#ftws meta

[partiallypearl]

A LOOK INTO THE OTHERWORLD'S REALMS:

A for Andros

an island realm located in the androsian sea - where it gets its name. originally settled in the 1200s, it is the main energy supply for the otherworld, and a great political ally to solaria.

ROYAL FAMILY:

Queen Nerissa - Reigning Queen since 2000. Went to Alfea in the late 90s. She had a well known rivalry with Queen Luna of Solaria, but for the sake of their realms (and their dignities) they put the qualms aside.

King Cove - Reigning King Consort since 2000. Went to Malacoy Academy. Former Androsian head of military.

Princess Ariel - Born in 2004. Goes to Malacoy Academy. Water fairy. Went to secondary school with Aisha.

@winxsource

[septemberrie]

I love alllll parts of this, especially the potential of Saul feeling some relief when Andreas came back so he didn't have to keep up the lie anymore!

but I also want to add something simple: Specialists are protectors. Their one job is to protect their fairies/charges. Saul is the headmaster of the protectors. Saul's every atom and molecule are shaped around being a protector.

What does he do with Sky? He protects him from the truth. That his father was an asshole who didn't seem to care much for him in the time that he did have with him. Rather than reckon with explaining to Sky why Andreas chose to go on missions with the rest of the battalion and never go home to see his son - and that his father was in on the plan to destroy a town of "innocents" and was willing to kill his friend to accomplish that goal - Saul just lies. He just protects Sky from the truth.

This is not an excuse, obviously we know lying about something to that degree is wrong even if it's for the right intentions, but just another explanation that occurred to me last night while reading my zillionth ftws fic

I keep trying to work out why Silva went to such lengths to build up this hyper-idealised image of Andreas in Sky's mind and I keep coming up short. I mean, okay, he probably wanted Sky to have decent male role models (and Silva felt guilty about killing Andreas) but Sky already had one of those in Silva. Silva was all the things he claimed Andreas was. Which makes what he did even more baffling.

I feel bad for Sky too - imagine being told growing up every five minutes what a great, noble warrior your dad is and then the real thing shows up - and he's basically an overgrown high school bully - Silva didn't just lie about how Andreas died, he lied about his entire personality. In Sky's shoes, I'd be pissed too.

I wondered once or twice even if Rosalind had Andreas under mind control - not regularly, but often enough that she'd done permanent damage to his mind in some way. Or maybe he'd been hit on the head one time too many. Beatrix was a better strategist than he was - and less easily manipulated - and she was 16.

Of course, Andreas may have just been Like That™ to begin with.

I cannot put in enough words how much fun this ask was to get!! CACKLING at the Andreas' comments.

Alright so I thought at length about the Silva conundrum, I remember thinking the same, literally why are you making up this saint about a bully? Why are you generating distance between you and the son you raised? The boy who wants to be your son?

And the it dawned on me that the goal is exactly that.

I think Silva felt incredibly guilty over Sky and that this enormous sensation of duty and guilt has been his north for longer than anything else has. Silva is a man who describes his father's attack to a Burned One and the fact he took upon his young (10 years old!!) shoulders the burden to give his father a mercy kill. It's Duty Duty Duty.

And I think it's important we differentiate duty from obedience. Andreas is obedient. Andreas hears orders and ignores his own criticism of them, he follows trough no matter what. Silva is dutiful. He has morals and a strict honor code and he'll sometimes fuck himself up over these, he'll get tunnel vision when he has 1 goal in mind (cough "your duty is to Alfea!" said to Sky about spying on Bloom)

All this just to say, I think Silva didn't see himself as a good role to Sky not even for a second. Not when he was a drunk and had a baby he didn't even really want, not when he was sober and had to deal with the fact he had taken a father from this kid - had murdered Andreas, and certainly not when Sky started asking questions and he wanted to give a good answer so he projects some of his traits, some of his own father's traits into a fictional Andreas and only digs the hole deeper. By doing what he thinks is right: killing Andreas, taking Sky under his wing, lying to Sky so he can have a good role model, Saul only makes himself less and less of a good guy in his own eyes and so he NEEDS to push himself from Sky and well... Rinse repeat.

