#but there is simply no history to base any of my headcanons on

[betty-bourgeoisie]

Also I like China and Iceland as metamours/ fuck buddies who are dating the same two guys, because ultimately the history of China-Iceland relations is a history of two nations just mutually going "Well Russia and America both seem to think they're important so I guess I should talk to them...." which is, at the end of the day, possibly the most realistic metamour relationship of all

[anneapocalypse]

I'm just gonna say it, the idea that Dragon Age has this big history of "playersexual" love interests I think is largely BS. It's a term somebody came up with that probably seemed like a good idea at the time, and devs and gaming news outlets have been parroting it mindlessly every since.

If "playersexual" means that an NPC's orientation is only toward the player character or changes based on the player character, and therefore they can't be said to have a distinct sexuality, that is just... demonstrably not true for most of the relevant characters in Dragon Age.

Leliana is not playersexual. She has a past relationship with a woman. There's a whole DLC about it.

Zevran is not playersexual. He tells you in dialogue that he's interested in men and women.

Isabela is not playersexual. She mentions past involvement with men and women, and will have a relationship with Fenris if not romanced by Hawke.

Fenris is not playersexual. See above about the relationship with Isabela.

Anders is not playersexual. In Awakening he mentions liking pretty girls, and he has a past relationship with a man. Not everyone may get the latter dialogue in the game (and it's fair to question that writing choice), but it's also in World of Thedas; it's canon even if you didn't hear it in your game.

The Iron Bull is not playersexual. He can have a relationship with Dorian if not romanced.

Josephine is not playersexual. She has a brief hint of a relationship with Blackwall, even though it doesn't last.

The player character's gender has no effect on any of these relationships canonically happening.

The only love interest you could maybe make a case for (simply because we have no other canon relationships to point to) is Merrill, and her lack of experience is largely alluded to being a result of her being sheltered as the Keeper's apprentice, rather than her having no interest.

While not all of these characters will outright tell you they're attracted to the same gender if not romanced, they all canonically have romantic or sexual interests of some kind outside the player character and none of those change based on the player character's gender, only (sometimes) on whether they are in a romance with the player character. My point here isn't that there's no room for queer identity to be made more explicit, but that their sexualities explicitly do not revolve only around the player character.

And if that's not the definition of "playersexual" then okay, what is it?

Do NPCs literally have to be having a threesome onscreen, visible in every single playthrough no matter what, for us to accept that they have a sexuality that isn't contingent on the player character? Alistair or Sebastian's availability as a romance to female PCs only is generally considered sufficient evidence that they're canonically straight (whatever else fans may headcanon or desire). It's possible to have Sera in your game without ever talking to her about her sexuality, but she's still canonically a lesbian. So exactly what standards for "canon bisexuality" or "canon pansexuality" are we falling short of here? And why is it only for bi/pan characters that the bar is set so high?

These games actually go to considerable lengths to show us that its characters have lives and personalities and preferences apart from the player character. Why is it never enough? Why are we so resistant to just calling these characters pansexual and bisexual? What do we gain from that refusal? And what do we lose?

[phntmeii]

♡ Dating Aemond Targaryen Headcanons:

❝ I would not blind you. I plan to make a gift of it to my mother.❝

[SFW + No Gendered Terms]

A/N: Honestly not shocked Aemond was voted high for headcanons lmao. I will say he was a bit tougher simply because he doesn't have many lines/screentime to base him on so it might be a bit OOC!!

⚔︎ Aemond's interest is something that would keep hidden to himself for a good while. He isn't one to want to show emotions especially ones that he could consider a weakness.

⚔︎ His interest in the beginning can be only seen through his silent watchful gaze across the hall toward you. It's piercing and intense that Aemond might not realize that it seems more threatening than affectionate honestly.

⚔︎ If you happened to find out, it's because one of his siblings found out first. Both of them CANNOT keep a secret for their LIFE and would embarrass him with (semi)good intentions.

⚔︎ If it's Aegon that found out, he found out because he recognizes such a stare from himself. He would immediately (probably drunkenly) approach you and try to wingman by asking you a slew of questions to get to know you then drop Aemond's name around the conversation.

⚔︎ "An interest in books? Eh. Not for me personally, my lady, but I can assure you that my brother cannot pull his head out of one."

⚔︎ If it's Helaena that found out, it's because Aemond told her in the hopes for advice and explicitly told her to keep it a secret. Cue her telling you the moment she next saw you casually.

⚔︎ "Aemond? Oh! He told me of how he dreams of you through the night, you know!”

⚔︎ ^ Sweet girl thought this wasn’t a big deal because she dreams vividly about people all the time.

⚔︎ Once the secret's out, he has no choice but to approach you. He keeps his head high and looks to you with the same intent stare. His voice is low as he confirms what has been said about him.

⚔︎ At the beginning, he is hesitant to initiate any affection. Due to his previous experiences with women at the hands of Aegon, he finds it difficult and becomes reclusive.

⚔︎ He'll mainly take you for walks and read beside you but keep quiet. He more so waits for you to initiate conversation and watches you.

⚔︎ He may seem annoyed or irritated but that's just his resting face. Everything you say is ingrained into his mind and whatever you express interest or like of is immediately logged for future reference.

⚔︎ Once physical contact is more accepted, he tries it more in a gentleman-like manner. Kissing the back of your hand each time you meet, offering his arm when you two walk together and more.

⚔︎ His favorite is admiring your face while his hand holds your cheek. It's almost as though he's trying to memorize each part like it was artwork.

⚔︎ He tries his best to impress you when possible. Aemond wants to prove himself to you and prove he's worthy of your affections.

⚔︎ Whether this be with his knowledge of history and philosophy, sparring, or some other skill of his, he wants to prove he is worth any of your attention.

⚔︎ Absolutely caters to you especially in public settings or events. Too overwhelmed? He’s guiding you out of the room to calm down. Someone is getting too pushy? He’s ready to defend you in a moment’s notice. Feeling ignored? His attention fully turns to you to entertain your conversations.

⚔︎ Aemond is also one to fully understand your boundaries to keep you comfortable. He would never want to push too far considering his own past regarding being pushed like that. Any requests you make of him will be fully honored by him.

⚔︎ Aemond does have quite the soft spot for you and strictly for you. Once comfortable with you, he can’t help but melt when you’re excited about something. He’d be studying his book for the day and once you come in with a newly-designed outfit, twirling around happily to show it off to him, he slowly breaks out into a warm smile and sets his book aside to give you his full loving gaze.

⚔︎ Aemond’s Main Love Languages to give are: Quality Time and Words of Affirmation.

⚔︎ Aemond enjoys having your presence around him, finding it to be calming. At dinners, he sits right beside you and defaults to looking over at you to feel comfortable. Knowing you’re by his side soothes him.

⚔︎ He’ll also try and teach you any little thing about his personal interests just because he likes to share with you. This is even better if you also know about the subject matter! He gets very excited at the prospect of someone as knowledgeable as he is!

⚔︎ Aemond likes to give you daily reminders of how much he simply adores you. In fact, each time you two are getting ready in the morning, Aemond walks up behind you, wrapping his arms around you and telling you how stunning you look.

⚔︎ Aemond will make it his internal mission to ensure you never feel unloved or unappreciative. And if you have any insecurities? He’s spending every moment reminding you that you’re precious in every sense of the word.

⚔︎ “Darling, surely you are not here sulking when you are the perfect definition of beauty itself? I feel as though *I* am the one unworthy of being in your presence with such perfection.”

⚔︎ Aemond’s Favorite Love Languages to receive are: Physical Touch and Words of Affirmation.

⚔︎ Both of these play a part in soothing his insecurities imo.

⚔︎ Obviously, while he feels losing his eye was worth the prize he claimed, it nevertheless makes him feel odd because he knows people are staring at him for it.

⚔︎ He wouldn’t wish to scare you with what his eye looks like which is why he covers it. But showing his scarred eye love and appreciation with gentle touches and kisses as well as endless praise, he’s looking up at you with sparkling puppy dog eyes.

⚔︎ “You truly believe… I am worthy of such affections? …Are you sure?”

⚔︎ While Aemond can maintain his stoicism in public settings, in private, he can’t help but want your gentle touch and complimentary words. It becomes a craving of whenever you’re in his presence.

⚔︎ This craving can cause him to unintentionally grow possessive and overprotective. He sees himself as your personal protector and he would rather die than fail to protect you in any manner.

⚔︎ Aemond may shoot threatening glares or bluntly insult other people if he feels they grow too “familiar” with you. Aegon would tease him for looming over you all the time which Aemond will insist is for your protection. (You were just walking to the privy.)

⤷ divider credits: @cafekitsune

[kerubimcrepin]

LIVEBLOG: Wakfu Season 4, Episode 12

I will be honest: if Joris started seriously using this thing he would simply get scared like "WHAT IF I AM GOING TO DIE ON ACCIDENT AND NOT NOTICE DOING TOO MUCH". Also, his pride wouldn't allow him to overindulge.

What I'm getting at, is that his usage of this thing is literally the most in-character, funniest thing that he could have possibly done.

Yes. It's the demons again. I don't actually have anything to add. He looked pretty.

>touch eldritch artifact that feeds on life energy to make people powerful >use it to enhance your nonexistent magical huppermage abilities that were killed both by lack of education and the fact you have a weird fucking dragonized body to summon a tresstump magic wand from a different country >stop using eldritch artifact in any way Literally nobody does it like him. I can just hear him praying that nobody notices or thinks he's weird. But I do. I do.

...If he didn't have The Stump on his mind, he probably wouldn't have stepped anywhere close to this thing.

I thought about how many times Joris has probably had to read out war speeches, to be able to pull something this good sounding out with no preparation, and got a bit sick in the head.

There is nobody better to read out a speech like this, I think. I don't have any thoughts because I am now clinically insane.

At this point, they have discussed the plan for infiltrating the Necro world.

