#like it looks like it's been structurally damaged lol

[kindahoping4forever]

here are two important screenshots as evidence for my assumption that both the shirt and jacket were just hacked off with some scissors. the screenshots are purely to show the fraying of the fabric and not to display anything else 🫡 hope you’re having a lovely day 😌✨

Meg coming in clutch with the receipts! I for one very much appreciate this contribution. For the research value and no other reasons 😌🙏🏻

[ghostofskywalker]

More Than The Persona

Tyler Owens/Fem!Reader

Words: 2,248

Summary: Tyler Owens is the poster child for storm chasing, his videos often leading to viewers glamourising these drastic weather events. As a first responder, you're no stranger to the death and destruction that tornadoes leave in their wake, so the two of you don't exactly click the first time you meet.

Note: i saw twisters yesterday and i was pleasantly surprised with how much i enjoyed it, since i also love the original 1996 one. as far as why this was written, i’m procrastinating writing zine fics right now and that's the only explanation I can offer lol. i'd love to write more twisters fic in the future though, i did have fun with it

As you stepped out of the ambulance, you could see destruction wherever you turned. Countless houses were razed where they stood, their contents strewn all across the street. Even the structures that had been lucky enough to only get clipped by the tornado were still damaged beyond repair, in some cases with their entire facades ripped off, now laying somewhere smashed on the ground. No matter how many times you had seen scenes like this, the gravity of the situation never got lighter. For almost all of these people, recovering would take months, if not years. 

Crowds were just beginning to collect on the streets as some emerged from storm shelters, but you knew there were some who hadn’t been afforded that luxury. You shared a knowing look with the other members of your team as they began to step over the debris in search of those that might be trapped under rubble. 

By the time more pickup trucks pulled up to the scene, you had set up outside one of the ambulances, hard at work treating the wounds of those who could make it over to you. The crates of water bottles next to you were quickly diminishing, but the line of people in need of medical care never seemed to, which was a sitaution you were unfortunately used to finding yourself in. 

As the newcomers fanned out through the area, you weren’t the only one who stared. Although not a fan yourself of the self-appointed “Tornado Wrangler,” you unfortunately recognized the man who led a small group down the street. Resisting the urge to roll your eyes, you turned your attention back to the person in front of you. There was nothing you could do about the fact that some wannabe celebrities were trying to profit off of the disaster by getting in the public’s good graces, so you would just have to suck it up and hope they eventually get bored enough to leave.

Hours later, you were still in that same spot, and there was still so much to do. Some of the ambulances had left temporarily the scene, taking those whose injuries were more intense off to the closest hospital. Right now, your priority was getting immediate medical aid to those who needed it, even if you could feel your eyes drooping with fatigue. As you gently bandaged up the arm of a young girl, someone tapped on your your shoulder. “Take a break,” and you could hear the sound of your best friend’s voice even if you were looking at him. “I can tell that you need it.” 

You shook your head as the little girl walked off in the direction her mother was standing. “Don’t worry about me Isaac, ‘m fine here.” 

“I don’t believe that,” he responded. “At least get some water and take a few moments to eat something.” 

After a few more passes back and forth, Isaac practically shoved you from your post. With a water bottle in your hand, you wandered around the area, mind racing as you tried to find a way you could help once you had taken a few minutes to yourself. But of course, you were not granted solitude for long. Right as you had raised the bottle to your lips, a voice interrupted your thoughts. “Need anything?” 

Tyler Owens was standing a few paces away, a small box in his hands. The cowboy hat on his head looked pristine, a stark contrast to the way that your work clothes were already too grimy for your taste. “I’m okay,” you said, sending a tight-lipped smile his way and hoping that he would get the message that you weren’t interested in conversing right now. “Thank you.” 

“Are you sure?” he asked, clearly not having picked up on the signs. “You’ve been out here for hours and this is the first time you’ve stopped for any kind of break.” 

Your gaze hardened slightly as you regarded him. “And how would you know?” He was correct of course, but you had no plans to admit that, especially not when he acted as though he knew everything about you. 

“It was just a guess, but I can see that I’m right,” he said, a smile crossing his face that you hated to say that you found attractive. Why did the best looking people have to act as dumb as they did? 

By the grace of the universe, a colleague called you over to them right as you opened your mouth to respond, and Tyler didn’t follow as you headed over to help once more. The whole time, you found yourself thinking about him and his team. What were they even doing here, besides getting in the way of those actually trying to help? 

***

After that time, it felt like you ran into Tyler Owens at least three times a week. He and his team showed up to the sites of destruction with their video cameras out as they surveyed the damage. Multiple times, you had to shoo them away from you as you worked, tirelessly bandaging cuts, scrapes, and other lacerations that people had suffered from the winds of the storm. Despite the fact that your initial conversation with Tyler had lasted less than a minute, he apparently felt that it was enough to bother you again, and to act as though you were much closer than you were. 

This time, you were bandaging up an older woman when you heard his voice interrupt your focus. “Hey medic!” 

Resisting the urge to sigh, you turned to look at him. “What are you doing here?” 

Unfortunately, the smile on his face didn’t shift at your tone. “Helping, of course.” 

“And how exactly is annoying me while I’m just trying to do my job considered helpful?” 

“I’m convincing you to take a break,” he said. “I’ve seen how hard you work, and the way you put others first so many times. Sometimes you need to take care of yourself to take care of others.”

Sighing, you finished gently wrapping gauze around the woman’s leg before speaking. “Nice try, making it seem like you have any concern,” you said. “But I don’t have any interest being on in your  YouTube videos, and I can take care of myself perfectly fine.” 

