#but my opinion flip flops like all my opinions and headcanons do

[lunesart]

happy pride month

og image under cut

[icyowl]

Bluelock Cuddling headcanons

ft. Isagi, Chigiri, and Kunigami

Request: none

A/N: one of my racehorses won a race today so here’s a little gift to celebrate my good mood!

—————

Yoichi Isagi

the respectful kind

his favorite is half-cuddle — him on his back, you curled up into his side, head on his chest. Does his arm fall asleep? Absolutely. Will he stop? Never.

make his heart wobble any time you look up and about how much you like this — spending time with him, being close like this, knowing he cares about your opinion enough to ask so frequently for it.

Isagi is the kind that likes to cuddle the nights before a stressful thing. He gets to talk out his troubles and generally feel better about whatever anxieties he's got. Also, he genuinely seeks your life advice. He talks through his problems, that's who he is, and with you like this it feels like such a private time of vulnerability.

You habitually play with one another's fingers and hands. Usually it's sweet, but sometimes it devolves into thumb wars, arm wrestling, and even all out tickle battles. Sometimes he even lets you win

If he's lucky he can get you to fall asleep before he does. Reason? He likes watching you doze on him. Something about you falling asleep to the dip and rise of his chest makes him all giddy and humble at the same time.

Inevitably someone walks in on you two only to be greeted with the terror-inducing glare he pins them down with. Wake you up and they are not long for this world.

Hyoma Chigiri

the timid kind

go-to is the traditional spoon. It means you don't have to look at him and whatever embarrassment he's gotta be showing while being this close to you.

As time goes on, he starts to get almost too comfortable with it. On the phone? Playing a game? Fuckin' doing laundry? Doesn't matter. When he's lying on any bed or couch, there is a distinct bubble of space, and if you invade the bubble, you're within striking distance. His arms are nearly as fast as his legs. Chigiri will latch onto you, will pull you in, and will interrupt whatever it is you wanted to do so he can spoon you.

Rub his hand or intertwine fingers while he's got an arm draped over you and he is GONE

There have been times when he's pushed you away, and though it makes sense — he's always been the kind to close himself off, turn vile and harsh when he's hurting — it breaks you. When you're both ready to reconcile, somehow it ends with your back to his chest, his legs mixed with yours, and his warm hand holding you snug to his body.

Also likes this position because it lets him nuzzle in right on the wispy hairs at the bottom of your neck or the big vein on the side.

Turn the tables on him by flipping over in his grip and facing him head-on. It's also a nice way to get even closer to him when you've had a bad day. A kind of haven can be found in nestling under his chin. He's alright with this — it means you can't see his face and the obvious love-sick tint to his eyes.

Rensuke Kunigami

the kind that doesn't know his own strength

best likes the space-saver, aka, one person laying on top of the other. Boy doesn't care which of you is on top. He likes supporting your body or you supporting his — something about being the other person's strength makes the back of his head tingle.

first time he lays on you, he doesn't check his weight at all, just flops down. Immediately thinks he's broken you when you squeak. After that he's almost too wary about hurting you. Am I too heavy? Can you breathe okay? Do I need to get up? You can get on top if you want. Relax Kunigami, just don't fall from orbit and you'll be fine.

Icing on the cake is when you play with his hair. Dude could be angry as an ox, ready to rip someone in half, and two minutes of your fingers in his hair has him fighting to stay awake and spend time with you. What was he angry about again?

One time you fell asleep on his chest, all blissed out and comfy, only to wake up in a shiny puddle of your own drool. You were, understandably, mortified, but the embarrassment turns to affection when he casually disregards the whole thing: it's just a shirt, it'll dry.

You figured you repaid the favor when several weeks later he was one on top of you, head burrowed unceremoniously into your stomach, arms underneath your back, refusing to look up or speak. The reason revealed itself when he finally met your eyes.

Tears. Tiny sniffs too. Four words: I failed my team. That was all he said before digging his face back into your skin. It took time, and a lot of encouragement, but he did eventually snap out of the funk and even apologized for messing up your clothes. It'll dry, you said, and you shared a little snicker.

[stormikins]

Mass Effect: Failed Opportunities.

An informal rant/essay about my opinions and thoughts (and ideas/suggestions) about the choices made in Mass Effect Three. This is all because of this one post by mass-effect-anonymous, and my friend (@xoshepard) giving me a compliment about my Shepard came back wrong headcanons. So. I’m fueled by validation and rage. A summary of the mentioned post is anonymous regrets that BioWare didn't explore the implications of Shepard dying and coming back and the fact that Liara helped Cerberus in doing so.

Disclaimer: I am a hater in this. I am. No doubt about it. If you like the story and think it’s great and nothing is wrong with it— then I am so happy for you. Truly. I wish I was the same. So, this post might not be for you. Also, this is a rant, and I try to keep it sensible so apologies if it’s not.

Word Count: 3k

TLDR: BioWare flip flops between decisions and choices and never truly settles, disregards choices already made, and leaves players (AND THEIR MOTHERS!) wanting while eviscerating character personalities. Consistency is not in BioWare’s vocabulary. Or dictionary. Or thesaurus.

One of the things that I dislike the most about BioWare's choices regarding this matter is that Shepard starts having these crisis thoughts/questions about if their body is theirs or not, etc. not only in the third game, but at the end of it. The player is literally doing the mission that marks the point of no return in the end, the last of two until the game is finished, and now Shepard is voicing these thoughts. Roughly sixty-ish hours since the beginning of me2 if the player is a completionist. (that’s in game time, not to mention how much more time for real life but I digress). This isn’t a plot hole, it’s a speed bump the player trips over and then the game expects us to get back up and get going while asking why our nose is bleeding. Fuck you BioWare.

Now, one could construe this into being part of Shepard's character; squashing down all these conflicting and worrying thoughts to focus on their mission, bc they are a soldier. They literally don't have time for this. But now they're physically confronted with their reconstruction post-awakening haze and/or denial about it all bc Cerberus could be them lying to Shepard bc of manipulation. All right. If that is supposed to be the implication, Shepard putting their mental focus on their mission, why didn't Shepard have this crisis when they were in lock-up for six months, aka where they literally only have time to think?

James having a throwaway comment to Shepard, or another crew member (bc they talk to each other now between missions!), about how he's worried about them, about how Shepard had a freak out some point in lock down, the level of 'freak out' does not need to be expanded upon. Hell, James can just say maybe they passed the time asking each other philosophical questions, maybe about consent and choices (which would tie into James’ past!) and bodily autonomy. It could help lend more weight with Shepard posing these questions during the Cerberus HQ bc these thoughts are still plaguing Shepard. Shepard dies—again—without getting closure— again. This would fall into the cycle theme that the games have.

But, like always, Bioware fails to capitalize on opportunity.

Now. The Citadel DLC. sighs Shepard's repeated variations of "don't want to talk about it" it being the clone and everything else that's happening in the DLC, lends more to the theory of Shepard's supposed to be repressing this all. But the counter point about Shepard having their crisis in lock-up still stands.

What could have been interesting is if Shepard had these identity issues in 2 and potentially in three. Given that the Citadel DLC ends with the clone always dying canonically, it can be a pivotal moment for Shepard to realize that they are who they are, different than their me1 counterpart or not (it also would be cool if characters mentioned if the player was choosing choices that an imported me1 Shepard normally would not have) and to have a clarity moment that they are Shepard. The clone and these logs could have provided a clean tying of loose ends of Shepard having identity issues instead of the teammates saying two lines about how they know that Shepard is Shepard and Shepard simply... moving on because you do all this in the middle of a base attack. The player's mind is already set on defeating Cerberus (finally) and getting revenge, on being so close to the end of the game! It's also OPTIONAL. Yes, the player is automatically entered into the terminal, but the choice to leave without seeing what's on the logs is immediately available.

