#can you believe people ship the two. they interacted like once and it was murder

[umblrspectrum]

like most things this was funnier in my head

[bluginkgo]

Wtf am I doing ranting again, you may ask. I was gonna talk about absolute solver again... but then my brain said "Nah, more nuzi." And who am I to refute that argument?

Spoilers, duh

Yes, how fricking typical. A duo of an emotionally scarred emo girl and a retriever puppy boy that get together. But honestly, after being in the usual angst department shipping for a couple of years now, Nuzi is such a refresher. Not to mention, that despite Liam Vickers focusing his story mostly on lore (LORE THAT I CRAVE AND LOVE), he takes time to include little things like nuzi. Nuzi didn't have to happen, but I'm so glad it is pretty much canon. Makes the dark and unbearably scary moments for the duo... bearable. I could go on a whole tangent about these two, but I mostly want to take note of how N interacts with Uzi. (I might do a post later doing the opposite, analysis of Uzi interacting with N.)

To put it simply, N is soft. Wow, Ginkgo what a revelation! (That was sarcasm) I know thank you. But seriously. When he talks to Uzi, his voice softens. Especially taken notice in ep4 during the Falling... for you? scene. Perhaps I'm just dense, or maybe I wasn't paying enough attention when watching the first time, but when N pulled the "therapy session" I was fully expecting for him to chat to her about the murder spree. How fricking wrong I was. N took me by surprise and asked the question that was ACTUALLY bugging Uzi the entire time. Not the killing spree, not the issue with her solver going haywire, not the backstory of her mother. None of that! It was if she was lonely.

"No, don't look. I'm gross and eating people and stuff."

"Yeah, we'll figure that part out. But you know that's not what I mean."

After rewatching the Murder Drones like 20 something times, it still baffles me how he talks to her. Softer, more open, willing to admit he's also scared- despite being a fricking disassembly drone, a demon in the eyes of regular worker drones. I can see where that trust comes from.

Uzi's fought and killed N before. But instead of fighting again, she puts blame on humans that "supposedly" made him.

"Do you really think that the company won't dispose of you, once all the workers are dead?"

Of course, there's way more evidence on how Uzi's comments, mannerisms, and remarks gave N a reason to trust her. There's also something I took notice of. The difference between N's chat with V and Uzi.

In ep3, N is cornered. Uzi and him had a misunderstanding, and V is very hush hush about their past. He has no other place to turn except to V for answers.

"V, if you're hiding something. We can figure this out together!"

He's open, here. Trying to get answers from out of thin air. Now, don't get me wrong. I love V. V is, by far, my most favorite character in the show. I love her violence, sarcasm, and character growth. But because this was only ep3, she's also trying to do what she believes is for the best. And we see why she was very hush hush about their past. N himself said "Not dealing with this great to be immediately honest." When he first lays his eyes upon the experimentation absolute solver was doing in the mansion. In V's perspective, it's better for N to forget. Ignorance is bliss as they say.

You can even see that she's guilty in the following frame for what she was about to do- cut N off literally and figuratively. Of course, since then, V has come a long way. Going even as far as trusting Uzi with everything.

But here's the difference.

"Just avoid another whole spire. Baby steps, together?"

Maybe it's just the moment, maybe it's just simple animation choice. But they made him here uncertain. The same "we can do this together" line, following his attempt with V, is less bright and more uncertain. A question, instead of a statement. He was at least somewhat ready to be shot down again, but instead Uzi met him halfway and took his hand in this big mess. It's these somewhat little moments that build the trust between the two, and what makes Nuzi so wholesome. There's no secret past about them, no big overdramatized misunderstandings. Just two people- or robots- learning how to get through this big mess of the universe ending.

And not to mention that the "together" line comes back to bite on us. The teaser for ep7 and 8 have that line as the last thing we hear.

"...figure things out... together."

I'm probably repeating things people have already said... bite me. I love Nuzi and how they've developed throughout the season. I may be after Murder Drones mainly for lore, but damn me, Nuzi is a really great addition to the entire package.

[daceytheshebear]

My Oak Leaf Dress post is getting some traction again years after it was first posted, and it got me wondering if tumblr might be more fertile groud to talk about some Arya Stark-centered analysis of mine I feel never got the attention it deserved in the westeros.org forum?

Okay, have you noticed that Arya's five chapters in AGOT have very very strong parallels to Arya’s five chapters in Feast/Dance? I've cataloged them and it blows my mind that more people aren't dissecting it. If we take into consideration that the AFFC and ADWD were supposed to one book, Arya has exactly the same amount of chapters as she had in book one, which is much less than she had in ACOK or ASOS. A pity in my opinion, as I love to read her, but I believe this is not a coincidence on Martin’s part as there seem to be several parallels between what Arya experiences in the first book and the last two. I’ll compare:

AGOT Arya I to AFFC Arya I 

AGOT Arya II  to AFFC Arya II

AGOT Arya III to AFFC Cat of the Canals

AGOT Arya IV to ADWD The Blind Girl

AGOT Arya V to ADWD The Ugly Little Girl

So, AGOT Arya I / AFFC Arya I: Both take place in a different setting from the other four chapters (Winterfell vs. Kings Landing for AGOT, the ship The Titan's Daughter vs. the city of Braavos in AFFC and ADWD). In both we have Arya directly interacting with two siblings, one who is two years older than her and whose place she would like to be able to occupy (Sansa with all her ladylike abilities, Denyo who is a cabin boy) and another who is older and more guarded and with whom she has important conversations about the ways of the world (Jon Snow and the talk about bastards and girls and Yorko and all the exposition about Bravosi culture). Quotes about Sansa and Denyo:

It wasn't fair. Sansa had everything. Sansa was two years older; maybe by the time Arya had been born, there had been nothing left. Often it felt that way. Sansa could sew and dance and sing. She wrote poetry. She knew how to dress. She played the high harp and the bells. Worse, she was beautiful. Sansa had gotten their mother's fine high cheekbones and the thick auburn hair of the Tullys. Arya took after their lord father.

And

Denyo had taken her up to the crow's nest once, and she hadn't been afraid at all, though the deck had seemed a tiny thing below her. I can do sums too, and keep a cabin neat. But the galleas had no need of a second boy.

In both chapters we have adults who are not really happy to be in charge of Arya, who are associated with the color grey, and who frown at Arya with similar phrasing (septa Mordane and Tradesman-Captain Ternesio Terys). I'll give you the quotes:

Septa Mordane raised her eyes. She had a bony face, sharp eyes, and a thin lipless mouth made for frowning. It was frowning now. "What are you talking about, children?"

And

Arya turned to find Denyo's father looming over them in his long captain's coat of purple wool. Tradesman-Captain Ternesio Terys wore no whiskers and kept his grey hair cut short and neat, framing his square, windburnt face. On the crossing she had oft seen him jesting with his crew, but when he frowned men ran from him as if before a storm. He was frowning now. "Our voyage is at an end," he told Arya.

In one of the chapters Arya is said to be “too skinny to hold a sword” and in the other she is “too small to man an oar”. Both chapters end with Arya entering rooms where two authority figures await for her (septa Mordane and Catelyn in her room AGOT, the kindly man and the waif inside the House of Black and White in AFFC).

AGOT Arya II  / AFFC Arya II: In both chapters a long time has elapsed between Arya I and Arya II. In both chapters Arya feels very isolated from people around her (in AGOT she is mourning Mycah, angry at her father’s men who let the boy be murdered and sad that even Sansa “wouldn’t talk to her unless their father made her”, in AFFC Arya takes the other servants of the HoBaW for mutes until she hears them praying, they never talk to her and Umma, who does talk, speaks in a language she can’t understand.

In both chapters we have vivid descriptions of rich food Arya eats, which is very rare in her story because she is underfed most of the time. In both chapters Needle is discovered (in AGOT Ned sees the sword, in AFFC the waif catches Arya training).

In both chapters she has a very important conversation about lies (Arya tells her father Sansa lied about not knowing what happened at the Trident, and Ned says to her:  "We all lie" and later says that some lies are “not without honor”, meanwhile the kindly man says to Arya “All men lie when they are afraid. Some tell many lies, some but a few. Some have only one great lie they tell so often that they almost come to believe it”).

In both chapters Arya promises to obey:

“This willfulness of yours, the running off, the angry words, the disobedience… at home, these were only the summer games of a child. Here and now, with winter soon upon us, that is a different matter. It is time to begin growing up." "I will," Arya vowed. She had never loved him so much as she did in that instant. "I can be strong too. I can be as strong as Robb."

In AFFC the kindly man tells Arya

“Remain if you will, but know that we shall require your obedience. At all times and in all things. If you cannot obey, you must depart." "I can obey." [...] “It takes uncommon strength of body and spirit, and a heart both hard and strong [to be a faceless man]" I have a hole where my heart should beand nowhere else to go. "I'm strong. As strong as you. I'm hard."

In Both chapters Arya is said to be beautiful (a word that is not used to describe her in any other occasion). In both words Arya explicitly refuses feminine roles (in AGOT she tells Ned she doesn’t want to be a lady, in AFFC she thinks she wanted none of the placements the kindly man offers her, with courtesans where she would “sleep on rose petals and wear silken skirts that rustle when [she] walks” or “marriage and children”).

In both chapters Arya uses rocks to save a part of herself: in AGOT she recounts to Ned how she had to throw stones at Nymeria for her to stop following and be saved from the Lannister men who would execute her (we hope Arya will reunite with Nymeria again), and in AFFC she hides Needle behind a loose stone step to keep it safe for later (we hope she will retrieve it at some point).

Another plot-point that repeats between the two chapters is the introduction of a teacher. Arya II in AGOT opens in a dinner scene in the Small Hall ends with the introduction of Syrio Forel in the same Small Hall, where Arya begins to learn water dancing. Syrio says “now we dance”. Arya II in AFFC starts with Arya reciting her list, and ends after the Waif becomes Arya’s teacher on the braavosi language and the lying game (she actively compares what she is learning now with the lessons she once had from Syrio) and then Arya finally leaves the temple, reciting her list like in the beginning (so both chapters start and finish “in the same place”) and saying she is “so happy she could dance”.

AGOT Arya III / AFFC Cat of the Canals: Okay so in AGOT Arya II, Arya assumes a “fake identity” for the first time ever! Tommen and Myrcella mistake her for a peasant boy, and she acts the part. In her third chapter in AFFC this is taken up to the next level and this is the first time her chapter title changes when she takes  the identity of Cat. Cats! Of course, Arya II in AGOT is that one chapter that is all about cats, she talks about pursuing them and she finally kisses Balerion. She then becomes Cat in her third chapter in AFFC, and reminisces about chasing cats in the Red Keep in that chapter!

