#but i also do like the canon end of them both dying bc if i'm honest..... don't think.... she'd do well... w/o him if he died and she lived

[ivysangel]

…vampire!jason thoughts… you must provide them im desperate…. -🐞

(ik you probably expected #real smut, honestly i did too but this ended up turning into a whole bunch of lore/headcanons/whatever tf. i'm so sorry bae cw: talks of consuming blood)

you ask, you shall receive. i've been thinking about jason and dick as vampires in relation to each other, so this'll be a post about both of them just for the sake of comparisons. also, in my mind, this au takes place during the 19th century because i've conflated vampirism with the victorian era, and it's also no capes in regards to vigilantism bc vampires do love a good cape.

in this victorian era, vampire au dick would be either a nobleman or straight up royalty. he's got status, money, and a pretty face, and he uses them all to his advantage when it comes to feeding. you know in the originals or itwtv when they host an event that's actually a cover for them finding their next meal? yeah, he does that. he flirts with all of the ladies, plays into his charms, and sweeps women off their feet. and at the end of the night (sometimes even mid-ball), he coaxes them upstairs and ravishes them, sometimes in more ways than one.

i think for dick feeding is something he can have fun with, knowing that he holds such a high ranking in society that when bodies of people he's been seen with show up around town, people turn a blind eye. and even when someone does try to investigate, the wayne family checking account talks enough to shut down anything beyond a questioning.

in many pieces of media surrounding vampires, there are people who know about vampires and choose to feed them their blood. there's a bunch of lore that explores the idea that a vampire bite is almost orgasmic and kind of addictive, which is why some people are more than willing to put themselves in harm's way by either being employed by vampires or by straight up just throwing themselves into a vampires line of sight with open wounds.

with that being said, i think dick grayson likes the chase. i think that even if his father (bruce, who is also a vampire in this au because vampire families are just superior) has people on his payroll to provide blood for them, he's going to go out on his own to flirt a bit, get laid, and then have his fill.

which brings me to my next point; while feeding, like sex, is an intimate act, it's far from necessary for dick to need an emotional connection with a person he feeds off of or even a physical one. sex and feeding are related but not totally synonymous, and if he needs to just feed or just get his rocks off, he can. is it preferred? maybe not. i believe he does like the mess that comes with doing both at the same time.

ok so for jason, ugh so obsessed with him as a vampire because i think it's so in line with his canon story. in a lot of vampire lore, to become a vampire, you have to consume the blood of a vampire and either die or be on the brink of death, which is just so. it's so jason dying and being revived by the lazarus pit coded. and even the way he inevitable that he will spill blood post-revival in both this vampire au and his canon storyline…it's almost prophetic.

anyway, jason's approach to vampirism is quite different. i think he struggles with it no matter how long he's been one. he can't fully grasp that he's immortal; he looks in the mirror and sees that he hasn't aged a day and he feels sick. being a vampire for him feels like a curse and he only continues living because he's scared to die (again).

he doesn't stay anywhere too long, typically hopping from town to town in the middle of the night when less people are around. he believes himself to be out of place amongst normal people and he's paranoid that people can smell the iron on his breath when he talks to them so he makes it a point to have minimal interaction with people.

it's crippling, he drives himself mad with the solitude, but i feel like another reason why he continues to stay alive is to spite his creator, whoever that may be. he's most definitely got an agenda, in true jason fashion. i just don't know what it is yet.

he feeds only when he needs to but tries not to let the hunger get too intense because i do feel like when he loses control, he's the stefan salvitore type. a ripper. but he's pretty good about it and is almost polite when he's feeding? like he finds a victim and says i'm sorry before just absolutely tearing into their jugular.

i just really think he grapples with his own mortality, or lack thereof, and how it exists at the expense of others. so he is genuinely ashamed of who he is and what he's become. so, while blood drinking is something he needs to survive, it holds a lot of weight for him, which is why i think drinking blood and sex are pretty equal for him when it comes to intimacy level.

that brings me to my MAIN point (which isn't really a main point because it's being reduced to a small paragraph at the end of this post), all of that was background for this, eek. the act of drinking blood during sex is so. big. for him, it's eye-opening, life-changing. the amount of trust required on both ends for this to happen…at that point, it's basically end game for you two. and it's so funny because that's just a normal tuesday for dick.

anyway, i do have more thoughts and more lore, but this got really long, so i'll cut it off here

[necrotic-nephilim]

Roytim is such a fun crack rarepair for me! Dick’s best friend sleeping with/dating Dick’s baby brother Timmy is 10/10 drama on a more personal note than I’d picture it with Jason. Absolutely no shade I just have always read Dick as being more protective of Tim and Damian.

Do you have any Roytim headcanons to share? <3

oh i LOVE RoyTim on it's own! likely bc i'm just a Tim multishipper and if it fits i ship, but Roy is especially fun via the Dick connection. and i 1000% agree, *especially* pre-Flashpoint, would even argue it's outright canon that Dick is far more protective of Tim and Damian than he ever was with Jason (not out of dislike, but simply bc Dick and Jason were never all that close and the tragedy of losing Jason was losing what could've been, not what he already had) and especially with Jason as Red Hood, Dick holds no particular protective brotherly feelings toward him. it's all Tim and Damian. so you're so right, the drama of RoyTim is just a smidge more upped than of JayRoy and i'd love to share headcanons-

i think it makes for a fun "crush on your older brother's friend" situation. where like. Tim knows it's unrealistic and he has no *actual* intentions to chase it when he's just 15/16 and Roy and Dick are in their twenties, often hanging out around Tim. and Roy is handsome, he's funny, he's similar in personality to ppl Tim has dated (Steph, Kon) so, it's a crush. one that he hides *well* and never makes it Dick or Roy's problem, and one Tim never expects to pan out. he just fantasizes about Roy a little bit and mostly grows out of it by the time he's an adult.

i think more fics need Lian, so i like the idea of them co-parenting Lian. especially if they're both. sort of bad at it. like Roy loves her and he's trying, but he's doing this basically alone and it's not like he has experience. Tim also has no experience. neither of them know what on earth to do. it's a very cute idea that just relies on the two of them being terrible at parenting and Roy getting so mad that the first time Lian says "dada" she says it to Tim that he considers breaking up for a good five minutes.

how they get together can happen in a lot of ways, but i'm interested in the idea of Dick asking Roy to talk to Tim during Tim's Red Robin arc. Roy has experience helping kids through his work helping young addicts and nothing else has worked, so he offers to at least try with Tim. and Roy, who also doesn't handle grief well, understands at least some of what Tim is going through. especially since Roy dealt with Oliver dying and then suddenly coming back, he's at least open to the idea Bruce could be alive. he's just around to try and help Tim keep some emotional stability, but it ends up with Roy helping with the search and somehow, falling for Tim along the way

they go to sitcom levels of chaos trying to keep the relationship hidden from Dick. they *both* know Dick is far too protective of Tim to react well to it. but also, i think Roy would get *just* a bit of an ego about sleeping with Tim under Dick's nose. he makes a point of strutting around when Dick invites him over, finding reasons to be shirtless just to make Tim squirm a little bit. it's that sort of kink where you're excited about the risk of being caught. that fits these two so well and i can't explain it.

because Roy is used to mentoring younger heroes, i think he would have a bigger than normal moral panic about dating Tim. he fights his feelings for a *while*, to the point Tim can tell Roy is fighting his feelings and he's trying to convince Roy he's fine with this. Tim telling Roy about his childhood crush does not help. it makes Roy feel *worse*. it makes them take things very slowly, and i could see Roy being the type to never fully touch Tim until Tim is 18, no matter how much Tim insists it's okay.

i do think they have unhinged sex when they actually get into it though. no matter how sure Roy is that he'll be gentle the first time, the minute he gets his hands on Tim, it is feral. there is blood and foul dirty talk and Tim cannot walk the next day. i think Roy makes for a very mean dom, the type who will make fun of you for being a mess in bed. he just has those vibes, and it works great for getting Tim to just. turn his brain off.

i think Roy, who's struggled with picking hero names before, would be someone to try to force Tim to let go of Red Robin once the whole Bruce thing is over. it's not Tim's name and Tim doesn't need to keep punishing himself with it. Roy is nice about it at first, but then i do think he threatens to set that damn suit on fire if Tim keeps wearing it and doesn't come up with a new hero name. and the worst part is, Tim does know he's serious.

when Dick does find out, chaos. an absolute shitshow. when Roy tells him, Dick punches Roy in the face before he even finishes explaining himself. it's a pure gut reaction. even Bruce isn't as protective over Tim as Dick is. it takes a *lot* of convincing from Tim that it's okay and he wanted this before Dick calms down, and he still doesn't talk to Roy for like a month until the rest of the Titans are forced to hold an intervention reminding Dick of his own dating history with age gaps, like Babs. Dick does cool down, but he is not afraid to stoop to "you're fucking my brother" in an argument bc he wins everytime when he brings it up.

i think Tim is the protective partner. everyone *expects* it to be Roy, he's older and more experienced, but it's Tim who will absolutely lose it if someone threatens Roy's or Lian's life. like not fanonish "committing murder" Tim, but more so canonish "i have a contingency plan for everything" Tim. Roy has had to hold him back a couple times. honestly i think the moral conversations Roy and Tim have are so interesting. because Roy will cross the line for those he loves, so bc of that, Tim is careful to make sure Roy is never in a position where he has to protect Tim bc he knows it would turn lethal quickly. it's a very "i know what you're capable of and you don't scare me but i won't let you become a worse version of yourself bc of me" sort of self preservation vibe. i think it'd be very neat. Tim fights like hell when he's close to death bc his thought is always "i refuse to let Roy feel like he has to avenge me" which i find very crunchy.

