#i tend to dislike man child characters in general but the fact that he constantly get rewarded by the narrative for just being there...t

[thesmokinpossum]

i feel like it’s an extremely unpopular opinion but i really dislike todd chavez as a character and the more they flesh him out the more i hate him tbh

[hawkogurl]

Hi I am still reading this :)

My only real disagreement here would be that all the behavior you very much correctly described from Norman does in fact qualify as emotional abuse, especially with how they’re shown to affect Harry. Thats not really here nor there, but I broadly just use the term because otherwise conversations can tread close to minimizing or otherwise behaviors with Norman’s character I am well known to dislike. This is not directed at you because you don’t do this, I just talk a lot.

When it comes to my personal opinions on the whole “does Norman love his son” thing, it’s very heavily something to me is objectively personal interpretation. I don’t really agree with a lot of what Dafoe has to say on the subject particularly because he’s not a writer. He’s an actor. Much of the time when it comes to Norman, I become fixated on what makes the most sense and is the strongest narratively, because a lot of common interpretations for that post NWH world we live in tend to be things that would kick the legs out of the raimi trilogy as a whole and make it tend to stop functioning as a story. That’s not Dafoe slander, I just oftentimes think he’s wrong.

Which is really just a long winded way of saying that while I do believe that in some capacity Norman loved Harry, the capacity that he did being very much a matter of interpretation and intentionally vague, I also think that for his relationship with Harry to make sense I think Norman needs to have many things that are more important to him that Harry. His company, his beliefs as to what makes someone worthwhile, his ability to continue to have power even just in oscorp. Generally, at the center of what is more important to him, whether he’s admit it or not, is himself. This is expressed the Goblin, who I think cannot be meaningfully separated from Norman without completely losing half of Norman’s character. The goblins actions always have the precursor of something happening to Norman, particularly things that threaten his power. Starting with Quest coming after Norman’s military contract, the Goblin immediately destroys their project. The board ousts him, the Goblin kills them. You get the idea. I swear I’m going somewhere with this.

The dysfunction here, regardless of the conclusion around it, is, in my opinion, both that Norman has an incredibly stiff opinion of what makes a person worthwhile and what Harry needs to do to fulfill that, (see: utilitarianism) and that Norman, in his relationship with Harry, tends to be fundamentally selfish in terms of what he prioritizes over Harry. He treats himself as more of a priority than his child, which is going to cause problems with any parental child dynamic. The extent and emotions involved here are intended to be interpretable, but I think that’s going to be the core regardless of what math you do to get that result.

And that kinda relates back to my personal “I don’t think the hug is the moment people tend to think of it as” when it comes to me being far more negative towards raimi norman than most are. The thing about the hug is that it comes only after Harry tells him Peter is attached to MJ. The only time Norman gives Harry what he clearly wants is when Harry gives him something useful, which tends to condemn the perceived good faith a lot of people hold towards that scene. The fact that Norman only gives Harry that after he meets some threshold of worth, even if not intentional on his part, sheds a lot of light for me on how he viewed his son.

A lot of the time I think I tend to be more harsh on Raimi Norman than most people are. A lot of the time alongside the fact that he’s like. A 57 year old man who makes his decisions and deserves the consequences of them is that sort of thing. The moments that make Raimi Norman seem like he’s just emotionally constipated constantly carry those undertones of manipulation, ego, and selfishness and don’t read as positively to me as most other people tend to see them.

Also because I See You, Corpse Fic Tags-My final message: FTD is both a Harry character study—but also it’s horror. It’s a game of extremes, which should explain a lot of my choices.

Something I feel goes often goes unrecognized in discussion of Harry Osborn is the fact the he is the Only Child of a Single Parent.

In my experience/observation (both real and fictional) the only child/single parent bond is so inexorable it's hard to fully comprehend. Few other things will bind two people together in such a way.

Like many familial relationships, it's full of a thousand little hurts that will probably never get brought up again. Sometimes you let the relationship go by the wayside in pursuit of your own life goals because you take it for granted that family will always be around. But there's a unique flavor to it.

Deep down inside you there's an awareness that it's Just The Two Of You. For the child, it may have it may have been just the two of you from your very earliest memories. Sure, you know other people. There are extended family and friends and maybe the parent has a romatic partner or two. But at the end of the day, in your home, in your hearts (something you carry with no matter where you go) the two of you are all you have and all you feel you can really depend on.

A world in which the two of you aren't together is almost impossible to picture and you don't want to try, even in the moments you wish you could just get away from each other. Being an only child separated from a single parent for the first time ‐ even on normal and amicable terms like when you move out on their own - makes you realize, again and again, how many ways your parent has influenced you. The things you say that you heard from them first, the habits, the opinions. You love them, but sometimes it feels like they still... OWN you, even though you are your own person. Sometimes that frightens you, but the alternative is even more frightening.

Like all love, it'll make you behave selfishly and irrationally at times.

And it'll really make you DEFENSIVE.

If you're Harry Osborn and complain a bit about your dad being a dickhead while deep down wondering if he really even cares about you, that's one thing. But if anyone says a word against him in your presence you have to backtrack. You have to argue in his defense because he's all you have and you're all he has. Loss would unbearable.

Look, guys. It has been years since Harry and Norman Osborn have gotten along or been able to really enjoy each other's company, if they ever could. But if anything happened to the other they would kill everyone in this room and then themselves, do you understand what I'm saying?

[stellocchia]

Here’s an analysis of the “Tommy’s Plan To Kill Dream” stream (part 1)

I noticed that my “overly long” analysis always tend to be about extremely depressing streams, so here’s me trying to change that and failing miserably because I can find angst literally everywhere!

As usual I’ll be talking about the characters only unless stated otherwise from here on out. 

The whole thing is under the cut because, as the name of this “series” suggest, I’m phisycally incapable of keeping things short

Before we proceed with the analysis we need a quick overview of Tommy’s relationship with the people he interacts with this stream so that we can all start with the same mindset: 

Tommy & Tubbo: They have obviously been very close friends since the beginning but recently Tommy has developed a sort of dependence on Tubbo which really isn’t healthy. This of course is a direct result of his second exile and his mindset moving forward after that. While with Dream and then Techno Tommy was extremely isolated and made to depend entirely on the one person providing for him. He continued this even after Doomsday, this time developing an extreme dependence on Tubbo that culminated with the line “What am I without you?” (basing your entire identity around someone else is not healthy, who’d have thought?). With the developing of the hotel post-finale he expands his system of support to include Sam and Sam Nook, but this is of course ruined with the prison arc. Tommy doesn’t trust Sam any longer and, while he still cares deeply about Sam Nook, he’s not someone that can give him emotional support. So he went back to rely soley on Tubbo (though it’s obvious throughout the stream that he’s tentatively doing so with Ranboo as well)

Tommy & Ranboo: The two of them used to be sort of close before Doomsday, Ranboo still very much admiring Tommy and considering him a friend. Thet said Ranboo is not in the very small circle of people who Tommy trusts and finding him married to his best friend and moving in together with a child didn’t help his perception of him. He feels replaced by Ranboo and sort of feels like he “stole” the only system of support he had that he could count on. Though there is a beginning of change throughout the stream. 

Tommy & Ghostbur: Their relationship is really interesting. Tommy is pretty obviously one of Ghostbur’s unfinished businesses (possibly the only one now that L’Manburg is gone) and most definitely his priority. He was the only one who offered to go with Tommy during exile and he tried to be there for him constantly. Even his return this time was Tommy-motivated as we know from what he said in Ranboo’s stream. Meanwhile Tommy’s feelings on him are very complicated. He swings between recognizing that Alivebur and Ghostbur are different entities to conflating them together any time he has a strong reminder of Alivebur (at the beginning of exile and after spending time with Void!Wilbur for example). He also has only very recently come to the full realisation that Wilbur was awful to him and that their relationship was definitely not healthy (something we can infer from him finally taking a stance on not wanting him back and him admitting that Wilbur is good at manipulating him).

Now that that’s done, let’s get into the analysis!

“Oh I forgot I died, didn’t I?” So, Tommy is in a very peculiar situation where he has to somehow process his own death and, at the moment, he’s still in a state of denial about it. He knows he died but he acts like he didn’t in the sense that he hates how it affects his life. He doesn’t want people to treat him any different (even though he IS different), he doesn’t want to acknowledge the changesto the world nor to his relationships, which is the reason why he dislikes the statues of himself so much (that and the fact that he simply never liked to have statues of him). They act as a constant phisycal reminder of what happened to him and, more importantly, how much things changed in his absence. 

One other reason why change scares him so much it’s because of how often he’s alienated from the world around him. He spent more time in exile/prison then in his own home since L’Manburg got it’s independence. He is constantly forced to live in an isolated bubble while the world around him moves forward and then, when he gets thrown back in he is never really given much time to adapt and catch up before he is thrown once more into the role of the hero/villain that he despises (after the 16th for example he was painted as a liability at his first mistake and put on trial etc despite how much he did for the country. Again after Doomsday he had the Dream fight to think about and, after that, Sam Nook asked him again to be the hero against the Egg and he, once again, was villanized by the Team Rocket. Now again he finds himself in the position where he has to take action against Dream once more).

So the stream really starts with Tommy deciding to contact Tubbo to get some help in his plan to kill Dream. He heads to Snowchester to do so (stopping before that to build Sam Nook a little wooden platform to keep him out of the rain).

On the way to Snowchester he gets trapped in the tunnel and almost drowns, making him break the glass of the tunnel. This is triggering for him for a couple of reasons (aside from drowning generally being not pog): exile reminder of his waking up drowning every day and taking damage in general seems to be a reminder of his death (he also seems to be hypersensitive in general in regard to phisycal sensations) 

The whole mansion scene is a further indicator of this new dynamic between Tubbo, Ranboo and Tommy. Tubbo and Ranboo grew extremely close as we know (got married for tax benefits, adopted a child together and, apparently, canonically fell in love after) and they are planning to move in together with their son in the mansion. This, once again, all happened while Tommy was locked in prison. The feelings of alienation for him in the situation are prevalent together with his jealousy at Ranboo as he perceives him as his replacement. 

“You married someone without me- without my permission?” “Okay, can I have your permission?” “Does he make you happy?” “Yes” “then ye- okay” Just... I’m a softie and I think that it’s very sweet that his only requirement to give his blessing is Ranboo making Tubbo happy. We stan a unconditionally supportive friend! 

“Ranboo listen, let me open up to you pal! I- I’ve been through a pretty rough time recently and- (”Yeah I can tell”) and I know that we were kind of close before I went into prison, but then you ki- Tubbo would you mind looking at that flower a bit more? You kinda stole my best friend, and that’s kinda- you know now I feel kind of very lonely- actually feel very lonely” “I didn’t steal...” “And my other friend who then turned out to be my enemy is actually dead. So I’m kinda feeling a little bit left out here, and considering I was locked in a prison for 4 weeks...” “Yeah, no, I mean... I didn’t- I didn’t steal...” “No no no no, you did, you did, didn’t you? You did!” That was a big piece of dialogue there to transcribe! Regardless Tommy doing my job for me here by literally spelling out for us how he feels about Ranboo. One thing to be noted though is that Ranboo remains calm and keeps an understanding attitude in all his interactions with Tommy. He constantly tries to be reasonable (trying to explain that he didn’t “steal” Tubbo as, you know, he has his own free will and can have more then one friend) and generally just doesn’t get mad. Keeping a non-confrontational attitude is probably the best thing he could have done here.

So after that exchange Tommy opens up to them a bit about Dream, explaining what he’s planning.

“The revive book is too much and he (Dream) is too powerful and he’s only gonna use it for evil now! He is an evil man and he used it- he used ME to prove a point and to experiment on me” “Oh my God, like a lab rat!” “Like a- like a- worse then a lab rat! A lab- a lab sock!” “A lab sock?! No!” “Oh God!” “Oh my God” This is the first time in the conversation where Tommy’s gone more in depth about his traumatic experience (though he did mention before that “Dream asked him about it” in reference to his revival). It’s honestly a really big positive that he’s opening up to someone, even if it is other two teenagers who can’t do much but be sympathetic to him. 

“I think it’s good. You don’t actually know this but I’ve been- I’ve been collecting some data, but, honestly... I’m not sure is a too good of an idea” “You said it was good” “No no  no, I didn’t mean it was good in the sense of we should-” “Ranboo’s changed you, Ranboo’s changed you! He’s manipulating you! He’s manipulative and controlling” So 2 things to unpack here:

1) Tubbo hesitance comes from both him being on his last life and how things went during the season 2 finale. He isn’t too optimistic about their chances of killing Dream (even with Dream being completely unarmed in the prison) and he’s also less passively suicidal then he was during the finale, probably because he managed to build a life for himself now. He has a home, a family and Snowchester, he doesn’t wanna loose those.

2) Because of very obvious reasons (Wilbur being abusive, Dream being abusive, Techno isolating and manipulating him and then siding with his abuser and Sam betraying his trust) Tommy views all relationships aside from his with Tubbo in a negative lense. Basically he has HUGE trust issues and he’s so used to his relationships having usually some degree of manipulation (exept for Sam, who still entirely broke his trust. Also recently found out Jack had been lying and trying to kill him as well, which probably didn’t help the issue) that he just assumes that must be the case for Tubbo and Ranboo as well. Both of them of course are fast to correct him on this as that’s really not the case. 

“So why don’t you want him to bring Wilbur back now? What suddenly changed?” “I spent months in the death... area- let’s call it ‘the death zone’, with Wilbur alright?” “The death zone?” “I spent months there. I spent months and months and months there and I was only there for a few days, Wilbur’s been there for real months. He is so different and he is fucking powerful and you know how he molds me like a piece of clay, Tubbo. (hushed) I don’t want him to come back” So here we have Tommy’s admission to Wilbur’s manipulation and how effective it is on him (most probably because of how close they used to be). We also have another hint about how dangerous Wilbur is now because of the knowledge he acquired. 

“In the mean time we also... unless we don’t kill Dream... we gonna have to stop Technoblade, ‘cause Technoblade owes him a favour” “Stop Technoblade?” “Technoblade owes him a favour and we can’t let him redeem it” When Tommy mention’s Techno, Tubbo immediately becomes even MORE hesitant about this whole thing (probably a mix of his death-related trauma, Techno exploding his nation twice and his most recent inquisition venture in Snowchester). 

“So why don’t we try to block Dream’s communication with Technoblade? ‘Cause then Technoblade would have no idea how to... redeem... the favour” “He can bring back the dead Tubbo, we need him DEAD! He’s too powerful for this server’s good and he’s a bad man and he won’t use his powers for good. And it’s not even-” “Mmmmh” “What do you mean ‘Mmmh’ Man?!” “I don’t know this really- this didn’t go too well for us last time we got all hyped up and tried to do this” Tubbo once again is mostly apprehensive because of how things went last time they were up against Dream. He also tried proposing an alternative solution to fighting that Tommy shoots down because he doesn’t think anyone should have the power that Dream has. Also, may I add that Ranboo is actually on Tommy’s side on this whole thing? Possibly because he knows as well how dangerous Dream still is. 

“Just because he’s locked up doesn’t mean his strenght is, allright?” This basically perfectly sums up the crux of the issue. Of course thanks to Quackity’s lore we know that Dream’s power now is mostly a facade, but they don’t know this. To them Dream is just as powerful now as he was before. To them the image of powerlessness that the prison gives him is the facade.

That said the conversation in the electric chair tower ends here and, as this is already so incredibly long, I’ll also end part one of the analysis here. This was also the most lore-heavy part as the rest is more light-hearted so it’ll probably be faster to cover.

[clavicuss-vile]

!!! for the ask game: 🌼 (your favorite thing about this oc) & 🌈 (what does this oc like and dislike about themselves?) foooor kaos, anaelle, and pup !!