A vicious cycle you cannot be free from unless you're willing to go through dismantling all of it. I wonder if a small part of Saul felt soul crushing relief when Andreas came back and ruined everything. Yes, he revealed Saul was a liar in more ways than one, he showed Saul was a murderer... But also he showed Sky he was not the Andreas from the stories. Which certainly hurt like hell to Sky, but must've felt a little good from Saul's perspective, since he was painting an Andreas who could easily step in and take his son and that simply wasn't reality.

I'm probably rambling, sorry!!

Now, about Andreas, I AGREE SO MUCH. Honestly, about Andreas AND Saul! Strategic my ass, these two are terrible. But I do think Saul has a much clearer head during combat, he can explore his team's strengths and the enemies weaknesses, where Andreas is brute force.

Which, sure, is pretty bad when we look at it head on, but it's not something without its place in a war. Rosalind promoted him for a reason and I can see it, when you're a bloody war where there's no place for hesitation, no place for mercy and obedience is all your commander asks from, Andreas is the perfect soldier. He's a man who'll push through whatever is front of him with sheer brute force and that's what the Burned Ones called for most of the time in the battle field, someone relentless and blood thirsty. In the long run? Not so much!

I think it shows how Andreas is as a character: pragmatic, brute, loyal - that he doesn't question Rosalind's orders and fucks up his relationship with Bea by doing this. Why did he lie about what happened in Aster Dell? Anyone with a brain would understand he'd have a better luck twisting what Aster Dell stood for (a corrupt place) than twisting his role in its destruction. Yet he does that!! He's not a very bright man and that's alright, being smarter than he was would've probably gotten him murdered sooner tbh.

[theriverbeyond]

i feel like Ianthe is constantly stuck between wanting to make a big dramatic monologue revealing all her plans that you, the listener, were far too stupid and infantile to figure out, while also knowing that she is at her most comfortable (and most powerful) when people underestimate her. when people dismiss her. that woman wields shame like a goddamn knife!!!

like Ianthe spent her whole life in Coronabeth's shadow and then she WON, she became a DEMIGOD, and then she..... immedietly picks another figure to latch onto and hide in the shadow of. first Harrow (and to some extent Augustine) and then Kiriona (and to some extent John). it works for her. it's her thing. and it's so interesting right, like Ianthe SAYS she wants to be famous with posters of her face but the instant she gets the limelight she goes and attaches herself to someone else, and appears wholly miserable and annoyed when forced to actually, visibly take charge vs sulking about and controlling things from behind the scenes. i want to study her like a bug

[satsuha]

naeleen 60min challenge (took ~80min)

[outofcontextdiscord]

[amchara]

If I had to guess- it would be something along the lines of paralleling Sky's journey with Saul's? Given what we've heard Saul used alcohol to cope in the early years of Sky's childhood.

Edited to add: I think S1 Sky drinking is normal teen boy stuff, compared to S2 where it's highlighted more often.

In a more salty take, something something about how Sky is such a straight-laced, stand-up character, that him turning to the Drink™ is meant as shorthand for everything in his life going to shit. Not to sound bitter or anything- as I think there are legit reasons to potentially explore it in the narrative but... I am sometimes tired of this trope.

(Also, see this discussion about how it's usually seen in more often in US and yeah...)

Honestly, I trust fanfic writers more than showrunners to get it right- so bring on the fic that explores this topic! ;)

i wanna know what they were gonna actually do with Sky’s relationship with alcohol plotline that got dropped along with everything else. In s1, Sky not drinking before the kegger because he’s worried about Silva. criticizing Riven for drinking too much. drinking at the party anyway because Bloom, chasing the burned one because he was drunk and angry. in s2, drinking for fun in Blackbridge and drinking secretly while on guard duty. Andreas telling him to get drunk to cope. Saul telling him not to and just fucking deal with it. 

was he drunk when Sebastian found him? does he turn back to alcohol after Bloom leaves for the shadow realm? does Riven, notorious substance user Riven, manage to get through to him in a way Saul can’t?

[groenendaelfic]

do you think wille will/should abdícate in the future or do you think he’ll become king one day?

The way this is worded I am 99.9 percent sure this is one of my friends trolling me, but I'll bite anyway even if it is, so strap in, because I have many messy, convoluted THOUGHTS. (in case it isn't sorry for presuming Anon and thanks for your question and being curious about my opinion)

The reason why I think this is a friendly troll ask is because you can't make this an or question and I have been very vocal about that in the past. I mean you can, Young Royals fandom is doing it all the time everywhere, but you shouldn't and yes I'll keep being nitpicky about that.