[loudmound]

hi. welcome to my mary shepherd-sunderland post.

what will follow is who i think she is as a character, what she means to the narrative of sh2, and why people should think and talk about her more bcs me and the 4 other mary fans are dying out here.

DISCLAIMER BEFORE WE BEGIN: a lot of this post will be enmeshed with interpretation and headcanon that draws from me analyzing the text of sh2. this is My Post about mary. stormy mary post. please understand this.

the foundation of mary's character is an exceptionally strong one, and for someone like me, i enjoy making inferences about her person before the illness, during the illness, and near the end. the personality she has in sh2 is flexible enough to allow what i imagine her to have been like in my mind's eye.

i do not want this post to be read as the Definitive Canonical Interpretation of mary. i am just doing my best to inform my analysis of mary with the text as well as building from that set foundation given to us as the audience.

with that out of the way, please enjoy.

PART ONE: MARY AS A CONCEPT

what exists of mary is filtered through the lens of memory before the cumulative letter in the respective endings we receive it. throughout sh2, her status and state of being is re-contextualized as her husband moves closer and closer to the truth of the matter. she is an individual wrapped in idealistic fantasy that is slowly and surely stripped away the longer the game goes along, and the more we actualize her as the person she once was.

this element of conceptualization and fantasy is a through-line in sh2's narrative. mary is everywhere james looks in his version of the town. she's in the rot and rust on the walls, she's in the monsters he fights and runs from, she's in the places he goes, her face and voice is maria's, and she even has some of her memories and personality traits. it is truly understated how much mary just... IS in sh2, in spite of her not being physically present.

there's also this dichotomy i've been thinking about in the inability for mary and james to exist outside of one another, thematically speaking. for fundamentally being two different people, they are inextricably tied to one another in a really unfortunate and tragic way. james grafts himself to mary's memory before her sickness and slowly begins to resent the woman she's become out of anything but her own volition, and mary grafts herself to james because... she has to.

she's sick, she's dying, she's largely bedridden and in constant pain. she cannot rely on herself anymore; she has to rely on the people around her to take care of her, and when she inevitably goes home to live out whatever time she has left... it's james she has to rely on. and while i think james finds immense comfort and pleasure in living in the past they had while refuting the present, mary is thoroughly imbedded in the present and resents the past by means of something that she can no longer have. neither of them can, but i've always interpreted mary to be a very pragmatic and proactive individual.

she discusses in her letter how pathetic and ugly she feels, how she waits in her cocoon of pain and loneliness that's been grafted onto her unwillingly while she waits for james to visit her, and it's clear to me that she is the kind of individual that puts so much emphasis on being a useful and beautiful woman. that is what gives her worth as a human being within the society in which she lives (late 80s usa in my opinion). canonically, she is a housewife, and while that certainly coheres, i'm of the belief that she was a woman who worked outside the home as well, but also someone who did not do enough unpacking to really get away from gendered roles expected of her.

i really do believe that she feels she failed james spectacularly as a partner, but also as a wife; therein, as a person in his life. both of them dealt with their own baggage regarding gendered expectations, but mary in particular's is incredibly potent and crushing if you actualize her as someone who, in turn, wanted to be the perfect wife to james. kind, patient, nurturing, submissive, etc.

of course, as we all know, the perfect wife/woman/whatever you want it to be, is an unattainable concept, because how can anybody human like mary exist within such ridiculous, reductive parameters?

PART TWO: MARY AS A PERSON

so, in that case, who was mary, then? who was she, if not this idealized vision of a wife long lost?

as i've alluded to before, i envision her as a very pragmatic and proactive person; in the video tape of her, she seems very playful and outgoing, but also contemplative, appreciative, and straightforward. i've always seen her as a very different person from james in regards to how she navigates through life.

she's comparatively much more outward and readily emotional, but seems to retain a level of quiet interiority that meshes very well with james' very inward attitude. a very typical "bubbly wife and stoic husband" sort of situation on the surface, but i've always thought that mary greatly appreciated having james as an emotional anchor of sorts; somebody who can soothe the more keyed-up aspects of her personality, given how quiet and easygoing he is.

given how she mentions how angry she was all the time at the advent of learning of her incumbent death, i view her as somebody who really does not like being out of control of her own life. she has an idea of how she wants things to be and she wants them done the way she has already since chosen. (do not interrupt her routines. she will get very irritated.) she's very particular, and i think she's had to learn how not to just take the reigns from somebody else if she perceives them to be going about something "incorrectly" because this particular flaw has led to some arguments/falling-outs with loved ones in the past.

in that particular vein, holy fuck is this woman a fixer. she needs to fix everything she possibly can. the sink's busted? don't worry, she's had a lifetime of fixing shitty plumbing in her childhood home because nobody else bothered. need a couple more bucks for gas? don't worry, she always keeps a few extra dollars on her because she knows what it's like to be a few short and not have anyone else to turn to that you can trust.

you've been deeply traumatized and scarred by your adverse childhood experiences and it's left you with maladaptive and dysfunctional coping mechanisms? don't worry, she'll be there for you, in sickness and in health.

to me, mary's the kind of person that likes seeing the fruits of her labor, too. she takes great pride in being as self-sufficient at she has been, and does very much enjoy sharing that with others as much as she can. genuinely, i think she's very giving and compassionate, but jesus, when it came to james when he was struggling (before she got sick), it certainly got a bit dire. using your wife for free emotional labor is one thing, but when that wife welcomes it for a while because she has a pervasive desire to fix everything, including you? yeah.

also, of course, mary felt a pertinent obligation to doing such, being The Wife and all, but she's also a human person and got exhausted dealing with the amount of baggage her husband had, and their relationship got pretty rocky because of james' unwillingness to seek professional help (stemming from trauma with the laughable us-healthcare system) and mary's unwillingness to recant over and over again what she has in her toolbox.

which is where silent hill comes in. a belated honeymoon of sorts, mary and james take a trip to take their mind off the doom-inspiring monotony that is domestic life, and it's great!

until it isn't.

PART THREE: TERMINAL ILLNESS

so, the nature of mary's illness has never been clearly stated canonically, but we know that it gave her a persistent cough, rendered her bedbound, made her hair fall out, and made lumps grow all over her skin. i'm of the belief that she had hansen's disease, but cancer is also incredibly plausible too.

hansen's disease is one of those things that can lie dormant for years, and it can sometimes take a decade for symptoms to surface, so i don't think it was really a matter of mary catching anything from silent hill, per se. (i do think toluca lake has just the most godawful brain-eating bacteria in it but that's aside the point.) it's definitely a curable disease, but perhaps the strain mary had was a particularly severe variant. point being, however, is that this thing ruined her inside and out.

in the beginning stages, (year 1 or so) i do think she was pretty touchy, emotionally speaking. she tries to keep up appearances as much as she can and is able to, but it's clear that something has shifted for the worst. she's much more somber in the moments of quiet. her contemplative nature turns to brooding. she smiles, still, but her smiles are undoubtedly laced with a wry, bitter sadness.

she's now toiling with thoughts of dying as a way out, too. it'd be easier if they'd just kill me, she laments at one point. simultaneously at the crux of wanting freedom from one's pain in death but terrified of said death as being eternal, too.

it's something you can't ever undo.

now... i'd say a pretty controversial aspect of mary's character during this period of time is whether or not she was abusive towards james during her illness. cases have been made, it's a fairly ambiguous situation as presented in-game, but i think mary's anger that she expressed was quiet, overall. she tried to keep it quiet, at least, and when she did lash out, it was almost always in part due to her newfound level of self-loathing. when she's yelling at james in that hallway, she's yelling at herself more than she is at him.

she's no longer a person, to herself and to others around her that treat her like a dying animal than the woman that she is; the woman that she used to be. i'd be livid if i were her, too!

she also mentions in her letter that she "struck out at everyone she loved most." i have very strong reason to believe that she loved laura, and that unfortunately, she too was caught in the crossfire of mary's mood swings/outbursts. i also think that the guilt mary expresses when we're listening to the hallway conversation is genuine; i don't think her outburst and subsequent apology was a manipulation tactic to make james feel bad.

i think she's genuinely suffering. she doesn't know what to do with these compounding negative feelings. she has nowhere to put them. james comes in at a bad time and becomes the target. after the damage has been done, she realizes this and crumbles immediately. she's hurt james. she needs to do damage control however she can.

of course, none of this is to say that women can't ever be abusive/abusers and we can have conversations about the nuances of that all day, but... it's disquieting to me to see a consistent reading of a terminally ill female character's torment and anger be read as "abusive" to further exonerate the male character's deed of murdering her. like, i think we should consider that for a bit. i think we can hold that mary's behavior was not the best, but james' wasn't, either.

mary waited for him, but he never comes. he stays away, festering in his own grief, mourning her before she's even passed. i see james' aversion to seeing her in large part as a trauma response due to past abuse while growing up; when she shouts at him like that, it drags all of those ugly feelings and memories up.

it's a relationship i see as something that was mutually declining. it was something that was left to die. much like mary was, in a lot of ways.

mary was terrified that james hated her. that she disgusted him with her appearance, that he pitied her for being ill and effectively useless to him. that was something plaintively out of her control, being in the hospital. james could've ripped the bandage off and braved seeing her. he could've talked to her. he could've rekindled what was deteriorating. but he didn't.

again, mary's proactive nature of yearning for james, wanting to see him, wanting to talk to him and talk about them and what to do when the time comes. she wants to figure this out as best she can.

but james doesn't, and he still never comes.

mary poured everything left in her that she could muster in that letter. she profusely apologized for everything, for things that weren't even her fault to begin with. she told james that she loved him in that letter, because she couldn't say it to him to his face any longer. she didn't know if she would have any time left to do such.

but she does. and however long later, he kills her.

mary isn't a perfect victim, nobody that's a victim in sh2 is supposed to be. but she is still an individual that deserves compassion nonetheless, and i think the game does its due diligence in getting that across.

