would allow you to get closer to her and for your child to get closer to her in a way that would be better suited to everyone’s emotional growth and comfort. By the time you've already settled into your cafe, your child takes to Jaehee like bread and butter. She might be stern and straightforward, but that doesn’t mean she will miss a chance to slide the kid a snack while they do homework. 

Zen is complicated.

Well, not in the way you think. It's not that the conversation of you having a child would make things complicated for him. It's more so the fact that he's well aware that a relationship with you will not only put you at risk, but it could put your child at risk as well.

Being in the limelight isn't always a healthy environment for anybody, much less a child. He would take to the two of you almost right away because if there's one thing he's been missing, it's a happy family. I have no doubt that being a father figure in somebody's life would be the easiest role for him to step into. 

His main concern is everybody's safety. He knows that he can do everything in his power to protect you and your child, but there are things that he can’t account for. He doesn't care what people think about his reputation or what it means for somebody to look at him and say that he chose the wrong romantic partner. It doesn't matter what everybody else thinks.

The only thing that matters is that he loves you and people better get used to that or they better not call themselves his fan.

He spent most of his adolescence on the street, so there isn't anything that surprises him about the rest of the world. He doesn't judge other people for their circumstances or what they've gone through just as much as he expects people to treat him the same. He would know right away that he cares about you from the beginning and nothing would be able to change his mind.

Although he comes with the tumultuous baggage of having a dream of stardom, it's not entirely the worst option to fall in love with him. Your kid is always going to be spoiled by him. Please, stop him before he gets into a pissing contest with Jumin over which is better, your kid or Elizabeth.

Jumin is a mixed bag. He is the safest option you can pick in terms of protection. Not only would you never need to be afraid of anything ever again, but you would also have the added benefit of knowing that he is the kind of man that would never let anybody fall into disrepair. Once you've come into his life and he knows that he can trust you, he's never going to cut you down. He is very rational and reasonable at the end of the day when he is in his best headspace.

The only downside is when he is fearful and paranoid. But in this situation, I feel as though he will have to confront himself and his feelings much faster than he would because there is a child involved in the situation.

Yes, his paranoia would extend in a way that would be hard to explain knowing that you and your child could be at risk if he so much as lets you leave that penthouse. But, his emotional state will be in such a place where he will have to confront his demons otherwise—

He’ll see his wild eyes in the mirror and your child, and stop. The presence of a child not only forces him to think twice about his actions and the way that he feels, but it also forces him to think about his own childhood. It was suppressed. It was suffocating. He can say up and down all day that he is too privileged to have experienced any trauma, but that is not the case.

The way that he acts out of fear to protect his loved ones would have to be confronted right away when he sees how your child would dare to talk back to him if they caught him making you frown. He would think back to his childhood when he spent all that time trying to help his best friend realize that his family situation could be different if he said something. Well, Jumin, it’s time for self-reflection. This is where he gets that. He'll make mistakes, but he'll own up to them and he'll apologize.

That's what would make him a better father than his own. Your child will never want for anything thanks to him. Besides, he'll get a hardy chuckle out of the fact that he’s marrying you and adopting your child when his father realizes that Jumin did what he was told but affirms, “You never specified the order, father. I have a spouse and a child now, just as you wanted.”

Saeyoung is hard for me and my answer took the longest because I just can't see this working.

I've tried to wrap my head around it multiple times just to figure out if there would even be a way for him to grow feelings in this situation. I just can't do it because he's not the kind of person that would be happy about somebody walking into this apartment the way that you do, and bringing an innocent child into the fray.

It seems almost reckless and stupid to not only put yourself in that situation but to put a child in that situation In Harm's Way. 

I would like to imagine that maybe there would be a scenario where this could play out happily for someone who is in this circumstance, but I just can't see it happening so it's hard to write anything. Not only would it be complicated when the situation starts to become more dangerous than most of the other routes, but he also wouldn’t want you to come with him to Mint Eye or on the run.

He’d tell you to stay with Jumin Han. He wouldn't let you bring your child and he wouldn't let you risk your life knowing that there's a child that needs their parent. His parental issues aside, he would never be the person to put a child in danger if he had any control over the situation. He would look at your kid and see his little brother.

A helpless little kid who needs to stay the hell away from him so they don't get hurt. I'm not saying it's impossible for him to fall in love with somebody who is a parent, but I am saying it's never going to play out the way that it does in his route which is why my answer here is so... not fun.

[todidot]

Ok so this is going to be a long spiel so I'm breaking out of my usual tag commentary:

The short answer is that I have a lot of favorite characters depending on what version of the cnovel but it usually is Yang Haoran.

Now for the long answer:

In the Andrew Li transmigration into Yang Haoran--he's my favorite character. There is no competition about it--sorry Jiang Mingxi and Chen Lihua--we spend so much time in his head and I love to poke at all of his issues. The grief, the disconnect from being transmigrated in a romance novel and the existentialism/nihilism that comes from that, and just how this alter all of the original relationships--this guy rotates in my brain. He's fascinating but also kinda reminds me of a half-drowned cat. Transmigrated Yang Haoran is so steeped in the colors of Andrew Li that it bleeds throughout the entire world no matter how disconnected he feels from it--or maybe because of how disconnected he feels.

In the original cnovel--no transmigration--it is a tie between Yang Haoran and Jiang Mingxi! The lunch/dinner scene between the two is one of my favorites. I am forgetting the commenter who essentially broke down the enter scene but they opened my eyes on how absolutely fascinating these two as characters are. In the Andrew Li transmigration universe, Jiang Mingxi gets what she wants from the arranged marriage--a trophy husband who won't get in her way--so I did not pay too much attention to her faults until I read the original sequence of events. Jiang Mingxi isn't as aggressive with Yang Haoran in that universe but in the original cnovel--their relationship is a train wreck that is so fascinating to follow. Awful communicators with so many issues--but dutiful children to their families. Definitely fought physically as children and would as adults if they could get away with it.

