#fergus and gavin

[shipcestuous]

All of Us Villains (*who are also related) (submission)

My friend recently lent me the “All of Us Villains” duology, and I can’t not recommend it to you all, not just for the great plot twists and the incredibly written and very morally gray characters, but for both non-canon and canon shipping. (This submission really belongs on both blogs, since it covers both non-canon sibling ships and canon distant relative ships. Also, this submission will contain heavy spoilers, just a warning.)

So the premise of the series is that, once every generation, seven historic families each send a champion into a death tournament, where the winner and their family get control over the most powerful magic for the next generation. This has been going on for centuries now, and it’s absolutely a curse: they have to submit a champion each time; if they all refuse to compete, all seven competitors die, so there’s no getting out of it that way. But this time, some of the champions get it into their heads to break the curse… one way or another.

This is already a neat premise, and I’m sure the idea of seven families already has your ears perking up. But what if I told you that it’s mentioned a couple times that, because of the weight of this curse, a lot of local normies don’t want to get involved… so there’s been a fair bit of intermarrying between the families over the centuries. For example, one of the MCs has a sister who marries out of one family and into another at the start of the first book, to avoid the risk of being named a champion. Then, two of the chosen champions are first cousins (more on them later).

This means that any pairing between members of these families in the series would be a distant cousins ship. Our canon ships: Alistair/Isobel, Alistair/Gavin, and Briony/Finley. More on them later, but first, I promised you guys some sibling ships.

I wanted to start out with the most prominent one and, to me, the most shippable: Alistair Lowe and his only sibling Hendry. This ship will both warm and break your heart. They’re a year apart and delightfully close. Even if Alistair has tried to fashion himself into the perfect villain as the rest of the family wants (to dubious success), his favorite person is indisputably his sweet big brother, and Hendry adores Al just the same.

Unfortunately, their family sucks. No, I mean they’re the worst. Their family wins the tournament about 2/3 of the time, and it turns out there’s a reason for that. Each generation, one Lowe is sacrificed to craft a very powerful spell to give to that generation’s champion. Neither brother knew about this, until the rest of the family murdered Hendry behind Alistair’s back. His grief is visceral and devastating, and he blames himself even if he shouldn’t.

But! Due to some shenanigans, Hendry is unintentionally resurrected—but his life force is tied to the tournament. So Al, who was previously on the side of “let’s break the tournament and end the curse,” suddenly has so much incentive to keep it intact, because if he wins, he believes he and his brother can have a happy ending.

Note that, also on team “let’s break the tournament,” is Isobel—the girl he’s had a flirtation with for the whole first book. (Also a distant cousin, considering how the families all intermarry. Again, we’ll cover their story in greater detail later.)

Using a mind reading spell on Alistair, Isobel sees “something much bigger, draped across all his other thoughts like a shroud. His grief. All he’d wanted since the tournament began was his brother back. What he felt for her was a mere candle flame beside that longing, that uncertainty, that hopelessness. It didn’t matter if the tournament was breaking or not, if Isobel loved him or not. No one could take Alistair’s brother from him a second time. He would rather die with Hendry than lose him again.”

I just love when a character places their sibling above anyone else, love interests included. It’s obviously so tragic, especially since it’s this moment that splits Alistair and Isobel apart for good (and causes Al to be cursed), but Alistair’s love for his brother is so fierce and so humanizing. Despite his attempts to be a monster, more often than not it’s Hendry who tethers him to his humanity.

For much of the second book, Alistair struggles to find a way for himself and Hendry to both survive, even though both seem fated to die (Hendry since he’s kind of a weird ghost, Alistair because of the aforementioned curse). Hendry realizes far sooner that he isn’t going to make it, but Alistair clings to hope. There’s moments like this that absolutely ruin me:

Hendry swallowed. “I want you to win because I want you to survive. But what if you win the tournament, and I’m gone anyway?”

“That won’t happen,” Alistair snapped, his voice betraying his panic.

“Al, you don’t know—”

“I do. Because when I win, the high magick will belong to the Lowes. And that’s…” For the second time, he banished the phantom sound of his mother’s scream. “That’s just us now.”