There is a sense of expanding horizons in both these chapters. Arya leaves the Red Keep for the first time in AGOT Arya III, and walks back from the Blackwater all the way to the castle. In her third AFFC chapter, Arya is exploring the city of Braavos after having finally been allowed out of the temple. She is also very cheeky in both these chapters! Arya interacting with the guards of the Red Keep is hilarious, and very similar to how she acts when being her Cat persona.

Nightmares. Arya experiences vivid, terrible nightmares in both these third chapters (and in her third chapter in ASOS). In AGOT she hears her father’s voice becoming fainter and fainter in her dreams, which some have interpreted as foreshadowing for Ned’s death and as a sign that Arya may have precognitive abilities. In AFFC it’s her mother she hears screaming. Both these chapters also explore and detail the place Arya inhabits. In AGOT Arya III the Red Keep is heavily featured, and it’s described as an “endless stone maze”. In AFFC Cat takes us all around Braavos, which of course is a “crooked city” with all its buildings made out of stone.

Daenerys is mentioned!! Illyrio and Varys discuss “the princess with child” in AGOT Arya III, and tales of “dragons hatching” reach Cat in AFFC. Daenerys isn’t mentioned in any other Arya chapters.

Retelling overheard stories features heavily in both chapters. Arya tries to convey to Ned what she overheard and is casually dismissed. In Cat of the Canals, Arya is learning to actively overhear conversations and gather information and retells them to the kindly man with caution.

Bathing is also present in both chapters. Arya usually doesn’t really enjoy bathing in ACOK and ASOS, but both in AGOT Arya III and in Cat of the Canals, on the other hands, we witness Arya disrobing and cleaning her body of her own volition, getting rid of bad smells in almost ritualized cleansing. Compare the quotes from AGOT, Arya III:

She found herself standing at the mouth of a sewer where it emptied into the river. She stank so badly that she stripped right there, dropping her soiled clothing on the riverbank as she dove into the deep black waters. She swam until she felt clean, and crawled out shivering.

and AFFC, Cat of the Canals:

Down in the vaults, she untied Cat's threadbare cloak, pulled Cat's fishy brown tunic over her head, kicked off Cat's salt-stained boots, climbed out of Cat's smallclothes, and bathed in lemonwater to wash away the very smell of Cat of the Canals. When she emerged, soaped and scrubbed pink with her brown hair plastered to her cheeks, Cat was gone.

One of the most important parallels in this set of chapters regards the Night’s Watch. It is in Arya III AGOT that Arya for the first ever interacts with a black brother, when she meets Yoren. Although Arya isn’t aware of it, it was Yoren’s death that made it possible for Dareon leave Eastwatch and go to Braavos in the first place, as the singer was assigned by Jon Snow to take up the role of recruiter that used to be Yoren’s. Yoren had other roles as well, including that of Arya’s protector. The first encounter she has with each of the two black brothers show us just how much Arya has changed. She thinks of Yoren:

He was stooped and ugly, with an unkempt beard and unwashed clothes. [...] The old man in his smelly black clothes was looking at her oddly, but Arya could not seem to stop talking.

While Arya can’t stop herself from rambling to Yoren, she has learned not to share all of her thoughts by the time she meets Dareon. This is the quote:

He is fair of face and foul of heart, thought Arya, but she did not say it

Also, in both this chapters she goes blind! “She was blind.” That sentence shows up exactly like that, word for word, in both chapters. Of course in AFFC she actually becomes blind, while in AGOT she is only in a really really dark room. But still. The wording! And structurally speaking, while the last pair of chapters starts and finish “in the same place”, now both of these chapters start with a more light-hearted tone to then plunge into really dark territory, literally and metaphorically, as Arya hears the threats to her family whispered in the dark in AGOT and kills Dareon to then goes blind in AFFC.

AGOT Arya IV / ADWD The Blind Girl:

Considering AFFC and ADWD as one long long book, Blind Girl is Arya’s fourth chapter. Arya’s fourth chapter in AGOT is the one in which she gets that all-important lesson when Syrio Forel tells her to “look with her eyes”. He also touches upon her other senses though:

“The heart lies and the head plays tricks with us, but the eyes see true. Look with your eyes. Hear with your ears. Taste with your mouth. Smell with your nose. Feel with your skin. Then comes the thinking, afterward, and in that way knowing the truth." 

Syrio says all that! And while Arya looks with her eyes in several moments of the story and this true seeing literally saves her life more than once, she never does explore her other senses that much… until she goes blind in ADWD. In The Blind Girl we get:

Hear, smell, taste, feel, she reminded herself. There are many ways to know the world for those who cannot see. [...] "You have five senses, learn to use the other four, you will have fewer cuts and scrapes and scabs"

Also, both chapters feature scenes where Arya in engaged in training with someone to improve her martial skills. While she practiced her needlework on her own all throughout ASOS, this is the first time she does so with someone else since Syrio in AGOT Arya IV! The way the two fights are described is incredibly similar, with the descriptions of rights and lefts and right and lefts, and the clacking sound of wood, her opponent “cheating” (coming from the “wrong” side) and there is a “sudden stinging” cut which catches her by surprise. It’s very very similar, go reread it if you don't believe me.

Another really important parallel regards skinchanging: in Arya’s fourth chapter in AGOT, Arya is helpless after witnessing the horrors that took place at the Tower of the Hand. The narration tells us “she was only a little girl with a wooden stick, alone and afraid” (the wooden stick here is her practice sword). And than, to escape, she pretends she is chasing cats��� “except she was the cat now”. I kid you not, this is the exact wording used. She is the cat now, and that is what empowers her to keep going. In ADWD, when Arya is most definitely LITERALLY just a little blind girl with a wooden stick, she actually skinchanges into a cat for the first time, and that is what finally empowers her against her mentor/abuser. She “becomes a cat” in both chapters

Also, it is in The Blind Girl chapter that we learn that “the Sealord is dying”, which is comparable (both from doylist’s and watsonian perspectives) to Robert Baratheon dying, exactly what happens around Arya IV. Now a bit of a stretch: in AFFC "The Merling Queen has chosen a new Mermaid to take the place of the one that drowned. She is the daughter of a Prestayn serving maid, thirteen and penniless, but lovely." I propose the new mermaid might stand in for Jeyne Poole. While the new Mermaid is the daughter of a Prestayn’s serving maid, and we know Prestayn be a noble house, Jayne is the daughter of the Stark’s steward. Petyr Baelish, who is connected with the braavosi galley The Merling King, takes charge of Jayne, who is then a twelve year-old.The “Mermaids” are actually described to be “young maidens in the blush of their first flowering who hold [the Merling Queen’s] train and do her hair”. Of course, same as the Mermaids are being trained to become courtesans, Jeyne will be trained in a brothel to become Ramsay’s bride.

AGOT Arya V / ADWD The Ugly Little Girl: Okay, so Arya V makes me sad from the very first line to the very last. The situation is hopeless, Arya is helpless. King’s Landing is unwelcoming and claustrophobic, the people range from rude to downright mean. The people of the city likely look at her with suspicious eyes, and as much as Arya has told us she loved nothing more than to be underfoot and mingle with the common people of Winterfell, the experience in King’s Landing is traumatizing, and it ends with her father beheaded. Oh joy. In A Dance with Dragons the waif describes how people will react to the ugly little girl Arya will become after she changes her face for the first time:

"Women will look away when they see you. Children will stare and point. Strong men will pity you, and some may shed a tear."

For reasons very different than a destroyed face, this sounds very similar to what Arya experiences in King’s Landing. I find the overall tone of The Ugly Little Girl chapter to be rather analogous to that of Arya V. Arya is in the HoBaW because is certain she has nowhere else to go. Life is easier now than when she was blind, but she doesn’t feel very comfortable – and yet goes through with all that is asked of her. Though not helpless anymore, she is more hopeless than ever before. She experiences physical pain and nightmares; she is questioned and constantly told she doesn’t have what it takes to be in the only place that has been a steady roof over her head in years.

Before undergoing her magical transformation in ADWD, Arya is given a tart drink. This is the quote:

She drank it down at once. It was very tart, like biting into a lemon. A thousand years ago, she had known a girl who loved lemon cakes. No, that was not me, that was only Arya.

In AGOT Arya V, we get this:

Arya would have given anything for a cup of milk and a lemon cake,

In fact, lemons come up very scarcely in Arya’s whole story. She only thinks about the fruit in her inner monologues in Arya V and The Ugly Little Girl, both times prompted from external stimuli (there is the lemon tart she could not steal moments before she wishes for the lemon cake in AGOT, and the magical tart drink she is given in The Ugly Little Girl). The word comes up a handful of times in A Storm of Swords while Arya is in the company of Lem Lemoncloak, but the fruit not so much.

Another parallel between this pair of chapters comes in the form of Arya’s target, the binder salesman. The man Arya targets for the faceless men in ADWD is described in a way that calls back to Petyr Baelish (pointed beard, thin lips) and Yoren (a hard face, mean eyes, crooked shoulders), both of which Arya encounters in her fifth chapter in AGOT.

Eddard Starks beheading is a moment full of similarities to Arya’s “defacing” by the kindly man. This is from AGOT Arya V:

The old man shook her so hard her teeth rattled. "Shut your mouth and close your eyes, boy." Dimly, as if from far away, she heard a… a noise… a soft sighing sound, as if a million people had let out their breath at once.

and this is from ADWD The Ugly Little Girl:

"Sit," the priest commanded. She sat. "Now close your eyes, child." She closed her eyes. "This will hurt," he warned her, "but pain is the price of power. Do not move."

And of course what follows her closing her eyes in AGOT hurts much more deeply than having her forehead slashed. In A Game of Thrones, Arya opens her eyes to finally recognize Yoren. He then giver her Needle back, and drags her to a doorframe where he cuts her hair to give her a new identity, that of Arry. This is the quote from Arya V:

As the blade flashed toward her face, Arya threw herself backward, kicking wildly, wrenching her head from side to side, but he had her by the hair, so strong, she could feel her scalp tearing, and on her lips the salt taste of tears.

and this is the quote from The Ugly Little Girl:

She sat unmoving. The cut was quick, the blade sharp. By rights the metal should have been cold against her flesh, but it felt warm instead. She could feel the blood washing down her face, a rippling red curtain falling across her brow and cheeks and chin, and she understood why the priest had made her close her eyes. When it reached her lips the taste was salt and copper.

That's it! If you are interested in a more in-depth analysis check my original post from (five!!) years ago .