In the Yang Haoran and Yang Haoyi (Andrew Li) universe, it has to be Yang Haoran. His changed family dynamic with the addition of younger twin who depends on him makes his a really interesting character. He still has his prideful nature and inferiority complex but he's also a pretty good older brother. He cares about Yang Haoyi, he just expresses care in easily misinterpret-able ways. Yang Haoran feels so deeply but communicates any of those feelings through terrible ways that the other person only sometimes understands correctly. Also that care is buried under several layers of issues but that’s what makes him so much fun.

In the Chen Lihua as Yang Haoshu universe, Yang Haoshu is a definite favorite but I want to have a continent between her and myself. Honestly, I tend to enjoy Chen Lihua the most when she has siblings but in the transmigrated world she is also really interesting because I love her relationship with Yang Haoran (Andrew Li). Anyway back to Yang Haoshu, the lady terrifies me and her entrance into the Yang sibling dynamic is so fun. I feel like adding Yang Haoyi gives Yang Haoran a sibling to be closer too but Yang Haoshu give Yang Haoli someone to dote on. Yang Haoshu is a more indulgent of Yang Haoli than Yang Haoran and even Yang Haoran (Andrew Li) and she is this interesting mix of mockingly abrasive with and undercurrent of care towards Yang Haoran. Yang Haoshu is the ocean--fun to be around under specific circumstance but if you aren't careful you will drown in her.

In the Yang Haoran as Chen Liwei, Wu Youxuan is my favorite. Easily the funniest protagonist of all the universes since his suffering is so entertaining. I think devotion is one of his defining traits—specifically to his sister and later towards Chen Liwei. He reminds me of a dog—a guard dog for his sister and currently a hunting dog for Chen Liwei. Also his indignation at falling for Chen Liwei despite Chen Liwei’s everything will never not be hilarious. This universe honestly seems like one of the happier ones based on the snippets but I have a deep terror that this is just a cleverly disguised tragedy. This is a world that wants to make Chen Lihua into a white lotus—she needs to become vicious, manipulative, and untrusting of other people. Chen Liwei does a pretty good job of bringing in some support in her life as a sibling so getting rid of him or using him as an example to her for why she needs to be that way is entirely possible. Hopefully, this is just me being overly anxious though because their dynamic is one of my favorites and seeing it broken would be both immensely sad and fun to dissect. Wu Youxuan also gets more points for being a really good older brother too. There’s probably nothing he wouldn’t do for his little sister and I love exploring the themes of growing up to fast and sacrificing for your younger siblings despite only being a child yourself. He’s also vicious but more upfront about it compared to Chen Lihua which honestly makes him less scary to me.

Now onto honorable mentions:

Zhao Yuhang: Light in the darkness for Yang Haoran (Andrew Li), never fails to make me smile, genuinely good person who I am really glad transmigrated Yang Haoran has in his corner

Yang Haoli (in all universes): Fascinating character in her relationships with her siblings, the dichotomy of being the oldest daughter and having to be the example that all of them are compared and hurting her siblings in that way (and her inaction) and her undeniable love for her siblings in all worlds, bad at connecting to any of her siblings on a deeper level but she really does love them regardless

Chen Lihua: She is a clown car of issues, her reaction to meeting Yang Haoran (Andrew Li) in the apartment and having to attend the same gathering together was absolutely terrific and lives in my mind, terrifies me and I am absolutely right in wanting to flee from the sight of her, a deep longing for connection that has been emaciated over the years which makes all her actions seem defensive in retrospect despite how passive aggressively she comes off at times, would kill someone with zero hesitation, she inspires terror and deep respect in me

Chen Liwei: his sibling relationship with Chen Lihua is a stark contrast to the one he has with Yang Haoshu and makes him a good brother to Chen Lihua as a result, Chen Lihua doesn't change too much from Yang Haoshu in this instance since she still plays devil's advocate to the other but the circumstances of their childhood definitely make them more reliant on each other than in the Yang Haoshu universe, cursed with pretty face and zero respect from anyone (except 2 people), the fact that people keep picking a fight with him regardless of how often he pummels them and all the girls thinking about his supposedly softer side and his immense hatred for all of this is both really entertaining and fun to examine, just his entire relationship with Wu Youxuan is great

I think all the characters are absolutely fascinating and I enjoy rattling them around like coins in a jar.

so for anyone who's been following my weird cnovel shenanigans, i've gotten a little curious: do you actually have a favorite character in my extremely limited cast? you can count the weird au versions too, i guess ahaha

[helliontherapscallion]

pspspsp can I just request an immortal reader who's life is just dull/sad as hell since they've seen their loved ones leave or die in front of them so many times

but when they meet SBI or anyone, their life just suddenly brightens up? (Platonic and it can be any type of fic!)

(A/N): I got waaaayy too carried away with this. Star god reader my beloved (also, I’d imagine that your cloak looks like this guy’s but on the inside with the outsides being any color of your choice (credit goes to original artist))

If you want more god!reader content with the dream smp, @wooloo-inc has a really good series about a male!nature god!reader (aka, the god of dilf collection)

In the beginning when DreamXD created you (which if you think about it, that makes him your father, but I digress) from stardust and meteorite shards, you were a ball of fun loving sunshine (well, starshine?)

You loved watching over all of humankind, admiring their determination and bonds with other humans (both romantic and platonic)

Your older brother, the god of the moon, told you about how they viewed you and you were amazed

“Oberon?” You ran up to your older brother and tugged on his cloak making him hum in question, not looking up from his parchment scroll. “What- what do the humans think of me?”

He scoffed and glanced at you with his lily white irises, “why are you on about them again? They are lowly creatures compared to us, filled with greed and misfortune.”

“They worship us and that’s how you speak of them?”

“(Y/n) believe me, you have not seen the brutality they are capable of. War, famine, greed, plague, genocide, it’s all something you have not witnessed before. You have only seen the good in those things.” 

