#but also maybe a cannon interpretation of what she would have looked like

[lily-avara]

The weapon.

TW: nudity

Also my commissions are open 👀

[90shaladriel]

In Defense of Sauron was Genuine Theories

I have been meaning to write something about this ever since Season 1 of Rings of Power. I never did and here we are about to get the premieres of Season 2 which will likely blow many theories and interpretations out of the water as they give more backstory for the characters.

In some Tolkien and RoP fandom circles, the notion that Sauron was genuine in his attraction, desire, feelings towards Galadriel as "Halbrand" is controversial. There's also many fan theories putting together Sauron's grand conspiracy to orchestrate all of the events we saw in Season 1. Those theories may indeed be correct depending on what Season 2 and the future of ROP show us. I would argue that they would be doing this through retconning rather than what they actually depicted onscreen in Season 1 being evidence for this master plan.

Disclaimers:

In cannon, Sauron is Very Bad™

In ROP S1 Ep 8, he at least appears to be cruel to Galadriel and possibly tried to drown her* This would definitely be toxic behavior IRL

Season 2 might still vindicate the Sauron was evil all along interpretation.

If you want to write fanfic or create art where sauron is truly bad and evil that is wonderful!

Sauron interacted with the Elves and Poisoned the Tree of Lindon

I think this was a popular idea because it explained Mithril / Elves fading subplot in a way that makes more canon-sense to book readers than how it appeared in the show. If Sauron was a saboteur who came to Lindon, caused the tree to die and threaten the Elves to fade, therefore causing Gil-galad and Celebrimbor to seek solutions. This leads pretty nicely to Sauron's ultimate plan if it were to forge the rings. Circumstantially there was an offscreen "meeting of the Elf-lords" that neither Elrond, Galadriel or the viewers were shown prior to Gil-galad revealing the crisis to Elrond. Some speculated that "Annatar" was one of those Elf lords. It also explains some unusual behavior by Celebrimbor who acted conspiratorial and manipulated Elrond.

It appears that this wasn't the case from the backstory we were shown in S2. While there was a slight time skip from when Sauron becomes Halbrand in the North to meeting the human refugees fleeing the Orcs presumably in the South. Also Annatar was only revealed to Celebrimbor in S2, so he couldn’t have been in Lindon as either Halbrand or Annarar forms.

I think this is still open depending on how much you dislike the Elves fading when the tree dies plot.

The other thing that still work against this is that if this were Sauron's original plan then there would be no reason to detour to Numenor. Nor would there be a specific reason he needed to corrupt Galadriel to gain access to the Elven kingdoms, he already had it!

Plausibility: 1/5 👁️ Eyes of Sauron

Sauron orchestrated the meeting with Galadriel at Sea

A big part of this line of thinking is that it seems so improbable that Sauron and Galadriel would happen to meet in the middle of the sea. Or how could Sauron, one of the Ainur _let_ himself be shipwrecked. There has also been some analysis of Galadriel's odd behavior before entering Valinor when she jumped overboard, could she have been called or drawn by him?

I think the meeting was one of the more interesting choices for a Tolkien adaptation, so I'm very biased here.

We see no mechanism on screen that would imply Sauron had this direct control over Galadriel's actions. If he had been able to do that, he surely would have been able to orchestrate other meetings with Elves to get more direct access to Celebrimbor and Eregion?

In S2 we are shown that he was apparently seeking Numenor when the sea wyrm attacked. I'm still not sure, but it looks like maybe Sauron was able to control the creature with magic or something similar. Or maybe it didn't attack because he stayed still. Perhaps he did cause the wyrm to attack the raft once she was aboard? Maybe!

Did Sauron even have a specific reason to meet Galadriel? There is the connection to her brother and the dagger. I was disappointed they didn't revisit that at all so far in S2 E1. Did he know she was the one hunting him? Did he know her from Valinor as some have speculated he was one of the boys in S1 E1 prologue? Did he know enough about the Elves to know her personality and specific character flaws he thought made her vulnerable to his deception? I don't think we see enough evidence for this to be very plausible but maybe not totally ruled out. His reaction to her on the raft when they did meet was cautious, he did not try to befriend her immediately, nor seek to corrupt her on the spot.

Plausibility 2/5 👁️👁️ Eyes of Sauron

Sauron played 4d chess to get Galadriel to make him King of the Southlands

Sauron eventually makes it back to Middle Earth, almost kills his enemy Adar thanks to Galadriel's help giving him an army, and then results in him winding up with a golden ticket to Eregion and Celebrimbor's workshop.

I think this is mainly people trying to fit the data points of Sauron's actions to the theorized curve of Sauron being evil and wanting to forge the rings to take over the world from before the events of Season 1 occurred.

So far, Season 2 has certainly indicated that Sauron had some kind of plan that he was enacting with the rings and using Celebrimbor in some way. His Halbrand form, which introduced by Galadriel, was instrumental in getting close to Celebrimbor in Season 2 and revealing himself as 'Annatar'.

But do we know he had this plan all along? From the opening episode of S2 we know that Sauron was apparently wandering towards the Southlands and the Orcs before coming across some random human refugees. He chose to go with them, sailing west across the sea away from the Southlands, Eregions or any of the Elven realms, so was he really setting up a long con all along? To me it seems like he may have planned to set up in Numenor, whether to use/corrupt them or to genuinely repent and live out a quiet life in retirement or at least until events in Middle Earth gave him some new opportunities.

Then we have the actual S1 events. He met Galadriel on a raft in the middle of the ocean, it seems like this was by chance. At every point when she offered him the opportunity to return to Middle Earth he declined. His actions in Numenor could hardly be a meticulous strategy to return to Middle Earth, trying to get hired in a forge, trying to get Galadriel to chill out and stay there, getting thrown in prison. Constantly telling Galadriel he would *not* help her.

He only eventually agreed to go with a combination of good fortune (the omen of the white petals) and Galadriel's persistence that he was a King of the Southlands. Maybe Sauron caused the tree to lose it's petals through his corrupting magic remotely? Maybe he was hunting for the crest of the Southlands king offscreen in S2 and deliberately followed that refugee that had it, waiting for an opportunity to steal it? ehhhhh I'm going to say not very plausible

Plausibility 2/5 👁️👁️ Eyes of Sauron

Sauron and Adar were working together (Sauron was a mole)

This was also an interesting theory, that the supposed rivalry between Halbrand and Adar was just for show to help convince Galadriel to trust Halbrand even more. That Sauron knew Adar was planning the eruption all along and that the sword artifact was being taken the the dam mechanism when he chased Adar with Galadriel in the woods. He also stops Galadriel from killing Adar in her interrogation. Adar saying he killed Sauron was just a straight up lie (hence him smirking in that scene). Which means everything Sauron/Halbrand said was pretty much a lie from the beginning as well. Although what the actual objective would be for Sauron is not totally clear to me. Maybe the Elven/Numenor forces would have behaved differently had Sauron not been meddling with both via Galadriel? Maybe they wanted to convince the Elves to create the Rings of Power.

I am pretty sure this now ruled out by Season 2 so far. Adar is shown onscreen actually killing Sauron. Sauron seems pretty ticked off about Adar and the Orcs when he returns as prisoner to Mordor. Adar and Sauron give no indication they are working together though having screentime together again.

Plausibility 0/5 () Eyes of Sauron

Sauron self-injured to go to Eregion

We aren't shown how Halbrand got wounded, he was found already wounded and it's not shown how. He clearly takes advantage of this dire situation to be taken to Eregion by Galadriel. A pretty cut and dry situation where Sauron had both motive and opportunity to achieve his ends.

This assumes that Sauron at this point had the plan to go to Eregion. And that would tie in well with the original Sauron interacted with the Elves prior to S1 theory.

This theory holds up pretty well. I think even if you take the Sauron was genuinely repentant belief, you have to admit by S1 E8 he was working on his own schemes that were not entirely "good". So it's fairly believable even if he was genuine until the battle in the Southlands and deciding to try to be the King of the Southlands, that he quickly changed plans post-eruption as the ultimate opportunist.

I think Season 2 hasn't changed this interpretation at all. He is shown to be clearly invested in Eregion and Celebrimbor again. When "Halbrand" turns himself in to Adar and the Orcs no one says anything about stabbing him or his injuries. Maybe he was stabbed by some random Orc after the eruption but killed that Orc immediately?

Plausibility 4/5 👁️👁️👁️👁️ Eyes of Sauron

Sauron had an ‘I Am Good’ Phase

This could be it's own post. But there is a case I could make that Sauron genuinely had an "I am Good" phase of his own at least through S1 E6 (Eruption of Mt. Doom). I think the best case would be that Sauron was probably morally ambiguous, or maybe at least morally neutral as opposed to scheming evil mastermind.

He saved Galadriel at sea, he didn't have to, or at least it only makes sense for the Evil Sauron in the 4d chess sense. (did he summon the lightning bolt that knocked her in the water?) He appears to have mostly told her the truth when he did talk to her. He could have straight up lied. He initially pushed back on Galadriel's intentions to crown him a king and give him an army, when it would have been so easy to just go along with her. One interpretation is that he only agreed to go was because he wanted to help her or just sheer infatuation with her made him decide to follow her.

Circumstantial evidence: He smiles at the children in Numenor. He stares at the pouch when no one is looking. Before getting into the tavern brawl he pleads with them to not do this. He fights and kills Orcs, he listens to Galadriel when she tells him not to kill Adar. He pulls Galadriel back when she is about to kill him as well. The raft scene in the mind palace seems to be a romantic overture to Galadriel and could be interpreted as a genuine expression of vulnerability (before he screams at her, makes her cry and tries to drown her I guess)

The counter argument is Season 2 it shows him being a rotten pile of goop, taking the lives of others to form the Halbrand body. He clearly let the guy die in the ship and stole his pouch. It's unclear how much he might have used Galadriel or entered her mind. He is a compulsive liar in the Annatar form and extremely manipulative as Halbrand to Celebrimbor.

Before Season 2 I would say this a 4 on the Plausibility scale, I think we have to drop a point at least now.

Plausibility 3/5 👁️👁️👁️ Eyes of Sauron

[shipmansflannels]

the alchemy | shauna shipman x reader

what if I told you I'm back? see what I did there? :) anyway, I'm back. this week I'll probably update for more days in a row (tonight, maybe tomorrow and sunday too), because tomorrow is a holiday here in brazil and, as I have more time to post than on regular days, I decided to reward you. better prepare, because this is my first oneshot with shauna and I really hope you like it (I put my best effort into it because shauna is my favorite character, so that's it, I hope it turned out good.) obviously the whole thing is a reference to "the alchemy" by taylor swift, so I also hope you managed to convey what I meant by interpreting the song. enjoy!

sorry for any grammatical or coherence errors, english is not my first language and I'm trying to improve!

------------------------------------------

the alchemy | shauna shipman x reader

-> prompt: you and the midfielder are secretly dating. <-

warnings: non cannon, no crash, most fem!reader but it works for gender neutral readers too, some swear words, jock!shauna, sub!reader, soft dom!shauna, jealous!shauna, very subtle smut (because I still don't know how to write one), secret relationship, platonic!jackie x reader.

***

Honestly, you could get used to it.

It wasn't like it was the worst thing in the world to not be able to admit that you and Shauna were properly together to your friends, even your closest ones. In fact, it was even exciting for you to be in a secret relationship. As an extremely private and intense person, you would hate someone noticing while you and your girlfriend were kissing in any corner and feeling entitled to have an opinion about it.

Honestly, it was much better this way. Just the two of you. And your parents. The only ones who knew you were getting to know each other better.