PART FOUR: MARIA

i think have to at least touch upon maria a bit if you're writing a post about mary. i think that's just the way it is.

maria, as we know, is a manifestation created by silent hill as a means to confront/interrogate/"punish" james by emulating mary but with very... choice character design changes.

she's clad in leopard print and a cropped red blouse. she's a dancer at heaven's night. she has bleach blonde hair with the roots peeking in. her face is all done up. she still extroverted, but far more provocative and alluring. she's a fantasy; something unattainable.

but she could be yours in whatever way you want her to be!

maria is utterly fascinating as an interrogation of james' character, but also as a reflection of mary, too. in born from a wish, she expresses her fear of pain and death, of being alone in town with no one else around, while also toiling with suicidal ideation. (sound familiar?) she seeks out companionship in whatever form it takes, and jumps on it when she does find it in ernest.

how much of mary is maria has always been up for debate and forever will be, but i think a lot of mary lives within her. the obvious, being the memories that she has of laura and the video tape left in the lakeview hotel, her hot and cold behavior with james, but also in the existential misery she feels in born from a wish. that desire to die to escape the pain of feeling alone, but also wanting to be with somebody else more than anything, and how death would undoubtedly take that away.

i also think her dyed hair isn't even hers; mary had that haircut and dye job when she first met james at that house party all those years ago.

i think maria's standing as a sentient individual is true, but in the sense that she is the combination of both mary and james' baggage made sentient. she never truly existed for herself, as her own person. she'll always have a little bit of someone else in her, someone she doesn't even really know, and that's... utterly tragic.

i think she realized this too when she points that gun to her head. but she chose james anyways out of that same desire for companionship. maybe she could be his new mary. maybe she could be better than mary. it's truly all so fuck.

PART FIVE: CONCLUSION

mary is the reason why sh2 happens for james. full stop. you cannot have sh2 without mary. there is a foundation laid for you to examine and explore. she is as infinitely fascinating as james is, if not more so. join me.

this post is sprawling and probably a bit confused at times because i wrote it on a whim, but i HOPE that i was able to get across the larger ideas of why i love mary as a character and who she could've been before her illness and death. i didn't touch upon everything i possibly could (mary and laura's relationship deserves its own post, i think), but this post is already long enough. i'll edit it in the future, undoubtedly.

thank you so much for reading all the way. listen to her final letter and cry with me.

[corallapis]

hello!! sorry, i just finished watching new who and i am DYING for more thoschei content. i know classic who has more obviously but i heard there are like also books and audio dramas and comics and infinite other stuff (?) and i was wondering if you could recommend like a list of things to stream in order to get to know more of these two idiots (affectionate) as i am a bit lost in between all the content. or if you could point out a source where i can look that up for myself, it would be great as well! thank you so much in advance <3 and sorry if this seems silly i am v new to the fandom rip

hey anon!! no need to apologize, i'm honored this ask ended up in my inbox! :) and it's not silly at all, there's a LOT of stuff out there. which is wonderful! but can def be a bit bewildering, too.

i'd definitely recommend classic who as a place to start! don't feel like you need to go in headfirst w/ s1e1 tho. just jump in wherever interests you! if you'd like a slightly more curated d/m list:

terror of the autons/the mind of evil/the claws of axos: okay, so it was almost impossible for me not to just rec “all the three & delgado eps,” so have the first three & feel free to continue on if you find yourself loving them (you will)

the keeper of traken/logopolis/castrovalva: a proper lil trilogy of stories that gives us four -> five & beevers -> ainley

survival: the final dw ep! seven & ainley 😼

for some not-really-classic but still on-screen essentials:

the tv movie: aka “the enemy within.” eight & roberts 🐍

scream of the shalka: an animated webcast that at one point rly was the canonical ninth doctor. shalka!doctor (r. e. grant) & shalka!master (jacobi. yes, again. or previously, rather.)

the curse of fatal death: a comic relief sketch written by moffat which features a het version of d/m getting together romantically (now why does that sound familiar?)

for audios, here's a couple that are both standalone & very d/m-focused:

master: seven & beevers. a great audio ft. an origin story that is probably one of the most talked abt things on tumblr, so def check this one out!!

the last line: ten & jacobi. when you're on trial, who do you call for help? your best enemy, of course

blood of the time lords: four & dreyfus. a must-include for me personally bc it has one of my fave d/m concepts ever :)

for books, once you're in the deep end all the novelizations of the classic d/m eps can have great tidbits. some original story recs:

the dark path: two & “koschei.” another origin story that gave us that name for a pre-master master, written by our d/m comrade-in-arms david mcintee

harvest of time: three & delgado working together & confronting the past w/ a lovely dose of master angst

the infinity doctors: infinity & the magistrate <3. don't let these names or its timeline placement intimidate you, just go into it with the idea that this is an au (ish) where the doctor & the master both returned to gallifrey & you'll enjoy yourself!

and finally some comics:

flashback: another origin story which i've uploaded here :)

the eleventh doctor year two: the eleventh doctor confronts the time war ft. my fave lil guy the war child master!

doctor who: missy: aka “the master plan.” missy breaks delgado out of stormcage while pretending to be a version of the doctor he hasn't met yet

hopefully these will get you started! for even more, the main resource i use when looking for d/m stuff is the theory timelines for the master & the master's incarnations on the wiki! i just poke around & click links until i find something that sounds interesting! enjoy!!! :)

[goldensunset]

i'm sure this has probably already been an ongoing discussion for years (or there's a canon answer i'm not aware of or something) but i do think it's super interesting how n and ghetsis are (presumably) not even related by blood yet they both have the same shade of green hair. like if they had been related that would make sense. if the writers had been trying to convince the audience all along that they were family only for them not being related to be a plot twist at the end that would also make sense. but we don't even learn that ghetsis raised him until close to the end and it's like at the same time we learn that he just found this kid in the woods so why bother making them look alike. i would say that maybe ghetsis like forcibly dyed this kid's hair to match his own as sort of like a marking his claim on him type of deal in order to mold him into the perfect son and king worthy of bearing the name harmonia, were it not for the fact that we see n as a kid and he already has hair that color. wild coincidence? long lost blood relatives after all? matted algae and grass bc he probably doesn't shower? who knows

[soulmatebracket]

Soulmate Bracket: Round 1 [Side A — Part III]

Provided reasoning under cut:

Eleanor Shellstrop & Chidi Anagonye

the whole entire "if soulmates do exist, they're not found. they're made" quote. they find each other in every timeline (in the afterlife, they're dead) despite being the exact opposite of the other. one of the only str8 ships that i'll love and defend with my entire being.

It's part of the plot that they are soulmates, they get the memory wiped like a thousand times and also reincarnated to Earth after dying and always keep coming back to each other <3

The constant push and pull, the opposites attract, "there is no answer; but Eleanor is the answer", they make each other's lives better and they have super freaky sex about it!!!!!!!!

They are both soulmates by name, having been labeled soulmates in the afterlife, and by the parameters set for this bracket. Across multiple lives, they meet, soulmates after their own forms of reincarnation.

They are literally referred to as soulmates in multiple contexts within the show, first deceptively in a "this system that totally definitely exists says you are perfect for eachother" and then, as the show progresses, genuinely, as in they keep finding eachother and choosing eachother again and again. It is SO beautiful, they are so perfect together fr fr T_T

​​ i love them <3 and they love each other and they find each other every time even when they forget and forget they always find each other

Kim Dokja & Yoo Joonghuyk

theyre stuck in some kind of time loop bc yjh always asks to regress and kdj always wants to save everyone so they forget every time but they still go back and they always find each other

Listen I haven't read all of the novel yet but as far as I'm aware both of them are to a degree immortal and keep dying and looking for each other in every life/timeline

they are in a timeloop bc they will always go back to one another like yjh will always regress to see him again and kdj will always stay behind to save them and then he gets to watch yjh’s life again. do you understand me they dont exactly get reincarnated more of an isekai like kdj will always find the twsa novel that yjh is a protagonist of and theyre always going to meet again in every lifetime. but the question is always if they have enough time. i don’t think they ever do

They chase each other across universes. They will be together for a short while. They will part their ways. They will chase and meet each other for the first time again. It will all repeat from where it started, every time. They will keep meeting and losing each other, till the end of time, for eternity

They always find a way to get back together, no matter what world they are in. They met for the first and last time many, many times. They went through hell for each other. They died for each other. They lived for each other. One can’t exist without the other. I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them I love them

their relationship is canonically called "life and death companions" if that isn't a marriage vow i don't know what is

[dhampiravidi]

when you dislike the MC of a good series AKA Who Will Die in The Wicked Powers

damn, being petty enough to flip off the MC x canon ship in my (favorite) fandom is really kicking me in the ass--

yeah, basically I can't touch half the TSC stuff on Tumblr bc I'm so anti-Clace...(meanwhile I love literally every other character that's been in every Shadowhunter series)...& they're probably gonna have a wedding + kids in the next books (assuming Jace isn't killed)...