Why? Because In the context of monarchies and royalty the word abdication only applies to crowned monarchs and yes it does make a difference.

Let me use a (simplified) irl example: Harry didn't abdicate, William can't abdicate (yet), only Charles can and only now that he's king. Charles could have given up his rights to the throne in favor of William when he was still Prince of Wales, but that wouldn't have been an abdication, not if he had done it before becoming King himself.

The same is true for Wilhelm. Wilhelm can only abdicate after ascending the throne. If he's not king, it's not an abdication.

Yes I'll keep harking on about this until the end of my days, because while it might not seem like a big deal what word you use here, it actually makes a big difference legally and politically and on all levels if it's a crowned monarch and head of state formally abdicating or if it's an heir giving up their place in the line of succession.

So what we're actually all discussing here (most of the time) is should Wilhelm give up his place in the line of succession and right to the throne, and my immediate reaction to that (after no, never, but also he's sixteen, it's way to soon for any of that) is, how and in what way?

We're all rooting for Wilhelm and want him to be happy, of course we are. Wilhelm is my absolute favorite, but I hate this trend in the fandom that's romanticizing what everyone likes to call "'Wille's abdication" or abolishing the monarchy in general, because just because "it's right", doesn't mean it's in any way easily or quickly done in a "haha and now Sweden no longer has a monarchy" kind of way. That's not how it works.

Don't get me wrong, I'll never romanticize the monarchy or any other systems enforcing hierarchies and inequality, not in irl nor in any of my fics. Tax billionaires until they aren't anymore, eat the rich and yes, of course get rid of all monarchies, but you can't just go "lol no longer a prince", especially when like Wilhelm, you're still a teenager and can't make a properly informed decision about what you're doing.

Now before you all come at me with pitchforks, of course teenagers can tell right from wrong and make informed decisions, but Wilhelm grew up not only with immense privilege, but also extremely sheltered and in a bubble. Yes he started out his first semester of 'high school' in a public school, but I promise you the majority of his classmates' parents weren't plumbers or tax accountants.

Wilhelm has no idea of real life, not even rich people real life. He doesn't go to the store or buy his own clothes, and neither do his parents, nor do they randomly go to restaurants or whatever. Wille has never been able to go out in public without being photographed and noticed and everyone making a fuss, and he has no idea how most things work because there's always staff doing everything for him quietly and in the background.

If, and I say if, Wilhelm is sure he wants to step back from his role, then he should still wait until his early to mid twenties before doing so, because doing so is complicated and not something he can change his mind about later. Also he needs to learn about normal life first.

But I digress. Lets say Wilhelm does want to give up the throne. He's brought it up himself as a possibility when he was still desperately trying to get Simon back in any way he could. That still makes him a prince and a duke.

He'd still be a member of the royal family/house (I hate how that seems to be used synonymously in English). Not being king wouldn't mean he wouldn't be expected to become a working member of the royal family once he's an adult, except now there'll be a different monarch, one he'll have to obey within the family hierarchy, and chances are it'll be August.

Okay, so we take this a step further. Wilhelm gives up his rights to the throne and doesn't become a working royal, but that would mean betraying his family (his words) and stepping away from them. Not just his parents but everything he's grown up with and everything he knows. And he'd still be a prince and a duke.

Wilhelm will never be Joe Average Wille (is Harry now? Was Diana? and neither of them were next in line), no matter how much he might want to, especially not after S02E06 and I know I've said it before but I'll say it again: he'll keep being hounded, he'll keep being seen as royalty, and the only thing that'll change is who pays for his security.

(which btw the security thing is no joke, I know Wilhelm has no Diana levels of celebrity yet, but he's now the first openly queer modern royal and heir to the Swedish throne, there will be significant international media interest and it will stay, especially now with smart phones being able to capture his every move, and I'm old enough to remember the shit show that happened when Diana no longer had official protection officers and police protection and it was not fun, hounded is an understatement and professional 24/7 security is expensive and private security will never be as good as those who also have government/Security Service resources)

Also I firmly believe that what Wilhelm hates is not being royalty or the future king, but being forced into a role, handed a script and expected to perform without any of his own input.

When that changes, and it will, his attitude towards it will also change.

People argue that he'll be happier once he gives up his place in the line of succession, but I disagree.

I think he might have been happier had he been born a normal kid, but also maybe not because then he'd be a very different person, so there's no telling, but he'd always live with the guilt of betraying his family and heritage, and people, both well meaning and not, will never let him forget that.