The whole thing started that same year, after the boring science fair proposed by the most boring teacher in the world, in which you had to stand in front of your booth with a failed attempt at a volcano that worked with detergent and bicarbonate. Shauna was at the booth next to you, also with an attempt at a ladybug that worked using a cell phone battery to get around, and she was kind enough to praise your botched project, unlike the other colleagues.

But you didn't really talk until days later. You started to notice her more, of course, more than before - because the idea that the Yellowjackets were extremely popular because of their victories over the other teams at school wasn't enough - but you didn't catch her attention until the day you were walking across the field to deliver a piece of homework to Coach Martinez and one of her kicks accidentally hit you in the face.

When you woke up, in the infirmary with a broken nose and horrible-tasting medicine, Shauna Shipman was next to you, in the worn yellow armchair next to the infirmary bed, and began pouring every apology possible in your direction, while your head was spinning and you were still groggy, looking like you were asleep.

It was the worst night's sleep you had in your life. And honestly, after that, nights of sleep were rare for you, so it didn't matter.

The thing is, Shauna was unintentionally becoming popular, and she couldn't blow the opportunity by publicly dating someone who wasn't even overly well-known - even though the kick and the broken nose had made you pretty famous in the hallways for a few weeks -. Not only because of that, but also because of the gossip and intrusions, which always happened, and which was a little more serious than the growing popularity of your girlfriend.

***

"Excuse me, can I steal Shauna for a few minutes?"

The girls on the team were sitting in the stands, after an electrifying game that brought them closer and closer to entering nationals, and Shauna hadn't come to celebrate with you as usual. Usually, whenever the Yellowjackets won, she would come running into your arms in the stands, and then you would be making out in the locker room, hiding in the small bathroom stalls, trying to escape the concentration of girls in the place.

But this time, probably to keep up appearances and for the sake of euphoria, Shauna hadn't run to you, even though she knew you were there watching her and cheering for every pass. It wasn't taken personally, of course not, because you knew that Shauna and all the students were having chaotic exam weeks and their heads were full of more important things than relationships.

She smiled as soon as she saw you put an arm around her, and, faced with the incredibly provocative looks of the other girls, with expressions of someone who already knows everything, Shauna stood up, following you, her foot limping a little from the wear and tear of running so much around the field for ninety minutes.

You checked out less-observed places and found the closest tree, and then she pressed you against the trunk and, with her hands on your face, kissed you passionately, like she always did. The butterflies in your stomach were having a party, coming and going every time her cold lips touched yours.

"You were great, baby-"

You tried to speak, but she interrupted you by pressing the kiss further.

"Shut up, let me enjoy you for a little while, then you can talk to me all night, okay?", she whispered, kissing you again, before breaking the kiss after a few seconds, to breathe. You were trying to balance yourself and placed your hands on her shoulders, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry I didn't come to you when the game ended, beautiful, my head was… a mess."

"It's okay, love. I'm proud of you for winning."

"The merit is not just mine, but I can live with it." She laughed, hugging you around your waist and resting her head on your shoulder. "So? What do you want for today? Movie night? Bar? Pizza?"

"It's your turn to choose…"

"Ah, right… I guess I have some great plans for us, then."

Her look was suggestive, and you pulled her a little closer just for the grace of kissing her again, amidst your smiles and laughter. This time, however, the kiss didn't last long. They were interrupted by Lottie calling for Shauna.

"See you on the way out, baby…", she murmured, before giving you one last peck and leaving, sweating, panting, leaving you with only the taste of mint, sweat and a silly smile, as you slid your body through the trunk, melted.

Honestly, just the two of you knowing what was going on there was the best thing you could have asked for. Because you were a good match, after all.

***

The topic of "Jeff's party" never became more talked about than weeks after the Yellowjackets won yet another title. You weren't that good friends with Jackie's boyfriend, and if you had to choose, you'd rather stay at home drinking and watching movies with Shauna, but there wasn't much choice. The Yellowjackets were a reserved seat in the venue, and there was no way to deny the invitation after so long.

Also because Shauna and Jackie were best friends, and you couldn't let your girlfriend make the mistake of hurting her best friend over a secret she could "never" tell her about. It wouldn't be that bad, despite the idea of ​​staying away from Shauna so as not to flag you up. It was an easy problem to solve.

The huge balcony of the Sadecki house. The luxurious bathrooms. The bathtub was big enough and the walls were even bigger to muffle the sounds of your laughter and kisses and moans. There would be no problem.

Except it was tempting to formulate an escape plan that actually worked.

And, of course, you couldn't escape the blandishments of Jackie Taylor, who, as Shauna's best friend, demanded to know why the two of you were always together, and why you were reluctant to come - and bringing the brunette along with this idea - and why you didn't know how to dance like her.

Well, you had never been close enough to Jackie to talk about interesting things with her, but now, at the full party and with the bunch of teenagers shouting over the loud music, it was easy to start a conversation. And it's not like she doesn't also have high marks in charisma to bring up the best topics and take you along with her.

But if you could stop to notice the looks on all the teenagers' faces dancing and drinking to Britney Spears, you'd be able to find Shauna's brown eyes fumming as she watched Jackie put her hand on your shoulders and make you sway to her rhythm.

It was as if you were harmless fucking prey living your ordinary life, and she was the hungry, desperate predator imagining imminent scenarios of how to hunt you down and take out all your flesh in one fell swoop.

Her eyes were covered by the red plastic cup that contained the liquid she needed to numb herself so she wouldn't see the rest of that humiliating scene and end up ruining Jeff's party, but things didn't get much better for you and Jackie because, at the very least, as you waited, the room started chanting "Hips Don't Lie", and you had to deal with the most intimidating scene of your entire life.

Jackie started holding onto you in the pre-chorus and, probably without meaning to, began to sway more deeply to the beat of the song, her arms around you, her lips firm on your ear near your neck, her cool breath making you shiver.

Shauna rolled her eyes, biting herself with jealousy and trying to control the urge to take Jackie away from you. Of course, half of all things were caused by drinking, but still, she was sure that you should pay for what it was doing to her.

Without thinking twice, Shauna simply stepped into the middle of the dance floor and wrapped her arms around you, taking Jackie out of the picture by taking you a little further away from her.

"What the fuck, Shauna?"

First name. Calling by nickname even with the sound turned up at the highest volume at a party full of people would not be helpful.

She glanced at you and took another sip, her brown eyes deep into you for a while.

"Shauna, what did I do wrong? We were just dancing!", you defended yourself, when you didn't get a response, and that didn't help either. The silence hovered and continued until it became torturous enough for you to want to leave, taking her by force, in a state that was a bit too worrying for both of you.

***

"I told you we could have stayed home, but you insisted on coming."

"And that doesn't mean I need to drag you everywhere I go, (Y\N)."

"We're going to fight, then, is that it?"

Taking your eyes off the road, crossing the street of her house - which you already knew by heart -, you faced Shauna, who snorted, crossed her arms and stared at the landscape in the passenger seat window, without responding. After seconds of silence and Johnny Cash's low voice filling the room, she whispered, whimpering.

"I'm sorry, baby, I don't know what came over me, it's just…", Shauna sighed, and whimpered again. "Damn, she was practically having sex with you in front of everyone, and I couldn't let my best friend take advantage of the person I'm dating like that!"

You sighed too, realizing that, despite her drunken state, Shauna still had a modicum of sanity to admit that every now and then she went overboard with excessive jealousy. Now, still, you could forgive her, and you did, sliding your free hand up her thigh, your eyes quickly turning to her face.

"I'm sorry, too, I should have watched myself more."

"Okay, anyway", the brunette whispered, clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. "Stop the car."

"What?"

"Do what I'm asking, (Y\N), stop the fucking car."

Her tone. You closed your eyes and felt your legs tremble as you swallowed down all your fear and tension.

Obligingly, you stopped the car on an empty road and, while the other cars and pedestrians did their best to ignore you, Shauna ripped off her seat belt and climbed into your seat, sitting between your legs with a mischievous smile. Her hands snaked around your neck and she pushed herself closer as she felt your hands trail down to her hips.

"Hm, I like that. Now… I'm going to show you how to bounce for someone for real."

Your eyes widened, surprised by Shauna's malicious response, but you didn't reprimand her, much less retort. And when she began to truly bounce on you, even in the awkward seat of the car, her breathing became labored the moment the first movement began. Your nails pressed into her thigh, and Shauna moaned in satisfaction, very softly, leaning down to kiss your neck and nibble a little, because she knew you loved it.

In fact, post-fight sex was a recurring thing between you.

Your nails went down a little, squeezing her ass as she kissed you, and then you repeated the same action, hearing even more of your girlfriend's satisfying moans. Thinking about how good it was to fuck her like this, without anyone knowing, without anyone noticing. It was the best feeling ever. You wouldn't trade it for anything.

And you knew that, deep down, neither did she.

Shauna soon left her fancy clothes thrown in the backseat, and you did the same. Shortly after, you jumped into the backseat and started doing what you regularly did, without shame, without fear. Your hands slid down to take off her bra, and she did the same thing to you with the intention of leaving you completely naked in front of her.

With kisses, nibbles, touches and silly hands, you enjoyed that night like no other, before leaving again and returning to your homes as if nothing had happened.

***

"Are you waiting for someone, baby?"

Shauna whispered, startling you, as you sat waiting for her in the locker room after another of the electrifying games in which the Yellowjackets had come out on top once again. It wasn't even new anymore now.

Her laugh felt good in your ear, but you didn't have time to appreciate what she could give you in return, because you were soon pushed into the bathroom stall again, and Shauna resumed the trail of kisses she was trying yesterday along your face and body, trying to remain as silent as possible so as not to alarm any of the girls.

You responded, but it was impossible to hold back, especially when she lowered her kisses to your neck and made you want to scream by holding back your moan. Shauna was loving it, on the other hand, and just kept pushing more and more, for the grace of being able to play with you and your sanity without fear of what would come.

Or at least, who would come…

"Shauna, would you have a tampon- WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!"

Jackie shouted, making you pull away from your girlfriend instantly, eyes rolling back and a sigh of almost relief escaping your lips. Shauna laughed mockingly and scratched her forehead, shaking her head.

"Can one of you explain this to me?", Jackie demanded and, instinctively, you noticed that the other girls were also with their little heads stretched towards the bathroom stall, trying to see something.

Shauna rushed in, pushing you out of the way and going to her best friend, her brown eyes downcast, dilated, the expression of someone who had just been defeated. "I've been fucking (Y\N) for a while now. That's basically it, if you haven't figured it out yet."

"Shauna!", you scolded her, even though you didn't know what to say to fix that mistake. Even more defeated, you nodded, pursing your lips. "Yeah, it is what it is, there's nothing more to say."

"You two better have a good explanation for all this, or I'm going to turn your heads into mobiles for my house one by one, I swear to God."

Jackie shouted, and, realizing that there was no longer any way to hide it from anyone - not even from yourselves -, you nodded, leaving the bathroom and going after the girl captain, trying to correct that mistake.

Well, now it was done. You had been discovered. And honestly, maybe being caught in the act just made this whole secret relationship thing even better.

You didn't even care much, to be honest. If you could still kiss and make out with Shauna as much as you wanted — even with her teammates whispering all over the place —that would be enough.

[harley-rose25]

In which I give the longest explanation of my opinions on Eremika and why I don't like it.

If you see my other AoT post, I likely give the impression of being a hardcore eremika anti; and while I'm not clearly not a fan of the ship I also don't believe that it just came out of nowhere, or was completely unexpected; like some eremika antis seem to think. Seasons 1-3 I honestly expected an eremika ending. Season 3 I had some thoughts that maybe we were getting a erehisu instead, but ultimately I assumed either an eremika or a no-pairing ending even by the end of season 3.