The Wicked Powers is most definitely gonna have the Princes of Hell as the main villains. I feel like Luke, Gwyn, or Izzy will die, since the younger Shadowhunters are supposed to be central & well...look at the couples who will be alive/extant by TWP:

SPOILERS FOR ALL SHADOWHUNTER BOOKS!!

Jace & Clary

Magnus & Alec

Simon & Izzy

Julian & Emma

Kit & Ty

Kieran/Cristina/Mark

Dru & Ash (& maybe Jaime)

Diana & Gwyn

Luke & Jocelyn

Tessa & Jem

(forgive me if I'm missing anyone!)

Jace already died once. Clary had dreams about dying, but those were shown to be visions of Thule. Based on canon events, I think they're Clare's favorite ship. SAFE.

Magnus almost gave himself to Asmodeus in CoHF. Alec almost-ish died saving Magnus in The Eldest Curses. Also, Alec almost died thanks to that poison demon in TMI (the one Magnus saved him from). Malec might end up forced to rule some region of Hell (reason unknown but I think it'll have to do with them beating/destroying Asmodeus). I feel like past events foreshadow Magnus dealing with the unfortunate sides of being a warlock. But he won't die--the "killing your gays" trope might actually save he & Alec.

Simon nearly died when the vampires attacked him (when he was a mundane), then when Valentine bled him pre-Daylighter (then Jace's blood saved him). He "sacrificed" himself to Asmodeus CoHF, in the form of his vampire immortality + memories (which he basically got back later on). Izzy...she's been through a lot psychologically & about as much as I think most Shadowhunters would physically. She lost Max & her dad. But she's a badass (I'm not faulting her for it, either). So I don't think she's safe.

Julian & Emma both lost their parents in horrible ways. Their whole series was about the parabatai curse (which, to me, was conveniently not mentioned in chronologically earlier series...probably because it wasn't invented til TDA was written, lol). They're kinda written to be the leaders of Livvy's Watch. SAFE.

Kit has his whole faerie power reveal shit to explore & he + Ty are some of the major characters in TWP. I'm pretty sure they'll spend the series healing their relationship. SAFE.

Kieran/Cristina/Mark will survive because 1) Kieran as the Unseelie King is an important Shadowhunter ally, 2) they're poly rep in YA, which is rare, and 3) killing one of them off would leave the others to mourn in such a weird way. SAFE.

I love Dru Blackthorn. She's one of the main of TWP, so I think she'll survive, plus tbh I don't think any more Blackthorns will be killed. Ash will probably end up as the Seelie King or as Clace's adopted son, to "redeem" Sebastian in a narrative sense. Jaime's sort of a main for TWP as one of Dru's love interests. SAFE.

Diana & Gwyn aren't main characters (though I like their romance). Diana also is the ONLY transgender person in all the books (unless I missed something). I don't think she'll be killed off. Gwyn might be just because I see the Wild Hunt as an important group in TWP & he might die protecting Diana (narratively, this shows strengthened faerie-Shadowhunter relations, despite the Wild Hunt being unaffiliated with either Court).

Luke & Jocelyn deserve to be endgame, but I could see Luke being killed off as one of those "MC's loved one is killed so the MC goes & avenges them" type of things. I love Luke & Jocelyn as characters, though.

Tessa & Jem deserve to be endgame, arguably, more than any couple. They were the mains in their series, then Jem survived but was sort-of-"lost" when he became a Silent Brother. Then he miraculously became a (mortal) Shadowhunter again when he was burned by heavenly fire, he just left the Clave behind to hang with Tessa (good choice!). Tessa has a baby & she's gonna suffer enough when she outlives Jem. SAFE?

[amazingmsme]

Curtwen hc time! Bc we always need some more of these. (And strap in theres a few—)

First things first, i ADORE your last hc with Curt finding out about Owen first. I love the lines of dialogue beforehand between the two of them so SO much. I like that Owen would be like "stop tickling!" rather than "stop tickling ME", makes him sound more british.

Alr here are my thoughts:

Curt obviously spends a lot of time on his hair to keep it ✨️perfect✨️, but actually so does Owen. Owen uses a lot of product to keep his longer hair silky and soft, while Curt uses product specifically for looks. SO Owen loves that when theyre making out his hair ends up all up in Curt's face. Curts squinting and squirming and like "Owehehen- use a hair tie!" and Owens like "I literally just washed my hair, I'm not going to ruin it now-" so Curt has to suffer through giggles.

I will always and forever adore Barb being unwillingly involved in the boys' lil games, SO— Curt keeps asking and asking Barb to buildnhim somrthing that'll help him get revenge on Owen, but he never specifies what he wants the invention to do. So Barb's like "Mega, if you cant tell me what you want the invention to DO, i cant make one for you!!" and Curt tries to explain it in the vaguest way possible so that 1) she doesnt think he only wants it for himself and 2) itll still do what he wants it to do. And wventually when she connects the dots she teases the hell outta him. Curt makes excuses about the 'bad guys' bring thrown offguard or itd be helpful in interrogations, but Barb says "no one would ever use tickling in an interrogation, Mega" and Curt doesnt have the willpower or pride to correct her.

Owen has ticklish arms. There i said it. He wore a tak top while he and Curt were cuddling, and Curt just traced lines up and down the soft skin of his inner/outer arm. He tries SO FREAKING HARD not to tense his muscles because he knows as soon as he does Curt will notice. So hes just like "Curt could you cut it out? You're nails are itching me." and tries to move out of the way. But Curt senses somethings up and prods him (figuratively and literally) about it until he spills. Owen's laughter from soft tickles is so much different from when he's "getting wreckt". Its very breathy and soft, and he covers his face with the back of his hand to hide himself, but doesnt actively lean away from the feeling. Curt gets heart-eyes and immediately wants to hear more. Owen's throwing insults at him to stop, but he just lays there giggling into the side of the couch.

Finally, LETS👏TALK👏ABOUT👏CURT'S👏TICKLISH👏EARS👏. Our canon. Our bread and butter. Curt originally hates wearing earpieces because Barb hadn't perfected the technology yet and it always buzzed. He got yelled at because one time on a very important mission in Budapest Curt was losing his gd mind with how tingly his ear was feeling and he had to take it off. When Barb couldn't get ahold of him, she knew she'd give him an earfull later. Curt also has issues with Owen. Now, Owen loves Curt's ears. He thinks theyre a cute shape and he loves that theyre so sensitive. Owen adores tracing them and pecking them. Depending on the day, Curt wil either get major goosebumps from Owen, or lose his shiy immediately as he did in the famous interrogation scene. Owen always keeps an ostrich feather in his coat pocket. He rarely uses it, but he likes that Curt knows its always there. Its like its watching him 👀

THAT is all i have, i know it is alot but i am obsessed w these two and i just aAA-

AAAAAAAAA THESE ARE SO FUCKING CUTE I’M DYING I NEED CPR STAT!!! These two are gonna kill me, they’re such fucking dorks I love them I love them I love them! & I love that it makes him sound more British, I didn’t even think of that but now that you pointed it out I can’t stop seeing it!

I absolutely LOVE the difference in hair care between the 2 because they both obsess over their hair in different ways. Curt will style & gel his hair before he even thinks about stepping out the door because he’s always gotta look his best. Meanwhile Owen takes fucking forever after his shower brushing it & putting products in it to help it grow, heal split ends, make it soft, literally the works. Curt’s always like what the hell takes you so long??? & Owen’s just like “you have your hair routine, I have mine”

But it makes his hair so silky smooth & soft & it’s the perfect length to brush against Curt’s neck & ears when they cuddle or make out & it makes him so blushy & giggly because wtf hair shouldn’t tickle! But Owen absolutely loves the fact that he doesn’t even have to use his hands to get him laughing

On a related note, his stubble is the bane of Curt’s existence, it should be illegal

& omg Barb is constantly flipping between extremely amused & very annoyed, these boys never give her a fucking break! She’s so patient with Curt trying to find out what the fuck he actually wants from her, but he won’t stop beating around the bush & is being vague af. So she’s just like “damn if you can’t even say it you can’t be trusted with it” & then he tries to make more of an effort to actually describe what it is he’s looking for & she just gets more amused by the second. & when she says no one would use that in an interrogation he like mumbles under his breath something like “well Owen did” or “must be an MI6 thing” & he’s just being classic sassy Curt but she hears what he said & is like wait a fucking second. “Curt you can’t be serious. Agent Carvour is a professional” & he’s getting flustered & huffy & just goes “yeah, a professional pain in my ass. So can you make it or what?” She has it ready for him by lunch the next day & demands a “full report” on the device’s performance. She even had a sticky note with it that just says “give him hell ;)”

FMVRMAGELW I AM FOAMING AT THE MOUTH RN! TICKLISH ARMS ARE SO UNDERRATED! Sorry for yelling but this really has me in a chokehold. Owen is pretty averagely ticklish in all the normal spots, but I like to imagine he’s a lot more sensitive in harder to reach or more unconventional spots like his arms. Light touches here drive him up the fucking wall ok, he cannot take it whatsoever. Immediately breaks down in a fit of giggles. He tries to hold out, but breathy snickers always force their way out as he squirms around trying to suppress his wide dopey ass grin. Curt thinks it’s the cutest fucking thing he’s ever seen in his life, & he’s right. His forearms are pretty bad & he can’t help but twitch away with a huff of laughter when Curt brushes over the skin there. But his biceps? That’s a good way to kill him. Light tickles there will have him in shrill hysterics & squeezing the muscle will draw out full on belly laughs. Owen didn’t even know he was ticklish there until Curt, & so he was really trying to hide the spot from the both of them. Because what a stupid fucking spot to be ticklish, he did not need to know how sensitive that spot was & he really didn’t need Curt to find out either. But he can’t lie to him, so they went in a little journey of discovery together