“But Oberon, I wanna-” he lightly smacked the side of your head, “use proper English. We are gods and you will behave as such.”

You huffed, “I want to know about how they view us! I do not care about the bad things they have done! Plleeeaaassseeeeeee Beri?” You willed the stars that constantly gleamed in your eyes to shine brighter as you fluttered your eyelashes at him. He may seem like he hated everyone and everything (especially his siblings), but he had a soft spot for his youngest sibling. He just stared at you for a bit before he sighed and shifted in the massive throne so that you could hop up onto his lap. With a wave of a slender pale hand, he conjured up various images of humans with stardust gazing at the stars and the moon with carefree swipes of his hand. 

“They view us as… poetic of sorts. They compare us to romance,” an image of two human males kissing then gazing into the stars laying down on a cliff came into view, “fortune tellers,” an image of the Aquarius and the Capricorn constellations popped up making you squeal in happiness. He chucked and changed the picture to a mother and son standing over a grave looking up in amazement at a shooting star, “and most importantly, as a sign of hope. 

“They see us as complementary, the moon and the stars cannot be as beautiful without the other. We hold the power of the night and everything it touches, (y/n). This is our kingdom, do not forget that,” the image changed to the moon surrounded by stars and swirling blues and purples of nebulas.

You looked at the images with awe, absorbing every word that fell from his mouth. “Beri?” He once again hummed, his deep baritone voice sending vibrations along your back. “Will we be together forever?”

His lanky arms wrapped around your much smaller frame, “for all of eternity. The moon is nothing without the night sky and all of the stars it holds.”

Centuries passed and your fascination with humans only grew from there

When you eventually asked if you could meet a human Oberon reacted angrily and forbade you from speaking of humans again in your shared palace, worried for your safety

When he caught you attempting to sneak out, he locked you in your room for months on end

Humans wondered why the stars hardly appeared in the night sky anymore, forming the theory that they had somehow angered you

They prayed to you more and more, begging and groveling for forgiveness

They left more offerings at shrines

You heard their every word, feeling your heartbreak with sorrow and guilt for your lovely humans

You snuck out of the palace that night determined to make it up to the humans

You quietly snuck past the main room where you and Oberon used to sit on your thrones together and control the night. The large doors were cracked open showing your older brother watching the night with boredom. As you passed, his voice startled you, “I just cannot stop you can I?”

He appeared in the doorframe looking at you emotionlessly, his eyes glinting with hidden pain. “Do you realize how cruel of a place that world is? How cruel humans are?”

“I do not care, brother! They are in anguish because they think I am angry with them! Because you locked me in here!”

“I have told you time and time again, they are ruthless creatures. Humans are constantly clashing with their own kind for the slightest bit of power, they’re greedy creatures! Have you forgotten what happened to Arachnia?”

A shiver went down your spine at the mention of your fellow deity. She wanted to be with humans but they stripped her of her grace and virtuosity, torturing her when the moon would rise. That is the reason spiders attack humans in the night when the moon and stars show themselves and are dormant in the daytime. However, that did not deter you. 

“I have not forgotten what happened to Arachnia, her tale fills me with grief. But not all humans are like that! They are compassionate, loving, and sweet creatures deep down, each and every single one of them!”

“They were not showing compassion or love when they tore Arachnia limb from limb! When they languish in riches while millions die around them! What part of that is compassionate?”

“Sure they do bad things sometimes, but have you forgotten the love they hold for each other? The determination and hope shining from within them when they pray to us? Have you forgotten that?”

“THEIR ACTIONS ARE NOT JUSTIFIED IN ANY WAY!”

“AND OURS ARE? YOU ARE BLIND, OBERON. HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN THE CRUELTY THE GODS HAVE SUBJECTED HUMANS TO? WHEN OUR FATHER TOOK YEARS AWAY FROM THEIR LIFESPANS SOLELY BECAUSE THEY STOPPED WORSHIPPING HIM AS OFTEN AS THEY USED TO? WHAT PART OF THAT IS JUSTIFIED?” 

He just stared at you with angry irises and his chest heaving before he ran a hand through his long ivory hair and turned around, the flowing white cape flowing wildly behind him with unseen air. He walked back into the observation room and back to his throne. Without a second glance to you, he worked on the transition of power between the sun and moon. You could imagine your sister Aelia grinning brightly as she rose the sun for the day.

“You are to never return here if you step foot out that door. You will still have control of your duties of the night. However you will never return. Do not come back groveling for forgiveness when I have given you constant warnings of their cruelty. If I see your face show up here, I will make sure father smites you down. Now get out of my sight.”

You huffed and whipped around to the front entrance, the stars that constantly twinkled and the nebulas that constantly swirled in the inside of your cloak illuminating the white floors below you as you ran. You left the palace without a second thought, leaving your old life behind in favor of spending it with the humans.

When you came crashing to the Earth in a shooting star, you were amazed by the beauty of it up close and in person

It was everything you expected and then some

You heard the humans cheering and thanking you in their prayers when the stars returned brighter than usual

You being completely enamoured by all of the humans, even if they recognized you or not you loved them all unconditionally

You set up a little cottage in the tundra where you could see the night sky clearly with the occasional aurora borealis 

From the roof, you controlled the stars

The tales of you defecting from the heavens was a popular one, and you became somewhat of a symbol of the hope that humanity should hold for themselves and compassion

Occasionally sending shooting stars over humans you knew were stargazing

You have met many lovers, friends, and even your own adopted kids over the next millenia, all of them accepting your immortality and everlasting duties

But it’s all the same in the end: they come, they leave, and they die

With each death of your loved ones, you could feel your will to keep going dissipate

The stars grew dimmer gradually in the night sky

The humans gradually stopped worshipping you as you disappeared from the night skies

You became a distant memory for elders to tell children 

Disappearing from the face of the Earth for a few centuries when you could not take the constant deaths any longer

Nobody knew where your cabin laid so you were undisturbed for centuries on end, left to your grief

That was until a knock sounded at your door

The knock startled you out of the comfort of your bed. Reluctantly, you left the warmth of the multitude of blankets and donned your cloak to hide your unkempt appearance. When you passed the mirror hanging in the hallway, you could see that your face was shrouded by darkness with the exception of a single glint where your eyes were caused by the lone star that was a constant reminder of your position. Before you fell into a deep depression, the stars would illuminate your entire face if you put your hood up. 