This is not because I thought the ship was built up well or had really good moments pointing towards a mutual romance/love. There are some moments where Eren shows some level of care or affection towards Mikasa; but, to me, it doesn't come off like he's in love with her. It can be interpreted that way, but I felt it was more like showing general platonic care and that those more romantic feeling could be built up or in some cases like his feelings were moving in that direction. The reason I assumed it was the most likely end game ship if there was to be a ship is because of other cannon ships where one character is in love, often obsessively so with the other and the other is either oblivious, doesn't really care, or actively seems to dislike them until the end of the series when suddenly they're also in love. ie; Sakura and Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto, Aang and Katara. Eren and Mikasa dynamic reminded me of these, especially Sakura and Sasuke.

My main issues with the eremika ship are: 1. how it compares to erehisu; Eren and Mikasa do have deep emotional moment together but Eren and Historia have deep emotional moment because of each other. That is, Eren's emotional moment with Mikasa would be just as emotional even if she wasn't there, where as Historia is integral to the moments she has with Eren. In season 4 the erehisu ship is really build up by how desperate Eren is to protect Historia, how he angrily jumps to her defense, how he's shown visiting her at the farm, how he smiles at her and no one else. Even other characters notice this; in season 3 Jean tells Eren he should stop holding hands with Historia all the time (I'm aware that the hand holding was because they were trying to get more memories/activate the founding titan, but it means that Eren and Historia had a lot of confirmed off screen time together), and in season 4 Hange looks at Eren smiling at Historia and then later tells Eren that She thought He would never sacrifice Historia; strongly indicating an assumption of a deeper level of care. All in all I think erehisu had better scenes to building a relationship of mutual care and understanding and also better scenes showing that Eren cares about Historia in a way that isn't shown with anyone else (save maybe Armin) This means that when we end up with eremika now it feels a little cheap or just off. If we got more moments showing a deeper level of care and understand between Eren and Mikasa or if The moments between Eren and Historia, and Erens reactions to Historia didn't have so much weight then an eremika ending would make more sense.

reason number 2: What it does to Mikasas character; Mikasa's love for Eren seems born out of an obsession that comes from losing her parent in a violent murder/kidnapping and then being saved by him. This is then compounded when Eren's mom dies since she was like an adoptive mother to Mikasa. She's a traumatized young girl who never actually deals with her trauma and instead hyperfixates on Eren. Mikasa entire character arc is her chasing after Eren like a neglected dog until that one scene where for like 5 minutes she finally starts to see Eren for the violent psychopath he actually is and questions what she had seen in him; but never mind that because she's back to being so obsessively in love with him that even after he dies she spends that rest of her life visiting his grave with her (probably husband and kids) and also never takes off that scarf.

reason number 3: Mikasa doesn't understand Eren. People argue that Mikasa understood Eren in a different ways, that she understood certain parts of him, but that's literally just admitting that there's clearly parts of Eren she doesn't understand. Actually, I'd argue that as its depicted Mikasa doesn't seem to understand Eren on a fundamental level. Examples: When he failed at the initial ODM gear test she told him to give up being a soldier and then went on to say that he needn't drop out alone, that she would be following him; when he passed the ODM gear test she says that he's relieved that he wont be separated from her. She assumes that the reason he'd be upset about failing to make it as a soldier is related specifically to her and not wanting to be apart from her; When Connie is angry about Eren laughing after Sasha's death he asks Mikasa why he would do that and she can't answer; despite the fact that she's witnessed him laughing in an emotional and traumatic situation before and should have been able to understand that he does it as a coping mechanism. She'd also completely blind to his obvious anti-social personality disorder (psychopathy), though to be fair so is everyone else including most Eren stans. (like, I love Eren, I stan Eren but he is like text book certifiably ASPD psychopathic)

[dairy-farmer]

Haven't preached the gospel of Civilian Tim in a while >.> my boy would be so disappointed in me. I forgot about my boy! <:O

So consider!

Smol Tim! Knows he has to be SUUUPER careful. Mrs. Mac or his parents COULD find his Batman Notes and collection of blurry Baby's First Photographs, after all. So he keeps it vague. Never any names. Cryptic references. The works. Nothing that someone who doesn't know what HE knows, would understand.

But! He's also slightly less athletic then Cannon Tim. Or perhaps, Mrs. Mac is slightly less oblivious. She suspects Somethings Up(tm). Gets that distinct wiff of "child doing something they know they shouldn't behind my back". So waits in her car one night instead of actually going home like she usually does.

Oh dear lord.

Is he SNEAKING OUT!?

TIMMY!!!

Unfortunately, she picks the worst time to startle him. He's half way down the wall, having avoided the already Alarm Primed front door, from the SECOND FLOOR. The small child falls. Eats it, crushing a decorative bush.

This does NOT calm Mrs. Mac down.

He gets a concussion and one of two DOZEN hysterical calls to his parents from Mrs. Mac at the hospital. They think he's dying. Drop everything and rush back.

Are FURIOUS but relieved he's mostly okay.

His Dad, determined to figure out what the FUCK he thought he was doing, finds his Batman stuff. Tim sits, woozy, and wonders if he's watching his parent's Villian origin story as they rage and curse Batman out. His mom wants to shoot him.

It's decided (for him, no he does NOT get a say) that he is NOT staying in Gotham. Where God forsaken furries stalk the night, tempting innocent people's sons into running around the crumbling rooftops and too their early graves. Absolutely not. Tim is going to boarding school.

Tim doesn't WANT to go to boarding school.

But he doesn't get a say.

However... his parents? Do seem really excited? And spend lots of time with him looking over the options. Telling him stories about trips they took to countries near by. It's... it's actually kinda exciting. Nice, even.

And boarding school isn't even that bad.

No one makes fun of him for being quite or "new money". He makes friends. His parents VISIT since the airport isn't too far and they can plan lay-overs through it. He slowly forgets about the Heros of Gotham.

There are local Heros. They kinda suck. He keeps trying to send them notes on how to improve but somehow? They interpret it as a threat? God, they are dumb.

The trip that should have killed his parents? Never happens. Because there was an important event at the School and then CERTAIN local idiots failed to stop their telekinetic Villian from destroying all the planes. By the time his parents managed to reschedule? The local police in Haiti were desperately calling to warn them to Stay Put.

He graduates. Heads... well, he guesses "Home"? Back to Gotham. After a decade away. It's still just as Gothic, shitty, and creepy as always. His parents are out on their new dig, so? Place to himself~ Sweet.

Even if his old room is basicly untouched. Kiddy sheets and all. He'll need new everything. Which? As he pokes around? Leads him to finding his own HIGHLY Creepy? Cryptic, Possibly-Haunted, Horror Movie Notes(tm).

Baby Tim... WTF.

He remembers these. Remembers understanding them...

Does... NOT understand them now.

Huh.

He can? Sort of decipher them. Based off what he knows about himself at that age? It's "something, something, circus, something, Wayne's." And this other one just references Bats, which... kinda obvious. This is all clearly about BATman.

The question is? Does he CARE?

.....maybe a little bit.

Curse his insatiable curiosity. He collects Baby Him's creepy notes. The horror movie photographs. Starts making a list of furniture he'll need, and... Ding~ Dong~! Door? Who in gods name would be at the DOOR? Houses around here are massively spaced out.

He goes to check.

Standing there, in their work out clothes, is the unfairly gorgeous Dickie Wayne and sharply handsome young blood son, Damian Wayne. Life long neighbors. Haven't seen one of them since childhood, the other at ALL. Why are they at his house?

Hi?

Dickie is like getting hit by a semi-truck of Friendly. Tim feels an almost feline urge to hiss and bite the man to make him back off. The blood son just watchs. Sharp gaze an unfairly beautiful green, as he just? Seems to observe and consider. So, clearly no help there.

Dickie seems to think Tim is moving in? Is new? Wow. Way to be observant. Dude, the Drake's have lived next to your family since BEFORE TIM WAS BORN. We're just abroad a lot. We travel. Tim's just graduated. Is going to start his work in Drake Industries.

He gets a blank look from Dickie.

Damian at least know exactly what he's talking about. Was simply unaware that they were neighbors. Apologizes for Dickie's... He means well.

Tim has to laugh.

What a brutal kid. He likes him. They part ways. Tim doesn't notice the lingering looks or flushing cheeks, his fluffy and unguarded appearance has gotten him. Soft in a way nothing in Gotham or their lives ever is.

Tim gets to work. Modernizing the house and updating the furniture. Lots to buy and do, after all. Its exhausting. Thank god for the pool. And since it in the back, away from the road, he doesn't have to worry about all those absurd prudish drama queens he's met at the local market, getting food.

He can relax in a barely-there, string, bikini bottom. Topless. Soak in what little sun there manages to be.

Utterly entrance various Poor Bats, who are just trying to get their steps in. With so, so much soft and unmarked skin. Pretty little mosquito bite tits, the gentle curves and dips of his lounging body. Long legs, relaxed and sprawled teasingly open. Enough to torment but not enough to see.

They could never be that relaxed. Too many enemies. Too deeply ingrained to stay on gaurd. But there Tim lays, soaking up the sunshine with a drink and podcast. Utterly boneless.

A glimpse into another world. What they fight to protect. So different it... it almost become a fetish.

And it quickly does. Mentally playing house. Pretending civilian. They would go on dates and bring him flowers, they think, spying on him. Have dinners for two, cuddle on the couch, they imagine, as they break bones in the frigid rain. On and on. Them and their pretty civilian boyfriend.

The boy next door. Hallmark romances. Romantic novels. Fated encounters. Each of them framing it differently in their head. No less obsessive. Getting more by the day.

And Tim? Well, for him, things are feeling... Off(tm). His neighbors are? Weirdly friendly. He'd say cultishly friendly, but he doesn't even think they're religious. Yet his gut is SCREAMING "somethings not right here".

He can't figure out his creepy kid-self's notes. And it's starting to seem IMPORTANT. Because he HEARD that Brucie Wayne? Was a himbo. An idiot. But no one in that family reads as genuinely dumb to Tim. So why are they pretending? What are they HIDING? And??

Does it have something to do with how he keeps seeing the fuckin BATS around his house? His office? He's pretty sure they broke in. Found at least on bug. There might be cameras. He got kidnapped and like? Five! Of them showed up. FIVE.

Crowded super close to untie him, all lingering touches and predators grins.

Is he being hunted by vampires? Demons?

Bat people?!

How many times did they watch him masturbate before he realized there could be cameras!? And is he REALLY sure the shower is safe to get off in, now? It better be. He refuses to stop, just because he's being hunted by cryptids!

And off course~♡ Ivy, our Beloved. (We salute you o7) Oh dear and precious Bringer of Convenient Plot Devices. Escapes! Oh nooooo! And she was doing so well.

She hits? You guessed it! Drake Pharmaceuticals. The main branch of Drake Industries. Because a CERTAIN member of the Board has been lying about where he's been putting run-off. Like that's not a known death-sentence in Gotham. Are you KIDDING US, Geoffrey!?

Tim, bravely, tries to talk her down. Was already trying to fix other damage. WILL fix that. He didn't know. Please, Dr. Isely!

She thinks he's young and twink-y. Gives him a chance. Feeds Geoffrey to a plant. Chaos and Bats ensue.

But on no! Ivy definitely pulled the "remember. I can DESTROY YOU" card with her Chance(tm) and hit Tim with a Pollen dose. It's already been too long. Anti-agent will help, but? Ultimately not enough. Tim needs treatment.

......don't WORRY, Civilian! The Bats say with far more enthusiasm then the rightfully should, coming dangerously close to perky chirping. They are Here To Help~!

Odd, how Tim does NOT feel terribly safe, being stared down by the hungry eyes of Bat Cryptids. But also his skin feels like it's on slow fire and his insides hurt, soooo.... Make It STOP.

