#i've seen people go so far as to say they “headcanon” the characters as older becuase they look like it

[transmascutena]

okay am i the only one who has never quite understood why everyone's always saying that the characters in utena look older than they are? like idk i guess they don't necessarily look 14 to me either, but that's more because they don't look any particular age, because of how it's stylized. i don't look at them and think that, idk, long legs are a trait of a 16 year old not a 14 year old, i just think "those sure look like shoujo proportions"

[keets-writing-corner]

Alright everyone, buckle up and sit down. I was talking with @nerdasaurus1200 on another post and came to the conclusion that I need to write Sera meta so let's freaking GO

I'm mostly gonna be talking about Sera, what we know about her so far, and what makes her tick (aka her fears) and why she's not a bitch/asshole the way apparently so many people like to portray her? (I've mostly just been hanging out with fan art and headcanons specifically about Lucifer in the fandom so I haven't seen these specifically, but someone approached me about how they liked m portrayal of Sera in my fic which was NOT that of an asshole and apparently multiple people are portraying her that way? Idk I haven't seen any but uh yeah let's talk SERA)

Characters are always the most important part of a story, and even if they're not a main character and/or the audience nor the writer know what they want/need, the writer at the very least needs to know How and Why a character makes decisions, instead of just "oh they're an asshole" So let's do that for Sera. Why is she making the decisions she's making? LETS GO

Let's start off by talking about what we know about Sera

She's at least as old as Lucifer, she was there for the creation of earth given the appearance of her silhouette in Charlie's exposition

We know that the exterminations might have been Adam's idea, but it was HER decision to approve them

We know that she's FOR SURE older than Emily

and the other thing we know for sure about her is that she is the High Seraphim (we don't know WHAT that means exactly but clearly it is a position of authority and rule)

So those are the things we know for sure:

She's about as old as Lucifer

She approved the exterminations

She's older than Emily

and she's the high Seraphim

Now I'm going to circle back to all of these points but I want to start off with her relationship with Lucifer

Unfortunately for all of us, the only thing we can say about their relationship with 100% certainty is that they for SURE know each other, either because they were essentially "coworkers" in the past, or because they're both the respective rulers of their realms (even if Sera has some people above her) and they're implied to interact with each other

(at the very least you cannot convince me otherwise that they don't interact. Someone had to have talked to Lucifer about the exterminations for him to have had "approved it" and we know it wasn't Adam because Lucifer hadn't seen Adam since he fell to hell until the finale, and we know that Sera was not only the one to approve said exterminations but also decreed that no one else in heaven know about them. She clearly must have spoken to Lucifer about it because there's nobody else left who had the authority to do that AND knew about them)

So at the very least in present day Sera and Lucifer have some sort of professional relationship as leaders. And I'll come back to this because it's implied that this relationship isn't a very good one, but first let's talk about the past

full stop, we have NO IDEA what sort of relationship Sera and Lucifer might have had when he was still in heaven. But here's the thing, even if their relation was strictly "yeah I know them cuz I work with them, but that's as far as it goes" Lucifer's fall STILL would have been horrifying for Sera to witness. He was the same rank as her, probably no other angel except the elders likely ranked higher, and they still banished him. Charlie's storybook leaves it at that, but Lucifer implies it was violent in his debut episode.

trauma is a funny thing when you think about it, you're just as likely to develop trauma by watching someone else be assaulted as you are for you to have been assaulted. And Sera was there, she likely saw the whole thing happen. So not only did Sera watch how brutal the elders could be to someone who questioned and disobeyed the order, but the fact that it was done to LUCIFER someone of equal rank and authority as her means that absolutely NOBODY is safe from the elders

and this is without taking into account that on some level, she and Lucifer had to have been close. There are no other seraphim in heaven besides her, the elders (who appear to be rather hands off and uninvolved) and Emily. Emily was likely created as a replacement for Lucifer, so at the time, it was basically just her and Lucifer as the only seraphim up there. They not only worked closely together, they likely had a close bond as well. Now I have my own head canon preferences as to what kind of bond, BUT let's ignore that and look at 3 options (although there are likely more, but huuu this post is gonna be long already so let's not push it yeah? )

option 1: equal peers. You are Sera and you've known Lucifer all your life. You two have "grown up" together, learned about the world and your powers together. You're comrades in arms! You know all of each other's secrets! You lean on each other for support as you lead heaven together. You work together all the time. Sure, he can be a little excitable at times but it's so much FUN right? This guy could be your bestie/brother. And you sit back and watch as the only ones with more authority than you, skewer him and banish him to hell for having questioned the order and now there's a metaphorical spear against your back at all times because you know it could have been you instead, and it could still be you if you don't behave

Option 2: Lucifer is your mentor. He's taught you everything you know. The ropes, your powers, the world. He's fantastic! You admire him greatly. He has such energy you could never hope to match. You put him on a pedestal, and in one fell swoop the only people he answers to destroy your mentor in front of you. You are now alone, without any more advice or guidance other than a warning to not step out of line as your mentor once did

Option 3: Lucifer is your apprentice. He's adorable! A little over enthusiastic but who doesn't love someone who's passionate about the things they like? He brings a wonderful energy and vibe, and... he's your responsibility. You try to reign in his wild energy only for the elders to step in and banish him because you failed him and now you know that the elders could do that to you too

So, I'll be honest, option 3 is NOT the one I'm biased towards, but if it ends up being that one, it would make Sera's behavior towards Emily extra heartbreaking. She already failed one apprentice, she will not fail another one, right?

Either way, Sera is terrified of going against the elders because of what they did to Lucifer in spite of his rank. She knows first hand how harsh they can be and because of that, she will do everything in her power to make sure nobody around her falls into the same fate. No one will ever question the elders again, and she will lie and withhold information to make sure that happens

And we're just talking about the INITIAL banishment.

Now why would Sera bring this up, unless what she was most afraid of wasn't even the initial banishment, but of the suffering she clearly knows comes afterwards? And why would she care or even know about the suffering? Well, if it's true that she and Lucifer were close, then regardless if she was spying on him or not the way we know heaven can do, she still watched a cute enthusiastic little angel go from this:

to this

all because because he suffered.

She watched him question, get banished, suffer, and change into someone she didn't recognize, in real time. And the worst part is, she's not only scared of what happened TO him, she's personally scared OF him and what he's become. He might be fallen, but he's still a powerful angel

And this segways into another bullet: she approved the exterminations, but WHY

Charlie's intro implies it was as some sort of punishment towards Lilith who was rallying the demons and they felt threatened

But clearly there's more to this

So first thing I'd like to point out, Sera doesn't look happy about this decision. She mentions as much in the song "You didn't Know" when she outright tells Emily "It was such a hard decision" and earlier in the same episode she outright tells Adam she wouldn't have approved of this if she had known it'd make things "worse"

But this is incomplete. Something doesn't make sense. Sera clearly meets with Lucifer for certain matters as previously established, and Lucifer, in spite of his initial trauma "NO CHARLIE DO NOT TALK TO HEAVEN" knee jerk reaction, never doubted that he COULD in fact get her a meeting with heaven. He outright tells her at the end of episode 5

He never says, "I'll try to get the meeting". He says straight up, I can do this. There isn't a doubt in his mind that he can get this meeting. He knows Sera will meet with him/take his call (idk how he contacts heaven) and will agree to the meeting. We don't really know WHY Sera agreed to this if she thought it was a bad idea and never really intended to entertain the idea to begin with, going as far as to tell Adam to rig the results and calling Charlie misguided. So what's up? Why on earth would she agree to it? Well...?

Sera is scared of the demons of hell, hence why she approved the exterminations, but she's even MORE scared of Lucifer and folded to his request. (or idk maybe there's more going on here and she feels guilt about what happened to him so she folds to him sometimes idk, but for the sake of this meta, SHE'S SCARED OF HIM)

but here's what's kinda weird. Charlie's storybook only mentions LILITH'S involvement with the demons rising in power, not Lucifer. Sera later claims that they were uprising to Emily as the reason she's scared of them and that it's her job to keep everyone safe.

Clearly SOMETHING happened between the creation of Hell and the exterminations being approved that involved BOTH the sinners AND Lucifer that made Sera scared of both. Sera doesn't seem the type to fear without reason. She fears questioning the order because that incurs the elders' wrath. She fears the elders because of what they did to Lucifer. She fears angels falling because she saw how much it hurt Lucifer. Sera is not the type to fear randomly. Clearly there is some sort of thing that happened that made it clear to Sera that Lucifer is to be feared enough to fold to his requests and that the sinners are dangerous enough that it justifies genocide.