His smile dropped slightly as he registered your words, the first time it’s happened since you met. Every other time, your words seem to pass right over him, no matter how annoyed you sounded as you spoke, but not this one. He mumbled something you didn’t quite catch before stepping away, and you felt your heart sink slightly in a way you didn’t expect. 

“He’s right you know,” the woman you had just bandaged said as she got up from the chair in front of you. 

“What?” you asked, still trying to wrap your head around the conversation with Tyler.

“You need to take a break at some point. If you’ve been out helping like this after all these recent storms, it’s going to take a toll on you.” 

You nodded, knows that both her and Tyler were right. “I will, I promise.”

“Good,” said. The woman left after giving you another knowing smile, and you flagged down Isaac to take your place for a few minutes. 

It always felt strange, to sit down on the ground and look at the tornado’s destruction. Children’s toys, blankets, and even the skeletal remains of furniture were on the street now, no telling which homes they had once belonged to. You stared out as the wind picked up a photo and pushed it away from you, before it was eventually grabbed by someone. 

As you took a sip of the water bottle in your hands, Tyler appeared from the crowds once more, his hands up in mock surrender as he approached you. “I see you took my advice.”

“I see you’re still dead set on bothering me wherever I go,” you said, but the tone was halfhearted. 

“It’s not my only goal in life, but it’s one I get to work on often,” he said, sitting down next to you. 

“Why?” you asked, finally gathering up the courage to voice the question that had been swirling around your mind since you first met him. “I don’t know you. No offense, of course.” 

A small snort of laughter left his mouth. “I don’t know, I think at this point we could be longtime friends.” You raised your eyebrows at him, and the smile on face grew as he realized that this was once again lighthearted teasing. “I keep bothering you because I can tell you need someone to tell you when to stop.” 

Immediately, you got a little defensive. “No I don’t.” 

“Come on, I think the only time I’ve ever seen you take a break is when someone else said something, and I doubt it’s ever done without some kind of denial.” You looked down at the ground, slightly embarrassed that he had hit the nail on the head. “People all across the community are going to be incredibly grateful for the hours you put in to help them, but it wouldn’t matter as much if you’re neglecting your own care.” 

You stopped, staring once more at the destruction in front of you. “Just because I’m not smiling and laughing for the camera doesn’t mean I’m not taking care of myself.” 

“Going hours without even a sip of water doesn’t exactly back that statement up you know.” 

“Fine,” you admitted. “Maybe you’re right, but it certainly doesn’t help when people like you show up to these scenes to sightsee all the destruction and try to get some clicks out of it.” 

His face changed in an instant, growing more somber than you’ve ever seen before. “Is that all you think we’ve been doing?” 

You nodded slowly, not sure what to expect from his change of attitude. 

“I suppose the way you’ve treated me makes sense now.” 

You stopped. “So you’re not just here for fun?” 

“Half of what we do can usually be considered stupid, I’ll admit that,” he said, looking over at you. “But it’s not all fun and games, I promise. See over there?” He gestured to where a group of people were standing around a table outside his team’s camper van, the reason for their presence obscured by the growing crowd gathering there. “A portion of our our t-shirt sales is put towards disaster kits, and my team over there is handing them out. Free of charge of course.” 

As your eyes focused on the scene, you could see he was right. There was no exchange of money as the team of people handed out boxes of food and bottles of water. You could see a stack of T-shirts sitting to the side, but even those were being handed out to the those that asked whenever requested. 

Immediately, you were overwhelmed with embarrassment at the way you had always perceived him, when all this time he had been doing so much to aid those who just had their lives disrupted. Maybe if you had taken the time to look past the thrill-seeking attitude you could have seen that, but instead you had been so wrapped up in your own life and work. “I’m so sorry for the way I saw you,” you said, turning towards Tyler with a sincere look on your face. “You want to help just as much as I do, and I let my opinion the ‘Tornado Wrangler’ persona get in the way of understanding that.”

He smiled in a way that was more genuine than any of the others you had seen on him. “Thanks,” he said sincerely. “But don’t worry about it, you’re not the first person to make the assumption, and you probably won’t be the last. I willingly drive into tornados for fun, it’s not exactly something you do if you’re not a little bit crazy.” 

You laughed. “Yeah, as a medical professional I really can’t condone that.”

“Most people would probably agree with you.” 

The two of you sat there for a few minutes more, a comfortable silence enveloping the air before you had to get back to work. There was still so much more to be done, and the daylight hours were slipping away. 

But as the two of you got up and you began to walk away, Tyler’s voice stopped you. “Hey.” 

Turning around to face him, a quizzical look overtook your face. “Hmm?” 

“I’ll see you around, alright?” 

You smiled, the cautious fluttering of tiny butterflies taking hold of your stomach. It was only a matter of time before this happened, you supposed, but you tried not to let anything show on your face. “Yeah,” you said, a genuine smile breaking through any attempt you made to remain nonchalant. “See you around.” 

***

That night, as you laid on the couch watching TV, you saw a text pop up on your phone from a number you didn’t recognize. 

It’s Tyler. Before you get mad at me, Isaac gave me your contact info. 

You playfully rolled your eyes, making a mental note to confront your friend later, that perceptive bastard. 

Do you wanna go out for drinks sometime? I don’t wanna have to wait for another tornado to see you. 

Sure, was the response you typed out and sent off, but on the inside, you were a lot more excited. 

Okay, maybe you didn’t have to be that hard on Isaac.

- the end -

i no longer have a taglist! if you're interested in being notified when i post, you can follow my library blog @ghostofskywalker-library and turn on notifications!

