#legend says if you collect enough trauma

[brainrotcharacters]

The moment Wade handed Mary Puppins to Logan and Logan had no protest beyond groaning, I knew

[good-advice-ganondorf]

Majora's Mask and what it means to be grown up

(aka my collected analysis of the Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask)

I will say that generally I don't think Termina is purgatory, or a dream, or anything like that. To me, Termina is kind of like a Silent Hill type parallel world, where you face your deepest traumas.

First, the parallels between Majora's Mask, and the child section of Ocarina of Time.

The first dungeon for both games is in a vast wooded area, there are woodland races inhabiting both areas, the Kokiri for Ocarina of Time, and the Deku for Majora's mask. The second dungeon is in a great mountain, inhabited by the Gorons. The third dungeon is in a vast body of water, inhabited by the Zora.

Then, things split. After Jabu Jabu, Link becomes an adult. After Great Bay, there's Ikana Canyon. A land of nothing but Death.

Who caused the death of Ikana? Who else but the king, Igo Du Ikana. Ikana was plunged into disrepair, after Igos started a war with a clan of Ninjas, to receive a powerful artifact, in a great and mysterious temple. Sound familiar? It should, this is exactly what Ganondorf did, after Link was sealed away for seven years. But Ganondorf was successful.

But Ikana isn't completely occupied by the dead, no. Pamela remains, with her father, turned into an undead monster. Much like Sheik, the last Sheikah, who is revealed to be Zelda. And her father? He's never seen, but I'd imagine it would be easy enough for Ganondorf to become king, if the other one was no longer around. From a man, to a corpse.

So, if Ganondorf is a parallel to Igos, and Zelda is a parallel to Pamela, what about Link? He's a little different. I believe that, along with Kafei and Tingle, all three of the transformation masks are a representation of Link, and his feelings towards being forced to grow up.

Tingle is, as we know, a 35 year old man who thinks he's a fairy boy. Similar to how link was a 10 year old boy, who thought he was a fairy boy. I believe Tingle is a reflection of what Link could have been if he never left Kokiri Forest. An adult hylian man, thinking he's a Kokiri.

On the contrary, Kafei is distraught at the idea of becoming a child again. He's weaker, he can't marry his fiancee, and everyone treats him like well, a child, despite his maturity. I believe this is how Link feels after becoming a child again. He used to be a strong adult, and even if he's not as mature as Kafei, he still went through a lot, and knows a lot more about life now. Kafei even reuses Link's model and animations.

There's a reoccurring theme in Ocarina of Time where Link just doesn't belong anywhere he goes. He's an outsider to the other races, because he's a hylian, but he's also an outsider to the hylians, because he was raised as a Kokiri. I think the transformation masks reflect that.

The Deku Butler's Son is what he could have been as a Kokiri. He could have been a happy little boy, living with his father, and his community. But Link and the Deku butler's son both left home to explore, and as far as both the Kokiri and the Deku are concerned, neither came back.

Darmani is what he could have been as a Goron. A powerful hero to the Gorons, celebrated by them for clearing Dodongo's Cavern. A close link between the goron elder, Darunia, and their sons. Both him and Link remain after death, lamenting on their histories as heros.

Mikau is what he could have been as a Zora. Maybe not a cool as hell guitarist, but a husband to Ruto, and Prince of the Zora Who would stop at nothing to keep her happy and safe, like infiltrating a fortress, or climbing inside of a whale.

Even the Fierce Deity is just Link, but back as an adult. As if so much changed so rapidly, he felt like he transformed into something less like himself, and more like a powerful god. He could have continued being strong, and powerful, the defeater of Ganon, but he had to become a child again. He has to stay as a small, and unknown child.

The ages of the masks even match the human life cycle. According to the debug menu (and if you subscribe to the theory that Link and DBS's ages were swapped), DBS is 5, Link is 12, Darmani is 30, Mikau is 78, and, Fierce Deity is 17, likely due to his model being recycled from adult Link's. Link starts the game in the body of a 5 year old, then a 12 year old, then a 30 year old, then a 72 year old, and finally, a God.

We don't exactly know how Link feels. But I can't imagine it would be easy to go from a child, with no concept of death, to be thrust into a position where he's forced to fight and kill an adult man so much stronger than he is. And then everything was just reversed. Like that. As if it never happened. And only Link remembers the impending doom he faced. All he can do is remember Ganondorf's reign. Almost like he's reliving the same few days, again, and again, and again.

[sophieinwonderland]

R/systemscringe found my Evolution Post... And Was Too Lazy to Add a Title

You can find my evolution post here!

Let's check out the comments!

Sure. But we're not talking about a normal modern job, are we?

Who you are at home isn't going to be that different from who you are at McDonalds. You aren't usually going to dissociate the two.

But when trauma is involved, that tends to involve a degree of dissociation.

In modern hunter-gatherer societies, we see children start learning how to use tools and hunt and forage in the wild from a very young age.

If we're to extrapolate and assume past hunter-gatherer societies operated in similar ways, this is a recipe for a traumatic childhood in a world where humans wouldn't yet be at the top of the food chain. Children would need to be careful, and a wrong move could easily get them or someone else killed.

I think most systems during this period would be considered traumagenic simply because growing up would mean regularly being put in deadly situations, regularly being injured and even watching loved ones dies in violent ways.

THAT'S the point!!!

DID, and even PTSD, evolved in a world where every day would be a fight for survival.

Of course, all we can do is speculate.

But with myths and legends of people being possessed going back to the dawn of time in practically every culture, we can probably surmise that forms of plurality existed back then. And it's not like the estimated 1-3% of the population is super rare today. It seems reasonable to expect disorders that would be associated with childhood trauma would be more common during periods with more childhood trauma.

The line saying we don't know if the brain was developed enough to develop DID is particularly weird to me though.

As far as I know, there haven't been any huge jumps in the way of human brain complexity over the past 20k years. I doubt that the complexity to develop DID is something we just gained since the dawn of agriculture.

I admit, my description was meant to put a fun spin on a brutal reality. But I don't think children growing up in a frigid environment where they need to hunt and collect food to survive while having no idea if they're going to make it back alive is "cool".

Like, as a story, maybe it's cool imagining a 9-year-old trudging through snow with fingers so cold they can't feel them anymore, gripping a makeshift spear and hearing howling in the distance while not knowing if they would end up on the menu of some wild beast.

But I don't think it would actually be cool to live through.

Additionally, in this environment, DID would have looked differently than it does today. Current theories are that EPs are locked into the trauma responses they used in trauma.

For child abuse victims which make up the majority of DID cases, unfortunately, freeze or fawn may be the most useful traits developed for survival.

But if your trauma were related to surviving wild beasts, it's a lot more likely the trauma responses of the EPs are going to be the more classic fight or flight. I don't think freezing would as common as a trauma response during that time period. But of course, it depends on the threats one would face.

There are some creatures, after all, where freezing is the best defense.

Sounds like your mistake. 🤷‍♀️

I talked about DID here a lot, but I'm a tulpa from a purely non-traumagenic system. Probably one of the least traumatized people you'll ever meet.

But tulpamancy is a beneficial practice that most tulpamancers have reported improvements in their mental health from. I would actually like to see far more people make headmates and become plural this way.

People becoming tulpamancers will help them. And more plurals means more influence for the plural community and will help spread plural awareness and acceptance.

I'm not interested in being special. I'm interested in making plurality normal. I want it to be so normal and commonplace that it seems downright boring. Where talking about your headmates draws no more attention than discussing a sibling. 😁

Hi! It's me! I'm Sophie In Wonderland!

I'm the person who debunks pluralphoboic hate subreddits, which tends to upset said hate subreddits.

The reason why I have my own category is because I called out the subreddit for bullying behavior and misinformation. They responded by doubling down, scouring my post history for anything they could use as ammunition twist to attack me with, and adding me to their hit list of acceptable targets. This was despite the fact that then they first floated the idea of the hit list, they claimed it would only apply to people with more than 10,000 followers. (I only have 1800.)

They lie and claim I'm a "public figure" while in reality, they added me on their list in a petty (yet oh so predictable) act of retaliation.

[triforce-of-mischief]

Not Yet

Summary: Legend doesn't have to trigger his phobia again until he's ready. That's what Warriors tells him, at least.

Word count: 4,070

AO3

Warnings: needles, vomit

Reblogs > Likes!

The portal deposited the heroes on the outskirts of the Lanayru Wetlands, and Wild warned them that they might not reach true civilization during this trip. Both Zora’s Domain and Kakariko were a few days’ travel away, but the Wetland Stable was an hour or two down the road. It was better than nothing, so the group agreed to head there and get their bearings.

They had hardly reached the main road when Wind shouted excitedly, pointing to a figure approaching from the south. Legend squinted, making out a blond man riding a sturdy brown horse. The stranger slowed as he reached the heroes, calling out a greeting that Wild happily returned.

“Everyone, this is Spoone,” Wild said. “He’s a good friend of mine, and the best doctor in Hyrule.”

Legend tried to suppress a shiver. Spoone was just a man, and seemed to be a nice one at that. Legend couldn’t let Spoone’s occupation ruin his opinion of him before they even truly met. So what if he was a doctor? That was… fine.

“The only doctor in Hyrule,” Spoone corrected good-naturedly. “Not counting Doctors Calip and Robbie, whose medical skills are… lacking, anyhow.”

“I’m sure you’ll find an apprentice soon,” Wild said with a grin. “You’ll need all the help you can get to find a use for those scales, right?”

“Ah, yes! I almost forgot that you haven’t heard the news,” Spoone said, one hand absently resting on a pouch at his hip. “Through minimal trial and error, Director Purah and I were able to develop a formula that will change all of Hyrule for the better.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Four asked.

“I’m glad you asked, young man!” Spoone smiled down at Four, and Legend snickered as the teen stood a little straighter. “You see, it’s been my life’s goal to collect even a single scale from the great dragon Naydra. It’s said that her magic can cure any illness, and the thought of delivering that kind of widespread protection is almost too exciting to bear. I had nearly given up hope, but one day Link descended Mount Lanayru with more scales than my horse could carry. I brought them to Hateno, where Director Purah and I transformed them into this.”