[necrotic-nephilim]

do you ship helena bertinelli with anyone? if yes, then which characters and why? what's your favorite helena ship? do you have any helena rarepairs? (i know you've talked about helena/steph and you're so right about it, it's a very interesting ship)

!!!! i have so many ships for my best girl ever yes oh my god thank you for asking.

my top pairing is probably Vic Sage/the Question. Vic is the basic answer, but man. i love them so much. no couple has matched each other's freak like that have. Justice League Unlimited is a great adaptation of Helena in general, but it also did a great adaptation of Helena and Vic's relationship. how he just dedicates himself to helping her with no expected return, but also wants to make sure she doesn't go too far in a hunt for vengeance that never ends for her. i think a lot of characters often want to change Helena or expect things out of her for their own needs, like the Batfam and the BoP. but Vic is one of the few people who just wants her to be better for her own good. when he tries to stop her from killing it's not because of his morals, it's because he doesn't want this crusade to consume her. and i just. man i think about them a lot. Helena rlly likes weird little men who give themselves wholly to her.

Zinda Blake/Lady Blackhawk is also a top ship for me. tbh i just like Zinda. but i do love how Helena and Zinda interact, being the more rough and tumble members of the BoP. they're both outsiders, in different ways. Helena is an outsider of the Batfam and Zinda is literally from a different time and an outsider to the current world. their friendship is so genuine and i think if Babs and Dinah can have. whatever homoerotic nonsense going on during BoP, then Zinda and Helena deserve some homoerotic nonsense too. as a treat.

if we're willing to count New-52 Helena, then i enjoy Helena/Dick/Tiger. i think Helena and Dick being a past relationship is really important in pre-Flashpoint for Helena's development, though i don't ship them as a serious couple beyond a fling. but in the New-52, i think this throuple be fun. Helena and Tiger respect each other as two very driven, no-nonsense agents and then well. they both clearly have some kind of thing for Dick. so it's fun finding the balance of how they could all work together romantically.

and ofc. it's a crime to mention Helena ships and not mention Renee Montoya/the Question. every time they interact it's really fucking gay. it's so gay that Kate Kane, Renee's own ex, assumed Helena and Renee were gay. i cannot be convinced against this ship. i genuinely think this ship should be canon. i mean. DC did tease us with this moment from an alternate universe and it's lived rent for me since. fucking criminal for us to only get one panel of what we could have if DC let Helena be a fruit in the main universe. being in love with Helena Bertinelli should be a right of passage for the Question mantle, i personally believe. if you asked me like. genuinely who i want to see Helena date in the current comics, Renee is my top pick. (i would say Vic but he's fucking dead and the New-52 butchered him so rip my mans-)

lois lane (2019) #10

besides those ships, just about every ship for Helena probably falls into the category of rarepair. like you said i've talked about my love for Helena/Steph before bc god. i think it should be a thing more people ship. once i finish the fic i'm writing about them i will convince others to like it.

i also think Helena/Cass could be fun. in a *lot* of ways Helena and Cass are narrative parallels to each other. Helena was a victim of her family being murdered at about the same age Cass was forced to be a murderer. Helena grows up to believe in lethal justice because of this, and Cass grows up to be staunchly against it. Cass' Batgirl suit was made *by* Helena. they both want to be protectors of the most vulnerable people. they balance each other out in a lot of ways and i think they should kiss about it.

also probably a rarepair, i think Helena/Lady Shiva is fun. their fight during Birds of Prey (2010) had... questionable moments for Helena's characterization, but i do love so much that Helena knocks Shiva off her feet and gains a deep respect from Shiva. like. Shiva gives her a nickname and shows her admiration. i would like to see fanfic where Shiva continues to be weirdly admirable of Helena and bothering her non-stop. they could be a fun fucked up toxic yuri moment. this is just. so gay to me.

birds of prey (2010) #6

my most rare Helena pair would probably be Helena Wayne, actually. but specifically Helena Wayne of JSA (2022). ever since, for some reason, it was made canon that the current Helena Wayne was named after Helena Bertinelli and took the name Huntress to honor her i *cannot* stop thinking about them meeting. because in-universe it makes *no* fucking sense for Bruce to name his kid after *Helena Bertinelli*, someone he's regularly at odds with and doesn't like. it's clearly an awkward explanation to try to make the whole two Huntress situation make sense. (it's almost as bad as Helena Wayne in the New-52 using Helena Bertinelli as an alias.) but because it's such an odd choice, i do think it could be fun for Helena Wayne, when she's back in time to see Bruce, to find Helena Bertinelli to get to know the woman she was named after and Helena Bertinelli just being. baffled by the idea of *Batman* naming his kid after her. it could be a fun fucked up moment.

my other super rarepair is Kara Zor-L/Power Girl. they had like. one meaningful interaction of JSA Classified and it's been PLAGUING me. something about when Power Girl doesn't remember her past and she's seeking a friend, she instinctively goes to find Huntress? but it's wrong bc this isn't *her* Huntress and neither of them understand why Power Girl would seek Helena out? god it's so good. i'm always a big fan of ships where one person in the ship is *so* obviously using the other person as a replacement for someone they lost and they both know it. it's such a doomed angsty thing where you could play with Helena actually really liking Kara, but knowing that she's just a replacement for Kara's Helena Wayne. good fucked up shit man.

and lastly: i really ship her with Dawn Granger/Dove. there's no canon basis for this, they didn't have a ton of interactions even when they were both on the BoP. but there's a very kind innocence to Dawn that contrasts Helena's violence really well. and i do love a ship with a corruption kink vibe to it. let Helena corrupt Dawn. i could write such fucked up porn about these two.

[herearedragons]

Edér for the character breakdown?

hsueusgsisshid of course I get him first. thanks for the ask!!

How I feel about this character: Normal. Feeling normal.

The serious answer is that I like him as a character (current favorite character, easily), I love his entire deal in POE1 and a lot of his Deadfire stuff is also great in concept, but I think that Deadfire was kind of weird about him - both about him being unromanceable and. like. as a character in general. Fortunately, he's also really fun to write, so my city now, I guess

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Selene, obviously (and like. The Watcher in general). But also, pretty sure that if Elafa had given him a chance it would have worked out (I mean come on, you guys killed two soldiers together unarmed, that has to count as couple potential)

My non-romantic OTP for this character: The Watcher once again! I also like his dynamic with Hiravias (wish they properly resolved his Being Weird About Orlans but I still appreciate them being able to hang out despite this AND Hiravias being technically supposed to murder him). Also, I do believe in a snarky friendship between him and Aloth; the "we never would have interacted if not for Circumstances but we've been stuck together so long that we're friends now I guess??" kind of dynamic. Also Iselmyr. And Devil of Caroc. And, honestly, once they resolve the crush thing, Xoti.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I don't really see him and Aloth as a ship

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: At this point I'm not saying I wish he was romanceable because I kind of like my headcanon version of things. But GOD I wish they weren't Like That about it. I don't get the "Ngati weeps for the lost potential" banter etc. I mean. I can make up my own stuff, it's fine, I just wish? it didn't feel like the game was actively mocking and/or taunting me about it?

(also I wish there was some kind of arc to him being weird about orlans instead of never letting you address it and then having it get inexplicably Worse in Deadfire)

(also kind of wish they let him out of the Sidekick Zone more. I feel like there's a version of Deadfire where you and Edér are closer to equals, if that makes sense)

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Hallo! Could i kindly request for headcannon with separately Sora, Setsuka, Nikei, Yuki, Mikado, and Syobai, with a gender neutral S/O that likes to randomly hug them from behind and also like to follow them around. How do they react and how does the participate/the people close by react to that? Hope u have a nice day lovely writer

Thanks! It's been a while since I've written for these characters!

.......

Sora

The first time this happened, she thought somebody was trying to jump her until she realizes it's only you.

Eventually she gets used to it, recognizing your footstep patterns moments beforehand.

Your affections are often the distraction she needs whenever investigating places/murders gets overwhelming or she's struggling with her amnesia.

She doesn't mind you following her around while exploring the ship or islands. It gives you a chance to talk about what you found, or just have casual chats to take your minds off of this dreadful "trip".

Whenever the others see you together, they usually mind their business. You both keep tightly-knit alibis, so you're rarely suspected of any murders.

But Monocrow can be quite annoying with his constant "no excessive PDA" reminders.

Setsuka

Ever since you've known her, the ol' "hugging from behind" greeting was something you two have exchanged for years. She's absolutely all for it.

It helps on days where she gets self-conscious of her cybernetic eye and stares into the mirror too long. You'd embrace her and reassure her it looks beautiful, giving her a kiss that cheers her up right away.

Fastforward to the killing game, you'd always stay by each other's side, helping the other students feel better about this grim situation and find ways to lift everyone's spirits.

You're impressed with how quickly Setsuka became the "mom friend" among them.

When they all see you being a sweet and supportive couple, it's hard for them to believe either of you could be potential murderers or Voids.

You might possibly have a friendly rival with Hibiki--just to see who can hug your gf the most in a single day.

Nikei

If he's hyperfocused on writing articles or making observations for scoops, he's easy to startle.

It just takes him out of the zone™ and he may get a little annoyed, so it's best to make your presence known beforehand. Only then he doesn't mind it.

He finds it endearing if you wanna follow him around, as he'd love to ramble about his latest scoop to a listening ear.

Alternatively, he could be venting about Mikado being a total bitch (assuming you're part of Void or don't mind the fact he's in Void), but you'll let him.

Before the killing game, the rest of the Void gang sees your interactions as cute!

Though they're surprised at how he can yell at them one moment, and then smile and hug you the next.

During the game, however, Nikei easily gets flustered by your affections if others are around to witness them--especially if Mikado points them out.

But if you're both alone together he'll let you hug him.

Yuki

Tbh if anyone appreciates your hugs the most, it's this guy.

They definitely help bring him back to reality whenever he starts getting upset or disassociates.

Somehow you just know when he needs you the most.

With his fear of losing people he cares about, he'd rather have you stick by him as you venture through the ship or islands. It gets harder to trust anyone besides his s/o as the murders continue.

But he refuses to think you'll ever be a killer. Just straight-up denies it.

Most of the students see you together and notice he's not as pessimistic anymore, which is great!

As for others, well...they may just see you as "interference" and might try to do something to change that /j

Mikado

Usually, he wouldn't allow anyone to sneak up on the mastermind so easily.

But he can sense whenever it's you and so he just plays along, feigning being "captured" once he feels your arms around him.

His mask is all smiles (or half smiles, in this case).

He'll try to reciprocate the gestures when you least expect it, sometimes sweeping you off your feet.

Honestly when not dealing with Void-related stuff, he likes following you around just as much as you like following him!

But only bc he thinks this is what couples normally do.

The others (esp Sora and Teruya) think you've gone crazy for dating the freaking mastermind, and Nikei fully believes you've been brainwashed/hypnotized into loving him.