You opened the front door without a care in the world. If the beings on the other side were humans that would take you away and torture you, you didn’t care. You’re long past the point of caring for your own well being.

On the other side was a man of average height and long shaggy blond hair pulled into a slick ponytail. He was dressed entirely in green with a green and white striped bucket hat placed on his head. Past you would’ve been cooing at the object, but now you dully looked at the man in front of you. You glanced behind him and your eyes widened at the huge black wings sprouting from his back. You know who he was the second your eye caught the black feathers; he was the Angel of Death.

“Hello, Angel of Death.”

He tried to peer into your shrouded features, only seeing two pinpricks of light where your eyes should be. He gave you a friendly smile, brushing off the snow that gathered on his shoulders. “(Y/n), the God of the Stars and the Night Sky. Giver of compassion to the human race, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“Why are you here? Last time I checked, my last lover died centuries ago.”

“Yes, my condolences. They were lovely when I guided their soul to the afterlife.”

“You still have not answered my question, Angel of Death. Why are you here?” You grit out the last sentence through a clenched jaw. He has no right to talk about them when he assisted in taking them away from you. Him and your cousin, the Goddess of Death Kristin. They took everybody you loved away from you. You knew that their deaths were unavoidable since they were human and you were immortal, but you still couldn’t help but resent them.

“The Goddess of Death sent me. The God of the Moon and the Goddess of the Sun sent her a request to send me to check on you.”

You stared at him for a few moments before you saw him shivering slightly and sighed. You always had a soft spot for humans, even if the being in front of you was not a human in the slightest. He reminded you of an old friend. You stepped aside and gestured lazily inside the house, “come in.”

He started to visit more and more over the next century

He eventually befriended you about half a century into the visits

It was extremely difficult to do because of how guarded you were, but he managed to break you out of your shell

You realizing how kind he was and how much he cared for you

You quickly came to the realization that he was immortal as well after reading up on the Angel of Death

After another fifty years, he became your best friend

You both opened up and comforted each other about everybody you both lost over the years

When he adopted Technoblade and then Wilbur not long after Techno, you were extremely hesitant to get close to them

Even going as far as telling Philza that you thought that it was an extremely bad idea

Mortals always end up leaving in the end anyways, it’s best to avoid the endless cycle of hurt that came with having mortals around

You told him about your own adopted children that have died over the years

You refuse to meet them, cutting off all communication with Philza for a year or two

Eventually meeting his three adopted kids when you reluctantly accept a dinner invitation one day

You attempted to appear cold and uncaring, but your love for humans (especially baby humans) shone through when an infant Tommy started to play with your cape

It seemed that the stars and the moving nebulas within the fabric entranced him

From then on whenever you visited Philza, you always held Tommy until he was too old for you to do so

Becoming very attached to the blond with your strong innate parental instincts

You introduce Techno to mythology, sharing stories of your personal interactions with certain gods and entities throughout the years

You teach Techno how to cope with the voices as you constantly hear multiple prayers to you from humans at the same time

You arrange a meeting for Wilbur with the Goddess of Music when he asks you about her

Arranging for her to start giving him lessons in exchange of a favor that will be cashed at a later date

You help raise all three of them, often taking them off Philza’s hands for a night or two 

Their favorite activity with you is watching you raise the stars and turn the sky dark

They always loved to watch you move the stars and summon shooting stars for them

The stars gradually returned to your eyes and a constant ecstatic smile slowly became synonymous with your face again

Humans started to worship you again when the stars in the sky became brighter

You became your old self again after centuries of feeling lost 

To repay them for everything they’ve done for you, you decided to rearrange the stars for one night 

One night of having a different star pattern couldn’t hurt 

Sure, it’d make a few theories pop up among the humans, but those are fun to overhear sometimes

The young boys and Philza behind you watched in awe as your eyes started to glow brightly and you slowly moved your hands gracefully raising the stars with the moon, your cloak starting to flow with nonexistent winds. They’ve seen you raise the stars thousands of times, but it never ceases to amaze them. It was just so… entrancing. 

You broke into a slight sweat and started to move the stars from their original positions in the sky. Shaking slightly, you pushed back against the strain and slight pain that it brought you. You’ve never done this before, so you really didn’t know what you were expecting. You felt someone put a hand on your shoulder.

“What’re you doin, mate?”

“Uh Dad?”

“Not now Techno. Mate, are you alright?”

“Dad, look up. They’re rearranging the stars,” Wilbur breathed out.

You could hear Philza gasp slightly as he watched star after star move until they locked into place. There in the twinkling night sky was each of their names gleaming brightly in small lettering. When you were done, you fell into a kneel onto the ground and rubbed at your aching head panting lightly. 

You could hear the boys around you panic slightly as you regained your breath. As you heard them approach you you looked up at them and smiled, the stars gleaming brightly in your irises. “Do you like it?”

“Y-yes but gods, (y/n) are you alright?”

“I am fine, but stars, I have never done that before. Are you four ready for stargazing?”

“That was so pog, (y/n)! How’d you do that?”

“I hold the power of the stars and the night sky in my hands. My brother once told me that the night is our kingdom.” You laid down onto the grass and took off your cloak to cover up a shivering Tommy and Wilbur next to you. You sighed as you thought about your siblings; you wondered how they were doing. 

