#i should have drawn a cinnamon roll for mina but i didn't

[lostinthefrigginwoods-art]

Ah, romance.

[vagueandominousvibes]

archetype: characters who really really want a safe and comfortable place to land after the Plot is done demanding things of them, and strive to create those safe places for others as well

Ok so I've been sitting on this for a while (weeks? months?), because when I first read it I was confused - sort of like when you're hit with a string of words and you know they should make sense but they don't? So I figured if I sit on it and look at it occasionally it will make sense eventually.

And I think I'm starting to see it now! It very much resonates with my first D&D character, Stormer, who I played for some 5 or 6 years: his life before the Plot had taken a rough turn, and the Plot didn't help - but after much reflection he multiclassed into Grave Cleric to protect the party and really get to grips with the infestation of undead in the city we were staying in. His goal was, as you say, to create a safe space for himself and his friends.

I suppose, to an extent, this is also how I write Blue in most of my Four Sword fics: as someone who's been working through a rough patch in their life and is now doing their damnest to carve out a place of safety, for themselves and their friends.

The reason it took me so long to process is, I think, that it hits so close to home. When Mina said (paraphrasing) "cinnamon roll who can and will hurt people if necessary" it was easier to see because that's an archetype I admire; it's not a reflection or myself insomuch as it's a reflection of how I want to see myself. The cinnamon roll who knows how to stand up for themselves often has firm ground under their feet. They know what they want and they know they have a home to return to. The character battling trauma and building a safe space doesn't. It's in their definition that they're ummoored, adrift. They need someone to tie them down until they learn to make their own anchor.

So yes, I'm absolutely drawn to the archetype you outline, if only because it's someone I see something of myself in, and because I can give the character the comfort and safety my own life still (at times) feels like it lacks.