And I keep thinking about the fact that, Just like everyone in this place, Joris has a family to return to and protect (<- taking poison damage actively) and that Joris, like everyone else, is distinctly aware that if they die — not only will their loved ones be sad, they'll also be dead as well.

I really like this little moment of "I really hope you know what you're doing (I don't know what we're doing, and I'm scared)" and the way his voice sounds worried...

I can read complex emotional motivations into ANY Joris dialogue. Just watch me. The worms inside my brain guide me.

The little nod as their plan commences...

If Joris + Sword = Atchan behaviour, then Joris + his stupid log = Kerubim behaviour... From his full-front and full-back pirouettes, to the way he holds positions himself.

As I've said, while it might not be Ankama's intention even now, Joris's fighting style has always resembled Kerubim and Atcham a lot. Which would fit, considering they were probably the ones to actually teach him to fight. (However, by now, I'd be sad if it wasn't their intention...)

Though in the original movie scripts, I'm pretty sure it was Kerubim was the one who actually gave him the log and taught him to use it... So, maybe my jokes about Joris's style in the first seasons are actually pretty-on point and Joris's fighting style has always been based off his?

Whatever the fuck is going on with Joris and Kerubim's bond is at this point, like, written in the fabric of the universe. It's a big comfort to know that the one and only reason I began liking Joris as a character (that reason being his relationship with Kerubim) has always existed in some way

...Ankama please make Kerubim teaching Joris to use the log as a weapon canon already! For years, even before researching movie history, my headcanon has been "Kerubim asked Joris what weapon he'd like to learn to use first — expecting the answer to be something like "a staff" or "a wand" due to Joris's lineage... and Joris responded with "yours :) blunt damage to the bones yippie" which was unexpected but pleasant."

I'm fucking crazy you know. Yugo took Joris's hit... The way Joris softly says "Yugo! :(". The way he immediately rushes at Toross... Friendship is so real and poignant.

Joris "I can't show people they're getting under my skin or that I'm uncomfortable bc that's a sign of weakness" Jurgen saying this is just. you know that he's just fucked. that he's stressed out. and maybe scared of dying. if he was feeling normal, he would not fucking say this.

He probably means this in a "you're not even the 1238423th person that I outlived and defeated to try and get at me like this" but it comes across as "I'm so tired of it".

He's always been disrespected. No matter how hard he tries or how hard he works, everyone just treats him like a child, calls him a little guy at best, a midget at worst — even if he is a politican, even if he is 600 years old. Every person that doesn't know him tutoyers him. Even his family sometimes treats him like a child — albeit for different reasons.

He has 20 mental illnesses, and half of them would be solved by indiscriminately shooting anyone who calls him "petit" or "nabot" or "garçon" with a gun.

[walks into the sea]

On the first watch-through, I genuinely cheered and clapped. Ya!!

Kill him Joris. Kill him and be reborn as a lotus flower.

:(

[subzeroparade]

*chant* New fic! New fic! New fic!

So excited you’ve posted a new ER fic, and with a teaser for more to come! 🎉🎉🎉

Since it’s been awhile, maybe I poke your brain on what your thoughts on the DLC are (game play, lord, sceneries, anything you’d like to share with us really)? Has it changed your headcanon on any of the characters, or did you find ways to incorporate the new lores into your interpretations? Most importantly, did you have fun?

*tagged for spoilers but just in case - spoilers •‿•*

Did I enjoy it? YES. Did I have qualms with some gameplay bits? YES but I’m a filthy casual on NG+2 or something and generally Not Good at Game. But I beat it. 

As for lore, it’s really a mixed bag. There’s a ton of stuff I’m delighted to have new or expanded lore for - Marika’s origins, Belurat and the entirety of Hornsent culture, Godwyn’s Death Knights, BAYLE???? VILE BAYLE!!!! etc etc (sometimes I listen to Igon’s voice lines just to psych myself up for real life). There are things I need to adjust my headcanon for a little, as well - St Trina, for example, has always been a facet of Miquella himself to me, a sort of alter ego he willingly takes on, which is how I enjoyed writing her in fic. To have her elaborated here as a separate person means taking that a little further if I write him/her/them again, but I think the parallel it draws between Marika/Radagon is hugely interesting as well.  

iirc there are a couple of instances in the base game where lore almost contradicts itself, but I think in some cases the DLC got a little sloppy. The timeline is also way foggier to me now than it was previously. I was a big fan of the idea that Messmer was entirely unknown to his siblings, written out of history after the Crusade (predating Marika ushering in the Golden Age of the Erdtree), but that contradicts the lore we get on Gaius and Radahn as they’re both personally acquainted with Messmer, and makes me wonder which of the other demigods might’ve been aware of him, and under what pretences might they have met. It makes for a lot of fic ideation, but I’m of the opinion that if you’re writing fic, sticking too closely to (the sometimes unhelpful) lore will stultify the work; so I’m trying to pluck little instances of new lore that interest me to bolster the story I want to tell.  

Like most of the fandom I have a huge beef with Promised Consort Radahn, and I’m still struggling with how to work that into my headcanon. To me, there is simply no reason for it. There are no indications of it in the base game, and you have to tie yourself into continuity knots for it to make any sense - and that’s just bad writing. I’m not against retconning things if they serve a purpose, but this was neither useful nor necessary (nor well done), and that’s fundamentally disappointing for a Fromsoft game. The more people aggressively try and justify it, the more I feel like the potential explanations unravel. If we’re going along with the assumption that Miquella *needs* a lord to ascend, we’ve had Candidate #1 since the base game: Godwyn. Half of what we know about base-game Miquella is that he spent time and resources trying to grant Godwyn some form of peace, while his hideous fate hangs over the narrative in perpetuity. And we give Radahn closure literally in the first act of the game. I’m a firm believer in Miquella knowing 100% what he’s about, but in this singular instance blinded by love for Godwyn and an all-consuming desire to *fix this* by resurrecting some nightmarish, malformed version of him. There’s so much juicy story to be told in Miquella refusing to acknowledge the thing he brought back is not his brother, and for all that godhood and remaking the world into utter passivity can do, it can’t retrieve Godwyn’s irretrievable soul. All that to say, I’d even take Malenia as his promised consort - it would made more sense than Radahn, too.

Anyway tldr I don’t have to think about how disappointing that is now, because the fic I’m working on is around Marika’s ascension, and more specifically Messmer and Melina’s upbringing. There’s another on the backburner but I’m on the fence about it since it hasn’t reached an outline stage yet, and I don’t start anything unless I am 100% sure I know how to finish it, and finish it well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Ty for the ask! As is the case with me, the rest of my musings on the lore come through in fic writing, because those are the texts dumps I’m good at. Here’s a little (young) Melina and Messmer wip as thanks. 

[polisena-art]

I've always wanted to ask since it's never definite and changes based on adaption, but what's your preference for Panchito's last name? Pistoles? Romero Miguel Francisco Quintero Gonzalez III? No last name at all? Some combination like Pistoles being a stage name? If he lived with José in Rio long enough could he eventually adopt Carioca? It seems to differ for everyone which is one of the cool fandom things

HI! SO- I can safely say I don't consider Panchito's surname to be "Pistoles". To me, that's his stage name and an American stage name at that!! Getting a little meta for a bit here, the name "Pistoles" was chosen for the character simply because it was easier for the American audience to pronounce it with an "e" instead of the original "a" in the spanish word for "pistols". So, going back in universe, imagine that in the 1940s when the Three Caballeros commissioned a small series of posters with the little money they had, they all came with a typo in Panchito's name because of the language barrier/miscommunication with the print shop. But in the end Panchito kinda digged that XDDD "NO, LEAVE IT IN!!! It makes it new and exciting, guys!!!" Paco might say, upbeat and always seeing the bright side of every situation. I like to imagine that his nickname in his hometown and stage name in México was "Panchito Pistolas" and just "Panchito" for family and friends. As for his actual surname I really dig the House of Mouse version, (Panchito Romero Miguel Junípero Francisco Quintero González Tercero) even if it means he would be Francisco twice XD, tbh not the weirdest naming decision to happen in latin america by far...

AS FOR JOSÉ!!! Well, first, I don't think that either one of them would adopt any of each others' surnames (but this is my own bias because I kinda hate the whole changing names for marriage and the burocracy it entails-) Also I'm in the fence whether to consider "Carioca" to be José's real surname or not. This is very much me overanalyzing the character but we are in the "overanalyzing stupid characters website" so whatever- The thing with José is that, here in Brazil, "Zé Carioca" reads simply as a very descriptive nickname meaning "guy from Rio". Reason why I can totally see it being just a nickname that later got turned into a stage name for him. So, it also doesn't make sense to me for Panchito to have it in his name, that Bitch (affectionate) isn't carioca! But anyways, just to clarify, can "Carioca" be a surname? Yes, absolutely!! It is, in fact, a surname that exists in Brazil although it's not a very popular one. But when you consider the character's history and also Zé's cousins (the joke with them being that each has a regional name after "Zé" indicating where they are from), the idea you get is that Carioca is not a family name but a label. The comics have also shown us some of Zé's relatives that could indicate what other alternative surnames he may have but, mind you, none of this means that Zé would have inherited these particular surnames! So we're still in headcanon valley here. First, there are Zé's two grandads: Zé Paiva (or Zeca Paiva) and Josué Carioca. We don't know which one is from mother's side or father's side tho. And later there are more relatives, including two grandmas, one from the Dutch comics, Oma Carioca (aka vovó Carioca), and the other from a recent Culturama release, Isaura Araripe. Once again we don't know which one represents the mother's side and which represents the father's side. In the Culturama special story tho, José's family, including himself, identify as "Araripe" (a real surname but also a play on the word "arara" meaning "macaw" in portuguese).