Yes he struggles now, and I don't want to make light of his struggles, but every teenager struggles with their identity and place in life and things will be different once he's grown up and more secure in himself.

My 'ideal' fantasy solution were this irl would be for Wilhelm to become the last King and to work with the government to ensure a smooth transition once he retires, because abolishing the Swedish monarchy is complicated, but do I think that'll actually happen? No. Because that's not the kind of person Wilhelm is.

Also Wilhelm has been born to immense wealth, privilege and soft power, all three of which he will to a degree keep all his life no matter what happens.

Of course he needs to put his own mental health and wellbeing first, and I'm aware that he never asked for any of this, but he still has it, and with that comes a duty, and I think it'd be absolutely selfish of him to just take that wealth, privilege and soft power and to let the "common people" deal with the mess he left behind, because let's not kid ourselves, if he announces he'll give up his throne tomorrow and sticks with it until he's eighteen and beyond, do you really think people in power won't do anything they can to keep the system in place?

Kristina loves her son and wants what's best for him, even if she's not the best parent, but she'll not dismantle the system for him.

She knew what August had done, and she still would've rather had him as heir instead of even so much as considering anything else.

The Royal Court most certainly won't, and even if the elected government wouldn't be opposed to getting rid of the monarchy (if, there's a chance but not a guarantee, depending who is in power when that happens), that's not the end of it.

You can't abolish the monarchy and keep the nobility (edit: as it's been pointed out you can in theory, but my point is that the nobility won't be happy about it because it's a threat to them as well, and not just socially, and why would a Sweden in the 21st century do one but not the other, elites don't like changes in the status quo, even if at first glance it doesn't directly affect them, and this does), and there will be plenty of people, both obscenely rich and averagely well off people, who will do their utmost to keep their position of privilege.

It will not only become a matter of equality, Sweden is one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. It'll be about history and heritage and tradition.

It'll be a giant mess and if it wants any chance of succeeding, it'll need someone in power to actively work towards it, someone whose position the monarchists and traditionalists and conservatives respect, and that has to be a King Wilhelm, not a Crown Prince Wilhelm or a Prince Wilhelm or a Joe Average Wille who took his wealth and privilege and soft power and ran away because he chose to be selfish and leave a system in place no one was better able to do something about than him.

Now of course I'm once again talking about an adult Wilhelm, canon Wilhelm is still a teenager and shouldn't have to deal with or worry about any of that, and he gets to want to be selfish, because he's sixteen, but he won't always be sixteen, and when he isn't any longer his outlook will have changed as well.

Now we come to another point though, and that is that Wilhelm is not a revolutionary. He has his own head and a temper and doesn't want to blindly do as he's told, but he's not the kind of person who goes and topples a system.

I don't even think Simon is. He wouldn't mind the monarchy being abolished, sure, but I don't think he has the energy to become a political activist and to fight the system all his life, especially in a life without Wilhelm.

With Wilhelm it's different, there I'm sure he'll use the power he has for good. He'd be aware that he can change things and do his best to choose his engagements carefully should he become a member of the royal family.

That said, in time I don't think Wilhelm will mind being King, not if he also gets to be with Simon at the same time, and I don't think he should give up his place in the line of succession.

Finally, and most importantly, because we're talking about a TV show and a fic fandom here and not irl, I love playing with the idea of the Royal Court, the Swedish upper class, and all the conservatives and monarchists having to (figuratively) bow and scrape to an openly queer, headstrong monarch and the gay, biracial love of his life who also happens to be the son of a poor, immigrant single mother, because that is a very, very cathartic thought, and so yeah, King Wilhelm and Prince/Duke/King Consort Simon all the way, always.

That's what drew me to this show in the first place, a queer Crown Prince, and not a random queer teenager going about his normal life. There're plenty of other (great) shows for that.