❤ from @reachfolk

:DDD ty! <3

-

🌼

Kaos: Well, not including warrior cats and fantrolls i made when i was like 10, he's my first ever proper oc! he's gone through SO many changes over the years but he's where literally every other TES character came from, so i love my boy for that <3

Anaëlle: I adore this girl because she's so strong willed!! irl im very very nonconfrontational and tend to just nod and agree, but she would absolutely slap a bitch no questions asked. this goes for her and Kaos too but theyre super protective of their friends and i love them for that

Pup: Pup! my boy! he's like. such a minor character, when i *eventually* get round to writing their fics he's probably only gonna be mentioned in Ime's a few times but he's just so funny? he's very similar to kaos in that responsibility comes knocking on his door and his first reaction is Nope. man just fucks off and leaves to live in the mountains with like 20 dogs and i think thats very cool of him

-

🌈

Kaos:

Likes: oooo interesting okay. he likes how resourceful he is; throw him in an unfamilar forest and he will 9 times out of 10 come out unscathed. he's very good at crafting and hunting and he probably deems those his highest qualities.

Dislikes: He doesn't like his vulnerability. heavy armor is way too clunky so he always feels exposed in just light armor, he can't travel by day or on roads because of his anxiety, which makes Lucien minorly annoyed and he hates that, and he hates the fact that he turns into a scared little child whenever he's in a settlement bigger than Shor's Stone. He sees himself as the big brother and that he needs to protect everyone and blames himself whenever he cant.

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Anaëlle:

Likes: She's proud of her personality as a whole! She's very emotionally strong, stubborn, and would burn down the Imperial City itself to keep her people safe, but she's also incredibly gentle and generous, especially to children. She's proud of the fact that she's able to be a strong leader and a gentle friend when the need arises.

Dislikes: Her mother Donella always warned her that her impulsiveness would get her killed, so as much as she relies on it, she does dislike that part of herself. It's what's kept her alive so long, and it might be the death of her, and she's got no way of knowing until the wrong situation pops up. she doesn't like the uncertainty.

-

Pup:

Likes: Pup is very happy with the fact that he feels no need to chase adventure or be in the storybooks. They love their cousin Anaëlle to bits, but he does sometimes feel she's chasing an outcome that will never be. He's quite content with a life of solitude, training the clan's mountain dogs to be rescue dogs, and just wandering.

Dislikes: He's constantly worried he's pushing people away. He loves his family and his clan, but he just prefers being alone. He's always worried that they assume he's abandoned them, or that he doesn't care for any of them

[twilightofthe]

What was your opinion of the Clovis arc? People I know either love it or hate it, no in between. I generally liked it but found it waayyy ooc.

Hey anon, thanks for the ask!!!!

AHSJFLSLALK OK SO UH. Wow. Clovis arc. Yiiiiiiikes ok so. I totally agree with you on the fandom divide and I also totally agree that everyone involved in it is rather OOC for my taste. That being said, that case of OOC is exactly why I personally do not like the arc that much at all.

(Please note that my following words are MY PERSONAL OPINIONS, and that anyone is free to disagree, in fact I welcome the discussion, and even if this is your favorite arc, please consider yourself welcome on my blog I hold nothing against those who might like it)

Part of me was gonna make a short and sweet point about how I don’t like that TCW has had both of its main female characters have unwanted kisses forced on them, and instead of teaching young girls watching to tell those kinds of people to fuck off and respect their bodies, we get: 1. Just let it happen, you both must kinda like each other anyway or 2. Stay still then sit back while your boyfriend beats him half to death

But actually turns out I wanted to spend all day writing an essay so now you get this. So far I’m gonna hit four points:

the show’s constant need for Vader foreshadowing sometimes tending to completely override Anakin’s current mindset and personality he should have at this point in the timeline as well as his preestablished characterization

the way TCW gave Anakin a giant dosage of toxic masculinity to try and please the pissy movie critics who didn’t like that he cried

the role of Padmé and how TCW tries to portray her as a “strong woman” by just having her constantly be irritated by and sometimes even look like she actively dislikes her husband while simultaneously have her act OOC so they can blame HER and her actions for Anakin’s reactions and anger and overall Fall

How I think this arc is not irredeemable and that with some fixes it could be done decently— decently, not well, because a lot of this arc’s problems are also due to preexisting writing choices throughout the show

(Ok whoops this turned into a half Clovis arc rant half entire TCW Anidala commentary)

So firstly I wanna start that yes, I am fully aware that TCW is meant to fill in the gaps between AOTC and ROTS and help explain why Anakin’s mindset in the final movie is what it is and justify his Fall. Of course we need to show some Vader foreshadowing throughout the series, and in some places it is executed very well, notably the Mortis arc, the Bad Batch arc, the Wrong Jedi arc, as well as others that I can’t cite off the top of my head currently because I might have a mild touch of heat exhaustion wooo I need to get off the beach.

But it also has some rather hamfisted Vader foreshadowing stuff too. Like, y’all know the fandom joke where it’s like “Anakin: *Accidentally Leaves The Toilet Seat Up*. The Background Music: *BLASTS the Imperial March*” but like, they actually really do that. Like the time where they have Anakin take out a terrorist about to blow up an entire ship full of people and then play the Imperial March afterwards and imply he’s a “cold-blooded killer” just to defend the moral purity of the two people who were gonna stand there and let the ship blow in the name of idealism.

I’m getting off topic but yeah, sometimes the show’s Vader foreshadowing makes sense, sometimes it’s pretty forced, and the Clovis arc DEFINITELY leans towards the forced side, and when they try to force more of Darth Vader into Anakin at a point where he shouldn’t quite be there yet, it screws with his entire character.

This is particularly shown in the majority of the show’s takes on Anakin’s relationship with Padmé. Namely, they tend to forget nearly the entirety of AOTC with the exception of the Tusken murder scene, then forget even more of ROTS up until the point where Anakin strangles her on Mustafar. Basically, they take the truth that it was Anakin’s unhealthy attachment to Padmé that sparked his Fall, but then they decide to run with it where almost every single interaction he has with her in the damn show is him being a toxic overbearing dick to her and her acting like she mildly tolerates him at most and definitely doesnt respect him as like, I guess a way of showing what happened on Mustafar is in character for them???? Ugh, I’ll explain further.

So with Anakin’s aggressive possessiveness towards her. We know Anakin has possession and attachment issues. We know he’s a clingy needy whiny anxious mess who’s constantly afraid of losing or driving away the few people he has pinned his entire happiness on. We know he leans unhealthily on Padmé to provide the majority of his emotional support. We know he’s convinced himself he can’t live without her. But never, NEVER is it seen in the movies where his possessiveness turns into outward aggression towards her or this douchey pushiness. Never does he treat her like his property, like she belongs to him.

Not until Mustafar.

Not until he’s raving, half out of his mind with the warring emotions over the atrocities he’s just committed, until he’s begging her to understand where he was coming from, begging her and the child to stay with him and justify his decision, until he sees Obi Wan and sees her backing away from him, leaving him, and he PANICS because oh no no no you can’t abandon me, I need you, doN’T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME. And he lashes out and tries to force her to stay, punish her for leaving and doubting him, and he puts that hand around her throat.

And that is supposed to be when we know he’s crossed the line, when we’re supposed to be horrified, where we know he’s lost himself, because he has NEVER ACTED LIKE THAT BEFORE.

Now how does Anakin act before? In the movies? He’s deferential to Padmé in almost every other scene they’re in together.

In AOTC, yeah he stares at her a bit creepily from a distance, he says awkward things and does goofy stuff to impress her, but he does Not get in her face. The few times he does invade her space, she flat out tells him: stand back. Don’t look at me like that. Don’t say that. Don’t interrupt me. And Anakin always, always backs off, respects her wishes. He follows her lead and lets her call the shots both on Naboo when he’s supposed to be protecting her and when she organizes the Geonosis rescue and once they arrive where she flat out tells him “I’m a Senator, I’ll handle this, just back me up”, and he’s all but just “ok yes queen”.

But they aren’t married then. Fine, take ROTS. It’s a movie all about Anakin’s issues but even then, when he’s worried about Padmé dying, he tells her he’s worried and that he can’t lose her, but he still keeps a distance. He doesn’t constantly hover and loom over her. If anything, Padmé, both in ROTS and AOTC is always the one to approach Anakin and close the distance when there’s conflict. When Anakin is upset, he averts his eyes and distances himself, tries to draw in on himself and brood silently, and we’ve seen it in Palpatine sometimes (of course with bad motives but he still does), but Obi Wan and Padmé both especially needing to be the ones to come over, turn his face to them and be like “hey, look at me, I care about you, what’s wrong”. Padmé SAYS in ROTS when he’s feeling specifically conflicted about losing Padmé, “don’t shut me out” and has to come over to him because he’s retreated into a corner of the room to scowl angstily out the window. Anakin does NOT get overbearing and possessive of her or get in her face, not once in the films.

In the fucking show? The Clovis arc, while perhaps the worst offender, isn’t even close to being the first time Anakin has been overly pushy and aggressive with Padmé, or acting like she’s something he owns, From that time in the Senate Hostage ep where he’s bugging her about ditching work and all but acting like incels texting like “awww but babe my dick hurts :(”, from the FIRST Clovis disaster ep where he’s childishly trying to screw up Padmé’s mission, to the Clovis arc in season 6

And this is where they just roll right in with their “oh so Anakin’s an overbearing, entitled douche” bit with the interaction he has with Pads and he’s trying to talk her out of taking the Clovis assignment and he says something along the lines of “as your husband, I demand you don’t do this”.

Hwat. The Fuck.

What kind of caveman-esque, 1800’s-ass man of the house whom my wife must obediently serve kinda entitled-ass BULLSHIT?!?!?!?

Like, I’m sorry, I really am, but that is just completely out of left field and not like Anakin at all. I mean to the point that when he’s an evil Sith Lord trying to talk her into taking over the galaxy with him, EVEN THEN he does not include “Padmé you must join me because I’m your husband and you do as I say” sort of domineering assholerly.

Anakin does not push Padmé around. He does not TRY to assert authority over her or try and force her to do shit. Not only because she doesn’t put up with that kinda shit for a second, but because Anakin respects Padmé; he will treat her with respect. He always has, and sometimes like in this arc it really doesn’t feel like he does.

Now of course Padmé’s response to the “I own you” declaration is “fuck you, asshole, I do what I want” and doubling down on her decision, and then decides to go even harder on the mission if only to spite her douche husband (and we’ll get to Padmé’s characterization in a bit) which is a very different kind of Anidala conversation we see in the show as opposed to the movies (also discussed later).

Now, the reason for Anakin’s overbearing douchery ties directly into an overarching problem in TCW— honestly, one of the very few issues I have with this show, but the problem is that it touches nearly the entire thing —and that is they almost completely reworked Anakin’s personality to be more hyper-masculine alpha male.

This is a topic I’ve discussed on my blog before, but the gist is that in the movies, Anakin was not the typical male heroic protagonist and DEFINITELY not what people expected from Future Darth Vader The Masked Brutish Male Power Fantasy. He was awkward, he was shy, he was soft spoken, he was clumsy around the girl he liked, he was very openly romantic, he liked frolicking in fields and candlelit dinners and snuggling. Two of the most important people in his life were soft, feminine women and he openly loved them very dearly and very gently— and he deferred to them when he felt it was right, as I’ve mentioned before. He CRIED when he was upset and was messy and emotional. And fanboys hated this with a burning passion. They couldn’t project their power fantasy onto this!!!! The Anakin critics were a HUGE part of the mob who crucified the prequels to the point of chasing both Anakin actors practically out of the movie industry in general.

The Clone Wars writers were obviously petrified of this happening again. So their solution, as has always been Star Wars’s solution to hateful fans being upset about an innocent character, is to completely rework them, hide or retcon all the undesirable qualities, and act like everything was all fixed. Now don’t get me wrong, there are aspects of TCW Anakin that I adore. As I’ve also mentioned before, they got his humor, his cleverness, his eagerness to do the right thing, to help people, his relationship with Obi Wan and Ahsoka and his men, they got that all perfectly. But the rest??? TCW’s solution to the criticism of Movie!Anakin was to turn him into an agressive, dominant, violent shadow of everything “soft” he was in the movie

Now, he speaks loudly and more deeply. Now, he’s cocky and overconfident and while yes he was arrogant in the movies, now it’s dialed up to like an 11. He never cries, never even THINKS to show a negative emotion that’s not Manly Rage And Aggression(TM). And then there’s the way he is around the women in his life. No more awkwardness or shyness, now he makes jokes about being a “ladies man” and does whatever the fuck flirting he does with Miraj Scintel even though the Anakin from the movies would have needed like every scrap of his self control just to look at her without insta-murdering her face. And then there’s how he is with Ahsoka and Padmé. He is muuuuch more of a loud brash dudebro around them who pushes his weight and is kind of controlling and their solution is just to have the both of them be Strong Women(TM) who Fight Back whenever he tries it too hard with them.

With Ahsoka, it’s not too bad because it’s a brand new dynamic and she’s a rather agressive firecracker personality herself when we first meet her, so the constant Snips n’ Skyguy snipefest works for them. For Padmé? It just means that in far too many episodes they’re in there’s a point where Anakin says something Eh and Padmé gets mildly irritated to actually annoyed with him for it and she’ll talk down to him and then there’s an argument between them because he’s bullheaded and she’s a Strong Woman. Why do I consider these out of character?

In the movies, despite the flaws, Anidala is a couple who actually tries to communicate. Anakin feels open to speak about his troubles to Padmé and her to him (for the most part, she definitely has a savior complex and a tendency to squash her own shit so she can help deal with both Anakin’s and the galaxy’s at large) when they’re worried or concerned about something and they want to talk it out, so they’ll talk it out!

The problem with Anidala isn’t that they don’t communicate, it’s that they try but also only do it by halves because they hate fighting. They’ll talk, Anakin will say something that Padmé might disagree with— the fascism discussion in the Naboo field in AOTC, the question of whether the Republic is just or not in TPM —and she’ll try and correct him if she feels he’ll listen, but if he doubles down, she’ll go “ok you know what, agree to disagree, let’s not fight” and she subtly changes the subject because she hates fighting with him. If Pads says something Ani doesn’t like— telling Obi Wan about them in ROTS, some emotional advice she tries to give in both movies —he’ll flat out shut down and be like “I don’t want to talk about this, let’s drop it” and then seek out cuddles or affection as a distraction.

And that brings us back to the Clovis arc. The scene where the “as your husband” line occurs. Anakin is trying to talk Padmé out of doing this not because he’s jealous. Maybe he was jealous the first time he met Clovis and saw Padmé being all cute n’ fond with her old flame, but this time it seems almost entirely because last time ended in catastrophe and he’s genuinely worried for Padmé and feels she’s not thinking wisely, that she’s putting herself in danger.

However, Anakin is deciding to voice these concerns in Possessive Dudebro Pushing because of the aforementioned misguided Vader Foreshadowing and Toxic Masculinity. Padmé? Is not even CONSIDERING what he has to say, is just breezing on through and shutting him down at every turn and generally acting like he’s a dumbass who doesn’t have a clue about anything.

Now, it is very in character for Padmé Amidala to be all “I’m right, you’re wrong, fuck you don’t get in my way”. HOWEVER, they aren’t framing this as solely Padmé having a goal and bulldozing her way through the situation. That’s not how they frame this.

They frame this as: Padmé is embarrassed that she misjudged the situation wrong the last time and embarrassed even further that Anakin had to step in and get her out of trouble— which he brings up —and probably remembers that he made fun of her while he did it—

(Timing out to say that THAT scene was also OOC; they once more wanted a Vader parallel what with Anakin’s silhouette when he opens her cell door and the way Padmé’s sleeping pose is identical to Leia’s in ANH. But Anakin basically steps in and gives her this condescending-ass “awww the little wife’s gotten in over her head like I SAID she would, good thing I’m here to rescue her!” bit that’s really just MEAN. It’s not like him and Obi Wan’s/Ahsoka’s teasing snark whenever they have to pull each out of trouble, he’s just kicking her while she’s already down. Really, Anakin’s reaction should have been a lot less humorous and a lot more pissy; she didn’t listen to him, didn’t trust him, and ended up in danger because of it. It’d be a surly and upset “I told you so”, not an amused one.)