He's scooped up and dragged to the nap room he had set up connecting to his office. The don't stop CROWDING. Hands reaching out, stroking and touching. Gazes heavy enough to feel lewder the their hands, as they blatantly plot what they're going to do to him.

Batman, who by all accounts, is supposed to be the one to keep his various hellions in check, leading the charge. Seeming almost giddy as he carries Tim off. Gently dumps him on his napping bed.

He's surrounded.

They work together to get rid of "pollen contaminated clothing". Which is apparently everything. Hands are everywhere, making him whimper as they stroke oversensitive skin. Nightwing holding his head and neck still, plundering his mouth until he can't breathe.

Gloved hands are teasing his tits. Stroking his stomach. Holding his hands tight, to wrap it around something hard and hot. Thrusting against his palms. Legs being held open by strong hangs. Hearing Batman shift but being unable to move.

Embarrassing noises ripped out of him, back bowing, as squirming wet heat starts eating him out. Sucking, swirling, fucking in and out. None of the boys at school could EVER have come close. Tim finds himself twitching and coming apart embarrassingly fast.

Only it doesn't end.

He's never gone past one before.

The Pollens going to make sure EVERYONE gets a turn. Bruce barely holding back, while he stretchs him. The instant he decides it's enough, he's surging up, lining up and fucking himself in. Tim is utterly destroyed. Not a single Bat missing their golden chance to fuck Tim. Several times, at LEAST.

And of course? Once you have a taste of what you desire? Obsessions get so, SO much worse. A few more Pollen incidents that spring and summer? Well obviously, he's their Boyfriend now. Even if he doesn't know it.

It's all very horror movie, but the moster wants to bone you incoherent. Will Tim ever figure out the secret of the Waynes? Will he eventually be seduced by the constant, unexpected, but frankly mind-blowing dickings? Can orgasms win the day?

Who knows! Not me!

I just want them to obsess over Civilian Tim, fetishize his sexy Normal Life and hot bod, and (importantly) LOVINGLY gang bang the Timmy. He deserves to be the center of attention, you know? Get so, SO many orgasms. Be treated like a treasured princess of fuckies. Then cuddled for taking it so well, when they pounded him drooling and nearly to tears.

Give the Bats something to come home too! Their lives suck! They should have a Tim!

-🐼🐼🐼

them fetishizing civilian tim's life, growing more obsessed and voyeuristic with him!!😍😍

[nonbinarypirat]

A fellow enjoyer of mairuma who likes reading others headcanons/interpretations here! just thought I'd share my own headcanons

1.) I think the misfits lack parental validation from one or more parental figures so they seek that validation from someone else, like Kalego. He, as their homeroom teacher, knows full well what they're capable of and actively gives them harder challenges to further bring out their potential. So I think the misfits would seek near impossible tasks not just for the fun of it, but to receive validation from someone they look up to.

2.) I believe that Kalego shows his love in pride. And when I say love, I mean all love; familial, romantic, platonic, and the kind that you know is there but don't have a name for. I guess a good example would be Balam, his closest friend and well-respected researcher. Balam would have achieved great things in his field of research and Kalego would be very proud of him for it, though I doubt he would explicitly show it. The same would go for his students. A mix-match group of kids who have, more than once, taken the impossible and made it reality while proving him wrong every chance they get.

(also a small group of demon plus one human children have better cooperation skills than most adult demons. yes demons are self-centered but i do think its really funny.)

well, these are my headcanons sorry if its really wordy. what are your thoughts on them and what are your mairuma headcanons?

thx for reading and have a good day/night :D

I have been fully focused into my classes and college recently since I’m in my third year (we’re so close to the finishing line yall) but YES I love this!! One, I appreciate you sending me this since I haven’t done a post for a while! I promise im still here and I’m keeping up with the recent chapters 🫡. But yeah, I just love Kalego as a character. Like, he really is my favorite because I love a rude and snide character who you can tell cares a lot. Even if he won’t tell you that.

Kalego cares deeply for his students. Like sure, they annoy him and are goofballs. But at the end of the day, he is also protective of them. He knows they can accomplish great things and that’s why he’s hard on them, it’s not due to a lack of love. His pride is his way of showing affection. He will do his damnest to make sure you succeed and through his little actions, the characters can tell that he’s proud of them too. It’s the little moments with Kalego that make them know he does deeply care for them.

And yes, I also have a head cannon that for many of the misfits, they are lacking in some sort of parental or familiar love. Obviously we can’t say this for certain for all the characters, but it just feels like that’s why, no matter how much they complain about him, he also means a lot to them too.

As for my other head cannons… One head cannon I have (with the little info we have so far) is that Elizabetta grew up similarly to that little girl from Ouran Host Club, ya know the sister of the black magic club president? That is to say, I think she’s loaded but was primarily raised by her maids who gave her a lot of the romance books to keep her entertained. I think her parents were never really around. Or if they were, they don’t have her a ton of attention. I guess this is more of a head cannon slash theory? But when we see the house visits, we don’t even see her parents. A lot of them you saw the parents, a back shot or their torso. Something. We even saw Kalego call some of the parents. But her parents just wasn’t in the frame and she just kept showing him the things in her room which gives me the feeling she had a lot of material goods they bought her, but maybe not their affection. We also don’t see any adult when we learn about her ambition. Which is why I think she’s so attached to love, she is reaching for a connection she may not feel she has with her parents. And maybe in a way, she’s wants to build a family that will actually appreciate her the way she wants. Which to me makes the relationship to the misfits even more special because she finally has the love and pride of her found family. Idk, just a silly head cannon I have based on current knowledge!

[spotty-bee]

Hazbin Hotel Headcannon

I've been thinking a lot about Adam, Lute, Vaggie and the exorcists. How they all work and everything that we've learned over the course of the show about them. After looking over the pictures of them without their masks and all the back dealings with heaven I was kinda starting to think...

What if their all related?

Adam and Vaggie have the same skin colour. Lute has Adam's nose. They all have golden pupils (Though Vaggie's sclera is red, many have head cannoned that being from living in hell.) Vaggie and Lute both have white hair. Theres a lot of similarities between these characters physically and while that can be due to the art style, I do start to wonder.

However WHY would Lute , Vaggie and possibly all the exorcists be Adam's daughters? Well it starts to make sense when you remember that Sera wanted to keep the Exterminations under wraps. If you have Heaven Born or Saint (Dead humans who got into Heaven) warriors doing the exterminations, word would eventually get out. These people have lives outside of their work and all it would take is talking to a spouse or one of them feeling guilty before news spreads. IF you have warriors who's entire life was Exterminations, then they would A- be less likely to tell anyone and B- Be less likely to feel guilty if they weren't taught anything else.

As for where all these woman came from, my guess would be cloning. We know for a FACT that Heaven has Science.

A good way to get warriors that won't have outside influence/ loose lips is if they don't have any parents that will be wondering whats going on. Cloning would also ensure that warriors will walk off the assembly line fully grown and ready to train. Adam likely used his DNA and then mixed it with donated DNA from other Heavenly Residents . All he then had to do was train his army.

OF course this opens up some rather dark things to consider. There are at least 100 Exterminators. All of them are female. The likelihood of that happening by happenstance is extremely low. Adam had to have chosen to only have woman in his army, and when you factor in Adam's misogynist, narcissistic attitude, that dose not paint a pretty picture. We also need to consider that Adam was left to train/educate these woman with almost no outside interference. Sera made it clear she wanted as little to do with the Extermination business as possible and she maybe one of the few who knew about the army's creation. IN FACT I know she had nothing to do with the army because, apparently, Adam got to name these girls and nobody, and I mean NOBODY, stopped him from naming Vaggie after female anatomy. (I wouldn't be surprised if Vaggie is a nickname and she's actually just named Vagina.)

They seem to have lived a life of constant training and battle. Its also heavily implied that Vaggie (and Lute to a lesser extent) were taught to view themselves as disposable. Worthless if they didn't have someone to serve. We see it when Vaggie tries to lead the trust exercises, when she beats herself up for not making a proper commercial for the hotel, in fact she seems to have little personal life unless its training or Charlie is involved. Lute herself rips off her own arm just to try and help Adam. If Adam did raise/train them, then these are some pretty bad signs.

These are just some things I was thinking about looking over the show. I am also not making this to bash anyone who ships Adam and Lute. This is all speculation and personal interpretation. I've just never felt anything romantic between Lute and Adam, but they were clearly close. I took that last, tearful goodbye in the finally as a distant, estranged Father- Daughter relationship.

Anyway, what do you think? Its highly unlikely this is true, but could make for a fun, dark fan fiction or Au!

[thesummerstorms]

Out of curiosity, I went ahead and compiled all the known canonical interactions between Annabeth and Athena, specifically focusing on them actually conversing or meeting in person.

(For those who are curious about the numbers but are scared off by the massive wall of text, from what I can tell Athena has directly interacted with her daughter somewhere between 4 to 8 times in her life.

Two of the " 8 " are hypothetical but not confirmed based on the existence of the Yankees cap and it's behavior before and after Heroes of Olympus. One moment I personally don't count as actually being Athena so much as Annabeth's inner voice, but is up for interpretation. And the last questionable moment is where Athena's voice does speak to her but Annabeth does not actually interact with her mom beyond hearing that.

So I would say the most solid number cannon number is probably 4. )

Possibly something happened pre-series when Annabeth first got her hat. We don't actually know how that went down. But if there's a pre series meeting, that's the most likely spot.

Nothing in TLT. Athena's presence is felt but that's because of how oriented Annabeth and her siblings are initially to Athena's presumed will

Nothing in SOM that I remember. She's following in the footsteps of her mother's favorite, but Athena herself doesn't really have a role.

They do get to meet in TTC. Athena says more or less that she's proud of Annabeth then turns around and suggests killing Thalia and Percy.

It is low key interesting to me that this is probably one of the high points in what we see of their relationship, but this announcement of Annabeth having done well is addressed to the crowd, not Annabeth herself.

Annabeth interrupts Athena to protest the first time she advocates for killing Percy, but Athena cuts her off still without speaking to her

The goddess Athena cleared her throat and sat forward. “I am proud of my daughter as well. But there is a security risk here with the other two.”

“Mother!” Annabeth said. “How can you—”

Athena cut her off with a calm but firm look.

The second time Annabeth protests is the only time Athena speaks to Annabeth directly, but the use of 'exasperated' here is interesting in setting the tone of that interaction:

“Two years for Kronos to deceive you,” Athena said. “Much can change in two years, my young hero.” “Mother!” Annabeth said, exasperated. “It is only the truth, child. It is bad strategy to keep the animal alive. Or the boy.”

Of course Percy also meets Athena here and that's about Annabeth if not with Annabeth- first Athena giving him the clue/inspiration to escape the Hoover Dam, and then Athena telling him more or less to stay away from her daughter.

When Annabeth interrupts the later conversation, Athena leaves. It does make sense in the context of 'she was literally just giving Percy the shovel talk' but it is mildly interesting that this in an opportunity where she could speak directly to her daughter- and maybe she did!- but all we see on screen is her walking away

Also the shift from Mother to Mom, which very likely is just the social context unless you want to read into that ellipsis

“Percy!” Annabeth said, running through the crowd. She stopped short when she saw who I was talking to. “Oh…Mom.” “I will leave you,” Athena said. “For now.”

They don't meet or talk in BOTL and aren't mentioned as having done so between that summer and the previous winter. Athena continues to have an important presence through her history with Daedelus and the other gods identifying Annabeth as her daughter, but doesn't actually appear.