[cdroloisms]

thinking about c!dream earlier on in the server just makes me sad man. like, c!dream has never been a perfect character. he's always been flawed, always been a bit of an asshole, always had control issues. but also he knew that. he tried to work on that. he and tommy were friends, despite being flawed people with their own issues that would bump into conflicts because of the ways that they differed. c!dream tried, god, he tried; he wasn't even on the server, when the drug van happened, and walked into a place with someone who was practically a stranger to him building a wall and calling for war and having turned half the people dream knew against him, apparently, for no reason that he could've known at the time, and he had looked straight at tommy and tubbo and asked if that was what they really wanted when wilbur told them that there was no such thing as dual citizenship. he tells tommy when he has to sell a disc for spirit's leather even though tommy had surrendered the discs to him at the end of the revolution because he knows it'll matter to him. he and tommy truce, multiple times, and c!dream gets tangled into conflicts that literally don't involve him repeatedly and gets targeted Because He's Dream repeatedly and he plays along with that trivia contest and he gives gifts to fundy and tommy after terrorizing them a little for fun and he plays along with the dreamon thing and he keeps getting pulled into fights that weren't his but tries to make them a little more fair when they get him involved. he fucks around with tommy and they have fun, they're friends, and when he and wilbur look like they're in danger dream is one of the first to find them and lend them real, practical, valuable aid. he calls himself "Big D" in that book and he tells the man that wrote him as a tyrant that he doesn't want to be a villain in the story anymore. he asks tommy if he's okay, and watches that kid's back when he walks alone and unarmed into manberg, and fights with him at the battle of the lake and all of that is thrown back in his face as being a lie. half the intial community structures that exist were built by him; the community house, the nether portal and hub, the prime path. during a time where every other piece of leverage got burned or killed (rip the casualties of the pet war), dream was kind of known for being one that could be fairly traded with, that would minimize permanent damage. the kills in the final control room were originally to strip lmanburg of their gear, which he had kept in a chest so it could be returned to them after the war.

like no c!dream isn't perfect at the beginning of the server. yes he's kind of a jerk sometimes, kind of an asshole sometimes, kind of neurotic most of the time. but god dammit like c!dream does try to mitigate the worst of his control issues, when they flare up early on; the initial disc war ends with tommy getting his discs back as well as a stack of diamonds, in exchange for a netherite chestplate. he's a flawed character and he's still someone pretty friendly on the whole to most of the server, he's also kind of just known for being a little weird. he gives gifts randomly. he fixed creeper holes, and houses, and went along with bits. like whatever im a c!drolo c!dream woobifier and i admit it lol but for as much evil as he ends up doing, pretty damn consistently early on, he's . friendly? kind? funny? helpful? their neighbor. their friend. c!dream isn't just some stranger that flew off the handle; he's someone they knew and lived with who had his actions taken in bad faith because the goddamn story said so and kept fucking trying anyway until he believed the lie too. like he was just a guy!! a guy they knew and lived with!!! like my god

[weirdmageddon]

the new zeltik video finally pushed me over the edge and made the connections between the bunch of details i noticed throughout totk seem more significant than i already thought they were. by myself i was hovering around these connections i came upon like “is this anything?” for a while, but after the video i was like “ok this is something”

alongside the theme of hands, i also noticed a secondary and more minor theme of blood and siphoning/circulation

most importantly

rauru rips into ganon’s chest with his bare hand like a badass to bind ganondorf’s heart, suck away and purify his dark magic. (btw and Not importantly ganondorf still has rauru’s finger holes in him and it’s pretty funny)

gloom seeps out from organically branching root-like structurs in the depths. if you watch closely you can see gloom slowly move inside them. they all seem to lead back to gloom’s lair where ganondorf is absorbing them. this is very evident in the cutscene where you finally make it to ganondorf himself and they show a close-up of this through thicker branches of these “gloom vessels”

gloom sucks away vitality from a person. fittingly, whenever a heart container is damaged due to gloom, you hear a heartbeat. gloom hands visibly siphon this vitality in more of a physical way. if you watch them they will sort of grotesquely pulsate when sucking the Juices out of link

is gloom ganondorf’s dark-magic infused blood? when the edge of the master sword cut mummydorf’s face, instead of blood it oozed gloom which boiled after making contact with a chip of the sword. rather than being magenta gelatin like malice, gloom is red and flat, staining surfaces like a liquid

phantom ganon is made entirely out of gloom. the compendium says it’s made from “the demon king’s own flesh and blood”. the dark clumps left behind from the gloom spawn/phantom ganon (with the depths talisman on them i guess to turn it into gloom antibodies lol??) also pulsate like monster guts

my idea is that this all goes back to those roots that pump this back to ganondorf to revitalize him. he was siphoned by rauru, now he siphons others to revitalize himself. there’s a lot of details put into this no way it isn’t connected

btw i didnt notice it at first but the landing pad for gloom’s lair is shaped like a heart like actually. it shouldve been stupid obvious

the gloom system is like a reverse circulatory system. instead of nurturing the periphery from a central location, it drains the periphery and delivers the nutrients to a central location. so like, oops! all veins. apparently after writing this i found an identical point from a forum post made ONLY YESTERDAY

“real world cardiovascular systems deliver vitality to the rest of the body from a centric location, while Gloom drains vitality from its surroundings and delivers it to a centric location”

and this “nurturance” line of thought made me remember how I thought at one point that the lightroots look a bit like hearts and the big roots are like the vessels. it wasn’t really a significant thought at the time until I made these newer connections. if we put them into my analogy, they would be the opposite to the gloom vessel system since they deliver light from the surface and emit it to the periphery (the surrounding area). i associate light with rauru, and he healed/nurtured link, so there’s just parallels and another reason that made me think of the lightroots. also the lightroots heal gloom-damaged heart containers

there are more minor but supplementary details such as

the sound of a heartbeat is featured very prominently in the E3 2019 teaser, and is literally the first noise in the game itself as the opening screens play. so it’s literally the first experiences we have with the game, both the game itself and in the meta about the game.

gaining an essence from a goddess statue, the heartbeat was not in botw (and of course neither was the miasma emitting from link’s entire body every time)

the gloom in link’s body reacts to every shrine of light blessing he absorbs into his arm and the joycons themselves pulse using the haptics

probably more shit i missed lol

the whole thing doesn’t really mean anything significant to the lore at all but neither does the hands theme. but it’s just definitely a pattern, potentially a minor theme, and deliberate choice in setting tone. i think it’s Something. im not a heavy zelda theorist tuber or anything but i’m very observant of patterns and i like to share them for deeper appreciation and contemplation/discussion

[tadc-harlequin-au]

Okay I all seriousness I’m confused. It’s seems like in one post you indicate the cast were just puppets in their past life and then in others you indicate they had human lives?