Bro we’re so damn lucky that we got canon ticklish!Curt I literally couldn’t believe it! & on his ears no less, like that is legit one of my favorite spots! It’s just so sweet & cute & the way people giggle & scrunch their neck for protection is so kxganssmabfi & that’s his literal introduction to the show!!! Like he legit goes from suave spy who never cracks under pressure to cutest giggly dork in the world in seconds flat! Like wtf they can’t do that to me! But I fucking LOVE how he can’t handle the ear piece because he’s too sensitive there & he just straight up ditches it! & when they ask him about it he’s all dodgy & embarrassed & not giving a straight answer until Cynthia threatens not to pay him for the assignment if he can’t answer her & he just blurts it out, blushing so much & Cynthia just scoffs like “Jesus Mega, that’s it? Why didn’t you just say so, no need to make such a big fucking deal out of it” & he’s so shocked because he honestly expected a lecture about how a spy shouldn’t be ticklish, but she was cool with it??? & she can kinda sense what he’s thinking so she says “look, we’re all human, I get it. I’ll get Barb to make some adjustments” & he thinks that’s the end of it but now she just uses it to tease the shit out of him when he’s least expecting it

His ears are Owen’s absolute favorite spot because Curt is soooo cute & giggly when he tickles him there & it’s one of his worst spots, & he’s a bit of a masochist & likes to bully his boyfriend. & I’m fucking dying thinking about him carrying around that feather all the time “just in case” like just imagine the first time Curt stumbles upon it! Maybe he’s looking for something in his pocket or grabbing his jacket for him & he just freezes & turns completely red. & he pulls it out & looks at Owen like “what the fuck is this???” & Owen looks up & smirks like “well you should know what that is” all smug & shit & he fucking has the audacity to wink at him. He knows exactly what he’s doing, & Curt really can’t handle it

Also worth noting: this is one of the top pics that comes up when you google Owen Carvour

I love them so very much, if you couldn’t tell

[cloudypinkblink]

you know sayuri kinda looks like she has the dead mom hairstyle, kinda

so time to give masaru (and chika) some angst

aka sayuri dying and Masaru drops out of school to get a job and raise his sister, over working himself and having bad habits of caring more about others health than his own

Chika worries about her brother and the changed that happened to him since their mom death

Satsuma didn't know that sayuri died and when he finds that out plus masaru joining DATS he tries to be a parental figuur to him (like a dad or uncle)

I'm so glad someone finally mentioned this bc I've always thought that abt her hair LMAO Anyways I will give u my perspective w/ Sayuri's death, tho it's a LIL different from some of what you suggested, but I like the idea a lot and have thought about it before.

Firstly, I think Masaru and Chika do get financial support; Sayuri is a stay-at-home mom with two kids in the anime; I'm assuming DATS gave her money in compensation for Suguru's disappearance, especially considering Captain Satsuma and Suguru were friends, as well. So with her death (I'm just chalking it up to illness), the financial support fell to the kids- they get to keep their house and I think they both stubbornly want to so when Dad comes back, he knows where they are (bc mind u canon masaru is only 14; he's still just a kid, and is bound to have some childlike hope/logic) Masaru does drop out and start working- for two reasons. One - His temper and behavior is pretty bad in school- he struggles dealing with his grief, and eventually just can't deal with it anymore; he's getting into more serious fights and hurting other kids, and it has a negative effect on Chika so he just drops out. He was also failing because he almost never studied, just too stressed. Two - Part of him is afraid of what will happen if he doesn't provide or take care of Chika on his own; yes they've got the money, but what if it's limited? Furthermore- he wants her to have nice things. They're given enough to survive, but after losing both their parents, he wants Chika to be happy. Sure, he can't spoil her, but he likes being able to buy her nice things when he can.

He works a few odd jobs- I think the last job he really worked before he ended up meeting Agumon and getting to DATS was at his friends shop- the one there is an episode about? But when it closed he lost it, and was inbetween work. He meets Agumon and Satsuma does recognize Masaru; he is aware of his situation, as Sayuri had asked him to make sure they're taken care of, but I guess he didn't realize how bad things had gotten on Masaru. Instead of Yoshino going to seek Masaru out, the Captain does personally, and tells him a bit about his dad and his relationship with Sayuri. He outright offers a job for Masaru at DATS, and it only gets solidified after Masaru is able to get Agumon to evolve. Satsuma also does this personally to allow Masaru to keep his privacy; it's his choice if he wants the others to know his personal situation. (Masaru doesn't outright talk about it, but he doesn't keep it a secret, either. It is what it is, but he does appreciate being able to tell them on his own)

(I believe in giving Masaru different hairstyle supremacy)

Masaru ofc takes it because he's able to work, and the pay is ggood enough that he feels a bit better about spending more time at home. Satsuma gives him mornings/early afternoons off, allowing Masaru to do housework, cook, etc., Masaru is also very grateful to Agumon- and instead of being hungry af for Sayuri's fried eggs, he obsesses over Masaru's. The companionship and someone to chat with while he does stuff helps Masaru, and he doesn't get nearly as restless anymore given his fights with Digimon make him feel more fulfilled. (There is a part of him that's terrified of something happening, leading him to leave Chika behind; I think he's very much more hesitant about going to the digital world, and needs her encouragement before he goes. As much as Masaru the son wants to find his dad and have a parent, Masaru the brother doesn't want to abandon Chika. I also don't think he goes to the digital world at the end of the series; sure their dad is back, but Masaru's been Chika's main parent figure. I don't think he has it in him to leave her.) While I didn't draw her, Yoshino is definitely really sympathetic, and often buys Masaru and Chika snacks, and gives him rides to places if she's not busy. It becomes a little routine for her and Masaru to go grocery shopping together, and Lalamon often points out how much better Masaru is at housework than Yoshino- obviously to tease and fluster her. She also tries to be there when Masaru has his off and down days- but they all kinda learn pretty quick to just... let him simmer for a bit, and he comes around on his own. Masaru is probably depressed, and it manifests as quiet, slow days, or in angry bursts where he doesn't understand his sadness. Touma and Masaru of course buttheads at first, though Touma is fairly shocked and surprised when he hears Masaru say he takes care of Chika himself because his parents are gone. Masaru doesn't beat around the bush, saying Mom passed away and Dad went missing. Of course they kinda butt heads still when the ever proud and abrasive Masaru doesn't like pity, but Touma, I think, opens up a bit and explains his "pity" is empathy, because his mom died, and his little sister is sick, so he gets it. While I definitely feel thats information Touma doesn't give lightly, I think it's because Touma is rather caring towards Chika too, and at least he had others to take care of him and take care of Relena in his absence. Satsuma does enlist in Touma's help in tutoring Masaru- it's soemthing they'll do in quiet evenings, though Yoshino often has to butt in to get Touma to tone down his genius speak to something a bit less overwhelming. This will be dubbed orphan AU in tags. I will definitely come back, but please ask/prompt more as well hehehe. I definitely want to explore Masaru's relationships w/ some of the adult figures in his life- Satsuma, Yoshino. And ofc how Ikuto would be different given it was Sayuri's motherly affection that had a big effect on him.

[icycream24]

Silver and Espio for the ask meme? :>

hehehe my favs hehee🤤🤤🤤

SILVER:

I think most ppl don't know, but I used to really dislike Silver when I was first introduced to this character online. Not a game, no no, but YouTube AMV vids of this dude with cutesy shippy art of Silvaze. His portrayal was so degraded to me (I was 11 at that time?) that I believed he was a self-insert character for some popular artists to ship themselves with Blaze, in the girl-boss dynamic. Ofc, I looked for more info online and realised Silver was an actual character.

At that time I was playing Sonic Riders Zero Gravity and only unlocked Shadow/Rouge/Cream. After knowing what characters were avaliable, I tried my best to unlock the rest, including Silver. I also did not like his voice in English at that time, so much that I decided to switch the voice-overs to Japanese. And I also did not like it 😂 Not because it was grading! But more like, I was shocked by the drastic difference between the two. Kid me had to decide which portrayal I prefer more (ofc not aware of narrative difference of the scripts, I just chose based on my preference) and ended up with Japanese bc I vibe with the calm seriousness in the voice more. Eventually I did get used to both voices after more exposure of this character, watching playthrough videos online.

Talking about watching 06, I was not expecting him to be so different from my first impression of this "whiny/incapable/loser" kid. Silver actually was serious about fighting for his future, like a dedicated soldier. Blaze was *not* the girl-boss, she was on equal grounds with Silver. (Really... I was like 11/12, now that I think about it, how come ppl's comprehension skills so drastically apart that we can get totally different character interpretations?) I started to find charming traits on Silver, and that was when I started looking up for this character's info more & more.