—and now it seems much more like Padmé is solely taking this assignment to spite Anakin for being a dick and to pettily prove that she knows what she’s doing rather than any sense or urge to do the right thing. And....... childish pettiness????? Is not Padmé. And yet, she has the entire immature “don’t tell me what to DO, Anakin” attitude this whole arc that amounts to WAY more than just the normal response she would have to his overcontrolling dickishness

And once again, it’s because she, like everyone else in the episode, seems to think the problem Anakin has is that he’s jealous of Clovis. He’s not, not really. He’s insecure, yes, but he also knows Clovis is a bag of dicks as well, and trusts that Padmé knows she’s better than that. His problem isn’t fears he’ll lose Padmé, it is entirely that Padmé isn’t listening to his concerns, doesn’t trust him, is going into a situation they both know is unwise, and he is frustrated he’s not in a position where he can look out for her since he feels she’s not looking out for herself. And, he’s not entirely wrong. Padmé IS being reckless and kind of irrational solely to prove a point. He just goes about it pretty much entirely the wrong way, which is what you can really say is the cause and effect formula for any problem Anakin Skywalker encounters and subsequently makes worse.

And then there’s That Scene. The one where Clovis tries to force a kiss on Padmé and Anakin freaks and almost kills him for it. I’ll start off by quoting another Tumblr user on that very scene by saying in regards to Clovis: “that bitch deserved that”. The almost murder? Maybe not that far, but the initial hitting for disrespecting someone’s “no”? Yep, that was deserved.

My first criticism is that Anakin shouldn’t have even had time to attack him because why the fuck wasn’t Padmé instantly kneeing him in the balls?!?! Like Padmé is not prone to violence immediately, no, but she can will and does defend herself immediately when she needs to— her right punch knocked someone tf out once when she was pissed —and she already gave him a warning that his advances were not welcomed.

Now, I am absolutely not victim blaming. I am NOT saying it is the fault of a woman (I’d be a hypocrite if I did and that’s all I’ll say on THAT), or of anyone when faced with sexual harassment, if they don’t fight back for whatever reason, no matter how capable of doing so they may be. What I’m saying is that considering her previous behavior and personality and the fact that the show NEVER goes deep enough into explaining heavy stuff like why victims might freeze or NOT fight back when faced with harassment, I feel like showing her not attempting to defend herself at all is kinda strange.

Now, Padmé’s utter passiveness to the situation aside, we’re going back into toxic masculinity and misunderstood interpretations of how Anakin displays possession. While I’ll repeat that Clovis deserved consequences for the forced kiss, Anakin going full caveman defending his property jealous rage just. Doesn’t feel right to me. Again, I think Anakin would probs hit him and put the fear of living god into him, maybe even I’d buy the attempted murder if they framed it as Anakin doing it because he hates those who force their will on others and disrespect women, but the whole that’s MY wife and you’re touching her shite just once more feels alpha male aggressive ridiculousness. Like again, I understand Anakin is possessive of Padmé, but not like this. I’m sorry, but I just cannot see that, him fighting over her like she’s a scrap of meat.

Like, I completely think she’s in the right tho to put them on a break after he does it though. That’s well within her right.

But then onto the FINAL part where after Clovis goofs and fucks them all over and then dies, she forgives him and blames herself for everything and apologizes. And like, that part I do see as in canon and character for her and for Anakin. He doesn’t like to admit his mistakes, her mistakes weigh on her and when she fails to fix or save someone, she falls into depression and upset and self-blame.

But the fact that Clovis died because Anakin dropped him? Anakin Skywalker, who scaled an entire elevator shaft carrying two people over his back who combined probs weighed more than Padmé and Clovis. Anakin Skywalker, who’s used the Force to lift tons of debris, who’s used it to hold back explosions, Anakin Skywalker, MOST POWERFUL FORCE USER IN HISTORY WHO TENDS TO RELY ON BRUTE STRENGTH FOR MOST SHIT ANYWAY. That Anakin couldn’t pull two people over a ledge?!?!?!?!? This has always bothered me.

Like to be honest; I feel this entire episode could have been so fixable too. Like keep Anakin’s obsessive worry over Padmé making a mistake, keep the best part of the arc which is his talk with Obi Wan where Obi Wan tries to connect with him and explain that he’s not alone, all Jedi have emotional struggles and have loved, if perhaps he wants to TALK to someone about it, Obi Wan is here for him, like that? That’s okay!

Just ugh ffs, get rid of the nasty Anakin treating Padmé like a naughty dog who won’t obey him and the Padmé purposely acting unwisely to spite Anakin plot. Have the entire conflict be both of them being upset that the other doesn’t trust them, doesn’t believe in their advice, keep Padmé’s speech about how marriages NEED trust and compromise to survive, take all of Anakin’s aggression towards Padmé and transfer it to aggression towards Clovis, like make the conflict him menacing the guy if he hurts Padmé again just because he’s being overprotective and “if you won’t look out for yourself I will” and Anakin getting constantly checked for not being able to control his emotions, Padmé can tell him off for being overprotective instead of overaggressive and his possessiveness can instead show through him arguing that he needs to keep her safe at all costs. THAT can be the argument.

And if they want the Vader foreshadowing? Like real, in-character Vader foreshadowing??? Tbh, drop the Clovis beatdown, drop the machoness towards Padmé, and just have Anakin blatantly DROP the douchebag at the end of the episode instead of his hand slipping. Make him choose to ACTIVELY kill Clovis. Like THAT, Anakin taking the law into his own hands and deciding that he knows best and this guy is dangerous and has fucked up one too many times, there being an opportunity where there’s an chance to save Clovis when they’re alone without Pads, “be a Jedi, Padmé wouldn’t want this, do the right thing” Clovis might say, and we can see Anakin’s face considering, and then he just “Long Live The King”s him and lets him fall and die, THAT is an in-character Vader foreshadowing.

Then at the end of the episode, we can have Anakin lie to her, say Clovis slipped, say it was too late, and Padmé can believe him, thank him for trying. Then there’s the same thing where Padmé apologizes, and we can have a callback to the convo about trust and she adds that she’s sorry that she didn’t trust him, and when she says that, we zoom in on Anakin’s guilty face.

There. That’s how I’d fix these episodes

And THERE, I think I’ve complained about everything, I am SO sorry for the gigantic ass post and response, I’ll add a read more once I’m on my laptop and not on the beach on mobile.

But yeah anon, I hope that satisfies your question xD

Once again, I welcome discussion if y’all either agree with me or if you have any differing opinions, I know my takes are far from hot for several people and I’m curious to see what others think!

[lovely-little-bull]

Character Bio

«« BASICS »»

« Full name »

Taura Caterina Andreas

« Meaning »

First and middle names mean "pure and innocent bull"; last name means "manly, brave, or warrior".

« Nickname »

Catie

« Reason for Nickname »

It was easier for her childhood classmates to spell and pronounce

« Age »

14 (can vary if RP takes place before/after ToA)

« Birthday »

April 27

« Gender »

Demigirl (she doesn't feel totally connected to the female gender, but she doesn't have a label for it yet)

«Sexuality »

Panromantic Asexual (also doesn't have a label yet)

« Species »

Demigod (¼ Monster)

««Appearance »»

« Height »

5'3

« Weight »

152 lbs

« Body Type/Build »

Mesomorph

« Hair Color »

Golden Brown

« Hair Style »

Wavy/Curly mix; usually loose or tied back with a thin rope

« Eye Color »

Brilliant blue, just like her father's

« Scars »

Various scars spread over body, mostly along torso and arms

« Birthmarks »

N/A

« Tattoos »

N/A

« Piercings »

Ears (Closed)

« Skin Tone »

Fair; lightly tanned

« Other Distinguishing Features »

A pair of nubby ivory horns has begun to protrude from her temples, ending about ¾ of an inch off her head

«« PERSONALITY »»

« General Personality »

Taura is very clever and shy. She comes off as a bit mysterious, preferring not to talk about herself or her past. Despite that and her tendency to keep to herself though, she desperately wants to be accepted for who she is and to feel like she belongs somewhere. She is also very understanding, and she tends to see the good in people. In fact, she'd probably be extremely loyal and kind to her friends if she had any. Still, she is capable of disliking others, usually if they’re rather mean without a good reason to be. Despite all this, Taura is not one to mess with. When she gets too upset, she goes into a blind fury, attacking anything that comes near her. She also suffers from depression and anxiety; she feels as if she is worthless and will constantly get nightmares and traumatizing flashbacks of her past. Taura rarely feels at peace and will run off when she starts getting upset, so that she can calm down and avoid losing control. She has an incredible amount of patience though, so she rarely gets to her breaking point. Given time, her strong sense of imagination will lead her to be a very creative and artistic individual.

« Typical Mood »

Apprehensive

« Triggers »

Mentions or images of car crashes or Tartarus

Unprovoked hatred/violence towards monsters or similarly misunderstood people/creatures

Violent deaths

Can also be physically triggered during a fight if someone takes things too far

« Likes »

People getting along

Things that remind her of home (certain foods, scents, surroundings, etc.)

Reflections of light and other light effects

Nature (although, not so much the sea)

Animals

Different forms of art

Hearing stories

« Dislikes »

Violence

Bullying

Being alone

Matadors

Beef, leather, etc.

Complete darkness 

Her looks (especially her horns)

« Fears »

Zeus, Poseidon, and their children

Tartarus and the possibility of ending up there

Becoming emotionally attached to people

Losing people she cares about 

Losing control of her anger

Socialization with new people

« Accent »

Greek

«« RELATIONSHIPS »»

« Father »

Apollo

« Mother »

Calantha Andreas

« Grandmother »

Damaris Andreas

« Grandfather »

Asterion (The Minotaur)

« Relationship Status »

Single

«« COMBAT »»

« Weapons »

None currently; Trained with a battleaxe and naturally talented at archery (undiscovered)

« Armor »

None currently

« Powers/Special Abilities »

Heightened senses (except for sight)

Increased strength and stamina

Ability to talk to bovine animals

Slight control over the mist

Minor healing abilities

«« BACKSTORY »»

Calantha's Story

Taura's grandmother, Damaris, was a skilled artisan and witch based in Rhodes, Greece. At the time, the Minotaur lived in some ruins near her house, and she came across him one day after he had injured himself. Seeing only the blurred figure of a distressed man, Damaris treated his wounds and found herself rather enamored with the strong, silent nature of the stranger. She made offerings to Aphrodite and Hera in order to have a successful relationship with him, and a year later, Calantha was born. She had developed her father's short temper, which got her into plenty of trouble throughout her adolescence. It didn't help that her mother was virtually blind and her father was constantly going off on his own.

When Calantha turned nine, her father was killed and sent back to Tartarus. To her and her mother, it seemed he had just disappeared. However, they got through it, and Calantha gained a new sense of maturity. She took care of her mother and learned to sew, so that she could sell clothing in her mother's shop.

In high school, Calantha was an outcast. Rumors had been spread that her father was a murderer who fled the country, which wasn't too far from the truth. People were scared of her and constantly avoided her. Even the teachers felt uneasy around her. So, as soon as she graduated, she headed to an arts college in New York. There, she reunited with her father and fell in love with a man she met at a poetry bar. That man turned out to be Apollo. They dated during her last year of college, but eventually, he had to leave.

Later that year, Calantha moved back to Greece. She was planning on bringing her mother to New York to visit her father, but she was forced to stay home when she discovered that she was pregnant. Soon, she gave birth to a beautiful baby who she named Taura Caterina, in reference to the child's astrological sign.

A few years later, Calantha was offered a job in New York. One of her friends from college had gotten into the fashion industry and wanted Calantha's help starting a new line of clothing. She decided to take the offer and moved to New York with her mother and daughter.

After visiting the Minotaur, Calantha's mother, who had been sick for quite a while, passed away. Calantha became more determined than ever to make sure her daughter had a happy childhood. She amassed a decent amount of money from all her hard work and used it to open a successful clothing boutique. For the first time in her life, everything was going perfectly. Unfortunately, that all came to an end when she lost her life in a tragic accident.

Taura's Story

Taura was born in Greece, where she was raised by her mother and grandmother. When she was a few years old, they moved to New York. Her mother had no way to contact Taura's father and let him know of her existence, but Taura was able to meet her grandfather, the Minotaur, for the first time and he grew rather fond of her. She brought out a side of him that most others didn't see. Her grandmother, receiving her final wish of having her family reunited one last time, passed away a few days later.

When she was five, Taura started being able to heal small wounds, such as cuts and scrapes. However, she found herself unable to save her mother, who died in a car crash caused by a drunk driver. She survived the crash with minor injuries and was taken in by her grandfather. Despite his brutal nature, he had a soft spot for young Taura. He taught her how to fight, and when her horns started growing in, he helped her understand her heritage. Although, she wasn't able to learn much, because a few years later, her grandfather was sent back to Tartarus after battling Percy Jackson.

Afterwards, Taura lived on her own. She was careful not to be seen by others unless she needed to go to the market for something. She always wore a hat in public and stayed away from anything that smelled dangerous. Taura also managed to learn quite a bit of English, but she's still not completely fluent.

Everything was okay until Taura found a strange archway labeled Camp Half-Blood as she was wandering around in the woods. She attempted to go through it, but was unable to, due to her monster heritage. She has since become fascinated with the archway and has returned to it every night for the past week.*

*This backstory only references everything Taura has been through up to the start of this blog and does not include events that may have happened in any threads since then. Overall, this character bio is just to get a sense of who Taura is, but I fully expect her to grow and evolve over the course of roleplaying.

Template based on:

http://aminoapps.com/p/q7z85f

[fountainpenguin]

I'm really curious about both Rupert and Keefe. You got any interesting facts to share on them?

Mmm... Probably not much that hasn’t been said in-story. Let me think.

RUPERT ROEBEAM

- As a reminder, Rupert is the very lighthearted, teasing drone who appears in both Origin and Knots. He has dysolfactya and can’t read pheromone cues. He used to be a stage actor.

- Rupert is intended as a slight foil to Anti-Cosmo. A.C. is frequently described as “A Fairy in an Anti-Fairy’s body” because of his alleged Divus displacement disorder. Rupert is “an Anti-Fairy in a Fairy’s body” because he can’t read pheromones.

- Rupert also has poor eyesight (all ishigaq do). Poor sense of smell AND poor eyesight. It’s a wonder he’s lasted so long in a world where a single misstep can send you tumbling to the planet below.

- Rupert was originally designed with green hair and I constantly forget he’s blond now. The only reason I changed it was so he didn’t have the same hair color as Mickey Peridot, another side character in Knots, and Schnozmo, who’s also a manipulative slimeball. I’ve probably had to go back and change his hair color more than I’ve had to change a physical detail about any other character. If you catch me saying it’s green, please let me know.

- I’ve said this before, but Starla Roebeam was given her last name first because I drafted Origin Chapter 37 before a single word of Knots. I accidentally reused the surname Roebeam when Rupert appeared in Knots because I liked the alliteration. Because of the coincidence, I retroactively made Rupert Starla’s son

- Rupert is the youngest of the Roebeam triplets. Roxanne is the middle sibling; she was actually planned before Rice. Rice is the oldest. This has nothing to do with Rupert, but Roxanne’s been robbed of several planned scenes, I’m so sorry sweet daughter.

- Rupert and Rice were designed as ishigaq individually. It was pure lucky coincidence that Rice happened to be the same species as Starla, who had her species revealed in Chapter 6.

- Rupert is married to Rice’s ex-wife. He takes good care of his niece/daughter, when he sees her.

- He’s pretty large, especially for a drone (Takes after his father, Custer Arrowdive).

- Something I want to point out is that Rupert never actually met H.P.’s high school rival Ian Fairytwirl (he was too young) despite his playful insistence that he used to live with Ian (in the Origin chapter “Almost”). That’s not a mistake- I let him say that deliberately and I’ve been wondering if that would confuse anyone. Don’t believe half of what Rupert says when he’s showing off. He is just Like That.

- You might recall me explaining why the pixie Smith is “a doubly attractive gyne;” his pheromones are very strong and drones are drawn to him; even the other pixies take interest in him when not exposed regularly to H.P.’s pheromones. Smith is a little lazy and is very used to being fawned over by everyone. Then he met Rupert and realized he needed to develop an actual personality (a nice one at that). We’ll see how that plays out in Origin Chapter 41, “Letters and Numbers.”

- Rupert’s second-biggest weakness is that he’s a pretty-boy; he doesn’t like getting his hair messed up. His biggest weakness is his niece/daughter, Emma. He’ll do anything for her. He sings a lot of lullabies and is a very good dad to her when he’s around.

