#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 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?

[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]

[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 😅)

[halestrom]

so i was thinking about Mav wanting to give Bradley a family when Carole dies. Because Mav never had one, but he's had good friends and he knows how friends can help you and he's hurting as well because first Goose and now Carole and he and Ice aren't always around each other bc they've still got careers. And so maybe Mav just starts making plans with whoever is around. Maybe Slider comes over one day to hang out, and then the next time its Slider and Wolfman, and slowly Mav keeps inviting people until it's a thing and anytime people are all in town they inevitably end up at Mav's.

But they're all military and are gone randomly and so Mav starts to go to school meetings, Bradley's events and talks to people and makes friends so Bradley can have more friends over and everyone soon learns that Mav's house is a good place to hang out and sure they might learn how to flip a knife but they also know Mav is good in a crisis so its a catch-22. But then Mav is also making friends and he's fine right, he's been alone for most of his life and he's got Ice and everyone else so he's doing this for Bradley, not realizing that he's also making friends, and while he's doing his best to make sure Bradley always has a family, he's also building himself one.

People learn that they're welcome at Mav's house, and the first time Bradley has a friend over who got into a fight with their parents he just sets up the spare room, calls the parents to let them know the kid is there and tells them to come over the next day when everything settled.

So Bradley grows up loved and surroudned by people so he's never alone like Mav was as a kid, alone in the foster system and he's happier for it even though his parents are gone. he's got Uncles and their partners and kids, honorary Aunts and cousins and grandparents and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger until they have to shut down the block for the 4th party that Mav throws because there's so many cars but everyone's happy to be there and relaxed.

And maybe, because Mav is making sure Bradley is healing from his loss, he's healing from his own loss and it also means he's got more people to talk to when Bradley gets older, and his promise to Carole draws near and people who don't understand what it's like to be military kinda tilt their head and say it should be Bradley's choice even if Mav is scared.

And so, instead of pulling his papers, Mav sits Bradley down and tells him his Mom was terrified for him, and she didn't want him to fly and asks him to go to college first just to see if there was something else out there for Bradley. For his Mom. And Bradley agrees because its for his Mom and he gets it.

And maybe he still ends up in the service but now he's got support, bc Mav and everyone else is there and he's not so mad at the world and maybe as time goes on and he talks to people he starts bringing friends home during leave who don't have anywhere to go and Mav just takes them all in because Goose and Carole taught Mav what family means, and he made sure to teach it to Bradley who is now teaching it everyone else.

[septemberrie]

😅😅😅 I'm so glad you created an account just to continue rambling about this show!! I hope tumblr un-bans it soon.

Thank you for clarifying about the flashbacks to delve into the Andreas/Seb/Saul backstory! And for the compliments about IWJR. Tbh I hadn't reread that story since I finished it but you inspired me to go read back some of the past scenes, thank you for that.

I will have to reassess the incorporation of flashbacks because IWJR was very daunting to start, I kept trying to tell myself that I didn't HAVE to make the backstory/history so thorough and then... turns out I am a serial overwriter who turned it into almost 100k. And it took a big chunk out of me. So while I'd love to say "Yes I will absolutely include flashbacks!" I have a hard time figuring out how to measure my effort. But maybe that will help round out some of the plot holes, soooo thank you for pointing out that as a possible solution!

I really loved your spiral about the toxic ways Sebastian and Andreas projected their unhealthy love onto Saul. "If I can't have you, no one can" --> damn I think that's what I was trying to say in the 94k fic that is IWJR and you said it in 8 words 😅 brilliant!!

I would LOVE to read any and all takes you alluded to in your reply! Yes, feel free to start a new post. Go as dark as you want, you read IWJR and my limits tbh are past that!

Lastly... are you a writer? Because you have some fantastic ideas yourself and this reply is already so eloquent. I would love to read any scene/story you want to take on about this show!!💕 

I have come into your inbox to rant and ramble after being blown away. I specifically ship your version/characterization of saulxandreas and romantic or platonic!saulxfarah/saul&farah, where the two dynamics are a foil for one another. Your fic, it was just red, is a masterpiece. It perfectly encapsulates the way that Andreas’s “feelings” for Saul would likely manifest, not as a healthy romantic attraction but as a twisted combination of attraction, jealousy of someone more popular and better than him (“good, kind, stupid Saul”), the desire to dominate, and the homophobic/toxicly masculine idea of owning/besting someone by fucking them. That sort of dynamic unfortunately often culminates in sexual violence, whether it be rape by deception or straight up assault. Which is made all the more heartbreaking by saul’s devotion towards Andreas and their early friendship. The contrast between Andreas being too narcissistic and insecure to love properly (“I did love you, you know,”) and the real love between Saul and his fairy, Farrah, and his other friends, made me cry.

I also ship saulxhealing because he puts on this image of even tempered mentor/guardian for the sake of his son and students, but he has got to be internally shattered, the most broken and traumatized character in the whole series, especially after season 2. Pretty much everyone he’s known and loved died violently. throughout his life, two people he trusted (Andreas and Sebastian) treated him like dirt by trying to kill him. He must have a very damaged sense of self worth and internalized guilt at being one of the last ones standing. Maybe he could find solace in being a father to sky, although i wonder how their relationship was affected by sky killing his biological father to save Saul on top of the previous trust issues that were not resolved.