What is it?

Are they just tempering what the souls powering them remember?

If so Then is the twist that Caine is the only successful human turned puppet???

... Looks like I need to do a little bit of a Puppet 101

I specifically said these Puppets were powered by soul FRAGMENTS, of "VOLUNTEERS". That means they were ACTUAL PEOPLE ONCE.

👏THEY 👏 WERE 👏 USING 👏 PEOPLE'S 👏 SOULS 👏 FOR 👏 FREE 👏 LABOR 👏 AND IT'S A LITERAL METAPHOR💀

I've been trying to *wink wink nudge nudge* people so hardly and subtly saying just how bad it was LMFAO THIS AU IS GRIMDARK FOR A REASON

Those soul fragments are by extension, ALSO their memories, and traces of their former humanity. I also said that the more they explore these aspects of themselves, the more they can feel; alluding to the fact they are, in fact, once again REGAINING THEIR LOST HUMANITY, when they got turned into Puppets.

These guys undergo drastic changes not just spiritually or mentally, but also physically. (which is also why I said they have weird bodies)

There's also another thing that I should disclose, that has existed since I wrote "Come back to me" on ao3. I didn't want to reveal it too early, but if it's to clear up your confusion, I'll throw a bone.

Caine is just as much of a puppet as everyone else was either, but since he's become more... "enlightened", he's become a half-organic, half-metallic being; a side effect of rediscovering your humanity to the some extent.

(He has done it to the fullest)

The soul energy keeps getting pumped to every corner of a Puppet's body, and in turn, the energy --once it has familiarized the body-- transforms some of the very structure of what makes a Puppet function into a more organic, but black-tendril tentacle-like structure (but will retreat back to the die heart if the base body is damaged enough). You can see it with Caine on his face, neck and tongue.

(If you've ever wondered WHY his face and neck are always shrouded in black, it's because it IS black. it's like a reverse Venom concept lmao)

His soul EVOLVED to better conform to his "new" form, but it's not the kind of evolution he wishes.

And YOU can also see it with the Statues, too! Which makes their case even worse! :D

And another thing is; The bosses ALSO have these aspects that Caine has too. Why?

Because a puppet's insanity has the same effect, but more drastic, uncontrollable, and dangerous. It's the worse end of the spectrum, as enlightenment is to madness. This is why some of the bosses have become larger than life, or rather, larger than their classification should be.

But thankfully this is reversible by making them spend a little alone time and recollecting their bearings on a peaceful little plane called "The void" while they're dead ✌️😊

I do hope this clears up some of the confusion surrounding the topic of Puppets, I got too absorbed by the worldbuilding I forgot to include "biology" (or Puppetology ig LMFAO 💀💀).

As of this current moment in the roster, no one's really reached the the first stage of enlightenment yet.

EDIT: Actually, Gangle has, by all technicalities of her existence as a Puppet lol but aside from that, NO ONE has YET

[fruitgumy]

Do you have any head canons for the shigaraki twins???

the ones i have are mostly silly and unserious fhsjskak but yes!!

1. i like to pretend that the captain hero comics are actually captain america, and the "demon king" is red skull. that's just cause i personally love captain america lol but considering all might is a mix of superman and captain america it is kind of thematically relevant. i like to imagine afo was a little bit thrilled at the idea of having the chance to defeat a hero like him.

2. a little while after afo killed the luminescent baby, yoichi was briefly successful in attempting to get afo to live a semi normal life. afo tried to stop committing crimes for yoichi's sake, but ended up just doing it behind his back instead because he didn't think it was that big of a deal. yoichi finds out and the betrayal is one of the major turning points in their relationship

3. yoichi likes kpop. like, he's a full on kpop stan. but he also likes music in general, and loved to go to shows. afo hated it, and stood on the sidelines looking awkward and terrifying and generally killing the vibe.

4. in another world where quirks don't exist, they both are just really into larping and roleplaying games. yoichi always plays a physically imposing fighter/brawler, and afo plays a wizard or warlock. they are both very chaotic in their roles.

5. yoichi is an artist, and he's really good at it too. his favorite subjects are the abandoned buildings he grew up in. he likes how nature is reclaiming the dilapidated structures. it reminds him that there's still hope even in their bleak little world.

6. afo robs people for presents to bring back to yoichi. at first, he says that he found them, but as they get older yoichi stops buying this excuse and starts refusing the gifts.

7. they both like sanrio even though they'd never admit it to anyone, or even each other.

8. the first time they get their own place to stay, they still sleep on the floor right next to each other because it's all they know. they don't start sleeping in beds until much later, and separate rooms come well even after that. when one of them is having a bad night, they will still go to the other's room and climb in bed together, although yoichi's visits to afo's room gradually decrease. eventually yoichi can't stand the idea of it, but afo keeps coming and yoichi feels too guilty to turn him away.