And now to bring back the whole Sera is older than Emily. Emily didn't know this otherwise Sera wouldn't have needed to tell her. AKA Emily wasn't even around when said conflict happened. Sera not only had to go through something that clearly traumatized her to the point where she agreed that genocide was a reasonable response, but she had to go through that ALONE. Trauma is hard enough to deal with, but to have to navigate it alone really gives it some steroids it has no business in having

This genuinely makes me wonder how long the exterminations have to have been taking place. It probably took a WHILE for hell to gather up enough numbers that they started making buildings by the look of Charlie's storybook, AND THEN did something against heaven, so this was not happening from day one of hell, far from it. And this also makes me wonder how old exactly is Emily? She strikes me as extremely young

season 2 come out please, I'm working from CRUMBS here, there is so much we don't know

But yeah, all of this to say, Sera isn't just some alpha bitch who's prejudiced against demons (not to say there isn't bias there, there ABSOLUTELY is, ugh) but at her core, she's a leader who underwent a lot of trauma and she's full of fear and she makes decisions, rational, moral or not, based off of that fear. And yeah unfortunately, fear, especially trauma based fear, messes with us in ways we never would expect

a kind man may suddenly resort to violence. The confident argumentative person, may instead end up frozen. Someone who thought they valued their family all their life instead runs away. We may regret what we do in moments in fear, we might even logically know that we're making bad decisions, or decisions that go against our morals. Sera CLEARLY hates that she made the decision to approve extermination, but she holds onto it steadfast because it alleviates the fear

Funnily enough, I don't particularly LIKE Sera. I dislike her microaggressions towards Charlie and her attempts to sabotage her efforts at the meeting by calling upon Adam. But as a writer, looking at the clues I got to say she's a very interesting character to me. She seems like a reasonable authority figure, but she's so full of trauma that she's letting her fear make all of her decisions for her

[lieutenantselnia]

A little comparison of Lieutenant Lyste's voice in the English and German dub (+ a little bit of Kallus too); because I find languages interesting and this made me really think about how a voice actor can influence how a character is perceived.

First of all, I've watched Rebels primarily in German so far (though I've seen a good amount of scenes in English as well), partly for nostalgia reasons (I was in my teens, probably around 14 when I first watched the series and my English wasn't that good at the time to just casually watch an entire series, plus I was watching it with my younger sister), but also because I think the voice actors especially for the main and recurring characters are genuinely doing a really good job. Heck, for some characters I might actually prefer their German voice because it is that good! Kallus might actually be a good example for this if he's already here, I think he has such a pleasant roughness in his voice. For Thrawn it's also a pretty close match, he sounds wonderful in both variants but I might prefer his German voice just by a teeny tiny bit.

Who I actually wanted to talk about is Lieutenant Lyste though. I'm mainly familiar with his German voice, and as he's a fictional crush of mine, this is also the voice of his that I've fallen in love with. When I imagine him talking - regardless in which language - the sound is that of his German voice. Personally, I feel like that voice makes him seem a little younger and more naive compared to his English voice. I've always headcanoned him to be fairly young, in his early to mid twenties, and that by the start of the series he had just completed his military training recently (his position as supply master might have been the first one where he had to bear more responsibility). I've always seen him as a guy who's motivated and just trying his best, but at the same time he's lacking experience, plus, if we're being honest, when it comes to his military career he's a pretty average guy. I think he'd learn and improve over the years, but he isn't the "best of his academy year" or "promising young talent with innovative ideas" kind of guy, and he's far from a mastermind like Thrawn. He's literally Just A Guy, and personally, that's actually something I really like about him and that makes him endearing to me.

In contrast, I think his voice in the English dub makes his age a bit more ambiguous (I still wouldn't guess him older than 30, also based on his appearance but I feel he seems less "boyish" than in the German dub). I think it also gives him a bit more of an arrogant tinge and less of the playfulness that at least I hear in his German voice. He still conveys that dutifulness, but he seems a bit more uptight as well. I wouldn't go so far to say that that's bad, and I still like his English voice as well, but I think for me it won't come close to the charm that his German voice has to me.

Towards the end I want to point out though, that the voice, while being an important aspect, is not everything that makes a character. Appearance, behaviour, body language, actions and decisions contribute to that as well. What I found interesting is that most headcanons that I read about Lyste actually still overlap closely with my own as well, even though I heavily assume that not all people who wrote them are familiar with his German voice. I would say that this is a good thing, because his core personality is still conveyed across language barriers, even though the way that different actors voice him may emphasise different aspects of his character more or less.

[adachimoe]

Adachi's Mistake

One of the things that is never explained and seemingly left intentionally vague is Adachi's mistake.

After you hear his stupid bullshit on December 7th, he invites you to come find his real self, and you find him inside the TV. While he certainly says a lot of bullshit, I think this line is actually true. Adachi not taking his job seriously (implication being to the extent of messing up) is a recurring thing in the game, so much that him preparing Namatame to be transferred is something Dojima finds out of character or too serious for him.

Some of the meta text about the game (e.g. Adachi's character profiles) also mention him being transferred due to a mistake he made. So, while he does say a lot of bullshit, I think there's some truth to his mini-rant about this.

But what's the mistake he made? Hmm. I've read a lot of interviews and other meta stuff, and... I dunno lol. It doesn't seem to be in any of the stuff I've read. It seems fun to headcanon and speculate about. Maybe he did the exact same shit he's been doing in Inaba but his old boss was less tolerant than Dojima?

It seems that when this topic comes up amongst westerners, people automatically assume Adachi shot someone? That feels more like being American and assuming every country is America lol. And if we're being painfully realistic, he's a plain clothes detective so he wouldn't be carrying a gun to begin with unless it was a situation where it was deemed necessary that he should have one. (Also, I think I've posted about this before, but if Adachi is really just a gun nut, why the heck did he even become a plain clothes detective? Uniformed officers who work in the field would be more likely to carry one.)

I also think about the situation surrounding and reaction to Abe's assassination 2 years ago. Part of why that was such a huge spectacle is because gun violence there is very different (a lot lower). It gives me the impression that "a police officer accidentally shoots someone" would've been seen as a more major thing. In contrast, Adachi believes the mistake he made was something small, and the meta descriptions written about him in booklets seem to agree with this.

As far as civil servant transfers go in general, I am an idiot and went to read up about that on some Japanese websites. They occur every year around March/April and maybe again in the fall (matches up with Adachi saying he came to Inaba in the spring). It also seems pretty normal for civil servants to get transferred every 3-5 years, though things like "causing problems" can justify why you would get transferred.

Given that it's Adachi, maybe he didn't go drinking after work with his coworkers enough times and he gave them bad vibes so he got transferred, bwaha. Though he did go to New Year's Eve parties, so maybe he was actually a bit more social than I'm thinking...?

Random: I have learned that these "unexplained events" are called "noodle incidents", and I am shocked I recognized the reference... my older brothers used to read Calvin and Hobbes!

[ballinandcantgetup452]

Terry McGinnis is the only person who can be the next Batman

I don't normally make hard statements like this. I typically hate it when somebody makes hard statements like this, but hear me out.

No prior Batfamily character can be the next Batman. I'll keep it brief and explain why going person by person (obvious headcanon warning)

Dick is definitely a likelier candidate than most. He can cover for Batman if the need ever arises. But I believe that Dick Grayson hates the idea of actually becoming Batman. He can play the role. He was a circus kid and he's got the heart of a theatre kid, he can play the role all day long. But he was the first. He arguably saw Batman at his natural worst. He and Alfred, anyways. I'm going to drop some OP lore to further elaborate. My dad's a pastor. He's a really good pastor. He's a good man, and he may be an ass, but that's because I know him as "dad". For YEARS, people would tell me that I was just like him, and for a long time, I wanted to be him. It's what boys do when their dad is at the very least decent. But, as I got older, I saw the tapestry and saw the flaws. I saw how tired being a pastor made my dad. I saw how much of his life being a pastor was taking up. I would never tell my dad to stop being a pastor, because that's him. That's his calling; and if he was anything else, then he'd be a soulless, husk of a man. But I've seen what being a pastor does to you, and I don't want that. I want to be better than that. Dick Grayson has seen what The Batman does to a person. He's seen Bruce do things that Dick would never do, and the idea of being the next Batman is something that got soured to him. And it definitely doesn't help that that's what a lot of people used to do to him. So yeah, traumadumping aside, Dick would never STAY Batman. Even if he doesn't know it.