Another thing the previous post went into was Liara's involvement. Her part in Shepard's reconstruction is not explored in the game. The player never learns about how Liara helped, just that she did and that she lost Feron because of it all to the Shadow Broker. I will not go into the comics, because 1. I have not read them and 2. If developers must depend on supplemental media to explain key plot points, they are in fact doing it wrong (this is a conversation for another time).

I would not be as bitter about Liara's involvement if the game treated it better. The player has to complete two quests to unlock the dialogue of Liara telling Shepard that she gave their body to Cerberus. Which, I will give them, it’s normally to not want to tell the person who you gave their dead body over to terrorists. Shepard’s renegade dialogue to Liara apologizing about giving their body over is as follows, “all this time, it wasn’t your sources. You knowingly gave me over to Cerberus. You did this to me!” SHEPARD DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING ELSE. JUST SITS BACK DOWN AND THE RENEGADE RESPONSE TO HER SECOND APOLOGY IS TO SAY, “Let me know if you need any more help,” AND YOU LEAVE. WHY IS THIS THE ONLY TIME SHEPARD ACKNOWLEDGES THIS. wow. AND WHY IS IT LIKE THIS? ITS OPTIONAL. I— Again, this could tie into Shepard bottling up feelings and acknowledging them in Me3, could show Shepard as an actual person if the game lets us choose to be mean or turn her off but alas, the player cannot because the game likes ruining Shepard’s character (which I’ll save that for later) and doesn’t treat the games like RPGs.  

One could say that Liara would go to any lengths for those she loves, whether the player romanced her or not, but in the first game, we have no indication that she is willing to go this far. I have a belief that nothing is 'out of character' if the circumstances are right. Now, these circumstances are right: two important figures in Liara's life die (Shepard and her mother), Liara's only connection to her theories on the extinction of the reapers dies as well, the threat of the Reapers, and all the traumatic experiences she had during me1 and then the destruction of the Normandy all collide together to make it realistic that Liara wouldn't be able to let Shepard go. There is one thing, though, is that this is all boiled down into “I couldn't let you go” and the game doesn't show it. Doesn’t show Liara's descent down into this rabbit hole, doesn't show the switch getting flipped of her turning much more ruthless compared to her me1 characterization.

She does show ruthlessness in some regards in me1, willing to kill her mother no matter their relationship. But out of all the SR1 cast, she is one of the most paragon characters. The game does not show the shift into Liara's characterization. No commentary from Me1 companions about how Liara suddenly shut them out, or from Feron talking about the things Liara was willing to do to get Shepard. No comments from Miranda and Jacob who I do know were part of the retrieval mission about how Liara acted. Liara is just immediately introduced with quoting her mother’s threats. WHICH IS SO INTERESTING! Again—AGAIN—the game goes nowhere with this. We get optional dialogue from Aethyta about the Matriarch’s being concerned about her but that is optional, and only if the player talked to her in Me2 does she show up in Me3 and deliver said dialogue. Liara herself never confronts this. Even when SHE TALKS ABOUT HER MOTHER. LISTEN— LIARA COULD HAVE TURNED INTO A SCIENTIST THAT WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR HER RESEARCH. TO PROVE HERSELF RIGHT BECAUSE SHE IS, SHE KNOWS IT AND SHE’LL DO ANYTHING LIKE BRINGING SOMEONE’S DEAD BODY TO A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION TO RESSURECT AND YET—

Garrus, on the other hand, gets his new characterization explained. In me1 he already tends to be reckless, ruthless, and selfish. It is no surprise that when Shepard died and the Council buried the truth, he went vigilante. The game shows his new bleak outlook on life bc we find him fighting for his life in a base full of dead bodies and then he explains he got betrayed. We deal with his character arc. We do not deal with Liara’s.

One could argue that could go and show how Shepard wakes up two years in the future and everything is different and confusing. Which I will agree with. If it was purposeful. And I don’t think it is, personally.

She doesn’t stay this new ruthless way. I am not saying she can’t be more than one-dimensional; I like that she can be soft with Shepard and the other companions. But all of a sudden, she, the character whose introduction in Me3 is her popping a singularity and gunning down two Cerberus goons with a cold look on her face, “can’t be that callous” about not focusing on the death numbers in the middle of a war zone because “that’s my home down there”. A home she rarely talks about, and she’s also been in numerous war zones just as bad as this. Liara, who spent more time in digs or collecting intel than with people, feels a sudden connection with Thessia.

I would like Liara a lot more if they didn’t eviscerate her character, thank you. Don’t take this the wrong way, I love her, I think she’s great. She just has the potential to be so much more.

Like—

Mass Effect for some reason, tries not to be an RPG. They don't give the players a proper choice/dialogue to allow Shepard to be mad at Liara about what she did. Or to stay mad. (I am not going to get into the debate of whether being mad at Liara should be a renegade option or paragon). It would make sense for someone to get pissed at the person who gave their dead body over to scientists to reanimate, but also terrorist scientists. The same terrorists that Shepard potentially fought in Me1 and also potentially discovered were behind the whole sale slaughter of their entire platoon and the torture of the only other survivor of the incident.

(I can’t remember if Shepard ever mentions Akuze to Cerberus. Funny, isn’t it. How the games like to take away Shepard’s agency but not in any compelling way.) 

Besides, simply not choosing paragon options, it’s never mentioned again what Liara did to Shepard, which makes sense if Shepard accepted Liara’s apology. But what if Shepard, and the player, doesn’t? Liara’s forced on the player in Me3 as Shepard potential confidant, showing up repeatedly to Shepard’s cabin to move the plot forward, give Shepard missions/updates. Yes, the player can refuse to get personal with her which I do appreciate it. Like I said, Liara’s actions never get brought up in any meaningful way to help Shepard on a character journey. If they don’t want to let characters make decisions about who Shepard is, they should give them a personality. But they don’t.

Another failed opportunity about Shepard’s character is when the games don’t get into what Shepard is like post-resurrection. The game seems to be in the middle ground of making Shepard different but not still human, but in actuality, they can, in the words of Hannah Montana, have “the best of both worlds”.

Me2 shows how Shepard is different now. “I’ve noticed a few upgrades,” Shepard states when talking to the Illusive Man on Minute Man station. Shepard can have multiple hard-hitting drinks in a row along with Ryncol in Dark Star, Zakera Ward. A poison tailored for humans served by a batarian bartender in the lower segment of Afterlife only knocks Shepard out, not killing them like it does to every human before.

That is how far the game will go in showing how different Shepard is, not counting renegade scarring. Which is a waste.

Shepard is The Protagonist. The main character. They have done the actual impossible. They are the Sole Survivor, the Hero of Elysium, the Butcher of Torfan, Savior of the Citadel, repeller of Geth, Collector, and Reaper armies and a host of other incredible achievements. They are a prophet, the damned, a modern-day Cassandra. The tip of the Spear, the Diplomat, the Soldier. Coats in the FOB on Earth says that it means something to the soldiers to see Shepard with them. They are “a tool, an agent with a singular purpose,” TIM calls them. (And a Karen ‘accuse her of classism’).

And yet, when Shepard gets revived—the most impossible of all things (and yes, it’s not like they had anything to do with it, it was Miranda and her team, but the Lazarus project only had one subject)—they are not made further into something larger than life. Something Other. Something that sets them out from the others. Because they’re Commander Fucking Shepard.

They literally have a vision of a dying race in their head that propels them to stop the Reapers. Me1 does a great job of playing with it. The player sees it once in Me2 and Me3, a side mission (Blue Suns: Archaeological Site) and after retrieving Javik, respectively.

Mass effect is all about cycles. The Reaper’s, Saren/Tim parallels, etc. What could have been interesting was instead of the reoccurring dream we have about a child that gets his emotional impact tarnished because of said dream and the star-child, the game does a mesh of the vision, prothean civilization in ruin, and the ruins we see of current civilizations from the missions Shepard goes on. Keep the oily shadows that whisper quotes from our dead teammates, but also have their voices coming from long dead Protheans pleading with Shepard to stop the Reapers, to save them.