9. on the topic of unhealthy codependence, afo talks to yoichi's hand as if yoichi can hear him. he will even sleep with it, trying to recreate the many years they slept hand in hand as children.

10. if afo had been successful in stealing ofa, kudo would've beamed images of him and yoichi making out into afo's head to deal psychic damage to him. that or the brother eughh meme on repeat

11. yoichi made friends easily, and afo was always jealous of it. people were always drawn to yoichi, but afo felt that the only way for people to like him was through displays of power.

12. they both have older sibling syndrome. yoichi feels responsible for leading afo down the right path despite his quirk, and he feels that he failed miserably. afo felt responsible for keeping yoichi safe, and he failed as well.

the brothers of all time 🥳

[thealogie]

Hiii lawyer Thea! Just a small question which I thought you might have some ideas. They say Gaiman has a “first look deal” with Amazon. What does it mean exactly? Like does this make it harder for Amazon to drop him as showrunner for season 3? Will there be more liquidated damages or something?

A "first look deal" is basically like "We the studio will pay you some money upfront and for the next X years, we get first dibs on any script you write. If we pass on your project, you can go try to sell it to other people, but you can't go sell it to other people without offering it to us first." Some of these deals might actually require that the person being paid produce some sort of work within the time period (even if it's not good lol), but often with really high profile people (like the famous Phoebe Waller-Bridge deal) the studio will say "you don't need to produce anything but if you do we get first dibs."

I can't answer the rest of those questions without knowing anything about the deal or the contract. There's a slight chance the showrunner/writer deal for go is wrapped up somehow in gaiman's overall deal with amazon. But there are many different ways to structure these deals. They could be totally separate such that dropping him from the show under his producer/writer contract is easier than dropping his amazon deal.

Final question: will there be liquidated damages? I'm sure gaiman's lawyers are arguing that nothing against him has been proven so if amazon wants to drop him they have to pay big bucks. And amazon's lawyers are arguing that he failed to disclose the police reports to them and the reputational harm is grounds to terminate his contract with no or minimal pay. Usually (surprise surprise), they meet somewhere in the middle.

[juststoriesintheend]

What would an au where Sol lives look like?

ohohohohoh boy howdy have i been thinking about this

i have a couple ideas, one for my horny brain that is in love with him and one that's more logical. since i've already kind of summarized my horny thoughts into a vague fic idea, i'll focus on a more logical string of thoughts

when vernestra finds him, he's barely clinging on to life (it's giving palpatine + vader parallels quite frankly)

they get him back on the ship, get him an oxygen mask, and eventually return to coruscant, but all the medical assistance in the world can't un-do the power of the force wrapped around your throat

his voice is permanently changed, much more hoarse and painful for him to talk. he has memory problems bc being deprived of oxygen for that long gave him brain damage

he stands trial for what he did on brendok 16 years ago. i feel like he might be able to be talked into taking the fall for every single death on khofar too, but if not then i could vernestra waving it away as "osha attacked him to save her own life & now he's delirious w/ grief and has lost his grip on reality"

maybe he's exiled? maybe he's sent to prison on coruscant? i think either way, he is no longer a jedi and he's going somewhere to rot for his crimes, and he goes willingly bc he feels like he deserves it

if he's aware that mae is with the jedi, he'd probably be torn between letting her be and being obsessed with reconnecting with her - to ease his conscience? to beg for death? he probably doesn't even know what he wants

all sol knows is that he made a mistake and he (and everyone he's ever loved) paid for it at osha's hand. he's plagued by flashbacks and nightmares. when he talks to other jedi or prisoners about a sith villain who threatens the republic, he's written off as a crazy old man

and maybe he is. osha choking him snapped his mind, it utterly broke him. if he had died there, it might have been enough to heal him, cleanse him of his sins. but surviving has only allowed his guilt to thrive. bc death would have been his penance

basically, he's still scapegoated and he probably loses his sanity over the years. i do not see anything happy or good for him in this scenario

which is why i don't like to think about it lol

alternatively, in some happier universe:

i like the idea of sol being able to escape. maybe vernestra thinks he's really dead bc he's quite literally on the cusp between life and death. and when she starts to drag him off for a sad, lonely jedi funeral, she realizes he's alive and mostly an amnesiac, so she decides to help him

she does what she can to help him heal in whatever short time she has and then she sends him off in an escape pod, gives him this second chance to go somewhere and live out the rest of his life in peace

the jedi he once was died on brendok, at his daughter's hand. now he can just be sol. no guilt or trauma to weigh him down. he can be a farmer. or a tradesman. a teacher. he can live

i think sol always wanted to be a father but couldn't bc of the way the order is structured/the jedi tenets, so maybe in this alternate life he can adopt some other orphan (amnesiacs sol and mae becoming found family for each other, anyone??)

maybe he meets someone his own age that he can love and become attached to in a better, slightly healthier way. someone he can wake up beside and dote upon. someone who makes him want to be the best person he can be

pls for the love of god, let this man have something happy for once in his life

[apiscircensis]

dunmeshi au for my twst ocs bc I fell head first in the dungeon and got brain damage

[edit: a whole wall of text under the cut]

ok so this is set in the dunmeshi world but it's a separate story, unrelated to the main plot and characters

Shipwreck Cove is a dungeon on a cliff by the sea, near a coastal town. it's impossible to reach it by sea, as it's surrounded by constant whirlpools, the only way to get in is by climbing to the highest point of the cliff

great part of it's inner structure is submerged or surrounded by water, but it's still frequented by many adventurers bc the water that flows to the upper levels seems to have slight curative properties. legend says the water at the heart of the dungeon can heal incurable illnesses or even grant eternal life