[azr3na]

art fight

character is Daki by goofy_goober_100

[livelovecaliforniadreams]

The writing of this scene start to finish. I mean, what is this like five, seven page scene? And it's like, I don't think there's a wasted beat. No, it's every in the turns. It's so good. It's so good...We'd be sitting there at a table read with network executives. There's usually three or four that come to the table read and they would've been sort of forced to hear a kid actor delivering lines that are basically mocking them and calling them idiots to their face directly...and like you know, I mean, I, this is the kind of stuff that Michael would do...And it's kind of brilliant because they you know standing up for the show against network executives. I mean, it can be extreme And, you know, it doesn't always have to be conflict based. But yes, in our case it was very conflict based. And there was a lot of challenges. And there was a lot of pushback. And so this was like kind of a, a, a brilliant chess move writing wise to like do this because it's too funny to not cont put on the show. But it also yeah, it's, it's brilliant. -Rider 

[nephilimeq]

Teen Wolf and Lack of Character Development - Scott McCall

Incoming Rant: Re-watching the first season of TW I have realised why I never felt that Scott was The Hero of the story even if the writers did not stop hammering the idea that he was pure and perfect and always right. He never sacrifices himself. This is a classic of fiction, the hero will always be the one who makes the greatest sacrifices for the common good and for those they love, renouncing happiness, normality and even their own life. 

But Scott never does that. Even in the first season this is very clear. The first few episodes emphasise that playing lacrosse and dating Allison are things he wants, but are dangerous to himself and those around him. The narratively logical thing would be that, after a period of selfish refusal, he would realise that the right thing to do is to give up what he loves until he has better control of himself and his new powers, sacrificing his temporary happiness for the good of others.

Instead, the narrative rewards Scott with control gained through Deux Ex Machina and not hard work, he gets to date Allison and becomes a Lacrosse star without sacrifices and therefore doesn't grow or evolve at all. This keeps up for all 6 seasons. Meanwhile, everyone else around him is constantly sacrificing their safety, sanity and even life for the common good.  And ten years later in the movie nothing has changed. Scott’s still not the one performing the sacrifice, he's still not the hero yet. He gives nothing, but the narrative rewards him with true love. Meanwhile Derek gives his own life to save those he loves he is The Hero.

So. Yes. To all of this.

I have made a countless number of posts about Scott’s development. Specifically, his lack of development. The writers had every opportunity to make him a decent character -- and Posey could have performed it and done everything at least moderately well -- but instead, they caved into Jeff Davis’ whims.

There were other writers in the room who should have held Jeff accountable and written Scott as a proper hero: a hero who sacrifices his own selfish wants for the greater good.

They do not have the right to tell us not to like characters such as Stiles or Derek more because they were the ones who wrote those characters using the hero’s journey narrative that they very easily could have written for Scott...but they didn’t. When the creator of Teen Wolf speaks up against those fans, he has no one to blame but himself and the other writers, and to say anything to the contrary just makes him look like a hypocrite.

You cannot expect your audience to believe your main character is a hero when you do not give them faults to overcome and make them a better person.

They wrote Scott as never taking consequences for his own actions -- instead, they had everyone else suffer the consequences of his actions and had them clean up his mess and deal with the repercussions. (not going into detail here because I have already done so on many other posts)

But when you show characters such as Stiles and Derek dealing with complex emotional and physical traumas and then doing things to try and improve themselves, while also dealing with their own mistakes and growing from them...but then don’t hold your main character to the same standard, how can you be surprised when no one relates to them? The accountability for Scott’s lack of accountability can be traced right back to the writers’ room.

I genuinely could have liked Scott. In fact, when he was being sweet and helping his mom, I loved him! He had the potential to be a fantastic main character...but the writer’s neglected their responsibility as writers.

To put it simply: the writers suck.

The only reason the show lasted was because they had good cinematography, and they brought on some experienced older actors into the cast, and they had two natural talents on screen: Dylan O’Brien and Tyler Hoechlin.

That’s it.

[quickreaver]

Jo Harvelle: was she and mirror, and for whom?

This is a requested repost (and a little update as I'm ruminating) of my response to a thread asserting that Jo Harvelle and Dean were mirrors of each other, and it got me smoke grinding (as one does when one has deadlines, lol.) Starting out, here's a grab of the Dean-Jo comparison in question:

This isn't to say that Jo doesn't have anything in common with Dean (of course she does), and as per usual, Dean relates more easily and charmingly to our other characters in the series (because he's the Han Solo personality), but...