I honestly think it's best if Jason stays as far away from the idea of The Batman legacy as possible. Jason's at the best possible spot right now. He's taken his trauma and has turned it into his empowerment. I don't care what Three Jokers says, that's dumb. Joker's an ass, we don't listen to him. ESPECIALLY if he's swapped out his gun for a crowbar and has a no-kill rule, Jason could be Red Hood until he's 90 and it'll be narratively fulfilling.

Tim is one I see get thrown around a lot. However, I believe that The Batman would absolutely DESTROY him and he would be too stubborn to acknowledge it. One common denominator I believe every Robin goes through is the realization of "oh wow, Bruce is not okay" and trying to be better than that. While I do believe that Tim went through that, I also believe that Tim is arrogant enough to believe that he's better than that. Even putting all of the "alternate Tim evil gun toting Batman" futures aside, I think that Tim is obsessive enough as is. Giving him the mantle of The Batman would cause him to obsess even more to be like Bruce thus causing ANOTHER evil gun toting alternate future Batman. Tim is best as Red Robin. An independent agent that can go well with ANY Batman to keep them on the straight and narrow.

Babs is best as Oracle. No I will not be elaborating. If you want her to be Batgirl, then say that she can Batgirl every once and a while but doing it stresses out the microchip in her back.

Steph is best as Spoiler. She backdoored her way into the Batfamily by being competent enough as Spoiler. I honestly wish that she could be like Batwoman and establish herself as Batfamily adjacent and have her own supporting cast and such. If she does have one, then I'm sorry. Cassie is kind of a blind spot.

Sadly, Cassandra Cain, Duke Thomas, and Harper Row are even bigger blindspots of mine. From what I've seen of them, I can't think of any reasons they couldn't be Batman. However, I can't think of any reasons why they especially should be Batman.

Damian Wayne is my personal vote for becoming the next Batman out of everybody pre established. Not for any birthright reasons. That's dumb. Admittedly, DCeased really turned me on to the idea. I think that the idea of Damian being the child raised by Bruce that turned out the best is a really good idea. In retrospect, I guess the idea of birthright is technically why I'm choosing Damian. BUT, understand I'm doing it with the caveat that Damian is fully developed as a person and as a character. That is the END of his arc.

HOWEVER, Terry McGinnis takes the cake for me in terms of Batman successor. This is going off of the idea that he isn't a Bruce clone. I don't know how canon we've made that, but canon is relative, so I'm saying it's not for the sake of argument. Terry is an outsider. He has no baggage with the idea of The Batman. He's just a guy working through some grief with The Batman being used as a vehicle. He doesn't know any of the Bruceisms. He never had to explain to his friends that his dad is crazy and he's sorry he made contingency plans for all of them. Terry McGinnis gets to make Batman his own. And, luckily, he gets to have a fully realized Bruce to guide him along the way. I also think that it opens so much more story potential. It's essentially a soft reboot for The Batman as an idea. Everybody else can be out doing their own thing. But I think this works in the same way that Miguel O'Hara can ALSO be Spider-Man. I believe that every intimate Batfamily member would follow Bruce's footsteps by making Batman an UNHEALTHY obsession. Terry would be different, he'd lead the pack by turning The Batman into something HEALTHY.

Or maybe I don't read enough comics and all my interpretations are super surface level. Let me know. I'm willing to be wrong.

[coraniaid]

A random ask if you're up for it: what's a terrible take about the Buffyverse you've seen on tumblr but have not yet publicly kvetched about?

I'll be honest: this question prompted a moment of minor panic on my part because my very first instinct was to say something like "hmm, no, I don't think I've ever seen a bad take about Buffy on here I've not immediately complained about". Which is an admission that, were it accurate, should probably prompt rather more introspection on my part than I'd enjoy.

Thinking about it though, I don't think that is really true. In fact, I probably don't say anything negative about most of the bad Buffy takes I see, either because they're not particularly widespread (I try not to publicly disagree with other people's headcanons or even argue against popular posts if it would be obvious who I was responding to) or because they're about characters who I just don't talk about on here at all (either because I don't find them interesting or because my understanding of them is so at odds with the wider fandom's we'd be talking at cross-purposes).

(Or, sometimes, I don't say anything negative because I'm too busy enthusiastically reblogging the post in question, if we're being brutally honest about what counts as a "bad take".)

One concrete example I don't think falls under those headings and which I don't remember complaining about before is the way people talk about Buffy's speech in Selfless. Now, I'll be honest: I don't really like Selfless that much. It's in the top half of Season 7 episodes for me, possibly even the top third, but that's a pretty low bar. But what I do like a lot are Buffy/Faith parallels, and this episode has a big one in Buffy's speech towards the end of the episode:

At some point someone has to draw the line and that is always going to be me. You get down at me for cutting myself off, but in the end the Slayer is always cut off. There's no mystical guidebook; no all-knowing council. Human rules don't apply. There's only me. I am the law.

Obviously this reminds the audience of Faith's similar speeches in Season 3's Consequences, when she tells Buffy that the two of them are "better" than ordinary humans and then later that "you know I'm right. You know in your gut we don't need the law. We are the law."

We obviously aren't meant to agree with Faith in Consequences. (The fact that she follows this speech up by almost immediately defecting to work for the Mayor, commiting at least one cold-blooded murder, having a sobbing emotional breakdown where she begs somebody to kill her and then turning herself in to be judged and punished by the very human laws she sneered at earlier is something of a clue.)

A lot of people point out the parallel but then try to explain that what Buffy is saying is actually substantially different from Faith, and that Buffy is right while Faith was wrong. in Myth, Metaphor and Morality Mark Field (who I don't think is actually on Tumblr, technically, but who I'm referencing to avoid talking directly about the many people on Tumblr who agree with him) ties this in to the wider themes of Season 7, and describes the difference between Buffy and Faith as being that Faith is trying to avoid responsibility (for accidentally killing Allan Finch) while Buffy is taking responsibility (for doing what has to be done and killing Anyanka).

And yes, Buffy is doing something different to Faith here. She is not trying to say that she doesn't have to be accountable. She is not making excuses for her own mistakes or bad behaviour. She is trying to do (what she perceives as being) the right thing.

But Buffy is wrong as well. She is proved wrong within this episode. She doesn't have to kill Anya: in fact, she fails to kill Anya (indeed, given what we see of vengeance demons in The WIsh and in Older and Far Away I don't believe Buffy could possibly have killed Anya, but I know that vengeance demon lore is even less rigorous than vampire soul lore). The problem of Anya being a vengeance demon is resolved, not by Buffy, but by the people she was giving her speech to. The people who she was arguing didn't have a say.

Buffy is wrong, too, within the show's established lore. There is a mystical guidebook (even if her Watcher didn't have her read it), and there is a Council (even if they're far from all-knowing, Buffy could have been making use of their resources ever since she asserted her importance to them in Checkpoint, but she chose not to do this). And Buffy isn't alone. (At least Faith got the number of Slayers right in her speech!)

And Buffy is also wrong in terms of the wider season arc. Season 7 is not about Buffy saving the day by heroically taking all the world's burdens on to herself and making all the decisions. Her attempts to beat the First this way end disastrously; cutting herself off from her friends and her family and the very the Potentials she's trying to protect.

(Yes, the climatic scene in Empty Places is poorly written, but the season does very deliberately have Buffy fail to establish any sort of rapport or connection with the Potentials and spend less and less time with her friends. Buffy isn't blameless for those relationships falling apart, even if having her friends and sister kick her out of her own house is absurd.)

Instead of being the lone voice of judgment, Buffy beats the First and saves the world by not isolating herself. By working with her friends; by realizing they can do things she can't; by sharing her power with the Potentials (because "my power should be our power"); by reconnecting with Faith; by accepting help from Angel and from Spike; and by realizing that the people who "made up the rules" for Slaying thousands of years ago made a mistake.

The whole point of Chosen is that it is a refutation of the vision of being a Slayer that Buffy outlines in this episode.

Quoting it uncritically as if it sums up who Buffy is as a person is like, well, using Andrew's speech about "the Dark Slayer" to describe Faith. (Which ... oh, yeah, people also do.)

[andreal831]

I found it so absolutely crazy that the Mikaelsons (especially Klaus and Elijah) were constantly throwing Marcel’s background back in his face and just the fact that they lived in/on the same plantation that he was a slave on was absolutely wild. Marcel was so blatantly “othered” by the Mikaelsons, even though they said he was family, they always reminded him that he wasn’t ever one of them/a mikaelson and Klaus would always remind him that he was a slave before. Someone made the analogy that it’s like when a racist white family adopts a black child and make it clear that he’s not one of them and that’s quite LITERALLY what happened.