“I will gladly move the stars themselves for you four. You are my family.” There was a stretched out moment of comfortable silence as you five watched shooting stars blaze by. Eventually, you saw an aurora borealis materialize above you. Furrowing your brow, you looked at it in question. They don’t appear this time of year, so why-

“Aelia,” you breathed out as you watched the greens flow above you. She must’ve sent a gust of solar wind your way. 

“Isn’t Aelia the Goddess of the Sun?” Wilbur asked you.

“Yes, she is my oldest sister. She must have redirected the solar winds over here.” 

“Damn, what’s with the gods changing everything tonight? You guys need to fuckin chill.”

“Tommy!” Philza scolded and was about to continue before he heard you start to laugh. They’ve only heard you genuinely laugh only a couple of times, so the sound that left your mouth immediately brightened the mood. 

“Yes Tommy, I suppose we do need to ‘fucking chill’.”

“You swore! Fuckin pog,” Tommy cheered to himself as the others looked at you in slight shock at your words. If you’re being completely honest in all of the years you spent alive (which is since basically the beginning of time), you’ve never sworn once. You were raised differently than that. When you realized that the others were staring at you, you smirked at them. The stars twinkling and giving your eyes even more of a mischievous glint, “what? Have you never heard a god swear before?”

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[rphelperblog]

Queen of Air and Darkness Quote Rp Meme

final book in the TDA series by Cassandra Clare- feel free to edit or change pronouns for rp purposes

“As we all have an infinite capacity to make mistakes, we all have an infinite capacity for forgiveness.”

“Sympathy is common. Knowing the exact shape of the hole someone’s loss leaves in your heart is rare.”

“Making promises you can't keep is worse than making no promises at all.”

“I wish you could see yourself as I see you. You are so many things I never thought to want, but I do want them. I want all things with you.”

“One pancake at a time. Yes, I know you can get three in your mouth, but that doesn’t mean you should.”

“he and I are unafraid to express our manly love,”

“We cannot understand life, and therefore we cannot hope to understand death”

“Sometimes you have to Let people blame you. When the only other option is letting bad things happen, it doesn’t matter what people think.”

“Sometimes when you start a war, you want to make pancakes.”

“Some lights were never meant to burn for long.”

“The story that I love you, it has no end.”

tes far more joy than any pain it causes.”

“As long as you exist and I exist, I will love you.”

“Faith isn’t never having any doubts; it’s having what you need to overcome them.”

“I would that I had ever had a sibling who loved me as much as you love each other,”

"family is more than blood."

“Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is confront our own failings.”

“It had been a long time, and she had never imagined something quite like this: Moonlight and flowers were for other people.”

“Solutions aren’t usually mutually beneficial when one party has all the power,”

I forgot my weapons. But I do have this fork."

“Every choice has a long afterlife of consequences. No one can know the eventual outcome of any decision. All you can do is make the best choice you can make in the moment.”

“At the edge of everything, love and faith have always brought me back, and back to you.”

“I could slay with my deadly sense of humor and wicked charm,

“Grief can be so bad you can’t breathe, but that’s what it means to be human. We lose, we suffer, but we have to keep breathing.”

He loved one man so much he changed the world for him.’ ”

“You may not yourself be luminous, but you are an extraordinary conductor of light.”

"She definitely has a temper.I like it."

“What is a book? Is it the binding, the ink, the pages, or the sum of the words contained?”

“Sometimes you need to guard people against the things they want, as well as the things they fear.”

“Be good, my archer boy. Come back to me.”

“Words about things that are beautiful and precious to me don’t come easily. You know that. You know me better than anyone.”

“When I found you, I didn’t know what I was finding,"

“But I think you’re letting your fear get in the way of what you really want because what you really want is what you’re afraid of.”

“We are all guilty. And therefore we will all vote, as a reminder that every voice counts, and when you choose not to use your voice, you are letting yourself be silenced.”

“Be careful what masks you wear, child, lest you lose your true face forever.”

“Sometimes he carries me around like a swooning damsel.”

“This is the nature of having of a soul, and a heart. We all stumble around in the dark and we cause each other pain and we try to make up for it the best we can. We are all confused.”

“I still love her more than I ever thought was possible. I love her more every day, and more every time I try to stop. I love her like I'm being ripped in half.”

“Don’t remain silent about what you want, or you may never get it.”

“You're the only person I've ever loved like this, and I know you're the only person I ever will. And I'm not myself without you. Once you dissolve dye in water, you can't take it back out. It's like that. I can't take you out of me. It means cutting out my heart, and I don't like myself without my heart, I know that now.”

“People were made up of all sorts of different bits,. Funny bits and romantic bits and selfish bits and brave bits. Sometimes you saw only a few of them. Maybe it was when you saw them all that you realised you knew someone really well.”

‘Let it be that you should know no further sorrow.”

“Have you learned nothing from the way Batman’s parents died?”

"I was angry at you. I missed you. But I didn't stop loving you."

“Sometimes you cannot be loyal to everyone.”

"There's plenty of room for me to hate them all".”

“Take care, mèi mei.”

“You might be in the cage, but as long as you are like this, I am in the cage with you.” 

I missed your lunatic schemes.”

“But you’re the love I chose. Out of everyone in the world, out of everyone I’ve ever known, I chose you. I’ve always had faith in that choice. At the edge of everything, love and faith have always brought me back, and back to you.”

“It's hard to focus on your love life when giant spiders are chasing you.”

“I’m not sure I can cope with feline death on a massive scale.”

“Let us burn.”

“Have you ever wanted a really big tapestry of yourself?”

“You never thought for a second about it diminishing you to have a girl as your warrior partner, you never acted as if I was anything less than your complete equal. You never for a moment made me feel like I had to be weak for you to be strong.”

“In the meantime, I must ask you to remove yourself from my leg. You are sitting on it and it is becoming quite painful.”

“There are times, I think, where we’re each called. Where we can choose to rise up or not to rise up.”

“Some monsters are human”

ou're the most generous, and you spend the most time thinking about what makes other people happy. I think you should do whatever makes you happy. You deserve it.”

