#it was in headcanon territory for a while but now i think there's more supporting evidence for this

[protect-namine]

recontextualizing durin

I'm going through genshin lore again and my god. albedo and durin both love rhinedottir SO much. albedo can't bring himself to call alice "mother" because rhinedottir means so much to him. durin, even in death, thinks fondly of the mother that birthed it.

RIP dorian. I don't think rhinedottir knew you're still around but your resentment is valid though.

also: durin just wants to make friends with mondstadt!! I mean, we already knew this from v1.2, but now with the windblume event, I suspect venti knew about durin's innocent heart and that's why he and dvalin buried durin in snow and didn't just kill it. durin's heart still beats if you visit the skeleton! durin did cause destruction, but seems to not be conscious of the consequences of its actions.

I'm beginning to think rhine sent durin to mondstadt so venti could take care of it, instead of leaving its fate to celestia. venti and the hexenzirkel seem to be close allies ("sometimes we all need to vent our troubles to the wind"). three of the witches' successors were sent to stay in mondstadt. and venti has access to their tea party locations, the GAA, etc. I think venti has had a long partnership of taking care of, perhaps even covering up, the witches' troubles.

this actually changes a lot! if venti knew durin was from rhinedottir, whom alice thinks of fondly (and we know venti is at least close to alice), then was he sympathetic to durin? in fact, what does he think of the whole cataclysm, of the "great sinner" rhinedottir?

we know venti is not a fan of celestia. we know the archons except greater lord rukkhadevata were supposedly sent to khaenri'ah, but also they each fought off abyssal monsters in their own regions. how much of this was rhinedottir's fault, how much of this did venti simply defend against, and how much did he really know intimately about and covered up (or at least, refused to acknowledge to others)?

from breeze amidst the forest, we know that mondstadt doesn't actually know how the battle with durin ended. they only know the results.

The result was clear — Durin's remains still lie atop the snowy peaks to the south of Mondstadt — but the story of how the battle ended was lost in time. It is said that Dvalin ripped out Durin's throat, and together they fell from the sky. Durin's body sunk into the snow while Dvalin was summoned by the Anemo Archon and fell into a slumber.

[planchettewrites]

The Criminal Minds Men While You're On Your Period - Headcanons

CHARACTERS: Dr. Spencer Reid, Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan

DESCRIPTION: Headcanons for the Criminal Minds men while you're on your period. Characters mentioned above/AFAB!Reader.

CONTENT: Discussion of Periods, Discussion of Feminine Hygeine Products, Romantic Relationships w/ Aforementioned Characters

A/N: I've been on a Criminal Minds binge recently (when am I not), and I really wanted to write this. I only included the aforementioned characters because I'm only on season three. So, unfortunately, there is no Luke Alvarez since I have yet to learn his character! I hope you enjoy!

- Dr. Spencer Reid

This poor bastard, as genius as he is, would have such little clue on how to handle your period (at least when it comes to being a partner).

That’s not to say he doesn’t try, nor is he clueless.

He’s definitely worked with his colleagues when they are on their periods and has probably been good at support, but in the relationship department, he’s a little…inexperienced. 

Spencer is incredibly observant (it comes with the territory of both the job and being a partner), so needless to say, he knows what brands of period products you use.

If this man isn’t the type to dote on you while you’re on your period, I am calling the Bureau myself and filing a report.

All that is to say, Spencer is still spitting period facts at you while you lie together.

“Did you know that almost half of American women crave chocolate on their period?[1]

“Over ninety percent of women experience premenstrual symptoms; that’s three in four women...”[2] 

Oh, sweet summer child…we know (it comes from a place of love).

Now, back to the doting. 

I want to think that the kind Dr. Reid is a cuddle monster who is absolutely giving you a shoulder or back massage if you’re sore.

He will also absolutely read to you while you’re on your period to help you distract yourself from any cramps or anything else that may bother you.

- Aaron Hotchner

Out of the three men I present here, Mr. Hotchner knows how to handle a woman on her period like it’s a science.

Incredibly sweet and patient, and doesn’t have to be asked for anything.

Do you want something you’ve been craving? He’s on it. He knew twenty minutes before you started craving it. Have mood swings? Aaron can take all the punches. Need space? He can take Jack out to the movies. 

If he’s home, he’ll lie in bed with you and Jack and watch as many Disney movies as you want. 

If he’s out on the job, he’ll call you so you can listen to him talk about his day (and he totally will send flowers to the house to brighten up your day).

An absolute gentleman at all times when it’s your monthly; he’s never grossed out, and he’s never not what you need him to be.

Let’s say you accidentally get blood on your favorite pair of panties. Aaron will be the first to take them and clean them by hand without question.

He’s seen a lot of gross shit, so your period blood is nothing. 

- Derek Morgan

His sisters and mother have taught him well: this man can absolutely handle you on your period. 

He may not know your preferred brands or preferred size, but he’ll absolutely buy four boxes of tampons and pads and then ask which ones you like

Okay, more realistically, he’d call you at the store, but he’s unafraid to buy them for you.

He will also bring your favorite snacks without having to be asked.

Chocolate? Done. Candy? Already accounted for. Water or a sugary drink? Derek Morgan on the job. 

Derek has absolutely seen his sisters experience PMS, so your PMS is nothing. Absolutely has patience and is willing to talk it out with you.

Super considerate if you don't want to go out! Want to instead have a movie marathon? Sounds good to him. Want to order instead of go to a restaurant? Sounds solid.

If you're clingy on your period, Derek adores this. He is absolutely okay being smothered by you. Comes with the territory of being a partner.

References for the Facts:

[1] Hormes JM, Niemiec MA (2017) Does culture create craving? Evidence from the case of menstrual chocolate craving. PLoS ONE 12(7): e0181445. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181445

[2] “Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS).” WomensHealth.Gov, 22 Feb. 2021, https://www.womenshealth.gov/menstrual-cycle/premenstrual-syndrome.

[cloudyswritings]

Yes… I am the silksong now!!

My thoughts and headcanons on Hornet. I’ll be real I’ve kinda been ignoring her because I’m terrified of having to tag silksong headcanons, I’ve seen the fucking Reddit. Anyway, enjoy my ramblings.

So I think that a Hornet qualifies as a pale being, she was born to one and has a pale mask of one. More than that she qualifies for being in godhome(a low bar ik, looking at you vengefly king).

She isn’t really a god per-se but definitely is a higher being on par or stronger than the great knights.

She obviously considers herself a spider but overall she inherited very little from Herrah.

Id say she only really got the fangs and dietary needs

Shes absolutely an obligate carnivore, so don’t expect her to be eating plant matter of any type. She does the whole inject her meal with venom to dissolve it and slurp it up deal

this is mostly because even though she’s got the full Wyrms arsenal of teeth and a Wyrms digestive tract her mouth is very small and she only has pedipalps and fangs externally. This means it’s very hard for her to eat any solid food/get it down to where her throat teeth can break it down

So interestingly her body color in combination with the vessels may actually tell us more about the pale kings- see both she and the vessels have black chitin suggesting it may be inherited from the king.

She also has both her fathers number of eyes and limbs, something that infuriates her deeply.

I don’t feel that the hornet we see in canon is her final molt, mostly because it seems like the sealing of THK functionally stopped time in Hallownest. I imagine once they’re free and the Radiance is dead she’ll probably undergo one last molt.

I think her missing limbs(she has 4 that we know of meaning she’d have 4 more as a spider) will actually end up growing into wings with said molt.

She also inherited her aptitude for mechanical stuff from the king. It seems like she makes all of her own stuff. Plus the crafting system and buzz saws in silksong support this.

She likes buzzsaws

I imagine if we could get a better look at the light she casts it’d be a lot like her fathers. She’d be a pale red light that falls far and deep but bears only a subtle influence on the world, like the strumming of gossamer threads.

Shes set down threads all over Hallownest, allowing her to keep track of a ton of things at once by feeling vibrations

She does have spineretes but uses soul to supplement and extend the amount of thread she can make.

She actually really likes the white lady, mostly because of good childhood memories from visiting the palace. She was the cool mom for a while. She’s more conflicted in regards to her towards the events of the game though.

Her favorite food is probably primal aspids, but she’s got a huge soft spot for honey because of her time in the hive. She also likes soups because they’re easier for her to eat(esp the ones Ghost makes)

She has very good eyesight from Herrah, but also has face blindness that she inherited from the king. She makes do, but mostly relies on clothing, scent, and body language to identify people.