I do appreciate the analogy of Jo = Dean, but imho (and this is just me, as ye olde Sam girl (gn)), Jo is far more an inverted version of Sam than Dean. But as per usual in SPNland, Dean is the character who opens up and “relates” more obviously to those folks he either needs or idolizes or befriends (or crushes on). He’s more overt with his affection and charm. But that doesn’t mean he parallels Jo as neatly as Sam does. Again, just my take! Both Sam and Jo were somewhat sheltered, if you will, and went against their parents’ wishes, but in different directions: Jo wanted to hunt and wasn’t allowed to, Sam wanted to leave hunting and wasn’t allowed to. Sam was the one who was canonically given a gun when he was fearful of monsters under the bed, though we know both boys were trained to hunt. Both boys were also expected to fall in line with the Family Business, but only Sam was the one who actively wanted out. From the pilot:

Sam: You think mom would have wanted this for us? The weapon training and melting the silver into bullets? Man, Dean, we were raised like warriors.

Dean: So, what are you gonna do? Are you just gonna live some normal, apple pie life? Is that it?

Sam: No, not normal. Safe.

The one time Dean got out was because Sam asked him to do so, in a sort of deathbed confessional. Finale, S5. And it didn’t stick. It never sticks for either of them…until it does. Sam wanted out consistently through the series. He ran away at 15. He went to college, like many a normal kid aspires to. He tried to get out when Dean was blasted into Purgatory (yeah, yeah, S8 was a tangled mess and I have endless bones to pick with it, but Sam did what he did), and then at the end of all things, Sam did get out out. Dean absolutely assumed he himself would die in a blaze of glory, but I don’t think he envied Jo that. Okay, well, maybe in that it’s “easier” to die than to be the one left to live with grief and loss. But at that time, they were just starting to unwrap what was going on with Heaven and Hell as actual places that existed. It was still scary. I don’t think Dean wanted that. But Dean and Jo would’ve made adorable hunting buddies! Kinda like someone else we know… *cough Sam cough*

[partiallypearl]

A LOOK INTO THE OTHERWORLD'S REALMS:

L for Linphea

an realm located in the middle of the rainforest. linphea is well known for its biodiversity, and the genealogical research that its various plants and animals - as well as fairy inhabitants have found. since the 1000s, it has been the most densely populated realm in the otherworld, with solaria coming in second. 

Royal Family:

Queen Teresita - the reigning Queen of Linphea. Went to Alfea in the late 90s. Works to save Linphea's ecosystems.

Princess Lucia - Crown princess of Linphea. Goes to Alfea. Earth fairy, one of Sam Harvey's former classmates.

King Antonio - the late King Consort. Went to Red Fountain. Died shortly after Lucia's birth.

@winxsource

[murfpersonalblog]

Murf's AMA: Mayfair Witches

@adamnablelittledevil you sent me such an incredibly lovely & thorough ask that I wanted to address every single point you made. So I'm breaking your PM up into separate AMA-style posts. Thank you SO much!

"And your comments on the stories really help! I don't know if I'll agree with you, but you're able to say something I can completely comprehend without spoilers and give me an idea of how they are, so thank you!"

Any time! Yes, my particular stance on AR's Mayfair books is largely based on my own personal fascination with different IRL conceptions of the afterlife, and how IRL witchcraft/magic/divination/necromancy all fits in wrt communing with the spirits of the dead/undead. So reading The Witching Hour completely rewired my brain--I owe AR a huge debt. Her ghost stories just give me everything I need.

"The way you described Lasher sounds terrifying. 👀 I wonder if it is as bad as Lestat's turning, the story of the twins or the Roman Coven killing the palazzo boys and torturing Armand because those were the darkest moments of TVC for me (I ignore what she pulled on TTOTBT). Is it just as heavy or worse?"

Hrm. It's complicated for me. Like, IMO Armand has hands down THE worst & most sympathetic backstory out of all the TVC characters (except Claudia). Kidnapped & gaslit & brainwashed by a satanic cult, and abandoned by the one person you trusted & loved the most when you failed to meet his ridiculously high standards/expectations.... IMO Armand is the strongest character to have withstood all that for so long and still come out the other side with his soul intact, omg.

As for Lasher, it's the totality of his iron grip over the Mayfairs for 500+ years that makes me personally put his treatment of people on the same/similar level as the Children of Satan.

There's no one Mayfair I feel particularly sadder or better for; it's them as a collective whole. There's things Lasher does to some of the Mayfairs that is just...it's graphic. With Armand it's different, cuz of the heavily romanticized & disjointed way he often tells his story. The gothic horror comes from seeing the ways traumatized people reflect on the bad things that happened to them--Armand's memory is just as spotty as Louis' sometimes; and the way he talks about Marius alllll the way to Blood Communion makes the fandom divided on what we're supposed to do with them.