Shepard can’t get any escape from the war, from the Reapers in their sleeping nor waking hours.

The game not making Shepard Other and going in the opposite direction—that despite all these upgrades Shepard is still human—would be fine if it was done better. A good stereotype of “I’m only human” is when a character fails. Shepard fails in Me3 most prominently on Thessia. I’m all for having characters fail but only when it’s done not so obnoxiously.

It’s a terrible fight. It is. Kai Leng hides behind a gunship that Shepard took down at least three separate times in Me2. Two of these instances are non-optional: Garrus and Samara’s recruitment and Kasumi’s loyalty mission is optional. So, Shepard—Commander Shepard who literally destroyed a proto-Reaper—can’t destroy a gunship. It’s insulting how they ruin Shepard’s character in three.

In the end cutscene, Shepard clearly hears and registers that Kai Leng orders the gunship to fire on the supports of the structure and… runs further into the building. One could argue Shepard was trying to get the Prothean VI for the catalyst, but Liara is shown scanning it with her omni-tool. What did she do, if not copy it? Why would she not? Why wouldn’t Shepard? They’re in the middle of a war zone, with enemies that were just right outside the door. Why stop for a chat here and now? (I know why, the plot demands it and lore dumping— lore that contradicts the lore dump by Vigil in Me1 so I’m even more inclined to not like these proceedings).

Kai Leng is Shepard’s nemesis in Me3 (and I’m forever mad that he is) and he’s supposed to be badass and edgy and able to go toe-to-toe with Shepard. Yet the game shows he can’t. He can’t reach his target because a terminally ill drell stopped him, or he didn’t notice Bau being cloaked in front of the Salarian councilor. (I can also go into how stupid this scene is with BOTH Thane and Bau).

He gets one over Shepard with the C-Sec sky car chase but that doubles back to BioWare ruining Shepard’s character by making them an idiot. Why not hit the brakes? Why not do a couple barrel rolls? Why fire through what should be bullet proof glass because it’s a C-Sec sky car?

Kai Leng can’t go toe-to-toe with Shepard unless Shepard gets dumbed down into an idiot and isn’t someone who reached not only Commander rank but also became the first human Spectre. HELLO!?

So, Shepard failing and still being human and fallible doesn’t hit because they execute it poorly via Kai Leng and his stupid plot armor.

Who would be Shepard’s nemesis if not Kai Leng? HARBINGER. YOU KNOW THE REAPER THAT TAUNTED SHEPARD IN ME2? THE VERY FIRST REAPER MADE? THE REAPER THAT WE ONLY SEE—NOT TALK TO—SEE IN THE LAST HOUR OF THE GAME? THAT GUY. (matter of fact, throw in some of Harby’s arrogant lines about Shepard not being able to stop the Reapers in the alternative dream.) Harbinger should have possessed troops like he did in Me2 in the major Reaper battles. Earth. Menae. Thessia. He should have showed up somewhere, boasting about how they’re darkening the sky of every world. YES THAT’S A SOVEREIGN CALL BACK CYCLES! SHEPARD’S VISION IS COMING TRUE RIGHT BEFORE THEIR EYES AND HE’S NOT BRAGGING!? I THINK THE FUCK NOT! If you’re gonna make the Reapers so obsessed with Shepard as shown in Me2 with Harbinger’s comments and making a human looking Reaper, KEEP THE OBSESSION FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! I hate that the Reapers are obsessed with Shepard, Reapers who are above organics, have no weaknesses etc. and the entirety of Sovereign’s brilliant Virmire speech, because it’s not CARRIED OVER!

The enemies should have primarily been the Reapers from the start, and Cerberus the splinter group trying to sabotage the player. Make them smaller. Keep them kidnapping people for troops and biotic tests and lying about Sanctuary being a sanctuary and not run by Cerberus. Continuously have them send assassins—plural! Phantoms and nemesis—after Shepard with Kai Leng at the head of them. Even better if a strike group of baddies show up randomly during missions and watch out! Now Shepard has to deal with them as they fight the Reapers—in the same mission— because Cerberus wants to stop Shepard from killing the Reapers so they could control them and secure human dominance. Kai Leng is kept away from his target because they’re also fighting Shepard where Reapers are. Have them locked into stalemates until the environment getting destroyed literally forces them apart. Have them actually be equal adversaries.

Cerberus is introduced to be a mere group Shepard took out in Me1. They’re not all gone in Me2 surprise! Okay that’s fine and yet they not only sunk so many resources into Shepard and had so many cells gone rogue but they’re able to stage a coup on the Citadel! Pardon?? “But our resources are not unlimited, rebuilding you was a significant investment. And a significant risk,” Miranda tells Shepard in Me2. Cerberus kidnapping people on Benning would make sense if they’re scrambling for troops other than the relying on Sanctuary. (EVEN IN ME3 THERE ARE ‘ROGUE FACTIONS’— still a common occurrence for them. It’s never explained if Cerberus is lying about Benning or not). If they have these many rogue cells, again, how can they manage all they do in Me3? Especially if scientists are leaving Cerberus as well, aka the Ex-Cerberus Scientist mission Traynor gives you where you meet up with Jacob.

Yet, the player talks more to the Illusive Man than Harbinger in Me3, the leader of the Reapers, and we confront TIM at the end of the game, the most pivotal moment. The moment which people have sunk countless hours into, and we get a power hungry and indoctrinated TIM to… talk into shooting himself or firing a single bullet at him. There is no physical fight between the two. The conversation is similar to Saren’s and again, cycles are a theme, so why can’t we get a Reaper!TIM fight? The player, and Shepard, deserve the choice to fuck him up. This is a military game after all, they’re supposed to be encouraging our aggressive nature.

They ruin TIM but also Shepard.

Shepard never grows and changes like the characters around them, and their resurrection could have—should have—played a part in that. If they’re supposed to remain the same, be a tool for the narrative, make them it. Lean into that. The player chooses options. What would be an interesting mechanic is to make it a struggle for a certain background to get a certain morality. Have Shepard be stating doubts about who they are and if the player is contradicting a stereotypical background (Butcher trying to be paragon, a Hero trying to be renegade), they meet the camera—the players eyes—as they explain their inner turmoil. Make Shepard feel like the tool they are, like they’re not in control of their actions. A renegade overcoming it all and being a paragon hero, or a fall from grace paragon that brings the galaxy down with them. A renegade trapped in a cycle of violence (CYCLE) who can only see the world down the barrel of a gun, or a paragon who continuously chooses kindness. MAKE IT MEAN SOMETHING!

I think I’m done. So.

In conclusion, my love and passion for this game transitions into rage because of seeing possibilities squashed like a bug under a boot. To borrow Star War’s phrase: Mass Effect could be so good if it was good. 