As a grub she was the only one of her brood to survive, she was part of a large brood and likely spent her earliest days in a broodsack(that’s just how spiders do shit) but ate all of her potential siblings before hatching-she doesn’t know it but this is a wyrm instinct and her father did exactly the same thing.

She’d absolutely hate that if she found out.

She suspects but isn’t sure about why she’s territorial. Unsurprisingly it’s once again a wyrm thing

Her threads are far stronger and more durable than even those produced by the best weavers, in fact some of her silk may have been used for THKs seals- she probably doesn’t remember this cause she was too young.

Is mad she inherited the kings height. Honestly she’s mad about everything she inherited from him.

She doesn’t know it but she’s fairly resistant to void, especially for someone half mortal.

Sleeps in a giant mess of quilts, pilows, and silk. It’s held slightly off the ground. This is sorta a halfway point between a Wyrms nest and the silk hammocks of the weavers.

Shes a very fidgety and light sleeper, and realistically needs far less sleep than most beings.

Her venom is ridiculously potent, like to the point of being almost unanimously fatal to mortals and weaker higher beings. It would honestly still do a lot of damage to gods too. It’s a symptom of hybrid vigor, wherein the hybrid offspring of two species tends to be stronger, larger, and overall more genetically resilient than either parent.

Hybrids also tend to be sterile.

Hornet probably couldn’t have children if she wasn’t a higher being, even then I’m not really sure she could tbh.

Given enough time and soul she could pull a metamorphosis like her father did, though she doesn’t know how.

What she’d emerge as is unclear, but she’d likely either become a spider goddess in truth. Or even more likely she’d fully become a wyrm and abandon the mortal parts Herrah gave her.

For obvious reasons she won’t do this.

Her favorite color is a toss up between red and purple.

She weaves clothing for her siblings semi-regularly. Kinda gets frustrated at how often Ghost ruins their thought. They’re rough on clothing ig.

She didn’t inherit her fathers ability to burrow, but some of the instincts remain. She’s very frustrated at this.

She’s kinda bad at rembering names too, she gets embarrassed by this and it’s part of why she doesn’t stay anywhere long enough to get to know the bugs there.

Has a charm that was created from Herrahs regrets. It doesn’t do anything but give off the faint sense of a clawed hand on her shoulders and the faint whispers of the lullaby Herrah used to sing to her.

it’s still her single most prized possession

Her needles is a close second and was made of pale ore taken directly from the Pale Wyrms corpse. It’s the one thing her father gave her she loves.

he gave it to her as a gift for her being given a name. He likely used his foresight to figure out how large she’d be as an adult and made it in anticipation of that.

She can go an exceedingly long time without a meal. This was super helpful during the infection when uninflected prey was rare at best.

With age she is becoming more and more powerful as a higher being and will likely eventually become a goddess proper.

She has the lifespan of a Wyrm but doesn’t really know it yet and chalks her remarkable age up to the blurring of time during the infection. Despite this she’s still a child by wyrm standards and has many, many, many years left to live.

Most bugs are absolutely shocked to hear about her actual age.

Lace will be for sure, and she’ll probably live to regret threatening her.

Shes super fast, like almost impossible to track I’m combat at times, this is actually because of her use of both wind and soul magic along with the thread based spells of the weavers.

Her shell is covered with intricate and detailed carvings, this is essentially the weaver version of tattoos.

Im genuinely not too sure if her mask is actually her face like it is for the pale king or just a mask like for Herrah. I lean towards it being her face though.

The bell cult caught her while she was sleeping and that’s the only reseal they survived the encounter.

id say there’s probably a good chance of her ascending to godhood as a possible ending to silksong.

Doesnt really have a sense of humor but does find puns and dad jokes hilarious(they were the only jokes the pale king told when she was little)

Theorectically given enough prep time and motivation she could place webs all over the city of tears(or a similarly sized city) and pull all of the buildings down in one go.

She might also be able to do the whole puppeting corpses thing that happens in the beasts den.

She needs a certain amount of metal in her diet thanks to being part wyrm. It’s really hard for her to find in pieces small enough to fit into her mouth.

Some crack/non-serious headcanons

She’s absolutely a chain smoker on par with Grimm- you know why

When she says Shaw it’s because as a kid she couldn’t say saw, the king would be so damn proud.

She’d be so good at putting up Christmas lights. Like the best even.

secretly loves holidays, could pull of a mean Santa impression by just fucking hustling down peoples chimneys and stealing their cookies. She’d even have a big ass silk bag full of toys.

Maybe she does this for Hallownest once it’s built?

that’s it’s, this is how she ascends to godhood

Hornet is bug Santa.

[anonymousboxcar]

Spamcan/D199 Headcanons & Analysis

While writing this fic and replying to folks’ lovely comments, I thought a lot about Spamcan and what makes him distinct to me. I feel like he’s different from the other rude diesel antagonists.

In my opinion, what sets him apart is that he has a companion. Bowler and Old Stuck Up arrive alone while Spamcan shares his trial with Bear. He also says “we” and “our controller” to Bear. There’s familiarity between them; he thinks of themselves as a package deal.

Bear validates this: “Shush! It’s their railway.” He doesn’t agree with Spamcan’s bigotry, but he still calls the NWR “their” railway. He’s aligning himself along lines of “us and them,” suggesting he and Spamcan are on the same “side” to some degree. He also considers themselves a package deal, even if he’s frustrated with it.

So how did these two become acquainted?

Well, Bear is a diesel-hydraulic engine — a type BR declares non-standard. Spamcan is a diesel-electric, safe for now from the cutter’s torch, but Bear’s position is much more fragile.

Considering what we see of Spamcan, he doesn’t seem like he’d befriend Bear for altruistic reasons. Yet he still refers to himself and Bear as a “we.” He even worries about what Bear thinks of him after he breaks down with his oil tankers.

And that’s what I think is at the root of this. Spamcan doesn’t care about Bear, but about what Bear thinks of him. He cares about maintaining a self-image that convinces Bear to stay with him, to keep following him.

Spamcan wants Bear to be dependent upon him.

I imagine their dynamic on BR was Spamcan demanding Bear’s loyalty in exchange for protection. And by protection, I mean dumping his work on Bear with the excuse of keeping him “out of sight, out of mind” from their controller. Bear didn’t have any better options, so he went along with it. Now he’s at the end of his rope.

But my pre-canon musings aside, do you see what I’m getting at? Spamcan’s one manipulative son of a gun!

He utilizes Bear’s threatened status to keep him close, to have someone who backs up what he says. His use of chummy plural pronouns is a strategy to wear down Bear’s sense of individuality. He tries to create camaraderie while also diminishing him, reducing him to a satellite in his orbit.

Spamcan is arrogant and boastful, but he has a degree of subtlety, too. That’s something that Bowler and Old Stuck Up never managed. The fact they came alone on their trials suggests they don’t have any followers or “friends” of their own, any of Spamcan’s finesse.

But you know who does manage some of that finesse? Diesel.

I like to think that Spamcan hears the story of Diesel’s trial. To him, it’s clear that Diesel worked the best when he flattered other engines and made himself indispensable to them. Messing with the trucks backfired in the end, but Spamcan would never do such a foolish thing. He can do one better than Diesel.

It’s not Spamcan’s plan to go to Sodor — he would rather stay on a “modernized” railway — but he figures it’s his duty to spread modernization. Like a “good diesel,” he volunteers himself with Bear for the trial. The Sodor engines will be on guard now, so who better to go with him than the fellow diesel to which he made himself invaluable? It’ll ensure someone has his back in hostile territory.

Spamcan’s miscalculation is in assuming that Bear will be grateful for recommending him to go on trial, winning him more points with him. But on BR, Bear was vulnerable. Now that he’s on Sodor, he has a chance of getting to safety. He doesn’t need Spamcan’s protection.

And every time Spamcan tries to appeal to him, he’s showing himself at his nastiest. Bear’s personal morals aside, if Spamcan hates “outdated” steam engines, how long will it be before he turns on “non-standard” diesels? How long will it be before Bear stops being useful to BR and to Spamcan?

When Bear tells Spamcan to shut up, he loses his only support right as he makes enemies out of every steam engine on this island. He’s alone and it’s all his own fault, all because he assumed he could manipulate his way out of any situation.