TLO is a lot more significant not in terms of quantity of interactions, but in terms of impact. First, Athena sends a warning/strategic advice to both Percy and Annabeth via Hermes. Including more disapproval for Percy/Annabeth

"[Athena] wanted to come back herself, but Zeus was not going to let his number one strategist leave his side while we’re battling Typhon. And so naturally he sent me to talk to you.” ...

...“Please, Hermes,” Annabeth said. “You said my mother wanted to come. Did she give you any messages for us?”...

...“Bah,” Hermes said. “Your mother said to warn you that you are on your own. You must hold Manhattan without the help of the gods. As if I didn’t know that. Why they pay her to be the wisdom goddess, I’m not sure.”

“Anything else?” Annabeth asked.

“She said you should try plan twenty-three. She said you would know what that meant.”

Annabeth’s face paled. Obviously she knew what it meant, and she didn’t like it. “Go on.”

“Last thing.” Hermes looked at me. “She said to tell Percy: ‘Remember the rivers.’ And, um, something about staying away from her daughter.”

And this is of course where we get the single most positive interaction between the two of them in all of the series

Athena called, “Annabeth Chase, my own daughter.”

Annabeth squeezed my arm, then walked forward and knelt at her mother’s feet.

Athena smiled. “You, my daughter, have exceeded all expectations. You have used your wits, your strength, and your courage to defend this city, and our seat of power. It has come to our attention that Olympus is…well, trashed. The Titan lord did much damage that will have to be repaired. We could rebuild it by magic, of course, and make it just as it was. But the gods feel that the city could be improved. We will take this as an opportunity. And you, my daughter, will design these improvements.”

Annabeth looked up, stunned. “My…my lady?”

Athena smiled wryly. “You are an architect, are you not? You have studied the techniques of Daedalus himself. Who better to redesign Olympus and make it a monument that will last for another eon?”

“You mean…I can design whatever I want?”

“As your heart desires,” the goddess said. “Make us a city for the ages.”

“As long as you have plenty of statues of me,” Apollo added.

“And me,” Aphrodite agreed.

“Hey, and me!” Ares said. “Big statues with huge wicked swords and—”

“All right!” Athena interrupted. “She gets the point. Rise, my daughter, official architect of Olympus.”

We don't have much Annabeth in TLH or SON so no real opportunities for anything there. I did do a keyword search for both "mother" and "Athena" to make sure I didn't miss some reference to something that happened off screen, but I didn't see anything.

Mark of Athena... Well. I'm gonna put the cut here because obviously there's a lot to say from here on.

Right off the bat in chapter one, we take a nose dive from the high point of TLO. We see the specifics of the meeting that Annabeth is referring to later in the book, but I still feel like the first description is useful information:

Annabeth wished she could pray to her mother for guidance, but that wasn’t possible now. Not after last month, when she’d had that horrible encounter with her mom and gotten the worst present of her life.…

And we get hints again when Annabeth receives her prophecy from Ella. Again this should probably all be one singular bullet point since it's just one meeting, but I found the lead up to the reveal too interesting

“The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,” Ella continued, cupping her hands over her ears and raising her voice. “Twins snuff out the angel’s breath, Who holds the key to endless death. Giants’ bane stands gold and pale, Won through pain from a woven jail.”

The effect was like someone dropping a flash grenade on the table. Everyone stared at the harpy. No one spoke. Annabeth’s heart was pounding. The Mark of Athena…She resisted the urge to check her pocket, but she could feel the silver coin growing warmer—the cursed gift from her mother. Follow the Mark of Athena. Avenge me.

She tells Percy about it eventually, though not in moment by moment detail

A sense of dread settled over [Percy]. “Why? Have you seen Athena?”

She didn’t meet his eyes. “A few weeks ago,” she admitted. “It…it wasn’t good. She didn’t seem like herself. Maybe it’s the Greek/Roman schizophrenia that Nemesis described. I’m not sure. She said some hurtful things. She said I had failed her.”

“Failed her?” Percy wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. Annabeth was the perfect demigod child. She was everything a daughter of Athena should be. “How could you ever—?”

“I don’t know,” she said miserably. “On top of that, I’ve been having nightmares of my own. They don’t make as much sense as yours.”

Then we finally get the details of Annabeth's interaction with Minerva/Athena. And it is identified as being Minerva however...

Minerva is the way she is because she recognizes herself as a reduction/fragment of Athena. Like explicitly she talks about what the Romans have "done to her" in changing her from the Greek Athena to the Roman Minerva. She gets mad when Annabeth calls her Minerva even.

Minerva's anger and violence are rooted in her internal indenfication with her past as Athena and her hatred for what the Romans did to the Greeks specifically. Minerva and Athena are deeply intertwined.

We also still count Nico and Hazel & Thalia and Jason as being siblings despite the Greek/Roman divide.

I will give you the fact that Minerva doesn't recognize Annabeth here and her judgement is impacted. But IMO I don't think it's fair to 100% disconnect this conversation from Athena even if it is Minerva in this scene. And it is a doozy of a scene.

She had just passed Sweet on America, the candy shop where Percy’s mom used to work, and was thinking about going inside to buy some blue candy for old times’ sake, when she saw Athena studying the subway map on the wall.

“Mother!” Annabeth couldn’t believe it. She hadn’t seen her mom in months—not since Zeus had closed the gates of Olympus and forbidden all communication with demigods. Many times, Annabeth had tried to call on her mom anyway, pleading for guidance, sending up burnt offerings with every meal at camp. She’d had no response. Now here was Athena, dressed in jeans and hiking boots and a red flannel shirt, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders. She held a backpack and a walking stick like she was prepared for a long journey.

“I must return home,” Athena murmured, studying the map. “The way is complex. I wish Odysseus were here. He would understand.”

“Mom!” Annabeth said. “Athena!” The goddess turned. She seemed to look right through Annabeth with no recognition.

“That was my name,” the goddess said dreamily. “Before they sacked my city, took my identity, made me this.” She looked at her clothes in disgust. “I must return home.”

Annabeth stepped back in shock. “You’re…you’re Minerva?”

“Don’t call me that!” The goddess’s gray eyes flared with anger. “I used to carry a spear and a shield. I held victory in the palm of my hand. I was so much more than this.”

“Mom.” Annabeth’s voice trembled. “It’s me, Annabeth. Your daughter.”

“My daughter…” Athena repeated. “Yes, my children will avenge me. They must destroy the Romans. Horrible, dishonorable, copycat Romans. Hera argued that we must keep the two camps apart. I said, No, let them fight. Let my children destroy the usurpers.”

Annabeth’s heartbeat thumped in her ears. “You wanted that? But you’re wise. You understand warfare better than any—”

“Once!” the goddess said. “Replaced. Sacked. Looted like a trophy and carted off—away from my beloved homeland. I lost so much. I swore I would never forgive. Neither would my children.”

She focused more closely on Annabeth. “You are my daughter?”

“Yes.” The goddess fished something from the pocket of her shirt—an old-fashioned subway token—and pressed it into Annabeth’s hand. “Follow the Mark of Athena,” the goddess said. “Avenge me.”

Annabeth had looked at the coin. As she watched, it changed from a New York subway token to an ancient silver drachma, the kind used by Athenians. It showed an owl, Athena’s sacred animal, with an olive branch on one side and a Greek inscription on the other.

The Mark of Athena.

At the time, Annabeth had had no idea what it meant. She didn’t understand why her mom was acting like this. Minerva or not, she shouldn’t be so confused.

“Mom…” She tried to make her tone as reasonable as possible. “Percy is missing. I need your help.”

She had started to explain Hera’s plan for bringing the camps together to battle Gaea and the giants, but the goddess stamped her walking stick against the marble floor.

“Never!” she said. “Anyone who helps Rome must perish. If you would join them, you are no child of mine. You have already failed me.”

“Mother!”

“I care nothing about this Percy. If he has gone over to the Romans, let him perish. Kill him. Kill all the Romans. Find the Mark, follow it to its source. Witness how Rome has disgraced me, and pledge your vengeance.”

“Athena isn’t the goddess of revenge.” Annabeth’s nails bit into her palms. The silver coin seemed to grow warmer in her hand. “Percy is everything to me.”

“And revenge is everything to me,” the goddess snarled. “Which of us is wiser?”

“Something is wrong with you. What’s happened?”

“Rome happened!” the goddess said bitterly. “See what they have done, making a Roman of me. They wish me to be their goddess? Then let them taste their own evil. Kill them, child.”

“No!”

“Then you are nothing.” The goddess turned to the subway map. Her expression softened, becoming confused and unfocused. “If I could find the route…the way home, then perhaps—But, no. Avenge me or leave me. You are no child of mine.”

Annabeth’s eyes stung. She thought of a thousand horrible things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t. She had turned and fled.

She’d tried to throw away the silver coin, but it simply reappeared in her pocket, the way Riptide did for Percy. Unfortunately, Annabeth’s drachma had no magical powers—at least nothing useful. It only gave her nightmares, and no matter what she tried, she couldn’t get rid of it.

And to my point earlier, even if fans want to pin this interaction on just Minerva, Annabeth still clearly identifies it as being an interaction with her mother, even well after she knows about the Greek/Roman divide.

Since Annabeth’s argument with Athena, the cap had lost its magic. Annabeth wasn’t sure why, but she’d stubbornly brought it along on the quest. Every morning she would try it on, hoping it would work again. So far it had only served as a reminder of her mother’s wrath.

She then hears her mother's voice in the civil war fort. To be fair, this is not actually a conversation so much as her hearing her mother's voice, and it is implied by Aphrodite that this might be subconscious but I'm still counting it for the purpose of record keeping.

Gaea’s voice faded. On the far wall, in the center of the spider swarm, a red symbol blazed to life: the figure of an owl like the one on the silver drachma, staring straight at Annabeth. Then, just as in her nightmares, the Mark of Athena burned across the walls, incinerating the spiders until the room was empty except for the smell of sickly sweet ashes. Go, said a new voice—Annabeth’s mother. Avenge me. Follow the Mark.

We do get mention of a 'voice' when Annabeth is on the quest. I do not personally interpret it as being Athena, and Annabeth seems to dismiss that possibility after a moment, but since the possibility is raised and not conclusively answered, I am including it for completeness' sake

You’ve got your intelligence, a voice said. Annabeth wondered if Athena was speaking to her, but that was probably just wishful thinking.

Not getting a full quote here, but notably there's no sign of an interaction from Athena either when Annabeth tells Arachne that the spider-woman is better than Athena OR when Annabeth prays:

"But the Athena Parthenos was free. Please wake up, Annabeth begged the statue. Mother, help me.

I wasn't in any way expecting Athena to react to that prayer, and I know 'divine laws' is the normal explanation but I am genuinely interested in what makes this moment from Percy at the arch. Not sarcastically, I just wish we had a little bit clearer of an idea of how things worked.

Then we finally get to House of Hades, where Annabeth is of course in Tartarus. To the best of my knowledge, her only direct interaction with Athena is through one of the demigod 's prophetic dreams where Athena praises her and then gives her another task/warning.

In the darkness below stood Reyna, the praetor of New Rome. Her cloak was the color of blood fresh from a vein. Her gold armor glinted. She stared up, her face regal and distant, and spoke directly into Annabeth’s mind.

You have done well, Reyna said, but the voice was Athena’s. The rest of my journey must be on the wings of Rome

. The praetor’s dark eyes turned as gray as storm clouds.

I must stand here, Reyna told her. The Roman must bring me.

In terms of plot/timing this really does make sense as a very short/driven/focused conversation. Please do not take this as me saying they should have had a mother-daughter therapy session here.

But what makes the content of this dream stand out more is that as far as I know, it's the only time Athena ever acknowledges the Mark of Athena quest at all when talking to her daughter, and the closest they come to discussing Tartarus. Which they didn't.