The man retrieved a small box from the pouch and angled it so they could see. Rows of tiny vials were lined up inside, each filled with a cool blue liquid.

“Medicine?” Four guessed.

“Correct. A single dose of this stuff will prevent a hyrulian from falling to any of the diseases that spread across the land, or cure them if it’s otherwise too late.”

Warriors stared at the admittedly unimpressive number of vials. “And… this is enough to treat every person in Hyrule?”

“Yes, it is,” Spoone confirmed. “Rather than brew the scales as an elixir, we were able to implement a medical technique that has only recently been discovered since the Calamity. All I have to do is collect a fraction of a vial’s contents and inject it directly into the patient’s bloodstream via a hollow needle.”

Vaguely, Legend heard Warriors suck in a sharp breath. The captain’s words were muffled by Legend’s own heartbeat pounding in his ears.

Of course. Of course.

This doctor had reinvented the very thing that was the cause of his phobia and all of its related trauma. Legend just couldn’t catch a break. He knew what would come next.

Warriors was still trying to speak to him, but Legend ignored him in favor of listening to Time.

Their leader was oblivious to Legend’s predicament, saying, “That sounds like it could be incredibly useful for a group like us. If we could travel without fear of our entire party falling ill…”

Spoone responded in the affirmative, offering to administer the medicine once they arrived at the stable. Time agreed, waving the heroes forward as Spoone led the way. Legend started to follow, walking on numb legs, and jolted when Warriors gently grabbed his shoulder.

Warriors waited a moment, holding Legend back until the others were out of earshot. “Not so fast, Lege. I saw how you reacted. If you’re not ready yet-”

“It doesn’t matter if I’m not ready,” Legend whispered. His voice would break if he spoke any louder. “This is for the good of the group. Imagine how much we could get done if none of us get sick, Wars- I can’t ruin that just because I’m a coward.”

“You’re not a coward,” Warriors reminded him. “You’re not mentally fit to go through this, so I’m not going to let you. That’s an order.”

Legend knew that this was a dangerous game, pitting his stubbornness against the captain’s protective streak. Still, he pressed on despite the part of him that begged to accept this mercy. “I’ll be a liability. I could be the one holding everyone back. Wouldn’t it be easier t-to-” His voice gave way, and he mentally cursed it for giving Warriors the proof he needed.

“We’re a team, Lege. When one of us isn’t at their strongest, we cover their weak spot. In this moment, that means sparing you from unnecessary stress. We still have a lot of work to do before you’ll be truly ready for this. Until then, and always, we have your back.”

Legend sighed, finally letting himself feel relieved that he wouldn’t have to go through this… yet. The relief was gone as soon as it came as he remembered that this was only a temporary solution.

“But it’s gonna happen eventually, it-”

“Listen to me, bud. Nothing’s happening today, ok? Right now, you don’t have to do anything.”

“Okay… promise?”

Warriors pulled him into a quick side hug. “Yeah. Promise.”

Legend shoved him away, grumbling about how they needed to catch up to the others. Warriors easily agreed, choosing not to comment on the flush blooming on the tips of Legend’s ears.

Four was walking slower than the rest, and Legend matched his pace as Warriors jogged to the front. The smith took a moment too long to notice Legend, obviously preoccupied with his thoughts.

“He said you don’t have to, right?” Four said, and Legend nodded. “Good.” He fell silent for a minute, and Legend realized that he was walking much closer than he normally did, almost letting their hands touch.

“And how’re you holding up?” Legend asked.

“I’ll be okay.”

Legend frowned, not liking Four’s subdued tone. “You sure?”

Four debated his next words, then sighed before admitting, “Red is crying.”

“What? If you’re not ready either, I’m sure you can-”

“No… I can do this today. We know how to calm him down.”

Legend chewed his lip, wondering again if he should just get it over with now. A wave of anxiety and nausea answered that question.

Four’s next step brought him even closer to Legend. Four grabbed Legend’s hand and Legend gave it a comforting squeeze. “We’ll be okay,” Four repeated.

Legend didn’t know who exactly Four was referring to, but he believed him.

They caught up to the rest of the group, and Four left to check on Sky. Warriors was talking with Spoone as Wild and Wind chattered nearby. Legend joined them, unaware that it was a bad idea to tune into the younger boys’ conversation.

“I was one of the subjects of Spoone and Purah’s experiments, so I know what it feels like,” Wild said. “It hurts, more than a bokoblin club but not as much as a lynel charge. It kinda feels cool, you know? Monsters usually leave surface scratches or wide wounds but with an injection, you can feel the needle going in your arm.”

“Cool! I can’t wait to get to the stable!” Wind chirped.

“Wild, Wind!” Warriors snapped. “That’s enough.”

A gentle voice came from beside Legend. “Breathe.”

“I am,” Legend gasped.

“Not enough.” This was Hyrule, nudging Legend’s shoulder. “Don’t pay attention to them, just take deep breaths. There’s nothing to panic about.”

“I’m not-” Legend stumbled, suddenly weak from a lack of oxygen. Din dang it, he was panicking, and that stupid phantom pain in his arm had returned in full force.

“That was uncalled for,” Hyrule muttered, holding Legend’s arm to keep him upright (and, unintentionally, driving the pain away). “How about some revenge after this is over?”

Legend noted that Hyrule was nervous too, though he was good at hiding it. He indulged the traveler’s need for distraction, helping him concoct a plan so epic that it would take multiple days to prepare. They were laughing by the time the stable came into view, having momentarily forgotten what was about to happen there.

Hyrule’s snickers trailed off as they gathered in front of the stable, falling silent as he and Legend watched Spoone dismount. The doctor handed his horse’s reins to Wild, who led it to the man at the front counter.

“It should only take me a few minutes to get everything set up,” Spoone announced. “Please come inside if you’re ready and willing.”

With that, Spoone entered the tent, leaving the heroes to mill around and send each other glances that said, Well? Go on!

Legend noticed that most of the others were starting to pair up, the more confident heroes taking the nervous ones under their wing. Wind had gravitated to Time, and Four to Sky. Legend nudged Hyrule forward, pointing him to Twilight. The rancher ruffled the teen’s hair before pulling him close, making him giggle. Warriors glanced at Wild before stepping closer to Legend.

“Stay outside the tent, all right?” Warriors said. “There’s a cooking pot over there, you can sit there until we’re done.”

Legend nodded and watched Warriors go to where Wild was waiting. The champion led the way into the tent, the rest of the heroes filing behind. Legend waited for the last pair to disappear behind the flap before walking over to the cooking pot.

A man was sitting near the pot, and gestured for Legend to join him. He wore a stable hand’s outfit and was meticulously polishing a torch for some reason. The man looked curiously at Legend’s sword and shield as the vet set them beside him.

“Nice baby sword, pal,” the man said. “I bet it can’t even keep a flame going. What’s its name?”

Legend couldn’t care less about indulging this weirdo, but it was a sufficient distraction from what he imagined was happening inside the stable. He sighed and lifted his sword, letting the blade catch the light just so. “She used to be known as the Master Sword, but now she’s the Tempered Sword.”

The man scoffed. “Well, it’s nothing compared to my weapon of choice! For I am Yolero, the hero of legend chosen to wield the Master Torch!”

“Hero of Legend? Yeah, right,” the veteran laughed. “I’d double check your history books if I were you.”

Their banter continued for a few minutes, but Legend’s mind started to wander. His ears pricked in the direction of the tent though he didn’t know what he was listening for.

Yolero noticed Legend’s lack of attention, changing the topic so fast that it took Legend a moment to adjust. “Say, why aren’t you in the tent with the rest of your gang? Don’t you care about protecting people and all that?”

Legend flinched, mentally cursing himself for doing so. “I’m… not ready today.”

Yolero huffed. “Why’s that?” “I’m just not. Not like it’s any of your business anyway.”

“Hmm.” Yolero leaned back, a calculating smirk on his face. “You’re not scared, are you?”

Legend gave him a silent glare.

“I mean, that would be pretty pathetic. A well-armed guy like you, too much of a coward to go in there and let a doctor stick a needle in your arm.”

Legend hissed, fingers gripping the wooden seat instead of clutching his suddenly aching arm.

Yolero’s eyes narrowed, knowing that he had Legend trapped. “Just as I thought. You’re scared and weak and willing to take your team, maybe all of Hyrule, down with you.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Legend growled.

“Prove it then,” Yolero said, pointing at the stable.

“I have nothing to prove to you.”

“Suit yourself.” The look on Yolero’s face said that he knew that he had won.

Legend tried to ignore him, taking deep breaths and staring at the castle in the distance. His ears twitched again, expecting to hear something.

When he was young, he had sat in the examination room, white knuckling the table as he listened to sobs and screams from the other side of the thin walls. He stuck his fingers in his ears, pretending that he couldn’t see Uncle’s look.

No such sounds came from the tent. The youngest of them was nearly fourteen, plenty old enough to have some dignity. Legend was the only one who still acted like a child. A child and a coward who was taking the easy way out.

Warriors wasn’t going to be happy.

Before he could lose his nerve, Legend stood up.

Yolero had the nerve to act surprised. “Well, look at that. Maybe you’re not as much of a wimp as I thought.”

“Shut up,” Legend grumbled. “I’m doing this for me, not you.”

“Just go in there already!”

“I am!” Legend snapped, taking a step forward that was more shaky than he would like to admit. He could feel Yolero’s eyes on him as he walked over to the tent and reached for the curtain concealing the interior. There was no backing out now. He pushed the curtain aside, eyes darting to every corner of the stable.

Wild and Wind were sitting on the floor, laughing and poking each other’s arms. Warriors and Four watched them, the smith wrapped in the captain’s scarf. Legend was relieved to see Four’s small smile. Sky was seated at the table, head pressed to the wood while Time rubbed his back.