In that way, Spamcan isn’t too different from the other rude diesel antagonists. He fails because he’s arrogant and discriminatory. He fails because our protagonists resist swollen egos and prejudice where they see it.

But I like to think I’ve made a decent case for the ways he is different. I think he’s a bit subtler, a bit more manipulative than the others, even if he’s no more successful. What do you guys think? :)

[ai-no-tsuki]

a rant about the light fury, by a biology student (+theories)

Disclaimer: The canon light fury will be referred to as the light fury, whereas the original concept of the light fury will be referred to as dusk fury, for the sake of clarity and also I think it fits more.

Light Fury

so, we have to first address the appearance of the light fury. it makes little sense. How so? well, it is very obvious that she was designed to be a girly version of the night fury. But I can make sense of the design with some headcanons.

they live in taiga biomes/boreal forests and/or tundras. their blue underbelly would help camouflage against the sky while in flight, and their white scale blends in with the snow, and their mirroring helps them camouflage in the short summers. This justifies their glimmery scales.

they have a more streamlined 'fin' along the spine, and the secondary 'wings' resemble fins. This could mean that they sometimes swim to hunt, but no other known trait supports this. however, the secondary wings could also be for extra agility in flying.

Dusk Fury (original concept light fury) DISCLAIMER 2: i will be using redesigns/art based off of the original concept, not the actual original concept.

and

This general design speaks more to me in general. It follows the general idea of the Furies but isn't so similar to night furies that they would be feminine, recoloured night furies. Now, onto theories and headcanons!

they live in rocky terrain with some snow and little vegetation and/or tall trees. cliffs, mountains, anything of the sort. Their scales would help camouflage in this environment. Their extra tail fins help them maneuver around the terrain. They are also leaner so they are more streamlined. They fly just barely faster than night furies, and their natural/normal agility falls just under night furies with double spines.

their scales are thicker, harder and more temperature-proof. They also shed less.

their 'fire' is a pale blue magnesium-based blast, just because I think it looks cool and suits the colour palette

Their primary diet in their natural habitat would be mountain goats and potentially birds, as well as fish.

They have slightly longer tails, and I imagine they move like the tails of whispering deaths when the fly- sort of waving in the air, like oscillations

female dusk furies are more territorial and live in small packs of around 4~7, where they raise their hatchlings together(called Duskies by some humans, because they have not yet developed the 'fury' part of their name) until they have lived past adolescence. Then, they leave the pack to roam by themselves for 1~3 years(sometimes more). Then, they will find a mate and raise their hatchling together until the baby can fly, then the female dusk fury will take the hatchling and form a pack with other females. Uncommonly, the female and male dusk furies stay together until the hatchling reaches adolescence.

male dusk furies are a little less common and are often loners that move around their natural habitat, and doesn't have a fixed permanent nest. Uncommonly, the male and female dusk furies stay together to raise their hatchling until it reaches adolescence.

Dusk furies lay 1~3 eggs at a time, but 1 egg is less common.

sometimes dusk furies leave their pack for specific reasons, but they will always recognise former packmates, nestmates and their parents.

TL;DR: theories and headcanons on the canon light fury and the original light fury, including their niches

[soo-won]

Hi!! I’ve been following your tumblr and Twitter for a while now and I love all your akayona analyses. ❤️ I remember your rambles about headcanoning Suwon as transmasc/transfem? Could I hear more abt that? It’s rlly cool cause I feel he’s portrayed in an incredibly gender neutral light, in comparison to many other male leads :)

Thank you so much for wonderful ask! I'm glad you like my analysis :') Idk who you are but thank you for the support!!

And yeah! I headcanon Suwon as non-binary and there is a lot to unpack about his gender imo...I very much believe akayona has a lot to say about gender especially through Yona and Suwon's characters, and in that Suwon being a man and Yona being a woman is thematically important. But the way the story presents this theme in Suwon's character in his struggle (or lack of) with balancing between "masculinity" and "feminity" can make him easily readable as trans. Transfem or transmasc and every nuance in between.

I've also been headcanoning him as non-binary from before the manga truly explored these aspects only because I'm non-binary and I related to him too so it's not that deep. But as you said he is portrayed more gender neutrally than most male characters of the cast from the beginning and I think it's worth exploring. Whether he's gender non confirming in universe is interesting to discuss too, because you have other characters like Joon-gi for example, but he's at least not really traditionally masculine from our standards when you first see him.

(Long post under the cut)

But as much as it doesn't have to be that deep, I'm also convinced it actually is and that's why I'm entering character analysis territory here, so please stay with me ahah. When I think about Suwon's gender, I just can't not think about his parents and what they represent to him and how that ties to his overall character arc. Yuhon and Yonhi are pretty much the "ideal" symbols of traditional masculinity and feminity we have in the story in their gender roles and the values associated with them. Suwon is one of the rare character we have a glimpse of both parents that lived long enough for him to remember and be impacted by both. This sounds silly but basically Suwon's gender is like,, if a man and a woman had a baby to me fnbkjhbgkjhbgh.

In universe, Yuhon represents strength, courage and reason. He is the traditional and ideal male. He is bold, brash, dominant. He is the parent Suwon deeply admires and longed to be like, and that he then took upon himself to replace after his passing. He's the figure everyone in Kouka remembers positively as a competent and strong leader. He's the parent that taught Suwon to see people as pieces on a chessboard and to always be pragmatic, to make the most effective and straightforward decisions. Suwon inherented some of these traits himself, but the entire struggle of his character is that he isn't and cannot exactly be his father, that he can't follow in his father's footsteps (or what he thinks they are) as much as he and the people around him would like. This ideal masculinity represented by Yuhon is not something Suwon is able to achieve and that we should wish for. The other side of the coin is dominance and violence, it's stealing the agency of others with no regard to their person, it's causing a chain of pain and more violence. Suwon, ultimately, cannot and shouldn't respond to all these expectations. They're not him. Because he is also Yonhi's son, which he tried to cover as much as he can as a King.

Because in contrast, Yonhi represents the "ideal femininity" that is passive, sentimental and kind. Her assigned role was only to serve Yuhon and Suwon, and had no power for much else. In appearance, she's the ideal wife and mother. She is conventionally very feminine, we see her with different garments, accessories and haircut in every scene, hinting that it's something she likes (especially when you compare with Kashi)... She's kept in the dark about Yuhon's secrets and all he does when he leaves the castle and fights on the battlefield. She has no agency. She is the parent forgotten by all, never mentioned even by Suwon, who died with nothing to her name. She is the parent that didn't want Suwon to kill Il but to think about Yona, she is the one who taught him about kindness. (i also mentionned yuhon and yonhi's respective legacy here)

And the irony is, physically Suwon is almost a copy of his mother. At first glance, Suwon is in general much more like her than he is like Yuhon. Suwon is pretty and cute, and is assumed to be weak, passive, and lacking in general as a warrior. Suwon, who wishes he was like his father, looks "nothing" like him and actually looks like his very feminine mother. And the thing is, what makes him so gender ambiguous is that he actually embraces that. Suwon uses his appearance and plays with the perception others have of him so they underestimate him (Geuntae, Soojin, Li Hazara,...) he has a very similar haircut as his mother, is interested in swordfight, tactics, but he's also into flowers, tea and sweets, he wore clothes with flower and butterflies patterns before his coronation (which is not supposed to be only a women thing of course but in universe I don't have any other example of male characters having those so I take it into account), he interacts with other female characters like a peer that share the same interests, too. He is first perceived the same way as Il and the opposite of his father or warriors like Geuntae, Mundok or Hak. He isn't like Il or Yonhi though, and that's what makes him not entirely feminine either, he actually proves himself as a man to these people after all.

But even as a child, Suwon took up the role of a mother for Yona like it was the most natural thing in the world. And in a similar fashion he also took up the role of Yuhon to "take care" and "protect" his mother, and to lead Kouka. Suwon is able to navigate both feminine and masculine roles depending on what is the most fitting to the situation at hand, and he achieves that with little struggle. This is probably the point that makes him so gender fluid? He's fine with both, it feels natural to him, this is what differentiates him from his parents' image shackled by very stereotypical gender norms. It's definitely what makes him so unique and himself. Suwon is always described as having equal interests and curiosity for everything and everyone, and it plays a part in this as well. In a world where interests are gender divided, where women are encouraged to have interest in love, fashion, luxuries and where the men are rather into sword training or studies, Suwon who can jump from one to the other with ease, like gender doesn't matter feels especially liberating.