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Side B Round 1 Match 11

Propaganda:

Mikey -

"This is a headcanon that didn’t originally occur to me, but then I encountered it in the wild, and something in my brain kinda lit up like ‘!!!’. I couldn’t stop turning the idea over in my head, like a slow roasting marshmallow, getting dangerously close to an open flame. So, here we are. First of all, Mikey is the leader of a biker gang. He has an immense interest in motorcycles (including their parts and repairing/building them), something of which he is able to bond with other delinquents over. He is frequently commented on by others as showcasing ‘childish’ behavior, such as whining when he doesn’t get his way, taking naps on his vice-commander, Draken’s, back or getting upset when he receives a kid’s meal with no flag in it. He often relies on Draken in a caretaker sort of role, such as providing the aforementioned flags to avoid meltdowns, tying his hair up just the right way in the mornings, going to his house to wake him up (all these things appear frequent activities/rituals Mikey relies on), and being “his heart.” Mikey appears to have naturally low empathy. Pretty early on in the series, he and Draken pay a visit to a girl who was put in the hospital by a rival gang, for being affiliated with some of their members. Her parents encounter them and they are furious that anyone involved in gang activity would even dare show their faces, despite Mikey and Draken not being the ones to actually hurt her. He insists they shouldn't apologize to the parents, because it's not their fault and they personally didn't do anything, failing to comprehend the bigger picture, that the lifestyle of delinquency and crime in general and the violence it breeds, not just between those who partake, but innocents caught in the crossfire, is what led to their daughter's assault. And they are feeling grief and anger, thus acting irrationally and lashing out (which, while illogical to Mikey, is a typical emotional reaction to this sort of situation). But he eventually amends his opinion at Draken’s urging—reserving emotional consideration for when his friends are involved primarily. Difficulty regulating emotions, selective listening, and self-centeredness are also all traits that Mikey has exhibited. He often has atypical/repressed facial expressions. He has safe foods—preferring sweet things like dorayaki and taiyaki above all else. He has a comfort item in the form of an old, raggedy towel, which is, in his words “his whole life,” and refuses to give it up even when his family urges him to throw it out. “The tip of his towel” is canonically his “favorite spot”—He is seen stimming with it by rolling it up and kneading it with his hands and fingers. He also prefers to dress for comfort, in loose and baggy clothes whenever he is outside of his gang uniform, and he always wears the same flip-flops, even when it would seem inconvenient. Some other things that don’t necessarily point to autism, but maybe could be considered in the broader picture with everything else?

Routine night motorcycle rides with his brother and childhood friend, which he continues, same time and route, after their deaths, while talking like they are still there with him (though this is more him just honoring their memories and finding comfort in these old actions)

‘Dark impulse’ flare-ups could be interpreted as meltdowns that cross into violent territory? (Like after Sanzu allegedly broke his new toy as a child) But again, dark impulses are a whole other can of worms that could probably be likened to other things better than autism

He is canonically considered a martial arts genius/prodigy, which could be read as some sort of savantism, but also just typical shounen anime shenanigans Despite some of the shakier things to consider, I find myself really liking the idea of autistic Mikey, and I do think there’s a lot in the story in favor of that reading of him. I’d love to see him represented here!"

Yotasuke -

"He has terrible social skills and doesn't filter his words, and although he does not have bad intentions, he often comes off extremely cold or harsh, saying things like "Talking with you irritates me so can you please leave me alone?". He struggles to make friends, especially since he purposefully pushes people away. Yatora, the main character, brings the number of contacts on his phone to a grand total of three. His wardrobe consists of almost exactly the same shirt over and over again. He holds his pencil and chopsticks extremely weird. He loves animals and is often pictured with them, for example cats and rabbits. He was considered extremely talented at art when he was a child, and his art is still amazing but it has messed up the way he interacts with others. He feels as though art is all he has. This causes him to resent Yatora, who appears to have so many skills and career options, as well as a thriving social life. Yotasuke also has a very strained relationship with his mother, who can be quite manipulative at times. He is also very silly if that means anything to you. Everyone should go read Blue Period actually."

[turbulentscrawl]

Any headcanons for Embalmer and Andrew? 🥸

Oh yes! I am systematically working my way through most of the characters ehehe. I actually think I need to do some situational writing for Aesop as practice, he was a little harder for me to pin down than the other characters I've done so far.

As always, feel free to send me requests if you like my stuff <3 these are fun to do before work ;;

Identity(V) Headcanons: Aesop Carl

-With my current knowledge of the characters, I think Aesop is one of the more dangerous people in the actual horror-story telling behind IDV…. But I’ve been filling these under the game/stageplay setup where the manor is an unescapable, endless game and no one actually dies for realsies…so we’ll ignore his murderous training and tendencies for now.

-That said, he’s still going to be a very difficult guy to get along with. Aesop is confirmed as autistic, and most of his related struggles fall into social categories. He does not typically enjoy casual touch or conversations about anything other than his work. In fact, the longer the conversation is, the worse time he’s having. If there’s a lot of people around too?? He’s McStruggling.

-It takes him a very long time to become genuinely comfortable and friendly with someone, and only then does he start to explore them beyond his comfort zone. Luckily, since everyone is stuck in this would-be purgatory, you’ve got nothing but time!

-One-on-one time is best for Aesop, and while you’re first getting to know him it’s recommended you do not initiate this unless he’s in a public space. He’s mentally prepared to be approached at those times. If you try to barge in on his quiet time or safe spaces before he clears you to do so, it’s only going to hurt his opinion of you.

-He most definitely has long-stints of going nonverbal. At times, the amount of conversation expected of him is too much and he just shuts down completely. If he’s pressed too much during these times he may fall to tears or lashing out. He may, however, be willing to write out any answers that are very important or time-sensitive.

-The trustworthiness of the living and the dead are flip-flopped in Aesop’s mind. When someone is dead, they are a resting summation of all their deeds in life. He learns about who people were through the clues they leave behind: their health, their scars, their effects, the company they receive at their funerals. He considers these things to be more truthful than whatever the deceased would tell or show him about themselves. The living, meanwhile, are all actors, just proxies for what they want to be rather than what they actually are. This is a large reason why he feels closer to the dead than the living.

-Aesop’s favorite love languages are a little difficult to pin down, but I’m going to say Quality Time is his number one—especially when you’re good with parallel play and keep things quiet. This will foster feelings of safety and comfort in relation to your presence! He also likes Words of Affirmation, but mostly in the form of letters, as he’s a little biased for them from all the times he’s nosed through a patient’s effects. Even when he’s head-over-heels (or as close as he can be, since I honestly get AceAro vibes from him) he leans towards written communication but could learn to trust verbal praise in smaller doses.

-When he’s very close with someone, he can learn to enjoy a good hug now and then, or lend them his shoulder to lean on, but he always prefers to keep his arms uncaged so it’s easier to pull away. Unwelcome physical contact feels like bugs crawling under his skin. It’s obvious when he’s had far too much of it because that sensation leads to twitching and spasming, like he’s trying to shake it out.

-He likes to read! His favorites are mostly nonfiction. Biographies (not autobiographies) and other works of an educational nature are preferred, but he has been known to pick up some poetry every now and again. This is due in part to not having finished school and thirsting for all the knowledge he wasn’t allowed.

-He treats learning about his loved ones like reading these books; they are a list of facts and stories to be memorized. Small exceptions to any major preferences can be confusing for Aesop to keep track of, but in general he is very good at committing people’s likes, dislikes, and histories to memory.

-He doesn’t really care to celebrate his own birthday, but likes to help others celebrate theirs. The kitchen is far from his preferred workspace, but he’s actually a decent baker when the situation calls for it. The cake decoration….well, he’ll leave that to someone else. But the cake itself will taste good!

[angelsdean]

pt one here

listen. i flip flop on deanbenny all the time and can entertain multiple conflicting headcanons but. dean was SO hyperfocused on finding cas. do i think there was clear homoerotic subtext and attraction? yea. do i think they were really anything beyond

[minecraftbookshelf]

The LiveAndLetRain Master-Master Post

Because tumblr search function is notoriously unreliable, to the point im struggling to find my own things when i want them for reference so im making this, mostly for myself but if you want to use it go for it!

That being said, my tag for my original posts is #rain rambles

I tag all the Technoblade memorial art I reblog with #technoblade never dies (specifically the memorial-vibes art, so this is a bit subjective but just a heads up if this is something you want to avoid)

I am on AO3

This is my pinned post on my main which is an index of all my fandom specific sideblogs

MASTER POSTS:

The AU In Which All the Marriages Are Arranged/Marriage of State AU Empires SMP Season 1 AU featuring fantasy agricultural economics and linguistics and arranged marriages that cover the full romantic-platonic spectrum. This is my major project, currently. Everything relating to it an be found under the tag #marriage of state au and the master post has important posts, fics, art, and organizational tags linked on it.