- I have no clue if Rupert enjoys the drone lifestyle or dislikes it. I lean towards him putting up with it and showing an exaggerated happy attitude to hide his pains.To be clear, he doesn’t necessarily mind the lifestyle, he just hates when gynes are jerks to him.

- Rupert has more of a moral compass than Rice. You might not have guessed that at this point in the story, but keep that in mind.

- I’m pretty sure Rupert was the LAST drone I designed, including future pixie kids and flashback characters (I count designs when I give them names, a basic personality, and a place in the world, so I count all the pixies as “designed” already).

- If I remember correctly, Rupert has an obsession with grilled cheese and the Fae equivalent of a bad smoking habit

- Anti-Rupert is a big nobody, but if you look closely, you’ll spot him in the background of Anti-Fairy World

.

WALTER KEEFE

- Keefe, like Rupert, has dysolfactya and can’t organize scents correctly

- Keefe is one of the first pixies I designed; in fact, I think I designed him before I even designed Longwood (because I wrote the ending to Baby, You’re a Rich Man before the bar scene in Chapter 9 and Keefe appears in that chapter).

- Specifically, I think I went Jardine > Wilcox > Madigan > Rosencrantz > Hawkins > Keefe > Finley > Wolfram > Kaufman > Cinna > Carmichael > Thane > Longwood > Springs > Faust > Hamilton > Bayard > Michaels > Hirschi > Smith > Saddler > Palomar > Cavatina > Blackwood > Mullins and Tolbert > Everybody else. Some of those names might surprise you, but I remember who my early kids were (I wasn’t joking when I said I remember Thane more quickly than I remember Bayard). Maybe it will make more sense when you remember I started drafting the 130 Prompts the same month I started Rich Man. These guys show up in “Make You Proud,” “Rain Dance,” and “Terrible Timing”!

- Keefe is one of Fergus’s three offspring to have been birthed naturally (though he came to be through in-vitro fertilization). The other two are Commelina (obviously) and Cherry (if you dare count him). Keefe is the only in-vitro pixie (Despite their plans, the cherubs never got around to testing any others)

- Keefe and Springs are very close and sometimes refer to each other as twins even though they aren’t. H.P. knows perfectly well they aren’t twins, but he also refers to them as such on occasion (particularly when they were young). They’re the “fraternal twins” in contrast to Mullins and Tolbert being “identical” (despite all the pixies being genetically identical)

- Keefe is on the smaller side for a pixie (though he’s still taller than Sanderson). Pretty distinct height difference between scrawny Keefe and beanpole Springs!

- Keefe’s always been one of my grumpiest pixies (Grumpy, but not as stubborn as H.P., Finley, or Sanderson). Writing him as an innocent child in Origin has been a strange experience.

- Keefe runs the Labyrinth (single-handedly until his sons enter the picture, if I recall correctly). He’s EXCESSIVELY organized even for a pixie and EXTREMELY paranoid about how the files are arranged

- That said, he’s also a little lazy. He does his job by keeping organized, but he’ll let you help him by putting your stuff on the shelves according to his system. If you mess anything up, you’ll get an earful.

- Keefe likes the Labyrinth because it’s a place you navigate by sight or practice rather than by smell, and because it’s an underground library, there’s nowhere to fall off the cloud. As much as he prides himself in keeping Labby organized, he also delights in being one of few people who can navigate it effectively (and will silently laugh if you get lost)

- He is just. constantly exhausted. Though a little lazy off the clock, he works hard when he’s on duty. He does too much too fast and pushes himself to the point of exhaustion.

- I have a handful of pixies who are interested in experimenting with romance and such, but Keefe’s always been a firm “No” on that.

- Keefe’s loyalty to H.P. is incredibly fierce, owing largely to the fact that he can’t be swayed by pheromones. He doesn’t like being bossed around and can be pretty snippy with Longwood. H.P. is his One True Boss and he doesn’t enjoy taking orders from anyone else.

- Keefe is probably one of the pixies who has the closest relationship with H.P. (after Sanderson, Madigan, Palomar, Commelina, and arguably Longwood). Keefe is pretty closed-off and not very talkative, which would probably annoy H.P. if they lived in a fully corporate society with a purely boss/employee relationship and didn’t have that faint familial connection. But H.P. likes Keefe as a person and they get along fine.

- Keefe is also one of H.P.’s favorite drones to preen with for absolutely selfish reasons (See also, “Can’t read pheromone cues”). Keefe doesn’t really “get” preening, but he doesn’t really mind. He can’t operate in a retinue circle (tends to crash into other drones) and can only preen effectively alone, though.

- Keefe and Sanderson don’t get along very well because, predictably, Sanderson gets very jealous of the attention H.P. gives him. Plus, Sanderson tends to be annoying in general and Keefe has a short fuse.

- If I’m remembering right, Keefe is raising two sons during Devil’s Backbone (at least two... I think it’s just two). His oldest is named Graham.

I guess that was more facts than I thought! Hope that satisfies your curiosity

[vecna]

Oohh for the fandom meme! Dragon Age?

Send me a fandom!

Oh boy, this is going to be spicy.

It’s also very Anders-negative, so apologies up front.

The character(s) I first fell in love with:

I’m actually not sure which was the FIRST, but it’s a tie between Morrigan and Alistair. I saw fanart of them going around at the time Origins first released, and that’s what got me to try the game! 

Alistair was a breath of fresh air, because at the time, I was used to warrior men in games being all Edgy and Rough, and he was the total opposite and a sweetheart.

And Morrigan was just instantly my goth wife, and had Claudia Black as a VA, so I was sold immediately.

Both still hold a special place for me!

The character(s) I never expected to love as much as I do now:

Loghain is the main one. He does a lot of truly reprehensible shit in the first game. But once I sat down and read the prequel novels about young Loghain, plus saw what he’s like if you recruit him, he grew on me A LOT and now he’s a top fave.

Nathaniel I expected to hate as soon as I saw his name + who his father was, but then the expansion came out and I ended up loving that dude almost immediately. I really wish he was around more after Awakening, and also really wish he’d been a romance option, especially for a Cousland haha.

Merrill is a weird one because she was totally uninteresting to me in DA:O, so when they announced her as a companion in DA2 I was like, “Ehhhh.” Then they punked me by making her adorable and sweet and now I love her.

Plus a bunch of side-characters like The Architect? I liked him a bunch in the novel + Awakening – although I found his Plan in the novel much more appealing. But as the years have gone by, I keep surprising myself at just HOW disappointed I am he’s never appeared again haha.

The character(s) everyone else loves that I don’t:

There’s a few, and all of them will get me yelled at, but here we go.

First: Isabela. This one’s a bit complicated, but it really just boils down to her attitude towards how you play your character. I actively dislike characters who are super sexual – regardless of gender. But Isabela in particular bothers me because she’s constantly pushing her lewdness and sexual humor on you, and when you try to discourage it, she admonishes you with, “Well, you’re no fun.” Her whole character is just… like that for me. Super pushy, overly lewd, gets uppity when you don’t have the same ~liberated~ opinions she does, and this is all played up in the writing like she’s this Empowered Woman the player absolutely must love, especially if they’re playing a male character lol. I hate her for the same reasons a lot of people hate Liara in Mass Effect, but with the addition of pushy lewd jokey characters always rubbing me the wrong way.

Second: Iron Bull. I’ve written a lot about why he makes me more uncomfortable than any fictional character I’ve ever encountered, and I just outright hate him, he makes my skin crawl. If you want details, feel free to DM me, I don’t really want to rant about it again publicly.

Third: Anders. Again, I’ve written a lot about him before, but. I hated him in Awakening, for a lot of the same reasons I hate Isabela in DA2. But the changes they made to him in DA2 are just kinda :/. While I absolutely agree with him about Mage Rights, the level of preachiness they added to him drove me nuts, and the fact that you’re painted as a Bad Guy if you don’t like him blowing up the chantry. And from a purely OOC standpoint: He’s become a figurehead for all the aggressive Discourse people in the fandom, and if I see someone list Anders in their sidebar bio, I know pre-emptively that their blog is going to be full of 6 page long essays of meta about how everything is Problematic, and no thanks.

To a lesser extent, I’m also not fond of Zevran. But in his case, it’s not anything major like the others, I’m just tired of Bioware’s habit of making the bisexual characters overly lewd sex-focused rogues/deviants.

The character(s) I love that everyone else hates:

Loghain, lol.

But also Sebastian Vael? There’s so much about him that I find genuinely fascinating, especially regarding his backstory, and his struggles between his feelings of responsibility to his family vs his dedication to the Chantry and bettering himself. He’s such a dear character to me, and such a pivotal part of any playthrough, I’m always blown away when I remember he’s a DLC character and many people don’t have him.

HOWEVER Anders being the fandom darling means that people tend to unfairly shit on Sebastian for reacting poorly to the Chantry explosion. People also like to label him as a poster child of a White Straight Church Boy, while refusing to acknowledge he’s… not straight, and not exactly a church boy either lol.

Also Vivienne, but I think that one’s really self-explanatory. I love her, and she gives a really needed perspective on the Circle, since most of the mage companions previously were apostates. But of course, she gets written off as a Chantry apologist, and an uppity bitch, when people would def love her for the same traits if she was not black lol.

The character(s) I used to love but don’t any longer:

Justice. And by extension, Anders. A lot of people like to rant about how Justice ruined Anders, but I always saw it the other way around.Justice was my favorite character in Awakening. The whole concept around him, that he was a Fade spirit who took human form and was experiencing life for the first time was SO fascinating. I felt like there was so much to explore there with his character.

Buuuut then they had him merge with Anders. With the narrative being that he WAS a spirit of Justice, but the moment he connected with Anders, it corrupted his entire spirit into something he wasn’t anymore. So essentially, the character I used to love no longer exists, thanks to Anders. And it reminds me of that phrase recently, about how the destination is so terrible you can no longer enjoy the journey? I can’t even appreciate Justice in Awakening anymore, knowing what happens to him.

To a lesser extent, Corypheus. He was SO COOL and the premise of him was AMAZING when he first appeared in the DA2 DLC, but then Inquisition had to go and turn him into a weird shallow mustache twirl villain.

The character(s) I would totally smooch:

None? Idk I don’t really have the Smooch Fictional Character gene.

The character(s) I’d want to be like:

MAEVARIS TILANI. May I one day finally have the confidence in my identity that she does, and also marry a sweet bear man who adores me.

The character(s) I’d slap:

Too many to list, really. Probably Anders.

The pairing(s) that I love:

THERE’S SO MANY. And most of them are with the PC, because I generally don’t ship NPCs together. But my top 3 are:

M!Hawke / Fenris is my ultimate OTP in the Dragon Age series, by a long-shot. Not even sure where to start on how much I love it, but two damaged guys leaning on each other to work through their respective loneliness and trauma is MY JAM. And lmao I love silver-sideburned Hawke chillin in retirement somewhere but being a supportive husband while Fenris goes off hunting the Bad Guys, it’s great.

Solas / Lavellan is a close second, with the caveat that I increasingly prefer it with a male Lavellan. Having the Inquisitor in love with Solas just changes the entire tone of the game for me, for the better, and him actually being the villain trying to end the world while in love with this normie elf is just (chef kiss). Too bad I’m burned out by how overly spammed it is.

Dorian / Inquisitor is in third, I will just always be fond of how it’s a story of the Inquisitor helping Dorian be happy with who he is, escape an abusive family, and realize that he’s allowed to be loved. Good shit good shit.

Some others:

Warden / Morrigan is probably my favorite Origins ship, and that only intensified with the way she talks about the Warden in Inquisition, esp if they’re Kieran’s other parent. What a cute goth family, regardless of the Warden’s gender, cause you can pry Bi Morrigan from my cold dead fingers.

Cassandra / Inquisitor might have a lot of Romance Cliches, but I adore it – although, similar others, I increasingly prefer it with a female Inquisitor. I actively dislike the weird no-homo rejection with her, and come on, a lady Inquisitor being her Knight In Shining Armor is just good storytelling.

Cullen / Inquisitor, for a lot of the same reasons as Cassandra. I love me a cliche romance, but I’m also fond of the narrative w/ him of someone he loves helping him heal through the lyrium withdrawals and take time to rest.

Josephine / F!Inquisitor is just adorable all around, and wholesome, and great.

Varric / Hawke COME ON HOW WAS THIS NOT AN OPTION.

On the rarepair end:

Sebastian / Hawke doesn’t seem like it would be a rarepair – you’d think everyone who loves Cullen/Inquisitor would love this one too. I do! But alas. That said, I’m also pretty aggro about this one with a male Hawke because SEBASTIAN IS CANON BI. WHY WAS HIS ROMANCE STRAIGHT.

Maric / Loghain is a rarepair I will take with me to my grave LOL. Never forget the scene where Maric thought Loghain was leaving, and bolted across the camp with almost no clothes on to beg Loghain to stay. Come on.

Nathaniel / Cousland is dear to me, and I love it so much more than Alistair / Cousland haha.

Greagoir / Wynne, I can’t believe this got validated in canon ahhhh.

The pairing(s) that I despise:

Again: THERE’S SO MANY.

Iron Bull / Dorian is my least fave by a longshot. Again, I have written about why I hate this pairing a great many times, but it’s awful and toxic and makes me deeply uncomfortable, and I could happily go the rest of my life without seeing anything about it ever again. Please keep poor Dorian away from that man. He deserves someone that doesn’t sexually harass him until he’s finally worn down into dubious consent (while drunk) and then outted to everyone about it.

Isabela / Fenris. Sorry, but it’s just bad writing that Fenris bails on Hawke because the physical intimacy triggered his PTSD and he needs space to process, but then will turn around and have a casual sex relationship with Isabela instead. Yikes.

Anders / Fenris. Aveline / Isabela. Alistair / Morrigan. All of the DA2 Hawke/companion rivalmances. I don’t enjoy “these two people hate and antagonize and want to kill each other… but they fuck” in any form.

Cullen / Amell. Yikes.

And basically ALL of the canon wlw pairings in this series suffer from the fact they have men writing them, and as a result they’re almost always some kind of abusive or racist, and skeeve me out. See: Celene / Briala, Leliana / Marjolaine, Branka / Hespith, etc. Please Bioware, I’m begging you to consult some actual queer women. It’s insane how badly they’re treated compared to how the canon mlm couples are written.

FINALLY, I recognize this will be the most unpopular of all, but. As much as I love M!Hawke/Fenris, I just honestly cannot stand seeing F!Hawke/Fenris. There are some pairings where I’m so attached to the m/m or f/f version, I cannot deal with the m/f version anymore, and that’s one of them. (The others are mainly non-Bioware.)

[bhaalble]

Alistair: A Defense, a Critique

I PROMISED AN ESSAY

I DELIVER AN ESSAY.

So here we go. What’s up Ferelden, its him, ya boi

So, let’s start off by clearly delineating some things that Alistair is, and more importantly, what he is not.

I think there’s a tendency with Alistair critical posts to treat the worst possible version of Alistair as the “real him”, which is more than a little unfair. Unhardened, kinda bitchy Alistair is a part of him, yes, but its a part of him that only arises when your Warden is continually a dick to him, and I think it’s fair to say that none of us are the best versions of ourselves when we’re constantly being treated like shit or ignored. Furthermore, this isn’t really something we do when we talk about the other characters. Zevran straight up tries to murder you if you don’t have his approval ratings high enough and somehow most people don’t see Zevran as inherently a backstabbing little shit.

So, let’s run down the list of common accusations and overturn them

Alistair is not stupid. He’s just…not. Morrigan jokes, yes, but Morrigan tends to see everyone as an idiot for not sharing her worldview, including your Warden. The one who jokes about Alistair being stupid more often than anyone is Alistair, but as we see time and time again, he’s rarely the most trustworthy source for his real complications.

Alistair may not be a scholar and can make some pretty boneheaded statements, yes, but he’s hardly alone in that department for the DA:O crew. His retorts show some real wit behind them at points. He can demonstrate great social awareness (e.g. catching on to the fact that the Grand Cleric sending him, an ex-templar, to interact with the Circle Mages was definitely an intentional slight). Furthermore, I’d like to point out that he managed to catch on to the Chantry’s bullshit all on his own, before he racked up dozens of counts of mage abuse (*cough* CULLEN *cough*). He still shows some effects of the templar’s training, (especially in his treatment of Jowan and Morrigan) but I’d argue that this is hardly a surprise. He’s been subjected to it 24/7 since he was a child. But he’s aware, and based on the other templars we meet throughout the game that on its own shows some serious introspection and critical thinking.