Imagine how flabbergasted the journalist is when Mikado explains that's not the case whatsoever.

Syobai

Like Sora and Mikado, he can anticipate if you're coming up behind him.

You two got an inside joke that he'll "charge" you for every second you spend hugging him, with you gladly saying you'll go broke.

What made the Ultimate Broker fall for you hard is knowing his dry humor. You get it.

He does feel a bit relaxed with his back against you, so he may be tempted to let you carry most of his weight while he smokes.

If you tend to follow him around like a lost puppy, he won't make much of a comment on it, though he'll ask if you needed something or if you had info to share.

Don't take it to heart. He's just used to being a loner.

Should anyone else notice, they simply marvel at how you can tolerate him.

[cypress-punk]

Thinking about Eclipse Phase, a cyberpunk ttrpg with a focus on transhumanism and one of the ideas it brings up in the form of post humans.

So in the setting "transhuman" refers to three groups of beings. The first is humans, like you and me, but in this world basically everyone has a cyber brain and a genetically engineered body or inhabits some sort of fully synthetic robot body but their mind is that of a human. The second is AGI, artifical general intelligences, which are designed to remain at roughly human levels of intelligence and a are engineered to have human like perspectives because AIs allowed to become too smart nearly wiped out the human race fairly recently in the history of the setting. The third is uplifted animals, apes, cetaceans, corvids, parrots, octopi, and pigs which have been genetically engineered to have human like minds and intelligence along with modified bodies that make them more human in body plan (for the apes at least).

This broad and somewhat contradictory set of beings are what you can play as and make up most of the intelligent beings a player might encounter though there are some rather odd aliens and even a weird race of mantis shrimp murder creatures engineered by the bad AIs I mentioned earlier. There are all sorts of contradictions about the category of "transhuman" that the game positions you to explore and challenge in game. Its a very interesting setting in general and worth looking into though the actual rule set is rough (in the first edition, I haven't played the second edition and only skimmed the rules briefly when I read the book)

Anyway that really long preamble out of the way I want to talk about another category of being that exists in the world: post humans. That is to say, if the majority of intelligent beings in the world have become something more than human as it was once understood, these guys have abandoned it entirely. Post humans come in two major flavors from what I recall, Minds, which are people who engineered themselves into enormous brains with equivalently staggering, though alien, intelligence; and Predators, which have abandoned human nature to become pure hunters, highly versatile killing machines that target transhumans as prey, or in some cases have weird space habitats engineered as massive ecosystems over which they are the Apex predators.

Both of these are presented as the result of sort of egoist/objectivist approaches to evolution. In a world where the technology exists to basically engineer a whole viable organism these people have chosen to become something completely unlike what they were. The Minds can be taken as an attempt an organic super intelligence, a piece of meat that can rival the god like AIs that devastated the earth. The predators strike me as a very fascistic view of nature taken to the extreme, seeking to become machines that kill, bending all that you are toward being a weapon. Its almost in line with some Futurist ideas about the body in an industrial world. They also serve as basically stand in for some classic DND monsters. Minds are a lot like Beholders or Elder Brains, Predators can fill many "monster" roles depending on the type of body they've built for themselves.

Anyway I like the post humans because they express an interesting ethos within the setting. Theyre a believable fringe that adds something to the world and provides an interesting element for the players to interact with. But there is one other being in the setting that strikes me as very post human.

There's a description in one piece of fluff of colonies of "barnacles" on certain space ships or habitats. These are extremely stripped down synthetic bodies that are equipped with the tools to affix themselves securely to the hull of some man made object in space and then point a lens at the void of space. A body built for complete isolation and meditation upon the cosmos. A sort of ultimate asceticism. I like the barnacles a lot conceptually.

[ctlightner]

@summerchild-finn

Hi! Finally saw this reply, and I will absolutely explain.

First of all, I want to be clear that I love Alva. She's a spiritual successor to Megara from Disney's Hercules, and I think she has a very well done arc in the movie. This is not me hating on a canon female character for the sake of gay shipping. I think she and Jesper have great chemistry... I just think Jesper and Klaus have even better chemistry.

Part of that is the nature of the flim: it's a buddy movie, so it's important for the two buddies to bounce off each other and make us believe they're good together--if not romantically, then platonically. I can't say I've watched a lot of buddy movies, but if I were writing one, one of my top priorities would be to make sure the leads worked well together on a base level.

However, if we look more closely at the language of film--how the scenes are laid out, the shots, the cuts, etc--I think the movie starts resembling a romance when it comes to Klaus and Jesper.

(warning, this turned into 3k of film analysis. very long and image heavy. spoilers for klaus, and the discussion assumes youve seen it at least once)

Exhibit A: The Touch

Step one is a base of good chemistry, but then we add in things like Jesper accidentally touching Klaus' broad chest and pulling away quickly (~43 min in):

But that's not the beginning and end of this sequence, otherwise it would simply read more platonic. See, when Jesper firsts lays his hands on Klaus, his eyes travel to his hands. And then he realizes what he's done and glances up at Klaus:

The shot lingers on this quiet moment between them, filled with nothing but touch. And if that was it, well, yeah you'd get people reading it as romantic, but it still could just be platonic as Jesper realizes he's breached the personal bubble of the man he thought was an axe murderer two nights ago. But something happens between Jesper realizing he fumbled over the touch barrier and him pulling away:

A POV shot. Through Jesper's eyes.

When we shift into Jesper's head, we're privy to a full reaction from Klaus. We don't know exactly what's going on in his head, but he's not angry. If anything, he looks quizzical. Part of this is because Jesper doth protest too much about how much he cares about toy delivery, and this mountain man is re-learning social interaction after decades of isolation.

But again, the movie pauses here. It's not a long, long shot, but it is about one second long. That doesn't seem like a lot, but you can fit quite a bit of information in one second of a movie. Furthermore, the entire sequence, from the initial touch to pulling away is a solid 5 seconds. The movie purposefully delays us here, on this moment, to make sure we see them interact in this way.

Let's play Swap the Genders for a second. If Jesper was, idk, Jespina, how would this interaction be different? Theoretically, it's the same actions and the same, surrounding implications of plot context. But we as an audience have been trained to read "boy and girl share brief, awkward touch" as foreshadowing for a romantic future. In all genres, not just romcoms and dramatic romances, though you bet your butt they're extremely deliberate in those. And with how long the movie lingers here, it would absolutely read as romantic if this were m/f.

But Wait There's More!

Exhibit B: Jesper, The Light

At about the 55 minute mark, we get another interesting sequence. By this point, we know that Klaus' store of toys is drying up, and he hasn't been keen on making more. Jesper, meanwhile, is still a few letters shy of being able to go home to luxury, so he gets an idea on how to convince Klaus to make more toys for Christmas.

We see Klaus out chopping wood when the magic wind we saw earlier in the film (that convinced him to go on the initial deliveries), leads him up to his workshop. Once there, he's greeting by a curtain obscuring part of the shop. A lantern within exudes soft, comforting golden light, and we see a silhouette moving.

The silhouette is feminine, from the look of hair pulled back, to the curvy spine, to the soft triangle of the lower body that implies a dress. We're to assume there is woman there, and as the sequence continues, we're led to assume this is a woman Klaus knows.

He starts to approach, a look of surprise on his face. Then we get a close-up that further betrays his want and concern and hope. This is all portrayed without words, by the way. It's just a series of well-executed shots and poignant music. It's an excellent example of how to raise tension via shots when you have a very stoic character. Klaus doesn't really move his face much. He doesn't mug to the camera like a desperate Let's Player to illustrate that he's having Complicated Emotions. Instead, the shot changes intensify. By the time Klaus is ready to see who's behind the curtain, so are we.

And after all that buildup, the feminine figure reaches out and flings the curtain away to reveal...

Twink Supreme.

Klaus is annoyed the silhouette wasn't who he thought it was and gets more annoyed the longer Jesper tries to pitch him on making toys for Christmas. Klaus tries to get him to stop, but he helps himself to the workshop and starts touching things he shouldn't. This culminates when Jesper yanks a sheet off a wall.

He reveals a very dusty fixture with a familiar-looking masculine woodcut, and a less familiar, but notable feminine one. And underneath their slot are completely empty ones. This is the first time the scene has been shunted into darkness since Klaus entered the workshop.

Klaus is horrified at this thing, even though we can surmise he made it himself. This is forbidden, even to him.

He orders Jesper to leave. Jesper obliges, and we follow him back to the post office where he meets up with absolute cinnamon roll Margú and finally decides to help her write a letter so she can get her own toy like the townies. Jesper goes to Alva for help and via the power of pop ballad montage, we see them get a little closer and end the sequence with the letter in hand.

Now, Jesper knows he can't ask Klaus for help making Margú her toy, so he sets off to make it himself despite not being qualified in the slightest. It's the thought that counts, right?

As the ballad ballads on, we get a crossfade from Jesper working by candlelight to Klaus still sitting and brooding in his dark workshop. A crossfade is a type of transition from scene to scene where one picture gradually fades into the next. As we fade from Jesper to Klaus, we get an incredible image:

Jesper is in the forbidden zone. His visage has replaced the dusty, hidden remnants that have been there so long. Moreover, once again, the movie heavily contrasts light and dark. Much like how the curtains obscuring Jesper earlier were the only light in the darkness of the workshop, now again is Jesper the beacon of warmth. A beacon that Klaus has turned away from, much like he did the tree carving before.

Now, I need y'all to put a pin in this. I swear I have a conclusion to this sequence, but I need to talk about something else first.

Exhibit C: The Porch Scene

Klaus eventually shows up to the post office and sees that Jesper made a mess of the woodworking for the gift. He starts fixing it, and the two head out into the night to the nearby Sámi camp/village to deliver Margú's toy. The ballad is still going, by the way, and it rises back up in lyrics and power as the young girl tests out her... snow-windsurfing board? It looks dope. Jesper seemingly for the first time understands the meaning of doing good deeds. Eventually, they return to Klaus' home, all excited from the escapade. Especially Jesper.

As they stable the reindeer, Klaus admits that it's been a long time since he's felt this way, and that "she" used to tease him when he got that doofy smile on his face. Who is "she," Jesper asks.

"My Lydia," he replies.

Klaus recounts how he and his wife found enjoyed their little mountain hideaway. But, he says, it wasn't going to be the two of them for long.

Light blossoms again as we flash back to a younger Klaus and his wife, excited to start their lives together, and very excited to start a family, a large one. At least seven children judging by the niches on the tree. Unfortunately for them, no children came. And then Lydia got sick. And then she was gone. He supposes he lost his way after she died, making birdhouse after birdhouse because she loved birds.