“Another night, a different boy with blue eyes. Wet weather in London, but when was it anything else?”

“But even if they fit differently now, they still fit like sisters.”

“I didn’t know if you’d want me to come in,”

“There’s nothing you could do to me that I wouldn’t want, because it’s you.”

“I want you to touch me,"

“I want to go slowly, I want to feel everything.”

“I want a war council,”

“Grief could be like a wolf tearing your insides, and you would do anything to make it stop.”

“Maybe that was why she liked horror movies; the dead never stayed dead, and those left behind were too busy wandering unwisely around in the woods to have time to grieve or feel loss.”

The thought of him lit a spark of warmth in her heart. She closed her hand carefully around the petals.”

“But so was any kind of love, and if love was a weakness, it was a strength, too.”

“I prefer redheads myself.”

“I cannot bear these inside spaces. And I have missed you so much. Will you come into the desert with me?”

“It seems the rumours of our death have been greatly exaggerated.”

“I could slay with my deadly sense of humor and wicked charm.”

[liketheinferno2]

NieR:Automata asks the question multiple times of whether androids or machine lifeforms are more human or imitating humanity better than the other and this is portrayed with... so much delicate complexity I keep thinking about it.

On one side you have androids who are human in appearance, human in intelligence, able to speak clearly enough and express emotions as mundane and extraordinary as the audience needs to identify them as people..... and then on the other hand there's machines, who even though they are on the large part very fucking dumb and prone to iterating the same behaviors, they have communities, social roles, FAMILIES even though they have no biology that sorts them into familial units in the first place.

Neither of them can age, neither are born through sexual reproduction, and when connected to their respective networks neither can really DIE, and this throws off the whole human thing of being born into families and growing from a child into an adult and potentially becoming the parent to a new child later, of having siblings you come into the world connected to, and of having family roles that are (usually) both innate and distinct -- a sibling might be older than you but that's different to a parent being older that you, right?

So machines have parents and siblings and uncles and aunts and family dynamics, but if they're not biological, then all child machines are adopted, that's simple enough. But they don't age. A child machine does not necessarily grow into an adult. They can stay children, even infants, forever, and their minds don't progress beyond that state even though there are other machines of greater maturity and intelligence and just mental age than the children, so being an adult is clearly possible, but it does not correlate with growing or getting to adulthood through linear change. How does that work? Are they born adults? Are they born parents?

I feel like this is pretty cleanly answered with Adam and Eve who are really like... communicative characters being machines that look and talk like the android characters. Android bodies and machine psyches or something... Anyway, you see them both be born within minutes of each other. Featureless, sexless, ageless, undifferentiated, basically in the world for nearly the exact same amount of time to gain experiences and maturity.

The next time you see them, Adam is the elder, he's more mature, smarter; a caretaker even if he's doing kind of a shit job at it, while Eve is concerningly dependent and childish, doing whatever he's told and just talking about baby things like he wants to play, he hates wearing clothes and eating dinner. Adam implies they've taken on physical sex at some point since they were last seen naked as well.

And they're not just acting like brothers either, there's something extremely off about these guys. It might be hard to identify at first because it's not really overtly stated, but Adam did technically give birth to Eve and is in that sense also his mother. He feeds him and clothes him and teaches him and even gave him a name, and their dynamic is all sorts of weird because they're multitasking mother and brother in the same relationship.

It stands to reason, then, that machines have a thing about taking on human roles, gender roles and familial roles and societal roles like knights and kings, and their minds and bodies shape around that role so that they can best fulfill it, not the other way around. The brothers were not born with genitals or any kind of gender presentation but they developed those as they took on that role of brothers, male siblings. Adam leans very androgynous and I think it's because he's got a female role as well. Eve stays immature because he's the little one, he's always going to be the little one as long as that's his role, even though they're the same size and the same age chronologically.

I'm not exactly sure where I'm going with this I just think it's kind of a brilliant take how this game considers one of the core facets of humanity to be how we find purpose in relation to each other and form identities in the contexts of social groups.

When Eve loses his brothermom, he loses the thing that was connecting him to his social roles and goes, shall we say, off the shits. And the same thing happens to 9S later because the YoRHa combat roles are the same kind of thing, if more externally assigned-at-birth -- his entire purpose was to support someone else.

These two are secondary, they're the rib, the support, they were made to be dependent and when severed from their special person it results in a catastrophic collapse of identity. They get decontextualised and struggle to find that footing again without devolving into destruction or self-destruction, which is not unlike what grief can do to a person anyway.

Another thing is that throughout the game you see machines of all levels of intelligence hurt themselves and kill themselves, and for a long chunk of the game I had assumed this was because they were still robots in the end and had some kind of self-destruct programming that was acting up. The final route flips this on its head and shows self-harm and fear to be horrifically human things, something expressed even in the characters that act the most realistically like people... because they act the most realistically like people.

NieR:Automata shows you the most painful emotions of grief and loss of identity and insists that these are very basic and natural and HUMAN responses to traumatic events, even if they make you feel like the entire world is collapsing -- it's that capacity for love and hurt that we have in common with all other people. Fucking phenomenal game, the more I think about this the more it makes me feel serene and connected to the world.