BOO doesn't have anything written from Annabeth or Percy's point of view, reducing what we are able to know about Annabeth and Athena. They do fight together, just like the other members of the seven and their parents, but it's from Jason's point of view so we get a distant observation with no emotion or dialogue attached.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jason saw Annabeth fighting Enceladus. At her side stood a woman with long dark hair and golden armor over her white robes. The goddess thrust her spear at the giant, then brandished her shield with the fearsome bronzed visage of Medusa. Together, Athena and Annabeth drove Enceladus back into the nearest wall of metal scaffolding, which collapsed on top of him.

Afterwards, we get a description of Athena interacting with Hermes, who is apparently trying to ignore her, but nothing with Annabeth. They both participate in the conversation with Zeus, but don't speak or respond to one another.

Annabeth is not a focus in any of the books of TOA, so of course there are no interactions there.

She may or may not have mentioned something that happened off-screen in the Magnus Chase books, but I don't know since I haven't read them. I wouldn't bet on it.

Finally, as of the writing of this post, the last PJO book we have is Chalice of the Gods. Athena interacts directly with Percy on screen, but not Annabeth. It is very strongly suggested that Athena assists Percy for Annabeth's sake.

We do get a mention of Annabeth's hat working again (as Percy needs it for the plot) and then there is a mention of it now causing discomfort to the user and Athena doing it on purpose to remind her child that power has a price.

We know for a fact that it did NOT work this way when Percy used it in either TLT or TTC. I would put my money on Rick just...forgetting that

but from an in universe context we might take it to imply Athena added a price to the use of the gift after Heroes of Olympus and somehow explained her reasoning to Annabeth. (I will leave my emotions about this scene for a different post.)

“Thanks for the loan of the Yankees cap, by the way,” I said. “You never told me it makes you uncomfortable when you wear it.”

She gave me a one-shoulder shrug. “All power has a price. Even being invisible. My mom taught me that a long time ago.” She sounded wistful, maybe a little sad, but not resentful.

She had apparently accepted the way the world worked according to Athena, even if she didn’t always agree, even if it sometimes didn’t make any more sense than Annabeth’s math homework did to me.

I have seen some people use all the above points from COG to suggest that Athena and Annabeth fully reconciled off screen. I personally hate that, but I don't think it's an unfair reading. It is a possibility. I wouldn't say the text confirms that definitively though.

[gay-dorito-dust]

Wednesday Addams, with a Male!Reader that is like Goro Majima

Just wanna know how much of pure wackiness it can get at Nevermore especially with our main characters bc of Y/N.

I’m doing this in a headcannon format cuz I’ve got some ideas on the chaos Majima!Reader would get into. Most of these are pranks but some (like maybe 2/3) are references to the shit he’s done in the games. (1. dressed up as a girl. 2.hide in a trash can for Kiriyu and 3. driving a vehicle into a building.)

Also warning: quite fucking long cuz I went away with the fairies a little bit.

I feel like when you first met Wednesday you were laying down in a makeshift grave you’ve dug yourself on school grounds. Why? It doesn’t really matter as for the reasoning behind the action since you did things purely by impulse. many people have decided to give up in trying to figure you out because your personality often changed on a dime; making you quite the dangerous enigma.

Also some rules were set in place because of you. What an icon. We love to see it.

“What is your purpose?”

“I dunno.” You shrug, beaming up at her with a crazed grin.

“Seems like a waste of a grave.” She said, watching as you dug yourself out with a grunt, uncaring of the dirt that clung to your clothes nor how it got under your nails from your climb out. She the noticed you kneeling down next to the grave and pulling out your signature metal bat. Her dark eyes brightened with intrigue.

“Were you planning on burying someone alive?” Wednesday questions with slight interest. You shrug again before looking down at the grave that you suddenly grown bored of and sighed, hauling your bat so that it rested against your shoulder as you walked off. “It’s all yours, I’ve grown bored and besides Weems says I should reconsider the type of pranks I pull but,” you turned to look at Wednesday over your shoulder, “where’s the fun in that.” You flashed another crazed grin before walking off to who knows where, “See ya new kid.”

“It’s Wednesday-.” She goes to tell you but you seemed to have disappeared without much of a trace. Xavier, who was passing by, notes her confusion and the empty 6ft plot of dug up soil next to her and immediately knew you were behind such an expression.

“You met y/n. Didn’t you?” He asked her.

“Is that his name, he’s quite the character.” Wednesday mused, your unpredictable nature and aloof personality made you stand out even in a school for outcasts. Your mental state must be quite the minefield for Kinbott to navigate if digging up plots of land for a prank was your rendition of fun.

Xavier scoffs, “you could say that again, he once put an eyesore of a canvas in my art studio one day and when I got a loser look at it. Y/n opened his eyes, scaring me shitless, before jumped away from the canvas, his whole body was caked from head to toe in paint, and pushed me over my stool with the end of his metal bat.” Xavier subconsciously rubbed the small of his back. “Bastard then ran out of the shed, laughing hysterically…fucking psycho.”

“Interesting, maybe this school won’t be so dull as I first interpreted.” Wednesday said, uncaring of the story Xavier was telling her before walking off, leaving him befuddled. Afterwards Wednesday would asked Enid, Ajax, Eugene, hell evenTyler about you to which they were all quick to look in every direction incase you were somehow nearby before speaking their peace about you.

Enid said that you were a loose cannon, an unstoppable force of pure chaos. Yet you had a charm that would swoon boys, girls and others alike and make everyone forget that your mind was the equivalent of a bagful of rabid raccoons; You protected those who needed to be protected even though your methods were quite…extreme, seeing as your weapons of choice was a metal bat that didn’t bend after a couple of bludgeoning blows and a collection of knives. This earned you the monicure of ‘the mad dog of Nevermore.’

You scared the poor daylights out of her and Yoko one day by dressing yourself up in a white wedding gown you somehow obtained, splashed large quantities of red food dye across it to make it look like bloodstains; you even went as far as to buy a reduced Halloween makeup kit to replicate slash marks across your neck and face whilst also putting in milky white eye contacts. You had a story made up and everything about being a poor innocent normie who got stood up at the alter by her husband and then was later killed by something beastly. (It was a bear but you liked to keep it anonymous for more authenticity.)

Before this however, you told this story to the girls one night at a campfire and with the help of some of your friends in making bushes rustle, twigs snapping and other various noises. You then ventured into the woods to ‘investigate’ much to Yoko and Enid’s dismay before quickly changing and hastily putting on a wig ontop of your head and rushing back out towards the campfire, screaming. Sending the poor girls running to their shared tent. When they found that it was just you, they gave you the silent treatment for such a cruel prank.

Ajax would find you chill for the most part but once you frightened him so badly by sneaking into the shower room late one night and stuffing yourself into a cramp bin where you stayed hidden until he got out of the shower, jumping out screaming ‘boo!’ Ajax was taken off guard that badly that he accidentally stoned not just you but himself by looking directly in the mirror. Oops.

Eugene actually had nothing but good things to say about you, funnily enough to Wednesday’s surprise. At this point she found out that you were quite the trickster and an advent fan for the morbid and the macabre. However Eugene’s tales concerning you were times where you brutally beaten up normies and bullies alike for picking on him. You even suggested that he helped you in getting even by setting up a bucket load of pollen/honey that once it’s contents were dumped upon their intended victims, Eugene would them send out a small swarm of bees to chase the off.

You treated Eugene like a little brother and so whoever messed with him, messes with you also; Eugene couldn’t help but view you as the brother he always wanted. While that didn’t mean he was exempt from your shenanigans but you tended to hold yourself back when it came to Eugene. Everyone left Eugene alone because of you and in payment, Eugene would often gift you a bottle of honey as a thank you for standing by him no matter what.

Tyler doesn’t like you.

You don’t like Tyler and you made that evidently clear by doing things like breaking into Weathervane and badly busting up the coffee machine or stealing sums of money out of the area where the bottom drawer of the registers were kept, so that when he opens up in the morning he’d be in big shit with his shift manager. Did you potentially get put into jail for this? Maybe but that nor Principle Weems’ warnings of your potential expulsion did nothing to deter you from fucking shit up for Jericho and it’s residence.

We don’t talk about the time you drove a forklift into Crackstone’s statue one Outreach day, toppling it over and cracking the head away from it’s body before using said head with the forklift and sending it crashing into the city hall. You got into some BIG trouble for that stunt.

No one knew how you became the person that you were but not many dared to ask in fear that it may bring up old wounds that you’d rather left alone. So when Wednesday decided that instead of deciding whether or not she should get close to you based solely on potentially fabled stories, she would go out of her way and join you in a joint effort of making the citizens of Jericho’s life absolute hell.

But there are days where she saw the softer side of you where you weren’t all crazy eyed or trigger happy. You were smart and willing aided her in her investigation about the Hyde and Laurel Gates; Even after nearly dying in the Gates’ family home. “Why are you still helping me? You nearly died.” She’d ask not long after Enid rightfully scolded her for being so careless with human life.

You shrugged, only to wince when you moved your clawed arm from protecting Wednesday. “I don’t mind getting a little hurt if it means bringing us closer to the truth and besides,” you pulled something out from your backpack, it was a small airtight sealed bag containing a clump of the Hydes fur, “I got you some more physical evidence.” Wednesday didn’t know whether to punch you for getting hurt in getting her more evidence or kiss you for getting hurt for her in getting more evidence.

[pampanope]

Hello, how are you doing? I’ve come with more questions >:3

1. Since cannonly Graves’ died in MW2, how is he alive? Did some cute girl/boy/enby necromance him or something? Or was it something more reasonable and realistic. Hell, was he even in the area when he was supposedly killed.

2. Is MW3 cannon in the ShadowDadlderverse? I hear it’s really really bad and not many or everyone considers it to be not cannon. This question goes hand in hand with the former

3. How did Graves’ feel when he realized that his dad wasn’t a hero? Did his finding out happen to coincide with Bell? Or is Graves still blind to what Addler did to Bell?

4. Since the Shadows are notably close in their verse, they most likely have game night. What games and movies do they play while together? What games and movies are banned?

5. Since I cannot go five questions without asking about fantasy and dnd, what would Graves character sheet look like? Class, race, backstory, spells, weapons, etc.

6. why is last name Graves? Is it his mother’s last name? Does like 7-11 call him Phillip A. Grave when pissed or something?(i definitely need to dig into the gas station man)

7. What is relationship with Laswell? And maybe if you’re feeling extra extra dangerous, maybe say what you picture Laswell’s wife to look like.

8. Also how old do you think Graves is? He can easily be seen as like 25-41. Or how old you think he is in your Au?

I know I am definitely asking some pretty deepish questions when it comes to your Au, but I like to learn. I especially like to learn about characters. And since your interpretation of Graves’ is currently scratching the itch I am internally inclined to ask these questions.

Stay safe!

Okaay here i gooo

1. I rly believe that tank was an unmanned vehicle that Graves controlled remotely while Soap ran around frantically XD hurling insults and a Shadow thumping him on the shoulder when he got carried away.

2. The only canon a peel off of mw3 and slap onto the Shadowdadler verse is that Makky is at large and Graves flew off into the sunset|

3. It depends on how he found out. If Graves knew what his father did at an early age, it’s be less of a shock. If Adler was honest about why a masked man was lurking somewhere nearby, told his son that he hurt one person for the sake of millions, it’d be better than if he tried to hide his actions. It wouldn’t surprise me if adult Graves grew to have a similar mentality as his father.