"Then," Klaus says, turning to gaze fondly at Jesper, "you showed up."

He says that he never thought he'd feel this again--"this" of course being the joy of seeing children's faces when they got a new toy he worked hard on. No, "this" doesn't refer to romance, but again, if Jesper were Jespina, we would absolutely be expected to take this as, if not foreshadowing, then barely-subtextual confirmation that there are romantic feelings somewhere in the mix.

But that's not just looking too hard through a queer lens at this interaction. Remember that pin from the previous section? Pull it out and let's discuss. See, the movie, through film language alone, equates Jesper to Lydia.

We were expected to believe the silhouette from earlier was a woman's. A woman who we understood to be important to Klaus. Now, we know that she wasn't just important, he loved her, was married to her. To see her silhouette in Jesper's positions the two as equals if they can so easily be mistaken for each other. Essentially, something about Jesper reminded Klaus of Lydia.

But of course, the movie didn't do this just once.

The movie equates Jesper to Lydia when it crossfades between the post office and the workshop during the breakup sequence. I mentioned that Jesper is the light in the darkness here, but superimposing him over something so important and devastating to Klaus places him squarely within the field of those feelings as well. And once we learn that the carved tree was Klaus and Lydia's wish for family, suddenly Jesper being there in the frame puts him as family.

Now, could you read this as just platonic "found family?" Yeah, absolutely, and the film does a great job doing that later on when the Sámi enter the workshop. But I argue that the movie has gone out of its way several times to specifically equate Jesper and Lydia. These two people are both lights in the darkness for Klaus. They tease him good-naturedly. But most importantly, the porch scene recontextualizes a much earlier scene from being merely mysterious to Lydia outright endorsing Jesper's presence in Klaus' life.

Back around the 30 minute mark, Jesper approached Klaus after a successful day of getting the kids to write letters for toys. He implores Klaus to give away his myriad of toys that're just collecting dust in the workshop. Klaus is seemingly less than impressed, until a strange wind blows in. We see this odd wind several times throughout the movie, and Klaus seems to understand what it wants, despite it not speaking. During the porch scene, we learn that he believes the strange wind is Lydia's spirit keeping him company and giving him a nudge in the right direction if he needs it. At the end of the movie, the wind tells him it's time to let go and to move on. At the point where Jesper is trying to persuade Klaus to do deliveries...

The strange wind circles him in a halo, forcing Klaus to pay attention. The wind's approval--Lydia's approval--is what makes Klaus decide to help deliver the toys beyond the first one.

Essentially, not only does the movie equate Jesper to Lydia through imposing their likenesses over each other and through similar light/dark contrasts, it has her appear in the beginning and straight-up endorse Jesper's entry into Klaus' life.

Exhibit D: "Ah, Young Love!"

This next section is not so much about the homoeroticism as is it why, despite my love for Alva, her canonical romantic entanglement with Jesper pales in comparison to the accidental (?) homoeroticism of Jesper and Klaus.

There's a line that the boatman says about 39 minutes into the film after Alva has a very public, very angry confrontation with Jesper. At this point, the kids are very reward-driven, attending the school-turned-fish shop purely so they can learn to write so they can send a letter so they can get a toy. Alva yells at Jesper about how the violent, constantly feuding families won't stand for their children attending school together. She views his sending the kids to her as a threat to her ability to save up enough money to get away from Smeerensburg forever and pursue her dreams somewhere she'll be useful and appreciated.

After Alva leaves, the smug trickstery boatman says:

"Ah! Young love."

I have always found this line incredibly grating because it's a classic example of Telling rather than Showing. Now, people in recent years have pushed back against that old adage, but there are times you want to show something to the audience rather than just stating it in a straightforward manner. Romantic relationships, for one thing.

As I mentioned at the top of this post, this is a buddy movie between Jesper the Postman and Klaus the future Santa Claus. They are the main characters of the film. Both of them need to carry this movie equally, and the best way to do that is to make sure they have excellent chemistry with each other. The film succeeds at this, and then some.

Alva, on the other hand, is not the main character. She is a major supporting character, and I think the movie would be lesser if she were absent, but her and Jesper's romantic relationship was always doomed to be Told rather than Shown. Because theirs is not the most important relationship in the movie.

I think the film could have done better about this, though. Getting rid of that young love line, for one thing. It's the sort of line you have someone say in the hopes that you can sneak in some romantic foreshadowing for the canonical couple. Unfortunately, it's about as subtle as a brick to the face.

The film seems to be going for a Bad First Impressions/Enemies-ish to Lovers thing with Jesper and Alva, but it really falls flat. They just don't spend enough time with each other for me to believe they're falling in love. Not to say they don't have cute moments. The montage where they help Margú write her letter is really nice, and the film shows Alva scooting closer and closer to Jesper as they hang out more and get to know each other. However, it's a montage, one with a song covering the bits of dialogue we get from them as they work. If the movie wanted to make me believe that Alva and Jesper had as much, if not more, chemistry together than Jesper and Klaus, then they probably should have changed the scene to be less focused on the montage and more focused on them playfully bantering back and forth.

But again, I think the relationship was doomed from the start, purely because Alva is not a main character. They probably would have had to make Jesper the eventual Santa Claus and nix Klaus in order to give Alva the proper amount of room.

(However, I think that would have ended up making the movie a bit too much like Rankin-Bass' stop-motion Santa Claus is Comin' to Town. Think about it: that special starts with a postman narrating about letters; it emphasizes that the question "Why do people write letters to Santa?" will be explored and answered; the main setting is a depressing, grungy town headed by a cartoonishly evil leader; there's a jaded ginger-haired schoolteacher who learns to loosen up and love life again, etc.)

I wish things had been different with Alva, or maybe that they had been allowed a longer runtime to really sell the relationship. As it is, it's fine. It works for what it is. But Jesper and Klaus' relationship is simply deeper, more subtle, and more meaningful.

Conclusion

Thank you for coming to my post about why Klaus is an extremely gay movie despite not being a gay movie. I wish I could wrap this up more academically, but I've made my thesis obvious and I have work at 7:30am tomorrow.

Hope this answers your question!

[hostradio]

the  first  person  alastor  ever  killed  was  his  father.

and  if  you  were  somehow  able  to  pester  the  truth  out  of  him  (  perhaps  with  a  few  glasses  of  whiskey  in  tow  )  that's  probably  how  he  would  spin  it  —  painting  himself  an  unempathetic  slaughterer  of  his  own  flesh  and  blood,  with  exactly  the  sort  of  macabre  whimsy  you  would  expect.  from  the  way  alastor  would  tell  the  tale,  he  doesn't  make  it  out  to  be  some  big  grandiose  act  of  vengeance  or  spite  or  what  have  you.  he  honestly  acts  more  enthused  about  the  fact  it  was  his  first  murder  than  the  identity  of  the  victim  in  question  —  like  it  could  have  been  anyone,  but  (  as  an  inconsequential  little  footnote  )  it  just  so  happened  to  be  dear  old  dad.

it's  all  an  act,  of  course.  though  not  necessarily  in  the  way  you  might  expect  —  because  the  first  person  alastor  ever  killed  was  indeed  his  own  father,  but  the  part  he'll  always  conveniently  neglect  to  share  is  that  it  was  a  complete  accident.

yes,  he  has  always  been  a  momma's  boy  and  yes  he  was  never  particularly  fond  of  his  dad  —  but  the  situation  is  not  nearly  so  cut  and  dry.  his  father  was  barely  around  when  he  was  growing  up.  (  long  stretches  of  time  spent  toiling  away  on  a  ship,  or  so  he  was  told.  was  that  the  truth?  who  knows.  he  doesn't  care.  )  his  mother  was  the  person  he  spent  more  time  around  than  anyone,  and  the  inverse  was  also  true  —  so  it's  only  natural  that  they  would  be  quite  close.  she  was  a  kind  soul,  the  sort  with  a  faint  tinge  of  loneliness  only  truly  noticeable  in  those  quiet  moments  when  she  believed  no  one  was  looking.  i  think  there's  a  part  of  al  that  always  felt  somewhat  protective  over  her,  even  when  he  was  just  a  child  —  not  necessarily  because  she  was  fragile  or  helpless,  but  rather  because  she  was  all  he  had.  comparatively,  his  father  was  basically  a  stranger.  he  didn't  really  speak  with  him,  didn't  really  go  out  of  his  way  to  interact  with  him  even  when  he  was  around.  he  quietly  resented  the  moments  his  dad  was  home,  because  children  are  more  intuitive  than  they  get  credit  for  and  he  could  feel  how  the  atmosphere  of  the  house  changed  for  the  worse  whenever  he  was  present.

there  was  always  tension  present  in  his  parents'  marriage.  (  i  don't  think  al  has  ever  really  witnessed  what  a  healthy  marriage  looks  like.  )  it  wasn't  physically  abusive,  but  there  was  a  very  clear  cycle  of  lovebombing,  gaslighting  and  neglect.  things  would  get  bad,  and  then  his  father  would  start  babbling  those  same  old  tired  promises  —  he  can  change!  he  can  get  better!  just  give  him  a  chance!  again,  again,  again.  and  perhaps  there  would  be  brief  stints  of  time  wherein  he  would  try  to  make  good  on  those  hollow  reassurances,  before  inevitably  sliding  back  into  old  habits.  alcohol  and  infidelity  and  verbal  abuse.  there  was  no  love  in  this  marriage,  just  two  people  trapped  in  an  unhealthy  situation  because  clinging  to  the  rotted  planks  of  this  sinking  ship  was  the  best  bet  they  had  to  keep  from  drowning.  frogs  trapped  in  a  pot  of  boiling  water.  (  hand  in  unlovable  hand.  )  and  alastor  was  there  to  witness  it  all.  never  the  focus,  never  subjected  to  the  abuse  directly,  but  still  molded  by  its  presence  nevertheless.

he  intervened  only  once  —  the  single  time  his  father  actually  did  lay  hands  on  his  mother  in  alastor's  presence.  he  was  in  his  teens  at  that  point,  fresh  off  a  growth  spurt  that  left  him  nearly  as  tall  as  the  man  himself  —  and  perhaps  that's  the  reason  why  he  underestimated  his  own  strength.  alastor  really  only  intended  to  get  him  away  from  her,  but  the  force  of  the  shove  sent  him  stumbling  and  his  neck  came  down  on  the  edge  of  the  countertop  at  the  perfect  angle  to  snap  it.

he  can  still  recall  the  sight  of  him  laying  there,  body  jerking,  head  twisted  in  such  a  way  that  just  didn't  feel  right.  a  cold,  twisting  sensation  in  the  pit  of  his  stomach  like  he's  just  swallowed  a  mouthful  of  seawater.  (  no  guilt.  no  fear.  only  numbness.  )  then  a  warm  hand  resting  on  his  shoulder  and  a  familiar  voice  telling  him  it's  okay.  it's  going  to  be  okay.  for  what  is  a  mother  if  not  the  one  to  come  swooping  in  when  her  child  has  created  a  mess?

they  buried  him  together  in  secret.  never  spoke  a  word  of  it  again.  and  as  far  as  anyone  was  concerned,  alastor's  father  just  never  came  home  one  day.