Alistair is not selfish. While he has his moments, I don’t think that’s really who he is, deep down. Take, for instance, his forgiveness of Arl Eamon. He hasn’t seen Eamon for years. The expected arc would be that he waits for Eamon to wake up, gets an apology, and then forgives him. But based on how he talks about him when you enter Redcliffe, its clear that he’s already forgiven Eamon, and is honestly more than a little ashamed of his behavior. Frankly, this is more selfless than even I would be: imagine being twelve, having lived your life as a street urchin because your adoptive father simply won’t treat you any different than he treats his paid employees, only to be sent away from the only home you’ve ever known because your presence embarrasses his wife. Frankly, I think Alistair would be justified in resenting Eamon for it, but it’s clear that he doesn’t. He calls him a good man from beginning to end.

Furthermore, I think what the Guardian says to Alistair is telling. He doesn’t just feel sad that Duncan is gone. He feels guilty. He, deep down, genuinely believes it should have been him. He wishes he could throw himself on the sword to save his mentor. Then there’s the ritual to consider. It takes some convincing (because of course it does) but with little fuss, Alistair will sleep with a woman he genuinely dislikes (which hoo boy does this make a consent conversation more than a little shaky) to conceive a child that he will never get to see. He, a bastard child cast away from his father, is essentially doing the same thing. All to ensure that he won’t risk his friends dying. Even an unhardened King Alistair casting off a non-human non-noble Warden, while it of course hurts, to me shows a sense of latent responsibility. He genuinely loves and cares about your HoF, but he has the sense that this matters more. That even though he never wanted this burden, he has to carry it as best he can.

What Alistair is is immature.

I want to draw a fine distinction here because I think we tend to use immature interchangeably with “selfish” and “stupid”, so it can sound like I’m contradicting myself. So, to explain myself: I use “immature” in the sense of a symptom, rather than a personality.

For an example of “immature as a personality”, look no further than Tony Stark in like, the first half hour of Iron Man (arguably Tony in the rest of the movies too but ashfagdkh follow me here)

Early Tony Stark is very much someone who is irrepressibly immature. He is capable of being an adult, but he chooses not to be, valuing his own desires above pretty much everyone else’s. He acts out simply because he knows no one will stop him, chases the shiniest, biggest toys he can get, and throws a fit when he doesn’t get his way. He treats other people’s time and needs with a flippant attitude, generally behaving like they are literally side characters who only matter so long as they help him get what he wants.

This isn’t to say there isn’t a reason Tony is the way he is (his relationship with his father being a big contributor), but what is important is that Tony is fully capable of being otherwise, knows it, and chooses not to. He revels in his shamelessness, believing that his immaturity is a sign of his intelligence. Everyone else acts like an adult because they have to, but Tony acts like a child because he is smart enough and rich enough to get away with it. Call it a sort of Capitalist Peter Pan syndrome.

By contrast, Alistair strikes me as immature as a symptom. First off, his age is important to factor in here. Alistair is 20 (my age, which is trippy as fuck). He is barely done being a teenager by the time you meet him.

There are further factors that have stunted Alistair’s emotional maturity, even for the average 20-year-old. He jokes about having been raised by Mabari, but its very clear there weren’t a lot of adult influences in his life at a young age. He mentions Isolde ensured that the castle wasn’t home to him long before he was sent to the Chantry. Imagine being under ten and feeling like you were unwanted by a person who has the power to make your life miserable in every imaginable way.

Then, once he was moved to the Chantry….well, if the Circle is any indication, the Chantry doesn’t exactly know how to accommodate children. Alistair made life a merry hell for the priests but it’s clear he wasn’t treated very well by them. Then straight into templar training. All of this while barely interacting with the outside world and shunned by his peers for his status as a bastard. Kids need to engage with other people in order to grow up effectively. With that in mind, it’s frankly stunning that Alistair has as much care for other people as he does.

The observation of Alistair’s immaturity is exactly groundbreaking either. Think about his dream in the Fade. We see Alistair at his most honest and vulnerable, fully convinced of the illusion. And it seems his greatest dream is to have the family he never got as a child, via his sister. Alistair behaves childlike to the point of parody in this dream. He pleads like a child and tries to entice the Warden to stay by begging his mom sister to make a special meal, his favorite. Hell, the whole “hardening” subplot is basically about the Warden forcing Alistair to let go of the childhood he never got to have and moving forward into adulthood.

His immaturity doesn’t just express itself in the obvious childlike behavior, however. Even though we tend to forget that Alistair is a junior member of the Wardens and is barely more experienced than the HoF in terms of actually fighting darkspawn, I think we can all agree that tossing the decisions on someone who’s barely past their Joining probably isn’t great behavior. Pretty much every comment he makes, about mages, blood magic, elves, even women, also read as the words of a man who simply does not have the world experience yet to really know how to engage with people who aren’t like him. It doesn’t mean these comments don’t….yanno, suck, but there is rarely any real malice behind them. Despite the hardships in Alistair’s life (of which there have been many, I grant), he has still been on the receiving end of certain privileges by virtue of being a man and being human non-mage, and it is clear he is still unlearning the prejudice inherent in that. His youth doesn’t excuse how hurtful or ignorant his comments can be, but its the unfortunate truth that, especially for those of us who grow up relatively privileged, being mindful of the Other is a learning process.

However, the main reason I view this immaturity as a symptom more than a personality is that I think Alistair has a genuine desire to grow past this. He acknowledges that he complains a lot, with an additional note that “and you haven’t been having an easy time of it either”. If you push back on his comments (or at least when the game gives you the chance to), he’ll usually apologize for it. And as I said, the hardening storyline to me indicates that Alistair is more than ready to grow up. He’s just still learning how to do it.

None of this, by the way, means that you have to love Alistair. Its more than easy to be annoyed by him, especially for a non-human and/or non-noble character. In the interest of full disclosure, it took me romancing Alistair to move past simply tolerating him. But I think its time for all of us to stop pretending Alistair is something he isn’t. He isn’t really a side character as much as he is a deuteragonist. More than any other companion (except, arguably, Morrigan), Alistair has a character arc that acts in response to your own characters. He grows and changes over the course of the narrative in a way that parallels how the story treats him, and if you create an Alistair that behaves like an asshole, well, you might want to take a look at how you’ve been treating him

to

[xaracosmia]

ꕥ — WELCOME TO EXO COSMIA, SATORU GOJO. 🌑

ꕥ  — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: raine age: 26 pronouns: she/her ooc contact: DM other characters in xc: Aki Hayakawa (Chainsaw Man)

ꕥ  — IC INFORMATION;

name: Satoru Gojo age: 29 pronouns: he/him series: Jujutsu Kaisen canon point: Don’t ask me about what happened in Chapter 236 of JJK. app triggers: brief mentions of child murder, massacres, apocalyptic scenarios, body horror, gore 

personality: 

Satoru Gojo is the strongest Jujutsu sorcerer alive. He is the undeniable peak of Jujutsu society. Feared as much as he is admired, in the world of Jujutsu, there’s no one that hasn’t heard of his name.

He’s an unstoppable force of nature and he knows it. A natural genius and gifted at everything, his only flaw is his eccentric personality. He’s childish, rude, arrogant and rarely takes things seriously. Among allies and enemies alike, he’s universally disliked, but he gets the job done. As long as Satoru Gojo is around, peace can’t be threatened. His existence alone is reason for curses and curse users to lay low, if they don’t want to get exorcised.

Privately, Gojo is a very mysterious person. As “The Strongest”, he doesn’t have many people he can relate to. He is often misunderstood by his allies and described as a depraved being, finding enjoyment in situations that would cost most people their lives. The world of Jujutsu is cruel and unforgiving, yet Gojo seems unbothered, if not amused by the dangerous, life-threatening missions he’s constantly sent on. Always too much for everyone he faces, he yearns for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go all out, even at the cost of his own life. If he could die in battle against someone stronger than him, then that would be his ideal death.

His happiest memories are from his time in high school, before he grew into his powers entirely. For the first and only time in his life, he had a true friend who was just as exceptional as him. As his equal, he understood and cared for him like no other. Gojo has never felt more human than during those days. He still mourns the fact that he can never return to them.

The innocence and freedom of youth is sacred to him. Witnessing how his own brief happiness was shattered by the cruelty of reality, he decided to dedicate his life to protecting and nourishing those that will succeed him. As a teacher, he wants to raise a generation that can surpass him in strength, durability and foresightedness. 

To fulfil this goal, he doesn’t mind bending and breaking rules. He likes to upset the status quo. He is no blatant murderer, but under the right circumstances, he’s not afraid of obliterating everything in his path. During battle, he can have a cruel, almost sadistic streak. It’s better to be with him than against him, as he ultimately decides everything. 

Luckily, he’s kind. He wants the world to be at peace, so he does what’s necessary to keep that peace. Since nobody can control him, he lives by his own moral compass and rules. As such, he tends to show compassion even to his strongest enemies.

If possible, he’d keep the kids out of the struggle, but the life of a Jujutsu sorcerer isn’t that simple. Not everyone can ultimately be saved, but things need to change, and drastically at that. He doesn’t mind making tough decisions and he is capable of showing cold logic in dire moments. However, in the end, he’s an optimist. He doesn’t want to create a future for his students, he wants to raise them strong enough to pave their own ways.

“You know, I have a lousy personality. I’m just not the teacher type, so why would someone like me be at a place like Jujutsu High?

I have a dream. As they made clear with Yuji, the higher ups are the scum of the Jujutsu world. Selfish idiots, bloodline idiots, proud idiots - just plain idiots!

I’m gonna reset this crappy Jujutsu world!

It’d be easy to kill everyone who’s in charge. But someone else would just take their place. Nothing would change. And it’s not as if people approve of massacres anyway…

So that’s why I’m turning to education.

I need strong and intelligent allies. I need to foster them! [...]

I refuse to keep this kid from living the best years of his life.

Not just him, but everyone.”

– Satoru Gojo, Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 11

something your muse struggles with:

Working together with other people. Because of his destructive power and overall superiority, he works best when he’s by himself. 

Conveying important information. He’s a natural genius, so he’s bad at explaining how things work and giving instructions. Things just work for him. He constantly forgets to share important information with other people too. Probably because it’s fine, as long as he knows?

Taking breaks. With such ambitious goals, there’s always something that needs to be done. He even traded his house for a room at Jujutsu High, as he’s barely home anyway. Between teaching and picking up the most dangerous missions by himself, there’s not a lot of room for anything else.

your muse’s greatest strength:

Being inherently talented at everything. Not even an exaggeration. He is truly superhuman.

His kindness and optimism. As a special grade sorcerer, he could easily level an entire country by himself. Luckily he sees no purpose in this. He values human life and uses his powers for the greater good. 

Unwavering confidence in himself and his allies. When asked if he’d win against the King of Curses, he said yes. Twice. When he got sealed in the Prison Realm he believed the others would save him. And they did.

history / background:

Every 400 years, a sorcerer is born into the Gojo family that inherits both, the legendary “Six Eyes” and the family’s innate technique “Limitless”. In this modern age, Satoru Gojo is that sorcerer. 

When Satoru Gojo was born, the balance of the world shifted. His power is so immense that his birth alone balanced out the increasing number of curses that had grown stronger and stronger all over the world. A bounty of millions of yen had been put on a mere infant. Satoru Gojo’s existence has always been deeply intertwined with the world at large. It shifted to make space for him. He’s a true anomaly. 

However, an infant is still an infant. His ancestor, the previous Limitless and Six Eyes user, was killed shortly after their birth. To prevent such a tragedy from happening again, Satoru is raised surrounded by adults that admire and fear him. It isn’t until he enters high school that he runs into peers.

His years in high school are his prime. Despite the fact that he hasn’t grown into all of his powers yet, this is the happiest time of his life. He has friends and not a care in the world. He is bratty, spoiled and thinks of himself as undefeatable. As long as he wants to, he can do anything. As long as he has his best friend, there is nothing the two of them can’t accomplish. Still green, he believes things will stay like this forever. 

In his second year, he and Geto are requested for a special mission. The strongest duo, sent to complete a task that would ultimately serve as the catalyst for a long line of tragedies in the world of Jujutsu. Both barely escape alive.

The mission fails, and the invincible duo is split forever. 

A year passes. Gojo finishes missions by himself now. He is the undeniable prodigy he was always meant to become. No one can keep up with him anymore, not even Geto. The strongest duo became The Strongest.

And then Geto snaps under the pressure of being a sorcerer. Where Gojo grew, he regressed. When Geto massacres a village and chooses the only path that’s right for him, Gojo can’t reach him anymore. 

Geto has made up his mind, however silly it sounds to Gojo. And Gojo doesn’t get it. Because he’s always been privileged, always been naturally blessed, and he always comes out on top. So Geto asks, is he Satoru Gojo because he’s The Strongest, or is he The Strongest because he’s Satoru Gojo?

They part and Gojo is alone. He is the strongest, but that’s all he really is. 

He realises strength is not enough. He can’t save people that don’t want to be saved. What he needs are allies strong enough to save themselves. From that point on, he turns to teaching.

“Question: What is Satoru Gojo to you? 

My teacher! If it wasn’t for him, I’d be executed. Oh, and–

Well, I guess I owe him my life. And I’m not the only one who says this, but–

Well, to be honest, I don’t really know much about him. But I can definitely say that–

An idiot. 

Yup, an idiot.

Salmon.

But–

Flippant. Egoistical. 

Need I say more? He’s–

…the strongest.”

– Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 88’s Extra

Ten years pass until Gojo and Geto see each other again, now on opposite sides of a war. Gojo has spent the last decade teaching and using his power to raise a generation of sorcerers capable of keeping up with him. Geto is planning to create lasting change in his own ways. Openly presenting himself as a direct threat to the world,  Gojo can no longer let Geto live. Ultimately, he has to end his life, but not without letting him know that he’s never held a grudge against him. 

Geto is and has always been the only friend he’s ever known. Ten years of separation and disagreements didn’t change any of that. To this date, he mourns the loss of the one person who saw him as Satoru and stood as his equal. 

It is a well-known fact in Jujutsu society that bodies of strong sorcerers must be burned with cursed energy once they’re deceased. If not, one risks that the former sorcerer turns into a vengeful spirit after his death. 

Gojo is a sentimental person. He did not properly dispose of Geto’s body after his execution.

Another year passes, and during Halloween of 2018, a handful of high-ranked curses hold innocent civilians hostage in the underground station of Shibuya Crossing. They’re being told to ask for Satoru Gojo to save them.

Gojo arrives at the scene, despite the obvious signs of a trap. He can’t possibly ignore such a large-scale incident, especially if thousands of lives are at stake. That’s where he runs into him. 

“Yo, Satoru.”

The Prison Realm is a legendary item that can trap anyone, no matter who, inside of it.

First, it has to open. This is done by saying, “Gate: Open”, out loud. 

Second, whoever is the target has to stay within the Prison Realm’s radius for one minute. 

Third, the Prison Realm snaps shut, robbing its prisoner of all of their powers.

Finally, the sealing is completed after the user says, “Gate: Close”, out loud. 

When Gojo runs into the parasite that took over his best friend’s body, he is rendered immobile. Three years of his youth rush through his brain. It’s more than enough for the trap to snap shut. 

For 19 days, Satoru Gojo is sealed in the Prison Realm. It’s enough for the world to be plunged into chaos. In his absence, the balance of the world is disturbed. In his absence, curses roam freely. 

By the time he is unsealed, Jujutsu society no longer exists. The world is in a state of anarchy and turns to Satoru Gojo to fix it.

On December 24th, 2018, he challenges Ryoumen Sukuna, the King of Curses, to a duel. Both display unmatched skills in sorcery, and Gojo ultimately comes out victorious. Now, all he has to do is avenge the defiled body of his best friend. That’s why he chose Christmas Eve in the first place. He wouldn’t want Suguru to have two separate death dates.

Then he finds himself at an airport. He’s a teenager again. Geto is there, and so are his other classmates. Geto asks how the King of Curses was, and Gojo explains that he was crazy strong. He had to give it his all and regrets that he wasn’t able to push Sukuna to that same extent. Geto says it’s fine, as long as he’s satisfied. Gojo says that he would have been satisfied if Geto had been there to cheer for him. 