But Suwon is actually still shackled and not immune to patriarchy and it all ties to the meaning behind the position of a King. Suwon loved his mother, and he sincerely loved Yona before the coup just like she was for being cute and kind and bringing him warmth. "Feminity" isn't a sin or bad to Suwon, he even values it. However, for him and many others in universe, all these things are unfitting for a King, like...he likes it, but he thinks he doesn't need it for his goal. Which leads us to King Il.

Suwon values "feminity" and is aware of that part of himself, but rejects it when he has to act as a King. "Masculinity" is about being strong, strong enough to protect, and being "feminine" puts you in a position of weakness and powerlessness. I don't think it's a coincidence that he inherited his illness from his mother either, which literally puts him in a position of vulnerability and weakness that he absolutely hates and tries to cover up. Feminity is fine for women and the roles assigned to them, they are lovely as they are, left behind but where they can keep being kind and sentimental while the strong men go to battle and manage affairs, basically. Kouka is a patriarchal society with all these norms being continuously enforced, and where being King was exclusively a masculine position until recent development. Before Suwon ascended to the throne, Yona was the first heir, yet the position of next ruler after her father wasn't to be given to her, but whoever would be her future husband. Yona would have been only a Queen, not one with particular ruling power, but in the sense of being the wife of the King, the same way Kashi was.

So then, Il appears as a failure as a King. He's the example and proof to Suwon that "feminity" is not compatible with the position and that he has to differentiate from him in every way. Suwon liked Il for his kindness and believed in him until he killed his father and proved to be uncompetent as a ruler. Il's kindness and reliance on the divine are unreasonable and based on emotionalism for Suwon. His refusal to use any weapon makes him a coward and weak, and waiting for the gods to save them makes him passive...It's what led Kouka to the sad state it was at the beginning of the story.

To Suwon, feelings, kindness, traits associated with feminity as we've seen, make him weak. He doesn't need it. It's what makes him reluctant and risks to deviate him from his goal and duties as a King. He can't afford to feel for Yona or anyone, he has to take the most efficient decisions with no remorse for people's feelings and especially not his. This is why Yona is so important and the lead of Akatsuki no Yona. Yona redefines what we associate with either masculinity and feminity. Strength, kindness, sentimentality, reason...They're all needed, they don't have to, and they shouldn't be divided so strickly and imposed on people based on their gender and roles. (Especially when it's obviously girls and women suffering from it the most). This divide between Yona and Suwon doesn't have to be, Suwon takes time to accept it, to accept Yona to enter his chessboard and value her as an equal and not just because she's kind and cute. And in doing so, it opens the door for him to also accept his own feelings, his own "weaknesses". Feelings and kindness actually hold so much power, they can actually make you stronger, that's what made Yona and Hak so bright to his eyes from the start, even if it took him long to fully realize it.

I feel like I deviated from the initial topic, but it's all important I swear. It doesn't mean Suwon gave up all his old ways either, he still embraces what he learned and admired in his father, not everything was forced upon him and I believe he genuinely connected with his father's vision. But it's about balancing this with the things he was convinced he had to reject and discard all this time.

That said, here are some examples of how it opens the door for transmasculine and transfeminine interpretations of Suwon's character arc, there can be others of course, but those are the ones I naturally came up with thinking about all this:

If you read Suwon's story as a transmasculine experience, it clicks. From how he was "cute as a girl" in his childhood to the experience of feeling like to be a man, to pass as a man, you have to reject everything that is associated with feminity and force yourself to accept masculine values that are just not your real self, to then realize you don't have to do all that to be a man and it's fine to embrace your "feminity" too. (Btw I really encourage you to read the Requiem of the Rose King manga that is explicitely about this topic!)

If you read Suwon's story as the transfeminine experience, it clicks too. Suwon feeling like he has to and being pushed to follow in his father's footstep when that's just not his real self. The way that he represses his self, the metaphor of closed box and how he locks his true self and feelings into them, until it becomes too much and he can't ignore it anymore. That being a man is not for him, and he doesn't have to be.

Of course, you can also read him as a cis man that is more or less gender non-conforming, or in any nuance of non-binarity in between, but in conclusion, that's what makes Suwon so gender to me. (and again, you don't need any of what I wrote in this post to headcanon him however you want)

There is also something to say about how he's "lacking as man" in how he has no romantic or sexual interest in women, if you take into account all the junctions between gender and heteronormativity that I didn't really bring up here. This point always made him really stand out to me, but Suwon's sexuality is such a Topic I didn't want to adventure myself into today ahah.

[minecraftbookshelf]

heeebeedeebs ok, so, any headcanons for the marriage of state au on like....uh.... heh.... burial customs? for like... the cod alliance?

(also maybe also wither rose toooooo????)

ooooooooo!

So I actually hadn't thought about this yet which is why it took me a couple of days to answer, i had to poke at it a bit. So now I do have thoughts!

This might get a little bit gruesome, along the lines of frank discussions of dead bodies and disposal thereof.

Cod Alliance

The Swamp being...swampy, it doesn't lend itself to burial very well. The honored dead are burned (dry wood is a valuable resource) and the dishonored dead are basically dumped in a specific corner of the swamp very heavily populated with Things That Eat People. (Mostly Catfish and Alligators, this is an American South swamp/bayou biome in my heart, which does, unfortunately, mean they have mosquitoes) They also have wakes, like full party mode, music and alcohol and stories of the deceased. They were also an occupied territory for several centuries, with very few resources left to them, community support in time of bereavement is very important. Especially in situations where the deceased supported a family.

The Ocean Empire buries at sea. The dead are weighted down and taken to the Deep Ocean and dropped there. Think whale fall. They are a bit more solemn about their rituals than The Swamp but there are several similarities. They have an appointed grieving period of two weeks, during which the loved ones of the deceased are sequestered.

Mezaleans build mausoleums. Their dead are burned and the ashes interred with their families or, for an honored few, mostly royals who provided exceptional service to their people, beneath the Mother Tree. There is also a public mausoleum in each city for those without families, though those people are few, as Mezaleans engage in liberal social adoption. Most people find themselves quietly absorbed into some sort of family unit before they have been alone too long (but that is a whole nother post). They also tend to build memorials, ranging from small potted gardens of favorite flowers to full, larger-than-life statues. They don't believe in reincarnation so much as in redistribution of energy and preservation of memory.

Pixandria, for somewhat obvious reasons, has a very unique relationship with death (and also Death). They also have a party, celebrating the passage from life to death, though theirs is less focused on memories of the past than the Swamp and more on congratulating the dead on their migration to the next stage of existence. Every death celebration includes a seat at the table for Death herself, that is kept liberally supplied with food and alcohol at all stages of the festivities. They bury their dead, and quickly, since corpses don't keep long in the desert. Priests and royals are buried in catacombs beneath the Anthill while everyone else is buried in one of a few designated locations in the desert. (The party does not start until everyone is safely back in the oasis or Anthill, as travelling drunk through the desert is a good way to end up having to repeat the entire event again very shortly, and while they do not fear death, they do also value life.)

Wither Rose Alliance

Mythland also buries their dead. I haven't thought too much about the details but the primary religion of the region is a blood cult so there is definitely something done with the blood of the deceased. It's drained from the body and they use it for some sort of memorial ritual. These are not open to outsiders and are usually closed affairs involving only the family and close friends of the deceased and a single priest of the blood sheep.

The Crystal Cliffs, as an empire made up in no small part of people who are direct transplants from other empires, do their best to honor the cultural practices of the deceased. If not, they practice a form of sky burial, as the sheer stone cliffs don't offer a lot of burial opportunities and they territory is too small for it to be practical. The native population consider dead bodies functionally as waste matter, no longer important once it is no longer inhabited by a living soul. It's just a matter of practical disposal. Though as stated, they will go to great lengths to respect the wishes of the dead regarding the disposal of their bodies, including transporting them all the way to Pixandria if necessary.