[m34gs]

For the writing ask meme: 5, 9, 14!

Thank you for the ask, friend! (from this post!) These are really helping me think about writing and getting me unstuck! I appreciate it!

I have many WIPs, but the one I am currently focusing (and stuck) on is United, my BNHA Hogwarts AU fic. I recently got a motivation boost from a lovely comment left by @oaken-dick and so I've been revamping the plot for the remaining chapters and working it to be more cohesive, and then writing, hopeful to post the next chapter when I can.

5. what is the next moment you need to write that’s interesting to you?

I would say the very next part that I have to write is Tenya's Ultimate Betrayal. Not to give too much away, but if anyone has read the fic they know that I took Tenya's canon spiral from when his brother is injured and made it worse. I made it so much worse. My poor Tenya, I am not giving him a chance to easily redeem himself...oops. Basically, every time you would think he's Past the Point of No Return, he does something that leads him further and further away from his friends and any shot at redemption.

At this point, no one is safe no matter how long they've been friends or what they've promised in the past. Tenya is working with Shigaraki, and murder is on his mind.

9. what do each of the relevant characters currently want?

oooooh, this is such a good question. This is actually one of my favourite questions to ask myself, and I'm so so so happy to answer. It will make my answer long as there are several relevant characters, but I will try to summarize as best I can and I will only focus on the major characters of the fic for this one:

Izuku - Izuku wants to stop Shigaraki for a couple reasons: 1. He wants his mother, a muggle, to be safe; 2. He wants his friend Tenya to stop heading down the dark path he's on; 3. He does not like the sound of a once-powerful dark wizard coming back to kill people; and 4. he wants to prove to everyone that being a Slytherin does not automatically make someone evil or beyond saving.

Katsuki - He just wants himself and Izuku to be happy together. And for Izuku to be SAFE.

Hitoshi - My poor son just wants some happiness. He has been hit hard at every turn and he's reaching for anything he can to save himself. He would also like to not be heartbroken *looks at Dabi and coughs*

Dabi - Initially, Dabi wanted to rebel against his father. Now, he just wants to find a way to stop Shigaraki and survive the process. He has an added desire to watch out for Tenya, because he's Hitoshi and Shouto's friend. And if he and Hitoshi could figure some stuff out...that would be nice too lol.

Tenya - I don't think Tenya really knows what he actually wants at this point, but I know the fact of the matter is that he's seeking an outlet for his grief and he wants others to hurt the way he is hurting.

Shigaraki - He wants the extermination of muggles for a few reasons. It's not explicitly stated (yet) but uh...his situation was very similar to Hitoshi's once (see fic for details? it's complicated...), and All for One is the wizard who saved him.

Ochaco - Ochaco wants the boy she loves *looks pointedly at Tenya* to stop being an idiot and for things to go back to how they were when everyone was getting along.

All for One - Believes muggles are beneath wizards and witches, and so he wants to get rid of them.

14. what do you like about this WIP?

This was my first ever fanfic, and I've been working on it for a little over three years now(started posting in October 2019). I have a strong attachment to it because I've been working so hard on it for so long.

I really like the Dabi/Shinsou in the fic. Initially, this ship was meant to be more background, with the main focus of Shinsou's character being his escape from the abusive foster home he lives in...but I really liked the way the two students were drawn to each other and the way they interacted when I wrote them, so the ship kind of grew from there.

I also liked playing around with character assignments. When I first told my brother that Izuku was going to be in Slytherin, he nearly jumped out of his seat going "what?! How does that work?!!!!" lol. But I think my reasoning is logical. Izuku has ambition, maybe even more than Katsuki. Slytherin highly values ambition. I also really like drawing out the plotting side to Izuku, which is a bit of what happens with him being in Slytherin. And honestly, the fact that Izuku in the original source material takes the hair from All Might and agrees to be his successor in order to be a hero screams to me "I will do anything to meet my goal". On the other side of it, Katsuki is a Gryffindor. Yes, he has ambition, but he won't do 'by any means necessary'. He actually has his own guidelines for himself (evidenced by the Sports Festival where he is angry and refusing to accept first place because he knows Todoroki didn't give their fight his all and feels that means he hasn't actually earned the first place title). Honour and Bravery are Katsuki's thing. I did a lot of thinking for every character I assigned a house in this fic, so it took a long time to actually plan it all out.

I took liberties with ages and de-aged a lot of characters to have several of them all be students together, which was also fun because it allowed for more interactions between the antagonists and protagonists to happen organically in the fic.

I also really love how Inko in this fic finds her spine far sooner and is not afraid to speak her mind from the get-go. In the very first chapter, she is traumatized along with Izuku and Katsuki. And at that moment, she decides to do what she can to make sure they're safe. This led to a very interesting interaction between her, Aizawa, and All Might when the boys initially get invited to Hogwarts. I based a lot of it on the part in the anime where teachers are going around apologizing to parents and explaining the dormitories and asking permission for students to live on-grounds. She really stood her ground there and I loved how strong she was even as she had tears in her eyes. Inko is a Queen.

There you have it! Thank you again, friend, for asking me this. It really helped me iron some things out for the part I'm writing right now. Love you tons!

[masschase]

for the ask meme (for matt and casey): general - 8, love - 9, domestic - 9

Ship ask meme

General - 8- Who gets jealous easier?

So this is one of the things where we see some serious character development in Casey with regards to the two different points in time I write her in my fic. In 2016 she seems a little jealous of Matt and Viola (she has no clue Viola is a lesbian) and extremely jealous of her future self, with regards to the way Matt talks about her/has to go back to her but also everything else she believes is right in her future self's life. 2022 Casey is internally even more jealous as her feelings towards Matt are a lot stronger than the past self that's been fooling around with him for a few days. But she's much better at controlling it so she doesn't seem as bad.

There's also a slightly different dynamic when we look at when Matt was involved with Asha. It's a running plot point that Casey gets uncomfortable around things she can't have, hence the frequency of teasing, making vomit noises etc. despite the assurance she hopes it all works out for them. When you look at how enthusiastically she cheers on other couples, it's clear something is different.

Matt, too, acts casual about it but confirms that he does get quite jealous when he sees the way she dances with Pierce and so on. But he has this firm "she's not mine" mentality so he's a little more chill about it.

I think once they're in a relationship, he'd have far more instances of slight jealousy due to the way people interact with her, but she'd feel far more jealous if she had cause to, so overall I'd say that makes her the jealous one.

Love - 9- What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

God they're terrible for this 🤣

Casey consistently calls Matt "Matty" from that moment I've discussed before onwards where he assures her about how it kind of heals his trauma around Killbane. Before they're in a relationship that's only really when they're alone. Once they're together she uses it more freely in front of the others as well as the standard sweetie and baby. She uses all three of these a lot because she has that tendency to use people's names a lot when she's talking to them.

She will sometimes call him Miller when trying to keep things professional or when they have a work dispute and he will call her Boss/Emperor for the same reasons. Sometimes she straight up calls him Matt Miller usually in a vaguely alluring tone. Nyte Blayde is even more effective.

He's one of few people allowed to call her Cassandra (she just likes how it sounds in a British accent) and if he's using it teasingly she will often call him Matthew in return.

His main nickname for her is Cass and he doesn't use pet names as frequently as she does  but he uses a wider array of terms of endearment than she does. Babe/baby, sweetie, my darling, love/my love, cutest little mass murderer ever, blondie. Oh and princess but only in the bedroom...

In deliberately cheesy moments, the words "cyber god" and "gang boss goddess" may have been used 🤦🏼

Basically, anything *but* thier usual names will suffice 🤣

Domestic - 9- Who’s the better cook?

Matt by a fucking mile, and he's not even like *amazing*, he's just standard level can make half-decent pasta, burgers, quesadillas, shepherd's pie etc. but Casey is laughably bad in the kitchen so to her he's amazing. Even before they were together she called his pasta "That Italian restaurant shit.'. He definitely teaches her some stuff once they're together but for the most part he cooks and she cleans up afterwards.

I do still think it's super cute (some would say contrived but these "some" sound like haters to me) that pecan pie, the one thing Casey can cook thanks to her sister's very simple recipe and the fact it doesn't matter too much if it's burnt, just so happens to be Matt's favourite pie though. He's not really one for baking but I'm sure in time he'll learn to whip up a good lemon meringue in return. :)

[gh0st-0f-luke]

I am so glad my ask made you happy omgg!! My fave part from the fic was the 'my bro thought i murdered someone - 5 stars' like this man...there were so many commentors on that blog being menaces and bitches but Wei Wuxian is just another brand of holy terror no one can do it like him. I wonder if some regular blog pursuers saw his bullshit, saw how Lan Zhan incorporated his suggestions (the video, step by step pictures, stories about the recipe, additional notes) and wondered how long it would take for these two to get together. There HAS to be someone who shipped it and saw it coming from a mile away right?

I love fics where like the social media format shows you how random people on the internet see them, how they just...immediately notice there's some gay going on here and i am in for the ride, zooming and over-analyzing every interaction, trying to get details, trying to get them together...and thats why I also adored your GBBO fic! Huaisang was a fucking legend in it and he got worse on twitter! Slay my king! and Wei Wuxian being smug? the entire season being edited so masterfully to make it interesting enough that so many people watched it just for the batshit antics?? people live reacting to things? the juniors?? Another masterpiece I loved so much! The kiss they didnt edit out? FUCKING HELL! i can see how the internet went wild about that one!

I am excited for whatever you post next omg like vibrating-in-my-seat-giggling-every-few-minutes-later excited! have a great day and may you get lots of your fave food today!

P.S. this one piece of dialogue from a fic I may not post (cuz i switched fandoms lol...changing the name of the character its for because its a universal-ish piece of dialogue i can apply to characters from any fandom) suits Wei Wuxian in your fics so well:

When Wei Ying was born, shame took one look at him and decided it wanted nothing to do with that baby...

wei wuxian is such a holy terror 😭😭😭 what a troll that man is!! but you’re so right i totally believe there were some blog followers just watching this show unfold waiting for them to get together

yes social media aus are so fun for outsider pov!!! that’s why i really wanted to do them in my bake-off and worst cooks reality show fics bc it’s so funny seeing how other people view the main couple(s). i’m sure the editing in that season of gbbo was absolutely nuts LOL

nie huaisang, living legend <3

omg that quote is so perfect for him LMAOOOO i love it!! shame and wei wuxian have never met, not once

[cabbxges-and-kings]

honorhearted asked : 💖 for a reason TO date my muse (cuz I feel like we all know why NOT to lmao.)