He’s glad he didn’t die of disease or old age. That he died to someone so much stronger than him. That he thought him and Sukuna were the same, and that he’d be able to teach him about love.

He hopes this isn’t a dream. 

On December 24th, 2018, Satoru Gojo was killed by the King of Curses, Ryoumen Sukuna. After being able to go all out, using his entire arsenal of power, intellect, strategy and charm, he has no regrets. In death, he reunites with everyone who’s been waiting for him, returning to the past self he loved the most.

Now no longer The Strongest, he is free to be nobody but Satoru Gojo.

inherent abilities: 

Gojo has a long list of abilities. For a more detailed reference, refer to the Jujutsu Kaisen wiki. Here is a brief list of his most important abilities:

Immeasurable cursed energy: As a Jujutsu sorcerer, he can control cursed energy. Cursed energy can either be used to increase normal attacks or be filtered through a cursed technique. Because of Gojo’s special eyes, he consumes almost no cursed energy and will never run out of it during a fight. Instead, an overuse in strong techniques can result in “frying your brain”, capable of destroying a user’s ability to use cursed techniques forever.

Master hand-to-hand combat: Satoru is trained in a variety of martial arts and is a masterful close range fighter. He possesses inhuman strength and speed and great tactical intellect. He’s very adaptable and capable of considering multiple possibilities and circumstances even in stressful situations. 

Black flash: A phenomenon that creates spatial distortion when a user connects with an impact of cursed energy within 0.000001 seconds of a physical hit. This causes their cursed energy to flash black, creating a more potent attack to the power of 2.5 of a normal hit. In the moments after a black flash happens, a sorcerer experiences a special state of mind, where for a limited amount of time they acquire a deeper understanding of cursed energy and are capable of operating at 120% of their full potential. No sorcerer is capable of performing a black flash at will. It’s like a Nat20 for them and happens at random, when they’re truly in the zone. 

Binding Vow: A binding vow is a pact made with Jujutsu that creates conditions for the user or agreements with others. It’s one of the most basic abilities sorcerers have access to. Breaking a binding vow has terrible consequences, but binding vows are capable of strengthening techniques under certain circumstances. Equivalent exchange.

Six Eyes: An ability inherited through the Gojo family. Nobody knows the full potential of the “Six Eyes”, but it is implied that they grant the user the ability to perceive the world in its components, such as time, speed, mass, energy and so on. As such, only someone in possession of both the “Six Eyes” and “Limitless” is capable of using both abilities to their full potential. Additionally, the “Six Eyes” grants Satoru the ability to reduce his cursed energy consumption to basically nothing, making it impossible for him to run out of cursed energy during a fight. However, the constant use of “Six Eyes” seems to be overstimulating to the user, which is why Satoru is often seen with his eyes covered, only revealing them during fights. Despite that, he doesn’t seem to have any trouble with his vision and can see just fine, with or without the blindfold.

powers/abilities: 

Curtain: As many other sorcerers, Satoru is capable of creating curtains. A curtain is a barrier that is capable of sealing certain areas off or keeping specific people from getting inside. The more complex the condition of the curtain is, the harder it is to draw. It’s usually done with an incantation. 

Simple Domain and Falling Blossom Emotion: An anti-domain technique that creates a barrier around the user, protecting them from the sure-hit effect of a domain expansion. This technique was developed specifically to counter domain expansions if the user is incapable of casting a domain on their own. However, an especially strong domain is still able to shatter a simple domain. A binding vow can be cast inside of the simple domain that can affect both the caster and the attacker. It can also be used in a more offensive way, if cast before an incoming attack. Falling Blossom Emotion is another anti-domain technique that can nullify a domain’s attack.

Reverse cursed technique: A special type of cursed technique that allows the user to heal themselves. While not everyone is capable of learning reversed cursed technique, it is not a technique in the traditional sense, where one has to be born with it. Instead, reversed cursed technique requires the user to have a deeper level of understanding cursed energy, as it allows the user to reverse the flow of their own cursed energy. Cursed energy is by definition a destructive force, so reversing the flow allows the few sorcerers who mastered it to heal themselves. Additionally, reversed cursed technique is twice as strong as regular cursed energy, as it’s essentially cursed energy times two. (In the same way as two negatives creating a positive.) The ability is easily strong enough to heal back entire limbs if they’re cut off. Cursed techniques are stored inside of a Jujutsu sorcerer’s brain, so as long as the head isn’t damaged and they haven’t run out of cursed energy, they are able to completely restore their bodies. 

Limitless: An ancient cursed technique unique to the Gojo family bloodline. Satoru’s family is descended from Michizane Sugawara, one of the Big Three Vengeful Spirits of the Jujutsu world. As such, all techniques of the Gojo family are incredibly powerful, only matched by techniques of the descendants of the other two Vengeful Spirits. “Limitless” allows the user to manipulate space at an atomic level, granting the user access to a variety of powerful abilities. However, it is implied that “Limitless” without the Six Eyes is almost useless, as “Limitless” requires the user to have a deep fundamental understanding of quantum mechanics and matter far beyond the capabilities of normal humans. 

Infinity: Originally a technique he had to master, “Infinity” is now an ability that comes as naturally to Satoru as breathing. “Infinity” is the neutral of “Limitless”, creating infinite space between him and the world around him. The ability functions like an invisible barrier, making it impossible for anyone to approach him. While it looks like Satoru is forcefully stopping his opponent’s movement, what actually happens is that their movement slows down indefinitely. As infinite space is created between him and his opponent, they’re never able to reach him. Satoru can choose what can or cannot enter “Infinity” based on properties, such as mass, energy or threat level. While he originally had to focus in order to keep “Infinity” active, he has mastered the ability to a level where he no longer has to think about it. As such, “Infinity” is passively protecting him at all times, unless he chooses to turn it off.

Infinity can be broken with abilities such as domain amplification, which allows the user to forcefully cancel another sorcerer’s cursed technique in exchange for being unable to use your own technique as long as amplification is active.

Cursed technique lapse: Blue: One of the many abilities only a sorcerer both in possession of the “Six Eyes” and “Limitless” is capable of. By amplifying “Limitless” and negative energy, Satoru is capable of creating a vacuum in the shape of a huge blue orb. As everything inside of “Blue” is eradicated, the universe around it is forced to correct itself by filling in the negative space. As such, all matter around “Blue” will pull itself together in order to fill the gap. In a more advanced version, Satoru is seen to create a centre of gravity in a specific space, capable of attracting all matter around it. As such, it functions like a black hole, crushing everything inside of it effortlessly. Additionally, he’s capable of moving the centre of gravity too.

Cursed technique reversal: Red: Another technique only available to a sorcerer in possession of the “Six Eyes” and “Limitless”.  Additionally, since “Red” is the opposite technique of “Blue” it requires Satoru to be capable of performing reversed cursed technique. “Red” creates a repulsive, extremely powerful force, repelling all matter in its vicinity. As it is a technique based on reversed cursed technique, “Red” is twice as strong as “Blue” as it requires Satoru to use his cursed energy twice at the same time. (Again, two negatives creating a positive.)

Hollow technique: Purple: A non-standard technique of the Gojo family that only few people know of. “Purple” combines the two standard techniques “Blue” and “Red” to create a singularity where both effects are combined. It is a long ranged attack that can be sent into any direction Satoru desires, eradicating all matter in its path in a single instant. In his most recent fight, Gojo has also used purple without sending it into a direction, simply exploding it in place. This usage was so destructive that it damaged Gojo himself too, though less, since it is still his cursed technique in the end. 

Unlimited Void: Satoru’s Domain Expansion. A Domain Expansion is a barrier technique only few sorcerers are capable of. It requires deep knowledge of one’s own abilities and the ability to comprehend a large space inside of a smaller exterior. A Domain Expansion allows its user to create a space in which their next attack will be a 100% guaranteed hit. Satoru’s domain creates a metaphysical space where whoever is inside of it receives endless information and stimuli, restraining their thought process and actions. Since the information is never fully processed, his victims receive both everything and nothing at the same time. Once inside a domain, it is impossible to break out of it by yourself. Since “Unlimited Void” is known to be one of the most refined Domain Expansions, it is a guaranteed instant-kill technique. Because of the Six Eyes and Gojo’s efficiency with cursed energy, Gojo is one of the only sorcerers alive capable of casting his domain multiple times in a row, as casting a domain usually drains the user so much that they need to wait for their energy to be restored first. 

items / weapons: - 

starting ability: 

I never unlocked it so… this time, let’s start with his Domain Expansion. So Gabriel can finally witness it. 

starting item: - 

extra: 

Fellas is it gay to die on the one year death anniversary of your best friend one and only the only one you've ever had? Is it gay if that's Christmas Eve? Is it gay if you killed him? Unmatched soulmateism.

discord id: kyoshikimurasaki

[brianwilly]

I'd like to talk about Call Me By Your Name for bit.

If you're not aware -- and I gotta say I'm kinda envious if you're not -- there's been a wee bit of discourse surrounding this film.  Not an overwhelming amount, and even then thankfully very little of which has reached mine dashboards, obviously because everyone I follow is such a boss! or whatever

But it’s still there, and because I’m such a nosy prick who lives in tags, I’ve had the opportunity to glean a lot of the dispute on both ends.  And so, I’d like to talk about it, this thing that...by essence is going to be very controversial to try to talk about.  Especially on here, this site so known for being so very, ah, passionate and implacable about the issues it has taken to heart, mostly for the good, sometimes less so.

Specifically, for anyone still unaware, the issue is that the film’s story is about a romance between a seventeen year-old boy and a twenty-four year-old grad student who visits his house for the summer.

And the first thing I'd say, which is what most people would also probably say first, is to please watch the film (or read the book) before forming any strong proclamations about it one way or another.  And try not to watch it with a...miserly eye, being on the constant alert for any ammo you can use to fuel whatever blog post you're gonna write after the fact.  I've done this myself before, and it's an inept, feeble method of critique; confirmation bias is a thing that exists, and if you're going in with the sole intent of finding every bit of toxicity and harmfulness you can in this storyline, then that's truly all you'll end up finding.  Instead, try to watch it for the simple fact of watching a story unfold, of wanting to know what happens, of allowing yourself to experience what these filmmakers and actors are trying to convey.  After which, if you still dislike what you've seen?  At least you'll be better able to articulate why without having to rely solely on sound and fury.  And then you can call the cops on me, ‘cuz they’ll obviously prefer well-reasoned allegations of pedophilia-apologism as opposed to half-baked ones!

The next thing I say is going to be a bit of a...melodramatic diatribe about queer experiences.  Bear with, please.

When you're a queer person living in certain situations -- whether you're a child, teenager, or adult -- much of your entire identity is based on the need for repression, for secrecy, for hiding.  Every bit of affection, desire, or attachment you have to someone of the same gender, which is something that'll happen near every day of your life, is something else you'll have to learn to smother.  Everything about what you're feeling is confusing and yet you don't believe for a second that there is anyone you can trust to share these confusions with or to experience these desires with.  This pain of repression and confusion is something that the film version of CMBYN does hint at, but that the original book actually explores in broad, vivid detail, some of which I'm going to quote mostly verbatim for just how truthfully it paints these anxieties.

"What never crossed my mind was [...] that someone else in my immediate world might like what I liked, want what I wanted, be who I was. It would never have entered my mind because I was still under the illusion that, barring what I’d read in books, inferred from rumors, and overheard in bawdy talk all over, no one my age had ever wanted to be both man and woman— with men and women. I had wanted other men my age before and had slept with women. But before he’d stepped out of the cab and walked into our home, it would never have seemed remotely possible that someone so thoroughly okay with himself might want me to share his body as much as I ached to yield up mine." *** "Perhaps the very least I wanted was for him to tell me that there was nothing wrong with me, that I was no less human than any other young man my age. I would have been satisfied and asked for nothing else than if he’d bent down and picked up the dignity I could so effortlessly have thrown at his feet." *** "They worried for me. I knew they were right to worry. I just hoped they’d never know how far things stood beyond their ordinary worries now. I knew they didn’t suspect a thing, and it bothered me— though I wouldn’t have wanted it otherwise. It told me that if I were no longer transparent and could disguise so much of my life, then I was finally safe from them, and from him— but at what price, and did I want to be so safe from anyone?

There was no one to speak to. Whom could I tell? Mafalda? She’d leave the house. My aunt? She’d probably tell everyone. Marzia, Chiara, my friends? They’d desert me in a second. My cousins when they came? Never. My father held the most liberal views— but on this? Who else? Write to one of my teachers? See a doctor? Say I needed a shrink? Tell Oliver?

Tell Oliver. There is no one else to tell, Oliver, so I’m afraid it’s going to have to be you…" *** "[...] another part of me knew that if he showed up tonight and I disliked the start of whatever was in store for me, I’d still go through with it, go with it all the way, because better to find out once and for all than to spend the rest of the summer, or my life perhaps, arguing with my body."

Now, I'm not saying this stuff to grind for sympathy points or to be needlessly depressing, and I should probably sidebar here to make it clear that, in spite of the quoted passages above, neither the film or the book are as remotely fixated on these sorts of oppressive life experiences as it might seem; quite the opposite, in many ways.  But I'm still saying this stuff to contextualize a lot of peoples' mindsets and experiences going into a story like this, and of the social foundations from which this story was conceived.  Because the fact remains that when you're a queer person living in certain situations, this repression and confusion is your reality as you know it.

And this sort of reality...a disease, really...is something that will eat away at you day after day, week after week, month after month after year.  This is the sort of toxicity that can actually scar someone's identity, if not ruin them outright.  And as for romance?  It's not even just a matter of your options being limited, it's as drastic as you never being able to show your affections, and no one will ever return those affections even if you show it, and you'll probably never be able to tell anyone any of this.  It's not simply a matter of not having someone in town that you can get your rocks off with, it is a matter of having to hide so many important parts of yourself, a matter of feeling so alone in many of the ways that matter most.  And none of that is even going into the shame you feel in yourself, in your own body, for just being wrong somehow.

Queer Tumblr is such a place of liberation and celebration for the most part, and that's a good thing, but I feel like it's easy to forget that this liberation and celebration comes about specifically as a shelter against the repression and shame out there in our real lifetimes.  And I feel like we can be so fiercely, indiscriminately protective of our younger generations -- precisely because there is so much genuine danger out there to have to protect them from -- that we might miss the danger in seeing only danger and scandal and malice where there might instead be something important and cathartic and affirming in this story for anyone -- queer or straight, young or old -- to experience.

Bluntly: I'm not saying that seventeen year-olds should be pursuing twenty-four year-olds, and certainly not vice-versa.  But given all that above, is it really so difficult to imagine why many viewers might not be so quick to disapprove of the relationship depicted in CMBYN?  Is it so hard to imagine why it is not so vile or perverse for a seventeen year-old to have someone who understands his loneliness and alienation to assuage those vicious anxieties?  That this seventeen year-old deserves the chance to explore and express his identity with someone in a caring, compassionate manner?  That any sort of inherent harm that a difference of seven years might potentially do them might indeed be more than balanced out by the virtues of getting to experience the sort of love and companionship that only comes from total honesty and understanding between partners...something that they as queer people in their situation might have never thought possible.  That the freedom to love and be loved in this safety of this validation is a gift and not an onus.  That the appeal of this story is not about how cool or sexy it is for seventeen year-olds to be sleeping with twenty-four year-olds, but about how both of these boys -- and by inference every boy like them, every girl like them -- deserve the chance to not be repressed, to not be shamed.

And if I may be a bit of an asshole for a second.  I look at the culture of Tumblr and I am persistently inundated with favored pairings that are born out of animosity, out of antagonism and toxicity if not outright violence.  I have seen so many instances of fictional characters wholesale harming other characters both physically and verbally and having those things be called romantic by scores of thousands of likes and reblogs.  Look up maybe any fandom in the search bar and chances are good that some of the most popular pairings are gonna be the ones most shrouded in dysfunctionality.  Heck...even the ones that are ostensibly "the good examples" of healthy functional vanilla romances tend to be constantly punctuated by stretches of jealousy or dishonesty or manipulativeness or other such sorts of crass relationship issues in order to drive drama.  So many creators' ideas of what make a fictional relationship appealing -- or even a non-fictional one -- often feel like trying to air all the dirtiest laundry you can find in that household and calling that romance.  And let's not even venture for now into the dark boiling abyss that is the queerbaiting issue.