I would go as far as to say that Marbekah is not just weird because Rebekah knew him as a child, but also because of that strange power dynamic of her being a rich white woman and him being a black slave boy and that subtext there and it just doesn’t feel right (and this is a feeling I don’t get from normal interracial relationships, just THOSE TWO). And if you like Marbekah, that’s great! I just don’t lol.

And the fandom always says that “it’s just Klaus’ personality that he does and says these things to Marcel, etc” like… ugh.

And there’s other poc in TO that deal with the racism like Vincent and Inadu, etc

I love the Mikaelsons but they were so problematic to the point that I have to retcon certain things or at least insert headcanons to make me not hate them. Because you are absolutely right. It was literally a racist family playing white savior. People try to give Klaus props for killing an enslaver and freeing Marcel, but we see him kill one enslaver and free one person who was enslaved. He didn't do it because he was morally opposed to slavery. He did it for his own selfish reasons. Otherwise we would have seen more of this. People using the excuse that "oh it's just x's character to make racists comments" is very telling. It means the character is racist. They are literally saying it is part of that character. The Mikaelsons thinking it was fine to live on an actual plantation both when it was functioning and after is proof of this.

I personally do like Marbekah but they are not necessarily in my top favorite ships. I love both of the characters but I also hate how they began (same with Freelin, but I'll go into that in a moment). But again, you're absolutely right. There is not only the inappropriate dynamic that she helped raise him, to some extent, but yes, that he grew up being treated as a second class citizen, not only when he was enslaved but also when he was taken in by the Mikaelsons. There is also the bad dynamic of how possessive Klaus is over Rebekah and her romantic life. People love to say Klaus daggered Rebekah when he found out about Rebekah and Marcel because he was protecting Marcel, but let's be honest, he wouldn't have cared if it was anyone else but Rebekah. Klaus didn't have any issues going after teenagers, why would he care that Marcel was being groomed by an older woman? Klaus always treated Marcel as more of a friend than a son and we all know Klaus is not a good friend. I, once again, have to insert my own headcanon that Rebekah was not heavily invovled in Marcel's upbringing. I pretend Klaus was just as possessive of Marcel with Rebekah as he was with Elijah. We only see the one scene of Rebekah training him so I just pretend that was a one time thing and they hardly interacted outside of that. This not at all what the writers intended. They loved creepy, grooming relationships so it is completely understandable to not like them.

Marcel was treated as more of a possession than anything. I'm biased so I like to believe Elijah saw Marcel as a child at first and wanted to mentor him before Klaus got in the way. You mention Elijah throwing Marcel's history in his face, do you have an example? I am genuinely asking. I've seen people make this comment before and make comments of Elijah calling him "boy" but I for the life of me can't remember when he does, because yes, that is obviously racist. I am trying to think past my Elijah blinders, but welcome any help. Elijah is definitely condescending to him and it would be foolish of me to assume part of it isn't racism. Again, I insert my own headcanon that it is more to do with his elitism and how he speaks to everyone (i.e. the scene where he calls Klaus and Hayley "chiiillldddreeen" for bickering). But I also acknowledge that my headcanons are my own and we still need to call out the characters for their problematic behavior. The fact that Elijah doesn't lift a finger to help a single person who is being enslaved or to even condemn the slavery when he very much had the power and privilege to do something about it shows his racism, if not overt racism than at the very least covert.

I personally headcanon that Celeste set Elijah straight while they were together and got him more invovled in the abolitionist movements, because I refuse to believe Celeste was fine being with a man who was fine with slavery. I also love Elijah and refuse to love a racist so I have to insert my own head canons to fix the racist writing. I would also be remiss to point out how problematic it is that Elijah is constantly given partners who are women of color but the show only emphasizes his white counterparts. There is more love for Eelijah, a crack ship, in the fandom than Celijah, one of the two people Elijah loved by his own admission. I love haylijah, but how the women of color he dated were treated by his family, the writers, and his family, even by him, speaks volumes to their racism.

But back to Marcel. It would have made sense for Rebekah to be a mother figure to him since she is always talking about wanting kids, but the show makes it clear that there is a distinction between biological children and adopted. Here the Mikaelsons have a chance to be parents and they all squander it. It's hard to not talk about Marcel's race in that discussion. Rebekah loves her time taking care of Hope, who, while her blood, is still not her biological daughter. Why wouldn't she jump at the chance to raise a frightened boy who lost his mother at such a young age? Why wasn't he given a mother figure? Hope has like five. Marcel isn't even given a father figure. Again, Hope has like five. Because Marcel was never viewed as a child. This is a common trope where black characters, especially boys, are not seen as kids. Rather they are forced to be more mature and treated as adults, while their white counter parts are allowed immaturity. Marcel was never allowed to be a kid because the Mikaelsons didn't want a kid. They all had their own selfish desires for Marcel and they were all terrible.

I do think the Mikaelsons are also just a toxic, dysfunctional family. Literally none of them treat the others well. I love certain relationships over others, but it would be lying to say they weren't all toxic to each other. So it's no wonder all of their relationships with Marcel were toxic. Klaus undaggers Kol and instead of being angry at Klaus for keeping him in a box, he turns his anger and frustration on a literal child. You would think this resentment would fade when Kol starts dating his nephew's daughter (sorry, couldn't help myself), but it doesn't. Marcel and Kol still harbor so much animosity for each other and Kol's is merely based on Marcel being more included in the family, which is sad considering how little Marcel is included in the family. But even that extent was too much for Kol.

The writers had a fresh slate with The Originals. There was no book to attempt to follow or even to dictate character relationships. They could have done anything with Marcel, but they chose to make a black slave from the 1800s that Klaus "saved" in order to play into the idea that Klaus was a good guy underneath it all. So instead of focusing on Marcel's trauma, the story is told through the Mikaelson's perspective, the white perspective. It reminds me of so many movies, The Blind Side comes to mind. Media loves to focus on the white saviors and praise them without mentioning the trauma they actually caused while playing savior. In these stories, the white families aren't adopting a "child" they are "investing" in what that child can do for them.

I mentioned Freelin earlier and I don't think it is a coincidence that the only two instances where a white Mikaelson's endgame invovled a person of color there is a massive power imbalance. I want to love Freelin so much because I like both the characters but I struggle to get past how they met and how quickly it changed. Freya never even felt guilty or apologized for literally kidnapping and torturing her. The show loves to match up characters, especially women and especially woman of color, with their abusers with no repercussions to the abuse.

I could write forever about the blatant racism in this show.

Thanks for the ask! I hope I answered everything. As always, please let me know what you think or if you disagree with anything I said.

[kelbunny]

❤ 🧡 and 💚 for Triangle Strategy and Octopath, for the unpopular opinion ask game!

Ack sorry for the wait asdfghjkl

❤: Which character do you think is the most egregiously mischaracterized by the fandom?

For Octopath? Probably Temenos at least at of ones I'm probably more able to talk about. It's gotten better, but I've never liked the whole "crimenos bc crime haha" deal. It's definitely gotten better though.

For Triangle Strategy, Roland is an obvious one, but I'll talk about him more down under 💚. Though these might be older as well, but I've also seen some Benedict takes that are off. "Benedict is better than Roland bc Roland is making a dumb decision out of wanting revenge, unlike Benedict, who is being rational" as though Benedict's desire to overthrow the Royal Family is fueled by a desire to get revenge for Destra via her son.

🧡: What is a popular (serious) theory you disagree with?

I can't say I know of any tristrat theories I disagree with, but for Octopath, I've never really been a fan of the "Temenos is a child of Claude theory". It's largely based of a misinterpreted line from Arcanette directed at Throné and the fact Temenos has white hair (which like. It's a jrpg. That's like par for the course for a jrpg). The only "solid" evidence I've seen is the fact that Temenos has a night based passive.

To me, it's simply less of a theory and more of a fun headcanon.

💚: What does everyone else get wrong about your favorite character?

So, I am going to put a cut here haha. Roland Glenbrook, my beloved, your chapter 17 decision is horrible but man I've wanted to do a full little rant for it for a while

So, Roland's chapter 17 decision "To give up the Kingdom and side with Hyzante, despite this dooming the Roselle". A horrible decision that leads to the most "bad" of the bad endings. But, it is not a decision made because Roland hates the Roselle, nor did it "come out of no where" not be "ooc" for Roland.