But with the Mayfairs, there's no sugar-coating the carnage or softening/obfuscating the blows at all--AR describes things viscerally & graphically & explicitly in a way that you CANNOT excuse Lasher for. Even at the end of Lasher, when they "Let the devil speak his story," the prophecy (AR's Word of God) has already decided that his pretty words & excuses & tragic backstory don't effing matter in the end--he WILL be killed. Cuz he is 100% a PREDATOR, NOT a problematic love interest with abusive/grooming tendencies (a la Lestat & Marius).

Like, the vast majority of the TVC/IWTV fandom laughs at incest wrt Lestat & Gabrielle, cuz Lestat romanticizes so much of his trauma that it's hard sometimes to take it seriously. But incest with the Mayfairs is no laughing matter. It's sheer horror that's supposed to make you darn near physically ill reading about how much Lasher's twisted & manipulated everything. He's a MONSTER, eff how much he cries.

Granted, I still think the Mayfairs were awful immoral people, in ways that I don't see Armand. Unlike a brainwashed cult member, the Mayfairs KNEW Lasher was evil and that everything he gave them was tainted by his evil deeds. They call him the Devil. Unlike the Twins, they didn't control spirits ethically, in order to help their community and work towards the betterment of their society--they controlled Lasher selfishly, in order to gain riches & power. They think they can outsmart him, and pay the price.

But because they're women, they're vulnerable by default, as they lived during the Middle Ages & Tudor period & all these other times when women were being systemically persecuted by the Church; and then domestically oppressed at home as their husbands had full legal control over their bodies AND their money. The Mayfair designees completely buck the system; they're entirely matriarchal, but their power STILL comes from a demonic patriarch. So I sympathize with the lengths they felt they needed to go to, to remain at the top of the social pyramid--even if they were slaves to their greedy desires, and slaves to Lasher, as he manipulated them into thinking it was the reverse. They're victims and villains, in the best & worst of ways that always makes AR's characters so dang complex & interesting.

I think what happens to them is beyond effed up, but sometimes certain witches (*cough* Margueritte, Julien, Rowan, etc) I feel kinda deserved it???? But not even, cuz there's so much incest & mental illness in their family too, which makes me go Dang! They're not right in the head, so is it even fair to even blame them for all this? And ofc a ghost is LITERALLY manipulating them. But at what point does personal responsibility & accountability come in, esp. for Rowan?

Like, even Carlotta's evil arse has a lot in common with Coven Master Armand's most extreme(ly bad) actions--someone I absolutely love. So why do I hate her? When really, she was right all along! Her extremist draconian methods SUCKED; but if she got The Witch Carlotta book the way we got TVA, would my opinion of her change? More than likely! (Unless it was more like Blood & Gold, in which case....bye Felicia. 🙄😒)

So yeah, I see the Mayfairs as very similar to the Children of Satan, but flipped--they worship the Devil to get rich; NOT cuz they think they're inherently evil & deserve to suffer (a la Armand & the other vampires).

[mooniety]

when lost, scream "GUNDAM" & fade away like a ms ppt presentation slide

the other horrible oneliner i had though was "GUYS STOP CALLING HIM DADDY, HE CAN'T LEGALLY ADOPT ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!"

but finally, a proper gijinka design for this man, it only took one (two) months ^^;

i remember that the initial theme of this design was "mysterious yet chivalrous vigilante," but then it changed to "dark holy knight" when i began to actually design the top half of his body, & ended with "blurple barbatos lupus rex" because i was listening to hiroyuki sawano & saw a lot of gundam artwork while listening LOL - it did help a lot with the color choices for the leg armor though

i kinda wanna gush a bit about the rings just for a second though, i really liked the addition because it fits the headcanons i have for him, so now it's EXTRAAA difficult to pull off his gloves & therefore, EXTRAAA difficult to find out his secret...

ALSO MAN HAS 30YO BABY FACE, BRO COULD BE THOUSANDS OF YEARS OLD (which he is!) & STILL HAVE THAT SAME DUMB POKER FACE

[sketchingstars03]

Alright, so, you’re pretty much the queen Good Dad!Ink (at least in my mind), which I adore with all my being, so I wanted to share a thought I had with you.