[c1nnamirahearts]

character analysis time

this is me writing an essay about the possibilities of how and why a character ended up the way they did aka i’m a psychology student who is getting bored

kay please don cancel me for this but this is about taiju shiba and what i think about him

i think the way he treated his siblings was unacceptable but however i personally think that there is some explanation to his behaviour

we already know he was strong and tall for his age (keep in mind this was when he was 10 etc) so him being able to overpower his siblings would have been normal and he would have been called a ‘playground bully’ if yk what i mean

when their mother died all of the siblings would have found ways to deal with their grief- with their father being absent taiju may have tried to take on a parental role as he thought it was his responsibility

it’s clearly stated that he does love his siblings but it’s in his weird twisted way of viewing love that he beats them

he may think that he was punishing them for wrongdoings but in reality he was harming them- i feel like his dad may have had some affect on his behaviour because i don’t think a little kid would just beat his siblings without them being exposed to violence

we know none of them grew up in the gang life like mikey so violence wouldn’t have been normalised for them

so maybe the father had some play in this? this is all a theory however

we know he has a twisted view of love but why?

at the end of the black dragons arc we could see that he was apologetic to his siblings, he left them as he knew that he harmed them (so we know he’s at least self aware) so some could say he left them to protect them in case he ever acted like this again in the future

he then goes on to be a restaurant owner and seems to have changed his ways until he has to fight ecetera ecetera

so we then know that he has worked on being less violent around others so maybe he apologised to his siblings? we don’t know

so to conclude i think his violent nature was the cause of something when he was young, wether it was the fact he was stronger or his mothers death and absent father or maybe something happened to him that caused this

i really wanna know why as we never got to see how he became like this because other characters got this development like south for example (we see his violent nature was because he had to survive in brazil and his mothers death etc)

i doubt that we’ll find out but i’m genuinely curious as it feels wrong to write him off as a vicious 4bus3r when we know he loved his siblings

that’s my character essay and i lowkey wanna do more but you don’t have to agree with me and i want to clarify i’m not supporting his actions or what he’s done but he interests me as a character and i wish he found more about why he became like this

[guardianspirits13]

I wanna talk about Natsuo Todoroki for a second here.

tw// mentions of abuse, self harm, and suicide

Natsuo visibly has the most emotional trauma out of anyone else in his family (Touya not included), and I really wanna talk about why that is.

For starters, we haven't seen him really smile since he was introduced in chapter 187. He's introduced as having a friendly, easygoing persona and it's easy to imagine this is how most people outside of his family know him. However, every time we see him appear since then, another layer of his trauma is revealed and expanded upon, and it cuts DEEP.

I think the main reason that Natsuo still seems so vulnerable compared to the rest of his family is different than what you'd assume. Fuyumi and Shouto both spend a lot of time around Endeavor, and have been in close proximity to his (relatively recent) decision to atone. They have seen his growth firsthand and come to terms with it. Rei has obviously taken a very different path to healing- not entirely voluntarily- but she has been working with doctors and therapists for years to change and recover and reconnect with herself and her children. Natsuo is off at college, and takes every opportunity he can to avoid Endeavor. He (understandably) wants nothing to do with him, and shows stagnant resistance to his attempts to atone.

The reason why Natsuo can't move on from the past is because his trauma didn't come from Endeavor. It came from Touya.

Now initially we were led to believe that it was simply Touya's untimely death that still bothers Natsuo, and it makes sense seeing how Endeavor drove him to the edge. Losing his best friend and brother as a young kid without parents to support him or any therapist to speak of can absolutely been the source of persistent emotional damage, but the more and more we learn about Touya's situation, the more evident it becomes that Natsuo's trauma is much much deeper than even grief.

Touya, as we know, was driven by an ambition instilled in him by his father and experienced extreme rejection sensitivity when those ambitions were no longer realistic. Touya's relationship with his parents could be described as insecure attachment, a psychological term primarily regarding how kids react and respond to their parents and other close relationships. As he was raised, Touya learned to equate his potential to be a hero with his personal worth and similarly confounded attention with love. The difference being, of course, that love is unconditional, but even attention was being continually directed away from him as a punishment for continuing to train and burn himself so he could once again become worthy in his fathers' eyes.

This is where Natsuo comes in. At first it was assumed that all of the Todoroki children were born out of Endeavor's strong-willed desire to have a child that could surpass All Might, but we learned that this isn't exactly the case. I'd argue that it was narratively poetic on Horikoshi's part once this was expanded upon. Fuyumi was born to support and encourage her brother, and that is the exact role she plays 23 years later, keeping her family together.

Natsuo's case is even more intersting.

It was bad enough if Natsuo was only born for the potential of his quirk, but it's even more sinister that the sole intent behind his birth was to discourage Touya from his ambitions. I'd say it was to replace him, but it was more to promote the idea that Touya was expendable than to raise aonther kid with the same ideals but the potential to actually achieve it, although that was definitely a secondary motivation.

The parallelism in this is how much Natsuo's life revolves around Touya. He was born because of Touya, he looked up to and took care of Touya as a kid, and the absence of Touya in the present continues to drive him and his decisions in life (but more on that later).

I continue to pray that we will eventually get more solid backstory on Natsuo and Touya's relationship as kids and where it cut off, wether on a bad note or not, but there are a few things we know for certain. One, Touya was mentally ill. Yes, he was rejected by his parents but he seems to have been particularly vulnerable to this compared to any of his siblings since he was the first of them and thus relied only on his parents for validation in his early years. He shows early signs of a variety of different mental disorders, particularly BPD, which I have previously written a whole analysis for on its own. Touya is shown self-harming both by the very nature of his quirk and even by very directly ripping his hair out. He was incredibly self-destructive.

This is why it is so much more concerning to me that Natsuo, who was AT LEAST four years younger than him, was his primary source of comfort. Natsuo was too young to have known anything more than 'my big brother is sad that daddy won't train him anymore' and he obviously wasn't equipped in any way to handle Touya's severe mental illness. Touya most definitely needed professional treaatment as his forms of coping were abnormal even for the neglect and rejection that he experienced. Natsuo comforted Touya through breakdown after breakdown, and more than that Touya relied on him and came to him voluntarily for support. Natsuo was the best option he had, and he took full advantage of that. The main source of Natsuo's trauma was Touya's reliance on him.

Not to say at all that this was in any way Touya's fault- he was mentally ill and desperately in need of some form of comfort to keep him sane; it was almost a survival method at this point since neither of his parents really acknowleged him at all anymore. Touya's instability hurt Natsuo more than parental neglect ever did, but it was the neglect that enabled it and striped Touya of the supportive atmosphere he would have needed at this point not only to prevent but to heal from the mental damage he had already suffered.