Roland is established as the "champion of Morality" so to speak. He cares deeply about the safety of his people and friends, and dislikes when the strong try to overpower the weak for gain, as shown by his second character story. He explains this point himself if you do the Liberty Ending, that he can't abide with Aesfrost for that exact reason, as Gustadolf is the embodiment of the strong crushing the weak for their own gain.

If you visit Hyzante, you see Roland comment on how if everyone's needs are met, there's no need for war, a point initially brought up in Chapter 3 if you visit Hyzante, and elaborated on during chapter 10 if you smuggled the salt.

When he shifts to Utility at the end, it's still done out of wanting to protect his people, but that ideal has been tainted by his (cowardly) belief that Glenbrook is too far gone to be saved, caused by the low self worth of himself first shown in chapter 2 growing due to everything that's happened. The corruption you learn about if you report Sorsley. His chapter 15, where his attempts to clear out said corruption in the Royalists leads to a child trying to kill him, and his own people viewing him as a tyrant.

It's a decision made out of desperation and cowardice one he rejects to various degrees in all 3 other endings. And the thing is, as far as Roland knew, he was stripping away his own power along side Glenbrook, as there was no way he could have known Idore was going to execute Tenebris and offer him a position as one of the Saintly Seven.

It's still a hypocritical decision as are Benedict's and Frederica's, but this ain't about them rn, but he realizes that himself during the Golden ending especially, both during his apology scene with Serenoa, as well as during various mid-battle conversations.

[marshallpupfan]

Hopefully this isn't too weird or invasive a question, but I'm curious what draws you to Paw Patrol as an older fan, and also what your experience has been like in the fandom and as a collector? (I'm assuming you're an older fan and probably close to my age from the non-Paw Patrol media you share haha).

I am indeed one of its older fans, and I can think up a few reasons that keeps drawing me to it.

One I can say right away is the fact I have a big love for canines, thus I tend to gravitate towards anything with dogs (and wolves, depending on if they're heroes or villains). They make up plenty of my favorites characters, as some of you seen in one of my previous Asks, and I generally tend to enjoy things more when they're involved (a friend recently recommended an older game to me, which I enjoyed all the more because you got to travel around with your trusty dog).

Funnily enough, not too long ago, I took an interest in the Asterix and Obelix franchise because of its dog character, Dogmatix... and I was quite thrilled when I heard he was getting his own spinoff cartoon! Of course, it was only available in French at the time, but much to my luck, the first half of season one got dubbed in English and [officially] posted on Youtube, free to watch! I gave it a go, and I thought it was pretty good! If anyone's curious, click this link to check it out. And yes, this might've been a thinly-veiled attempt to talk about this cartoon somewhere, since there aren't many English-speaking fans. lol

Arquebus/Musketix is the best character.

But yeah, the pups are one of my biggest draws to PAW Patrol, and unlike some fans, I rather like it when other pups get added to the cast. Boomer and Claw both certainly helped renew some of my interest in the franchise, particularly during a time in which I felt things were going downhill. Hey, I just love dogs!

Obviously, Marshall's easily my biggest draw to PAW Patrol. I'll admit, I tend to take a far bigger interest in an episode when he actually gets some good attention... and it's why my interests start to wane when he doesn't. The dude's legit my #1 favorite animated character, so I suppose it's no surprise to hear I often tune in specifically for him. That's not to say I don't get enjoyment from the other pups, but I'm just so crazy about that spotted pup!

Another aspect that draws me to PAW Patrol is just how fun it tends to be (or used to be, but the modern seasons still have their moments). I don't want to go too deep into this because I don't want things to get too serious, but let's just say... life can be quite rough anymore, and it never seems to get much better. I often look for something that can help me escape that for a while, even if it's just for a half hour at a time. I found that PAW Patrol does that for me. It's cute, colorful, fun, doesn't try to be complex, and by the end, everything turns out okay. And if I need cheering up after a bad day, a certainly clumsy, spotted pup often always puts a smile on my face. Some days, I need that.

----

As for my experiences with the fandom, I'd say it's been largely positive. I do tend to meet a lot of friendly people, many of which tend to be supportive and/or cheerful when I need it, and I generally enjoy interacting with most of them right back! I certainly don't regret being a part of it for the last five years or so.

With that said, I've had encounters that certainly weren't pleasant. I think everyone knows about my copycat by this point, so no need to retread that old ground. There's one infamous user out there who just seems to hate everything (unless it involves Everest), and he often turns hostile if you don't agree with his opinions. The same dude even tried arguing and verbally attacking those who work on PAW Patrol... including their families, too! Crazy guy. I've also encountered some fans who seem to make stuff up, believe their headcanon to be fact, and then become angry when people don't agree with them. I once had someone tell me Ryder is "gaslighting" Rubble, and... I don't even want to know what that means or why they believe that.

And in-regards to being a collector, the reception I often encounter has been quite positive, too. Most fans really seem to enjoy seeing my collection, even if it's just out of curiosity to see just how much merchandise they made of one single pup. I still get compliments on it all the time, from both fans and non-fans of Marshall, and I've even seen other folks who just think it's legit cool.

Surprisingly, I've only had one negative encounter so far, and it was, believe it or not, from someone who used to be a fan of PAW Patrol. She became one of those folks who encountered bad users, got tired of them, and then decided every fan must be awful... and of course, she tore into me because I "talk too much" about Marshall and deemed me a "freak" for collecting so much merchandise. Most of what she said was largely laced with swears and insults, and I'm sure she believes she put me in my place or something... though in truth, I was laughing at most of her replies. Why she felt the need to throw such a temper tantrum on me, I'll never know, but she didn't succeed in even the slightest to discourage me or anything. lol

[amerricanartwork]

Part two of this! Felt like I should get around to finishing these. I've already answered the second, but a lot of my thoughts for these go hand-in-hand so I'll kinda answer them as one here.

Also, I apologize if these seem a bit scattered. The questions are pretty broad in their interpretation, so I'm more just using this to get out some loose character thoughts I probably won't end up saying in other posts I plan to make.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

8. What are your opinions of Looks to the Moon (character)?

9. What are your opinions on Five Pebbles (character)?

To summarize what I said about Five Pebbles last time, I basically see him as another example of what I find to be a fascinating kind of tragic villain, where their bad environments combined with their own major character flaws essentially create a vicious cycle undermining all of their successes and worsening their failures more and more until they meet their demise in some way. But like I said before, I stated I also like the idea that Pebbles's own personality flaws and bad decisions, while still being the ultimate problem, were not the only things to blame for what happened to him, and as of now I think Looks to the Moon takes 2nd place in making the worst mistakes when dealing with him, only topped by Seven Red Suns.

I plan to go into it more later, since it's pretty crucial for an iterator off-the-string AU story I've been working on for a while, but I basically believe Moon's biggest flaw is being too selfless and making decisions based solely around what others seem to need while neglecting herself. In this regard Pebbles could actually be seen as more virtuous than her, because he's extremely committed to doing what he believes is right and follows through pretty much unconditionally, whereas Moon can only pursue her goals if it doesn't appear to do anything bad to other people.

Again, I'm gonna go into this more later, but for now I wanna give some out-of-universe thoughts and say that I would like to see more content showing off Moon's flaws and Pebbles's virtues. I feel like both of them can be a bit flanderized from time to time, with Pebbles being portrayed as overly mean or uncaring and Moon being cheery and caring with no flaws. So to help balance out their sibling dynamic better, I'd like to explore the idea of Moon making her own big mistakes, yet hiding it behind politeness and selflessness, and her eventually having to realize that Pebbles has some merits she could probably learn from!

Even despite that though, I really like Looks to the Moon as a character, and she's probably one of my favorite female characters in any story thus far! Firstly, I really feel for her struggle, not just in being collapsed by her own brother, separated from her friends and drowned constantly, but in (at least my headcanon idea of her) how much she enjoys in the world around her, yet doesn't feel like she can enjoy it fully. I get the sense that because of how old and broken down she is, she feels like "her time has passed" more-or-less, and it's no longer her right to exist for much longer. And that's just so sad! Like, poor girl's gone through so much and doesn't feel like there's anything she can do about it!