🦑 Morgan (gnome) has been lord of the dungeon for something around ten years. his original wish is a secret

he was once an adventurer. he's an experienced mage both at healing magic and offensive spells (and has also studied the darks in secret), but his weak legs slowed down the party, who had no qualms in letting him know so, either by reproaching him or straight up letting him fall behind

one day, angry and frustrated, Morgan abandoned his party and ventured deeper into the dungeon by himself. by the time he noticed, he had reached the deepest level and, well, things happened

Morgan has severe abandonment issues. he created the quaintest little dungeon to lock himself in with his close circle. it was a beautiful and safe place, so that people could come and go at their leisure

soon enough, Morgan started feeling like people went more than they came back, so he started tweaking the dungeon bit by bit to discourage people from roaming. changing pathways, setting traps, creating more monsters. generally making it increasingly harder to navigate, until it became practically inhabitable except for the designated safe area, which was still pretty much a little eden

his resentment was such that he would find a way to make people part of the dungeon itself

at some point, tired of his body and of his lack of power over others, he turned himself into a kraken chimera, sealed his demon in a chest immediately afterwards, and has since then lived locked up with the few people he could trap in a wrecked ship at the deepest point of the dungeon, guarded by an ever larger kraken (that's his pet that he feeds other monsters and hapless adventurers to lol)

[only one person was ever able to escape Morgan's dungeon, an elf that used to be his closest confidant. however, just as they were about to step out, Morgan stole and sealed their magic in a locket that he keeps somewhere in his ship-home

this elf lives in a secluded area further than the outskirts of town, where they welcome adventurers to whom they offer incredible things in exchange of them traveling and conquering the dungeon, with the intention of getting back their powers that way]

🐒 Blake (tallman) and 🎇 Jacob (dwarf) are a pair of adventurers that hate each other yet have been working together for years lmao

they're quite successful in their expeditions but they're insufferable, so they're always looking for new members for their party bc the previous ones got fed up and left sksksk

they arrived at Shipwreck Cove following the legend of the water of life, each of them for their own reasons

(I still haven't decided if monkey Jacob exists in this au)

⚫ Avon and ⚪ Alba are a pair of walking mushrooms that are always together. they're funny to look at from afar, but they have a nasty vibe when you get close so adventurers prefer avoiding them

Morgan enjoys watching them tussle, so when more people started going in the dungeon he made them an area where they can still be seen while being out of reach enough from strangers. they've become some sort of a local attraction

(I originally thought to make them half foot florists, but a friend came up with this idea and I thought it was so funny that I adopted it lol)

🕰️ Eri (elf) is an historian. he feels a fascination for the short lived races, so he moves to different towns for periods at a time to document the daily lives of those who live and pass through there

🌻Lucas (kobold) is more of an explorer than an adventurer. he and 🛰️ Xander (dwarf), an inventor, travel the world together looking for strange materials and objects for Xander's experiments

🐻 Björn (tallman, bear beastkin) is an adventurer from the north that likes showing off his strength. he travels from one place to another looking for new challenges and creatures to beat

⏳ Noya (gnome) a scholar with an expertise in magical artifacts, who also studies the development of magic. since he's not allowed to study the origins of magic, he has had to settle for observing and studying how it evolves in every day contexts. he occasionally crosses paths with Eri

💋 Philly (elf) is a criminal enlisted by the Canaries against his will. his crimes include theft and selling of magical artifacts, arson, and murder, but true cause of his conviction was attempting to use the dark arts to extend his tallman lover's lifespan

(he's a die hard fan of the Daltan Clan novels and all the other prisoners hate him bc it's all he ever talks about sksbsk)

🎶 Aedon (tallman) kabru without the trauma is barkeep by day and singer by night. they like watching people and trying to guess their stories

and that's it, that's all I have for now✌️😋

[femmmie]

I had no idea you liked star trek too, I just knew you for smosh and Dan and Phil. That's so cool!! Would you be willing to write a little ianthony star trek au? Or have you already? No problem if not, I know that's kinda vague. Love your blog btw :)

Yes I LOVE Star Trek! I literally had so much fun writing this, it got a bit out of control LOL! But yeah I hope you like it!!

The logical choice

Words: 2,436

Genre: action/adventure, a Star Trek episode, first kiss

Rating: teen or general audiences

Read on AO3:

"Captain's log, stardate ???[writer's note: I can't do math!]. What would have been a diplomatic mission to Vulcan, a completely safe route, turned out to become something quite different. Ian was going to let our starship T'hy'la be blessed, and we would join a Vulcan fleet to covertly inspect the edges of Federation space. But all of a sudden, we were violently sucked into a wormhole, and were spat out, smack dab in the middle of the Delta Quadrant."

Anthony paused. He looked out of the window of his suite. He'd read a lot about Captain Janeway's voyages through this quadrant, and her years long quest to get back home. Panic stirred deep within him. He shut his eyes tightly and took a few deep breaths.

"We've been stranded here for a few days now. Chief Agnew, Ensign Bowe and their crew have been hard at work to repair the damage done by the violent yanking through space that T'hy'la has endured. Our deflector shields malfunctioned and structural integrity scraped by within an inch of collapsing. I truly believe that a bout of fate has saved us."

His communicator chimed. It was a benign sound, but it still made him jump.

"Captain, we've done all we can. Technically the ship works, but we lost a lot of deuterium. We repaired the injection subsystem, Tommy really outdid himself. But it's no use, we can't start with this little fuel."

"Thank you, Spencer," Anthony answered, trying to sound comforting. "You've done well. it may be time for us to try and reach out for help."

The door beeped.

"Come in."

"Captain," Ian strode into the room.

Anthony's Number One, and a Vulcan, Ian somehow always calmed Anthony down. And it was better, the closer they stood to each other.

"Number One, please tell me what you think of the situation?"