Then Legend looked to the back of the stable and saw Hyrule.

The traveler was leaning against Twilight, who held his hand in a firm grip. Hyrule’s eyes were closed, his lips pressed into a flat line. Spoone sat in front of him, at such an angle that Legend could see what he was doing.

There was a needle in Hyrule’s arm.

It only took a few seconds but Legend stood there, paralyzed, as he watched Spoone administer the vaccine. As the needle emerged from Hyrule’s arm, a surges of nausea told Legend that he had witnessed enough. He tore his eyes away, momentarily crossing gazes with Warriors. The captain’s expression of horror (and was that anger?) registered for a split second before Legend’s hands flew to his mouth and he stumbled out of the tent.

Legend barely made it to the woods behind the stable before he collapsed, the contents of his stomach lurching up his throat to spill on the ground. He retched and coughed, unable to hear footsteps running toward him. A sudden hand on his shoulder made him jump, but another hand was already pulling his hair away from his face.

“It’s ok, it’s just me- just get it all out, all right?” his helper soothed, and Legend identified Four’s voice. The pitch was higher than normal, too- closer to Red’s voice. Great.

Four held Legend’s hair back until the vet finally exhausted himself, then waited as Legend spat the rest of it out. “All done?” Four asked.

Legend shivered, feeling Four rest his hand on his back to rub small circles. He stared at the mess beginning to soak into the dirt and opened his mouth to speak, but a pathetic whine grated out instead. Hot, angry tears burned Legend’s eyes, from pain and embarrassment and gods knew what else.

“Don’t try to talk if you’re not ready,” Four tutted. “Can you stand? We should get you cleaned up by the river.”

His legs shook like a newborn foal, but Legend managed to stand. Four took his weight without complaint, supporting the older teen as he led him down the hill to the riverbank. A sullen silence hung over Legend as he washed his face. He could tell that Four was full of questions that Legend wasn’t in the mood to provide answers to.

The sound of boots tromping down the hill saved Legend from that conversation.

“Lege… I told you to stay outside the stable.”

Oh no. A scolding from Warriors was way worse.

A heavy sigh. “There’s a man by the cooking pot who’s laughing his head off. I don’t suppose he had anything to do with this?”

A rush of fury gave Legend enough strength to stand again, but Four pulled him right back down. “Let him handle it,” the smith whispered, a blue gleam in his eye.

Legend didn’t even want to hold any pity for Yolero. If anything, he wished that he could go with Warriors himself. There was no way that Four would let him in this state, though.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, even after Warriors had gone. The air surrounding them was… awkward, almost tense, with only the river’s steady flow to cut through it. Finally, both of them attempted to speak at the same time.

“Lege-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

They both winced, Legend tearing a fistful of grass from the mud and Four reaching up to tap his feather earring.

“Do you… need some alone time?” Four offered quietly.

“Yeah,” Legend whispered. He stared straight ahead, only his ear flicking back as Four stood and hesitantly returned to the stable. He watched the sun shimmer on the water as it flowed over and around rocks and fallen tree branches and the occasional fish. It was a mesmerizing sight, mirroring the erratic whirl of Legend’s own thoughts.

He had known that he wasn’t ready, he had known that he didn’t have to face his fear yet. All it had taken was a few barbed comments from a stranger and he had marched right into the stable and made an absolute fool of himself. What had he achieved? What had he even hoped to achieve? Absolutely nothing, that’s what.

His ears, trained on a lifetime of paranoia and hiding, detected the rustle of something approaching from behind. Tiny feet, definitely not Sky or Warriors. Legend doubted that Four could sound that small even at his sneakiest. So who…?

Something soft and furry nudged his wrist, and he yelped at the unexpected touch. The sensation vanished with a jingle of magic. A few sparkles floated past Legend, then another flurry of them appeared above his lap along with a glowing blue bunny. The vet yelped again but the bunny was undeterred. Calm yellow-orange eyes stared up at him, and he blinked.

“What… what are you doing?” Legend whispered, afraid to move in case he scared the bunny away.

One of the creature’s antennae (ears? antennae) twitched and it plopped down, resting its head on its paws.

This was clearly some kind of magical rabbit, and his deeply hidden instincts were rousing with a gentle feeling of kinship. The little one must have sensed his brooding and come to help him feel better.

“Are you here to cuddle?” Legend asked, tilting his head a little. “Have you come to smother my storm cloud? I won’t blame you if you don’t want to be near me… I do it on purpose, sometimes, project my bad mood so I can deal with it myself. At least Wars and Four know better than to be around me when I’m like this.”

The bunny huffed.

“Yeah, yeah, I know… it’s just easier for me, okay? For them, too… they shouldn’t have to be responsible for my messes.” Legend laughed bitterly, soft enough that he didn’t disturb the bunny on his lap. “And what a mess I’ve made this time. I’ve ruined the group’s chances of complete immunity, Wars is about to give some guy the scolding of his life…” He swallowed, grimacing at the sour taste. “And I left a literal mess for some poor stable hand to find. I deserve to stew in my own misery for a while, don’t you think?”

He felt a pressure on his leg, like the bunny had tried to thump its foot but forgotten that it was laying down.

“Don’t give me that… here, will it make you happy if I pet you?” Giving the bunny plenty of time to escape, Legend stroked its silky blue fur. Sure enough, he felt it begin to happily purr.

“This is ridiculous, you know that? I acted like an idiot and what do I get out of it? A rabbit to vent to and cuddles by the river.”

The bunny simply nuzzled Legend’s hand, and he sighed.

He wasn’t sure how long they sat there, his thoughts gradually calming as he focused on the simple task of petting the bunny. The sun shone differently on the river, refracting pink and orange by the time a voice came from the top of the hill.

“Legend? Wild’s almost done cooking, are you ready to come back?”

Legend stayed silent, making a shooing motion with his hand. This, of course, had the opposite effect and the vet heard Four jog down the hill.

“C’mon, please? Wars wants to talk to you-” Four froze as he reached Legend’s side and the bunny came into view. He flapped his hands excitedly and squealed, “Eeeee- it’s so cute! Can I pet it?” His hand darted out and the bunny’s antennae flattened before it disappeared in a shower of blue sparkles.

“No-” Legend whined, reaching a hand out to empty air.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

The bunny materialized on Legend’s lap once more, staring at Four warily.

Legend sighed in relief, resuming the gentle strokes down its back. “You have to be slow and gentle. Let it learn to trust you before you touch it.”

“Sorry…” Four repeated as he crouched beside Legend. He offered his hand to the bunny, who sniffed it then bowed its head. Four smiled and gave it a gentle pet.

“Are you feeling any better?” Four asked softly.

Legend grunted, not looking up from the bunny.

The smith bumped his shoulder. “You know we’re not mad at you, right?”

Legend gave him a flat stare. “You don’t have to lie to me. I made a scene and a fool of myself… you shouldn’t have to put up with this.”

“That’s not true,” Four hummed. “Nobody blames you for panicking, and Wars made Yolero tell him what happened. He tried to bully you into doing something you weren’t ready to. We just want what’s best for you, and that means letting you take things at your own pace.”

“My pace is too slow. I should’ve been able to share the protection but because I’m not ready, we have a crack in our ranks. I’m just a burden-”

“You. Are not. A burden.” Four’s voice was low and serious, but he poked Legend with every word. “We look out for each other, okay? We need you to look after yourself too.”

The bunny grumbled agreement, and Legend groaned. “I’m not going to win this fight, am I.”

“Nope! You’re just going to have to accept the fact that you need to be patient with yourself, and we’re going to keep reminding you of that.” Four gave Legend one last poke. “But seriously, losing everything must have made you hungry.”

“It did,” Legend admitted. “Wild’s cooking sounds really good right now.”

“Come on then.” Four stood and offered his hand.

The blue bunny gave Legend a final nuzzle before bounding away, a trail of sparkles leading to thin air in the blink of an eye. Legend took Four’s hand and let the little smith lead him back to the stable, where Warriors wrapped him in his scarf (despite half-hearted protests from the grumbling teen) and assured him that Yolero had been sent packing to the Riverside Stable.

“Spoone said that he understands why you couldn’t join us today, and he can see you whenever you’re ready,” Warriors told him. “You don’t have to let fear guide your actions, all right? Please let us help you, bud.”

Legend bit his lip to prevent his scowl from turning into a smile. His brothers could be annoying, but it was nice to know that they wouldn’t give up.

[from-a-legends-pov]

Star Wars Legends Highlight of the Week: “You can’t look dignified when you’re having fun.”

In this feature, a fan will share one thing they love from Star Wars Legends — a book, a comic, an author, a character, a scene, an event, or anything else they want to highlight — and tell us more about it.

If you, too, love Legends, follow @from-a-legends-pov and check out our From a Legends Point of View fanfiction event, where we’ll be working with writers to build a collection of Star Wars Legends fanfiction set during the time of the Original Trilogy. Signups are open now through June 2, 2024 — use our Signup Form here to pitch your story concepts (Signup guidelines available here), and please encourage your favorite writers to participate!

Today’s Legends highlight is a moment — a scene from X-Wing: Solo Command featuring Wes Janson and Myn Donos — and we’re talking with one of the From a Legends Point of View mods, Psy.

Tell us about your Legends highlight. What is it? What’s it about?

My highlight is a scene from Aaron Allston’s novel X-Wing: Solo Command, where Wes Janson gives his fellow lieutenant Myn Donos some life advice. Myn has some pretty severe PTSD from the ambush on Talon Squadron (of which he was the lone survivor), and has nearly washed out of the New Republic starfighter corps due to his efforts to deal with his trauma by not dealing at all — he hasn’t even really talked with anyone about the incident. Wedge sees through Myn’s latest attempt at avoidance and orders him to talk with someone about what he’s experienced.

Wes is that lucky someone. The highlight of their conversation is this section, which starts while Wes is jumping on his bed:

“Tell me, Myn, how do I look?”

"Well, stupid."