Hendry squeezed Alistair’s hand tightly. He smiled one of his real sunlight smiles, and Alistair could almost imagine that the tournament was far behind them, that they’d already escaped Ilvernath together, just like they’d always dreamed.

A note about the “mother’s scream” part—at the end of the first book, Alistair and Hendry kill the adults of their family who conspired to murder Hendry. Very valid, honestly.

Anyway, Alistair continues to reiterate that Isobel never mattered to him as much as Hendry does—and neither does Gavin, another competitor who Al catches feelings for after he teams up with the brothers to cure all their respective curses. (Also, we love that Alistair is canonically bi, because it makes shipping him and Hendry even easier.)

Unfortunately, the more time that passes, the more Hendry is fading, and he finally forces Alistair to realize that. Hendry decides that, if he’s going to fade either way, he at least wants to go out on his own terms, and find a way to cure Alistair’s curse in the process. Basically, he sacrifices his life to craft a spell—in a sort of mirror-yet-opposite of how his family sacrificed him to begin with—that’s intended to heal Alistair. I cried a lot, but it was sadly inevitable from the start.

Even then, Alistair carries his brother’s memory with him. As I mentioned, Hendry is like a tether to the best parts of Alistair, and Al often thinks of his brother when he has to choose between the right thing or being the monster his family made of him.

Next: less prominent, but still important, we have Briony and her younger sister Innes. There’s about a year or two between them, and they were abandoned by their grieving mother when they were toddlers, passed from relative to relative amidst their glory-seeking family. Briony thinks to herself that her “only real home [is] her sister.” They’re very close.

However, Briony has always believed she’d be their family’s champion, and when Innes is chosen instead—due to government interference in the selection—it drives a wedge between them. Briony fears that her sister isn’t strong enough to survive the tournament, and when she sees an opportunity to take Innes’s place, she does it.

This isn’t an “I volunteer as tribute” situation. No, she has to take the champion ring off Innes’s finger. Except the ring won’t come off. So Briony knocks her sister out with a spell and cuts off her pinkie finger. Cool motive, still brutal.

It’s also called into question over the duology: exactly how much of that action was “I want to save my sister,” how much was “I want to put a stop to these tournaments,” and how much was “I want to be the hero and get the glory?” Even Briony herself isn’t sure, and honestly, it’s that ambiguity that makes her a fascinating character. I like to think a lot of it was love for Innes, even if some of it was the other stuff for sure.

Obviously, Innes resents her for this—also valid. She attacks Briony the next time they meet, but the sisters eventually make up. Innes still has (understandable) difficult feelings about what happened, but she and Briony end up on the same side in an attempt to end the tournament curse for good.

Tragically, Briony sacrifices her life in the process, wanting to do something good to atone for the wrongs she did, including to her sister. It’s also noteworthy that, when she’s sacrificing her life energy to break the last part of the tournament, she place she cuts herself is her finger—almost an echo of how she cut off Innes’s finger. It’s a choice that says a lot about where her mind is.

Innes is, of course, distraught when she learns about her sister. Forget about her finger, forget about the brief time of friction between them—Briony was her sister, her home, and that matters way more than whatever came between them. This ship devastates me to no end.

And finally, another and far less prominent bro/bro ship: Gavin and his brother Fergus. We don’t see a lot of Gavin’s brother in the first book—he’s about four years younger, and he’s their mom’s favorite, so Gavin resents/envies him a bit. After all, Gavin has always been marked for death by his family, because the Grieve family has never won a tournament. The brothers aren’t especially close, and in fact they’re antagonistic if anything. I didn’t feel too strongly about them until the sequel.

Gavin returns to his house, thinking nobody is home, and runs into Fergus. He learns Fergus has been keeping dossiers on each of the champions, including Gavin. It’s full of quotes and pictures from the media reporting on the tournament, and there’s even a clipping of a fan calling him the “ultimate underdog.”

Gavin is shocked and touched that Fergus has been paying attention to him, because none of his family ever seemed to care. And then he learns that Fergus—like Innes—is part of a resistance, where some of the younger members of the families are trying to help end the tournament.