"We have done short- and long range scans, and have found no life-forms or ships. However," Ian raised one sharp eyebrow, "We did scan a gaseous nebula. It's all around us and could be the reason our sensors didn't pick anything up. Although it is not without risk, logic suggests we send out a distress signal."

"Agreed." Anthony sighed. Who knows what kind of aliens were out and about here, but they might as well try.

~

"Amanda, what's the matter?" Mister Topp, the ship's EMH, asked with kind, light-blue eyes.

"Shayne, I feel something big," she collapsed dramatically on a medical bed in the sickbay. "It's something I've never felt before, and you know I sense almost anything, being quarter Betazoid. "I- I don't know. It's not good, but also not evil. It's just... something infinite, almost. Like an ultimate power. It makes me dizzy."

"Well," Shayne smirked, "Courtney was just here, and her ego does tend to be infinitely big. I guess her Klingon side gives her the extra confidence." He sighed. "But she could be a bit nicer to me."

"Shayne," Trevor intervened. "You were flirting with her the entire time. She wasn't even here for a medical exam. She just checked in on us to see if everything was safe and you insisted she take three different blood tests! I'd be annoyed too," he laughed.

"I wish I could sense how you're feeling," Amanda beamed at Shayne. "But I can't sense a hologram. I do know how Courtney feels, though..." She winked at Shayne, who blushed.

"Amanda, it seems like you're back to normal. Please report back here if that changes again. Bye now!"

"Not without my hug," she teased.

"Why do Betazoids always want to hug!"

"I think it's just her," Trevor giggled.

"Get in here!" Amanda commanded. After the group hug, she went back to her Ship's counsellor's office.

Her communicator chimed.

"Hello commander Hecox," she smiled, as she sat down and crossed her legs over the couch, usually reserved for her patients.

"Counsellor Lehan-Canto. We need to talk."

~

Keith, the ship's Conn officer, observed the Bridge while captain Padilla was resting. He had never thought he'd be this far from home, but there he was, in the Delta Quadrant. Strangely, he wasn't worried. He looked at the beautiful multicolored nebula outside.

Suddenly, he got a transmission request.

"Captain, to the Bridge, we're being hailed!"

Not a moment later, Anthony walked in. "On screen," he commanded.

"WELL WELL WELL," a grinning, huffing alien said to them. "WHAT HAVE WE HERE!!! A NICE STARFLEET SHIP, NO LESS! "WHAT ARE YOU DOING SO FAR FROM HOME?"

"This is captain Anthony Padilla of the starship T'hy'la. I assume you received our distress call."

"WE SURE DID, RIGHT, GUYS?" the alien looked at two very beautiful and scantily-clothed people on each side of her.

"Oh yes, Angela, we sure did," one of them replied with a honey-sweet voice.

"YES, WE DID, CAPTAIN. LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF. I'M ANGELA, AND THESE ARE MY FRIENDS CHANSE AND ARASHA. And..." Angela lowered her voice menacingly, "you have invaded OUR space."

"We've been sucked into a wormhole against our will and are stranded here without deuterium. We could trade you for it, We have latinum on board. Don't Ferengi always like a good deal?

"HA! YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE FERENGI HUH! Yeah, we do always want a good deal. But I don't think you'll be able to give us one. Your starship is called T'hy'la? HA! What a weak Vulcan/human hybrid concept. Don't you know the Rules of Acquisition? Rule 21: Never place friendship above profit. So, my little FRIEND, why don't you give your ship to me, and I will send you on your way back to the wormhole?"

Anthony scoffed. "I'm sorry, but have you scanned our ship? We could easily defeat you."

"Well..." Angela smirked even wider, and scratched behind her enormous ear. "I guess I didn't make myself clear. If you DON'T give me your ship, you will be dealing with my friends. Not these idiots here," she gestured to Chanse and Arasha. "I mean them."

And in one moment, all hope left Anthony's soul: two large, square spaceships emerged. It was the Borg.

" HAHAHA! You have one hour to respond!"

Angela disconnected.

"Red Alert," Anthony commanded.

~

The sirens were wailing through the ship.

"Not Red Alert again? We just fixed up the entire ship!" Tommy threw up his hands in exasperation.

Spencer put his gloved hand on his shoulder. "I was really hoping we could go to the holodeck and play DnD again. But it's not in the cards for us this time."

"Sword and shield in hand," Tommy bumped his shoulder into Spencer.

"Saving the day, just like we do everyday at work!"

"Even though I never get a promotion!"

"You really should, Tommy."

They were play-fighting with their engineer gear, and seeing Spencer laugh and goof off, suddenly made Tommy realize something. He was in love with his boss.

"Hey, why'd you stop?" Spencer was still booping him with a pretend-sword.

"You're adorable."

"Dude. I know."

"I mean... I..."

"AB," Ian said, walking quickly past them.

"Did he make up a nickname for us?!" Tommy said, wide-eyed. "Do Vulcans do that?"

"I think Amanda has been teaching him to be more normal, I mean, better at communication. Not doing that is normal for a Vulcan, of course."

"Imagine them together in a room!" Tommy laughed. A Vulcan and a Betazoid, they couldn't be more opposite!"

"Well, if I can sense anything, it's that those two have some chemistry going on," Spencer said with a smug look on his face. "I mean, she calls everyone 'imzadi' but her voice is softer when she says it to Ian. Huh... But sorry, you were going to say something?"

"Oh..." Tommy blushed. "Nevermind..."

~

"Ian, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Amanda visited Ian's quarters. It was very clean and neat and indeed very Vulcan.

"Please, sit," Ian gestured to the one table in the room, with two small chairs.

They both sat down. Amanda couldn't help but feel attracted to Ian's stoic earnest. And he was cute, too...