But on a more positive note, I think Moon is conceptually a really cool character, albeit in a different way to Five Pebbles. Rain World has always seemed to be largely about the feeling of existing in a strange world with a lost history far older and more complicated than you can ever understand, and I think no character symbolizes that idea of civilizations being lost to time than Looks to the Moon. Her primary utility is giving the player lore about the world, and with her broken down state and age old enough to probably have seen a good deal of Ancient society change over time, it feels all the more like I'm talking to one of the last remnants of a lost civilization. And on top of that, she literally is a broken down massively complex artificial structure, the pinnacle of Ancient civilization slowly returning to the natural ecosystem. And I especially mean that last part! Submerged Superstructure is one of my favorite regions conceptually because abandoned architecture being reclaimed by the wilds is a trope I find so beautiful and poetic, and I think it makes this region speak to that theme of Rain World even more so than Five Pebbles's Metropolis. Whereas Metropolis is still relatively barren and unchanged besides the dust, scavengers, and other occasional creatures, Submerged Superstructure is almost entirely flooded, filled with all sorts of flora and fauna, and yet you can still clearly see the identifying architecture of old sections like the Memory Conflux and Abstract Convergence Manifold. Looks to the Moon, both as a region and a character, is just so cool and beautiful in her ability to evoke such sadness to see this strange and fascinating world be lost to time, yet also a deep love of nature knowing that life goes on anyway!

Lastly, I just wanna mention how I love Five Pebbles and Moon's relationship and how central it is to the "story" of Rain World. As much as I love good romance, deep sibling bonds can be so heartfelt too, and it's continuously fascinating and melancholic and beautiful to see these two mechanical gods get humbled from their high status endure so much tragedy, yet still reconnect with each other in the end, if not physically then by mending their relationships and forgiving each other. Throughout everything we see happen to them they seem so interconnected, and yet, at least in my interpretation, they eventually come to learn that isn't such a bad thing after all! Once again, it serves as a reminder than even in this seemingly hopeless and dying world love goes on, like a great cycle! This is honestly part of why I've been hesitant to write my thoughts on this, because their story's ending in Rubicon threatens to make me cry every time I think about it because it's just so poetic!

So, in short, I like the idea that Looks to the Moon is pretty flawed as well as Five Pebbles, I empathize with her a lot, I adore her symbolism as a fascinating relic of a lost civilization, and I honestly think the story of her and Five Pebbles is perhaps one of my favorite parts of Rain World!

Thanks again for the questions, @tanyabadtime159!

[mash4077confessions]

Headcanons for Mulcahy coming up! With more to follow. Sadly there is a text limit on tumblr or I'd do this in one fell swoop.

Here we go!

1) Something this character is truly proud of? Mulcahy is most proud of himself, when others are proud of him. That said there are a few things that he does take pride in that others might not necessarily notice or appreciate. -His garden. Mulcahy was taught how to grow all kinds of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers by his mother. With so many kids, it was cheaper to grow a lot of their food in the backyard. Mulcahy always had a green thumb; even in Korea. That's why the creamed corn fiasco really hit him so hard. He loves watching as the plants he tends to flourish, even in such terrible soil. Mulcahy also 100% talks/sings to his plants while he's out tending to them. -As a featherweight boxer, he had many great wins. A few fights he still plays over in his head...especially when he's really tempted to wallop somebody (i.e Winchester and Frank). -His personal hygiene. His nails are always neatly trimmed. No hang nails to be seen. Mulcahy also moisturizes. He bathes very frequently. He also does some manscaping. It all comes from the idea of "cleanliness is next to godliness". It makes him feel good and keeps him all fresh faced. -Mulcahy is very proud that he was selected to be a chaplin in the army. It's not really something people think too much about when they're around him, but there (at least were in the 50s) are some rigorous steps a priest make to be selected to go to one of these Mash units. It's part of why becoming a captain was so important to him.

2) Who they want to please the most? For a time, Mulcahy desperately wanted to please his father; to get him both figuratively and literally off his back. It was never going to happen. So then Mulcahy decided to do everything he could to please his mother, and that was also not to be, but it felt more attainable. She would praise him, and then slip in a bit of a passive aggressive remark, so he never really had a completely safe spot to be.

As an adult, he tries to please his friends, and anyone "above him". He's still searching for the unattainable.

9) What calms them when they are upset?Depends on what he's upset about. Talking things out could be useful; provided he feels like he has someone to talk to. Prayer is another comfort he uses. He'll also beat the hell out of his punching bag. Worst comes to worst, he'll have a good cry, hidden off in some place where no one will see or hear him. Poetry can be a comfort for him too, sometimes. Something that resonates deep inside him.

12) How they sleep? He sleeps on his back. I don't know how, but he does. Having had to share a bed with his 5 older brothers, he learned how to sleep anywhere. That tiny, hard army cot is nothing new for him. He gets into his comfortable position and he doesn't move. So weird.

16) Their sexuality? I've said it before and I'll say it again; he is demisexual biromantic. He's definitely been attracted to men before, but he also is attracted to women. The key here being that these attractions don't really become sexual interest, unless he feels very emotionally close to that person. In a way, it's fortunate for him. He's not allowed by the church to have romantic/sexual relationships and because of that same career choice, he's isolated himself from a lot of opportunities to gain these deep emotional connections that would be necessary for him to have that sexual attraction towards people. In a way it's kinda perfect.

That said, if anyone cares, I have NSFW headcanons for Mulcahy as well 😏

19) When they feel safest? Mulcahy feels safest when with friends and far away from shelling. Or when back in Philadelphia, either near Kathy or just in the upper loft of his home church, when all is quiet and the sun is coming through the stained glass windows. But truth be told, he's never really felt completely safe. There's always an unease buried deep inside him. A left over from childhood, where he wonders when the ax will fall.

[omgkalyppso]

I posted this before but deleted it both because I was embarrassed and because I was worried I'd severely fucked up Astarion's age for the nth time, originally referenced from This Post. But I've seen many more analyses and I think it's right. I think it is. Anyway!

EDIT: I DID GET HIS AGE WRONG because that is the post I meant to reference. But I'm not fixing it. 232.

I was tagged by @luinen-bluewater to complete this far simpler ship meme: otp, ot3/4.

Here is the template I actually used: ot3. Here's the otp version.

I'll tag a few people to complete any of the templates referenced: Luinen, @the-eldritch-it-gay, @vlwv, @tadpole-apocalypse, @boghermit, @lemonbronze, @littleplasticrat and YOU.

I'll put the above image chopped up below the cut so it's easier viewing for the curious. And I'll ramble a bit more (bg3 spoilers, discussion of vampirism and character deaths).

In my headcanons, Astarion neither remains a spawn nor becomes the Vampire Ascendant, he becomes a vampire, and some hundreds of years later he turns Étoile to a vampire as well (this post / these headcanons need reviewing after the epilogue changes with the Crown, but we'll see).

With this in mind, I was thinking of Halsin being the longest of their lovers and how Étoile could possibly handle his death:

Étoile and Astarion occupied on some adventure / business or other, and when they return, an unaffected or perhaps impatient messenger has come to deliver news of Halsin's death. And it is so long after the others of their relevant, initial, adventuring party has passed (or maybe not. Lae'zel is a wild card (no aging on the astral plane)). Still, i can imagine one of them snapping. I think it's more interesting if it's Étoile, saying aloud that the messenger is mistaken, that surely the message is that Halsin's ill and is calling to see them a final time — Astarion's near shouting in embarrassment and worry, telling the messenger to go, calling Étoile's name, grabbing their arm until Étoile says loudly that they heard them. They heard what they said. And also sends the poor messenger away.

But then I started considering an alternative which I felt was ooc for Halsin from the base game but which I think is more possible / within the scope of his character after the addition of the epilogue. Reminder that Étoile is a paladin of the neutral evil goddess Auril, started bg3 as neutral good but whom I consider neutral evil, and is an Oathbreaker by the end of their adventure:

Halsin at like 820 or older, life expectancy 700-1000, veering wildly between peace with the natural order of things and intense discomfort with things that feel unfinished, the way they always do. And sometime with Étoile leaned against his chest he speaks of Silvanus, the Oakfather, of children and elders in all families of creatures have come and gone, of how his druidic order has changed more slowly than a tree spreads its roots, and how never in all that time did Étoile ask him to abandon his god and his (god's) comfort for the sake of vampirism and eternity. Fondly, expecting Halsin to imagine it an irritation after his speech, Étoile recalls that Astarion did, three hundred or so years ago. Étoile points out that they know the comfort they found in their worship, and they would never have sought to steal that from him (Halsin). To be a vampire is unnatural, lost to his Oakfather. Halsin points out that he has felt that Étoile has wanted to ask before, even if it has always remained unsaid, in the emptiness in their chest (lack of heartbeat), in the slant of their mouth when his (Halsin's) movement is broken with age, in how they've (Étoile has) breathed in his silver hair the more it's overcome him, something that felt respectful once, but now he's past where his end should have been, and the temptation of rekindling old strengths, the hope of another thousand years, through vampirism, shames him (Halsin) greatly. The selfishness of an old mind. Why wouldn't it have felt like a possibility a hundred years ago, two hundred, more? How could he dare to think of continuing a protection of his forest, of caring for his kin, if he lost all connection to them, and even fears what makes them the same in their morality so much that he would dare forsake it. If he was going to lose his faith, why wouldn't he have done so when he was younger and different, except that he was stronger then, in body and in mind. And yet what difference would there be, feasting upon the wild in the woods? And Étoile would be blunt about the differences, and about how there are even laws now, that they helped put in place. "They" could punish them both greatly for this, but the transformation itself would be their shared shame. He could be their first spawn, and perhaps their only, but if he wanted this now — that it was no corruption of age, just a changed heart. And they would happily accept him into their home if all beasts and men turned from him as a decree from his Oakfather -- but he would have to be sure, because the fallout could be immeasurable. Étoile would try to do it permissably, but they would turn Halsin in secret, if need be. And what if "they" were like. fucking no???? and to ensure you don't do this thing we're going to keep you sealed, either in an area or in a fucking coffin until your druid has passed. (Astarion would lose his fucking mind.)