Avatar: The Legend of Jimmy Group discussion and brainstorming post that has spawned at least one au, and some fic and art

FANFICTION:

Adventures in Grian-Napping (Life Series Urban Fantasy AU based off of Grian’s LimLife AFK Episode) COMPLETE - Tumblr || AO3

Limited Life Oneshots - Tumblr 1 2 3 || AO3

The Elements of an Inter-Dimensional Prison Break (Life Series & Evolution SMP AU taking place overlapping and at the end of Limited Life) WIP - Tumblr Part 1 Part 2 || AO3 || Summarized [Currently in stasis while i rework it and revamp it]

To Walk A Mile In Each Others Shoes (My take on the concept of Double Life soulbond pairs sharing physical traits and abilities over the bond) COMPLETE - Team Ranchers || Team Box || Dessert Duo || The Boat Boys || The Homewreckers || Bad Math || Tilly Death Do Us Part || AO3

Gone Fishing (Life Series Urban Fantasy AU ft. Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss + Martyn. Oneshot) COMPLETE - Tumblr || AO3

Flip-Flopped Hermits (ficlets written for the hermit fanon swap prompt meme) STANDALONE COLLECTION, WIP - AO3 || Tumblr - Hypno & Stress Cub & xB and Pearl & Mumbo (bonus Grian) Gem & Impulse Etho & Bdubs

Marriage of State AU Series WIP - AO3 || Tumblr links in the AU masterpost

After the End (SOS SMP post-finale ficlet ft. fWhip and Joey. Two alternate endings, I recommend reading the second one first) COMPLETE - AO3 || Tumblr Ending 1 Ending 2

LIFE SERIES (and overlap) META & THINKY THOUGHTS:

Concerning Patterns Out of Context Snippet from Future Fanfiction Shortform 3rd Life Ren & Joel Compare/Contrast Repeating Patterns: Smajor, Ren, & Martyn 3rd & Last Life Ethoslab & LDshadowlady Final Death Scars || The Diagrams Thereof: TAG FOR THE UPDATED VERSIONS The original posts: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Martyn's Betrayal Watcher Lore Meets Hermitcraft Recap Rain Judges the Watchers for Feeding Inefficiently Middle Child Jimmy Solidarity Evolution/Life Family Tree & Relationship Web (Updated version at the bottom of the post) Falling Birbs This one messed up my notifications inbox for like two days and it is specifically inthelittlewoods fault Life Series Wing Headcanons 3rd Life Flower Husbands: Fated Tragedy Scott Smajor Has Been Spiting the Watchers Since Third Life The Ship Burns Everything Burns The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same

RANDOM BITS AND BOBS:

Life Series Lore/Bit Poll OG Edition (Season Specific Follow-up Coming Soon!) Watercolor Sniffer Skizzleman Skizzleman Does Whatever A Skizzle Can The True Potential of Empires S1: Scott and Gem's kidnapping MCYT Wings: Grian || Jimmy Solidarity || Pearlescentmoon || Philza || Hannahxxrose || Geminitay (not wings but close enough) Mumbo Jumbo was the EvoSMP Escape Plan All Along Empires S2 White Collar AU For the Poor? My Most Correct MCC Opinion The Price of Being Birb

[sycamorre]

You know I gotta get my girl Ledo! Also Wisteria, please. I barely know her, but I love her already.

[send me a character]

Another long one!

Ledo —

Favorite thing about them: It's a hard tie between her design elements and her passion for what she cares about. I love how her design has come out, in part because of how long I've picked away at her over the years waiting for a chance to play her, and how everything fell into place with the campaign's setup, but I also love how passionate she is about things: her work, her goals, and even her problems. Coming off of playing Oriana, who has a tendency to downplay a lot of her emotions due to her anxiety, it's been a good change of pace. Ledo is pretty calm most of the time but won't hesitate to say what's on her mind if she thinks it's important.

Least favorite thing about them: She's really hard to pinpoint morally/alignment-wise. I've settled on lawful neutral, but she flip flops between wanting to actually do some good and not caring about others at all and it's one of those things that will probably either go one way or another as her story develops, but for right now is just hard to feel out without regularly writing or playing her.

Favorite line: "If the universe wanted us gone so bad, it should have done a better job at killing us." for a specific line. But I'll echo your sentiments about their little campfire talk. I had never gotten a chance to show Ledo angry and when a little bit slipped with her "I am no damn pirate," comment, that was satisfying.

brOTP: Already adoring the vibes between Ledo and Char, they get shit done. But honestly I can't wait to see where the relationships with the other characters go, too. Especially Celeste once they get to really talk about Twalan one on one and maybe even Foaly at some point if they ever get to swapping war/battle stories.

OTP: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) You've seen him. I've only let his name slip once, but you've seen him on this here blog. That's all you get.

nOTP: You've also seen him but do not yet know his name. There's a lot of people in the world she would sell to satan for a corn chip, but she would pay for Satan to take this fellow.

Random Headcanon: In-character, her steel guardian Drache is based on a drake for one primary reason: a joke between her and her father. One day he asked her what she might want as a pet, and she said a dragon. She eventually learned that this was not possible, but the family in-joke remained. Out of character, the reason he's a drake is because I didn't want him to be a dog or a bear, and nothing else felt right. I originally was going to make her an armorer or artillerist artificer and she was gonna have a small monkey automaton, but after reviewing the sub-classes and realizing neither of those actually felt right and battle smith felt like the most useful sub-class, that automaton eventually morphed into Drache.

Unpopular Opinion: I doubt this technically counts, but I honestly think looking back that Ledo would have been better as a Pathfinder character. The inventor class is perfect, and I very well might replay her one day if I do ever get to join a Pathfinder campaign. But she feels like she fits well into the current party so I don't dwell on it too much.

Song I associate with them: OH boy. Currently her main song is "Queen of Kings" by Alessandra, but specifically this cover by Annapantsu for thematic reasons. "Runaway" by AURORA was her main theme before that. I have... a very long playlist for her I am still fine-tuning.

Favorite picture of them: I still think this is the best headshot I've done of her, even if I need to update the horns:

Wisteria —

Favorite thing about them: She's just fun! Half of my enjoyment when it comes to thinking about Wisteria is considering the fun things like what she might wear, how her spells might appear since she's a dancing-based bard, or what kind of shenanigans she might get into.

Least favorite thing about them: Intelligence is absolutely her dump stat and hoo boy is that gonna be hard to get used to if I ever do get to play her in some kind of game. She also has no sense of personal space and is the worst kind of nosy.

Favorite line: We'll come back to this one day. One day...

brOTP: Her little eladrin bard gang back home. The tightest clique of court ladies and performers the fey have ever seen.

OTP: This gal's not looking to settle down or just pick one... but I could be convinced if the right opportunity presented itself.

nOTP: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Random Headcanon: Since Eladrin can change their "season" willingly, back in the Feywild she would do it on a whim or based on which court she was performing in, but she heavily preferred spring since that is the court she originates from. However, once she enters the material plane and the idea of the courts is no longer looming over her, her "season" tends to change depending on her overall mood for a while, at least until she starts understanding that seasons in this plane are a set timespan and then she starts adhering to that a bit more as she settles.

Unpopular Opinion: Probably gonna need to actually play her some to get an idea for what this might be.

Song I associate with them: A bit of a cop out if I'm being honest because I haven't worked on her playlist yet, but "The Willow Maid" or "Round and Round" by Erutan because they feel like songs she would perform to

Favorite picture of them: She's ready for mischief and other nonsense

[voidgoatazzy]

🖤🏳️‍🌈 ror RA!

Keep in mind, answers only have context for up to RA12 (otherwise known as TRR1), and i'm not super in the community as of late.

🖤: Which character is not as morally good as everyone else seems to think?