To date or not to date. / @honorhearted -- accepting

        The bad thing with this is that I might not offer much of a detailed answer on why you should date Abe, as I provided for Astrid & Lydia, so this might get boring quickly. In general, almost all of Abe’s ships have an ounce, a pinch, or a gallon of toxicity involved in them. (Even if you ship Townhull, Abe basically forced Townsend to become a spy and they seemed better by the end, but I feel like these two would have huge communication and jealousy issues on Abe’s side). Aly and I spoke once that Abe is implied to be a different person before his brother’s death (I think Ben and Anna both mention Abe isn’t the Abe they know). I think, too, after his time in the Sugar House prison, Abe is entirely a different person from how he was in s1 just by his morals alone. He’s a hardened man, more confident in himself, but ultimately more reckless once his confidence got in the way. (Some of this might’ve been influenced by his first murder, but that’s an introspection for another time). With Abe and how he is, I believe no relationship with Abe is going to be entirely healthy. 

        Onto some reasons why you should date Abe, even if they are small in comparison.

        Abe is a relatively good father. I say relatively because, with his spying in s2, he wasn’t at home a lot. And honestly, the whole Rogers thing was out of his control, so I forgive him for having Thomas around Rogers in s3. He’s not going to be the type of guy that bounces after you admit you're pregnant. (If this is an affair, this would make things complicated, but I don’t think Abe would step away from a father role. I honestly think he would come clean about the affair if he had a child with someone else). But he seems to really love Thomas and when he’s around him, he seems to be attentive. I mean Thomas was the main reason why he got involved in the spy ring. Yay for not being the most scummy person on Earth? Points for Abester?

        Richard’s money and Whitehall

        Abe is reckless and he deals with his anger often, but I think someone might find his protective nature endearing? Idk. Abe is basically willing to defend you and his home, even if he’s reckless about it.

        Generally, Abe wouldn’t want his spying to affect you. This might not always work out though. So good intention point for Abe? Minus one point for the poor execution?

        I usually point out that Abe/Anna didn’t really have much chemistry and I think if we saw more of them interacting nicely, without their marriages and the affair being a thing, people might be more on board with them. But Abe can be charming, and witty, and I think he can be a good communicator in general (not in a feelings way). If you two have chemistry, there might be some memorable conversations and jokes. But this ultimately depends on the dynamic and circumstances. I kind of think of Mary and Abe practicing to shoot the musket scene when I say this.

        Abe might not be the best husband, or show his feelings that well, but at least he was concerned about how to provide for Thomas for the long term? So no deadbeat dad moments?

        I honestly think that if we knew more about how Abe used to be and not how he was changed by the war, we might get a better idea of how Abe is in a relationship. (Or how postwar Abe might be since his relationship with Mary is more “normal” and “healthy” at the end of s4). I can be sympathetic to Abe, more than some are, but this area doesn’t show his good qualities.

[malarki]

Harry Potter FanFiction I greatly enjoy (it’s just tomarry and sevitus)

Fair warning, I’m not good at describing stuff, and most of these are not complete (yet) but if you have similar tastes as I do then you’ll definitely like these stories.

Meddling of a Mischief Maker - by Athy

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5380535/chapters/12427268

I enjoy this fic because it shows a more human Voldemort with him still being an asshole as per usual. They do a good job of having Voldemort believably change into a not crazy murderous bastard haha. It also has Sirius interacting with Voldemort and for some reason I find those scenes hilarious in any fic I read.

“Harry's being a horcrux is a bit reworked here in this AU Story set during the summer after 5th year. A Mischief Maker intervenes in the Ministry during Voldemort and Dumbledore's duel, changing the course history. MorallyGrey!Dumbledore, Sirius, Restored Souls, HP/TR”

Draw Me After You (Let Us Run) - by ToAStranger @toast-ranger-to-a-stranger

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22327684/chapters/53334382

This story is a delight, it’s tone is very good and they do a great job of writing in the characters ‘voices’ for their pov’s. I especially like the posh way Voldemort talks and acts. This story is also hilarious on top of just being a very good slowburn, AND it has Sirius, which as you might have guessed, I love dearly. They also don’t bash any of the characters, and instead make them well rounded but flawed individuals, which I really appreciate.

“Harry Potter,” comes the soft, sibilant hiss of a voice he has heard in his dreams, in his nightmares, in his waking hours for years.

Slowly, carefully, Harry twists over and pushes up onto his hands and knees. He stays there, short breath fogging in front of his face, and his pursuer lets him. Harry has no doubt of that; he’s being allowed this respite. This small moment to catch his bearings, heart pounding in his ears, blood singing.

“It seems I have finally caught you.”

Consuming Shadows - by Child_OTKW @childotkw

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7040089/chapters/16011331

I’ve read two of childOTKW’s fics and both of them are fantastically written and attention grabbing stories. This one was the first one I read, and it has a very interesting take on lily Potter (one which I really enjoy) and the plot can leave you on the edge of your seat at times. The characterization is great, and the process of Harry and Tom getting to know each other is done very well.

“His attention skipped passed the students and moved to the politicians’ pavilion. His gaze locked with crimson, and he nearly faltered under the sheer hunger in those eyes.

It unnerved him how fixated the man was on his dirtied, exhausted figure.

But what troubled him more was the slight smirk he could make out on the man’s lips. It was almost pleased.

On the night of the attack, Lily managed to escape with her infant son, but at the cost of her husband’s life. Distraught and distrusting of her friends, she fled to France with Harry, to raise him away from the corruption in Britain and the rising influence of the Dark Lord. She trains him to the best of her abilities, shaping him into a dangerous, intelligent and powerful wizard.

But when Britain re-establishes the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry is forced to return to his once-home, he finds himself questioning whether he really wants to kill the Dark Lord. Voldemort finds an unexpected challenge in the child, and as his intrigue and amusement grows, so too does the desire to possess the spark in those defiant green eyes.”

A story that is kind of similar but not really: The Train to Nowhere

You Belong To Me (I Belong To You) - by child_OTKW

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11270490/chapters/25203408

This is a story inspired by the manwha ‘At The End Of The Road’ by Haribo. A comic I read before reading this, which is very good I recommend it. They do not take the exact plot from the comic though, obviously changing significant details for it to work properly as a Tomarry Fic, but one main thing stays the same, which is that this is a body swap. Honestly I really enjoy childOTKW’s works, and this is no exception. The characterization is wonderful as always, and Harry is Fantastic. Plus I’ve always been a fan of time travel fics. (Fair warning this is another slow burn and Harry centric)

“What I find absolutely fascinating,” Riddle said, stalking closer, “is you.” He marched forward, backing Harry up until he was pinned to the cool wall of the common room. “Do you know why?”

“No. And I’ll be honest here, Riddle, I don’t particularly care.”

The taller boy grinned at him, small yet infinitely pleased. “That. Right there.” One hand rose and brushed some of Harry’s fringe from his face. “Nathan Ciro was a spineless little boy too afraid of his own shadow to dare even glance in my direction. But you…”

He leaned closer, “You look at me like you want to stab me.”

“After an accident, Auror Harry Potter wakes up in the body of fourteen year old Nathan Ciro, a tormented Slytherin who recently tried to end his own life. Seeking answers to his strange predicament, Harry returns to Hogwarts, and causes quite the stir through staff and students - especially when they come to realise he is not the same boy as before.

He tries to avoid suspicion, but as his quest for the truth draws more and more attention to him, Harry begins to think that he might not like what he will discover.”

Some Bonus AU tomarry

A Thousand Paths Among The Stars - by Haplessshippo @haplesshippo

https://archiveofourown.org/works/12015060/chapters/27191238

This is a star trek au and it’s honestly my favorite tomarry au fic. Granted, I am a huge sci-fi fan. There’s also a bit of a twist at the end, or at least it surprised me, due to the way we usually expect tomarry plots to go.

“Harry Potter, newly appointed Captain of the Marauder and son of the famous Captain James Potter, was falling apart at the seams. His crew didn’t respect him, he was lost in the empty expanse of space, nightmares plagued his sleep, and his Commander deserved the Captain position more than he did. Good thing multiple attempts on his life and a vicious warlord after his head was all it took to turn it all around.

Alternatively, that space fic in which Harry Potter almost dies too many times, Tom Riddle slowly becomes the most smitten fool on the ship, and the rest of the crew are all just a bunch of assholes with popcorn watching the show. And exploding ships, don't forget the exploding ships.”

The Matchmaker - by TanninTele

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16507676/chapters/38664089

I am ALSO a huge true crime fan, and this story has a criminal that kinda reminds me of one that might appear in Hannibal (but with less murder). I enjoy the characterization, though tom is pretty tame in this compared to more cannon fics, considering he’s not the criminal and instead an investigator. Harry is also different from how people usually portray him, but I still like it.

“'The Matchmaker' is a serial abductor whose modus operandi consists of pairing two same-sex individuals together in a coffin, six feet underground - buried alive. He isn't a killer. He's a kidnapper with morals, and Detective Chief Inspector Tom Riddle finds himself obsessed with solving the case.

Unfortunately for Tom, the Matchmaker is just as intent on knowing him.”

And on to the Sevitus Stories

Far Beyond A Promise Kept - by oliversnape

https://archiveofourown.org/works/547431/chapters/974693

A classic, Harry stays with snape and unintentionally proves all his assumptions wrong and makes snape care about him. Both the stories have this aspect, but this one has snape a bit nicer from the get go. Probably because it takes place during the third book, so they’ve only known each other two years. It’s quite wholesome though, and I rather enjoy the progression of their relationship.

“Snape never wanted anyone to know of his promise to Dumbledore, but has realised that he can protect Potter much better by taking a less passive role in the boy's training. Actually liking Harry Potter has never been part of his plan. mentor/guardian.”

Crime And Punishment - by melolcatsi

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24102232/chapters/58018174

Snape and Harry have way more of a rocky start in this one, and Snape having to pick Harry up from the police station Really Doesn’t Help Snape’s opinion of him. This story very realistically shows the progression of their relationship, going from enemies to family, and near the ‘end’ (it’s not finished) it becomes very wholesome with Snape trying to help Harry with his mental and physical health after years of abuse/ neglect.