So, we coooould make Zé Carioca's registry name be any mix of these like "José Araripe Carioca" or "José Paiva Araripe" OR "José Carioca Araripe" OR "José Paiva Carioca" OOOOR if you're a fan of long names "José Carioca Araripe Paiva". The mother's family name comes first in Brazil but since we don't know which one that would be, you can pick and choose to your heart's content. I said all that BUT I'm also a big fan of the "descriptive" nature of "José Carioca" as a name for the character, because it almost grants him a kind of anonimity. There are millions of Zés in Brazil and millions of cariocas (in relation to place of birth) too. Which makes him LITERALLY JUST A GUY!!! Just a little guy commiting scams all around and nobody fucking knows his real name-- A REAL POWER MOVE in my opinion. That said, I would also find it very funny if he had the most WIDELY USED Brazilian surname and ONLY THAT, making him "José Silva" or "José da Silva", so he could maintain that "generic guy" energy in his registry name as well.

[xviiper-rents-houses]

Avatar... way of the water..YANDERE? P2

Neytiri

I'm going with the premise that you are a human. It was when she saw you in the woods with Grace and Norm. She would have killed you if it weren't for Grace being there particularly. (I think that Neytiri had a connection with Grace, like teacher and student).

Anyways.. Neytiri grew curious about your behaviors. Her decision to not kill you led her to want to learn more about you. It was then, Neytiri decided she would go to the Sky People's base.

When approaching, Neytiri spied you doing your normal tasks. Something about you fascinated her. She just couldn't place it. Neytiri would probably stalk you for a long while before making any sort of contact. When she does make contact, though, it's probably in the case of an attack.

Neytiri in the newest movie was like: insane murder mode. She was unstable in that moment but determined. Dragging from that, I'd think Neytiri would take you as a hostage at first, pointing a knife to your neck. The rest is just history ✨ 💅😈

Jake Sully.

You probably met Jake on base. A cripple. "A meal on wheels." I could see Jake meeting you and you just ignoring the fact he is bound to his wheel chair.

When Jake got his avatar body, however, that's where I think things would get interesting. Perhaps you are doing one of your tasks and Jake just up and lifts you off the ground.

This would lead into spouts of arguments. Either teasing or genuinely irritated, whatever the case. You decide! (Perhaps I'll do some canons on how many Na'vi character likes to hold you? 👀).

When Jake left to go into the woods, you had a feeling something was off. You then learned he fell in love with the ways of the Na'vi.

Jake wanted you to share that bond as well. In the revolt against the humans, Jake Sully wanted you to stay by his side during this battle. To work together.

Spider.

My headcanon for Spider is rather interesting. I felt that we did not get enough of him in the movie though, I could be biased.

In any case, Spider strikes me as the extremely hard headed and protective yandere. Maybe Spider made you uncomfortable multiple times. Forcing you to go outside with him when you didn't want to. And you probably hurt yourself in those cases.

Spider would simply laugh at your misfortune, not aware you were genuinely wounded. It would most likely take him some time to recognize your pain. Then, he would feel extreme guilt.

Spider does care for you though. Deeply. He'll try to take you under his wing and teach you things he has learned. Spider wants you to see what he sees. Spider is fierce in his movements.

He knows what he wants and he thinks he knows what you need. There are times where he doesn't know, though. And that's where you come in. Your words fix anything he doesn't feel sure about.

Ao'noung

Like Spider, you were human when you met Ao'noung. The Na'vi always saw humans as weaker than his own kind. It was bad enough having the Sully kids around and Spider. Now, there is you?

My brain likes to think that Ao'noung personally hated you for a long time. This hatred turned into a sort of obsession when Ao'noung followed you around. I think he would do this because he wants you to know he's not leaving you alone. Making fun of your slow speed in the water.

Calling you names in Na'vi. Poking and prodding at you. If you weren't able to learn Na'vi, Ao'noung would take full advantage of this.

It's probably at a moment when you felt particularly upset when Ao'noung continued his usual antics. Perhaps flat out crying or growing extremely mad at him triggered something inside the male.

That's where I think to think he got used to the Sully kids and their odd fingers. Ao'noung would get used to you and try to make it up to you by being a lot nicer in the future.

Roxto

Now, we didn't get enough of this guy in the film but, I do have some small ideas. (Sorry if it's short, but if I let myself rant: I 👏 will 👏 RANT...p.s., lemme know if y'all want a big rant from me or not).

Roxto seems to be rather unsure of himself in the movie, usually following what the others do. Roxto needs the support and encouragement from others to feel like he belongs.

He was heard saying in the movie after Ao'noung saying: "He asked if you're a freak?" His tone sounded rather uncertain. So, that adds more curiosity to what type of yandere he could be. DEFINITELY the uncertain, unpredictable type.

Like, Roxto might feel major guilt for the stuff he does to you and whatever. Maybe he tries guilt tripping you into liking him? Perhaps your first interaction was of Roxto following along with Ao'noung's bullying.

But, maybe he didn't really like the idea of doing that to you. Maybe he wanted to learn so much from you before but did not get the chance to. So, in his own time, Roxto would maybe try to speak with you to learn more?

[asmogorna]

I can't recall if I have already asked you this or not, but were you the one who drew this?

(If so, then I need you to know that this is the best Will Wood fanart that has ever been made. Plus he would totally wear that.)

i'll tell you more. there's a prequel to this. and i have a huge history with this very art. grab your hot cocoa, your popcorn, or whatever else you consume when listening to a story..

NOW tbh this mf piece of art makes my heart sink every time i see it simply because the memories of the past still haunt me and theyre not lovely /hj

imagine, year 2023, (relatively) young asmogorna doesn't yet know how twitter can get when it comes to fandoms based around real people, and his friend gives him an idea

"i had a dream about will wood drawing hamilton yaoi" his friend said to him "you should draw that"

and draw that young asmo did

but then a funny teehee connection was created in asmo's head. "hey" he thought "you know what else is related to hamilton. miku binder."

and he, inspired by this truly humorous and silly idea, drew that very masterpiece, posting it on twitter later that day, with the caption "i am so sorry mr william wood". "oh what a splendid laugh me and me lads (mooties) shall have" asmo thought, as he closed the website

yet little did he know, that the next time he opens twitter its going to be multiple people jumping him and beating his ass in the qrts

"erm,, why are we drawing real life cis men in binders?? /neg /genq" they chanted

"will wood would KILL this person" they howled

"

" they preached, as they threw their torches and rotten tomatoes at stupid young asmogorna

he was shocked, truly shocked, for he did not expect such a backlash. the last thing he had in head is implying that mr william sunshine woodiam of the okultra is trans with his art, his mind blown by the amount of people misunderstanding his intentions, for he didnt even think about the intentions people would assume he had. "where tf did i ever say that this is a headcanon of any sort THIS DOESNT EVEN HAVE TO BE A BINDER FOR TRANS PPL WHAT ARE THEY ON" he mumbled softly to his friends, glancing at the raging crowd.

asmo shamefully deleted the post, wrote a public apology thread, and decided to throw the painting he put so much shits and giggles in out in the trash, forever forgetting his legacy....

but to be fr tho that shit was funny asf and im still mad at twitter for making me look like one of them tallyship mfs who headcanon real life people as .. anything really😭

will wood would scoff and giggle in disappointment at this MAX trust me his ass does NOT gaf

[patheticrafeenjoyer]

rafe cameron middle name polling

okay so sooooo much of this is based on my own personal headcanons of the cameron family dynamics, but just walk with me here.

feel free to answer w/out reading the stuff i'm about to say, but it'll be under the cut and i think it'll help contextualize some of the options lol.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD REPLY WITH SOME SUGGESTIONS!!!!!!!

so, ward's middle name begins with "r" (seen on his arrest/search warrant as "ward r. cameron") but rafe's is literally just "rafe cameron". i'm not normal so i need to know what it is. of course, i have Thoughts about this topic.

so here's the potential options for me + some reasoning

"Ward" -> Named after his father, self explanatory.

After Ward's father -> This is dependent on how you view Ward's relationship with his own father. I don't think it was very close at all, but jury's out on if he'd give his son his father's name. [Additionally, for this one, I think it would begin with the letter "R", because that's what Ward's is. I suppose the "R" in Ward's name could be his grandfather, but I see it like it's been a name passed down a whole bunch. Also, based on the fact that I'm like 99% sure Ward's family is from The Cut, so I think the name would be a more working-class name. By this I just mean, that since names have a long history of being indicative of class status, with longer, "fancier" names belonging to upper-class individuals. (More on this later)]. Also, keep in mind that we have to consider the era that Ward's father would've been born in. Ward himself is in his 50's, so born somewhere between 1970-1961. Therefore, presumably his father would've been born around twenty years beforehand. Some examples of names fitting the criteria here might be something like: Rhett, Reed, Richard, Raymond, Randall. If we're forgoing the "R" names, we could open this up to something like: James, David, Wyatt, Elliot.

After Unnamed Mama Cameron's father -> Okay, so again we are going off of my own headcanon about Rafe's mother, and this one is also dependent on how you view her relationship to her family. To me she comes from a rich family (I see the legacy of the Cameron family being at Chapel Hill is not actually the Cameron's at all, but their mother's paternal side of the family). Some things very common in upper-class naming conventions is last names as first names, or something to signify the status of the family, or something that leans more traditional. So, names like: Montgomery, Hastings, Remington, Stetson, Clifford, Kenneth.

Something Bibical -> These names are verrrrrrrrry common. Everyone wants to make nice with the guy upstairs I guess. For Rafe, this would depend on how religious you view Ward/Unnamed Mama Cameron and their families before them. Also, take into consideration the different types of Biblical names; you have the more common/everyday names, like: Isaac, Andrew, Noah, Lucas, Michael, Barnabus, Abraham, Nathaniel, Elijah.

Some things to keep in mind, I've read that keeping a family connection is very important in southern naming conventions. Another common feature is a double name (though this would apply to a first name/set of names rather than middle, but also something to consider).