Hm. An easy target of this, in my opinion, are the Skandians, notably Erak and his crew. As much as I love them, they're still raiders- occasionally out of necessity, but still. As kind and helpful as they become toward Will after and through book 4 + the macindaw books, they're still raiders, kidnappers, all sorts along those lines.

🏳️‍🌈: Which character who is commonly headcanoned as queer doesn't seem queer to you?

Well, everyone seems to headcanon EVERYONE as queer, so this is a tough decision. I'm an avid shipper of Craltine (hehe saltines) myself, so the three of them are safe from this. I've seen a lot of flip-flopping around about Gilan but like. There's something about the fact that Flan can never stick to one thing for Gil that gives him like. A sense of "he has to be some form of queer" vibe for me.

The only answer I can solidly think of is Jenny. I've personally seen it quite a bit because people wanna expand on or "fix" her character, and like. I don't agree on that being the way to do it for her.

[fixaidea]

xiao hua for the character meme!

This also goes for one of my anons! Also please note that I'm only going by my impression of him from the dramas, as he hasn't popped up in the books yet.

Sexuality Headcanon: Gay, ace or a combination of thereof. (Surprisingly many people I can read as ace here. Neat.)

Gender Headcanon: I keep flip-flopping on this, because being pretty and liking feminine things doesn't automatically make him not-a-man, but then in certain adaptations he says stuff like 'for a while I really thought I was a girl', so. He has no time for trivial stuff like 'gender'.

A ship I have with said character: I know Hei-ye is the popular answer here and I do like them both individually and as a team, just... not necessarily as a romantic couple. One irritating the other into liking them is a time-honoured romance trope, it's just not my cup of tea.

A BROTP I have with said character: Huo Xiuxiu. I couldn't fully pick up what their relationship was meant to be - fiancés arranged by their families? Actual couple? Friends? Whichever of these, the 'friends' part seemed to be functioning pretty well.

A NOTP I have with said character: ...Probably Wu Xie? I haven't stumbled across anything uniquely awful with him yet.

A random headcanon: He had no strong feelings towards cooking in any which way, but one time Hei-ye made a remark on his lack of kitchen-related skills, so obviously the only solution was to become... well, maybe not a master chef, but a competent cook.

General Opinion over said character: Love him, especially when he's all cold and competent.

[midnight-omega]

World Basics

Heeyyy yall I decided to kick off this blog by answering some worldbuilding questions posted awhile ago by pheonixwaller

I'm gonna break them up by heading and post them as i go!

Also this is my world and my opinions so like if ur own omegaverse doesn't follow this or you don't agree or do the things i say i dislike its all good its not meant to hurt you we're all just having fun here and we like different kinds of soda :))

Let's go under the cut !

Let’s start with the world in general. 

What are the overall population ratios? Are alphas and omegas common or rare? Are the ratios stable or does your world have decreasing numbers of alphas/omegas?

I always flip flop on this question tbh

I think the three dynamics are all pretty equally balanced. I always see worlds where betas are way more common than alphas or omegas but then all the world building and all their plots focus on the alphas and omegas. Not to bash this kind of world, like do whatever makes u feel good, but it never made sense to me why a beta majority world would cater to the other two dynamics so hard. It also doesn’t make sense to me when a lot of stereotypical betas read very ace/aro to me and the only ones making babies are the other two. Like… but then how would a majority beta world reproduce? Again this is mostly aimed at the au’s overused stereotypes and obvi there are more dynamic set ups of beta majority worlds but personally I never got it.

So, I think it makes sense that there’s a fairly equal distribution. Sometimes it maybe shifts with time so one is more majority than the others but it always kind of balances back out. I don’t really like thinking about the genetics that deeply either like the whole oh a beta alpha couple couldn’t have an omega child bc blah blah blah like anyone can have anyone idc :>

I will say tho ! I do headcanon female alphas and male omegas to be rather rare with a lot of stereotypes, sexualizing, and discrimination around them. I do have a reason for this but I think that's a different post bc it has a lot to do with like fake human history and fake evolution LMFAO

Can women be alphas, can males be omegas? Can male omegas father children and can women alphas bear? Can betas have children?

Yes and yes! Female alphas and male omegas do in fact exist.

Alpha females cannot conceive in my verse and nor can male omegas father children. Once upon a time they could, but not in modern times. Again this is like a whole evolution thingy I thought up which deserves its own post lol. 

Betas can have children! As long as one partner has a vulva and one has a penis :>

Are there certain physical characteristics that people associate with one secondary or another? Ex: Heavily muscled alphas or soft omegas?

Alphas are stereotyped to be tall and muscular. Omegas are stereotyped to be short, dainty, and soft. Betas get to own their bodies tbh, they don’t have many physical stereotypes. Maybe lean betas, but I wouldn’t say that it's super prominent. 

However, these are not universally true at all. I personally hate the all alphas are huge and love sports and all omegas are under 5 foot and don’t move worldbuilding. Bodies of all dynamics are just as diverse as in irl. These beauty standards and stereotypes exist, however, and are just as destructive as irl ones and do just as much harm to alphas and omegas who don’t look like the posters they see trying to sell them bras or sneakers.

How often do heats/ruts occur on average? Can omegas only get pregnant during a heat or anytime?

Heats occur once every two months although it’s not uncommon for them to occur less frequently or more frequently based on diet and stress levels (exactly like an irl period tbh). Heats last 4-6 days on average, but ofc they can be shorter or longer depending on the person.

Ruts occur about once a month, but same as heats they can be less regular depending on a lot of external factors. Ruts only last about a day and it can be cause for concern if they last longer than that. 

Once mated cycles will tend to sync, although it may take a few months, though they will not be shorter or less severe. 

A beta heat/rut (again smth that deserves its own post lol) doesn’t occur unless they’re mated to an alpha/omega respectively. Their cycles sync to their mates, but their heats/ruts tend to be very short compared to an alpha or omega.   

Omegas and vulva having betas can get pregnant at any time. Omegas are just waaayy more fertile during heat, so pregnancy is almost a guarantee, while compared to out of heat it’s just a chance depending on where they are in their cycle.

How long do heats/ruts last?

Jumped the gun on explaining that one didn’t I oops. To reiterate a heat lasts about 4-6 days with the first 2 days being more gentle preheat like symptoms. The third, fourth, and fifth days are like the heat heat you think of this is when they’re fertile and slick coated and ready to fuck and crampy and tired and sick. The last day or two is like a wind down for the body and the omega is usually just very tired and lethargic. They may also eat a lot to regain strength now.

A rut only lasts a day. An alpha will probably feel irritable and confrontational the day before, and can knot the day of. If a rut lasts longer than two days it is recommended to seek medical help as the body starts to strain and inappropriately allocate resources after too long. Alphas just aren’t built for the long haul like omegas are!

Are mating bites a one-and-done, or can new mates be taken with new bites?

I’m always a little unsure about mate questions.

I think a person can be mated more than once but it’s not a matter of like oh new person bit me old person is erased, it doesn’t work like that. A mating bite is a very serious thing as it creates a dependency to the people involved. This kind of pheromonal and chemical dependency just isn’t erased when a new flavor is introduced. In order to have one mate erased the bond needs time to fade. Unfortunately this time period can be long and extremely difficult especially for bonds that have lasted a long time. It’s like severe withdrawal that often requires outside help and medical attention. Not only can it be physically draining but it can cause severe depression and even suicide. Think irl withdrawal symptoms. It’s an addiction and you have to beat it. 

That’s why it’s not recommended to mate before you’re very very sure you’re ready. It can be erased and you can mate again, but is it worth the pain?

What about kids? Do omega bodies reject sex/children for anybody but their bonded mates?

An omega can be impregnated by anyone. There’s not really… much else to say here lol. Egg meet sperm, doesn’t matter who’s.

Is there an emotional/psychic connection for bonded mates?

No. 