The Grimlands also bury their dead. (You can see some similarities here, in this alliance.) They have a couple of different regional variations, but they do bury their dead. If the deceased died of illness or redstone poisoning they are burned, to avoid contaminating the land or the living. They usually have a memorial service, and immediate relatives are expected to undergo a grieving schedule not unlike the Ocean. (This probably came from the salmon hybrid population)

Gilded Helianthia, like their primary allies, buries their dead but they do so fully communally, and without any kind of coffins or excess wrappings. Where you are buried depends entirely on when you die. Bodies are left in the ground for five years, to allow full decomposition of all tissues, then the bones are exhumed and burned and the ashes scattered over the ground they were buried in. Once a zone has been completely exhumed, it is converted into farmland. This is one of the ways they rotate their croplands and maintain soil health.

Rivendell has a couple of different burial traditions, depending on how high in the mountains you are. They have a relatively small population, and their birth and death rates are such that it remains fairly steady. Which is to say, both death and birth are fairly rare, when nature is allowed to run its course. (This does mean that things such as war, famine, and sickness can be devastating for them, as it can be very difficult to recoup the population loss) Death is a solemn affair, funeral rites take place over the course of at least a week, and the body is displayed for a significant portion of that. The cold climates of the mountain allow for that. Afterwards the body is burned and the ashes either scattered from a high peak, or into the river, depending on where the deceased lived. This releases the soul for reincarnation, and to deny this to someone is a very serious statement. Mourning periods vary from 1-10 years, depending on relationship with the deceased, age of the mourner, age of the deceased, and several other factors. The grieving are monitored carefully for signs of Fading during this time.

The Lost Empire has four different distinct burial traditions, equating to the four elements their culture is based around. Pyre, burial, sky burial (done from the tree-tops), and water burial. The rulers are buried on a rotation. (Joey is scheduled to be burned after death, and he maintains this is incredibly romantic given Xornoth's own elemental powers. Xornoth thinks he's weird.)

Everyone Else

It's literally just the Overgrown and Undergrove left at this point so might as well XD

The Overgrown, being fae, and having a very strong nature alignment, return their bodies to the Spring. Fae bodies also, to put it bluntly, decompose very, very quickly. Almost dissolving over the course of a day or so. Burial is swift and flowers are planted to memorialize the deceased.

The Undergrove does not currently have a population beyond Shrub themself, but the gnomes were/are fungal farmers and had very practical views on the burial of bodies, not dissimilar to those of Gilded Helianthia.

-

AU Masterpost

[im-no-jedi]

alright. it’s finally time. after almost four years, the series that radically changed my life is coming to a close. I’ve seen several other people make posts about this, so I think it’s only fair that I write my own. be warned, this is going to be long, rambly, and only somewhat coherent LOL

when this show was first announced, I was shocked. although I had fallen in love with the Bad Batch during their arc in TCW, I was unsure how an entire show surrounding them could work. I was even more skeptical after I saw the trailers, which had this mysterious child show up. and as I’m sure all of you know by now, my feelings quickly turned around just after the first episode. I immediately was endeared to Omega and looked forward to seeing how the rest of their story played out. by the time the first season had ended, I was already deep in the planning stages of writing out my self-insert series, MLWTBB.

I honestly didn’t expect to love this show as much as I do. but I quickly realized why after the first season ended. (I'm gonna sound like a broken record for some of you, I'm sure LOL)

firstly, the characters. like I said, I loved TBB from the moment we saw them in TCW. and I immediately liked Omega as well. but the way these characters have been portrayed and fleshed out has only endeared them to me more. it became clear to me very quickly that these guys were an eerily similar analogy to my own family. I already saw a lot of myself in Hunter, but the rest of my family are very similar to them as well, even down to certain dynamics between each of them. not only that, but their struggles also mirror my family in that we’ve suffered several losses in our lives too. my mom sobbed like a baby when Kamino was destroyed because she saw similarities between that and a similar loss we’d endured irl. which, for me, is why it hits SO much harder when something bad happens to them. Plan 99 was devastating for many reasons, but for me, because I see so much of my dad in Tech, it felt like I was losing both of them. and having already had struggles with my dad irl… yeah. I feel like these guys ARE my family now, which has been the running theme in MLWTBB. and it's been cathartic both seeing them get through their struggles in the show, as well as portray my own struggles through my writing.

speaking of my writing, this show has inspired me so much creatively, that literally nothing else is comparable. I had already ventured into the realms of digital art previously to watching this show, as well as publicly sharing some of my writing. but not only did my art significantly improve due to all the pieces I was drawing for this show... but my writing skyrocketed. I finished writing a fanfic for the first time since I was FOURTEEN. and I've both written and finished several stories since then. and I don't plan on stopping anytime soon. my art and writing will continue to flourish long after this show is over, I'm certain of that 😁

another thing is the real life impact this show has had on me. and honestly, this is the big one.

some of you have been following me for over a year or more now, so you'll probably recall the struggles I've had with my mental health, especially last year. I'd suspected that I had some mental disorder for a while now, but it was only last year that I really began to pursue the idea of getting diagnosed and treated. it of course began in therapy, then moved to having discussions with my parents about it. everyone was very supportive of me, thankfully... except for one person. myself. despite all of the work I'd done to move forward in my life, this was the hurtle I was struggling with the most. the fear of the unknown has always terrified me the most, so this unfamiliar territory was like a nightmare-scape to me.

then "The Crossing" happened.

fandom had headcanoned Tech being autistic for a while previous to this episode, myself included. some even liked to think all of them were neurodivergent in some way, again myself included. so when this episode dropped and we basically got the confirmation that our headcanon was correct? that. that was the push I needed. seeing this character that I love SO much in a show that I love SO much not only confirming his neurodiversity, but embracing it??? I literally told my mom that weekend that I was finally ready to get tested. and the rest is history. I'm now officially a part of the ND gang, and I've never regretted it for one second \o/

not only that... but I'm on meds now. meds that have altered my brain in such a way that I've NEVER felt before. my anxiety and depression no longer have a hold on me, and it's all thanks to this show 💙💙💙

and leading into that, the last thing I wanna mention is the connections I've made through this show. my entire family is (mostly) SW fans, so I've always had them to fangirl and discuss SW shows with. but I've missed having friends outside of the family to connect with. it's been YEARS since I've been involved in a fandom that had such a lovely group of people. and I know what some of you might say. and you're right. of course there's toxicity, just like any other fandom. but I can honestly say, I haven't met such a welcoming and friendly group of individuals as I have with this fandom. I've made some real, true, long-lasting friendships because of this show, and I'll be forever grateful for that. do the meds help? absolutely. but remember, I never would've even been on meds rn if not for this show either!!

and on that note, I just wanna call out some of the lovely people I've met, some whom I've only gotten to know recently! 🥰

@photogirl894 my beloved Morgan, my little sis, the Omega to my Hunter. you've been nothing but a joy and a blessing to me since the day I met you. I truly believe the Lord led you to me so that I could properly start this journey towards recovery and growth. I love you SO much, sweetie, thank you for being you 💙💙💙

@heyclickadee my dear friend, the conductor of the Tech Lives train. I've so appreciated your insight and wisdom in regard to all of the insanity. you genuinely helped get me through my depression after Plan 99, and you've continued to uplift me with your positivity and hopefulness. may we finally get to see our nerd alive and well again in your honor 🙏🏻

@clonethirstingisreal sweet Carol!! fellow Hunter simp!! getting to know you has been nothing short of amazing and wonderful! I can't tell you how refreshing it is to see an older fan amongst the young'ins LOL. we've been able to relate to each other in SO many ways, it still astounds me. I look forward to seeing your journey progress in hopefully similar ways to mine! 🥰

@lightwise @freesia-writes @better-to-bee @probadbatch (spacing this out so y'all get tagged properly)

@jedi-hawkins @anxiouspineapple99 @arctrooper69 @sunshinesdaydream and everyone else I've gotten to know both here and on Discord, THANK YOU!!!! thank you for letting me into your lives and for all the joy and laughs we've had together. I consider you ALL my friends, and I'm blessed to have met you all 💙💙💙💙💙

and finally, because I know she'll berate me if I don't mention her too, my best friend and irl sister @jam-n-ham. gurl, we have been through it, haven't we? you've been the sole witness to my reactions every week, and for that, I apologize LOL. but we have fun, at least, right? 😆 we've spent HOURS talking about this show, and I'm sure we'll have many more hours to come. you've also supported me and my writing, which I'm eternally grateful for (even if you can barely stomach the Hunter romance scenes ROFL). I can't wait to add in your additions to the story, and for you to see what I've been cooking up 😁 thanks for always being my no.1 bestie 🥰🥰🥰

I don't feel like rereading this before posting, so if there's any typos or whatever, oh well. the fact that I even got all of this out tonight is a miracle honestly haha. now if you'll excuse me, I have to start compiling every single box of tissues we own before tomorrow 😝

oh, and one last thing. an addendum if you will. I haven't been posting much of my thoughts about the finale for many reasons, but I'll just say this. ever since "The Return", I've been rotating Hunter's last words to Crosshair in my head, on repeat.

enough said✨

[capcavan]

How do you think Kevin and Riko's life would have progressed if Riko had not broken his hand? From what I recall they were already set to get signed with deals after graduating from EA - How would they adjust to being out of the Nest but still having each other?