Honestly, there's just simply so many options. I tried to cover as many bases as I could think of, but I'm certain I've missed some.

My own personal bias leads me to believe Rafe's middle name is something from his maternal family. I don't view Ward as being particularly close to his own father/family (at least by the time Rafe was born), and I don't think he would've named Rafe his own name either. I don't have any real reasoning for either of these, I just sorta have a feeling. Therefore, I lean toward Unnamed Mama Cameron's father. Since, to me she is from an upper-class family, I think it would be one of those longer, fancy-sounding ones (Remington, Hastings, etc., but none of the ones I listed sound right). Actually, come to think of it, none of the names I listed from any of the categories sound right. So, if you have any suggestions, please comment.

Also if you even care I think he's a "Rafael" btw. Sarah is just "Sarah" after one of the parents' mothers, either Ward or Unnamed Mama Cameron's. Wheezie is either "Louisa" or "Ouisa", and based on Ward or Unnamed Mama Cameron's grandmothers. Watch me explain this all:

Ward is not close with his family, so "Cameron" is the only name his children carry from them.

Unnamed Mama Cameron was close with her parents (she was an only child); this way, both her own mother's name (Sarah -- but I'd go further to be a double name like "Sarah Elizabeth [middle name] [maiden name]") and her grandmother's names (Louisa/Ouisa) are honored through her children.

Rafe, short for Raphael/Rafael is a Bibical name (archangel), so you have your religious tie. I lean Rafael because Raphael is/was a Ninja Turtle, which was very popular especially in the 90s and early 2000s, so, they go with the alternative spelling so it's not like "oh, your son is Raphael like the Ninja Turtle?"

wanna hear something crazy? some alternative suggestions with the "Rafe" that i could believe are: Rafferty, Radcliffe, and i even saw a suggestion of it being a first-and-middle name mix (like "Ramsay Felix; ra + fe = rafe. though i think that one is unlikely given the fact that his arrest warrant does just say "rafe" which is more plausible as being a nickname of his legal first name rather than listing a name that is a mash of his first and middle). I'm still firmly team "Rafael" but the others are fun too.

also, "Rafe" is just a name in and of itself, but that's no fun to speculate aimlessly about.

[lycankeyy]

Funkycule Worldbuilding: Demons, Cambions, and Changelings

So it's probably pretty obvious, but demons are pretty important to the world of Friday Night Funkin and therefore pretty important to Funkycule. We don't know a lot about FNF's interpretation of demons yet, which leaves them very up to headcanons in terms of powers, appearances, how they fit into the world, etc. I'm way to prone to fleshing out fictional species based on breadcrumbs, so here's some info about the species and related ones in my personal AU!

Demons:

Despite their common name, Homo magicae are simply a sub-species of human. That being said, their exact origins are unknown, with evidence of their existence dating as far back to before even the earliest recordings of human history. Their numbers are dwarfed by Homo sapiens and they appear to live in hiding from them, though usually in plain sight; from witches to fae to yokai, if there is a myth of mischievous people harnessing magic, it's probably based on an encounter with a demon.

The base form of a demon contains numerous differences from humans. Their skin tone tends to range from faint purple to dark blue. Their eyes tend to be red, with instead the color of their sclera varying; typically black or white, but sometimes yellow or blue. They have keratin horns that can vary in color, bat-like wings, and thin tails that end in a spade-like shape. Many have fangs and claws, but these are sometimes filed down. Their bones are noticeably bright red. Despite all these things, demons are perfectly capable of cloaking, which allows them to look like an ordinary human.

The thing that sets them most apart, obviously, is their use of dark magic. Demons have a wide arrange of powers at their disposal, though each demon tends to have a specialty. For example, Girlfriend's is summoning and teleportation - an advanced form of telekinesis. Her parents', on the other hand, is coercion and brainwashing. However, all demons can theoretically perform any type of magic, though they tend to have a few they focus on honing.

Demons have different needs than humans; they need less sleep, but they need to eat more frequently, as magic usage is physically demanding. They have a natural healing factor and live to be, on average, about 150 years old - they will not show physical signs of old age until weeks before their death, after their healing factor suddenly breaks down. While naturally not prone to injury, demons, especially young ones, can be rather sickly, prone to headaches and fainting spells due to overexpending their magic.

Demons are historically mischievous and disdainful towards humans, though it's unknown how much of this is innate and how much of it is a self-fulfilling prophecy on behalf of the humans who feared and shunned them for so long. In modern times, demons usually want their children to fit in with human society as much as possible, teaching them to cloak early and trying to let them live normal human lives. After all, even with their troubled history, there have been occasions of demons and humans getting along.

Cambions:

(Sprite from Pico's Funky School; also I do not believe that Alucard is or ever was intended to be non-human but this is my au let me have fun LMAO)

Cambions are the hybrid offspring of a human and a demon. They may have some demonic features, such as purple or blue skin, red eyes, discolored bones, and horns. More rarely, they may have wings and tails, but it's far more common for them to simply have skeletal deformities where these appendages would be. A majority of cambions are incapable of cloaking; if they are, it's usually the only magic they are capable of.

Cambions are traditionally associated with demonic trickery or "deals with the devil". In modern times, they commonly come from completely consensual unions, or more rarely as a form of religious devotion or vicarious desire by a human for their child to be magical or otherwise "special". In these cases, the child will likely never meet their demonic parent, who typically acts as a surrogate in exchange for worship or some other boon.

These hybrids' magical powers pale in comparison to a full-blooded demon's. A cambion is typically only capable of one type of magic that they specialize in, and it requires lots of training, with many cambions raised by a loving human parent never learning the extent of their potential power at all. Cambions typically have advanced healing, but an average human lifespan.

Changelings:

Changelings are normal humans who gain the ability to use dark magic through the consumption or injection of demon or cambion blood. Demon blood is typically black, but it can be filtered and diluted into a thin, bright red liquid that's essentially what gives them their magical ability. When exposed to the human bloodstream, it can temporarily give them the ability to enact dark magic - though continued use requires more, and typically increasingly higher, doses.

This practice is ancient and typically considered cult activity, thought as human and demon cultures become more integrated, the practice resurfaced as something similar to drug dealing - on top of the magic, changelings typically report boosted confidence and a sort of "buzz". However, too much repeated exposure or too high a dose can easily kill a human, with even low repeated doses resulting in physical abnormalities. It's worth noting that cambion blood is slightly more compatible for the purposes of this practice.

And that's my Ted talk like comment and subscribe 👍

[chaseprice]

hi!! hope i’m not a bother. i just came across u and i wanted to ask something,,,

basically, i joined the life is strange fandom in 2018 so i never got to experience the pre-bts era, meaning i didn’t get to experience what rachel was like to the fandom back then or see the different interpretations of her.

i did some digging and i found some fan content of her from 2015-2016 & i’m absolutely infatuated with all aspects of the fanon version of her, especially her personality & how she looked. i totally wanna embody her. also the love is strange vn was so interesting to play, i love how she was written. i’d love to know more!

i stumbled across ur blog while i was doing my digging and i saw an old long post of urs saying how bts didn’t live up to the fandoms expectations, as almost everyone perceived her differently.

sorry for all the yapping LOL but what i basically wanna ask is,,, how *exactly* did the fandom perceive rachel back then (2015-2016). what were some popular headcanons for her? things you guys even considered to be canon? what were some of your own *personal* headcanons? (can be silly, realistic,,, just anything you thought resonated with her)

do you have any favorite arts from that time period that you thought really captured her? what were your hopes for the prequel/rachels character before it was released? what did you want to see in terms of story? was rachel’s style, appearance, & personality extremely different than what you expected? what did you expect?

i assume that rachels treatment in the fandom was different then than what it is now. whether it’s better or worse, i’m not sure. i was hoping u could answer that too😞. recently i’ve just been seeing constant hatred or lack of care for her character so i’m starting to think that if bts was written differently and based on the fandom’s interpretations instead, the hate now wouldn’t be this bad.

from my digging it seems like you guys had alot of fun sculpting rachel’s character on your own, and the interpretations were probably more realistic than what decknine put together.

anyway i’m sorry for the yapping essay on this random saturday, most old lis accounts are dead & i didn’t know who else to ask☹️. just trying to relive what you guys experienced the best i can. hope i’m not bombarding you with this. thank you so much if u respond !!

hiii u def did not bother me, i am not in a position to answer all of these questions, but although it makes me feel ancient, it's cute to see so much passion for rachel and pre-BTS fandom opinion, so i'll try answer some and for the rest (art, hcs, etc.) im just gonna have to direct you to my archive* (will continue under the readmore)