When you’re mated to a person you can sort of…smell whatever pheromones they’re emitting to a more specific emotions (a stranger might smell upset but your mate will smell depressed or stressed or distraught). So in a way you can read their emotions much much better, but it’s not psychic and it’s not something you can feel from ten miles away nor is it fool proof!

Can bonding bites be anywhere, or are they required to be on the neck?

Mating bites must be on the neck as the scent glands here are the strongest, most sensitive ones. These ones kinda dominate all the other ones and are in charge of distributing all those good scent chemicals everywhere else. When mixing a scent with another person, aka mating, it needs to be at the control center not at one of the side branches! A bite on the wrist or thigh will feel nice and smell for awhile but it won’t create the dependency a proper mating bite on the neck will. 

Is there anything special about how bonding works? Venoms? Ceremonies? Do they have to consummate within a certain timeframe?

So I kinda talked about it in the other two but to me it's an addiction to another person’s scent and the pheromones in their saliva. You will crave them. The way the smell yes, but also something very carnal that you can’t exactly place. That’s the saliva! The spit is also what will change the scent of the person to compliment their mate’s more. Scents are still unique but you can tell when someone’s been mated or not. This addiction and need for another person can be broken but it’s difficult.

Mating bites will need to be refreshed or they’ll fade and trigger a withdrawal. But healthy mates will crave the bites anyway and refresh on their own accord !

Mating ceremonies usually involve the entire pack/s. They’re large parties and no expense is spared. The bite itself, however, is a private affair. The public affairs and what they entail depend on the culture and religions of the packs involved. A pack following a paganistic lunar cult will probably celebrate under a full or new moon. A buddhist pack might partake in group meditations and light incense together. A catholic one will involve a priest and vows to god. A demon cult might shed blood! While atheist packs probably just have a big elaborate party. Since my world combines made up religions and real world ones the variety is very large!

Timeframe again kinda depends on the people, packs, culture, and religions involved. For example a more freeform relaxed kinda pack might be chill with letting their members mate before even having the ceremony! Whereas a conservative Catholic one would Not accept such a thing at all. Mate bites come AFTER the declaration to god thank you very much!

Think about anatomy. Do omegas have cloaca? Is it only male omegas who have cloaca, or do female omegas have two wombs? Do female alphas have enlarged bits to deliver seed?

Whew this is a hotly contested one.

I’ve toyed with intersex male omegas and female alphas. I’ve played with boy pussies and the idea can be very fun but for this world I think I’m gonna have to stick with the butt babies sorry yall.

Ofc it has to make sense and be sanitary tho so… they’re not really butt babies.

I am in favor of a cloaca and valve system. The vagina doesn’t open into the anus like ive seen in some mock diagrams (do yall want poop in ur vag?), they don’t even share the same entryway perse. It’s like a valve that closes one side when the other is in use. Arousal opens the entryway to the vagina, having to take a dump opens the anus. The tissue here is also way way way more elastic than your average anus allowing for birth with minimal tearing. 

Female omegas only have one womb, there’s biologically no need for two.

I’m in favor of the retractable penis option for female alphas. I want them to be able to give a good dicking down same as their male counterparts :>

Are chances of being an alpha or omega random, or do alpha/omega pairs have greater chances of similar children? Can people breed for better chances of one or the other?

I like it to be random! Maybe something you’re exposed to in the womb that can change or smth like that idk. I just don’t really like thinking out the ratios and who can have what babies, it’s not fun for me personally. I mean irl sex is random so why not all these too? Maybe sperm decides the secondaries as well as primary idk!

Are birth control, heat/rut suppressants, and scent suppressants common, unavailable or illegal on a worldwide basis?

So it kinda depends on the level and what you’re trying to achieve!

Scent suppressants and blockers are very common and sold over the counter as pills, patches that go over the scent glands, or as perfumes/colognes. 

Birth control is also fairly easy to get. Condoms both with and without extra room for knots are available at any pharmacy or convenience store. Female condoms and iuds are a thing for female betas and omegas (these aren’t common for male omegas due to anatomy differences). Birth control pills are also available but these are prescription and come with the typical irl side effects. I will say in conservative, traditionalist packs the pill is kinda frowned upon if taken by omegas since yk they’re supposed to be pregnant.

Heat and rut suppressants… it depends. Very mind symptom relievers can be bought over the counter, but these are very ineffective and just kinda like.. Help with cramps or mood stability. If an individual has a severe rut or heat a doctor can prescribe a suppressant to either reduce the severity/longevity of one, or reduce how often they happen. A rut or heat still occurs on these pills but they’re very manageable. Medications that completely block a heat or rut are illegal as they can have severe consequences. There is a black market for these products and it’s not as hard to find a dealer as authorities make it seem…

Is omega trafficking a problem?

I think it happens and there’s def like awareness campaigns about it the way there are about human and sex trafficking in our world, but it’s not something like extremely rampant and on the radar of most common people. 

Are there power structures based on secondary gender? Are omegas oppressed? Are alphas required to do anything near ruts to prevent violence?

In a traditionalist society the alpha is the top of the food chain. They’re the leaders. Omegas are at the bottom and are expected to be homemakers and childrearers. Betas are kinda like viking women. They can move up and down the rungs as they please. Leader position? Cool just don’t usurp the reigning alpha. Wanna have kids? Cool have fun at home.

There are echos of this in some modern cultures, packs, and religions, however everyday society is slowly moving away from this kind of structure. Stereotypes still exist and are still forced on people, but perhaps not to the same extent.

Omegas are not oppressed, but if they come from a traditionalist pack they may feel forms of oppression even though they are generally okay in society at large.

Alphas were never expected to contain ruts, though sometimes radical campaigns and proposals do throw this idea out there…

Think of famous historical figures. How would they have landed on your gender scale? Was Queen Elizabeth I an alpha? What about Helen of Troy? These historical figures can lead to modern modes of thought. 

Hmm… I think a lot of male leader figures were alphas. I think a lot of female leader figures were probably betas. Religious figures rarely have gender assigned to them to prevent bickering within the religion. Imagine if Jesus of Nazareth was an omega like nah they refuse to disclose that with the goal of making him relatable to all. 

I think in general a lot of historical figures where the secondary gender was known (not sure if Homer would have stated that about Helen of Troy yk? Idk if anyone knew what the fuck Sejong was yk? Like history as a smth we study is very very very new and things just weren’t written down!) they followed their stereotypes. Leader and military alphas, caretaker an activist omegas, business oriented betas. There’s also the very strong possibility that some figures faked their gender to get them there. What if Stalin was an omega? Would the Soviet Union have accepted him if he was? Probably not! 

So even though we are breaking down these harmful stereotypes in this modern day setting, that doesn’t mean we don’t have a long history of pain to unravel. 

What about religion? How has religion handled the secondarys?

!!! Depends on the religion !! I have a super catholic character in the story I'm building this world for so that's the religion I've focused most on. I also made up a little pagan cult for another character so I know about that one too! They honestly deserve their own posts tbh. 

Ultimately at least with Catholicism a lot of it remains very unchanged. Replace women with womb haver and man with seed bearer in any religious text and you basically have it down and accounted for all 6 genders! It’s not too hard to fit religions into omegaverses tbh

I’ll probably make a separate post about my religions later tho

Are/were arranged marriages the norm?

They were the norm and still are the norm in traditionalist societies and packs. Often the head omega of the pack is tasked with pairing off the children either within the pack (if it’s large enough) or with packs closely aligned to them.

Now a lot of the time it’s more left on the individuals themselves they court and mate. Some packs do pressure their members to mate but the person they do is up to them.

When do people learn what they are outside of medical testing? Are they born with a mark or secondary specific trait, or is it a mystery until they present or not?

I always go back and forth on this!!

See in a modern setting like you’d be able to tell what kind of reproductive organs your child has. Yes even between an alpha male and a beta male (there would be evidence of the ability to knot). Maybe not between omega female and beta female tho that one is harder….