“Harry is accused of burglary. The Dursleys leave him to rot. Dumbledore sends Snape to remedy the situation. Harry finds himself in the care of an irate Snape. Not slash, gen-fic w/ focus on Sevitus relationship. Angst galore. Warnings: coarse and suggestive language, mentions of abuse/neglect. Un-betaed and un-Britpicked.”

[allronix]

Carth and Force Sensitivity (crossposted from Reddit r/kotor)

This is for @k-she-rambles:

Okay, so while we're shooting the bantha crap over on KOTOR fan theories, u/134340Goat mentioned my all time favorite "Have you been chewing spice?!" fan theory when it comes to KOTOR: Is Carth Force Sensitive?

So this one starts with a story. I mentioned my brother in law, who is pretty much Keeper of the Jedi Archives. Seriously, he's an English teacher and my sister is a librarian. They met at a sci fi convention and their first date was Phantom Menace. We're taking not just geeks, but geeks who can throw the damn bookshelf at you. Brother in law bought KOTOR on the day it launched and turned it into a week long binge watch at his house. And because brother in law is that kind of geek, he's translating the characters into the West End D6 system. I'm watching him do a playthrough, and he's got Canderous and Zaalbar at Ajunta Pal's tomb.

Allronix: Huh. That's odd. Why aren't commenting on anything when Ajunta is speaking?

Bro in law: Oh. They can't even see Ajunta. You have to be Force Sensitive to see a Force Ghost The stronger your Sensitivity, the better you can see it.

Allronix: Really? Then how come Carth can see it?

Bro in law (gets the "holy shit, I gotta confirm this" look): Really?! He just sees something out the corner of his eye or something?

Allronix: No, he sees Ajunta just fine. Understands what the dude's saying too.

Bro in law instantly rolls back to his last save, swaps Zaalbar for Carth, and sees the bit in question.

Bro in law: Oh. Dear. (Goes over to make some quick scribbles on Carth's character sheet)

Okay, so maybe that was a lore fail. I didn't really think about it too much until I hit that False Level Up glitch and ran around with Carth and Mission as Sentinels. Now, while I couldn't really see Mission as a Sensitive, that little bit with my bro in law nagged at me. And became a "once you see it you can't unsee it." Apologies to TV Tropes, where some of these were my additions to the Wild Mass Guess entry on this topic.

Any one of these on its own is pretty easy to blow off. After all, man is career military, and knows All this Shit is Weird. I also like to think of Sensitivity as a spectrum and not a switch. If all life is connected by the Force, then all life would be Sensitive to some degree or another. It’s just a matter of to what degree. It’s only as the list gets longer and longer does the case start looking damning...

What are the odds of surviving that attack on the Endar Spire, getting to the escape pods, sharing the last escape pod with the mindwiped Sith Lord, piloting through the chaos, landing in what passes for the "good" part of town, remaining uninjured, pulling the badly injured mindwiped Sith Lord from the wreck, evading Sith detection while all this is going on, and just happening to find a dump of an apartment where the landlord's not asking questions? That is one amazing string of coincidences and good luck. Get that many in Star Wars, and it's definitely The Force sticking its nose in things.

Piloting the escape pod to land in the Upper City, piloting the Hawk through the Sith Blockade of Taris, the random Sith patrols, the escape from the Leviathan, and the fleet around Lehon along with the crash landing that left the ship easily repairable. Now, compare to Atton who we know to be an excellent pilot and drawing on The Force who still manages to crash the ship at least three times.

He's a scary good judge of character if you're interacting with other NPCs. If you watch him with other NPC characters, he's got a pretty good compass as to which characters are being helpful and which ones are full of shit. The only one he calls incorrectly is Rukil, who is probably also an untrained Sensitive (the age, the "marked" comments) and half senile, which is probably throwing him.

Related to that, his distrust and wariness about something not adding up with the PC, the Jedi Council feeding the party a line of bull, that things just aren't adding up. And on all of it? Dead on. He's 100% right about the Player Character, he just expected something a little less crazy than "that's Darth freaking Revan."

If you play Female Revan, then Carth's the one who gets fried in the torture cages on the Leviathan. Saul comments how strange it is that Carth takes so much punishment and still remains conscious. Now, this is a low level thing, but in lore, Force Sensitives have drawn on it to keep them alive or conscious under duress. Explicitly, the first sign we got that Leia was a Sensitive when she withstood the Imperial torture droid.

Another of his scary ass judge of character feats? In the comics, Zayne (who is on the run from the Jedi, who framed him for the murder of his classmates) has a vision that Mandalorians are coming for Serroco. Saul? Laughs it off, throws Zayne in the brig. Zayne's own friends don't even believe him. Carth gets one of those creepy hunches and starts calling in "duck and cover" sirens as far as he can broadcast, which sends seventeen cities and millions of people heading for shelter. It saves their lives and Carth is called a hero for it. Armed with another hunch, he disobeys Saul (remember this is before Saul nukes Telos) and lets Zayne "escape" from custody. Mind you, not even the Jedi or his party members believed Zayne. Carth did.

Carth makes a lot of creepy weird offhand predictions about the future. He says he knows on some level he'll be there when Saul dies. That certainly pans out. He makes an offhand prediction that the Jedi have set the party up to take a fall. Right again. He tells a female PC that she'll have to make a choice soon, one she can't walk away from. And then we get the temple top. He even blurts out that "I sensed you would have to make a choice soon, and that was it*, I can feel it!"* If you specify a LS Female Revan, his recording for T3-M4 says he's had a hunch Revan would leave without warning. Again, spot on.

Specify a LS male Revan, and Carth will remark to Bastila that seeing the Exile reminds him "there are worse things to lose." The only other people who can see just how screwed up the Exile is are the Jedi Masters, Chodo Habat, and the Force Sensitive party members.

Specify a LS female Revan, and Carth will insist that he would know if Revan were dead (again, scary ass intuition) and that there's an "emptiness" where she used to be. Now, remember one of the things about a broken Force Bond? It would simply be "empty, a wound."

You know how your party members in KOTOR 2 feel upset or even horrified as they realize they feel compelled to protect Exile and can't being themselves to leave, even when said actions are kicking puppies? And how they swing wildly from being crazy, almost stalker level possessive of them to being scared out of their wits and clamming up when you try to pry anything out of them? And the more potent (and untapped) their Force Sensitivity, the more they get hammered with the effect? (Mira and Atton in particular) Yeah. Now, Carth's "I don't wanna talk" looks a bit different, doesn't it? It could also account for that romance arc, especially if you roll a DSF Revan and go for that "everyone dies" ending.

Again, Ajunta Pal. Seeing a Force Ghost? Yeah. Some degree of Sensitivity needed. Understanding what he's saying? Yeah. Takes a bit more than that. And Carth makes a weirdly insightful comment about the Dark Side on top of it.

Notice that this a wall o text argument already, and I'm now just getting to the "Yeah, his kid is able to throw around mid-level Dark Side powers and packing a red lightsaber." Given the jawline and the muleheaded attitude, no way Morgana was fooling around with the pizza delivery boy. That's definitely Carth's kid, and that's definitely Force Sensitivity. Now, while it can skip a generation (see Theron Shan), it tends to run pretty heavy in families.

Lastly? Gee. He comes from a planet settled by and heavily populated by descendants of Force Sensitives who failed their training. I'm also willing to bet some bastard children of Jedi get passed off as "foundlings" and "orphans" and dumped there, too. Jedi are forbidden attachments, but not sworn to celibacy, so...yeah, bastard kids are gonna happen. There's probably a Jedi or two in that family tree. It's circumstantial evidence at best, but it still supports the case.

Now, any arguments I missed? Counterarguments?

And the million credit question: If there's a character who gets to break this news to poor Flyboy, who do you think would actually take that on? How do you think Carth would take that kind of news? And what, if anything, would come of it?

I kinda figure Jolee might be the only one nuts enough to poke that with a stick...I also kinda figure "Sentinel" would fit best. Consular? Hell no. He hired Mical for that. Guardian works with the feats, but the whole "ferreting out deceit and injustice?" Yeah. That's Carth.

[yiangchen]

TLOK Book 1 Rewatch Thoughts...

1. While only having seen the show as a whole once, I’ve seen Book 1 about four times now I think. I just love it. It’s honestly really really solid and I enjoy it a lot.

2. Amon is a very compelling villain. I used to think that him being a bloodbender was kinda stupid because it undermined the revolution, but I’m not sure I agree with that anymore. Due to his upbringing, he had a very valid reason for thinking all bending is evil.

3. The murder/suicide scene with Noatak and Tarrlok is so sad but so good.

4. Korra being able to airbend feels way more earned to me this time around. I had never realized that her fear of Amon was part of her mental block, and once he took away her ability to bend the other three elements, she realized she had nothing left to lose. It’s a very earned moment the more I think about it.

5. Which reminds me...Aang giving her back her bending at the end is actually earned as well. Letting go of her fear of Amon was also pivotal in her connecting to her spiritual self. 

6. I absolutely love the scene in episode 2 where Korra moves like an airbender to win the pro bending match. I get major chills every time. 

7. While parts of the love triangle are cringy, the way that Korra acts honestly makes sense considering she’s never interacted with kids her own age all that much before, if at all. 

8. When Bolin and Korra are on their date, they do seem lowkey perfect for each other, and honestly, I can see it. 

9. Also, I do still really enjoy a lot of the Makorra moments in Book 1. They’re cute, okay. Ngl. (They were my original ship back when I first watched the show. I don’t love them nearly as much as I had then, but I still like them a fair amount.)

10. One of my favorite parts about this rewatch was noticing all the little Korrasami moments. I know that they didn’t originally intend for Korrasami to end up together at all, considering that the Book 1 finale was originally the finale of the whole series and Makorra got together, but there are quite a few Korrasami moments.

11. Lin and Tenzin are still my two faves. I LOVE THEM. Also, Jinora!

12. However, my only complaint with Tenzin’s character is that I really wish that he and some of his children had some SWT elements in their Air Nomad robes.

13. Iroh II making an appearance is one of the highlights of the season imo.

14. Lin’s sacrifice is one of the saddest moments, but I kinda love it. 

15. You know what? I love probending. It’s so fun. 

16. Mako wearing his father’s scarf as a parallel to Katara wearing her mother’s necklace. I’M CRYING.

17. I still refuse to believe that Katara banned bloodbending entirely. It makes sense that she would ban the use of it to control/hurt people, however, I absolutely love the hc that she developed medicinal uses for it. I like to think that she trained a select few how to save lives with bloodbending and that most of the waterbending staff in hospitals have a license to do so. Technically, there is nothing in canon that disproves this. Bloodbending is illegal, but there could be exceptions if it means saving a life. Just saying.

18. The music is just incredible. The animation too.

19. Naga is the best.