And then I discovered the Rivals series. I watched the whole thing, 1&2, and this Espio character... Wait they're kinda nice tgt. (it was year 2012?? AAAAA I can't believe I'm still insane about Espilver/Silvespio, they're my sons now at this point 😭✨) I remember using Skype and talked about the ✨chemistry✨ between Silver & Espio, and my friend said I was tripping 😭

Anyway here's Espio:

At that time I didn't have that much knowledge on Espio, I just thought their Eng voice in Heroes sounded like he's dying in a few years with how gruff & grandpa it sounded LOL. Mostly I only draw him with Silver bc I realised no one shipped these two back then. (there was ppl but there was no tags for them) So I felt like, no, impossible. I need to COOK for them! So I started shipping them like FedEx with my limited skills 🥴

My Espio appriciation was mainly started by shipping him with Silver. As I reflect on why I enjoy this ship so much, I dug up traits that I like about Espio. He was helpful, supportive, and overall has a rather peaceful way of communicating with others (aka SILVER hhh). Compared to other characters, especially in Rivals, he was really chill and kept his head clear, and unconditionally aided Silver simply bc he knew he was helping someone with a good cause. Such admirable traits that I'd say are pretty rare even irl.

Still, Espio did not have that much screen time. His portrayal in my mind I do admit was half canon, half fanon. Silly ninja with goofy teammates that values teamwork & is capable of aiding others, plus saint-like patience & wisdom. (Haha...really, a lot of his traits are get from Rivals 2, his ways of interacting with individuals was way more informative than games & anime shows combined 🤧)

But yeah, with time I like these 2 characters even more, started to make all kinds of headcanons that I won't be able to elaborate here. The texts are already getting too long here 😂 I've imagined them, either tgt or separately, in fluff/angst/spice/AU/wholesome/dead dove/anything really bc I just enjoy these two so much 💕

It's kinda selfish to say, but with how little Espilver there was during that time, it was almost like they got a clean slate & I was not swayed by any other ppl's interpretation of these two for a few years. And ofc by time these two surely became my favorite characters. LOL I realised in my busy years of not drawing often, Silver & Espio were the only characters I drew 😂

UGGGHHHAA I love these two sm 😭✨ thanks for asking hahah I wanna talk about them all day 🤧✨

[chirpsythismorning]

If Will is a lab kid, do you think he's always meant to be one, or is it one of those things that they decided to go with post-season 1?

I'm sort of undecided right now? Part of me thinks, yes definitely! Then another part of me thinks, maybe not?

It's kind of the equivalent to byler for me rn, where yes, there are several instances in s1 that I read as foreshadowing Mike not being straight and/or even simply liking Will. Though, I can't say for certain if that was their original intention (unless they admit it themselves eventually) because we know from what they've said in the past, they thought s1 could end up being a standalone. And so if s1 ended the way it did, without returning, then presumably byler wouldn't have been endgame (at least not blatantly in canon).

However, they also have said that while producing s1, Netflix wanted more background for the inter-workings of the greater story, so that if they did hypothetically continue there would be a plan. And so stuff like Eleven originally dying at the end of s1, might have been the permanent ending had they simply not returned for a s2. And yet they still ended s1 on a note that made her death open-ended, had they been given the opportunity to return.

So I do think generally speaking there could be a lot of details in s1 that were put there with the hope (or consideration at least) that the story could go further. And both byler endgame and twelvegate/willel twins sort of fits into that for me.

Though for the sake of this ask, there are definitely certain pieces of evidence from s1 that make me genuinely consider twelvegate as something they could have planned from the beginning. And not only that, but I think a lot of what happens in s1 ties into what goes on in the following seasons. So I feel fairly confident saying I think it might have indeed been a plan from the start.

One major thing I've been fixated on as of recent, is this consistent focus on Will's arms/wrists throughout the series. It's as if they're either very obnoxiously obstructing our view of his arm/wrists (usually his left arm w/ his watch), or they are showing them off blatantly in the frame (usually his right arm).

I think that this consistent detail, in tandem with the theme of time being central (Will's watch) as well as the references to the tattoo on El's left wrist/alleged birthmark on Will's right arm, makes a lot of these observations interesting as a whole, to say the least...

Within the first 5 minutes of being introduced to Will, he's sporting his iconic red/yellow vest and his watch. Within the first 5 minutes of being introduced to El, she's sporting the yellow Benny's burgers t-shirt, and not only that, but the red and yellow ketchup being the most eye catching colors in most of these shots takes my brain straight to Will (and El?). The shot of Benny with his watch in the frame is a nice touch, and us getting a close up of El's tattoo directly where Will's tattoo would presumably be (under his watch), is interesting, but it's even more interesting in the context of what's to come.

As of now, this is believed to be the first scene featuring the infamous birthday mug in Mike's basement, and it's a scene where Mike gives El his watch to wear on her left arm (over her tattoo), so that she can keep track of time.

This is the most unnecessary detail ever. I'm not even going to delve into it bc it's sort of ridiculous. Why even have Joyce say this, only to cut her off? Why?

This is probably my favorite example out of all of these, and it's because it was after getting an ask about this scene in particular, that I realized this is actually really suspicious. For one, it's the first time we're ever seeing Will w/out his watch in the series. It's a flashback that Joyce has while at Will's funeral. What we can presume based on the other flashbacks from s1, with Will at Castle Byers and then in Jonathan's room listening to music, with him wearing his watch in both of those, is that he was presumably not wearing his watch in the fireball flashback bc he was at an age where he didn't have it yet. So this is likely the youngest Will Byers we have seen in the show, pre-June 1982 at the latest (that's when Poltergeist was in theaters). But that's not even the interesting part. What's interesting is how in most of these shots, specifically OTS, they block out Will's left arm, while in contrast broadcasting his right arm in the frame. Weird how the first time they showed Will without his watch in the series, and they're making a point to block it out...? And the intense shadow in that third shot on his right arm also has me side eyeing...

Jumping to the end of s1, they make a point to show El returning Mike's watch before she gets into the salt bath to find Will. She removes it from her right arm, only for Mike to take it and put it back on his left arm. I wouldn't normally read too much into this, but when we've got time trickery/loop, Mike always running late, and Will might be a lab kid allegations all in the mix, how can I not read into this?

What then follows is El going into the void to find Will. Now's the time they make a point to show us the inside of Will's right arm/wrist, AKA the same arm that Joyce said had a birthmark? Almost like they want to confirm something they planted in our heads in the first place? And yet nothing is there, or so it seems..? I have to ask again, Why? What is the point of all of this? (+ reminder that Mike was missing from all of the reaction shots for this scene, which is odd...)

And yet it gets weirder. At the end of s1, when Will is rescued and reuniting with the party, they decide to also clue us in on the state of Will's left arm (he coughs and so he has no choice but to lift it up and put it on display... yeah... okay), the same arm they didn't let us see at the start of the season, but are now showing us AFTER Will's time in the upside down... Whatever I guess..

At the end of s1, during the epilogue, they give us a close up of Will's arms in long sleeves, which we have been lead to believe up this point now are both birthmark-less (tattoo-less if that's something someone was looking for...). And so okay. Cool. I can't say for certain why they still feel the need to show off his arms so blatantly like this (I do however have a guess...).

Onto s2!

These two images above are more so notable mentions to start of s2 than major examples. It gets pretty crazy going forward, but I felt the need to mention a couple examples like these bc they're simple and cute. The first one is cute bc there's so little of the main party in the frame as it is, and so making Will at the forefront with his little wrist out? Noted. And the next one is even more simple, and yet I love it bc of that detail of the letters spelling out "TICK" in the background...

This one is quite difficult to catch, but after rewatching and really trying to pay attention, I realized that what's being emphasized here is not only both of Will's arms, first his right then his left, but also in contrast, the doctor attending to him's wrists are on full display in both shots...

This is another notable mention, just because I think in general Will's love for drawing is something that makes these sort of shots very easy to overlook. Because they fit so well with the outright narrative, you don't have to read into it to appreciate it. However, looking at all these moments together, makes it hard for me to overlook.

And here we have another favorite, because this is after one of the most confusing scenes in the entire series, with which no fan has even come close to understanding yet. What I am referring to are the scenes at the Byers at the end of 2x01, where the phone rings and they don't answer it (Will is missing from these shots for some reason), followed by a scene at the lab with the lights flickering, then followed by Will waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. They give us this really dramatic shot of his wrists again, literally flipping them over to show off that there's nothing there... Why even go all out with this unless they assume that we are looking? And why even humor a reminder? Why make it a constant throughout the show, if there's nothing to it?

This is another notable mention because I think it's really peculiar how he kind of drags his left (watch) arm out the door, causing it to be doused in shadow for most of that shot. Though the next morning they show it off again. This may very well still seem not that suspicious yet, but trust me, this isn't even the most incriminating.

This is believed to be the second time we are seeing the infamous happy birthday mug, only this time it's in a scene with Mike and Will. I think what makes this scene so much better to me now, is how right Mike was without even realizing. The truth is, El would understand exactly what Will is going through. I initially tried to look into this scene from the context of arms/wrists and came up short. Though now, looking at it and typing this, I do think it's interesting they were presumably given the direction to cross their wrists over for that last shot... It could just be a coincidence, but a pretty insane one considering.

Just another iconic drawing shot with Will's arm dominating the frame.

This one is interesting bc it's the first time we're officially introduced to Will's feeling in his neck (head?), which if you'll note, he reaches to touch with his arm(s).

NOW THEY'RE JUST LAUGHING AT US!

Fair warning, it's about to get real.

Also s/out to @shippingfangirl013 who supports my Twelvegate obsession. We've been going back and forth for months rewatching. And I kid you not, every rewatch we're finding new evidence that support our theories (delusion?). She introduced me to a lot of these examples of Will's wrists being emphasized after we talked about the complexities of the tattoo debacle, leading us down a massive rabbit hole. Though these ones below are what probably take the cake, because they are just...