4. Game night’s full of multiplayer games (snash bros, mario party, MvC, etc). There’s a DnD session off to a corner. Ruined jenga towers litter the floor. A circle if Shadows play charades. Monopoly is DEFINITELY banned, too many fights break out. Any high shakes gambling on card games is also prohibited (there Shadows who are talented at card counting and sleight of hand). Any and all genres of movies are watches, with the exception of the Star Wars sequels. Those are unanimously banned.

5. I’d die if Graves was still the leader of a mercenary group but classed as a bard XD high charisma definitely. Still human. Idk enough about DnD as a whole to say what spells he’s gonna use but I like ghe idea of him boosting his part members that do the fighting

6. Ok so in one of my Dadler comics, Adler fights off and kills enemy agents that wanna target him and lil Phillip. He buries them in their backyard. Phillip learns one day that there are dead bodies there. Learns that they had to die for him to keep living. He’s looking at graves. The memory would stick with him. Lol 7-11 calls Graves Sir when the commanders being stubborn ir reckless 🤣 (funny, the Lt. can be just as stubborn and reckless)

7. Oh! I like her and the role she plays. I liked the sneaky sneaky part she had~ Her wife? I picture her a bit taller than Laswell. She’d be a brunette, soft featured, a bit tanned, down to earth and honest about her thoughts and feelings, something Laswell appreciates as someone used to subterfuge.

8. I got Graves at a solid 40. A tiny bit seasoned to be out in the field, but still young enough to be effective. He ages gracefully 🥰 hehehe

[princess-of-the-corner]

Was musing on how the identity reveals in Duchess and M-Trio would look from an outsider perspective.

Like with the latter, it may not be noticed too much. Some observers note the team seems a little awkward. Maybe they are seen bickering in an Akuma battle a bit more than usual. But mostly people just figure its some growing pains stuff and will pass.

My rationale here being that despite Nino's history with Chloe & deeming her a brat he did still have her as part of group stuff he was in charge of. Meanwhile Alya may dislike her but she lacks any significant history with her beyond "Is a dick to my friend."

So a lot of it is more like "OK fine, she's not a bad bee but why was she picked?" & generally trying to get used to the idea.

Duchess & Ladybug however, that is much more obvious.

Cos as @generalluxun said both Chloe & Marinette tend to yeet affection at their loved one's when they do get physical. & with less 'serious' flirting and both being girls I could easily see them being quite affectionate with each other.

Then it suddenly just stopping.

Suddenly they are always quite far apart Suddenly Duchess is a lot less cocky and chatty & Ladybug is even more all business. Suddenly Duchess is a lot ore risk tasking and self destructive in battles & even more inclined to fawn though be it at a distance on her partner & do as she's told. Possibly to the point where it risks getting her really hurt & leads to a sort of:

"Isn't this what you want?"

"Just because- Just... Stop getting yourself hurt over this!"

Most people think Duchess chose to shoot her shot and got rejected. Or that there was some big dramatic unseen confrontation with a villain and someone had to make a call and its damaged the partnership.

Oh yeah no like

In M-Trio, there's a combination of like. Nino doesn't particularly /like/ Chloé, but they've rarely had direct beef and he's more chill and (unlike Mari) he is very aware that parents can be shitty and kids will act out because of it. So his reaction to Chloé being Queen Bee is pretty easy for him to roll with.

Alya has a slightly trickier time with it because she's very ride or die with Mari and was already projecting her own experiences with other bully types on Chloé. But she's also equally ride or die with Queen Bee and while it takes her a minute to really connect the two and connect like. She'll look at something 'Chloé' says that usually would be taken as insult because oh she's just a mean bully but actively shift her perspective to think of 'Queen Bee' saying it and realizing that a solid chunk of Chloé's words are just her being bad with people and not really knowing how things should work(granted she's also often trying to be mean, but there's plenty where she's just. Stating something. Or trying to express her dislike/displeasure. And it comes out so wrong that people get offended.) So yeah it trips her up but it takes a minute.

Meanwhile in Duchess Noire:

Mari's whole black and white mentality gets absolutely shattered with a fucking cannon. Because 'Chloé' is 'bad' but 'Duchess' is 'good' and she surely can't be both 'good' and 'bad'...... right?

And it takes. It takes a lot of unpacking. And for her hearing C/DN say something she's always imagining the other and how she'd interpret them saying it and it's driving her goddamn nuts because no that's that's not right something has to be going on here one of these has to be fake.

On the flipside, Chloé completely click that Mari and LB are the same person. But now she's just like 'god you're so fucking perfect and I'm afraid of rejection let's do whatever to please you and make you like me!'

[iamnmbr3]

❤️🧡💛

If you had to remove one major character from the series, who would you choose? What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with? What is a popular ship you just can't get behind, and why?

1)

Oooh! Not sure! I think if Ron didn't come back or died in book 7 it could've been really interesting and would make for fodder for a nice AU. I also felt like Ginny's characterization changed a lot in book 6. I liked how she was written much better in book 5. So I wish book 5 Ginny could've been in book 6 and 7 lol. But yeah for real in general I think the characters in the series are overall interesting and dynamic and I like them and the narrative potential they have, even if I feel JKR doesn't always allow them to live up to that potential so there aren't really characters that I'd want to excise, even if there are definitely writing decisions I'd like to remove.

2)

I personally hate the theory that Regulus was forced into becoming a death eater. He literally had a little Voldemort mood board in his room. And he joined up when Voldemort was active and being pretty clear about what he stood for. Plus he seems to have liked his family - he painstakingly hand painted the Black family crest in his room. And we know from Kreacher that he very excitedly and enthusiastically talked about how wizards were going to rule over all the Muggles etc. Which isn't surprising given the family he grew up in. Acting like he was a soft uwu baby who never made any bad decisions and was forced into everything robs the character of agency and makes him far more shallow and less nuanced than he is. Which is such a shame. Because Regulus is fascinating. Let characters make mistakes and suffer the consequences. Let characters be flawed. Let characters be hypocritical and complex and interesting!

Something else that I don't feel as strongly about but am a bit iffy on is the idea that Harry literally became the Master of Death in the end of the series. Look, I've read some great and compelling meta on Master of Death Harry and I've also seen some fics that do it well. But generally speaking, it's not an interpretation I enjoy. I tend to prefer the idea of the Hallows as very powerful magical objects with a lot of mythology around them. (And possibly some connection to the Veil in the Death Chamber which may be what the "bridge" between life and death in the story is based on).

In general though I'm not thrilled with like the idea of them actually being three things that if united literally give the user power over life and death. To me that feels just a bit op to the point of being underwhelming (yes I understand I am saying this about the series with a magic luck potion and time turners). It's just narratively kind of uninteresting and unsatisfying to me and it feels way too abrupt to introduce it so late in the series since it fundamentally changes the world building, feel of the story and style of magic we see in the series. And it's just...usually not that cool to me. Plus, I don't think it's even really especially supported by the cannon. I think JKR's intent was to leave it ambiguous or even to hint that there is no such thing as a true Master of Death, and in this case I think she did a decent job of executing on that intent. That's just my read though.

3)

This is hard for me to answer because I'm very much of a ship and let ship mindset even when I don't personally back something. One ship that I haven't yet found content for that I enjoy is dramione. I've nothing against it, but I feel like a lot of dramione fic tends to reduce Hermione to a Mary Sue and get rid of all her complexity and flaws and rough edges, which is a shame. I feel the same about a lot of tomione fics too, which is also a shame because Hermione has a bit of a ruthless streak that could be very interesting to explore in that context if done right. Maybe I just haven't found the right fics tho. Also in canon, Lupin/Tonks. Just what? It always felt like it came out of nowhere to me and didn't feel like it had enough buildup to make sense. It always felt very weird and random and jarring to me.

[paintedvanilla]

hey!! i would love to hear some of your head cannons for your ‘every man you’re every been’ fic because i am literally obsessed with their dynamic as a domestic couple who still struggle to express their emotions still.

i love you writing so much btw, you are fuelling my fight club obsession in the best way possible!!

Punching the air thank you SO MUCH for asking I am OBSESSED with their dynamic in this au

Me and manar were literally talking about this last night about the balance of domestication between the two of them, and we agreed that like. Tyler absolutely undomesticated the narrator in a sense, but the narrator also has a little bit of a counter balance effect on Tyler? He domesticates him slightly. They eventually reach an equilibrium. And maybe one day they’ll even get a bed frame who knows. Probably not.

Anyway this is corny of me but I took the love languages test for both of them and the results were actually very fascinating. Gift giving didn’t place for either of them so I’m completely ignoring it here. Both of them scored physical touch as their second place and quality time as their third place, but interestingly their first and last places were flipped. The narrator has words of affirmation as his first place, Tyler has it as his last. Tyler has acts of service as his first place, the narrator has it as his last.

I think this affects their dynamic very much as seen in “every man you’ve ever been” when Tyler says I love you to the narrator for the first time after they’ve been together for seven years. Which is an absurd amount of time to wait to say such a thing. But the thing is from Tyler’s perspective that’s not the first time he’s said it. Every little thing he does for the narrator is meant to be a declaration of love. But the narrator doesn’t necessarily interpret them like this because Tyler has never laid a foundation for what he’s trying to communicate with his actions. He just does things and expects the narrator to understand what they mean. He thinks it should be unspoken. And the narrator cannot function like that. The narrator doubts himself and the way Tyler perceives him constantly, and Tyler’s unwillingness to communicate how he’s feeling Does Not help. I think this causes a lot of issues in their relationship. They’ll figure it out eventually but it is a touchy subject for both of them.

Additionally how they met and get together in this au is something I’ve kind of referenced but I really want to eventually write a full on fic for. The way I’m writing it, Tyler and the narrator briefly meet on a nude beach in florida, Tyler immediately becomes obsessed with him and follows him home, stalks him for 18 months and then blows up his condo. The plot proceeds as it does in the movie, the narrator calls him after meeting him on the plane, they get a drink, they fight, they both really enjoy the fight (it awakens many things in both of them), they go back to the paper street house, the narrator starts living there, the encounter with Marla takes place, she and Tyler start sleeping together, the narrator wants to kill himself, yadda yadda yadda

Throughout all this tho the narrator is dealing with a whole identity crisis because prior to meeting Tyler the narrator had noooo idea he was into men. Like it never once occurred to him. He just thought he had the worlds lowest sex drive and was coincidentally not attracted to any woman he had ever laid eyes on. Then he meets Tyler and he’s already like Jesus Christ why does he look like that and why does it make me feel things. And then they have their little fist fight and oohhhhh god does it awaken things in the narrator. He thinks of little else. He’s agonizing and obsessing over this man and unaware that Tyler is just as obsessed with him.

Anyway, Tyler won’t make a move because he can tell the narrator is so incredibly repressed and is actively fighting against any impulse to do something about how he feels, so he waits until the narrator fucking snaps and then the two of them are all over each other, literally inseparable. Tyler tells the narrator about the whole stalking situation and the narrator is a little freak who thinks that’s the hottest thing he’s ever heard in his life, like, genuinely gets way too excited about it. And now the two of them are practically sewn together and cannot be pried apart. Bonded pair do not separate.

Other miscellaneous headcanons:

the narrator cannot swim

Tyler kisses the little mole on the narrators chin

the two of them have never and will never utter the word “cuddle” it’s always “laying down”

Tyler is the fucking miracle cure for the narrators insomnia. When they’re in bed together, the narrator can sleep. When they fight, Tyler uses this against him and will purposefully make sure he can’t sleep for days at a time.

The narrator cannot remember dates for the fucking life of him. He’s great at math, can calculate tip and tax in his head, has a fuck ton of formulas memorized for work, but cannot remember dates

He also frequently loses track of what day it is. He never knows the date.

By the time Tyler and the narrator have been together 7 years the narrator has only remembered two of his birthdays within that time. The others passed without him noticing. He has to do math with the year he was born to remember how old he is.