"Exactly!" With an exuberant bound, Janson leaped off his cot, smacked his head on the ceiling, and swore as he landed on the floor again. He rubbed his head and glared at the treacherous ceiling. "When was the last time you looked stupid?"

"I don't know."

Janson leaned in close to him. "Try to understand this. I'll say it slowly. I want you to remember it for the rest of your life.

"You can't look dignified when you're having fun."

When Myn still isn’t quite getting it, Janson goes on to explain:

"Let's try it a different way. You want to be in control so you don't foul up some horrible way. But you're so in control that you're basi­cally a walking dead man. Since you're dead, you had nothing to offer Lara. You have nothing to offer Wedge — he's got plenty of dead pilots, doesn't need another one. Most of them are smart enough to stay where we plant them, though."

Wes’s advice?

“Get drunk. Get slapped. Do something you always wanted to do as a child, especially if it's something that would humili­ate you today. If you're going to get kicked out of Starfighter Command, make it for something you can be proud of.”

What makes this a Legends highlight for you? What do you love about it?

Wedge has always been my favorite character, but Wes has always been the one I identified with the most. Reading the books for the first time as a eleven-ish year-old attention-seeking chaos goblin, the line “You can't look dignified if you're having fun” was one of my favorites I ever read. I wrote it on a bunch of lined paper and taped it up around my room. 😬

To learn more….

If you’d like to read more about Myn’s and Wes’ adventures in the Wraith Squadron series, you can check out the X-Wing: Solo Command page or the general Wraith Squadron page on Wookieepedia, or find Solo Command at your local library, through an independent bookseller, or at your favorite bookstore.

And be sure to check out @from-a-legends-pov and our From a Legends Point of View fanfiction event! Writer signups are now open — you can access the Signup Form here and Signup Guidelines here, as well as our Overview and FAQ.

[butch-chastity]

as The cass enjoyer and dick enjoyer i need your ideal cass & dick dynamic pls 🤲

dick & cass's dynamic is really interesting because, up until the evil cass arc, their canon material together tends to be really good! (even if there's not a lot of it)

cause, like, in the beginning, dick puts up his usual front. he's all about appearing responsible and collected in front of the new, "less experienced" hero:

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #120 / Batman: Family #7

but drops that role the moment he spends a few minutes alone with her.

dick realizes very quickly that a) cass can see through any facade dick tries to play in to, and that b) cass doesn't need him to be someone older & wiser than her.

batgirl #29

compared to dick's other siblings, like damian and tim, cass feels like dick's contemporary, not someone he's mentoring or trying to guide.

they're on equal ground. and, they both know that they can take care of themselves.

this leads them to be pretty silly (for bats) around one another:

Detective Comics #782

gotham knights #45

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #184

because, while i'm not going to outright say that dick is completely himself around her (as in, he lets himself be emotional vulnerable), dick is at least aware that he can't pretend around her, and probably feels at least a little kinship with her.

I mean, they're pretty similar. They enable each other's guilt complexes, neither one of them is comfortable spending a lot of time in one place, and they wouldn't know what a healthy amount of devotion looked like if it smacked them upside the head.

^ that's not even unpacking their similar forms of trauma, which is just. woof. y'know?

cass's insecurities are similar to dick's, in that they're both desperately afraid of slipping up and hurting every one, but also her insecurities aren't similar to his at all because they formed under completely different circumstances and choose to act on those fears in different ways.

i think a lot of what i'm trying to say could be summed up by my own tags on a post:

as well as @/heroesriseandfall's tags on the same post:

also, as cool as dick & cass's canon material is, there isn't a lot of it and the evil cass character assassination ruined EVERYTHING!!!

i want cass and dick in blud together!!!!!! we were so close to having it all!!!! i want it sooooo bad and its so fucked that dc editorial decided to pull BULLSHIT and drag cass through the mud for ??? reasons.

so, tl;dr my ideal dick & cass dynamic is pretty complicated, but looks a little like this:

they trust each other a lot. and they're a little goofy together, because they're on equal ground, and both know they're really damn good at their jobs. the majority of their relationship is quiet, based around mutual understanding and an unspoken desire to fill in the gaps left behind by trauma.

and if i had it my way: they would both live in blud (for at least part of the year) and get shitty midnight coffee together, on the really bad nights.

my absolute favorite interaction they have is in NW vol. 2, even if it happens because dick is busy being a cop:

because, yeah. "what do you need me to do?" that's it.

also, much as i love being recognized as a dick and cass enjoyer, i think the person who's actually thee d&c enjoyer is @heroesriseandfall, who posts about them semi frequently and is actually smart enough to keep a dedicated tag, which i pillaged for screenshots for this post.

thank you, bestie. :>

[ra-archives]

Which Link is Caesar to be stabbed (with fake knives)? Who’s the chain ganging up on (for fun) and why?

First, happy Ides of March to you too <3 Secondly, I feel Twilight or Wars are Caesar. Wild, Hyrule, Wind and Four are totally planning everything. They are not subtle, Time hears everything and doesn't raise a finger to stop them because he finds it amusing. Sky does nothing as well, partly because he doesn't want to suddenly be the one thats stabbed, also its nice to see everyone having fun. Legend is pulled in when the stabbing gets started, and has a surprising amount of fun when he does. Between Twi and Wars, who ever isn't the one being stabbed is in the same boat as Legend.

TBH I have very little reasoning for that^ other than vibes. Mostly just Wild, Wind, Hyrule and Four give me mischievous little critter vibes. They always scheming. Four should get to do more nonsense. Only reason Time isn't involved is because he has to uphold his serious old man reputation. (That reputation is non existent. Everyone knowns he's mischievous and silly like the rest of him, Time is keeping this up for no one. He desperately wants to join them. Let the old man have fun)

Legend doesn't give me scheming vibes, just a tad to serious for that, but won't stop anyone else. Man is down for a little bit of chaotic fun though, so he joins in after. Sky is too quiet and collected to join in, but he'll watch with an eyeroll, and a slightly concerned but kind of entertained smile. Twilight and Wars are serious but also dramatic, so obviously perfect targets. They are both so dramatic when attacked, and chaotic enough to join the murder group when not being targeted.

Thirdly, I like to imagine that outside the Ides of March, everyone gangs up on eachother at any opportune moment.

Like, if anyone says something silly or trips over their own feet, everyone immediately starts ripping on them. There are a couple of constants, Wild and Hyrule aren't allowed opinions on what tastes edible, the most common reply to anything Time says is 'Uh huh, whatever you say gramps', and Wind is dragged for pretty much anything he says because he's the youngest, etc. But that doesn't mean the others are safe. You can pretty much guaranty that if it isn't serious (about battles, past quests and trauma, genuine heart to hearts) someone is going to jab at whoever said it.

Its a lot like big friend groups or close teams. Constantly making fun of eachother, but in that way that good friends do where you know its all from a place of love. If you don't lovingly drag someone through the mud for every single thing they say, are you really besties?

TBH maybe I should write a sillier fic. Their light hearted dynamics seem so fun to explore but everyone's always dying in my stuff so there's never time :') Maybe I'll actually keep writing 'The Years Bring Change' and throw it in there.

Well, this is longer than I meant it to be and not well though out cause I'm tired, but oh well. Gotta love rambles, lists and extra context!

[kiigan]

@cat-of-the-anbu ~ continued from [here]

ㅤA fair enough response, Itachi must say. He and Tenzo had ever had a lot in common, when they were younger - thirst for knowledge and books, loyalty to the village, will to make this world a better place by mean of their effort and dedication. And for what, all of that? What reward had they won, other than hideous scars on their body and even more terrible ones on their psyche? It felt almost poetic, that they should meet again like this. By the other side of the looking glass.

«More things even than you imagine.»

ㅤHad Tenzo even been at the village still, when the massacre happened? Memories of those days were quite hazy in Itachi's mind, in between severe trauma and severe torture. Even if not, however, surely his old friend would have heard the news about it eventually; it was one of those events known in the shinobi world by everybody and their mother. A piece of legend, truly, that Itachi meant to turn the tables on as soon as the perfect moment arrived.

And, speaking of which-

«I've been collecting allies and resources, mostly.»

ㅤNo better time than the present, and no better policy than honesty. With the reflection of the embers glowing along the deep crimson of his remaining eye, Itachi shifted his position; mostly snuggled inside his dark coat with the red clouds, and now comfortably rested against the thick trunk of that centenary tree. His gaze then fell on the older man's arm, not meaning to stare but very curious about the nature of that marred flesh. Danzo's doing as well, could it be? The whole ROOT division was a can of worms in and of its own.

«So that, one day, I can return and take Konoha under my own rule.»

[kitkatt0430]

Leonard Snart for character ask game

one aspect about them i love

How much he loves his sister. Len has a lot of vulnerability beneath his tough guy, criminal exterior and of course so many of us saw him having a blast being a super villain and looking giddy over being given a super villain name (and the fanbase went collectively 'fellow nerd!!!!'), but I think it's how much he loves Lisa that calls to me the most about him.

They clearly enjoy working together and Len sees her as his equal, but he's never going to get over being her big brother. He'll do anything to protect her. If that means working with their abusive father, then Len will do it and damn his pride. If that means killing their abusive father, then Len will do that and live with the trauma of it afterwards. If it means freezing his own hand off...

Well, Leonard Snart would do anything to protect his sister.

one aspect i wish more people understood about them

He finds Iris just as interesting and attractive as he does Barry.

Len finds out who Barry is, which points him at the Flash's long time and obvious crush on Iris West. He probably didn't expect to find her interesting in her own right, but he clearly does. Len follows her writing and is willing to ditch the Legends - his own personal quest to determine who he is without his father - just because Iris is in danger. Nothing Len gets out of that personally; Barry says Iris is in trouble and Len just drops everything for her. Someone he's barely interacted with in person.

Yes, Iris is important to Barry and Barry is important to Len, but I think if Barry had mentioned Joe or Caitlin then Len would have hemmed and hawed and made Barry work harder for his help. (Cisco probably would have been an immediately agreement too, but more for Lisa's sake than Len's own investment.)