Now...'nother sidebar...I'm not saying that the romance of CMBYN is a perfect one; there are certainly issues of insecurities and miscommunications that afflict this relationship as well, and all that these sorts of things entail.  I also don't wanna blow this whole film out of the water like it's some sort of immaculate remedy to all the ills of film and literature and the evils of the world or whatever, which is just gonna lead to disappointment if you do watch it.  I definitely do not want to undermine anyone’s legitimate concerns over the issues inherent in age-gap relationships.  Liberation is nice, naiveté is not.

But, again...is it really so difficult to imagine how people can look at this story, borne so thoroughly out of care and validation and respect between two people for whom those things are not readily-available, and be engaged by its content instead of repulsed by it, finding it vastly preferable to what usually passes for steamy pairings nowadays?  Is it so unbelievable for people to be engaged by the goodness depicted in Elio and Oliver's courtship with each other, to not throw complaints of harmfulness and toxicity at something so marked by its distinct lack of harm, even with the seven years’ difference between them?

I'm not saying that seventeen year-olds should be pursuing twenty-four year-olds and vice versa.

But man, do I ever wish that more stories ought to be taking more cues from the way that this one does it.

[hamletteprinceofdenmark]

If Bellamy was a girl Y'all wouldn't even ship bellarke and your precious fandom wouldn't even exist. Because then you would ship Clarke with whatever mass murderer who blame her for not babysitting him, while the other would dislike Bellamy if he was a girl because no one likes a whiny adult person who doesn't own their mistakes and blames a teen for not being there for him.

My dude how pathetic can you get? I’ve seen at least two other blogs get this exact same ask? Did you copy and paste this into every bellarkers inbox?

Anyways … to your question (which is like 2 seasons old btw??)

Your first argument, “If Bellamy was a girl Y'all wouldn’t even ship bellarke”, apart from being grammatically incorrect, is - not to meme a serious issue - pretty homophobic? Especially considering how the 100 tends to attract a pretty liberal audience? I honestly don’t know whether I would ship them if Bellamy was a girl, primarily because that would mean that Bob Morley wouldn’t be portraying them. He has great chemistry with Eliza and plays Bellamy to such perfection and I’m sure a different actress would bring across a different Bellamy, therefore fundamentally changing the dynamic. So the entire premise of your first argument hinges on too large a variable to even validate your argument? But to cast a blanket statement against the entirety of the bellarke fandom (as you have seemed to) is throughly simplistic and small-minded. Gender doesn’t play in this relationship, if nothing else changed and Bellamy was played by a girl, I would still ship it.

Part 2, please point me to the character on the 100 who isn’t a mass murderer at this point? Everyone has blood on their hands, including Clarke (girl), Lexa (girl), Octavia (girl), Indra (girl), Anya (girl), Luna (girl), Harper (girl), Echo (girl), Emori (girl), Munroe (girl), Dr. Tsing (girl), Abby (girl), Hannah Green (girl), Ontari (girl), Diana Sydney (girl), Charmaine Dyoza (girl), Madi (an honest-to-god actual /girl/, a child!), Charlotte (ditto … RIP you OG Murder Child) … I could go fucking on, and pretty much all of these women have fans, least of all Clarke, who you also seem to have no issue with, despite her literally being called Wanheda, the Commander of Death, BECAUSE SHE KILLED SO MANY PEOPLE.

So again, your argument falls flat.

Not really sure what you mean by “babysitting” and “not being there for him” but I’m guessing this is referring back to season 2/3 (really?? You couldn’t find a more recent reason? Okay …) when Clarke went off on her own instead of staying with the rest of the Arkers. Putting aside the fact that season 3 in general was a dumpster fire and a discredit to most of the characters, the show made it really clear that while there was no right answer, abandoning her people - and in particular Bellamy - at their time of need was a pretty dick move. Everyone was hurt by it. But if that was Clarke’s decision, it was her decision. I’m not really being as clear as I’d like to here but what I’m trying to get at is that sometimes in an emotionally charged situation there’s no way to get out scot free, and Bellamy really needed someone at that time, and Clarke really needed to be alone. Their two coping mechanisms were the exact opposite of each other. It was messy and incompatible and crap like a lot of real life situations and I appreciate the show for that. Bellamy wasn’t being “whiny” he was a person who needed his friend after an incredibly traumatising event which he thought had bonded them, that they would deal with it ~together~ and the rug was pulled out from under him with no warning. So yeah, I forgive him for being a little angry and weepy?? He’d earned it. And you can see my other metas (if you’ve even made it this far) about how important it is to have a leading man like Bellamy show emotion so openly and freely.

And finally, Bellamy “doesn’t own their mistakes” ???????????????????????????

Bitch where?

This boy is a Chronic Self Blamer. He blames himself about literally everything, including things that weren’t up to him! He is constantly feeling guilty about something or other. And since you seem to be in a bit of a Throwback mood, let me cast your mind back to season 1. Boy howdy did my boy make mistakes, to the point where Clarke got to hallucinate closure with her dad, Bellamy was begging to die.

The exact quote btw “Kill me. /I deserve it./ Please.”

It has taken literal years for Bellamy Blake to forgive himself for everything he has done so don’t you dare come into this house and say that he doesn’t acknowledge his own mistakes.

I suggest you rewatch the series, you clearly weren’t paying attention the first time, and maybe check your attitude at the door idk?

[sazorak]

My Hero Academia’s hero and villain are not very good

My Hero Academia,  Kohei Horikoshi’s shounen manga take on Western super hero comics, has been running nearly three years now. I am something of a binge-reader when it comes to media; I don’t care for the drawn-out schedule that comes from following serialized releases. But My Hero Academia (alongside One Piece, Berserk, and One Punch Man) is one of the few that I actively follow. Lately though, I’ve been wondering why.

It’s not that the comic has taken a particularly egregious downturn in quality or pacing – it’s been fairly consistent all in all. The current arc about the class becoming intern sidekicks has been interesting, and it’s been moving at a rather brisk pace. The issue I’m struggling with is more fundamental. It’s a problem My Hero Academia has had since the beginning, and it’s done little to ameliorate over time.

The main protagonist and antagonist of My Hero Academia are just not very good.

The lead of My Hero Academia, Izuku Midoriya, isn’t a bad character per se. The angle of an ordinary kid born into a society of supermen finding himself entrusted with power by his world’s urhero is a pretty good one. It’s an underdog story with tons of good karma built in as Midoriya is forced to struggle to surpass those who had mocked his lack of abilities. It’s also good for hitting those power-fantasy notes that are so crucial to making the shounen genre work. He’s earnest and likeable. It’s easy to root for Midoriya and put yourself in his shoes as he is manages to pull himself to the front of the pack by sheer heart and willpower alone. These are all good attributes for a protagonist in a heroic work!

But as time has gone on and as his powers have developed, he has ceased to be the underdog. Where he was once only keeping up with his classmates’ inborn genius by hard work and determination, now he’s not only the most driven but also the most talented. Midoriya’s climbed what should have been the first foothill on his journey to the top, and we’ve found that there is actually nothing else on the horizon— the foothill was the mountain. Midoriya’s journey of growth being essentially complete is dire, because it’s all Midoriya actually has: It turns out he’s REALLY boring.

Midoriya’s character revolves entirely around his desire to become a hero and imitate the super hero paragon, All Might. That’s it. This is literally all there is to him. He has no other interests. No particular ambitions beyond the dream to be The Best Hero. The only real struggles remaining for him are narrative happenstance and the gradual power-ups that are practically prescribed at this point. There’s nothing else to his story.

Here’s an example: In order to convince All Might’s former side kick to give him an internship, Midoriya has to make him laugh. This isn’t going to be easy; the sidekick is a straight-laced nerd, AND he has the ability to see the future. This concept has a lot of good goof-potential. You could conceive Midoriya in all his earnestness constructing an elaborate comedic scenario that, while perhaps falling on its face, would at least show off his good qualities. Maybe he’d screw up and it’d result in the kind of unplanned comedic pratfall that would be easy for the sidekick to laugh at. 

Instead, what does Midoriya actually do? He does a bad impression of All Might of course, because “I want to be like All Might!” is his entire character! It pisses off the sidekick so much that the whole laughing angle is completely abandoned, and instead a scenario is contrived where Midoriya has to steal the approval stamp from the future-seeing sidekicks hand. Ultimately? He gets the internship because he didn’t damage any of the All Might memorabilia in the room. Midoriya’s All Might-mania would be a funny gag if it wasn’t the crux of who he is.

The only other aspects to Midoriya’s character beyond his hero-crush is his very typical shounen budding romance with Ochako Uraraka (that has not and will not ever be developed until the very end of the story, as is the staid shounen manga way), his willingness to occasionally break the rules in order to save lives (and then let McGruff the Crime Dog unironically say that he should have let his friend be murdered in front of him), and a mostly one-sided rivalry with his childhood bully Katsuki Bakugo. Only the rivalry actually feels that impactful to the story, and that has more to do with Katsuki’s personal arc than Midoriya’s.

The issue isn’t that Midoriya doesn’t have any major flaws necessarily – though that certainly doesn’t help – it’s more that there’s not much else to his personal story at this point beyond the narrative events unfolding before him. He fundamentally lacks agency and meaningful personal struggles. Things happen, and he reacts to them; his arc is essentially complete. It’s a foregone conclusion. His single-mindedness makes the story flat in a way that it really need not be.

Narratives revolving around villains doing nefarious things tend to lead to reactionary heroes, but the best heroes are ones who are more than just the mask—they’re also people. Peter Parker has a day job, has to deal with people trying to constantly hunt him down and kill him, and has to fight to balance his romantic dalliances with the responsibilities of being Spider-Man. Bruce Banner may fight the occasional radiation monster, but the Hulk’s story is more about his struggle with his own inner demons than him punching real ones. Hell even Superman, the poster Generic Nice Boy, tries to have a personal life beyond the cape and liven up his Fortress of Solitude.

There’s more to good stories than Good Man Beats Up Bad Guy. While personal struggles can be completely ancillary to the action at hand, they can also be far more challenging for the hero to surmount and far more engaging. Even if the are trivial, that doesn’t make them unimportant. Diversions may not matter much to the ongoing “plot” always, but they give the characters character. Something as inconsequential as the heroes going out to get Italian food can be huge as far as characterization goes; it speaks volumes to the interests of the characters, it humanizes them, and makes their situation more relatable.

The tragic thing is that there are major characters in My Hero Academia who would make for far better protagonist material than the actual lead if the story had been built differently. The frog-girl Tsuyu Asui is a good example. She’s been raising her siblings on her own while going to hero school due to her parents being constantly away at work. Her powers seemingly have low potential (she does whatever a frog can do), but she rises to the top by being smart with them. She wants to become a hero to help people— but seemingly doesn’t have too much of an interest in getting into the bad-guy fighting side of things. Throughout the story, she’s also wrestled with the whole legality / morality of saving people without a license, which frankly the most under explored aspect of the narrative by far given how weird and complicated the subject matter is. These are all interesting angles that easily have been built out to create a different, more engaging My Hero Academia.

Not having an engaging protagonist for your narrative puts a greater onus of the villain being interesting. For My Hero Academia, this is a BIG problem. If the hero Izuku Midoriya is uninteresting, the main villain Tomura Shigaraki is outright lame.

As is the super hero convention, Shigaraki is dark mirror of Midoriya— where Midoriya is a child who looks up to heroes and wants to grow up to be like All Might, Shigaraki is a man child who never grew up, doesn’t like heroes, and wants to murder All Might. And just like Midoriya that’s literally all there is to him. He has some kind of tragic past due to heroes not saving him when his parents died, but even that’s paper thin. Ultimately, he’s just a petulant kid who never grew up; he occasionally sends mutants his spooky adopted dad made for him to punch trucks. Because that’ll show ‘em.

The narrative openly acknowledges the fact that he doesn’t have any particular beliefs beyond disliking heroes. Other villains with actual raisons d’etre confront him about it,  and he no joke throws a tantrum over the fact that they have views. Like Midoriya, the single-note nature of the character comes across as borderline comical. (Also: his character design looks stupid.)

Villains, like protagonists, need motivations to be compelling. That motivation can be as small as being a crazy mofo or just plain greedy, but it should at least be understandable. Shigaraki isn’t a revolutionary— he’s a child with a gun. An inordinate amount of power has been thrust into his hands for no particular reason. That doesn’t actually make him feel like that great of a threat to society as a whole; it just makes him a deadly nuisance if anything. Earthquakes are unpredictable and can hurt a lot of people but that doesn’t make them particularly compelling villains.

Villains need to be likeable. Not necessarily as a people— far from it in most cases, really. But they need to have some trait that is inherently admirable to make them work as the foil for the protagonist. In X-Men, Magneto is a fantastic villain because he’s ultimately a flawed idealist; his charisma and the fact that his views sometimes seem attractive is what makes him so compelling. He’s complex. Single-mindedness too can be admirable if it’s portrayed well. Kira Yoshikage, despite being an outright serial killer still has admirable traits in just how ruthlessly efficient he is at maintaining his “ordinary life”. That doesn’t make him less reprehensible— if anything those traits are what makes him so potent a threat, far more than his murderous tendencies.

Totally uncharismatic antagonists can work as small-bit villains – but there’s a limited lifetime for which their existence is tolerable. Past that point, their continued position as a central part of the narrative just becomes annoying, if not totally implausible. How are we the audience supposed to believe that Shigaraki can amass followers and inspire loyalty in them when we cannot muster the slightest bit of admiration for him ourselves? He’s not even shitty enough for it to be played up for comical effect!

This situation is all the more crazy when you remember that My Hero Academia serializes alongside One Piece.  One Piece’s Oda Eiichiro has writing good bad guys down to a science. His bad guys range across the whole spectrum, from the immeasurably bad at their job to the point where you’re actively rooting for them (who the hell doesn’t like Buggy the Clown?) to the dark-mirror of the lead that you just love to hate (Blackbeard you monstrous son of a bitch), to a whole heap of over-zealous enforcers of law and order (go to hell Akainu). Oda’s a master at manipulating the audience’s feelings and creating characters that work in both short and large doses. Characters with short-lived appeal are dealt with appropriately, while those more sweeping interest and unexplored complexities are kept around for years. Oda will occasionally even turn past arc’s main-villains into bit-players in ongoing ones. Knowing when and how to subvert expectations like this speaks a lot to Oda’s abilities at constructing characters and narratives.

The sad thing is that I just can’t see Kohei pivoting with My Hero Academia. The trajectory My Hero Academia is on looks to be the one it’ll stick to for the future. The foregone conclusion of Midoriya’s journey is in plain sight; while I’m sure the ongoing story will take some amount of twists and turns, there’s not a lot of mystery left in how Midoriya fits into it. Shigaraki taking his place as the main villain is outright uninteresting and unappealing at this point. While the actual writing of characters and the flow of the chapters is good, the broader sweep of the work viewed from a weekly-perspective now leaves something to be desired.

I suppose there’s nothing left for me to do at this point than to let it fall to the wayside and just read at my own pace when more of the material is built up. Actively following a work as it releases requires considerably more personal investment, and I’m not sure I can muster that for this story anymore.

Oh well!

[mystickalmountains-blog]

Social engineering now???