Tyler on the other hand remembers all dates, always, the instant he’s been told them. He always remembers the narrators birthday, their anniversary, and Valentine’s Day, among other important dates in his head

The narrator still has to sing the months of the year song they teach to you in kindergarten in his head to remember the order of the months

The narrator is autistic. I am an autistic narrator truther. He does not know this about himself nor will he ever know this about himself. He just thinks he’s a little quirky

The narrator is scared of driving and being a passenger in cars. He has his license but never wants to drive

The narrator wishes he’d studied something like English literature in college instead of finance

Tyler learned how to make soap from his mom

Tyler makes the narrator come to work with him at the theater sometimes because he cannot stand being apart from that man

That’s all I can think of at the moment I hope this suffices. Thank you for your kind words I’m going to explode. <333

[darkysilverwing]

I find it hard to believe that it’s the freedom ending. If Chaz’s words are to be(e) believed, then every core pulled out is a person killed. From there it’d be hard to go to VVR2, since Butter’s headsets show people like Elon still alive. There’s two ways to merge, either through accepting Chaz’s offer and losing the fight. I’d feel it’s likely to be the former, since both the aforementioned people still living, and I don’t think the employees of Activitude would be particularly happy about working with someone who killed their peers. There’s also the fact that the freedom ending was also called the murder ending in either the alpha or beta, though it may not matter since it didn’t make it to the finished game.

I’m pretty sure it’s said somewhere that Eliza was brought over to Scottsdale? Like Hernandez, although I forget where it’s said. I guess that means she’s dead, with the whole deletion.

I personally don’t agree with the whole coin flip SOMA thing. The Board made copies of the citizens before the shutdown, which would mean that the originals experience the shutdown while the copies would only have the memories up until around the announcement. I also feel if it was like that, there’d be less panic, and despair and more hints to such. There’s also confirmation of a soul of sorts, with Gavin’s body and all. As for Bee, that may just be because Bee is inhabiting an avatar, kind of like with all of those Chaz in the ping pong(?) room. It would also kind of make Marty’s whole speech somewhat invalid, which I don’t think the game would make.

Also, fun fact! Cryogenic freezing would destroy your body just as much as the other choices. It would destroy your cells, as the water inside you would freeze and expand. Of course, we don’t know what other advancements the world in VVR has made, but since all other options seem like a final goodbye to the body, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the same.

I enjoy talking about vvr with you, so I hope this doesn’t come of as negatively argumentative.

I'm sensing no negative arguments here lol ^^ but I can break down some of these arguments.

Like if you start removing cores chaz starts sounding quite desperate to have you merge, now this might be because merging will stop you from destroying everything but at the same time if you merge with every core but one removed or you don't remove any core and just let him merge you at the start all the same characters are there and bee is still allowed to do work, which makes me think that death might not be the same in virtual space and they're fine working with a murderer after maybe a few tweaks to some base programming.

I mean in either ending we basically murder Hernandez but in vvr2 he's up and kicking, so it's possible that as long as chaz is online there's ways to bring them back. A bit of temporary murder. As for the reset ending I do find it difficult to determine if it could be cannon to the second game. There might be ways to frame that narrative but the more I look at it the more unlikely it seems.

I do think bee deserves a little murder though, as a treat.

As for the soma thing, in soma the humans kinda decided that the humans in the machine were no less them than they were, and thus it was kinda like a coin flip, heads they'd be in the machine, tails they'd still be outside. Then the humans would "Rig the coin flip" by entering the machine, having their minds copied over, and then as soon as the copying was finished they'd kill themselves in a weird philosophical mentality of maintaining continuity. However this is just a philosophical standpoint, one I'm sure the AI would have been on board with if deletion were instantaneous and not a slow, drawn out apocalypse.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by the revelation of a soul via gavin's body? And the bee interpretation seems a bit weird, like bee's inhabiting an avatar, which then gets destroyed and then they just... rubber band into chaz once they're no longer bound inside of that avatar? I mean you could possibly make an argument for that but the tone shift made it feel a bit more serious from my perspective.

And as for Marty's little speech about them being upset because the humans trusted them and now they're being murdered, it could all be a bit of digital philosophy that also comes with the idea of copying an individual. I mean the original and the copy are no less real from eachother, both feel real to themselves, and so murdering one or the other is still a terrible thing to do even if there is a backup. Kinda like murdering a twin I guess.

Now onto Cryogenic freezing, when you pick that option the techs actually tell you that the particular option chosen is actually unavailable because no one ever comes back, which implies that there's the option to come back but since everyone chooses cryogenics "Just in case" they've probably got way too many bodies. So I think Cryogenics are a viable option in this universe.

An few equally fun facts about cryogenics though are the facts that there's a type of frog that can secrete a chemical that freezes the frog very slowly and instead of developing sharp ice crystals the frog produces more rounded ice crystals, which allow it to stay frozen 8 months out of the year. Research is being done to see if this process can be applied to humans but may take several years of testing and tweaking.

Also, it's sometimes suggested that one of the first ever microwaves were designed to help thaw out cryogenically frozen hamsters, because the previous method of warming them up with red hot spoons did work, but it also caused serious burns. The hamsters could survive having up to 60% of the water in their body freezing and still come out basically unharmed. This is why I sometimes fantasize about colony ships where humans are sent out in space to explore the cosmos, but instead of humans the people on the mission just transfer their minds into that of hamsters and we get little intergalactic hamster astronauts.

[yellingatthescreen]

Yeah! And I would really love to have someone acknowledge that verbally, explicitly, in cannon. Would love to see another character tell him something like “yeah, we tease you about being dumb or whatever, but we don’t ACTUALLY think you’re dumb.” Or maybe they say something casual in passing, like “oh you should ask Buck about that; he’s really smart about that kind of thing” and Buck looks like he’s going to cry because he never gets those kind of compliments.

Like….okay, and maybe this is the undiagnosed ADHD part of me that relates to his character a little too hard—but I just really want see someone genuinely appreciate the way that his brain works, and think he’s smart, and even wise. Even when he makes mistakes or comes to the wrong conclusion—they see where he was coming from and how he got there and why it made sense to him.

I think the closest we’ve gotten to that is with Eddie—but I’m gonna need him to stop teasing Buck so often about sounding dumb and start telling him (in a very clear manner) how much he appreciates Buck’s mind and the way it works.

Also (and boy, is this turning into a longer post than I intended), I think that’s partly why he got so caught up in Natalia (for a hot second.) Because she sat there and asked him questions and listened to his answers like they were important, like they meant something. She looked at him like he had something smart and interesting to say, and that’s not something he gets a whole lot of. Later, he’d realize her interest was more about the subject matter and less about him and his interpretation of his experiences—but for a little while, it made him feel really good.

So that’s what I would love to see for him—especially in a romantic partner, but not exclusively. As for Tommy (Tommy stans don’t hate me! I like his character, and I think he’s the best love interest we’ve seen for Buck thus far), he likes Buck a lot, but I don’t think he necessarily sees Buck as someone particularly mature, or wise, or intelligent. He thinks he sweet, and adorable, and he’s seen him be brave and loyal, so he understands and appreciates how big Buck’s heart is. And that’s a big part of who Buck is, and some of his very best qualities, for sure. But it’s not all of who he is.

And I think that to be appreciated for the parts of himself that don’t often get acknowledged, much less appreciated—to be really SEEN in that way—would be oh-so satisfying to watch. And to, you know, cathartically experience secondhand via a character I relate to, lol

just here to reiterate that Buck isn't dumb btw like... he isn't stupid or "not the sharpest tool in the shed" or anything along those lines... he can be silly and he tends to let his mouth run away from him, but he is actually, pretty smart. both lexically and logical-thinking-wise; as he has proved many times on and off the job. just feels like it bears repeating.

[generalwildcat]

Queer Headcannons

Since discovering the story behind the epic gift that is Bet On It, my friend and i have been going back and forth with some queer HSM headcannons. Just a few, nothing intricate or anything like that.... 👀

Friend's Headcannons:

Troy should have been bi. His story is a really good metaphor for being in the closet. Especially as someone who felt pressure to do sports and be this popular masculine guy.

Imagine how funny it would be if Troy was giving Ryan way more attention than Sharpay and how annoyed she'd be, but then when she found out about them she'd be the biggest supporter.

It would make more sense for Sharpay to realize she had feelings for Gabriella all along. Taylor would probably figure out Gabriella is queer before Gabriella does so when Gabriella finally comes out Taylor would be all "well finally!"

Kelsi is the quiet ace in the corner who low key knows everything. She's too cool to be cishet.

Chad is the clueless cishet guy who's surprised to learn anyone is gay but is cool with it. AKA the token straight guy. BUT he could also be bicurious or is not typically attracted to men so when it happens it's really confusing for him.

Zeke doesn't care, he just uses peoples' coming outs as an excuse to bake more.

Darbus is the safe space and is the teacher who supervises the Gay Straight Alliance Club.

Mrs. Montez is the ally parent who wears pride buttons and pins to PTA meetings.

Coach Bolton is the person everyone is afraid to come out to and he doesn't totally get it but will end up giving a sappy speech about unconditional love.

Stick to the Status Quo is a whole coming out scene, which leads to gay interpretations of every other song.

Start of Something New is realizing you're queer.

Getcha Head in the Game is trying to ignore your queerness.

What I've Been Looking for is accepting that you're obviously queer.

Bop to the Top is gay activism and a joke about being a top.

Breaking Free is literally coming out.

My Headcannons:

If HSMTMTS is considered cannon and Troy and Gabriella really are in marriage counseling could that be because he was secretly bi this whole time?

OR, if the marriage counseling is cannon then what if Troy and Gabriella are still having issues and Troy's in a funk because Gabriella's all he knows and he desperately wants everything to work out? So he ends up going so far as to ask the Evanseses if they can use Lava Springs for an anniversary/vow renewal thing cause maybe that can help, which they do and for a while things seem pretty good. Meanwhile Gabriella has been getting closer to Sharpay through all this and texting and talking to her about stuff and feels comfortable confiding in her. Which maybe leads to something?

And if it does lead to something, imagine how Ryan feels about Sharpay not talking to him about questioning her sexuality especially when he kinda did that/was in denial for years.

Wait, what if Troy was actually the straight one the entire time and suddenly everyone comes out as queer and he has no idea what he missed? (My friend's response to this was Troy would be so clueless to a guy hitting on him, he'd just think they were good friends and his friend was being so supportive and thoughtful to him and it wouldn't be until someone said something that Troy realized his guy friend was hitting on him all along.)

Chad is bi and in a straight-presenting relationship with Taylor. What might've happened is that Chad and Taylor broke up at the end of HSM3 but remained friends through college, which was when Chad got close to another guy and confided in Ryan and eventually Taylor. They help him work through his feelings and realize he's bi. He tries dating the guy but the guy gets jealous of Chad's close relationship with Taylor which results in their breakup and eventually Chad and Taylor do get back together. Except Chad never tells anyone else because he realizes he gave Troy so much flack in high school for wanting to do music instead of basketball and not only does he not wanna go through that himself, but he also wants to do a better job at accepting people for who they are and he does.

Kelsi and Ryan remain good friends after high school and end up being each others' realizations/acceptance that they're both queer. Kelsi ends up becoming an honorary aunt to Ryan and his husband's future twins and, who knows, maybe she also ends up being their surrogate.

What Time Is It is getting a vacation from acting straight/straight-presenting and having the actual freedom to be queer.

All For One is the coming together of everyone queer in support of each other without worrying about TERFs or gatekeeping.

We were totally not coming up with an HSM AU where everyone and everything is gay and i absolutely did not start sharing my gay headcannons for their future kids that i'm always thinking about but never gonna actually write....