Natsuo dealt with this for years and you can see how much it hurt him to see Touya in so much pain, not only from Endeavor's rejection but from his own self harm as well. For Natuso to know that his brotherly love would never be the same as having loving parents; would neve be enough- but at least it was something so he continued to love and care about his brother for little in return- is indicative of the kind of character he is.

(Edit: After the events of chapter 302 we know that Natsuo's relationship with Touya wasn't perfect. I will elaborate more on this in a different post, but I just wanted to clarify that although we were shown a very high-tension scene between them, it is implied that this was a regular occurrence that Natsuo was usually more receptive too but tired out of, in addition to Touya's spiraling mental health. It fit with the natrative to show the tension Touya was feeling with his family from all directions, but Natsu and Touya clearly had a stronger relationship up to and before this point, evidenced by their sharing a room and playing together regularly.)

He is incredibly selfless, and it's interesting to note how many of his positive qualities as an adult stem from negative experiences as a kid. He never really felt love from his parents, so he relied on Touya (and likely also Fuyumi) for that as well. If he grew up learning he had to give love in order to recieve it back, it absolutely influenced who he became in the future, a solid example of this being the responsibility he feels to reach out and have a relationship with Shouto and further regrets that he wasn't able to help his abuse in the past either. Another aspect of his character that intruigues me is how gentle he is. Personality-wise he seems about as opposite as he could be from the awkward, stoic, emotionally-stunted person that is Endeavor.

There are a couple of reasons for this, beyond what I've already discussed.

One, he had little to no contact with elements of toxic masculinity growing up, especially not from Endeavor.

Two, most of the influence he did have growing up was from Fuyumi, who is established to have endlessly cared for him since he was a literal baby.

Three, he grew up in a household where almost everyone around him was in much more literal, immediate pain than he was so he developed a very strong sense of empathy that might also have been tied to early survivor's guilt.

Now I have one important distinction to make, and that's the temptation to label him as a 'softboy' or something of the like after seeing him caring for his family and more pointedly, watching him break down in tears during chapter 252. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with men being soft or vulnerable (on the contrary it's actually so so important and relevant that Hori is writing characters like this in a mainstream shounen manga but that's an essay for another time), it is unfair to label him as such based on a moment when his trauma is being exposed.

Because his truama stems from such a young age, there is a blurry line between just being born with more emotional intelligence and the situation he was in fostering those traits. You know, the classic nature/nurture thing. My point being, it's important to tread carefully when discussing the nature of his personality to avoid invalidating his trauma; I have no doubt that he is very strong for having survived these things, and the moments we see of him onscreen are definitely among his most vulnerable.

Another thing that people less familiar with Natsuo's character might assume is that he is hot-headed and argumentative. I thought that at first too- after all, he doesn't seem to shy away from yelling at Endeavor when given the opportunity. However, this doesn't seem to be the case at all.

The first real scene we see him in with Endeavor, the man walks into the room and Natsuo decides he can't handle it and goes to leave. However, Endeavor happens to be blocking the doorway. Endeavor physically stops him and provokes him to his face, asking him to say whatever is on him mind. While Natsuo is notably not confrontational, Endeavor is. I think it's fair to say that he felt at least uneasy at this gesture. Natsuo is very honest with his feelings, and it's obvious that he's pissed at the audacity of Endeavor to be so oblivious to his own son. This is presumably one of the first real interactions they've ever really had, and at this point Natsuo has been dealing with trauma (caused by Endeavor!) on his own for years, and Endeavor seems completely oblivious to his pain and dismmisive to the rest of the family's as well.

Again during the internship arc Natsuo tries to get along with Endeavor and this time he actually gives it a fleeting chance. Tensions are high, however, and the conversation very quickly becomes uncomfortable, at which point he leaves. It is continually implied that Natsuo is uncomfortable being around Endeavor because his very presence brings up painful thoughts and memories of a time when sharing the same space as him was a warning to run and hide. This is later directly confirmed by Natsuo as he says that every time he looks at Endeavor's face he remembers Touya and the pain he was in.

I feel like an important side note is that we have never seen Natsuo outside the context of his family, which is understandable, as the role he plays in the story directly relates to them. However, if you take a look at Shouto, even though his experiences have shaped him to become who he is, he definitely acts differently when Endeavor's not in the vicinity.

Back to Touya's death, it would be very rare that someone would mourn a death for an entire decade without finding closure unless there are other factors preventing it, and uncomfortably this seems to be the same thing for both Natsuo and Endeavor: guilt.

This is getting incredibly long already, but it's important to note that Natsuo probably felt an incredible responsibility to take care of Touya and protect him because of his empathetic nature. His love was never going to be the same as having loving parents. His encouragement was never going to be the same as having support from Endeavor. Even further than then neglect and abandonement, it was not being able to save Touya that really made Natsuo feel worthless.

He seems to try and remedy this inability to save Touya and diminish his guilt by doing everything he can to be better. He reaches out to Shouto to be a better brother, he consistently pushes his limits to entertain Fuyumi's notion of a happy family, and he's working hard towards a degree rhat will allow him to help people like Touya (and Rei) because he failed to do so in the past.

His bio mildly implies that he didn't have much of a direction he was heading in after high school, but Fuyumi's encouragement led him to seek out his current college career. This goes back to Natsuo's 'purpose' in a sense revolving arount Touya, from his birth to his relationship with him to his death, after which he lost his direction. They were always rather inseperable, so naturally their seperation hit Natsuo hard. He lost his direction in life so when Fuyumi encouraged him to rediscover it, he thought of helping people, because that's ultimately what he was born to do.

Thank you so, so much for reading this if you made it to the end! I clearly have a lot of thoughts on this. Let me know what you think about it as well, and hopefully we'll get more info on this soon in the manga :)