*(tumblr archive is so broken on mobile so you gotta go on pc for this, but also there's so many gifs from that time so it will Definitely slow down your browser). i was insane and 17 years old so like, just excuse all of the cringe content i guess. you can click tag and filter it by either #lis #rachel amber #amberprice or whatever to try and find stuff like art. and i got into lis sept 2015 so that's like, as far back as it will go, but i was fully lisbrained from 2016 through 2018)

to be honest, in alignment with pre-bts thought lmao, rachel is whoever you want her to be. there was less of 'this is a correct objective fact about her personality/history' and more 'yeah, this is an idea the fandom really likes and has become fanon, most likely because it is a nuanced and entertaining and realistic interpretation of what we have seen of her character in lis1' which means people whose opinions conflicted with that might've be contested/laughed at/unpopular, but they weren't wrong per se. there were plenty of people i'd criticise (and ridicule) back then for implying that this teenage girl was evil, and being a teenager myself back then, i'd call them morally reprehensible and cancellable and whatever, but tbh, as an adult now, i can just see that it was simply a boring interpretation of her character informed by misogyny

i'd disagree with the notion that fandom treatment of rachel's character was better before bts, back then there were plenty of people seemingly excited to characterise her as emotionally manipulative, a cheater, deserved what she got, etc. as well, bc tbh, the story did leave room for that interpretation, but it left room for so much more as well. i feel like bts just really locked in on a certain story they wanted to tell plot-wise, and didn't choose to explore a lot of the questions fans had about rachel as a person. it's hard to turn the ambiguity of a friendship turned situationship over a period of 4 years into a playable experience for an audience - so they didn't. regardless, it got people thinking about rachel more, putting a spotlight on her, hence increased attention both positive and negative. i feel like there's just a fundamental difference between what lis1 fans enjoyed about the potential for her character and how she related with chloe and the world around her, and what deck9 wanted to portray in bts (yes they hit the astrological headcanons, the charmingness, her rebellion, the emotional conflicts... but it personally felt hollow, contrived sometimes, i suppose). but there were a lot of people who loved bts (i enjoyed a lot of parts of it!). just, in my opinion, some of those were quite different people from who loved lis1, and with that wave it brought a lot of emotional immaturity to the fandom (like... ship wars, really? that was an insane change to fandom dynamics for me lmao, but maybe i was just spoiled by surrounding myself with people whose takes i respected)

anyway i highly recommend also that if you're hungry for that kind of content, read fanfiction on AO3 by the old fans - by Mogatrat (TON of rachel centric ones there), explosionshark and tippytypewriter, chicknparm (though Cusp is written post-bts, it's informed by pre-bts characterisations), vicepoint (me hehe), def many more good ones out there those r jus my friends so they come to mind first, e.g. i liked homecoming by kriegersan back in the day, but you could def find some more by sorting the lis ao3 page by kudos and reading the older ones that are highly rated featuring rachel. and lastly, my gf wrote a beautifully worded blog post called "The Assassination of Rachel Amber by the Cowards Dontnod and Deck Nine" which gets into some of this from a media crit perspective (not about fandom) in a very eloquent way thru comparison w twin peaks and i highly recommend that

rachel hcs that def started way before bts: skater rachel, stoner rachel, punk music listener rachel (but also like, fleetwood mac cranberries cocteau twins grungy hippy stuff rachel too), rachel's parents being distant and still living in california, curvy thick rachel, things that i've accepted as canon but were def created by diff people: bri explosionshark hc'd that rachel paid for chloe's sleeve, mogatrat (i think) hc'd that rachel initially went to get her nips pierced with chloe (that's a longtime fan hc now idk who started that one) but chickened out at the last minute, i think she also hc'd that chloe made the earring for rachel which is cute too

[archivalofsins]

So, I'm filling out my mail in ballot and like... Lately I've been getting hit with the cultural differences between myself and others.

So, I'd like to talk about how that may impact how I view Milgram.

It's no secret that I'm African American. Yet, there's a great deal of people that will have assumptions on what that means, how it looks, what I must be into outside of Milgram etc. These things as we've come to know quite well through Milgram, are biases.

As we've discussed before biases aren't inherently bad. Biases in and off themselves are ideas we pick up about society based on our personal experiences. They're like a quick cheat sheet that no one can help but make in their head.

For example- Since I said I was African American. One could assume things about my,

Skin tone

Education

Social Status

Simply based on that knowledge alone. One could assume that I'm dark skinned. An assumption that a good deal of people make when that term is used despite the various skin tones throughout the African American community.

If I were to then respond to that assumption with,

"Actually I'm light skinned." (This is a fact and a example.)

Another assumption would come into play.

"Oh what are you mixed with?"

This would lead to two answers. Nothing, literally everyone in my family is black. Or, "Wow; can you take an educated guess? I did just say I'm African American is there any historical context you could possibly gleam without asking me why my skin tone is what it is. Anything, is there anything coming to mind that may explain? Might rhyme with armory. Might involve a word that sounds like shave?"

Nope damn...the answers still nothing just African American or well if we discuss the history of slavery real quick we get this very complicated non-answer of too many things to count. Including white and Native American. Yet if you ask my dad what they put on his papers when he fought in the war they put negro. Because those other two things matter relatively less than the whole black thing.

So, most of my family history is black and I was raised in the black community. Didn't really stop me from getting that question a lot growing up. Mostly from people within said community. These are the sort of biases I believe are pretty common in most cultures. People will judge others based on how they look and assume things about their background.

This is highlighted in Milgram through Mu. It's brought up multiple times that Mu has been othered because of how she looks. Because she does not look typically Japanese, she looks foreign. She has honey-blonde hair and light grey eyes.

She mentions in a minigram that she doesn't like how rain makes her hair stick up.

People headcanoning Mu's victim as half black when France has the highest black population out of Europe wild.

X X

Hmmm, wonder why that headcanon hasn't been put on her ahn who knows.

Basically, noting that humidity and water makes her hair frizzy. Probably playing a bit into the reason she doesn't portray herself as being soaked in After Pain. Because she finds this aspect of herself to be embarrassing.

This also could subtly imply that she may straighten or style her hair. Outside of that Milgram highlights how different she looks before the series even starts properly. Noting it in her character description on the website.

A beautiful prisoner with overt features that set her apart from other Japanese people. Despite her slender frame, she’s very candid, and the type to rebel against the abnormal circumstances Milgram has presented her. Due to her nature, she will be very wary of Es at first. The way she conducts herself gives a sense of her upbringing. Leading us to speculate that she was probably born into a wealthy family. Perhaps, being born into wealth is why she has such a sense of pride, bursts into tears when clashing with others, and is prone to whining.

My sorry spells must be wearing off./I am always the drama queen.

x

Why won’t you stop hurting me? My heart is all dried up. My sorry spells must be wearing off. But I guess some of it is my fault./ It’s not my fault. I told you I’m queen, and it will never be changed. I’ve got EVERYTHING, everything is as I wish.

And even having it called to attention in the portal timeline.

20/05/31 Mu: Hey, Mikoto-kun, aren’t you scared of this place……? You can’t think of any reason you ended up here, right……? Mikoto: Ahh, yeah. Of course, it’s not like I’m not scared at all. But just between you and me…… I still haven’t dropped the thought that this could all just be a TV show. I mean, I really haven’t ever murdered anyone. ……and if that is the case, we’re definitely being monitored. For like a prank setup or something. Wouldn’t it be super uncool and embarrassing to get angry or lash and have it shown on prime time? Mu: Is that what you think……? A prank, huh…… I hope that’s all it is…… Mikoto: Ah! If that is the case, then you’ll probably be super popular since you’re so cute, Mucchan! There’s a lot of girls out there who make their big break coming off reality shows like that!

Like the fact that Milgram lays all of this out from the beginning along with the way it follows through on it is really good. Because it isn't just building as it goes or adding pockets of tidbits of character information on as the trials progress. It's all been there and still is there rewarding people for going back and looking, if they feel like it.

Through bringing to the forefront how different Mu is from those around her Milgram subtly highlights another form of discrimination in Japan. Racism.

Then it does this really interesting thing when it comes to her core friend group in particular.

Milgram makes a point of having all of Mu's close friends be individuals who for one reason or another would not be considered to look stereotypically Japanese. Milgram manages to do this without even giving Mu's friends faces.

Even highlighting in their insect forms through giving them different hair colors from the rest.

Just like Mu herself.

Q.11 Who do you want to see right now? Mu: I miss my friends too but most of all, Papa and Mama.

In her second voice drama Mu says,

...Warden-san. I think you're really doing something bad. Isn't it a bad thing to act like there has to be something wrong with someone for them to get bullied? Oh? No matter the circumstances, it's always the bullies who are in the wrong! Isn't that obvious? Warden-san you're so smart but you didn't even know something like that? maybe you should take some lessons on morals or something. ... Besides even if I've done something wrong, there's nothing that can justify bullying. Warden-san I thought you were nicer than this.

Not one thing that can justify it not even others doing something wrong. Meanwhile Mu's first trial character voice line,

It's your fault....for doing horrible things to me...

Mu goes on to say this in response to Es asking why does she think she was bullied after that,

"How would I know? I mean I'm from a rich family, and I'm an eye-catcher too... It was probably out of some kind of envy or prejudice, right?"

Plus, Mu's stance on bullying quickly changes when it's brought to her attention that Es believes she may have been a bully before she bullied. As she states,

"Leaving behind all that stuff you said about me possibly having been a bully myself- not that any of that's true of course!"

Sorry it was an easy shot.

Can you believe she said this right before this mv came out? Wild. Prisoners stay lying in their voice dramas. Never incriminate yourselves, always lie to authority figures. Double down on the lies if you need to. No one owes honesty to individuals or systems putting them in terrible predicaments.

Lie like you and honesty had a falling out. Lie like being honest betrayed you worse than it did Kazui. Keep lying. Honesty sorry that's a luxury I can't afford right now. I'm in my lying arc trust me at your own expense.

Be Mikoto trial two and gaslight the audience into believing that everything Milgram uncovered was actually a dream trial three. It will work better than you think Mu.

Like naw be more dishonest actually. The realest thing all the prisoners have ever done was just blatantly lie and not back down from said lies. They're all like fucking prove it go on prove it! What do you have mystical songs where I go I did that shit and I'll do it again?! That's not substantial enough evidence.

That could have been an over-exaggeration done to better highlight my artistic vision- Fuck you and your song extractor bring in some actual proof or piss off. This machine was provided by your facility how do you know it's providing accurate unbiased information. The facility had already deemed us guilty of something on incarceration this isn't fair or trustworthy.

Meanwhile if they're innocent what a great and interesting machine you have here.

Sure. So, if I'd gotten payback for how my bullies treated me then that'd count as revenge right? And if you believe that was my only option then don't you have to forgive me? ...Uh...I'm not really sure what you're trying to say? You see~ If you think that me bullying someone back after being bullied is the natural course of action, then wouldn't it be bad to bully me back in return? ... "But if you were like. "I won't forgive you Mu revenge is bad!" Then wouldn't that imply that it's also bad for me to bully someone back after they bullied me?" I think I'm kinda...starting to get your point...maybe. Warden-san are you maybe not all that smart after all?