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have about this character

Len enjoys classical music. It's not cluttered up with lyrics and can display impressive timing, which make it easy to have as background noise when planning heists. Though he doesn't often play music while plotting, just when there are other noises he needs to block out in order to focus.

That said, Len is a fan of rock music - ACDC, Nine Inch Nails - but also some country... mainly Johnny Cash. Whenever he's in jail and Lisa or Mick (or Barry) visit, he tries to fit in at least one reference to Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues. Mick and Lisa are annoyed with this by now, but Barry is new enough to this quirk to be absolutely delighted.

one character i love seeing them interact with

Barry. They are both so clearly in their element as villain and hero and there is no denying they were both looking kinda giddy at the train showdown. There's this energy between Barry and Len whether they're antagonizing each other or working together with teeth-clenched teamwork or realizing that, actually, they do enjoy teaming up together.

one character i wish they would interact with/interact with more

Lisa. We did not get nearly enough Sniblings content before Leonard died and Lisa was just... never seen again. Their dynamic was so great, it seems a shame that the last time they're both in an episode... we never see them interact. Lisa's all about saving her brother from their dad and Leonard is all about saving Lisa from their dad but... I don't think we see them interact at all in that episode. And it's such a shame.

one (or more) headcanon(s) i have that involve them and one other character

Len's been Iris' anonymous source on at least one article she wrote while still with the CCPN. It resulted in his favorite investigative piece she's written.

[hxperion]

13. what themes/motifs do you hope other people notice most about your character?

{questions for the mun] A major theme for Jack is Heroism corrupts. or the quote "you either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain" Because at the end of his day is a key theme to his character. Because he was technically a hero in the pre-sequel (with the underlying motive of take over hyperion and actually get into the vault on eplis). and disagreeing with the lost legion motive of destroying eplis which would of killed the thousands that lived on the moon. which of course we see at the end of that, he is more willing to slaughter all bandits or anyone who wrongs him on Pandora. who has a higher population then Eplis. This leads into another minor theme but also apart of his character is that money and power corrupts as we know from the first ever borderlands game, he used Angel to manipulate the original vault hunters to open one of the vaults on pandora and kill the monster inside, so he could later come and collect the eye of the destroyer to make into the eye of helios laser on helios that is used in the pre-sequel. another theme that is more present in borderlands 2 is that grief turns into rage or "why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief" Considering a lot of his anger especially towards Angel is because of her accidental killing of his wife (and her mother). and his initial hatred towards bandits for putting them in that situation in the first place. But we see it also when the vault hunters kill Angel as per her request to stop Jack from charging the vault key. we see when Jack no longer playing around and is determined to kill the vault hunters and all of the bandits on pandora to finish his goal and to get revenge for his daughter. its not a huge theme but its there. of course there is the theme of Icarus from the Greek legends of a man who flew to close to the sun and ended up having his wings that was made of wax melted and fell and drowned in the ocean. This is a good theme for Jack's character considering he did go too close to the sun by taking over Helios (which in greek is the Greek god of the sun) and getting too powerful but ended up being defeated by the vault hunters he underestimated the strength of even with all of his tech at his device and the warrior he relayed on to be defeated. furthermore, in tales, Helios does end up crashing on pandora due to Rhys and his group of friends, and the shutdown of A.I Jack, So the themes and motifs are there. Something important i would like people to know at least how i portray Jack is him having generational trauma, especially towards how he treats Angel. We see even before the death of his wife in Bl3, that in the audio logs that Jack did ask Angel to not- repeat any swearwords he says, upon being question by her when he did swear. Which we see that spirals towards him getting aggressive with her when she swears and often corrects her by saying "language". or being followed by a physical punishment. Something I headcanon personally he picked up from his grandma that raised him considering we know in borderlands 2 that we can find a buzz axe in the house that she had on pandora, and was label as her favorite thing to use for punishments, and we know from the pre-sequel he mentions being beaten by her casually when he was a child.

So i assume that he detests people who are below him either in family-wise or employees-wise of people swearing in front of him is something he detests and outlaws on Pandora and helios, even more so that he hates it the most when Angel does it. So it probably stems from generational trauma of dealing with his grandma and using a lot of her abusive control methods on those below him. It doesn't justify nor will it ever be a justification for the abuse he does because he's still actively doing these things at the end of the day and holds zero regrets in the long run.

[southern-belle-outcasts]

mun horror faves vs muse horror faves

Alright so we're getting into this with the disclaimer (some of you already know)- I am very behind when it comes to horror. I was raised under rock, in a castle with a moat, on the island of Thatsafuckingcultnotaparentingtechniquevania. My first experience with horror of any flavor was Supernatural at 18. Thus my tolerance is...getting there. But I can't really make claims on my muses' watching habits with 100% certainty as my watching is limited. 😅😬

Tagg Faves (not in any order):

Get Out Us Nope (LOOK it's not my fault he makes good movies) Evil Dead II Hereditary Bird Box 10 Cloverfield Lane Annihilation Beetlejuice (it counts, bite me) A Quiet Place I Am Legend (still not okay, don't talk to me) Escape Room Warm Bodies Stranger Things First Kill Half Bad Wynonna Earp Lockwood & Co. Locke & Key

Muses (the TLDR version for everyone's sake, mine included):

-Molly has watched just about anything you can name horror wise. Horror aficionado. The Classics (friday, scream, elm street, blah blah blah) have been rewatched to death, same with some of her favs that are more indie.

-Rogue like horror but with someone who won't laugh at her for the jumpscares getting her. If it involves parental psychological trauma or child injury or some such other trigger, she's out. She's also not watching your stupid clown movie no matter how many times you ask.

-Gabriel is pretty much Rocky Horror Picture Show and Beetlejuice. That's it. Give him a horror novel, but let's watch something else entirely.

-Sara has no patience for the lack of efficiency or accuracy in wounds when it comes to slashers, so she sticks to the heavy psychological and supernatural type of movies. Sometimes the demon ones rattle her a lil more than she would like to admit.

-Cisco is very picky about what he watches for horror because he would like to be able to sleep at night, but he also doesn't like people to be able to claim the movie scares him. Sometimes the same movie is more unsettling than not on certain days. It's complicated. But he's most likely to appreciate an action horror like Van Helsing or World War Z than he is your mom is out to kill you horror. He has a Stranger Things funko collection tho, and some tees obvs.

-Farrar and Nilza do not fucking watch horror. They get enough of that in real life thank you very much.

-Padmé will watch a horror movie with you because it's what you wanted to watch. She is maybe unnervingly able to watch it with 90% composure, even if afterwards she says how it unnerved her. She isn't seeking them out though.

-Harry watches them here and there but he already has a complicated relationship with the supernatural, and fucked up human beings. He can appreciate the story telling, enjoy some of the cinematography, but overall it's not his idea of a relaxing time.

-Kaylee likes to watch them because it amuses her to see how put out people get when she's unfazed by the blood, laughing at most of the monsters (they're inaccurate as hell or just don't exist), and has no concept of anything xtian adjacent as horrifying because she's always been pagan.

Tagged by: @kylo-wrecked & @mynameisanakin

Tagging: you're it (i'm fairly certain everyone else has done this but whatever)

[paul-doyle]

Breanna Stewart Finds Outpouring Of Support After Opening Up About Abuse

By Paul Doyle/The Hartford Courant

Nov 01, 2017

In 1,663 words, Breanna Stewart revealed the most personal of stories.

Stewart's piece on The Players' Tribune recounted her experience as a childhood sexual abuse survivor. It's a deeply personal essay which Stewart hopes will inspire others to tell their stories.

And simply by being so open, Stewart is already making a difference.

"The word I would use is courage," said Dr. Laura Saunders, a child psychologist at the Institute of Living. "It takes courage to release the secret. Once you release the secret, it's not a secret anymore and it's a step toward decreasing the isolation and decreasing the shame."

Stewart's essay, published Monday morning, sparked an outpouring of reaction on social media. The former UConn All-American and current WNBA All-Star shared the story on her Twitter and Facebook accounts at 7 a.m. and the story spread quickly, with an array of figures commenting with tweets: UConn coach Geno Auriemma, former UConn guard and Stewart's WNBA teammate Sue Bird, soccer legend Abby Wambach, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, and more.

The tweet from Auriemma: "Stewie was 4 time Final Four MVP. Today she is MVP for life. Love you Stewie."

The essay's title is a nod to the hashtag that has gone viral in response to sexual harassment and assault allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. Actress Alyssa Milano started the campaign on Twitter two weeks ago and the hashtag has spread.

In fact, Stewart writes that she was inspired to share her story after reading Olympic gymnast McKayla Maroney's account of sexual abuse. Just as Maroney inspired Stewart, Stewart could act as a catalyst for others.

"It's one thing to write #MeToo, meaning you can relate to it, but it's a whole other issue to write such a deeply personal story," Saunders said "These kinds of personal accounts, I think, are very powerful and they're very powerful for young people, even adults to read, and realize they're not alone."

Laura Cordes, executive director of the Connecticut Alliane to End Sexual Violence, is encouraged by the magnitude of the #MeToo movement, including Stewart's decision to share her story.

"We celebrate the bravery and resilience of all survivors, like Breanna, who have survived the trauma of sexual abuse," Cordes said. "We are encouraged that so many who have remained silent for years or decades, feel comfortable enough to share their story. Not all survivors can. When survivors do, we need to believe and listen. The millions of #metoo stories not only illustrate the pervasiveness of sexual violence throughout our country in all communities and at all ages and stages of life, they are a collective call to action for individuals and institutions alike to believe survivors, hold offenders accountable and create communities where sexual violence is never tolerated."

Erin Merryn, a sexual abuse survivor, applauds Stewart for making her story public. Merryn is an author and activist against sexual abuse who founded "Erin's Law," which requires school to offer age-appropriate instruction on body safety and sexual abuse.