I will be self indulgent here because in the end this is headcanon territory. Kevin outclasses Riko and as months pass it is clear Riko can't not get back his spot as number one, with time it becomes official, and Kevin becomes the captain for the ravens. This shifts Tetsujis attention, the master writes Riko off as waste of time and focuses his attention on Kevin and Kevin's development. Tetsuji was never kind to Riko he was never a father figure and never planned to be, but his relationship with Kevin was not existent before other than abuse, this changes now. Tetsuji is not kind to him but he offers praise and encouragement - because he knows Kevin is not build the way Riko did, Tetsuji could have custom design Riko's life to mold him into obedient slave, Kevin is slightly more unpredictable. The tattoos don't mean anything, most likely Tetsuji finally puts his foot down and forces Kevin to get it removed, and then forces Riko to get it removed too to not mess with his pr. I don't have words to describe humiliation Riko feels because of this, I don't think he even registers this as humiliation this is death this is him failing his one life purpose there is few ways this can go - riko kills kevin who betrayed him and stole everything from him - kevin restricts his ability pretending to be worse to let riko shine - riko could kill himself i don't think there is much left for him a friend once told me when we discussed it that this would motivate riko to train harder and match kevin, and it's beautiful but a bit too ideal for me, i think environment riko was in and the way he was raised and groomed - while relying on kevin as his only source of support did not prepared him to deal with being replaced and left behind by kevin, without therapy and time to heal a bit he would take kevin trying to help him as mockery. Nest Riko is unable to accept kindness and help. If Riko did not broke Kevin's hand Kevin would stay in nest and I don't think they would have future together. The only way they could have future together is with Kevin out of nest allowing Riko to keep his position as best on raven team even if raven team would lose the championship

[lsleofthelost]

Do you have any descendants headcanons? I’m new to your blog.

ugh like so many….

if u want me to do something about a certain character or relationship just send me another ask but since it’s like a general question i’m gonna take it as an opportunity to talk about the Isle of the Lost because i genuinely spend so much time thinking about what it’s like, i think it’s such a cool setting

it’s actually pretty big, you know, to be able to house all the villains, their supporters and other criminals from all these different kingdoms + it’s big enough that Maleficent can effectively banish someone

i began trying to describe where i think everything is but i realised it would be easier to draw a map, so here’s hoping i’ll actually do it, but the important point here is that there’s a residential area that clusters around the bridge and the dock where the barges come in and then deeper into the island, it’s a dark forest

and on the other side of that forest is where the Evil Queen was banished to

i always thought it was weird that EQ is banished but Cruella is her neighbour, so i hc that Cruella was also banished for a time and that’s why she also lives on that side of the island

she probably tried to saw off Maleficents horns, or pluck her wings or something like that

(but Carlos can move freely because he isn’t included in the banishment)

i think there’s a layer of Isle population that doesn’t lean into villainy, like they weren’t anyone famous or didn’t commit huge crimes, so they just try to stay under the radar and live as well as the conditions allow it, it’s easier and safer to affiliate with a gang but they try not to get too involved

the Isle was not just bare when they started sending criminals over, Auradon built the bridge are, the docks for their barges, a few roads and those two story buildings we see, with the intention that they would be like apartments for the incarcerated

what they didn’t account for was that there would be more people than apartments and that the big villains would take more territory than what was assigned to them

so that’s how we get people who’s beds are behind their stalls at the market, or those who sleep in a row of beds in one room

there’s no set currency on the Isle, it’s barter or contracted labour (but mostly it’s stealing)

when the Isle was first established, the barrier was focused on not letting things out, not so much on not letting things in

so far a while, the barrier would let magic in, but if they tried to cast a spell on someone outside the barrier it would just fizzle out

but doing magic under the barrier was extremely difficult and slow going, felt like trying to run in your sleep

the big magic users were able to transform their residences, which is why, for example, Maleficent’s place is reminiscent of her old keep

they could also summon some smaller objects from their old lives, like EQ’s mirror shard

those who couldn’t do magic, like Cruella, made contracts with the magic users, and they were able to transform an apartment into Hell Hall to the Isle and she was able to bring some of her fur coats over

it was pretty short lived, when Auradon realised what’s been happening, they tightened the barrier to be impenetrable, allowing the absolute minimum of magic in

this minimum is how we get Mal’s glowing eyes, or poisons being able to work

there’s a crazy mixture of accents in that place, since it’s people from all these different kingdoms now forced to live on one island

Isle slang is just a hodgepodge of different languages’ slang and borrowed words

each big faction probably has their own way of speaking, since that’s who they interact with daily, like those who surround the Queen of Hearts and her Cards all speak with a slight british accent and use Wonderland nonsense words

[archetypesanalysis]

I love all the analyses you've done. Especially Crosshair as I always found him to be a complex character.I would like to know your opinion of Crosshair in this third season and what did you think of him? Also his closeness to Hunter, since they've been talking they seem to be together all the time.

Now that I remember, I've seen fic where Hunter and Crosshair are described as lovers and it's funny because reading your analysis I remembered a story where Hunter gets drunk and gets involved with 2 Twi'leks and Crosshair upon seeing the mess on the boat angrily tells him he's not going to clean up his mess.And in other stories where they are together but are always fighting and arguing.Or in others where Tech and Crosshair do things on the sly and Hunter only tolerates Tech's because when it comes to Crosshair he reproaches them.I'm not saying they're canon or anything, but as written coincidences go, they're fun.

Thank you so much! Yes, Crosshair is a complex character, and I can't believe that I have written so much about him.

I am going to write an analysis of The Bad Batch season 3 after the series finale. Right now, I think Crosshair is on the right path as he is growing beyond his four main archetypes.

In "Shadows of Tantiss", once he takes a leap to escape Tantiss with Omega despite not knowing what's ahead clearly, he is starting to move beyond his Apollo archetype.

In "A Different Approach", Omega teaches Crosshair that violence does not always solve problems (something an Artemis person must learn, which is how to take down the Calydonian Boar). Of course, Crosshair does teach Omega to be more assertive and not let other people take advantage of her (a useful Artemis trait for a Persephone person like Omega).

As Crosshair reconciles with the Bad Batch, especially Hunter, he is "recycling" his Hera archetype, and this happens after "The Return" (winter has finally passed as Crosshair leaves the Outpost). Hunter defends Crosshair from Howzer, showing that he does care about Crosshair, which assures Crosshair's Hera archetype. When Crosshair talks about how loyalty should go two ways in "Extraction", it shows that he has grown beyond his Hera archetype - able to make wise decisions after getting out of an abusive relationship with the Empire.

In "Bad Territory", Crosshair learns meditation, which is a healthy method to deal with his emotional trauma. This helps him to move beyond his Poseidon archetype - channeling his destructive emotions through creative and calm methods.

Based on my analysis, Hunter has the Zeus archetype while Crosshair has the Hera archetype, which may explain why they are so close to each other (I do not do clone shipping). They support each other, yet they will argue with each other a lot. Those stories that you have mentioned do match this dynamic of theirs (and Tech with Hunter's favouritism).

They all may seem like "written coincidences", but I interpret it as archetypes existing in our collective unconscious. Carl Jung did travel to places in India and Africa where the people had never had western influences, and he found that many of their myths shared the same archetypal patterns as those western myths. He believed that archetypes are universal and they exist in our collective unconscious. Even though we may come from different places, have different cultures and have different experiences, the same patterns can be identified, taking on various forms, just as Joseph Campbell has stated in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces.

I do believe these archetypes already existed in the Bad Batch, be it obvious or subtle. These archetypes are later expanded by the fans through various interpretations in the forms of headcanons, fanarts and fanfictions. They may not all be canon, but it's certainly fun to see. Besides, it helps me to explore human psychology and reaffirm Carl Jung's theory of the collective unconscious. Sometimes, by looking into how a person interprets the Bad Batch (along with what they like and don't like about them), I can figure out some interesting things about their personality, which leads me back to the archetypal patterns.