Since the way Mu talks is rather quick and confusing purposely Es has difficulties understanding what she's saying. Despite the fact that she is just reiterating that since she's already been forgiven it would be best if Es kept to that verdict. Because Es has already set the precedent that killing out of revenge or in response to a slight is forgivable. Changing her verdict now won't change that precedent.

Meaning Mu has every intention to bully someone for bullying her again if necessary because Es has stated that the appropriate response to being picked on is picking on that person back. In a way Mu is saying that's what trial one cemented that treating people who have caused direct harm to your or others is completely okay actually.

So, it's best not to start problems for others others at all. So, if Es wants to change their verdict and pick on Mu now that would be no different than what happened to her.

This isn't even a veiled threat. Because she's just saying since you've realized that bullying is the appropriate response to bullying then you shouldn't pick on me because the obvious response would be me picking on you and you don't want that right? Or,

"If you want to betray from jealousy. I’ve told you what’s gonna happen."

The thing is the way I view Mu's story is subjectively changed based on my experiences as and African-American.

When I view her story I don't see the simple one of bullying. I see a story about prejudice and the othering of mixed and biracial individuals in Japan. How the mistreatment these individuals face when younger can lead to them bullying others later in life.

The fact that kids like that are often exposed to discriminatory treatment from a young age by peers and adults due to their overt physical differences. Something that can lead to a great deal of bitterness and self-loathing. Even internalized othering.

Q.08 Which of the other prisoners is most like you? Mu: I don’t think there’s anyone? They’re all weirdos.

This can be done to make oneself feel less than others or to cope and convince oneself that they are more special than those around them and everyone is just jealous actually. Mu falls into the later category. However, the later category is commonly used in response to discrimination of some sort.

Because it's easier and healthier to respond to others making fun of ones immutable traits such as physical characteristics by going they're just jealous. The other option is attempting to changing how you look entirely which for a lot of people won't work anyway. From that angle it's no suprise that in high school Mu would start doing something that may just have been done to her for much longer by girls who probably resembled those who picked on her a great deal or were people who used to pick on her.

Q.02   What scares you most? Mu: Painful things, scary things. Also embarrassing things. Q.07 What is your favourite place? Mu: Mama’s hometown of Nice. The sea there is beautiful.

As someone who grew up in the states a pretty diverse country. Well Mu saying things like her favorite place is her mothers hometown has a different ring to it. Because in Nice the way Mu looks wouldn't be considered odd or draw attention. Whereas in the place she grew up she can easily tell that the way she looks gets her both positive and negative attention.

I've said this before and I'll say it again the fact that Mu stands out due to her mixed ethnicity is just as a part of her story as being a bully is. The fact that she surrounds herself with people who are similar to her (seemingly mixed as well).

Well it really puts this spin on her story. Not just making it as simple as bullying it but turning it into this story of long term accepted bullying and what that cycle can lead to. If Mu was bullied and treated as different because of her looks and families wealth at a young age. Then she gets into this high school with other people with those experiences. It wouldn't be farfetched for her to want to use the opportunity to get revenge on the people who treated her poorly before and take advantage of the system that allowed it.

In order to lessen the impact of the idea of her being a bully which she denies as ever being true she states it would be fine for her to be one under Milgram's logic if it was in response to being bullied in the first place. That it's fine as long as it's revenge. A mindset many victims of bullying who become bullies later have. That it's fine to do because no one said it was wrong when it was happening to them. It's okay if they do it because if they do then it can't happen to them.

This especially puts an interesting spin on her first cover song and trial song.

Especially these lines,

Otome Dissection

There's been a lot of analysis of this song for a long while. For now, I want to analyze it from the angle of the singer dissecting themselves. An angle that the song has been taken from before. Given the visuals in the mv near the end.

The more overt ones.

Along with when the signer is shown pretending to call someone and closing their own body bag.

All after the line "Let's see if our climax had been a let down. Ever since that night."

Now if we phrase Otome Dissection as the singer singing to themselves that would make it more interesting in the context of Mu's case and the way it can relate to ethnicity. Because I think Otome Disssection manages to perfectly encapsulate the feeling of self-loathing, dejection, and hopelessness that being a minority can make a person.

The song highlighting how the singer has found something that makes them feel good as long as it hurts. Something that's validating and invalidating all at once. A way a lot of people feel about exploring or expressing their culture/ethnicity in a place where it's marginalized or stereotyped in some way. The feeling can be just as isolating as it is liberating simply because at times even when people want to do this there's not much community around them locally.

Plus, taking an interest in it won't make discrimination stop. At the end of the day people are still going to put you on a pedestal or hate you because of how you look. Though it can still be fulfilling. Also highlighting how one will dissect themselves, cutting themselves down to be more acceptable in an environment that didn't want to accept them to begin with. Again, going back to how it only feels good when it hurts.

They only get acceptances when they're burying parts of themselves. Yet, still desiring to be loved for everything they are the good and the bad and trying to convince themselves that they love who they are despite everything around them making it feel as though it'd be better,

If I had just disappeared.

All that self-loathing and disdain turns into boisterous self-confidence. Because it's feels like the only way that person can survive. Yet they still need this constant outwards validation because they don't know if they're allowed to be here. Even though they feel like they should be it doesn't feel like they are.

I want to feel “alive”, is it ok if I breathe? Tell me./I wanna feel shame, ever since the night when I realized it's good as long as it hurts.

Yet no amount of validation is enough because the person can't validate themselves. They're always going to be afraid of being found out then hated or the other person finding someone else.

Hey, what if If I am a bad girl- Don’t hate me./I actually had a dream you fell in love with someone else. Please tell me it's not true. Come on love me please?

A problem many people who have faced racial discrimination in their environments have is believing that others can like them. Because sometimes from birth all those people are given are reasons why others wouldn't. A list of things that make them odd or different from their peers. So, it's easy to understand why it would be difficult to believe.

After Pain

"I don’t want tomorrow to come. I want to forget yesterday I was miserable, someone please help me."

"If it’s endurance, I’m used to it. It’s just having another taste of it."

When it comes to Futa we see him become the victim of what he dished out after in Bring It On. Lamenting if both sides are losers in Backdraft. Yet, Mu tries her best to hide all the things that hurt and embarrass her. The source of her pain.

Because she doesn't want people to look at it. She doesn't want to replay it. Just like her second cover song further highlights along with her second trial mv.

She even states in the second written interrogation,

Q.01 What were you like as a child? Mu: I think I was pretty normal. I had a lot of friends, and learned a lot.

Yet she also states that she gets walked up to by modelling scouts on the streets because of her looks.

Q.15 What’s your dream for the future? Mu: A model, maybe. I’ve been turning down scouts while I’m still in high school though.

Definitely sounds easy to have a normal childhood with stuff like that occurring.

It's easy to write off Mu as not going through that much and just being a spoiled brat and a bully. However, I feel like that would be ignoring some very compelling parts of her character. Plus, she's not the only prisoners for Milgram to allude to dealing with forms of discrimination.

Plus, it is kind of strange that she would jump from having her friends bully people for her to murder. Like that isn't a very natural progression. Now she could be lying about not doing any of that stuff herself like dumping water on people or beating them up. However the only time we see her actually harassing a student is when they appear to be shaking them down and none of that stuff is occurring.

Then she's only alluded to being around in After Pain after her friends do that stuff. So, I genuinely doubt she was being dishonest about that. None of these feelings on Mu I stated here are new. I always appreciated how her story subtly deals with the ethnicity. I like how it shows a victim of bullying become a bully.

I like that it highlights how cycles of harassment begin. I love how Mu's first inclination is to frame herself as a victim of bullying in this situation because on some level she really thinks this is revenge for all the mean things others may have done to her. I also like that she's unapologetic about it. Plus my own complicated relationship with stuff like that makes me sympathetic to her a bit.

Even still it's Mu we're talking about she's not one to be knocked down and stay down. That's simply just another aspect to look at her under and it's one of the ones I find the most interesting given how I grew up.

I feel like that may just be one of the many things that may go overlooked based on how one grew up. Even though Milgram highlights it in a lot of ways.

Another one that may go over some's head is poverty in general given the cases of Amane and Mikoto. Like people not really understanding why he's so focused on his job or why Amane's family lives where they live etc. It's just interesting how Milgram tries to represent varying demographics. Like there's a plethora of other examples but I've gone over them before.

At least I find it interesting.

[sunthyme]

Happy Black History Month!! It's time. For probably my favourite set of designs! However, please please please read about Hestia in specific, I want to make sure I handled her correctly and if not, please let me know and I'll remove her! Tyty so much for liking these, I'm so happy to continue.

Now for...

🪼Octavinelle🪼

First up is

💰Azul Ashengrotto💰

(he/him) Transmasc - Gay Asexual

I really love how he came out omg.

- Firstly, he's Hispanic. Duh. His name is literally Azul, I don't make the rules. I'm thinking Hondurian or Guatemalan and I'd love to hear what you think too.

- Made him plus-sized because GOD we need more body diversity and I think that he would have eventually come to terms that weight is simply a number and that number alone doesn't mean you're healthy or unhealthy, y'know? He exercises and whatnot and is very good at taking care of his body.

- Autistic, his special interest is THE GRIND(tm). His capitalistic ass could rant about business building forever.

- I gave him fins as ears cause I gave all the mer fins for funsies. More for aesthetic than anything else and I figure it's a general trait of most mer (I'll talk about the exceptions later lol)

- I loved how pretty his eyelashes were so I added some teardrops to the ends for some flavour. He still wears glasses, again too lazy lol.

Onto the twins!

🍄Jade Leech🍄

(he/him) - Bi-curious Asexual

- I brought back the og concept earrings and piercings cause I thought they looked neat. I also gave them both earrings for simplicity's sake and because I headcanon that Azul gave them each a pair for their birthday.