Abbreviated:

Halsin: what if i've lived long enough to see myself become the villain. Étoile: well my ship has sailed, and you know, if i meet you in hell then it's not hell

I think though that Halsin's village would have warm, clean shelters under the ground, just below the surface as if to shelter from storms, but well-used and familiar to vampires after years of shared knowledge and resources. They'd be glad to claim him.

OH! And Étoile's birthday is Oct 20th (their date of creation during early access was Oct 20 2020), I gave Astarion Sept 22nd (first day of autumn), and Halsin May 13th (he seems like a Taurus and I figured he'd be worn and irksome about having a birthday that often falls on a day associated with bad luck (Friday the 13th)).

[grabowskibeepboop]

So, I'm an anime watcher, not a manga reader, blame it on proctrastination but I wanna talk about dungeon meshi so I will, even if I haven't read the manga, so my thoughts so far

Halflings are fake ass bitches, which is not a bad thing, but they will talk shit about each other behind their backs, but when everyone's in danger they will prioritize their own safety along with other halflings in the party, I know that's what we've seen already but I think it's just a trait they all share, exept if they're under different circumstances like one of them has a kobold companion (which btw I don't know where kobolds being furries came from, as far as I know kobolds look like goblins and such, but sure, I like furries so go ahead)

Laios is gay and it's heavily hinted at, okay maybe not that heavily but I'm 1000% sure it's hinted at, I mean who else would hear "there's a naked guy dancing in that painting" and say it's the perfect painting to jump into, and even if you think that's a coincidence and he was just hungry, not being affected by sirens' song and even knowing how to make it uneffective for your party members is pretty gay imo, and maybe it's not a specifically gay trait, but not being able to pick up on when other people flirt with each other or even you is just something I really love about him and I really want to say it's a queer trait, so manga readers, don't spoil me, but can you back me up on this? Or maybe debunk me, I don't know

It's not that hinted at, but I think that even if she's not in love with Falin, whatsherface is gay at the very least, with Falin being her awakening, but even if she's somehow not, Laios is and they're best friends, I'm not taking any votes

Whatshisface, the one with the chimmunk name, sorry I always forget complicated names, but if he's gonna end up with a woman, he needs a dommy mommy, I'm also not taking any votes on this

Personal headcanon because I think this would make for a great gig is that Senshi and I'm sorry if I misspelled it is still older than the rest (as in, I think whatsherface is above 100 or at least close to it, but I think converted into human [or species that live as long as humans] years she's around her early 20s because she's still pretty immature), but as far as I've learned from other media I'd assume that dwaves live around as long as elves, or at least they measure in hundreds, so I want to say he's still older than the rest, but he's a pretty young dwarf, I'd say he's around his 80s or something, but converted into human [...] years he's around his mid 30s or 40s

I wanna say this, not proud of it but at first I thought whatshis-pony-tail's new party consisted of his wives, but it's not so I was wrong, just saying this as a "fun" fact

I love myself a gossip king, I live for the drama too

Honestly wanna say that if I lived in a world where there were monsters I would've assumed that adventurers eat them on the daily, like that's what I would've done, why should I waste all that flesh and ingredients? Like I think video games already let you eat moster flesh do they not? Minecraft does, it is poisonous but still, I wouldn't be hesitant to eat them just because they're monsters, maybe I would be disgusted sometimes, but if I defeated a giant half chicken half snake monster I would be eating chicken for days (if I had the equipment to keep it edible), maybe even the snake part if I didn't feel so picky

The fact that they can make dungeons and they even study it and one of the characters wants to make one is genius imo

Edit with further thoughts:

(I just watched ep.19 so this is newer than the rest) Laios is a furry confirmed?

What if, if the dungeon cleaners get trappet for a long enough time in a different system they become part of that system, so they can be used as replacement for lost blood? (And no I didn't think of this while daydreaming about Kabru reuniting with injured Laios what are you talking about?)

So what if Kabru kissing whatsherface was just them showing that he's not hesitant to use tactical flirting?

So what if Laios has night terrors because of seeing the dead?

So what if I write labru fanfiction in my head even though I don't know anything about them?

So is Kabru just a people pleaser or is he manipulative?

Being a tumblr user makes me ship things in before I even know what they are

Imagine being a furry in a world where you could've actually been born as a dog person

But on the other hand you have a magic bestie who can turn you into a dog so

What am I on?

Edit again

Yooo what it there was an anti-nightmare, that gives you the best dream of your life that can't and don't want to wake up from while it eats your body slowly?

And what if one anti-nightmare can target multiple people, but that way they will both dream the same thing, so it's risky for the anti-nightmare

But it's also a good observer, so it can tell who would work well with who in a dream

They're usually in packs of 2 or 3, but it's not a rare sight that you'll find just one of them

They're in the same family but look different from nighmares

Omg I'm at it again

[brokenrealitylooper]

Fruit Loops

I think I've found most--possibly all, unless some are on an old harddrive somewhere--of the RWBY time loops au "Fruit Loops". Most of the notes/ideas are our chat logs just copy/pasted into a doc, so those will be "fun" to translate into story form. (Especially as Z is busy working on her KH2 self-insert fic, which is gonna be amazing but means I'd rather not distract her until she's done)

To celebrate, I think I'll rewrite the first 6 chapters--some/all of which are on FFnet and here--while I'm going over the story, and I and Zephyrus' note/ideas.

If you have any questions about the au, and/or after looking at my various RWBY Loops/Fruit Loops posts have ideas for situations, feel free to drop asks. (Or send in prompts from the couple lists I've reblogged for either this au or the Tarnished Silver au; I'd love to write things for, or answer questions from, people who enjoyed/are interested in Tarnished Silver and Regrets & Love)

I will state again, here, that FL was written before Vol-3 around 2015 (unlike Tarnished Silver, which was written during/after Vol-3 and edited much later, after...vol-6 I think? Whichever was released back in 2019 when I posted TS on Ao3) so a lot of the things we now know are replaced with headcanon as Z and I guessed and theorized about the world, characters, and powers based on what we'd seen in the "current" volumes (1 and 2).

This led to...well, a wildly different world than we see by vol-6 and later. Immediate examples are: there is no Salem or Maidens, no Relics or mention of the Brother Gods, and "swearing" is things like "Dust damn it" instead of what we see in canon or in more current fic that mention the Brother Gods. (I may change some of it to reference the shattered moon, as we did have the characters say, a couple times, things like "Once in a whole moon" instead of "once in a blue moon" for example.)

Additionally, some of the "history" is based on a couple older fics I'd done, "Gold to Dust, Dust to Gold" and "Thirty Days", which both focus on Weiss/Jaune.

0o0o0o0o0

Chapter 1 We All Fall Down

It was a nightmare. That was the only way Weiss could see it, looking back later.

Somehow the White Fang had gone from nearly forgotten to launching a massive attack on her family home at Castle White. The only reason she and her team had arrived before the Fang had breached the castle's defenses was because they had already been on the way to visit her family.

Team RWBY's greatest strength was their ability to work together and in pairs, the four of them unstoppable in the two years since they'd graduated.

And it still wasn't enough. The Fang troopers managed to draw them away from each other, isolating them, and everything fell apart.

Yang died first. Weiss only knew--focused as she'd been on reaching Ruby--because of a massive blast of fire drawing everyone's attention for a few heartbeats. Yang's form lay on the ground ringed by a massive circle of burned terrain and scorched Faunus corpses.