See, I’ve seen people use Ink’s poor memory as ammunition against him being a Good Parent. Often, it’s either in a funny-haha “he forgot to pay child support/straight up abandoned the kid” way, but I’ve also seen it used to make him Evil and Unfeeling and a bunch of other stuff. You know, the usual “Ink is Evil” propaganda or whatever.

Thing is, all I can think of, if Ink ever actually forgot he had a whole ass child? Is how absolutely horrific and gut wrenching it would feel once he did remember. I can’t help thinking he’d feel so, so guilty (even if his bad memory isn’t his fault). Can you imagine that?

You’re just walking around, goofing off, just living your life with your friends, and you suddenly realize you have a child you haven’t see in stars knows how long because you forgot about them. Has it been days? Months? Years? Do they think you did it on purpose, that you don’t love them with everything you have? Where are they, are they okay, how much of them have you missed? How could you forget you own child?

Just. I don’t know. I feel like no ever thinks about how that would be for Ink.

WHSHSHSHSHHDHDH ME?!?! QUEEN OF GOOD DAD INK?!! HESITANT TO BELIEVE THAT BUT I’M HONOURED TY!! (Also sorry it took so long to respond 😅)

ahem regardless,

Anon

Your brain: 📈📈📈

Exactly, PERFECTLY, put into words.

Ink’s forgetfulness in general seems to be played most often for either laughs or for angst (where he hurts another character with it) when it comes to content depicting it (not that that shouldn’t be explored ofc). Not a lot of thought about how it affects HIM and the guilt he might feel whenever he forgets something as important as his OWN CHILD. At least, not that I’ve seen. I could be wrong, but it seems most likely when you look at basically every other fanon trend with Ink.

Ink shrugging off whenever he forgets he has a kid also seems to me to be a symptom of the whole “Ink can’t/doesn’t care about anyone” thing. People think he doesn’t have the ability to care for or love anyone so they just assume he won’t feel guilty for forgetting whatever child he has. Even though the supposed “fact” that he can’t care is PROVEN to not be TRULY the case because this lad ADORES their dads. Sure, it might not be in the exact same way as others, and it may take Ink a good while to get attached to someone on that level. But even IF he’s not super attached to his kid I STILL THINK they’d feel guilt about it. After all, taking care of a kid is something SUPER important and serious. Ink could think logically about how that might make the child feel and be able to regret forgetting them. (In fact he canonically DOES logically think about how others feel FREQUENTLY. The official Ink FAQ stating that before they actually fight someone, they “focus on trying to discover their motives and talk them through it.” and he “know(s) what to analyze to understand the issue so he can brush people the right way and hopefully have them listen.”)

So, if Ink IS super emotionally attached to/cares deeply for their child, which isn’t at all out of the question because it’s their literal CHILD…

Oh BOY would the feelings of guilt and regret MULTIPLY EXPONENTIALLY.

Because contrary to what some may believe, Ink is a VERY emotional being, often feeling INTENSELY about certain things. Just not in the “”traditional/“normal””” way.

It would BREAK him inside. Or at least cause INTENSE negative emotions. Like… imagine if Ink forgot about Top and Aster for a good while. It would KILL HIM emotionally once he remembers them again. This man would be crying and apologizing PROFUSELY to them.

It’s so tragic. Ink, even if they’re trying the HARDEST THEY POSSIBLY CAN to be the best parent he can be, even if they loved their child COMPLETELY UNCONDITIONALLY with their WHOLE BEING, could still “fail” in certain aspects due to factors completely outside of their control. And that must hurt, a lot. He’d probably end up blaming himself/beating himself up about it in this case too.

Now this doesn’t mean that people are always wrong for writing Ink a certain way, Comyet PURPOSEFULLY allows for freedom of interpretation when it comes to Ink’s character.

But, like you Anon, I do wish there was more stuff out there that thinks about how all of this would make Ink feel. Not that other character’s feelings aren’t worth exploring, but that Ink’s perspective should be considered as well. Sure Ink might not be perfect at parenting, but I think he’d at least TRY. And would DEFINITELY care a whole LOT if he realized he forgot about his own kid’s existence.

At least that’s my two cents on the matter

Ty for the ask! This was a fun one to answer!!!! (and I apologize if it was a bit rambly 😅)

[syncopatedid]

Kansei University Track & Field Fan Club Appreciation Day:  Stage reading segment  🎉 🎉 Just in time for Hakone Ekiden Day!  🎉 🎉