- Longer hair because Imma be so fr, if the twins share similar expressions, I can't tell them apart lmaooo 😭😭😭. Also, felt it suited his personality more.

- Had a punk phase and while he outgrew it, he kept the piercings anyways.

- He and Floyd have matching tattoos on their biceps, Floyd's being a shrimp with sunglasses and Jade's being his favourite type of mushroom (hen/chicken of the woods).

- Also, autistic. Who's surprised at this point? Not me. This little guy and his mushrooms. 'Little guy' being like 6'5' lol.

🐋Floyd Leech🐋

(he/she/it) Unlabelled Gender - Pansexual

- He's not actually a fan of piercings but got them because Jade wanted to match.

- She has larger teeth that actually interfere with its speech and got bullied for that when he was younger, meaning all three of the Octotrio were friends kinda by default as the 'weird' kids.

- I think he has bipolar disorder and is ADHD, both are rather obvious from his character in-game.

Onto my ocs,

🎲Hestia Benoit🎲

Third Year - (she/her) Transfem - Sapphic

Okay, first is the topic of the og character. So she draws reference to the Boogeyman from Nightmare Before Christmas which was a very controversial character because Tim Burton sucks. Hate him. I wanted to hopefully reclaim the character, though it isn't necessarily my place and if anyone has a problem with that, absolutely let me know and I will remove her. The original character took heavy inspiration from black culture, specifically New Orleans and I wanted to properly represent that with Hestia. I hope I did her justice and please please please let me know if she is offence in any way. 🩷🩷🩷

- She's the older sister of the triplets and a really good one, caring a ton about them. Her favourite thing to do is spoil her younger siblings.

- She also has crazy good luck and wins any bets she makes. If you play any game of luck with her, she'll win. She's a part of the Boardgame Club and infuriates Azul whenever they play something luck-based.

💍Konane Alohi💍

(they/he/she) Genderfluid - Panromantic Demisexual

- Konane is twisted from Tamatoa from Moana! They're indigenous Hawaiian and I will be researching more into the culture as I render them out more fully.

- I gave them the bioluminiscens that Tamatoa has though I think it would only be visible in low lighting, such as in the Octavinelle dorm.

- LOVES shiny thing, obvi. Vil keeps trying to convince her to join Pomefiore but he's like, "I get paid here and can afford more stuff so pass."

- Gets along great with Cater, they constantly do collabs on their social media.

Onto...

⚓️Josephina Killian⚓️

First Year - (she/they) Demi-girl - Bi-asexual

- Twisted from, you guessed it, Captain Hook!

- I kept as much as I could from the og design and that includes the eyebags, this girlie doesn't sleep. She's only conscious from the 30mg of caffeine she drinks in the morning.

- She and Samantha met at orientation and have been inseparable since, with Sammy always following her around.

And speaking of Samantha,

🦭Samantha Chief🦭

First Year - (she/her) Transfem - Pan-asexual

- Twisted from Smee! I gave her albinism so her hair is also white naturally.

- Because of her albinism, she avoids outdoor activities for the most part. She is part of the Swimming Club (which idk if that even exists but it does now lmao).

- SHE'S A SELKIE OMG. Sorry, same up with that on the spot lol but now she is. Very shy around people because it's her first time on land so the other mer of the dorm kinda look out for her.

That's all for now, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see y'all in part four!! 🩷🩷🩷

[reikolovespickles]

"Why do everyone suddenly 'forget' about Domino?" my personal Winx Club Headcanon

My hc about why everyone in Magix seems to suddenly "forget" about Domino is that the Kingdom was erased from the history of Magix through rigorous and extreme effort for the past 16 years (nearly two decades) and the act of simply talking about the kingdom has become a taboo. The elders and the parents know about the history. Still, they refuse to tell their children including the kings and queens who keep the existence and knowledge of Domino scarce and non-existent to the general public.

The Library of Domino was burned to the ground and destroyed, much like the burning of the library of Alexandria. Making first hand informations scarce and even impossible to find. Any writings about Domino were banned and people only know the kingdom existed through legends and stories, mainly through (in my AU) a compilation of an old literary work called Dragonborne--a legend in which tells the story of a King who slayed a dragon and wield a mystical sword (ahem…reference to Oritel, Great Dragon and The Sword of Oritel…ahem)

All of these "historical and cultural erasure" of Domino began with a reason. First of all, Domino is not a "good kingdom". Domino's governmental system based off of expansionist, fascist ideology. Domino believes in "eugenics" and would push to the point of enforcing its citizens to marry with someone who was fitting to the Dominoan standard. For example; a peasant should not marry with aristocrat or simply a rich person; someone with different body features (even the slightest) that is not fitting to the Dominoan standard should not marry with each other. People with slightly darker/paler skin complexion or different from a common Dominoan are viewed as third-rate creatures and the government and public are allowed to diminish and disregard their human rights.

Domino is obsessed with maintaining the perfect empire, a utopia, but by doing so they cause more harm than good; to themselves and to others. Because of the imperialist, expansionist ideology and governmental system, Domino was involved in various wars, colonization, sieges, and even ethnic erasure/killings. Domino provides weapons to many kingdoms (which at that time were on war) including Solaria. Because of their past relationship, Radius knows more about Domino than other royals including a part where both Domino and Eraklyon work together to acquire The Sacred Treasure--a legendary object as powerful as the Dragon Flame, capable of rearranging the entire Magical Dimension and even fusing their world with the Otherworld--a parallel world of Magical Dimension. At first, both kingdoms persuade Solaria to join the search, however, Radius refused--for better, or for worse. The reason for the fusing? Unknown. But Oritel believed in "singularity" in which perfection could only be achieved by fusing everything; every universe; every world; every galaxy into one single entity/system. And with that, Oritel believed that only The Chosen Ones are allowed to live in that world.

Actually, it is not mainly because of Domino's past war crimes that their history was erased completely from the world, but it was because of the all-powerful magic they had: The Dragon Flame. And of course, the secret of The Lost Treasure of Magix. Domino's records of the Treasure were destroyed, erased, and omitted, their findings and leads to the treasure are completely lost. The only remaining piece of information is a scroll given to the King of Eraklyon before Domino's downfall. However, the scroll was never opened and it remained sealed in the underground chamber, possibly forever.

In short, their history was erased because of fear. The fear of a nearly unattainable, omnipotent, all-powerful entity capable of performing complete singularity. A fear looms in everyone's mind that if Domino's "secrets" were left unscathed, a new monster--more vile, more evil would emerge.

And probably, the "monster" is already roaming the dimension. Completely unaware of their capabilities.

************************************************************************

Also, there is a not-so-fun fact about Domino in my rewrite/AU: there used to be a religion or people who worshipped The Great Dragon. However, they were all m*ssacred by the Kingdom under Oritel's order because they were deemed as "heretics" and "spreading false belief" but also because they were in the way/didn't fit with Oritel's "singularity" agenda.

[abidethetempest]

This post was supposed to be part of a larger one on family terminology, but it got so damn long I decided it needed to be it's own thing. It focuses on how Eliksni describe parenthood in a society that doesn't make distinctions based on gender. Fair warning: this post is pretty much ALL my own personal headcanon, and none of it has any basis in canon. As with everything else in this conlang, if it inspires you, feel free to use it in your own projects with credit!

Long post below the cut

Getting the big thing out of the way: in Eliksni, the words for "mother/father" are NOT gender-based, but are instead based on what role the parent plays in the life of their offspring. I did this mostly to not disrupt the theme of non-gendered terms that I have established in the rest of the language.

90% of the time, a parent is simply called iko. This is the non-gendered word for a parent and is what children would call their parents. "Mother" and "father" are social archetypes to describe a person who displays certain traits. In my canon, they arose in the era of Eliksni history prior to the establishment of Houses, when Eliksni lived more often in small groups. Note that these terms are NOT opposites: many Eliksni embody elements of both, and their assignment has more to do with how their greater social sphere views them.

Kseyhi, or "mother": their primary role as a caretaker is to defend their mate and children from harm. Traditionally, a kseyhi was the one to give a child their first real weapon (often a shock dagger) and train them in using it. Common traits of a kseyhi: protective, bold, quick-tempered, skilled in battle.

Suune, or "father": their primary role as a caretaker is to teach their children survival skills and further their education. A suune was usually the one in charge of helping children learn to read and write. Common traits of a suune: nurturing, affectionate, clever, artistic.

Once the Eliksni Houses formed, many of the parenting duties became the responsibility of the whole House instead of the two birth parents. While the hands-on parenting aspects were no longer handled by just one person, these words remained as ways of easily describing which parent fit into the archetypal role of a kseyhi or suune.

While the words are translated here into gendered English terms, they do not correlate to gender identity in Eliksni. I chose to translate them as such to explain the usage of the words "mother/father" by Eliksni characters in the game. Fun fact: Eramis is the inspiration for kseyhi, and Misraaks is the inspiration for suune!

New here and confused? This post is part of my ongoing project to create a language for the Eliksni! For more information check out my masterpost linked here.

[catcas22]

Fortissax is Fia Theory

Alright people, grab your red yarn and thumbtacks. I need to share this with someone, so you all get to read my deranged ramblings.

Real talk, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.

Thesis:

Proposition 1) Fortissax was consort to Godwyn and the mother of the Golden Lineage.

Proposition 2) Fia is the human form of Fortissax.

Some of this theory will be (I believe) airtight, some of it will be based on circumstantial evidence, and some will be reasonably plausible headcanon that I feel would enhance the lore. Take it or leave it as you like.

The part that I maintain is airtight.

In-game, Fortissax’s gender is never confirmed. Any time pronouns are used to refer to Fortissax, the game uses it/its pronouns.

This could be deliberate obfuscation on the part of the game devs. Fortissax’s gender could have been part of a big reveal that ended up being cut from the final product.

It’s also possible that the ancient dragons are capable of changing their sex (ASOIAF dragons seem to work this way), or they simply don’t attach the same significance to sex/gender that humans do.