Weiss thought she could feel the rage and regret even from where she stood.

The next to fall was Blake, the woman isolated in a tight melee by heavily armored Fang troopers. She simply couldn't get space for her acrobatics, and her blades bounced off the armor her murders wore. Weiss glimpsed a massive maul raising high before it swung down, and then utter stillness from that space.

Ruby was a raging whirlwind by then, her scream at Yang's death and her following sobs wrenching at Weiss' heart. But Weiss still couldn't get through the Fang around her, the mass of them hemming her in and keeping her from moving far. A shot rang out as Ruby came out of one of her spins-of-death, and the younger woman stumbled as a spray of red erupted from her chest.

Weiss screamed as she watched Ruby fall, and missed the trooper that managed to get behind her.

The next she knew, she was kneeling at the center of Yang's crater, the bodies of her friends laying nearby, dropped carelessly by the White Fang.

She heard the unsettling deep chuckle of Adam Taurus behind her--of course it's that animal, part of her mind sneered through her aching head--as she glanced up, the sound of an approaching bullhead catching her attention.

Racing towards her, with Jaune--"Oh Jaune..."--hanging out the side door was a Beacon Bullhead.

"Always such poor timing, my knight..." she murmured as tears poured from her eyes, hearing Adam shift behind her as everything suddenly went still.

A sharp whistle blasts near her ear as she bolts up in bed, the phantom chill of a blade biting through her fading even as her mind flails about.

"Ruby! Don't do that!"

Ruby stands beside her bed in their Beacon dorm, grinning ear to ear despite Weiss' screech, with the small silver whistle in her hand while Blake and Yang glare at the young Rose from their beds.

Weiss manages to brush them off, telling them she'll meet them in the cafeteria, before burying her face in her pillow after they leave.

She almost misses breakfast, but at least her eyes aren't red-rimmed and she's able to act normal when she gets there.

o0o0o

Maybe she'd been more out of sorts than she'd thought... But even then she could not believe a simple Boarbatusk had managed to gore her in PORT'S CLASSROOM.

Though at least she now suspected time was caught in a loop...which was both reassuring--maybe she could save them from White Castle--and deeply disheartening.

What was she to do if she was stuck repeating these same six years? Especially if no one else remembered? Sure, she had her friends back, but...it wasn't them, they didn't remember what she did, didn't know her anymore.

And Jaune...

In the privacy of the dorm room--her team out doing other things--Weiss keened as she balled up on her bed.

They had been going to be married in just a couple months, they'd had everything planned out. She was going to step back from missions to start taking over the SDC from her father, while he moved to Atlas and applied to work for the Academy there under Ironwood. They were going to have a nice house, just for them, away from Castle White.

And now it was undone. Jaune was a clutz again, adorable only in hindsight but endearing all the same. He wasn't in-love with her yet, just clumsily flirting.

It hurt, and all she could do was steal a few minutes from the day when it was too much to hide and cry.

Maybe she could be forgiven for not moving fast enough during initiation.

o0o0o

"Ruby! I swear on my family's Dust, stop using that whistle!"

0o0o0o0o0

It's not all of chapter 1, but enough I think to set the scene.

Weiss--and her team--dies fighting the resurgent White Fang lead by Adam Taurus, and the man executes Weiss with his signature attack--like he destroyed the spider droid on the train--just as Jaune and the rest of JNPR were arriving to try and save them.

After she wakes up in the dorm, she manages to keep it together well enough to get through initiation, but stumbles badly when Ruby cheers as she faces off against the boarbatusk Port releases and doesn't get her Aura up in time.

Her next Loop it's simply too much, and she fails to pay enough attention and move fast enough to avoid being killed by the Nevermore when it does a strafing run on them.

One thing you might already notice--which Weiss hasn't--is that her start point shifts around a bit. First it was after initiation, then it was before. She generally will Wake Up either when Ruby blows her whistle their first day of classes, or somewhere around her arrival at Beacon.

[dragon-master-clair]

🎙️What's your favorite thing about Clair and why? What's your favorite headcanon you assigned to her?

[ask game]

//oh man, there's so much that i like about clair and she's been my favorite gym leader (along with flannery) for years now.

//one thing i've always loved, which is really the whole thing about her character in the games, is how she's putting on an air of confidence. she comes across as kind of a pompous jerk, but like, her cousin is the champion and she clearly has some issues with not being seen as good a trainer as he is.

//which is wild, because she's the eighth (and therefore toughest) gym leader you face in gsc/hgss. she is a good trainer. she says flat out that she can go toe to toe with the e4 and hold her own. to me, clair is very like... gifted kid coded. she feels like she's used to being the best damn trainer in the room and has trouble acknowledging people can be better than her. she must be under a lot of pressure to perform well as a gym leader, y'know?

//so for my headcanon, i've explained this character trait like so: she really is talented. training comes easily to her. but as she got older, the margin between her and your average johtoni kid the same age narrowed as they gained experience, and she wasn't as far in front of the pack as she had been. she doesn't quite have the introspective skills necessary to discern that this didn't happen because she got worse, but that everybody caught up to her and she's closer to the average than she realized as a kid when she was wiping the floor with everyone she battled.

//that being said: she really is a better trainer than she feels like she is on the inside. she's actively good at what she does, not just because training comes easily to her, but also because she cares about being the best and works really hard at it.

[orangepanic]

34, 36 (I am myself a very visual person, and I should say proudly that I have read all your fics during last 2 months, and I visualize Iroh very good, you even told his height, but not for Asami(as far as I can remember) I would love to imagine them beside eachother in your fics, so how tall you imagine her🧐)

39, 41

Please skip any, if you have already answered ❤️

That's such an interesting point! (also you read all my fics???!!!!!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗) I wonder if I spend less time describing Asami because she has so much more screen time so I assume readers know? Anyway I have Asami as just a hair over 5'9" but as in canon almost always in heels, which puts her at perfect kissing height with Iroh :-)

34. What aspects of your writing are inspired by/taken from your real life?

At the same time everything and nothing. There are no characters who are inspired by real people, but at the same time there are little bits of people I know in so much of my characterizations. Asami has my messy purse and my coffee order. Iroh and I probably have the same number of books, though his are far better organized. His and Izumi's dislike of shoes is the same as my husband's. Some of the settings look like places I've been or seen (like all of Starvation Paradise is inspired by a real place in Russia). It's all cobbled together.

36. Do you visualize what you read/write?

Yes, which is often the hardest part. Writing for me is like watching a movie in my head and trying to translate. But it's also filtered through the characters' perceptions. Another reason I might describe Iroh differently than Asami is that they notice different things about one another. For example, I pulled these first re-meeting descriptions from the same fic.

Taller than average, he had thick black hair that he wore slicked back and the typical pale skin and golden eyes of the Fire Nation. Handsome in an angular sort of way, he had the kind of tense, uncomfortable look that she associated only with military men, nuns, and Lin Beifong.

Her black hair was bound up into a ponytail and she’d exchanged her heeled boots for hiking shoes. Even in the flat shoes she was tall, and though clearly younger than him she walked with a surety of movement that made her seem older than Korra and the others. A pair of olive green goggles perched on the top of her head. Iroh hadn’t wanted a traveling companion, but the thought crossed his mind that, if he must have one, he could do a lot worse than a pretty girl with common sense.

While it's only an example, I think Asami is slightly more literal and objective in her internal descriptions. Enter Mr. Tall, Tense, and Handsome from the Fire Nation. Iroh seems to be more relative, so while also noting features like tall and pretty, he's also describing Asami relative to his own expectations and feelings, so you get comparators like "younger than me but seems older than Korra and mature for her age so maybe okay to date?" and "I really didn't want to go with someone but hmmm okay yes I like this."

I can't claim I'm doing this on purpose but maybe I am? It would track with my characterization of Asami as slightly more analytical and Iroh as a big sack of feelings.

39. Is any aspect of your writing process inspired by other writers or people? If so, who?

Oh, all the time! First, I shamelessly steal headcanons. All the time. I see something I like and I adopt it. Second, I'm always reading things that make me want to write better or differently. If I read something I like I'll try it out. For example I just read a trashy mystery novel that, while I didn't love it, hardly used dialog tags at all and I was fascinated by that, so I've been trying it out. It's just fun to play with. Finally, I love chatting with other writers and people in fandom and bouncing ideas and getting feedback. They've all made me better.

41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”

I love the subtle intimacy of this one and have been trying to write like that ever since.

Fanfic writer asks