There are dozens of books in the public domain that explain how brainwashing (or re-education) works in America. They (social engineers) tell us what they are doing in plain English. They write long books that outline all the tactics and how they are being implemented into the school system, mass media, and society at large. Read (or skim – these are all long primary source documents): Human Relations in Curriculum Change (1951) by Kenneth Benne Taxonomy of Educational Objectives vol. 1 and 2 (1956) by Benjamin Bloom Behavioral Science Teacher Education Program (1968) by Michigan State psychologists Learning to Work in Groups: A Program Guide for Educational Leaders (1959) by Mathew Miles Issues in Training by Edgar Schein (1962) For synthesis and critique of these methods by whistleblowers, read: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1991) by John Taylor Gatto Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling (2010) by John Taylor Gatto The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America (1999) by Charlotte Iserbyt The Architects of Total Quality Management General Systems Theory and Marxist Theory-Praxis by Judy McLemore (online articles) John Taylor Gatto was named New York City’s teacher of the year three times in a row. Charlotte Iserbyt was Senior Policy Advisor in the Office of Educational Research and Improvement under Ronald Reagan. Once you enter this world, the Matrix begins to reveal itself. Professor Stephen Robbins wrote in Organization Behavior in 1979: “While Karl Marx used Hegel’s dialectic to formulate a theory of revolution, this same dialectic is also the fundamental basis upon which education is built.” (1) Once you understand the dialectical process, you’ll realize that this quote reveals everything. The dialectical process is how the Communist Party brainwashed China, by the way. Let’s start from the beginning. Thomas Chen writes in Thought Reform of the Chinese Intellectuals: Though force or compulsion is always around the corner, to be exerted when necessary, the preference is to resort to different forms of persuasion, at times semi-coercive or covertly coercive, until resistance is overcome and the victim ‘chooses’ to submit. His submission can then be hailed as ‘voluntary’ action. This kind of pressure is more subtle than direct, undisguised coercion; it is less likely to arouse a violent reaction; and, furthermore, it enables the Communist to boast that they use ‘democratic’ instead of dictatorial methods on the people… (2) I think it goes without saying that brainwashing by brute force would be nearly impossible in a country with 300 million people. Psychological methods are much more subtle, and will never be detected. Here’s how it works 1) Assemble small groups of diverse individuals with conflicting opinions. Allow them to debate and discuss issues, giving the impression of a free and open forum. Make sure, however, that the group’s facilitator/organizer is trained in Group Dynamics. From who you call on to speak, to how you frame certain questions, there are hundreds of ways to subtly influence group behavior. This doesn't mean that every teacher is a conspirator - as you'll see, just being in a group in an American classroom is brainwashing. 2) Meet constantly (schools/universities are great for this, since they organize kids into small groups that meet five days a week.) Your goal, over time, is for the group to “find common ground” or reach “a consensus.” This doesn’t sound particularly pernicious; in fact, dialogue and compromise seem to be hallmarks of democracy. People in group settings also intuitively want to be included and to reach a set of informal rules. Being socially ostracized by The Group is one of man’s primal fears. 3) Social engineers call these small groups sets. The environment they interact in is called the System. McElmore quotes an early study on Group Dynamics, Individuals facilitated into these cohesive teams or collectives must, consciously or unconsciously, give up some part of their “own personal independence to create a state of inter-dependence” between themselves and other group members. A set of persons not yet facilitated into a collective or one mind is considered a heap. (6) Please understand that you are not considered a conscious individual. Leaders of the social system consider the group "one consciousness." 4) Western civilization is historically based on rugged individualism and a set of morals that come from “above” (i.e. from God or Nature). Early Americans in theory “feared no Man but God,” so they would’ve been repulsed by this group consensus stuff. Therefore you must attack Christianity, father figures (i.e. the voice of the conscience), and the traditional family. 5) People tend to agree on stuff they have in common. If you love to play Bach concertos, you will likely be the only one in your class with this passion. Thus, it’s highly unlikely your classmates will decide “Bach concertos are awesome. We should all ask that kid to teach us how to play them and base our social hierarchy on who's best at piano.” Again, what people end up agreeing on are the things common to all human beings (our baser desires.) So in school settings a whole youth subculture develops that emphasizes casual sex, social status, drinking, etc. This same process plays out amongst adults, but they are more into money and power. 6) What’s so genius is that peer pressure (instead of direct action by the state) then forces individuals to conform and debase themselves. Judy McLemore writes, “Anyone with strong convictions, who believes in facts, universal absolutes, right and wrong, must necessarily set aside those facts and convictions in order to conform to the group and reach consensus.” (3) 7) If one does not conform (i.e. their conscience says “this isn’t right”), stress and cognitive dissonance sets in. Kurt Lewin, head of the Center for Group Dynamics at MIT (and founder of the first brainwashing lab in America) explains, "Change in organization can be derived from the overlapping between play [group consensus to embrace baser desires] and barrier [the conscience] behavior. To be governed by two strong goals is equivalent to the existence of two conflicting controlling heads within the organism. This should lead to a decrease in degree of hierarchical organization. Also, a certain disorganization should result from the fact that the cognitive-motor system loses to some degree its character of a good medium because of these conflicting heads. It ceases to be in a state of near equilibrium... (4) Basically, people snap if they don’t conform. The dialectical process is meant to totally rewire individuals on every level. Lewin continues, “The re-educative process has to fulfill a task which is essentially equivalent to a change in culture…The re-educative process affects the individual in three ways. It changes his cognitive structure (cognitive), the way he sees the physical and social worlds, including all his facts, concepts, beliefs and expectations. It modifies his valences (likes and dislikes) and values, and these embrace both his attractions and aversions to groups and group standards, his feelings (affective) in regard to status differences, and his reactions to sources of approval or disapproval. And it affects his motoric action (psychomotor), involving the degree of the individual’s control over his physical and social movements. (Lewin [in Benne] 24) (5) That’s from a manual about how to reorganize our school system, folks. He’s talking about reeducating Americans. 8) Create tension between "what is" and "what ought to be." This gives the group a common goal to pursue, and a sense of camaraderie in a struggle towards a seemingly better future. This is why colleges emphasize social justice, etc. even while their presidents fly around on private jets. Here's the problem: "Progress" and "Social Justice" don't exist in the moment. You get stuck on an eternal hampster wheel. This is called "Freezing" someone. 9) Teach total moral relativism. 10) The net effect of this stuff is to kill the Father's voice in the child (i.e. his conscience) and replace it with The Group voice. This utterly destroys our ability to perceive right from wrong, spiritual from mundane, etc. and makes us sheep that can be herded. People who live from "the flesh" are very weak and irrational. Strength comes from the Spirit. It’s much worse than I am describing, but I am getting tired. This is maybe 5% of their technique. Wake up! SOURCES (1) http://bba12.weebly.com/uploads/9/4/2/8/9428277/organizational_behavior_15e_-_stephen_p_robbins__timothy_a_judge_pdf_qwerty.pdf (2) Chen, Theodore H. E. Thought Reform of the Chinese Intellectuals. Hong Kong University Press (1960), 74. (3) Judy McElmore, http://authorityresearch.com/Sources/Total%20Quality%20Management%20-%20General%20Systems%20Theory%20-%20Marxist%20Theory-Praxis%20by%20JudyMcLemore.pdf (p. 100) (4) Barker, Dembo, and Lewin, "Frustration and Regression: an Experiment with Young Children" found in Child Behavior and Development. (5) Kurt Lewin in Human Relations in Curriculum Change, p. 24 (available here: http://channelingreality.com/Niwa/Documents/Social_Engineering/1951_HRCC_Benne_122710.pdf) (6) Judy McElmore, http://authorityresearch.com/Sources/Total%20Quality%20Management%20-%20General%20Systems%20Theory%20-%20Marxist%20Theory-Praxis%20by%20JudyMcLemore.pdf

[piraticalarchive]

REALLY  LONG CHARACTER SURVEY. RULES. repost, don’t reblog ! tag 10 ! good  luck ! TAGGED. no one. I stole it TAGGING. @twisted-but-pretty

BASICS. FULL  NAME : Killian Jones NICKNAME : Captain, pirate, Hook AGE : 32 in main verse BIRTHDAY : March 21, 1685 ETHNIC  GROUP : White/Caucasian NATIONALITY :  Irish LANGUAGE / S : English, Gaelic, Latin, Greek, bits of Spanish SEXUAL  ORIENTATION : Bisexual ROMANTIC  ORIENTATION : Demiromantic RELATIONSHIP  STATUS : usually involved with either Milah or Guy. Verses vary. Other than that - hes just a flirt  CLASS : a bastard born of an English lord in English society, a Captain of suitable rank in the King’s Navy, pariah once he becomes a pirate HOME  TOWN / AREA : Was born in Waterford, Ireland - went to school at Eton in Berkshire, England near Windsor. CURRENT  HOME : On board the Jolly Roger, or in Nottingham with Guy of Gisborne, or Storybrooke. Verse dependent PROFESSION : Pirate Captain ( though verse dependent)

PHYSICAL. HAIR : black, tends to curl ever so slightly along the nape of his neck. EYES :  Blue eyes that harbor a sort of melancholic look, but also an aura of danger. Average size. Excessively expressive eyebrows NOSE : slightly pointed, turns up ever so slightly at the end FACE : Soft and slightly round, charming smile, unremarkable chin. Considered by most to be quite handsome LIPS : more on the thinner side, often chapped from the salt of the ocean and chewed extensively. COMPLEXION : fairly flawless BLEMISHES :  n/a   SCARS : A fairly generous and horrid one across his left wrist, one right under his right eye and a fairly large one across the expanse of his back TATTOOS : None  HEIGHT : 5′11″. WEIGHT : 180ish lbs. BUILD : Lanky. Wiry.   FEATURES : handsome features  ALLERGIES : None. USUAL  HAIR  STYLE : can be messy and disheveled from the wind, but more often than not its styled. He takes great care in making sure his appearance is more than acceptable. It comes from his upbringing USUAL  FACE  LOOK : He appears fairly jovial, though on occasion he can be quite intimidating.  USUAL  CLOTHING : leather pants, some form of leather jacket. Usually loose fitting tunic style shirts under a vest. Prefers the colors red and/or black

PSYCHOLOGY. FEAR / S : fading out of all knowledge, death, his own blood (back to the death thing), failure, rejection ASPIRATION / S : to never die, to be the most infamous and well known pirate in the history of the world POSITIVE  TRAITS : witty, charming, strong leader, clever, knowledgable  NEGATIVE  TRAITS : jealous, arrogant, vain, manipulative, abusive, violent, impulsive MBTI : istp ZODIAC : aries TEMPERAMENT : choleric SOUL  TYPE / S : Performer / Leader ANIMALS : eagle VICE  HABIT / S : drinking, impulsively giving in to emotions FAITH : catholic, but hardly pays attention to such things. GHOSTS ? : no  AFTERLIFE ? : doesn’t care REINCARNATION ? : no. ALIENS ? : no POLITICAL  ALIGNMENT : in a more modern verse, if pressed, Killian is most often fiscally conservative and socially liberal. In canon, Hook is very anarchist ECONOMIC  PREFERENCE : In canon he comes from the household of a British Lord, but is considered a bastard. In most modern verses, he and his family are incredibly low on the socioeconomic ladder SOCIOPOLITICAL  POSITION : wanted criminal EDUCATION  LEVEL :  in canon, he attended both Eton and Bailol. He was a part of the King’s navy before defecting. 

FAMILY. FATHER : Patrick David Jones (Lord in canon) MOTHER : Eveline Jones SIBLINGS : Liam Jones (legitimate child of his father) EXTENDED  FAMILY : N/A NAME  MEANING / S : strife/battle/small/fierce HISTORICAL  CONNECTION ? : in canon he was the boatswain to edward teach (Blackbeard)

FAVOURITES. BOOKS : In modern he likes Treasure Island and The Old Man and the Sea. In canon he will read anything he can get his hands on. MOVIE : likes adventure movies such as Indiana Jones. Likes Bridge over the River Kwai. Also a fan of campy horror films 5 SONGS : Hotel California, The Immigrant Song, Hurt, I’ll be Good, Into the Jungle DEITY : God HOLIDAY : not a fan of holidays. Though if he had to pick, Christmas. Especially in modern times when he is spending it with Guy  MONTH : March SEASON : Summer PLACE : The Jolly Roger  WEATHER : clear skies and smooth seas. SOUND : waves crashing, steel against steel, clanking of tankards, low murmur of a tavern crowd, seagulls. snapping of the masts SCENT / S : salt spray, leather, spices TASTE / S : apples, rum, salt, roasted chicken FEEL / S : sun on bare skin, salt water sting in the eyes, hands running along rough wood, curved steel sliding on to wrist, curling fingers through the hair along the nape of Guy’s neck ANIMAL / S : not particularly fond of any animals unless pressed  NUMBER : 3 COLOUR : black or red

EXTRA. TALENTS : leadership, manipulation, seduction, fencing, navigation, swimming, drinking ( ;) ), sailing,  BAD  AT : controlling emotions, patience, staying out of danger, maintaining civility, science TURN  ONS : humor, wit, appearance, experience, cockiness, danger, secrecy TURN  OFFS : dullness, not aesthetically pleasing, disloyal, ignorance, short stature HOBBIES : drinking, sailing, fencing TROPES : Aloof Ally, Bold Explorer, Adaptation Personality Change, Descent into Addiction, Functional Addict, Misery Builds Character, Just a stupid accent,  AESTHETIC  TAGS : N/A GPOY  QUOTES : the ocean - poem by nathaniel hawthorne

FC INFO. MAIN  FC / S : Colin O’Donoghue ALT  FC / S : None. OLDER  FC / S : None. YOUNGER  FC / S : Logan Lerman/ Jordan Bennie VOICE  CLAIM / S : Colin O’Donoghue GENDERBENT  FC / S : None.

MUN QUESTIONS. Q1 : if  you  could  write  your  character  your  way  in  their  own  movie ,   what  would  it  be  called ,  what  style  would  it  be  filmed  in ,  and  what  would  it  be  about ?           A1 : Oh, crap ... is it cheating to say Peter Pan? I think it would follow the same premise of that movie but focus more on Hook than Peter. I would focus more on what led Hook to be the man he was, where that residual anger and those good manners came from ... what led him down the path to becoming a man both obsessed and terrified of death  Q2 : what  would  their  soundtrack / score  sound  like ?           A2 : A lot of the darker elements of the potc soundtrack combined with a lot of hanz zimmer. I would probably include some of the songs from the titanic soundtrack and definitely some nox arcana. Q3 : why  did  you  start  writing  this  character ?           A3 : He literally just popped into my head one day and I guess he’s here to stay seeing as how its been over three years now. I love the mess out of Captain Hook, I always have, and the elements of the character that Colin O’Donoghue brought to the table really nailed it down for me. While I am not OUAT based, I love the wit and charm that Colin exudes and I think its really fun to play off of. Hook is this character whose motivations always change, who can be selfish and a bully but who also can be romantic and a great drinking partner ... its just two halves of the same coin that I really appreciate Q4 : what  first  attracted  you  to  this  character ?           A4 : His cocky attitude. I loved his ego, that ‘better than thou’ vibe he gives off. I think I recognized a lot of that in myself along with a few other things. I have a lot more in common with Hook than I would ever admit and being able to play on those negative traits we share in a place where its not me actually hurting anyone or breaking social ties .. it is pretty freeing.  Q5 : describe  the  biggest  thing  you  dislike  about  your  muse.           A5 : The facade he constantly puts up. There are so many plot ideas and things I have with so many different muses but sometimes none of them ever come to fruition because Hook just never trusts the other character enough to be open with them. It also makes it hard to do these great ‘ we ride together, we die together’ type of friendships etc because its so rare for him to find anyone he feels that strongly about. He is very in it for himself except in very specific circumstances like with Amy’s Guy. Q6 : what  do  you  have  in  common  with  your  muse ?           A6 : SO MUCH. I think we can both be huge ego freaks, we both like to try and manipulate people to our own purpose. We both like travel and have a sense of adventure and enjoy a good drink/joke. We even have some of the same mannerisms Q7 : how  does  your  muse  feel  about  you ?           A7 : He thinks im too hung up on social constraints haha Q8 : what  characters  does  your  muse  have  interesting  interactions  with ?         A8 : literally everyone. But some of my favorites are with Guy of Gisborne just because that relationship has really forced my muse into a place he’s never been before and I absolutely love that. I also really like interacting with Jack Sparrow because that relationship sort of pushes Hook to be more aware of himself. He is jealous of Jack and he hates that he recognizes that fact so I’m a bit hopeful that maybe it ends up with Hook reevaluating himself a bit and adopting those qualities he envies rather than just pretending to hate them. I also love Hook and Vane. I dont even know how that started but their brotp thing they’ve got going on is always a good laugh for me.. Q9 : what  gives  you  inspiration  to  write  your  muse ?         A9 : listening to classical music, watching Peter Pan 2003, sometimes reading.  Q10 : how  long  did  this  take  you  to  complete ?         A10 : literal days. Maybe even more than a week hahah