Have you ever thought about writing another fic in light of all the compelling saulxandreas moments from season 2? Ken duken really amped up the tension between them, every time they appear on screen Andreas looks at Saul with such a creepy intense look that’s hard to ignore. And there’s the introduction of Sebastian, who definitely had a crush on Saul (“following saul around like a puppy”) The potential for Sebastian’s jealousy and hatred toward Andreas during their school years, and andreas being possessive of saul would be interesting. I could see your characterization of andreas continuing beautifully in a post s2 fic, with his viciousness showing in the way he relentlessly bullied Sebastian to mark his territory and because he could.

Also, it’s a testament to your writing that canon s2 Andreas pretty much acted in accordance with the Andreas in your fic! There’s always the possibility of canon work completely going against a fic, but s2 Andreas was every bit as bloodthirsty and aggressive as you wrote him (not Ben asking saul if sky inherited Andreas’s bloodlust 😭) Burning saul’s house down in jealousy, pushing students around and making sparring more violent, being emotionally unavailable towards his son, and insulting silva’s masculinity, (“did he wear an apron?”) it was amazing how you basically extrapolated his character so accurately from just a few scenes in s1.

Basically, thank you for writing it was just red, and the way you wrote it makes me yearn and wonder if you’ve ever thought about writing something post s2. The past and present structure for it was just red would be perfect in explaining the sheer depths of Sebastian’s hatred of Andreas (with Saul at the root of it all,) and the way Saul/Andreas’s scenes were so intense, culminating in Andreas sacrificing himself to save Saul, makes me wonder what kind of relationship they had in the past even if it was an unhealthy one. The show also glossed over saul’s imprisonment after he was caught returning to see sky, and the way you wrote his imprisonment in i.w.j.r. Makes me think you’d write that part wonderfully. The saul&sky&andreas conflict and dynamic (“you’re already starting to sound like him.”) was also teased but not explored in canon, and the way you described that in the last fic (“he’s in my DNA” “he’s in my bones.”) chills. I’d kill to see your exploration of that dynamic post s2. And they also didn’t include any grieving scenes for Saul after his fairy died!

Anyways, I’ll end this here. It was just red. was amazing, literally one of the best fics I’ve read and definitely the best when it comes to comparing the quality of canon to fic. You have a gift for fully fleshing out the motivations and psychology of characters, your writing is technically skilled, and you included themes beyond just shipping (about love, war, trauma, growth, and disillusionment) that I didn’t expect but were really impactful to read. I would die of happiness if you were considering writing another post s2 saundreas fic but that’s not to induce any pressure because I am already forever greatful for the fics you’ve already written. Wishing you all the best in life. Also, is it okay to send you more asks/messages about fate? This has gotten ridiculously long but I’d love to discuss more saundreas/saulbastian/saulrah things down the line with you if you’re interested.

okay anon, I hope you know this is the best ask I've ever received, my ego will never be the same after this 😅💕

I love the points you brought up in your 2nd paragraph, re: Saul x Healing. The man has been through it ALL, although I always have a hard time reconciling what he's actually been through with the mechanical way the writers had him deal with everything in S2. It's absolutely criminal we got little to no fallout from what went down in the lodge because you're so right, Sky and Saul's relationship is fundamentally changed now that Sky murdered his bio father to save his real father!! Plus Sky and Saul have both now lost their fairies, they've both killed their own fathers, their home burned down… like they have so much loss together (makes you wonder what's left to repair if they both lost so much).

I have actually started a "S2 from Saul's POV" that tries to both build on what specks of light they gave us (Ken rocking tf out of angsty Andreas, references to Sebastian and Andreas' crushes on Saul, wtf was going on that week when both Saul and Andreas were teachers at Alfea when they have this history together????) and also tries to bridge some of the gaps (where tf is the emotion? any of it? About Farah? Sky killing Andreas? Siding with Roz???)

And I'm toasting you to kingdom come, anon, for the praise re: Andreas' characterization in my fic. If you had told me when I was writing it that we were going to get as much fucked up Andreas in S2 as we did I would not have believed you. It was a dream come true--my only wish is that they hadn't killed him off so early. He was SUCH a great rogue/lesser villain. I really don't remember what happens much in s2 after Episode 4 lol that's basically It for me. I'm framing your sentence "the best quen it comes to comparing the quality of canon to fic" because ??? excuse me this is the most fantastic compliment because that's exactly what I was going for/hoping for and!!! thank you!!!!

Back to my S2 "rewrite" fic. I hadn't considered as much your particular angle, like what if Sebastian being Sebastian and not just any old blood witch was part of the reason for Andreas' sacrifice? Extra baggage between the three of them? I'm curious what you mean about "the past and present structure of IWJR would be perfect in explaining the sheer depth…" are you just referring to IWJR or are you talking about the proposed post-s2 fic you would like to see me write? Sorry I'm just curious!!

Anyway anyway anyway PHEW you are incredible for sending such a kind and gushing message and THANK YOU!!! I literally had to sit on it for a few hours bc it was like staring at the sun lol it is so bright and makes me so happy. You are ALWAYS welcome to come chat about anything Fate, on anon or off! We are a friendly bunch and love talking about our silly 13 episode fairy show!! Thank you again!!