But it’s also just more fun sometimes to have it where no one knows! For drama and character purposes I think for this universe I’m going to have it be a total surprise until they go through puberty at about eh like 12-14ish. I think people would have hunches though. Like smells and behaviors can probably clue at least parents and teachers in pretty quickly but kids are literally dumb and oblivious and the kid that always nests will probably be thunderstruck to be an omega even tho it was fucking obvious to everyone else. 

Not to say there aren’t real surprises because I’m sure there are…

Military: Historically are any genders or secondarys not allowed to participate in the military? Are female alphas allowed? What about male omegas?

Tbh I don’t really think about this much? Just not smth that interests me but I imagine the military was an alpha only thing for awhile but included betas bc numbers. For fun tho lets say that omega’s are still not really allowed in. Like you can fight for it but they’re gonna make it hard.

[koolkat9]

🔥💌

🔥give us a hetalia hot take!

This is just my opinion and I know many of my friends ship it but...I don't really like Ger//Ita...I think it's kind of boring tbh.

💌 what are your "essential" ships? (in your version of the hetalia universe, these characters have to be a romantic pair - and them not being one feels weird/wrong)

NedCan. I don't know. Matt can be dating all kinds of people because I love all kinds of Matt ships, but he has to be poly with Jan always being once of his partners.

Other than that, there isn't any ship where I need them to always be together since I do multiship. Though in my main headcanon verse it's GerEng (possibly Gerfruk but I'm still flip flopping on it), Matt's polycule with Jan, Carlos, and Kateryna, Aushun, Itapan, AmeLiet.

[tzigone]

Kate and Renee as parents? (headcanon reboot)

Just a little backstory on my headcanon reboot. An important aspect is that, unlike actual comics, it is close-ended. Heroes will eventually retire. Most (not all) couples don't do the hamster-wheel of get together-break up- get back together. Some villains are redeemed, and they stay redeemed instead of flip=flopping over and over. This is relevant for Beth Kane, as she will be redeemed and slip into normal life.

Now, I prefer Kate/Renee to Kate/Maggie - it was the first ship I read with Kate, and I prefer Maggie in Metropolis. So, they had their historical break up, and despite some rough going, make a success of their relationship fairly early in Batwoman's days.

The question I have is whether to ever make them parents. Opinions? I do have some ground rules I came up with after asking opinions about Kate as a mom before:

She has to have an infant or young child - I do not want her copying Bruce (or so many others, but they were kinda copying Batman for sales) and taking in a sidekick-aged kiddo. I want her different, rather than taking that path. Per previous comment, Cadmus tech totally allows same sex couples to have children that biologically belong to both parents.

Secondly, I want her to be retired from Batwoman before becoming a parent. Given her childhood, she doesn't want her child to be endangered or traumatized by the danger her work brings - not sure what that means for Renee's work, though. Also, she became Batwoman when she was lost and adrift, and it sort of gave her purpose and direction - I like the idea that she doesn't need that anymore to have direction and goals and not be self-destructive (which doesn't mean she can't still enjoy it).

So, do they have kids or not? And, if so, at what age/after how long as heroes (depending on if Montoya becomes the Question)? Do they adopt or use Cadmus tech or use artificial insemination or ROPA? If they use Cadmus tech, does either carry the baby, or do they just let it grow in a vat and then come pick it up when it's done? If artificial insemination/ROPA, then which has the pregnancy?

[porto-rosso]

rose wilson?

YAY rose my girl rose

sexuality headcanon: i kinda flip flop between lesbian and bi for her, but generally i lean lesbian. either way she's a girlkisser

gender headcanon: she/her but she's weird about it

ship with said character: CASSROSE! i am so fucking insane about them at all times. the parallels. god. i do also really like rosecassie <3

brotp with said character: dc want them to have romantic tension so bad but she and jason r just loser besties to me

notp with said character: nothing immediately comes to mind? her and tim maybe. that was vile.

random headcanon: rose having brown eyes is a hill i will die on (shocker). also i really don't think she can shoot (gun or bow/crossbow) to save her life and mia harps on her about it (<- i don't even think they've interacted in canon but they get along to me in a friends that constantly make fun of each other way)

general opinion: i love her. i love her so much. she is in the favorite character microwave in my head at all times. really wish dc would do a bit more with her as she has so much potential but i'm really happy she's at least appeared fairly regularly this year :]

ask game

[jinxpologist]

okay this is neither an opinion nor an answer to your question, but your government id question just made me think of it: how populated do you think the dsmp is? is it just the characters we know or are there other unseen characters that live there?

literally no need to apologize or make any disclaimer i LOVE asks about my random ass posts. you are forever in my heart for sending this

honestly i flip flop a lot. when analyzing, it's best to just assume that the characters we see are all that really matter to the narrative, so that's all we should think about. that perspective doesn't lend itself well to creativity and transformative work though. for fanfiction, headcanons, etc, i like to assume that there's more people than the characters we have on screen and there's an unseen population of every area, otherwise it makes it difficult to understand the grandiosity of the situations the characters have put themselves in.

so yeah, if i'm doing character analysis, i don't acknowledge any existence outside of the canonical characters. for anything else (headcanons, fanfiction, worldbuilding, etc.) i'm going to imagine there's an unseen population.

[connorinabeanie]

YES HELLO ASK GAME FOR GAVIN REED

♥!

I can't say my opinions on Gavin will be truly hot takes but here they are anyway.

1: sexuality headcanon

Gavin clearly has the largest crushes on so many people around him and none of those people are women, so while I won't rule out that he might be attracted to women, I imagine he's mostly into men/masculine presenting people.

2: otp

Uh honestly I literally never think about Gavin and shipping in terms of pairings I actually like so... I guess I can say that the fandom take on Gavin and RK900 has some dynamics I like? It can definitely be made to work, it's just that it's an inherently fandom ship in not just the pairing, but in RK900's entire personality (whether or not Gavin is fandomized or given his canon personality.) So it's really hard for me to actually ship it, but in terms of fun dynamics I appreciate in otps, it counts.

3: brotp

The relationship between fandom Gavin and Tina gives me life and I love it. The two of them being terribly chaotic BFFs has been one of my favorite fanon things, even in like, fics and such where they're not the focus but are just being menaces in the background. It's beautiful and I love them.

4: notp

Gavin and Connor. Starts off terribly and I don't think their personalities would be well suited together even if you're using fanon Gavin instead of canon Gavin. In social situations Connor tends to flip flop from extremely passive to overly aggressive and both of those would be absolutely terrible when mixed with Gavin's bullying and insecurity, and also their canon relationship being as it is I just hate everything about this pairing.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

It's barely even headcanon since it's basically canon anyway but Gavin constantly gets himself into situations he has no idea how to get out of. I imagine he liked to pick a lot of fights, some relatively minor and some serious, when he was younger and then instantly was in over his head in all of them.

6: favorite line from this character

I'm too lazy to go willingly seek out Gavin content but the line in the Eden Club where he's talking derisively about the guy who Echo killed always stands out to me. Gavin hates androids but he also has an utter disdain for the sorts of people who frequent Eden Club and I think that's an interesting little character bit.

7: one way in which I relate to this character

We are both small and angry, though Gavin's still a hundred miles taller than me, so in a way I'm really winning the small and angry contest here. Also the extreme urge to make bitchy comments every five seconds is very much relatable, though Gavin hasn't yet learned the art of NOT making those comments every time you think about them.

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

He's trying SO HARD to be tough and impressive and he's just like, the lamest dude and on one hand that's very funny but on the other I'm so embarrassed for him. Him showing off for Tina in Waiting for Hank by bullying Connor while Tina is just like, completely stone faced is one of the funniest background things to me.

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

Not even a problematic fave since I hardly ever think about him, but he is problematic. So problematic. But I do love that even his biggest fans know he's a complete disaster and I don't believe anyone anywhere would ever call him a cinnamon roll.