Well would you look at that. An extremely incriminating shot focusing entirely on Will's left arm dominating the frame more than ever before, and cast in a remarkably intense shadow, also with lacerations from the rope that was tying him up over his wrist(s). It means nothing...

Onto s3!

Also hard to spot this, but the final shot of the previous scene emphasizing El's left arm (wrist), where her tattoo is, along with her bracelet, sort of parallels the shots of Will in the following scene, which also emphasizes Will's left arm (wrist), where his watch is...

If you'll notice, each time Will has reached for his neck up to this point, he's always used his left arm.

That is until the scene at Castle Byers, which is when Will suddenly starts a new trend of using his right arm to reach for his neck instead, also ironically the same scene that Will says He's back...

This VERY much intrigues me in the context of the theory that Will was in part either possessed or at least guided in some way by Vecna to encourage the party to go to the hospital, where their ill-fate awaited them. Also somewhere they probably wouldn't have gone if it wasn't for Will bringing the idea up himself. There's already been analysis on this elsewhere, but the basics is that those scenes at Heather's house and the hospital, leading up to the lights flickering, and Will's blocking in all those shots/his literal shadow, is odd... (also I might be totally crazy, but these shots at the pool/hospital almost look like Will does have a birthmark on his right arm, arguably near the wrist tattoo zone... It doesn't look like Will/Noah has ever had a mole/birthmark in any of the shots focusing on his right arm in the show previously up to this point, which I just find that to be kind of confusing in the context of the speculation about a birthmark on his right arm in 1x03 by Joyce, despite that being debunked in the finale? Idk, maybe it's a new one? Idk. I'm just gonna try not to think about it too much or my brain might explode.).

Next, that first one is almost funny to me, because why does Will even need to be in the frame at all here? Arguably he doesn't need to be, but instead of just letting this be a shot of El and Max, they make a point to have Will's right arm placed directly in the middle of the shot (less the middle, more so following rule of thirds. Which is even more incriminating tbh)...

Not suspicious at all. Totally normal stuff going on here. In fact, look away entirely. It's probably a complete waste of your time...

ANYWAYS onto s4!

The wonder twins are now officially twinning-up after 3 seasons of subtle build-up. The yellow and red making a reappearance reminding us this is very much the same as it's always been, whether we (or they themselves) realize it or not. Both of their left wrists sporting some type of accessory, while also mirroring each other, is borderline spooky.

AGAIN, the unrelenting urge these Duffers have to make Will and El mirror each other...? Pretty remarkable if you ask me. Something is definitely going on here. Oh and here's a quick focus on Will's right arm during his fight with Mike... Idk doesn't look like any birthmarks in sight to me...

I bet you didn't see this coming, aka the van scene is twelvegate evidence???? I mean not on the surface, no. However, in the grand scheme of things, yes. It follows an interesting trend this show has had of focusing on Will's arms in a way that feels like they're hinting at something, while simultaneously keeping the truth just out of our reach.

And we're back to our regularly scheduled programming. You'll notice here at the end of s4, that Will is following the same late s3 trend of reaching with his right arm to touch his neck. I don't know what to make of the pattern they're going with there, but I do think it's interesting that there is a pattern at all in regards to which arm he uses. Am I scared about the implications that come with that? That this could mean Will ends s4 not entirely himself, at risk of being pushed to do things by Vecna, just like fans predict he was mid s3...?Absolutely.

It's fair to say I think this could have definitely been a plan since the beginning. Arguably, it fits quite well with David's consistent insistence that the ending of the show is beautiful, going all the way back to interviews he did to promote s2.

I do think it's possible this could have been a plot line they planned on exploring and maybe even revealing in s2, but once they realized what it a hit it was and that they would have to go another 2-3 seasons beyond that, then they presumably had to stretch it all out to make those revelations exciting for the end instead. And so Will taking a back seat to the greater plot for s3-4 makes a lot more sense to me, knowing they are arguably saving the most exciting and thought out ideas for last, which we know in large part all connects to Will...

[copperphysics106]

Which hunter do u think is the best choice to be the dad that stepped up for jack

Omg I'm so sorry it's been a few days I didn't check my inbox-- however I HAVE ANSWERS. So sorry, I wasn't ignoring this, just haven't had much time to respond.

I have a few selections that make sense (erm to me anyway):

Cabot: I think in a scenario where the hunters survive, or at least some do, Cabot would have taken Jack under his wing! He's already got Dad-energy, although Jack is..... very disrespectful regarding his daughter. in that one convo at least. I think that during hunts Cabot would be very hands off regarding Jack, he knows he can handle himself, BUT if things go to shit and he gets hurt he would be going Full Dad Mode. This is probably the better choices for the dad that stepped up . Plus Bucket can be an annoyed mother, serving Jack terrible food that he hates, creating a wonderful and diverse environment in which Bucket threatens to poison his food and Jack tells him he's going to, idk, do something insane, like rip out his rank rajat core and put it in an actual bucket every morning at breakfast! 😁

Slim: Dad that stepped up? MORE LIKE DADS THAT STEPPED UP! Slim and Crow taking Jack and Emet under their wing is like one of my biggest, most thought about headcanons! So Slim is a lot like a brother to Jack, BUT I feel like there's some Dad energy too? Like his dragonfly joke is great but also so dad-jokey. I actually have an AU-half canon type fic that has been sitting in my drafts for like. Two years. Never finished it but I've thought about these Four A Lot. I think Crow and Slim would only begrudgingly look after Jack at first, but once things on Shear go to shit and everyone is dying, I think they'd pull out of there and bring Jack with them, or maybe it can happen at the end if they all happen to survive, they'll live on Shear and slowly recover from the shared trauma together. Yay! I feel like Slim would've felt a lot for Jack once Ida died, like... he'd probably feel responsible too bc he wasn't on the planet while it happened and is also already kind of looking after Jack and has listened to Jack vent/joke about how absent Ida has been from his life,and when Ida dies, Jack is still devastated, I mean she is still his mother and his feelings about her are complicated*. Anyway, that's that one.

Emet: So this one is a bit more situational and AU-ey. I have a AU where, it's still set on Shear, Jack is abandoned as a baby/young kid, Emet breaks out of his programming somewhat while on a rescue mission a-la Wall-E style and stumbles across him while he is trying to escape from being shut down. He adopts Jack, raises him best he can, when Jack is old enough he starts experimenting on Emet mostly for fun, Emet doesn't mind so much. In this AU a lot of the Hunters live on Shear (though, obviously, they're not Hunters) and Emet runs into Cabot and Bucket a lot, they dislike Emet looking after a child by himself. Emet avoids them a lot. Then, when the Monsters come to Shear, Jack starts equipping Emet with the same weapons and the DC (btw, DC hates that RC is so Dadbot coded, but does actually care for Jack in his own way that is kinda weirdly sweet). Then the game happens as semi-normally as it does.

Sooo... best choice? I think the best choice is probably Cabot and Bucket, I feel like Cabot knows what he's doing x'D But my favourite is probably still Slim and Crow bc I think their brotherly dynamic with Jack and Emet is fun. One thing is for sure: Ida definitely isn't the Dad that stepped up, she isn't even the mum that stepped up. All of the choices I mentioned would do a better job than she did probably.

*Jack's feelings regarding Ida as a parent. Mathew Colville referenced this conversation from Indiana Jones concerning it:

Indiana Jones : It was just the two of us, Dad. That was a lonely way to grow up, lonely for both of us. I can remember the last time we had a drink together; I had a milkshake. But we didn't talk; we've never talked. If you'd been an average and regular father, like all of my friends' dads, you would've understood. Professor Henry Jones : I was a wonderful father. Indiana Jones : Yeah, how? Professor Henry Jones : Did I ever tell you to eat up, go to bed, wash your ears, or do your homework? No. I respected your privacy, and I taught you self-reliance. Indiana Jones : What you taught me is that I was less important to you than people who've been dead for 500 years in another country. And I learned it so well, that we've hardly spoken for 20 years. Professor Henry Jones : You left just as you were becoming interesting. [He closes his diary] Professor Henry Jones : Okay, I'm here now. So what do you want to talk about? [Indy finds himself at a loss for words] Indiana Jones : I… I can't think of… anything. [Henry looks baffled] Professor Henry Jones : Then what are you complaining about? We have work to do.

[krispdreemurr]

theories that I've posted scattered around this blog but haven't really put into a master post or anything, collated bc I'm bored and want ppl to talk to me abt them or something. im very prepared for none of this to be canon but there's elements I expect to at least be themes or something

-deltarune is a reset timeline. we were not directly present in the original, but maybe were indirectly present.

-basically I think the angel/the player is at least seen as like... imposing narrative and drama and Plot onto a world. demanding to see and know and have their heartstrings tugged and everything else a reader wants from a story. just as the dark worlds exist to provide compact stories for the lightners, so the light world exists for the angels to watch, etc

-in the original timeline, Dess died.

-gaster and kris met in the aftermath of this, in the bunker. at the time, gaster was a normal-ish darkner who had gotten a glimpse of the light and heaven beyond. he argued to Kris that Dess died to sate the angel's needs, to make a fitting story for Noelle and so on, and convinced them to help him in bringing the roaring and taking down the angel

-so yeah they were the knight. they at least knew some of the secret bosses and worked in uneasy concert w them before they all got too fucked up. meanwhile they met Susie, rekindled friendship w Noelle, etc etc etc

-over time they started thinking more that like. hey everyone pursuing ending heaven is like wildly unhappy and meanwhile I'm making friends and moving on and if like there's some intangible entity demanding a story from me like... how do i even... tell that's happening...