In the end—after the magic dust settles—Gavin gets an offer to travel with Alistair (who’s now his boyfriend), who’s going to see the world like he and Hendry always wanted. Gavin also dislikes their hometown. However, he decides it’s more important to take guardianship of Fergus, and Fergus wants to stay there. Guardianship of the boy could’ve gone to their sister, but Fergus really wanted to stay with Gavin, and Gavin is willing to stay in town a few years longer if it’s for his brother’s sake.

And of course Alistair is understanding, because he knows better than anyone the bond between brothers.

Now, on to the cousins! First, we have our first cousins and champions: Elionor and Carbry. These two aren’t POV characters like Alistair, Isobel, Briony, and Gavin are, so we don’t see too much of their inner workings, sadly. Carbry is the youngest champion at fifteen, and his cousin Elionor is a year or two older. He’s more timid and sensitive, while she’s clever and… okay, kind of a bitch. But not to him. She’s very protective of him, and the two are allies for their whole time in the tournament.

Sadly, Carbry dies about halfway through the first book, which enrages Elionor. Her death at the end of the first book is partially brought about because she wants revenge, which—I don’t like her attacking our main characters, but I completely understand. And even if it ended sadly, it’s sweet how they never turned their backs on each other even in a death tournament.

Next, our canon ships, starting with Briony and Finley. The two used to date before the tournament began, and broke up when she once said she’d be able to kill him if it came down to it in the tournament. Understandably, he was hurt. However, the two of them end up becoming allies again partway through the first book. Even after Carbry’s death—Briony killed him in self-defense—Finley still manages to trust her again.

So much time together also rekindles the spark between them, and they end up getting back together. Despite the odds, they hope that the tournament can be broken in a way where everyone gets to survive. Tragically, I already mentioned that Briony sacrifices her life to make that future happen for everyone else. Obviously, Finley is heartbroken. Both my Briony ships are inevitably tragic, but their relationship was supportive and sweet.

Next, Alistair and Isobel. (Our boy Alistair really does attract tragic romances, huh?) Just because Al values his brother above everybody else doesn’t mean that these two didn’t have great chemistry. It started out with the media labeling them as rivals and Isobel trying to manipulate him so she could stay alive, because she knew he was attracted to her. However, she caught feelings right back, and they saved each other’s lives multiple times over. She—like Hendry—made him feel like less of a monster, and also their banter was delightful.

But of course, then Hendry returned from the dead. In the ensuing battle between a lot of people, Alistair accidentally hit Isobel with a curse that nearly killed her. And even if he was sorry, Isobel recognized that Alistair’s loyalties would lie with Hendry above anyone else. Isobel was determined to break the tournament at any cost… so she’s the one who cursed Alistair, with a kiss. It was a death curse designed to slowly advance with the more wrongs a person committed (and remember, it got cured eventually, so it’s fine). It hurt her a lot to curse him, because she truly did like him, but she still thought it was for the best.

After that, they were very much exes (not that they were officially together before—the curse kiss was actually their first and last kiss—but the Vibes were there and they both knew it). But eventually, they were able to reconcile when the surviving champions teamed up. They reflect that they both made monsters of each other—and it’s unclear if they’ll ever be able to be friends again post-tournament, with such fraught history, but I like to hope so, because I really enjoyed their dynamic.

(It’s also noteworthy that the guy that Isobel vaguely ends up with shares some similarities with Alistair. I can polyship and I will.)

And then Alistair’s endgame relationship with Gavin. Admittedly, I got quite invested in Al and Isobel, so it took me a while to warm up to this one, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t great in their own right. From the beginning, Gavin sees Alistair as his biggest enemy and the one to beat—after all, Alistair’s family usually wins these tournaments, while Gavin’s family never has. But he also has a huge hate-crush on Alistair, even if it takes him a while to realize it.

In the second book, they become allies, because Gavin is also cursed, and he and the Lowe brothers are trying to solve all their problems. Initially, Gavin is hoping to leech off Hendry’s magic to prolong his own life (which of course infuriates Alistair when he finds out, and he nearly kills Gavin for it), but he starts to really care about both brothers. And, tying back into my Alistair/Hendry agenda, it’s Hendry who encourages Al to open up more to Gavin, and who encourages Gavin to see the good in Alistair. Literally the relationship wouldn’t have happened without Hendry, and it does carry a subtext of “take care of my brother after I’m not able to anymore.”