[twisted-tech]

Twst Worldbuilding Theory/HC

Half-merfolk Idia/Ortho & The Island of Woe

⚠️(Book 6 minor spoilers)⚠️

Within the game, we see many different kinds of people: humans, beastmen, fae, and merfolk. Sebek is canonically half human and fae, and as a result he does not have pure fae traits (no pointed ears).

Idia Shroud (& Ortho) are who I want to focus on. Other students seem to identify him as human, but he has some very inhuman traits like his “shark” teeth and bright, yellow eyes. (Edit:) His lip color and eye bags are also natural and not cosmetics.

Though other human characters have sharp teeth, Idia’s are far more exaggerated than any human or beastman’s fangs. The only people with teeth like him are Jade and Floyd, who are merfolk.

While many other humans have unnatural eye colors too, Idia’s yellow eyes are yet another thing he has in common with the Leech brother’s. (But this is a weak link since Jack, Chenya, Cheka, & Trey also have yellow eyes).

These similarities made me begin to wonder if Idia perhaps had some merfolk ancestry, but 2 things in common are not much proof. Now though with the release of book 6, we’ve been provided with some supporting points.

(Spoilers start here) In book 6, we finally got to see the Island of Woe, Idia’s homeland. It’s a completely submerged, secret city beneath the sea.

The Island is from the time of the gods, thousands of years old, and still has architectural remnants from that time to prove it. While it may be possible to hide such an enormous structure from the above world, it would be harder to hide an underwater city from merfolk for millennia.

STYX does have the ability to erase memories, but if merfolk run into this city often, it would be easier to instead work with a select group of merfolk who are in he know and have them keep others away. These merfolk could also make ideal workers for outside the dome, especially before technology made underwater travel easier.

STYX and the Island of Woe are an insular community. If they consistently live near/work with merfolk over the course of thousands of years, I imagine those relationships would result in many hybrids. With the mixing of species over this long time period, and with the community remaining small and seldom getting newcomers, then the Island would almost form its own new species of half human/merfolk; most of the population (of not everyone) would have some percentage of mer ancestry.

This would explain why Idia, who’s family has lived here since the start of the city, has unusually sharp teeth and yellow eyes. He would generations of merfolk ancestry that doesn’t get very watered down, resulting in prevalent merfolk traits.

This same logic can apply to other nations. Countries seem to often have primarily one species, like mostly human (Scalding Sands), beastman (Sunset Savanna), or fae (Briar Valley). Others, like the Queendom of Roses, are implied to have a fairly diverse populace.

This could suggest that characters with pointed teeth are descendants of non-human races, which I think could be fun to play with. Here’s a chart by @twiceasfrustrating on what teeth characters have!

Headcanon: Hair and Eye Colors

Getting more into headcanon territory, I do think that it would be cool if the more inhuman hair and eye colors were a result of magic. Even if mages are rare, the world is certainly full of magic. That alone is probably enough to irradiate people with magic and cause some fun changes in their physiology.

Finally, as a disclaimer, I know it’s likely that the only reason Idia and Ortho have sharp teeth and other inhuman features is because they are twisted from Hades who did as well, but I like to think that their homeland is more dynamic and caused their unusual looks. I also mostly talked about Idia since Ortho is a robot (even if he’s based on a real person) and his features might not be accurate to his true appearance, and I didn’t bring up the hair since that’s explicitly stated as part of the Hades curse.

[sourhydrapplin]

Pay the price for your folly and pride;

NAME: Kieran Suguri Hebikami TITLE: (Inofficially former) Blueberry Academy Champion NICKNAMES: Kiki, Snake boy (disliked), Dragon boy (disliked), Snake eyes (if you REALLY want to hurt his feelings) AGE: 15 at time of Kitakami, 16 at time of BBA GENDER: Cis male (he/him) ORIENTATION: Biromantic (lean for female) demisexual

POKEMON: (Bolded for pokemon currently actively used for battling)

Shifty, Yanmega, Hydrapple, Probopass, Poliwrath, Gliscor, Incineroar, Politoed, Dragonite, Grimmsnarl, Porygon-Z, Furret, Cramorant

MENTAL HEALTH:

PTSD, ADHD, OCD, Anxiety, Autism, Depression, Rejection Sensitivity

NOTABLE PHYSICAL TRAITS:

5'9 at the time of BBA, 5'5 at the time of Kitakami (I headcanon there to be about a year between these, and he experienced an intense growth spurt during that time). Kieran has a crystalline scar spread out across his left shoulder where Terapagos struck him with a tera star storm by accident during his final battle with it together with the protagonist. He nowadays tries to cover that up by way of longsleeved shirts or with his jacket. The shape of his and Carmine's iris and pupils is a genetic anomaly passed down through his family. It isn't directly harmful, but he's faced bullying and alienation from other kids for it.

MORTAL FLAWS:

Wrathful, prideful, painfully awkward, too strict with himself (and often others), anxious, can become callous and cruel if pushed far enough. Both has a superiority AND inferiority complex, gets attached far too quickly, huge abandonment issues, territorial.

VITAL STRENGTHS:

Fiercely loyal, protective, caring, capable of learning and improving, self-critical, loving (to all who he cares for on a personal level), supportive, in touch with his emotions.

VARIOUS TRIVIA

likes video games but usually plays them alone. gets embarrassed and worries hell be called a neet or a nerd

still very competitive and kind of prickly like in general but not actively hostile anymore

gets embarrassed and kind of flustered when other kids his age touch him

can still get very pissed off very quickly but is trying to deal with his anger in healthier ways

hes still very cute but in a completely different way than before. whereas he was adorable dog before, he is now scared kitten

easily overstimulated and reacts with temper flares if pushed further

his yanmega and furret are still around he just retired them from battling early. he still loves them very much and has been very loving and affectionate behind closed doors toward them still even while he was unhinged:™: and violently trying to become stronger. he is now thinking about reintroducing them to battling again as he heals more and more.

while kieran is still mentally fragile and emotionally unstable, hes on the path of recovery. he still hasnt forgiven himself and beats himself up quite a bit for every little mean word or temper flare he has, holding himself on a far too tight leash. hes not giving himself room to breathe.

soft boy pretending to be a tough boy

tol boi w the energy of an angry chihuahua

resting bitch face with anyone he doesnt know well

the cringe levels from his shyness are off the charts chief

[marley-manson]

☕️ beejhawk don't work as a pairing post war

Thank you! lol agreed, at least for me personally, the way I view the characters and their relationship.

The rest of this is under a cut to spare my beejhawk followers the negativity

For me they're a perfect weird messy sad fling, but I can't see them living happily ever after, and I don't particularly want to.

I don't think Hawkeye would be happy with BJ longterm. BJ's issues that cause problems between them don't strike me as a war-zone thing, or a gay repression thing. They strike me as a BJ thing. The classic passive aggressive lashing out in Wheelers and Dealers, the hypocritical disparaging of Hawkeye's emotional reponses in episodes like Rally Round the Flagg and Back Pay, the needling in No Laughing Matter or Dear Uncle Abdul, the resentment in Heroes or Joker is Wild, these all strike me not as flaws that manifested during the war or the result of repression, but rather signs of insecurity. I see BJ as someone who lashes out at others to make himself feel better and sometimes superior, both textually through the pranks ("taking your frustrations out on other people. You know, good, clean American fun") and less overtly through his condescension and like, negging lol.

And since we're in BJ/Hawkeye headcanon territory here anyway I'll go a step further and add that I also find it easy to imagine BJ as kind of ironically seeing a relationship between him and Hawkeye the way a lot of the fandom sees it, but yk, wrongly: positioning himself as Hawkeye's saviour, the rational, solid, long-suffering support propping the irrational, insecure, damaged Hawkeye up and saving him from himself. He'd frame it like that to help himself deny all the ways he's fucked up and traumatized himself, and, like in the show, he'd fail to actually be the kind of emotionally open partner who can engage with Hawkeye on his own terms, rather than projecting his own misapprehensions onto Hawkeye.

(I also don't think he'd cope too well with being with a fellow surgeon. I can't see BJ easily throwing off the heteronormativity even after coming out, and having a partner who works as much as he does would drive him up the wall. Which could be a very interesting layer if he goes to Maine while Hawkeye's still on sabbatical and has time to play house, until Hawkeye gets his drive back and wants to return to surgery...)