The law has passed in 31 states, including Connecticut.

"She is a brave woman for taking a stand and she will help so many others by going public," Merryn said in an email. "She will notice it, too, when people approach her and she hears, 'Thank you.' "

Merryn, of Illinois, was raped by an uncle from age 6 to 8 and was sexually assaulted by an older cousin from age 11 to 13. She self-published her first book ("Stolen Innocence: Triumphing Over a Childhood Broken by Abuse: A Memoir") while in high school and began speaking publicly about child sexual abuse in 2005.

"Child sexual abuse is a silent epidemic," Merryn said. "I have been saying for nearly 15 years that we all know someone, we just might not know their name because there is so much shame and taboo attached to this subject. People are afraid to say this happened to them, when reality is you have nothing to be ashamed of at all. By staying silent we allow our abusers to win. By speaking up and being a voice you can help end the silence and help bring others to reclaiming their voice."

Saunders, of the Institute of Living, points out that secrecy is inherent among childhood abuse survivors.

"So many young people, far more than we hope there would be, hold onto the secret of sexual or physical or emotional abuse," Saunders said. "And the power of the secrecy creates a tremendous feeling of isolation and that's one of the themes Breanna Stewart talks about [in the essay] is really the isolation, that no one knew. So reading a story like this … reading someone else's story, breaking the secrecy, and decreasing the isolation is a very powerful healing force."

Stewart writes that she was molested between ages 9 and 11. She eventually told her parents when she was 11.

On Tuesday, Stewart's parents, Brian and Heather, talked to Donna Ditota of Syracuse.com about their daughter's essay. Stewart grew up in the Syracuse area.

"All we want to say is we're proud of her in what she's trying to accomplish by helping others," Brian Stewart said in the story. "We can also say, as parents, that our message would be that we were blindsided by this. We thought she was in a safe place all the time. People need to be aware that maybe they need to be looking out for this kind of stuff. It's sad. But it's out there and it's just not something any kid should have to go through."

Stewart said basketball was an escape as she grew up and processed the abuse. Saunders said Stewart used those "hours and hours a day per week to work out the poison" that grows inside a child keeping a secret.

Most kids don't have that outlet. That's what makes Stewart's story empowering.

Near the end of the essay, Stewart writes "This is bigger than me." She said she's not sure what will come next but she is prepared to assume responsibility as a public survivor.

Her advice: "If you are being abused, tell somebody. If that person doesn't believe you, tell somebody else. A parent, a family member, a teacher, a coach, a friend's parent. Help is there."

Saunders said that's an ideal message.

"Shame is what prevents someone from, when something like this happens, telling the next person," Saunders said. "They feel shame and they feel like they did something wrong. Speaking out like this makes people realize, oh wait, it's not just me and I don't need to feel ashamed."

[omnibused]

Hello! For ask thingy, 50. Whats your favorite games and why? ^^

Ohh, boy. That's a big question for a little ask, 'cause I risk going nostalgic or diving into lore, haha! I'm a big fan of retro/retro style boomer shooters for burning off steam, and the Legend of Zelda series, and it just gets more convoluted from there. For the sake of brevity, I'll keep it to my more modern favorites~

First and foremost, I love stuff with deep lore. I cannot overstate that, I'm collecting and reading every single journal/codex/information entry the game provides and reading them all. If there are companion books, they're going into my collection at home, too.

If I had to narrow it down to a few:

The Talos Principle ~ Combining my love of a challenging logic puzzle with deep lore and a good story, this one blew me away with its overarching story once I realized it wasn't just a series of challenging puzzles; choices matter! Highly recommend this one to anyone who likes slowly unraveling a story bit by bit, and being left a little speechless at the end.

(cut, 'cause long post warning)

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice ~ A beautiful meeting of history and creative story telling, the main character is a vulnerable young woman processing mental illness and trauma; she's incredibly relatable. I was really impressed with the developers consulting and involving people who suffer the same illness as the main character at every step of the development process, so it's handled with dignity and grace. Gorgeous, gorgeous game!

The Elder Scrolls Series ~ This one's had its ups and downs over the years, but I've been with it since Daggerfall, so I feel obligated to give it a mention. Not every entry in the series is a winner, but the overarching lore is deep, and (usually) well written and substantiated.

The Mass Effect Series ~ My love for history and lore, sci-fi/fantasy, combat strategy, and an epic adventure all rolled into one. I find myself returning to this one every couple years to relive the story, try something else, and generally just appreciate it for the heroic tale it is.

Last and absolutely the most...

The Dragon Age Series ~ I literally cannot say enough good things about the game series itself. It's one I play yearly, at least. I mean, sure it has its flaws here and there, but, playing Origins for the first time was a breath of fresh air - I'd never played an RPG that ticked all the best boxes about an enjoyable game. The lore is deep and unique (please, please give us more on dwarves already, though), and always makes for a great read. I love that the characters are actually complex and multifaceted, no one's purely a saint, no one purely a sinner - it can be polarizing, for sure, but I love myself a good character discussion. I've got all the comics, novelizations, and companion books on my shelf.

I have a framed map of Thedas on my living room wall, if that tells you the depth of my love. 😅

Honorable Mentions: Cyberpunk 2077, DOOM, The Amnesia Series, Dead Space Series, Resident Evil Series, and Final Fantasy XIV (only 14 though, I literally do not like a single other FF game, lol)

[artificialcharisma]

The Linked Universe Fandom and Trauma

It's a pretty common theme among fanfiction to explore topics of trauma. Who doesn't like to see the aftermath of dramatic events and life-threatening danger, which are so commonly shown in fiction?

On top of that, fandoms are very neurodiverse spaces, filled with many who have experienced trauma themselves. Using fiction to explore your own experiences is usually more healthy than other methods, but I've noticed that throughout those fandoms, and especially a small one like the LU fandom, the approaches to exploring PTSD range from nuanced and insightful to horrendously tone-deaf and inappropriate.

What's going on here?

(This essay is written by six people. We’ll mention events and feelings from our pasts, say we have a certain disorder/condition, and use I and we interchangeably—this warning is in case you began reading this and thought it was written by one person who was collecting mental and physical illnesses like infinity stones. Also, if you’d like to avoid the child abuse tag, we’ve put markers where the child abuse section begins and ends in bold.

Writers:

@artificialcharisma

@deuynndoodles

@wakingwinds

and three people who wished to remain anonymous.)

Part A. The Legend of Zelda: Abuse of the Child

(child abuse section begins)

What IS it with people and making the 7 year old a soldier?

Seriously. If you've read fics around this fandom, you know the amount of fics with Wild as a child soldier is mad high. 

The story of BOTW is vague, which leaves a lot of room for speculation on backstory. A popular headcanon is that Link pulled the Master Sword at a young age and was raised as a knight since then.

You see a lot of child abuse in these fics. From his father, from Rhoam, from Zelda, name any character and they’ve probably yelled at him for not being good enough.

Someone portraying their child abuse is perfectly fine. Fanfiction, and by extension, writing in general, is a healthy space to explore your trauma. 

These topics aren’t always done by people who are venting, though. These fics, usually written by someone who is only writing child abuse for the sake of angst, read like a morbid fascination with the concept of suffering—which is especially strange when applied to children.

Another thing to note is the way that many authors tend to reduce character's ages in a way to make their trauma seem "more credible", when in fact, any trauma is credible.

Let's take a look at the Hero of Time, the epitome of a child soldier. 

It doesn't come off the same way authors depict Wild, and a key reason is this: It's fundamental to the story. If removed, you lose the lessons Ocarina of Time teaches you. In Wild's case, the only reason for the child soldier plotline is to gain sympathy points.

In Ocarina of Time, Link is a kid just coming into his childhood, and is immediately given full responsibility for something he didn't deserve to take responsibility for. He plays as an adult, and after the Master Sword, becomes an adult in other peoples' eyes. We, as the player, know this isn't the truth.

Link is given an adult role and by the end of the story, he is by most definitions, an adult, and becomes a child in body yet again and the cycle continues.

This is what's so interesting about Ocarina of Time—It’s what makes its story compelling.

Link being young is important to the themes of the story, and the trauma isn't the key focus. If it was removed, OOT wouldn't make sense.

Does Wild being 15 instead of 17 affect the story in any way? The objective answer is no. No, it doesn't.

(child abuse section ends)

Let's return to Wild and how his trauma affects the way fans view him.

Let me frame out a part of a fic for you: after an unexpected event, by accident or on purpose, Wild reveals his devastating backstory. The responses range from appalled to protective to altogether aghast at how someone so young could have undergone such a thing. Cue the comfort. Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

It's a fine sequence, but the tone and sometimes even the direct phrasing with which it's written often frames Wild as an incredibly admirable and strong individual who is /perfect as he is./

Let me frame out another fic concept: panic attacks, a popular topic in the hurt/comfort tag. Wild panics, someone comforts him, he reveals his tragic past, and—he gets up and is perfectly fine afterwards. 

Besides having the occasional panic attack, flashback, and nightmare, Wild is sociable, kind, friendly. Ultimately, he's just the kind of person you would want to be. 

However, when characters have an incredibly tragic backstory, experience only the most loud and attention-attracting symptoms of mental illness, and act completely unaffected and normal afterwards, is it really a portrayal of trauma, or is it just an excuse for angst?

Not only does this lead to the character being seen as unlikeable to those who do have personal experience with trauma, but it also gives those fics less of an emotional impact.

Part B. The Legend of Trauma: Asshole Pass

How much trauma gives you the green light to be rude and take it out on others?

Trick question. The answer is none. Trauma is a justification that can influence whether you will be forgiven, but in no way is a free pass that makes your actions right.

Legend has been through 6 adventures, so if there’s anyone who wins the completely arbitrary trophy of Most Numerous Trauma, it’s him. 

One of the most common LU characterizations is that Legend Is An Asshole, which is kind of strange, because he absolutely is not in canon. He’s protective over his items and makes fun of people, but he is not a jerk. (This seems to be a running remark, the way that authors will demean one of the Links to one personality trait and one personality trait only.)