And as I mentioned, after the climax of the story, they both end up still dating but going their separate paths to do what their brother wants/wanted. Alistair traveling like he and Hendry wanted, and Gavin staying at home because it’s what’s best for Fergus. It’s like being a brother is one of the traits that binds them together and they can understand each other better because of it. We love to see relationships where they understand that family is just as important, if not more.

So that’s a breakdown of the shipcest relationships in All of Us Villains! Apologies for the length. I actually pared it down a lot, but there are so many relationships and details to talk about. I can’t recommend this story enough.

Just a random aside but there's a trial in Isobel's family mausoleum and basically the way to solve it is she has to kiss a skeleton (which can only be one of her dead relatives considering where they are) on the mouth. not as eyebrow-raising as some other stuff I talked about but still

–

Thank you for such a detailed write-up! The book has a really interesting premise and you already know that we love to see all of these family relationships and “houses” style society with many cousins. The sibling relationships in this sound so rich. 

[r4c3rr]

Reid: I just ended a five year relationship. 

Briony: Oh no, are you okay? 

Reid: It's okay, it wasn't mine.

-----

Alistair: And I jumped off the roof unscathed.

Hendry: You're bleeding from so many places.

Alistair: I'm a little bit scathed.

-----

Gavin: Everywhere I turn, BAM, there's Alistair.

Fergus: That's because you're following him around...

-----

Isobel: I don't like to think before I speak, I like to be just as surprised as anyone at what comes out of my mouth

[castlelair]

ok ok so what do you think about Alistairs last name now that he’s changed it. My guess is he changed his last name to Hendry…

OOH THIS!!

i always thought he just left it empty, but i doubt that's legal so–

Alistair Hendriks is what I stand for.

i also stand by the fact that once Gavin and Alistair get married, he takes the surname Grieve because;

Gavin has learnt to separate his name from his family, and he's now proud of his own Grieve history.

It would 100% piss off his dead relatives.

Now he can legally adopt Fergus (they're bffs i know it)

[shallowseeker]

Since you like talking about the MacLeod family so much, I was wondering what you think about the fact that Crowley kept his mother's name? It was implied that Rowena was never married and MacLeod was her family name. And even though she abandoned him, Crowley kept the name and even gave it to his son.

Ohhhhh myyyyy--

I've never thought about that. YOU'RE MAKING ME EMOTIONAL! ON A FRIDAY NIGHT!

Maybe little Fergus always thought she'd come back, right up until he drunk himself to death and died in a back alleyway

OUGH maybe it was only upon becoming a demon that he threw off the MacLeod name.

Alternatively, maybe Rowena's father (the one who Gavin MacLeod allegedly resembles) was in Fergus's life for a short while.

[angelique-of-the-volturi-guard]

You know, The MacLeods as a family were obviously fucked up in comparison to The Winchesters because of all the generational trauma, but the one area where they consistently succeeded where The Winchesters failed is that they never lied to one another about who they were. Crowley knew his mom was a manipulative witch who would latch onto anyone in power and influence to back her own. And Rowena knew her son didn’t give a damn about her aside from nursing a grudge for several decades. They hurt each other with blow after blow- Oskar, Gavin, etc. but they also helped each other by the occasional turn. But the entire time, they were 100% straight about only being there for their best interests, where The Winchesters would lie to themselves and each other constantly for the supposed sake of protecting one another, when all it did was cause more damage. The MacLeods did it right. Be straight up with each other about who you are and don’t lie about it otherwise more people get hurt by your good intentions. I have no choice but to Stan that about them.