And I just don't see Hawkeye as emotionally attached enough to put up with these issues for long when he has other options. Over the course of the show we see him getting a little more distanced from BJ and relying on others for support and emotional connection instead of him, like Mulcahy in Letters or Margaret in Stars and Stripes or Charles in Sons and Bowlers. He tries to support BJ in Bombshells but leaves when BJ waves him off and the emotional distance between them there is palpable. Hawkeye accepts that their close friendship is functionally over now that the war is over which is why he wants BJ to say goodbye in GFA. He'll miss him and he's glad he was there with him in Hell, but he'll move on. He's the kind of guy who makes friends and forms relationships very easily, I can't imagine him pining for BJ and waiting for him.

If BJ did go to Maine and sweep Hawkeye off his feet with a declaration of love shortly after the war, and honestly I could see that lol, I think they'd last a few months at best.

That's just how I see their dynamic, ofc. I enjoy emphasizing the flaws. But the usual alternative, that BJ really is a great supportive partner and they slowly but steadily recover from the trauma of war together and live happily ever after, bores me to tears lol. It's possible, maybe BJ does get his shit together with the war behind him and having embraced his true sexuality, and maybe they fall into that season 5-ish happy partners vibe. But man that's just not for me, I find their chemistry and dynamic unspeakably boring without the relationship-breaking strife.

send me controversial or unpopular opinions and I’ll tell you if I agree or disagree 🐸 ☕️

[coldflasher]

you know i have to ask about coldwest for the ship thing

hmmm yeah, this one isn't for me really :/ not my cup of tea

jokes, can you imagine haha. i am the captain of coldwest. yo ho ho and a bottle of why-the-fuck-didn't-they-get-more-screentime

What made you ship it?

Honestly I had never even thought about shipping them until Redhead's fic "Needs Must, As the Devil Drives" got me super into Coldwestallen, and from there I spent a lot more time thinking about the Coldwest side of that dynamic and what a fun and complicated relationship that would be... then the rest, ngl, was largely built from my own headcanons and bits of dozens of fics that hopefully, one day, I will actually finish...

2. What are your favorite things about the ship?

So many things!! I think the first thing that comes to mind is that I feel like Coldwest offers a great opportunity to put Iris out there in the field. The show kind of tends to keep Iris out of the action a lot. Like she is a hugely important member of the team, obviously, but she's generally sitting in S.T.A.R Labs running tech support, and aside from occasionally getting temporary speed powers or occasionally aiming a gun at a threat, she often takes a back seat to the action. Barry in particular has this tendency to want to get Iris as far away from a fight as possible, and while I get it, I love seeing Iris kick ass. We know she can shoot, throw a punch, whatever, but she rarely gets the opportunity to get out there as much, and whenever she does, it's panic button time and she gets whisked to safety. I feel like Len, with his tendency to get into trouble, his love of adrenaline and a fight, and the thrill he clearly gets while fighting, would love to have Iris on his side in that kind of situation, and he wouldn't hesitate to get her involved. He'd actually encourage it, if anything. Which also provides fun conflict with Joe, who would already be seething that this criminal is dating his daughter, but now he's encouraging her to put her life at risk and possibly commit crimes? Oh, the drama >:) I love writing Coldwest team-ups where Iris gets to use her skills as a reporter while Len uses his skills as a thief, and they kind of play off one another... with lots of back and forth arguing and snark, of course.

I also personally like that, in my view, Iris would have a better handle on Len than anyone else. Like he's more willing to let her boss him around than he would be with another partner. As mentioned, she doesn't take his shit, she's not as amused by him and she will tell him to cut the crap if he's being a dick. In contrast, though, I also feel like he'd be softer than her than he would with another partner. Sure, he'll pull her pigtails and make mean, sly comments, he wouldn't be Len if he didn't... but he also admires and respects her, he's a fan of her work, and I think that Iris is just such a kind and gentle person that I think being around her would soften him. He'd never admit it, but in my head, he's so gone for her, and while it might take a while for him to let his guard down, if you'll excuse the terrible ice pun, he'd melt for her. Like. That small smile he gives to show he's proud of his sister---that kind of moment, all this affection and pride that he keeps private and only lets out when no one's looking, but when they're alone, he lets her see it. Just a little. Sigh.

Also, I kind of like that it's such unchartered territory wrt canon. Like GOD my kingdom for more coldwest scenes, but also, the fact that we get to see so little of them together on screen means that there is so much to explore there, and canon cannot tell me no (like it would stop me anyway haha). It really does give me free reign to think about how they would interact and what kind of scenarios they'd get involved in.

Oh yeah, and I also think they're both extremely hot and I wanna see them bang seven ways to Sunday, so there's that

3. Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I don't really know. It's such a small ship, I don't really know what opinions are out there haha. Hm... I guess maybe that I think Iris would call him babe. Cos generally Len is NOT a petname person and I think if anyone else tried to call him babe, he would make them regret it, but with Iris, he's like a cat being pet and secretly liking it but pretending not to... he's like "I'll allow it. Maybe." but secretly smug like yes. I am babe

Send me a ship and I'll answer three questions based on whether I ship it or not

[kaiokentimesten]

YO! thank you so much for answering my ask! I know it’s a silly thing to say thanks for but honestly I was kinda a little nervous to ask initially and ty your response helped me a lot! :D

I hope you don’t mind but I also wanted to ask a little follow up- Cause my personal shot in the dark for what he got going on was his initial feelings of insecurity or resentment from others disregarding him making him prideful to not take the help when given- kinda like ‘oh so you’re just NOW helping me? Fuck off!’ Type of attitude. Am I correct or am I missing the dot a little?

I know this is going a little more into the personal hc or over-thinking territory, but I wanted to know what your take is on it! because I feel like the pieces are there for schlatt to have a complicated relationship with genuinely trusting people and opening up to them, I’m just not sure entirely if my train of thought is true to his character if that makes sense.

(Sorry that this is a weird question… I’m trying to write a fic that pairs c!schlatt up with an unlikely character- my own version/interpretation of michael B.- and trust is kinda a theme I wanted to see I could connect the dots with more)

-schlatt anon :)

Hi again anon!! Good to see you back! I’m always happy to talk about c!Schlatt with people so don’t worry about asking me questions! I love answering em :P Answer will again be under the cut

That’s a very interesting interpretation! I can definitely see that being a fairly solid headcanon. As for canon evidence and my own interpretation, though, it seems like he’s just always been prideful from the get-go. I mean, he was confident enough to randomly start his own party in the middle of an election. That, to me, shows a lot of pride. He never really asked for help, nor did he ever really accept it when it was given. In a way, he took the support around him for granted imo

As for themes of trust, though, there’s a lot to be said I think! Schlatt definitely has a lot of issues trusting people and genuinely opening up (he tends to fake introspection to get what he wants but that obviously doesn’t count). The only person he really seemed to genuinely open up to and trust, in my opinion, was Fundy. Which makes sense, since Fundy knew so much about Schlatt (as shared in A Spy’s Diary), and Schlatt seemed genuinely distraught when Fundy’s betrayal was revealed on November 16th (lashing out, hitting Fundy, shouting things like “who’s gonna lift dumbbells with me, man?!”, etc.) 

I think Schlatt felt the need to keep up appearances. He loved having that power both because it just felt good, but I think he also loved having it because it made him feel stronger than he actually was. Drinking protein, doing curls while talking to people, constantly belittling those around him and insinuating they’re weak, I think it was all—at least partly—done to compensate for how weak he was, you know? He was the Big Strong Man that couldn’t be touched, or at least he tried to make it seem that way. 

Schlatt was also just generally paranoid when it came to those around him. There’s this pretty good clip from Wilbur’s “techno and wilbur make cave better” stream where Tubbo is in Pogtopia, and Schlatt joins the call and demands to know where Tubbo is. From what I can remember, he does this a lot. He needs to know where everyone is at any given moment, because I think a part of him didn’t trust them one bit. Of course, he was right to, but he didn’t know that until later. Here’s the clip I was talking about, by the way. Keep watching until about 31:20. 

So yeah your interpretation isn’t completely unbelievable, but I think c!Schlatt’s trust issues mainly stem from his need to keep appearances, general paranoia, and his near constant inebriation