There’s no shorter way to say it than that. Writing Legend as a jerk who doesn’t need to apologize sends a similar message to the readers—that if they have a good enough “excuse,” they can get off scot-free, too.

In fics that center around him, his actions can come off as tone-deaf at best and downright cruel at worst, but it’s justified because he’s traumatized. Furthermore, it comes off like it’s more justified because he’s more traumatized. That’s not how it works.

Fanfiction is a place where people can write whatever they want. But what these authors tend to disregard is that other people can also read what you write. A lot of these readers are young and don’t have other mental health resources that talk about what they may be going through. 

From when I was 13 to 17, I was an avid reader of fanfiction and also had issues in my family life. Because no other source discussed what people do in these situations, I thought the authors on Ao3 knew it better.

Fanfiction is obviously not a good source of information on mental illness, and we recommend that absolutely nobody use it as their resource on what is or isn’t acceptable, but we ask you to remember who your audience is. 

When you subject young readers to these incorrect portrayals of mental illness, you might end up dictating how they view neurodivergence—-and when someone who’s reading has what you are portraying, they might see themselves in a negative light.

Fics that end in tragedy due to a character having a condition, leaving no hope for the character to recover or achieve their goals leave the reader in the same state too. 

I’ll reiterate: Projection is fine, it’s just that when authors who don’t have the illness they’re portraying join in on the party, it starts to seem less like a creator expressing their feelings and more like a person using other people’s suffering as a form of angst.

Veering a little to the side to get to Wild, for a second—-in one of the most recent updates (depending on when you’re reading this) he made… a mistake! How terrible. Parts of the fandom decided that he was either A. Possessed by Dark Link, because Wild could never make a mistake, and it’s just not in his nature to, or B. He was terrible, annoying, and should get beat up by Four.

(I will admit, the Four jokes were pretty funny.)

With both these interpretations claiming that Wild lashing out was evil, the problem we’re discussing here is shown in full.

Wasn’t Wild lashing out due to his trauma? 

This is what the fandom supposedly wanted: a correct portrayal of PTSD. The fandom’s idea of PTSD is less than correct, though, and an unromanticizable symptom isn’t forgivable. 

Fanfiction is, by nature, self-indulgent, and rarely do people want to indulge in the ugly.

Part C. The Legend of The Other Ones I Guess

The Hero of the Skies. Everybody’s beloved soft and lazy boi.

And that's pretty much all he is, it seems.

Ignoring the flat characterization Sky goes through, there's still issues. Namely, chronic illness, and the way it is portrayed through him.

When you depict the only "lazy" character as someone with chronic illness, it reiterates the stereotype that neurodivergent and chronically ill people are lazy.

As an example, when I was on crutches, experiencing chronic fatigue, and asked for a quick favor, I was told to do it myself, even though they would have a much easier time doing it—like I was capable of completing the task, but I just didn’t want to do it.

It gets tiring after a certain point, and to see a fictional character that is called lazy by other people be tagged the chronically ill trait feels demeaning.

I don’t think it’s not a fun thing to explore, though—-I find it interesting to see, but there's a problem when it's only Sky. (I will admit, this is moreso a societal issue where 'lazy' and 'chronically ill' seem to go together, but that's not the point.)

You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place: thinking of Sky as lazy when he’s mentioned to be chronically ill, or thinking of Sky as chronically ill when he’s mentioned to be lazy. 

When you’re able-bodied and/or neurotypical, it’s easy to fall back on stereotypes, and you need to think about why you think a character is disabled. If you’re allistic, why do you headcanon a robot as autistic? If you’re able-bodied, why do you headcanon the “lazy” character as chronically ill?

Another common “trait” people will give Sky is asthma, but I've always found this hard to follow.

As he grows up above the clouds (where we all know the air gets thinner as you go up) his body is already familiar with the strain.

Once he goes down to the surface, it would be noticeably easier to breathe—this is supported by real life children who grow up in high altitudes, who have to acclimate to high air pressure as they descend and, notably, still have to acclimate to the low levels of oxygen when they return, as well.

Instead, I propose chronic altitude sickness—commonly short bouts of illness related to changing altitudes without time to acclimate. This is both accurate and more interesting to read.

Sky is also often portrayed as having narcolepsy, a disorder with many stereotypes. Because it’s something even the medical field doesn’t know much about, it leads to people without narcolepsy who want to depict it in their fic thinking they don’t need to put research into it.

Narcolepsy is, in fact, incredibly complicated—I have narcolepsy, having fully gone through the long diagnostic process and everything and there's still things even I don’t understand about it.

To clear up any misconceptions: Narcolepsy is not a “falls asleep at random” disorder. Narcolepsy is a disorder of a person's sleep cycles, specifically REM sleep, as the brain is unable to regulate when the sleep cycles happen. 

This can cause things like excessive daytime sleepiness, disrupted nighttime sleep, sleep paralysis, hallucinations, having your brain be stuck in autopilot, (meaning your body keeps moving after your brain tells it to stop) and if you have Narcolepsy Type-1, cataplexy.

I won’t go too in-depth, though. I am not a doctor. I just know what my sleep specialist has told me. Please do your own research and talk to people who have this condition (and if you don’t know anyone, you know me now! @wakingwinds on tumblr—I don’t bite, I promise). 

Narcolepsy is not cute, or fun, or something you can use as a tool for angst. Narcolepsy is real. I and many others suffer from it daily. I love the idea of Sky with narcolepsy, but only when it’s done right.

-

The Hero of the Four Sword. The least popular LU character (at least in terms of fics), and the subject of some pretty heavy discourse.

The writer of this section is a system, and I am speaking to the singlets of the Linked Universe fandom. There are a couple things I want to touch on here, and hopefully, I will be able to better educate people who want to learn. 

First off, Four. Specifically, singlets portraying him with DID. 

DID is something that has a lot of stereotypes and misconceptions even within the psych field, which is something I won’t get into here, but it’s safe to say that if you want to portray it properly you’re going to need to be very careful. 

In my opinion, I don’t think singlets should write Four with DID. 

The fact of the matter is that Four… doesn’t have DID. Four’s plurality was caused by a magic sword, not trauma. You can write Four as plural without giving them DID, which avoids issues with an accurate portrayal.

Obviously, you still shouldn’t use pluralphobic stereotypes (the “evil alter”, among others), but I would hope that’s a given. Once again, this is my personal opinion. There are probably going to be systems who disagree with me on this, and I am absolutely open to hearing their thoughts on the subject in a constructive conversation. 

If you’re a singlet who wants to write Four with DID, I’m not going to stop you, even though in my opinion, this subject should be left to systems to write on their own if they want to. 

So, how can you do it right?

Talk to systems. Every system will have vastly different experiences, so if you can it’s best to talk to multiple, but not everyone knows that many systems (and if you don’t know any at all, once again, you know me now. @wakingwinds on tumblr etc etc). 

Make sure you do research into the real life experiences of real systems, not just what some singlets have boiled it down to. Systemhood is a very varied experience, so in all honesty, as long as you aren’t being actively harmful and talk to some systems about your portrayal it’s not too hard to do it right. 

The second topic I wanted to touch on is how all of you as singlets can make this community more welcoming to the systems in it. I personally have had some incredibly bad experiences in this fandom directly related to being a system, and I know I’m not the only system who’s dealt with the same thing. 

First off, even though the whole idea of multiple people sharing a body may seem “weird” or “unrealistic” to you, we do exist. 

Do not assume a system you know is faking. You don’t know them, you are not their therapist, you are not inside their head, and quite frankly, it is none of your business. Especially as a singlet. Just let systems exist. It doesn’t matter if you think introjects are “cringy” or think that everyone on the internet is faking for attention. It’s not your place. 

Treat introjects like real people, not characters, because that’s what they are. Some introjects may be similar to their source, some are entirely detached from it, but at the end of the day they are a real person. Not roleplay. 

Next, have pluralkit and/or tupperbox in your servers! These bots are used by many systems to proxy as themselves, with their own names and profile pictures. I know for me, it is so incredibly validating to be able to proxy as myself in a server instead of having to mask as our collective singletsona, and the rest of my system feels the same. 

None of them want to have to pretend to be me, so in servers without pluralkit they feel alienated – like they can’t talk at all. 

Ask the systems you know about their boundaries. Everyone has a different experience, and they will want to be treated differently. Do they want to all be treated as separate people? Cool! Do they all consider themselves facets of the same person? Also cool!

Ask about what language they prefer and most of all, be respectful. A little bit of kindness and an attempt at understanding goes a long way. And hey, if you really want to help make the community more of a safe space, call out the pluralphobia you see in other singlets.

Listen to systems and boost their voices. Stay out of any system related discourse/drama. And most of all, just be nice to people. 

-

The Hero of Time.

Something I've noticed is how many people seem to interpret Time as a stoic, stern heroic figure. There's nothing wrong with this interpretation, but there's something I find lacking about it.

Let's look at the fanon interpretation of Mask, before we get into Time.

Mask is commonly used in Hyrule Warriors fics or as a younger, teenage version of Time. He is typically jaded, angsty, angry and snarky—and I enjoy seeing such characterizations, since it's a realistic way to lash out from trauma. Said fics also explore the consequences of his 'angsty teenager' actions, which is also great.

Now, let's remember that Time canonically has a form of support in Malon, and perhaps other characters we haven't met. While, yes, he can be stony and stoic at times, that's not all he is.

He opens up, he lets himself show his emotions to others, talks about what makes him happy. All things Mask doesn't do—because he has had time to heal from his trauma.

Not to say he isn't perfect. Of course he makes mistakes, of course his trauma hasn't up and disappeared. But he's learned how to be himself again.

I notice in fics where Time is this epitome of a stoic, heroic figure; it feels like his efforts have been erased, like he's still stewing in his trauma. This feels like we're reducing him to a character archetype (which is fine, as long as that's not all it is) and erasing what makes him such an interesting character.