The Golden Lineage intermarried with dragons at some point in history.

Godrick’s dialogue: “Mighty Dragon, thou'rt a trueborn heir. Lend me thy strength, o kindred. Deliver me unto greater heights.” [Emphasis mine]

Godwyn was the exalted noble who Fia was attempting to resurrect when she first saw the guidance of Grace.

Fia’s dialogue: “After I received the warmth and lifely vigour from a number of champions, I lay with the remains of an exalted noble, to grant him another chance at life.”

Fia after killing D: “Finally, it is returned to its rightful place. The stolen hallowbrand of the exalted noble. And now, I must bid you goodbye as well. Though I ask you deliver this message to the Roundtable Hold. I am Fia, Deathbed Companion. Hark, Roundtable. Disturb not the Death of Godwyn, the exalted.” [Emphasis mine]

The word choice here seems too intentional to be coincidence. Fia first refers to an “exalted noble.” Later, she refers to Godwyn’s half of the curse mark as “the stolen hallowbrand of the exalted noble,” then goes on to refer to “Godwyn the Exalted” within a few sentences. Godwyn is the Exalted Noble, the Exalted Noble is Godwyn.

Slightly less airtight, but still strongly implied.

Fortissax and Godwyn were an item. This is already pretty widely accepted fanon, but I’ll lay out the evidence anyway.

Basically any time Fortissax is mentioned, it is in the context of their close bond with Godwyn. On it’s own, this wouldn’t mean much -- strong platonic bonds are a thing.

But we also established that Godwyn’s descendants are also descended from dragons. Out of the four named ancient dragons (the game never gives any indication that feral dragons can take human form), Fortissax is the most likely candidate.

Gransax is dead by the time the war against the dragons is over.

Placidusax is in (self-imposed?) exile in Farum Azula.

Lansseax is a possibility, but we know from the description of Vyke’s dragon bolt that “Of all the knights, Vyke the Dragonspear was the one Lansseax loved the most.” This does not entirely rule out the possibility of a political marriage between Lansseax and Godwyn, but it’s worth noting.

Although it’s not airtight, Fortissax being Godwyn’s consort makes the most sense. When you take their close bond and Godrick’s dragon heritage together, the game does seem to be implying a union between the two.

Lichdragon Fortissax is a shade.

We have plenty of in-game precedence for echoes of a person remaining behind to fight while the individual in question goes on to do other things. See Royal Knight Loretta in Caria Manor, Festering Fingerprint Vyke in the Church of Inhibition, and Godfrey’s Golden Shade in Leyndell.

We never see Fortissax manifest in the physical world, only ever showing up in the mindscape (Fia’s mindscape? Godwyn’s? Fortissax’s?) where we fight him.

Think about the sequence of events here. Fia is sleeping beside Godwyn. We touch her, which takes us directly to the Lichdragon’s boss arena. We kill Fortissax, and exit the dream to find that Fia has brought forth the Mending Rune of the Death Prince.

The slightly shaky but still supported stuff.

Fia is the human form of Fortissax -- this is the big one.

We encounter Lichdragon Fortissax in what is seems to be either Fia’s mindscape or a shared dream between Godwyn and Fia.

If we accept the premise that Fortissax is Godwyn’s consort, it is worth noting that Fia also seems to have prior history with Godwyn.

Fia clearly considers herself Godwyn’s consort. Consider the lines: “For I am the companion of Godwyn, Prince of Death. I wished to be a mother to Those Who Live in Death.” And, “I will soon lay with Godwyn. To conceive my child, the rune.”

Fia also refers to herself as the mother of those who live in death. This would align with her being the consort of Godwyn, the progenitor of those who live in death.

Pretty clear-cut. Of course it’s possible that Fia is delusional and pursuing the fantasy equivalent of a para-social relationship, but I tend to doubt that due to this line, spoken if you try to kill Fia: “Godwyn... Is that you, dear?”

I don’t care how delusional you are, you don’t cry for your celebrity crush in your dying moments. She knew him before the Night of the Black Knives.

Fia’s “I was awakened by the guidance of grace, and chased from my birthplace” line actually fits with what little we know of Fortissax.

From the descriptions of the Aspects of the Crucible incantations, we know that the Crucible was the primordial form of the Erdtree. This supports the theory that the Erdtree is simply the latest iteration of the World Tree, which goes through different phases with each new age.

Dragonlord Placidusax was the god of the age preceding Marika. “The Dragonlord whose seat lies at the heart of the storm beyond time is said to have been Elden Lord in the age before the Erdtree.”

It seems logical that the ancient dragons would have their capitol/home base around their version of the world tree, just as the demigods do in the current age. Fortissax likely would have been born in the area that would later become the city of Leyndell.

Nothing in Fia’s lore contradicts Fortissax’s lore. Fortissax was probably Godwyn’s consort. Fia is Godwyn’s consort. We fight Fortissax in Fia’s mindscape. Definitely not an airtight case, but if you put it all together I think it logically follows.

The “moving into headcanon territory” stuff.

Fia was in Stormveil at some point.

The sorcery Rancorcall is found in the basement of Stormveil. This sorcery is notably used by Sir Lionel, Fia’s adoptive father.

If all of the above is true, this makes a ton of sense. After being driven from Leyndell, Fia fled to the castle of her son/grandson/distant descendant Godrick.

This also explains the Godwyn face in the basement. What little remained of Godwyn sensed that his wife was in Stormveil and attempted to quite literally grow closer to her.

Fia probably has Godwyn’s Great Rune.

Certain people were allowed to possess Great Runes prior to the Shattering. Rennala received the Rune of the Unborn from Radagon before he returned to Marika. Morgott used his Rune to authenticate his identity as a descendent of Godfrey (see Morgott’s Great Rune description), implying that he had it with him throughout his exile in the Shunning Grounds. It is plausible that Godwyn was also permitted to carry a Great Rune prior to the Night of the Black Knives.

Based on the image we see of the NBK during the opening cinematic, it does not appear that Godwyn put up much of a fight. We don’t see a weapon, dead Black Knife Assassins, or signs of a struggle. The staging looks more like an execution than a battle. Most likely, Godwyn was dragged out of bed and repeatedly shanked in the back before he had time to react.

We know that Tiche died covering the group’s retreat, confirming that the Black Knives did not make a clean getaway. Someone must have raised the alarm. It is highly unlikely that they hung around long enough to loot Godwyn’s Great Rune (if he had one).

Putting all of that together, if Fia/Fortissax was Godwyn’s consort, she was probably present during the assassination. She probably held him as he bled out, allowing his Great Rune to pass into her possession. Could Godwyn’s Great Rune plus the Curse Mark create the Mending Rune of the Death Prince?

The shade Fia left behind takes the form of Lichdragon Fortissax because Fortissax could have saved Godwyn from the assassins.

While Fortissax was by all accounts quite formidable, Fia appears to be much less martially inclined. We never see her physically fight in-game. She uses Death Blight to kill D and uses a death sorcery (I think it’s Rancorcall?) as a last-ditch defense if you attack her after killing her champions, but she would not have had access to either of these prior to the NBK.

If she witnessed Godwyn’s murder, she would certainly be tormented by the knowledge that she could have saved him had she been in her draconic form. I propose that this is the origin of Lichdragon Fortissax -- it is the manifestation of Fia’s guilt for her inability to save Godwyn from death, now fighting to save him from a fate worse than death.

Putting it all together...

            At some point following the war against the dragons, Fortissax wishes to settle down and start a family with Godwyn. To that end, the dragon takes the form of a human woman and takes the name Fia.

            On the Night of the Black Knives, Fia witnesses Godwyn’s murder. She is with him in his final moments, allowing her to see that he isn’t quite as dead as he should be. Despite her objections, the powers-that-be of Leyndell insist that he is definitely 100% dead and lay him in state in preparation for an Erdtree burial.

            Unwilling to accept Godwyn’s death and desperate to save him, Fia starts looking into death sorcery (probably under the priests of the Deathbirds -- see Death Ritual Spear description). She discovers a method that might allow her to resurrect him -- the rites of the Deathbed Companions.

            Fia does her hug/life-drain thing with a number of champions, most likely members of the Dragon Cult. She then attempts to lie with Godwyn in order to complete the ritual. In an incredible display of poor timing, Marika chooses that precise moment to send out the call to the Tarnished.

            Fia sees the guidance of Grace, she is caught with Godwyn’s body, and she is subsequently run out of Leyndell. Godwyn is buried at the foot of the Erdtree. Consciously or unconsciously, Fia leaves behind the Lichdragon shade in a last-ditch attempt to save Godwyn. For a time, she wanders the Lands Between alone, likely not doing very well in terms of sanity.

            Eventually she encounters Sir Lionel who, being a decent guy, appoints himself her protector and offers to escort her to wherever she’s going. With his aid, she makes her way to Stormveil, where she convalesces for a time.

            She eventually moves on to the Roundtable Hold, likely seeking access to more champions. Fia waits there, gathering life-energy and biding her time, until D arrives with his stolen half of the Curse Mark, at which point she enlists the aid of a helpful Tarnished to set her plan into motion.

So that's the Fia/Fortissax theory. What do you guys think?

Edit 1: I have been informed that Fia's defensive spell is actually Fia's Mist, not Rancorcall. My bad.

Edit 2: Showed this to my brother, and he had an interesting addition. What if Lichdragon Fortissax isn't just a shade, it's all the parts of Fia's psyche that make up Fortissax? Under this theory, she completely severs herself from her old life and gives up the ability to ever become a dragon again in an attempt to save Godwyn. Don't really have any evidence for it, but it's a cool interpretation.

Edit 3: Just a fun little coincidence. On one of the sword monuments, Forti is referred to by the title "Dread Fortissax." During the early stages of her assimilation into the Greek Pantheon, the queen of the underworld was often given the title "Dread Persephone." Probably doesn't mean anything, but I think it's neat.