[llewnanith]

gavin grieve makes me want to start eating my floorboards like i cannot stop thinking about him and the grieve family. i can’t stop thinking about gavin knowing how to duck and weave between clawing to get people to look at him and knowing how to make people’s eyes slide off of him for safety. how his first spell was a silencing spell on his room. how he was shocked when his family got rid of his stuff - as if he knew he was unloveable but didnt know he was that unloveable. how he was willing to maim himself for the chance to win, just for the approval of it all. how even he didn’t think he’d live. i can’t stop thinking about scenarios where he would have eaten separately from his family, hearing talking from the room over. how no matter how many times he searched those pictures he still was disappointed about not being in them. how when his family talked about his death as already having happened, he would have had to learn to stop arguing, to find an exit as quick as possible. to swallow his grief of his own life. how he probably feels stranded with no concrete plans of the future. how he probably learned to cry silently. how he brushes off his family treatment as something inevitable, typical, deserved. how the taste of neglect is something that fits in his mouth like a bit, silencing him at night when he wants to scream from it all. literally how do you recover from this. when you build your life around your own ghost, what happens after that’s gone and all that’s left is you?

[medievalatrocities]

i thought about this at midnight but just hang on

an au where alistair and fergus have their own true crime yt channel and they force gavin to be their cameraman. however they only insist on recording at the ungodliest of hours because “otherwise the vibes aren’t right”

[xofemeraldstars]

asking the important questions

[vendettasfanfictioning]

gotta say im loving the macleod family. might've gotten a little attached, even.

[luckloveandwaterfalls]

thoughts on the grieve family pls and thanks

Oh I have many, you have no idea!

So the Grieves are in a completely horrific position, where not one of their champions has won over eight hundred years. Understandably, this—along with the public opinion of them—is discouraging. Every twenty years, they send one of their kids to die. Usually right away too, so there's little hope that any of the Grieves would survive. This is an unambiguously bad situation.

By AoUV, the Grieves have given up. It's so obvious. They have zero involvement in Gavin's life and don't even include him in family photos, accepting that he is going to die at seventeen. His parents clearly aren't happy with their marriage, but they don't do anything about it. They drink and scream at each other, and ignore Gavin, and drink some more.

The problem isn't even that they've given up expecting to win the tournament. They've also completely given up on their kids (and I'm using the plural intentionally). Almost immediately after the tournament begins, Gavin's parents get rid of all of his possessions and leave his room bare. I can't even find words to describe how fucked up this is. They don't even wait. They don't even hold out hope for his survival. It's like he's already dead, like he's been dead his whole life.

To a lesser extent, they behave this way at Callista's wedding too, which I find super interesting. Her father kind of shoves her at the groom once he walks her down the aisle, like he's disgusted, like she's dead to him. Like he's saying that Roland Payne can have her, the Grieves don't want her anymore. Callista's great crime is...not wanting to be associated with the Grieves. Not wanting anything to do with that reputation and name.

Which...okay? I don't like how she treats Gavin, but this is peculiar because Gavin remarks that Fergus is their parents' favorite because he isn't old enough to be ashamed of his family. Callista, therefore, is both old enough and ashamed of them. Rightfully so, and not because they don't win the tournament. But her parents are ashamed, too. They don't take any pride in being Grieves because they literally don't try anymore, so it makes me think that it's less of disgrace and more bitterness. Like none of them are happy, so they resent Callista for verbalizing it and actually breaking away.

That's pure extrapolation, but it seems plausible considering the bizarre way everyone is acting at Callista's wedding. Truly wtf levels of family dysfunction.

So back to Gavin, the issue is that they have given up on him. They gave up on him years ago. Good parents in their position would look back at the centuries of dying Grieves and do everything in their power to make Gavin strong enough. They would help him train, get him access to advanced spellwork, find quality sponsorships that would help him succeed. They would take an active interest in making sure their kid doesn't die. I feel justified in saying that this is a) the bare minimum and b) the reasonable thing for a parent to do.

But they gave up on Gavin as a champion, and they gave up on Gavin as a child. That scene in All of Our Demise when he's remembering having nightmares as a kid and all he can hear is his parents yelling? It broke my heart. It's such a lonely position for a kid to be in, and then for Callista to shut the door in his face is even worse.

The relationship between Gavin and Callista is so complicated and real that I might make a separate post about it. To summarize: their parents suck, which gave them no good options. Callista shouldn't have been put in the position of a parental figure when she didn’t even have one, and she shouldn’t have been there for Fergus but not Gavin when they needed her. Gavin shouldn’t have been left in the lurch when he desperately needed validation and support as a child. Gavin shouldn’t have had to look after his younger brother because no one else would. Fergus shouldn’t have had to grow up in such a hostile, turbulent environment with an ostracized sister and a brother who was expected to die.