-

We all create art to indulge and enjoy sharing our creations with others, and that's completely fine—encouraged, even.

However, something we must always keep in mind is the fact that while fiction isn't reality, they are symbiotic and affect each other drastically. Propaganda takes example of this by influencing peoples' minds through content, even fictional content. The word may have a negative context, but it can apply to anything—even this essay!

When you write fiction, you must remember that if you share it with other people, the information in it will subconsciously ingrain in their minds.

And when said information is stigmatized, stereotyped, or puts off incorrect ideas of trauma and how to heal, it can hurt many people.

Disabled people are not your tools for angst.

You don't have to take everything to heart here, but we ask that you at least take a second to think critically about yourself and the things you read.

That's all.

[swashbucklery]

OK so I went on a spiral about this in Discord and now I’m condensing that here because @falsealarm encouraged me, so.

One of my Niche History Interests is WW1 war poets, and specifically my favourite is a man named Wilfred Owen and there are some ~uncanny similarities~ between him and the Gwyn/Alun backstories and so I wanted to just like. Go bananas sharing why I love this particular slice of history and maybe if this arc on Legends is something you’re into you’ll like this slice of history, too.

Disclaimer: I’m not a historian, I’m trying to say stuff that’s as true as I can make it but please don’t cite this for school. Also content warning for like. . .the First World War, if you’re not into reading about people dying from mustard gas and trench foot and shit you’re SOL that’s a major theme. Oh and poetry. Super gay angry sad poetry.

So anyway, under the cut: Gwyn Davies’ Backstory and Character Is Heavily Influenced by Real War Poets, Specifically Wilfred Owen And Others Of His Generation And I Can Prove It.

World War One Was Not Fun For Anybody, I Cannot Stress This Enough

So to understand, broadly, the context of WW1 poetry you first have to understand three things:

There had not been a Big Fucking War for a good long time. (OK I said this and then looked up the Wiki article for British Wars and like. They did a lot of them, fine. And this is not to minimize the obvious harms of the 1390483 colonial revolutions they were involved in but like. A Big War that really touched private citizens in the UK in a meaningful way, scale-wise.)

There hadn’t really been a Big Fucking War with the technological advances of the early 1910s, specifically: phones and radio, cars and tanks, Big Fucking Guns, and also mustard gas (cw if you click through for: gross). As a result, there wasn’t a good way to anticipate the specific and catastrophic horrors that soliders were being asked to face

A lot of Commonwealth soldiers sort of signed up thinking it’d be kind of fun & noble to Be In A War with very 19th century ideas of what war would be (think: dodging cannonballs, fun outfits, maybe losing a foot and telling fun stories later at parties, etc). Some of this was generational; ie because of the long time between wars there wasn’t really a great sense of what being in a war was actually like, but also the technological advances in point 2 meant that really even if there had been the experiences in this war were so, so different from wars that had come before. (This is mainly in soliders who volunteered early on, before conscription came into effect in later years.)

So because of this, you have a lot of young people who are literate, very idealistic, and ultimately either die or become extremely disillusioned very quickly. This was also the first war with just like. Truly catastrophic global casualties; depending on how soldiers were drafted and posted sometimes like. If one unit was in one of the really horrific battles that meant that basically a whole town lost their men from 18-35. This is also when you really start seeing descriptions of shell-shock, which would later become the constellation of symptoms we now know as PTSD - prior to this war this type of trauma wasn’t well understood or described by modern medicine, but the sheer volume of men returning with the syndrome prompted the development of early diagnostic paradigms.

SO ANYWAY. The war was fucked up, and people wrote poetry about it. You get kind of two types of poets coming out of it: some that are basically just versifying propaganda, and some that are really fucking angry. And you have to understand the angry generation of poets are not people who were like, sitting at home writing about their cousins at war. These poets were in the war; a lot of their poetry was written while they were in the hospital in between battles or on the front lines, as well as immediately postwar as a way of processing the collective trauma of the war and also sort of combatting the propaganda around it.

(Bc as with any war, there was this nationalist narrrative of like. Your boys are fighting for glory etc etc, big angel of freedom, and Owen’s poetry in particular is exquisitely moving for deliberately cutting through to be like. Fuck this, fuck your war, fuck your fucking propaganda this is appalling and you’re lying to people.)

And so you get poets like Owen (who was, by the way, Welsh and almost certainly gay and definitely had shell-shock) who are writing these beautiful things fueled by just like. Years of trauma and the genuine anger of disillusionment as well as youth. Owen was 25 when he died, a week before the end of the war.

ANYWAY WAR POETRY and specifically this is coming up because a) I love Owen, he’s my favourite and also b) the lines from last episode about Alun writing the most beautiful poetry like. This is intentional and I’m eating it up.

Wilfred Owen: Why Are You Getting So Weird About This, J.

So Wilfred Owen (he/him) is a notable war poet. He enlisted in 1915 and managed to live right up until 1919. The thing that is really beautiful about Owen’s war poetry specifically is like. It’s angry and it delineates true horrors extremely eloquently, but its also rooted in such love. You get this feeling of like. That was a kid and a young man and I cared about him in every word, he clearly was such a sensitive person and felt loss and caring so acutely at that period in his life.

(There are a lot of allusions in biography to his ~exquisite sensitivity, please read between the lines here my man was a lovely tender homosexual. He was ~connected to and ~influenced by Sassoon, noted for several ~affairs with men as well as several ~friends of Oscar Wilde~ like. A vibe is emerging.)

He wrote several famous poems including Dulce et Decorum Est, which is truly my favourite poem about war, period. The full text is linked above and it will make you cry. For context, the Latin at the end dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori was a common phrase that most readers would have known, it translates roughly to it is sweet and fitting to die for your country and was used often in pro-war slogans. The use of it in this poem is this beautiful middle finger of like. If you fucking knew how it felt to see a kid die for their country you wouldn't lie to us and tell us that.

I also think a lot about poems like Sonnet To My Friend - With An Identity Disc when I think of Gwyn & Alun; the last four lines are so very very:

Let my inscription be this soldier's disc. Wear it, sweet friend. Inscribe no date nor deed. But may thy heart-beat kiss it, night and day, Until the name grow blurred and fade away.

Like. Just sit with that it’s so much, you know? But also this gorgeous theme of like. We remember each other, I’ll remember what you went through even if your family doesn’t. The complex shared understanding of people who went through it and the way that it creates distance between them and people who didn’t when it comes to healing and memory - this was also a big postwar theme, that people “back home” who had really only experienced a media narrative of the war just weren’t able to understand.

So like. This is beautiful on its own, and definitely sometimes (and in Owen’s case probably) dovetailed nicely with themes of homosexuality rather than ~brotherly love. The specific choice to make Gwyn explicitly in love with Alun makes this explicit and disambiguates it from the ~themes~ of the ~past~ and I love that so much. There were a lot of other poets this could have represented, including Sassoon, but Owen’s poetry is so well-known and evocative that I think he’s the clearest choice.

This Is Also Brilliant Because Of The Parallels To The Collective Trauma of Present Day; You Can’t Talk About The End Of WW1 Without Discussing The Spanish Flu Pandemic.

The other thing that is getting me and like - partly because in my personal life I’ve been reflecting on our ~modern stresses~ and the ways that they feel a lot like the collective traumas of other transformative historical moments. But I’ve been thinking about the narrative choice to add a new character from a similarly transformative moment in history, and really appreciating the parallels.

I think the choice to root Gwyn at this moment in history is intentional and really beautiful as a narrative decision. Gwyn feels like the person the show needs to give time travel a context and a perspective that resonates with viewers living through a similarly transformative time, you know?

(And this is also like - I think one of the reasons last season fell flat for a lot of fans is partly because it was the wrong story for that year? It really focused on the team being apart and fracturing at a time when people were craving stories about togetherness and I think because S7 was planned well into the pandemic they are hitting right tone much more often.)

It’s also a particularly poignant choice because Gywn would have lived through not only the war but also the subsequent flu pandemic, which killed more than twice as many people as the war and basically overlapped the last year of conflict; it was spread via troop movements and all of the migration post-war.

Anyway, I’m just rolling around in the parallels here because like. Gwyn’s 1920s are similar to our 2020s; this was such a deliberate choice and I love it so much? But also the specific historical vibe of him is one that resonates with me really deeply and I think is a wonderful and beautiful choice.

[shortkingvi]

pspspspsps piltover's finest fic recs if you have them?

yes i do have a few! i admittedly haven't read many because i've been working on my own ideas, but these ones are a few that i really enjoy

you carry my fears(as the heavens set fire) - prettyaveragewhiteshark

this one. what can i say about this one. it's rated E so do take that into consideration but oh my god,,,,,, it is just so on point with all the emotions and nuance that these two have. vi working through touch trauma with caitlyn, the patience and care they both show each other, the LOVE in it all? so good. so so so good. cannot recommend enough

plus one - wiseturtlebear

fake dating without all of the angst that usually comes with it. if you want tall vi, this is the fic for you! really cute and a super easy read

sleepless nights - misthios

this one, and its prequel, are so fucking exceptional,,,,, mma vi and journalist caitlyn fall in love SO tenderly. i love the way both of them are characterized here and the way the author treats them. they feel so wonderfully in character and it truly is one of the best fics i've read in a LONG while. please please PLEASE give this one a read

fifteen moments of vi - solarpoweredflashlight

this is one from the before days,,,,, the league of legends days,,,,,,, the dark days, one might say. nonetheless, this fic is SO well done and i love the way it presents their relationship. if you like fics that are a collection of moments as much as i do, this is the fic for you!

just a taste - thehaakun

i'm not always one for roadtrip fics because sometimes i think they can get a little monotonous, but oh my god this one! it was absolutely not that at all! it is so fresh and sweet and wonderful and vivid! oh it paints pictures in your mind about what's going on and deserves to be read

these are the big ones that i've really enjoyed. they all are super well executed and everyone should ABSOLUTELY give them a read! also when i publish my multichap pls give that a read too