-(it wasn't that they were 100% comfortable ever to be clear it's just more the balance of "live a life with my friends and loved ones" vs "end the world and probably hurt or even kill a lot of people" shifted)

-so when it came time to open the last fountain, within the dark world, they hesitated.

-gaster took their blade from them and tried to open it himself - but he was a darkner, and the world was so fragile, and the wound he cut lead to nothing, nothing after nothing pouring out, and he fell into his own creation

-kris was badly wounded in the chaos and made it back to their light world room before collapsing, leaving a stain that wouldn't fade and the echoes of Susie's pleas.

-the world ceased to exist.

-gaster, in the nothing, was able to poorly patch together the world, but not quite as it was. he was not present in it, and those he spoke to talked to shadows, to garbage noise on the phone, to empty rooms.

-he was not able to entirely spare Dess, her fate already written, but he was able to... hide her. she vanished, instead of dying. she is still being hidden while he waits until after the story has concluded

-he spent some time testing methods of influence, ways to guide and design and use a human soul (leading to strange hazy nights for Kris)...

-and with lures and bait and promises of a world to make their own, he connected the angel itself to the world, trapping a piece of them there. this was both to use to re-steer the narrative according to His designs and also kind of out of spite.

-his original plan was to leave Kris out of it, making them a minor character temporarily while the vessel took their role. Someone Strongly Disapproved lmao and so we ended up w the current situation

-this time, if gaster has his way, they won't have the choice to hesitate, and the angel's heaven will be banished.

[klaeus]

piggybacking off this post about intense ships, i just realized we really never got to see klaus in a long-standing romantic ship, and therefore didn't get to see how the passage of time would change their dynamic / klaus' disposition. the first one we're shown is tatia, sort of. elijah says "none loved her more than niklaus", but we don't really see much of them and she ended up choosing elijah over klaus, cutting any relationship between them short and breaking his heart. then comes aurora, but again, it's cut short when she brutally breaks up with him ( the truth of that is of course revealed eventually, but numerous centuries too late ), breaking his heart again and majorly impacting his self worth. then we're shown his interest in caroline and their game of will they won't they ( which i've explained doesn't make much sense to me here ), but a sustained romantic relationship never comes from it.

ㅤㅤhis romantic involvement with hayley was really as simple a one night stand, but tbh, i preferred that for the two of them and really ended up loving what their dynamic grew into. genevieve is hardly worth mentioning here, as while they of course had a physical relationship, i saw klaus' thing with her to be strictly strategic rather than having true romantic interest in her. now comes the crème de la crème of a romantic relationship perhaps making klaus a bit better: cami. but unfortunately, not only did it start slowly ( def not inherently a bad thing, but they had so little time together in total it was quite detrimental here ), but once again, it was cut short before it could truly flourish. cami becoming a vampire basically halted the growth of their relationship ( understandably so ), and while they ended up taking great strides to repair and further their bond, it was literally during cami's last days and then she died - and that was that. she was his last romantic relationship before he died, and the closest thing to a healthy, sustained ship he was shown to have; and considering healthy wouldn't really be a great way to describe their rocky, power imbalanced relationship, that's saying a lot.

ㅤㅤso once again, i'm going to take liberties with something that wasn't shown in canon. in my mind, i like to think that upon actually officially taking someone on as his s/o, the beginning of their relationship would have that intensity his canon ones are shown to have. he would likely start out as highly possessive, easily jealous, his affections and passion turned up to 100 ( bc he knows no other way to be tbh ), and he would just overall be a lot. but as time passed and his s/o remained both alive and with him rather than choosing someone else, i believe he would mellow out quite a bit. not really in the passion department, because he has exceptionally strong emotions in general, but definitely when it comes to his more negative expectations. he would start to relax, be more confident in the relationship ( namely that they aren't going to leave him / choose another over him ) and probably soften quite a bit. his toxic behaviors are of course highly unlikely to ever fully disappear, but i do think he'd become comfortable being more gentle and vulnerable with his s/o. he would also eternally be touchy about them potentially dying, especially given his own unique level of immortality, so he'd probably never get less overbearing when it comes to them being in danger and doing what he can to prevent that very thing. but i definitely think he would soften in other areas, perhaps even becoming almost sweet, and more outright romantic.

[blindluck]

i didn't wanna reply over there cus this ended up getting rly long but there's this post by @shitpostingperidot and @marvelsassbutts about carol and maria's GNR concert in 88 and my brainworms got to making up hc after hc now all i think about is how that could've been the first time they got together despite mutually pining and coparenting monica for like 4/5 years or so anywayyy

idk if there's like a screenshot frame of monica's sword file or smth that shows her birthday in exact terms so i might be going on abt nothing here but listen

mcu wiki says she was born around june/october of 1983

it also says carol and maria met in their first year of AF academy "shortly after turning 18", so that's either late 1983 or early 1984, bc carol's birthday is late 65

which means monica was already in the picture by then 🥺🥺

what i'm thinking is maria got pregnant at around 17/18 and her parents took care of monica for the first year or so when she enlisted bc why wouldn't they

but as soon as she lands the test pilot job and starts making bank they're like "i love you so much and i'm very proud of you now here's your child go be her mom"

this is like in their 2nd or 3rd year of flight school so it catches everyone by surprise, and ofc higher ups use it as excuse to subtly and passive-aggressively ground maria on paid vacations and maternity leaves

obviously she sees right through the fake benevolent facade and overcompensates by not only refusing benefits, but taking on even bigger workloads

which then obviously gets her drained and exhausted and ofc carol notices and worries

she's been trying to give maria space through the whole ordeal but there's a line between giving you space and watching you get put through the wringer without doing anything

so she finally corners maria like "hey i know this is fucked up but maybe you could find another way to stick it to them without slowly killing yourself in the process can u pls just give me a call when it's too much to handle i am begging on my knees"

("my best friend, who supported me as a mother and a pilot when no one else did")

maria does slow down a bit but she still hesitates to call for help, until one particular hard night she cracks and carol gets there at flying speed to do chores and dinner and take care of monica while maria (a single mom in her early 20s who is also an overworked test pilot) finally gets some goddamn rest

(after changing monica's diaper tho bc apparently carol can't help with that)

from then on carol pretty much moves in with them

maria starts slowing down and taking care of herself and getting her due leaves and relying more on her parents and friends and she loves monica so much and things are so overwhelmingly good right now...............except for this one small carol shaped situation

they've been roommates before, you see, and maria is very aware she's been in love with this goobster for a minute

but she's also a black single mom in the US air force she really doesn't have to make things harder on herself so she's been trying rly damn hard to keep carol at arm's length for both their sakes

carol too is very aware that she's in love with maria and probably has been since forever (she's not super in touch with her feelings to pinpoint when the gears shifted, plus thinking back on it she can't rmbr a time when she wasn't in love with her yknow)

but "maria has a kid she's straight" (wrong) and also carol is very insecure (canon) so she's afraid of rejection and doesn't wanna ruin the friendship and she'd rather have maria in her life as a friend instead of not at all

even if it breaks her to wake up literally next to the love of her life every single day and not spill her entire heart out

especially bc maria's mask slips sometimes, mostly when she's drunk (even if just a bit tipsy) or when they share a particularly emotional moment (quite often tbf, considering how close to dying the very nature of their job gets them on a regular basis)

fast forward to 1988

carol and maria pretty much live together and monica loves auntie carol to pieces and their hearts are both so close to exploding they might actually die for real at any given moment

now to finally tie back to where this whole thing started: carol brings home tickets to a GNR concert, maria stares at her dead in the eye like "bitch this is 500 miles away" and carol's like "oh..........................road trip? :D"

you'll never guess what happens there

one year later, carol's missing

presumed dead

[eponastory]

Do you think bending is genetic influenced or spiritually influenced or both? Bc if it's genetic or genetic influenced the implications of four segregated nation are...strange and eugenic kinda of impossible too but i have a very basic grasp on genetics so i don't know

Honestly, I've been playing around with the idea of it being spiritual and genetic.

We know that the Air Nomads were wiped out... but at the same time, there were some that survived. This is covered in the comics with how traps were set for survivors after the genocide. Now, the live action covers this differently, with an even bringing all the Air Nomads to one place. But after Harmonic Convergence in LoK, airbenders appear.

I'm not a fan of LoK... so I'm kinda working on my own alternate timeline with post-war stuff.

But I also have this thought that even if Aang was the last and he somehow ended up dying trying to defeat Ozai, the cycle would continue, and the spiritual aspect comes into play. That because there are no more airbenders that anyone with an airbending ancestor could potentially be an airbender. The system (cycle) corrects itself in order to stay in balance.

Harmonic convergence brought airbending back in LoK probably because there was an imbalance between the elements. So essentially it corrected itself.

But as far as bending being strictly genetic, I don't think it's really that simple because Aang and Katara in Canon had three children. Two were benders. And I know a great deal about genetics thanks to breeding horses and color genes with them. It's the same thing with some genetic diseases as well.

I bred paint horses. My stallion carries a gene that allows all of his babies to be the same pattern he is, even with non paint moms (mares). We call this homozygous where there is two copies of the gene. Heterozygous is when there is one copy and there is a 50%-25% chance of the gene being passed on. To get two copies, both parents have to have the same gene (or something similar) and pass it on. Two copies will always pass on at least one.

I see bending working like that. There is a small possibility of an underexpressed or recessive. Which is where you get your non benders in a family of benders, if that makes any sense.

Hope this helps!