The banquet scene in AoUV boils my blood. Even if the Grieves didn't have such an abysmal track record with the tournament, even if everyone had equal odds of winning, that's a 1 in 7 chance you'll see your kid alive again. And the Grieves, historically, have much lower odds. And Gavin's parents go off to get drunk and don't say a word to him the whole time.

So, to reiterate, it isn't just that the Grieves have given up on getting high magick. They've completely given up on their son, and by extension on being a parent. They don't know a single thing about Gavin, his interests, his goals, his abilities, because they just don't care. They've never tried to care. They've never tried to get attached to a boy that they're throwing away, and they've never even considered trying to help him survive. To them, it's a waste. It's like he's just an inconvenient necessity to buy them another twenty years.

In summary: I can't hate Callista because of the situation she was thrust into, but my god she could have handled it better. Fergus is a sweetheart who thankfully has a good relationship with his brother. Gavin is going to need a lot of therapy to deal with the shit his parents put him through. And the Grieves are a different brand of fucked-up than the rest of the families, not because they're trying so hard to win that they become despicable, but because of how thoroughly they've given up.

[hellceo]

ok but what if crowley actually lied about the whole sold his soul for 3 inches thing to gavin and has just gone with it when people "found out" later because it was less embarrassing than the actual truth ——

[castielmacleod]

The Crowley and Amara thing as it was in canon was very much a complete disaster but part of the reason I so strongly prefer Amara as Crowley’s kid conceptually over him having anything to do with Gavin is because I really prefer the idea of Crowley choosing to be a parent on his own terms because he wants to have a relationship like that, and not out of any sort of forced obligation.

[420technoblazeit]

on one hand the trans crowley hc makes his relationship with gavin and the context of his demon deal a lot sadder but on the other hand can you imagine him seeing rowena in the dungeon and being like 🥺 mother? and she's going over her entire life in her head like i don't remember having a son. did i somehow forget a whole child? did my spell backfire in the worst way possible that one time i got REALLY freaky during sex???

bonus points: fergus isn't his deadname, he's just really annoyed that rowena's suggesting names 300 years after the fact

[letters2fiction]

Welcome to Letters2fiction!

The concept here is to send in a question or a letter request, and you’ll get a response from your fictional character of choice, from the list below. Please stick to the list I’ve made, but of course, you can ask if there’s some other characters I write for, I don’t always remember all the shows, movies or books I’ve consumed over the years and I’m sure I’m missing a lot 😅

Status: New Characters added - Thursday March 21st, 2024

TV SERIES

A Discovery of Witches:

Matthew Clairmont

Baldwin Montclair

Gallowglass de Clermont

Marcus Whitmore

Philippe de Clermont

Jack Blackfriars

Sarah Bishop

Emily Mather

Diana Bishop

Ysabeau de Clermont

Miriam Shepard

Phoebe Taylor

Gerbert D’Aurillac

Peter Knox

Father Andrew Hubbard

Benjamin Fuchs

Satu Järvinen

Meridiana

Law and Order:

Rafael Barba

Sonny Carisi

Joe Velasco

Mike Duarte

Terry Bruno

Peter Stone

Hasim Khaldun

Nick Amaro NEW!

Mike Dodds

Grace Muncy

Kat Tamin

Toni Churlish

Amanda Rollins

Olivia Benson

Rita Calhoun

Casey Novak

Melinda Warner

George Huang

Sam Maroun

Nolan Price

Jamie Whelan

Bobby Reyes

Jet Slootmaekers

Ayanna Bell

Jack McCoy

Elliot Stabler

One Chicago:

Jay Halstead (Could also be Will if you want)

Antonio Dawson

Adam Ruzek

Greg "Mouse" Gerwitz

Dante Torres

Vanessa Rojas

Kevin Atwater

Sean Roman

Matt Casey

Kelly Severide

Joe Cruz

Sylvie Brett

Blake Gallo

Christopher Hermann

"Mouch"

Otis

Violet Mikami

Evan Hawkins

Mayans MC:

Angel Reyes

Miguel

Bishop

Coco

Nestor

911 verse:

Athena Grant

Bobby Nash

Henrietta "Hen" Wilson

Evan "Buck" Buckley

Eddie Diaz

Howie "Chimney" Han

Ravi Panikkar

T.K. Strand

Owen Strand

Carlos Reyes

Marjan Marwani

Paul Strickland

Tommy Vega

Judson "Judd" Ryder

Grace Ryder

Nancy Gillian

Mateo Chavez

The Rookie:

Lucy Chen

Tim Bradford

Celina Juarez

Aaron Thorsen

Nyla Harper

Angela Lopez

Wesley Evers

BBC Sherlock:

Greg Lestrade

Mycroft Holmes

Sherlock Holmes

Moriarty

Molly

Bridgerton:

Anthony Bridgerton

Benedict Bridgerton

Simon Basset

Daphne Bridgerton

Eloise Bridgerton

Kate Sharma

Edwina Sharma

Marina Thompson/Crane

Outlander:

Jamie Fraser

Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser

Frank Randall

Black Jack Randall

Brianna Fraser

Roger MacKenzie

Fergus Fraser

Marsali Fraser

Jenny Fraser Murray

Ian Murray Sr.

Ian Fraser Murray

Murtagh Mackenzie

Call The Midwife:

Shelagh Turner / Sister Bernadette

Dr. Patrick Turner

Nurse Trixie Franklin

Nurse Phyllis Crane

Lucille Anderson

Nurse Barbara Gilbert

Chummy

Sister Hilda

Miss Higgins

PC Peter Noakes

Reverend Tom Hereward NEW!

Narcos:

Horacio Carrillo

Peaky Blinders:

Tommy Shelby

Downton Abbey:

Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham

Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham

Lady Mary Crawley

Lady Edith Crawley

Lady Sybil Crawley

Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham

Isobel Crawley

Matthew Crawley

Lady Rose MacClare

Lady Rosamund Painswick

Henry Talbot

Tom Branson

Mr. Charles Carson

Mrs. Hughes / Elsie May Carson

John Bates

Anna Bates

Daisy Mason

Thomas Barrow

Joseph Molesley

Land Girl:

Connie Carter

Reverend Henry Jameson (Gwilym Lee's version)

Midsomer Murder:

DCI Tom Barnaby

Joyce Barnaby

Dr. George Bullard

DCI John Barnaby

Sarah Barnaby

DS Ben Jones

DS Jamie Winter

Sgt. Gavin Troy

Fleur Perkins

WPC Gail Stephens

Kate Wilding

DS Charlie Nelson

Sergeant Dan Scott

NEW! Once Upon A Time

Regina / The Evil Queen

Mary Margaret Blanchard / Snow White

David Nolan / Prince Charming

Emma Swan

Killian Jones / Captain Hook

Mr. Gold / Rumplestiltskin

Neal Cassidy / Baelfire

Peter Pan

Sheriff Graham Humbert / The Huntsman

Jefferson / The Mad Hatter

Belle

Robin of Locksley / Robin Hood

Will Scarlet

Zelena / Wicked Witch

Alice (Once in Wonderland)

Cyrus (Once in Wonderland)

Jafar (Once in Wonderland)

Gideon

Tiger Lily

Naveen

Tiana

Granny

Ariel

Prince Eric

Aladdin

Jasmine

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Hercules

Megara

Tinker Bell

Merida

Red Riding Hood

Mulan

Aurora / Sleeping Beauty

Prince Phillip

Cinderella

Prince Thomas

NEW! The Vampire Diaries / The Originals

Stefan Salvatore

Damon Salvatore

Caroline Forbes

Elena Gilbert

Bonnie Bennett

Enzo St. John

Niklaus Mikaelson

Elijah Mikaelson

Kol Mikaelson

Rebekah Mikaelson

Freya Mikaelson

Finn Mikaelson

Mikael

Esther

Marcel Gerard

Davina Claire

MOVIES

The Pirates of the Caribbean:

Captain Jack Sparrow

Barbossa

Will Turner

Elizabeth Swann

James Norrington

Kingsman:

Merlin

Harry Hart

Eggsy Unwin

James Spencer / Lancelot

Alastair / Percival

Roxy Morton / Lancelot

Maximillian Morton / The Shepherd

Orlando Oxford

Jack Daniels / Whiskey

Gin

BOOKS

Dreamland Billionaire series - Lauren Asher:

Declan

Callahan

Rowan

Iris

Alana

Zahra

Dirty Air series - Lauren Asher:

Noah

Liam

Jax

Santiago

Maya

Sophie

Elena

Chloe

Ladies in Stem - Ali Hazelwood books:

Olive

Adam

Bee

Levi

Elsie

Jack

Mara

Liam

Sadie

Erik

Hannah

Ian

Fourth Wing - Rebecca Yarros:

Xaden Riorson

Dain Aetos

Jack Barlowe

Rhiannan Matthias

Violet Sorrengail

Mira Sorrengail

Lillith Sorrengail

Bodhi Durran

Liam Mairi

[dailyspnpolls]

Family Battle

[angelique-of-the-volturi-guard]

I know we have a lot of content about trauma in the SPN fandom but something I’ve never seen talked about on here is the generational trauma between Rowena, Crowley, and Gavin and how it shaped them. So I’m going in depth analysis on this shit. Please join me for the ride.

We know Rowena was a tanner’s daughter and a witch. Very likely, she was abused and ostracized by her father for her powers considering the way she raised Fergus. Since her mother is never mentioned it can be assumed she passed before she was born or earlier in her life. The imprint she has on her love map is one of abuse. So when Crowley’s father comes along, it’s likely the first time she’s experiencing love in her life. The light at the end of the tunnel is someone who can accept her for who she is and love her just the same, at the end of all her suffering.

When he abandons her to go back to his wife, she’s understandably devastated. This was the only form of love she had received, and it ended terribly for her- so why would she be able to treat her son that way? You can’t give what you never had. And when she does have him, he’s a built in weak spot for her. She’s a witch, so that’s already a mark against her. But this child is a target that’s easily exploitable. She can’t have that. She’s angry at herself for believing in love, angry at his father for abandoning her, angry at him for making her a target. So the only good thing she can think to do is gain power so that her weakness can’t be exploited that way. She abuses him because that’s what she knows. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel love for him, but she has no way to adequately express it. So there’s sarcasm and teaching him bits of magic as a way to show it. And, likely in her mind, leaving him behind in the workhouse. Because he wouldn’t be a target if he was left behind. Because she’s free of the persecution afterward and the vulnerability of her son being a target, it gives her the emotional space to develop genuine love and affection for Oskar.

Crowley suffered because of her inability to show affection. In his own words, he built his kingdom on it. And he treated his son Gavin the same way. But Gavin had the strength to forgive his father’s abuse where Crowley did not because he felt genuine love with Fiona. He’s the MacLeod that broke the cycle in that regard. With an ability to forgive.

Crowley and Rowena continue to punish each other- it’s what they know. Oskar is killed for a spell. Gavin is sent back to his own time. They bicker like cats and dogs. But it’s in the suffering after Gavin is sent back, after Crowley is dead, that you see the depths of their emotions for their family. None of them were taught how to love, but it was felt. Rowena wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to get Crowley back from the dead if she hadn’t felt it. In her own words, those were her choices, but it wasn’t fair to him. And she was right.

I know we talk about the trauma in this fandom, mostly in relation to Sam and Dean. But the two of them understand how to show love to one another- albeit unconventionally. We don’t talk about the generational trauma within the MacLeod family and we really should, because it’s something that happens to a lot of families. The abuse is inexcusable but it is explainable. Should we tolerate it? Absolutely not. But they are a prime example about why people stay in abusive relationships. They haven’t known anything different, or they believe people can change. It’s only after the death of her son that Rowena changes. That fundamental sense of love for him is there, but it wasn’t shown. Gavin is the only one to have the strength to forgive his father, but we only hear about it after he’s a ghost. And it shows the way grief grows and changes us.

Generational trauma impacts every area of our lives. It can make people worse or better, depending on how we respond to it or choose to break it. But if there’s one thing we can learn from the MacLeod family it’s that you will regret what you pass onto your children. They are an under appreciated cautionary tale, and that should be realized more than it is.