"I heard you sensed a presence, ever since we've been stranded here."

"Yes! I have been, and it seems like it's getting stronger too! If that is even possible. It's like we're at the epicenter of something."

"I sense it too."

"You do?"

"Yes. We Vulcans might not show our emotions, but we feel a lot of things. And I have felt this once before. Amanda, we are in grave danger."

~

"Ia- Number One!" Anthony was so glad to see Ian as he walked onto the Bridge.

"We are very much outnumbered, captain," Ian said. "It would be logical to surrender."

Ian walked closer to Anthony. Anthony sighed in relief. Whatever would come next, he could bear it with Ian at his side.

"But I advice against it."

"What?"

"The Ferengi woman is the obvious culprit, luring ships here to loot and then let them be assimilated by the Borg. However... She is not the one in control here."

Ian and Anthony heard clapping behind them.

"Well done, commander Hecox," a woman with long black hair, dressed in all black, spoke.

"Who are you?" Anthony demanded.

"She is Q, the most powerful being in the universe."

"You know her, Ian?"

"I know her, from long ago. She called herself Olivia Sui then."

"And I kept my eye on you, Ian. I expected great things from you! And even though you are obviously the smartest one on this ship of idiots, you've become boring! You used to make me laugh, Ian..."

Anthony felt a sudden annoyance at this Q. Why was she so interested in his Number One?!

"What do you want, Q?"

"What do I want?! I want to laugh again, damnit! So," and she snapped her fingers, and the entire ship was gone. Instead, he, Ian and Amanda stood in an empty, white world. Angela, Arasha and Chanse were also there. "If you make me laugh first, I'll zap you straight home! But if not... then you're back at the mercy of Angela here."

Amanda, Anthony and Ian huddled together.

"So, is she an ex of yours or something?" Amanda whispered.

"We were betrothed once."

"What?!" Anthony fumed.

"Ha, your anger amuses me already, captain. But I'm not laughing just yet!"

Anthony looked straight at Q, and began to mime. Physical humor was his strong suit. He fell over, mimed that he was stuck, rolled over the ground... to no avail.

"You failed! Next!"

Angela walked forward.

"SO, HERE'S THE JOKE! TWO BARS OF LATINUM WALKED ACROSS THE STREET! AND ONE OF THEM SAID, LET ME WALK IN THE MIDDLE NOW"

"Elementary concept, expertly executed," Q said. "But not enough to make me laugh. NEXT!"

Amanda walked forward. She got really close to Q, and Anthony felt Ian tense up. He took his hand. Ian squeezed extremely hard. He probably forgot his Vulcan strength for a second.

Wait, did Ian care this much about Amanda? Were they- was Ian just dating everyone and Anthony didn't know it? He figured, he couldn't blame the girls. Ian was so handsome, so strong...

"I guess you don't know who I am," Amanda began. "I am the daughter of Deanna Troi and William Riker. That makes me one quarter Betazoid... and I sense that you don't want to laugh at all. You want to FEEL something. And I'll give it to you. I've reached a certain age, you know..." Amanda tip-toed her fingers up Q's arm.

"Give mommy a smooch!"

"Noo, no, get away from me!" Q took a few steps away.

"HA! THERE, YOU GIGGLED!"

"Did not!"

"I saw it! You laughed, Q!"

"Okay, fine, I did! But I'm not done just yet! I guess I will zap you and your stupid ship back home.... after.... THEY kiss."

"Who?"

"The captain and his Number One."

"What?" Ian and Anthony said in sync.

"Yeah, hahaha! That will really make my day! Don't tell me you haven't sensed it, Betazoid? They are all in."

Amanda looked down. She really liked Ian and he liked her too, but she knew that his heart belonged to his captain. On all their intergalactic adventures, Ian had saved Anthony so many times and vice versa, they had developed an unbreakable bond. They had never acted on it before, but now, apparently it was the only thing that would save them.

"So, you cooked up this whole charade, just to get them to kiss?"

"What? It's not a charade, I'm eternally bored, I had to think of something!"

Q walked up to Ian and Anthony. "Now, do the thing," she said, pressing her two index fingers together.

Ian looked at Anthony. The intense warmth of his brown eyes overwhelmed the Vulcan. He would normally never show it, in fact he had never given Anthony a clue that he was interested. But he was. All the times he had seen Anthony change clothes, when Anthony had hugged him after they were safe from danger, he had never reciprocated. But now, he had no choice.

"It's only logical that we do this. But I have to confess, Anthony... I've been longing for a kiss from you for an eternity. And I need to know if you're okay with it now."

Anthony blushed deeply. Was Ian just saying this because of the situation? Why did he make it more dramatic than it needed to be? "Ian... Have you really? I've loved you for such a long time... And I've also always wanted an opportunity to kiss you. But I never dared, I never thought it was appropriate, seeing as I'm your captain and all."

"Yes, you acted logically as well."

"Ian..."

Anthony took Ian's chin between his fingers and pushed it upwards.

"Excellent!" Q said, but they didn't hear her.

"Anthony..." Anthony saw a wild fire ignite between Ian's eyes. It was scary but Anthony wasn't afraid. He pressed his lips agains Ian's.

Ian growled and kissed him back, grabbing on Anthony's curls. Anthony couldn't believe the feeling. It was scorching hot, but so, so comfortable. He wanted to stay like this forever.

When he opened his eyes, they were back on the T'hy'la and back in the Alpha Quadrant.

"Are you okay, captain?"

Anthony looked at Ian. He could cry. Nobody remembered anything, except for him.

"I- I need to take a break..."

He walked off the bridge. As if by magic, Amanda was waiting for him there.

"Captain, I sensed your emotions, they quickly heightened. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I think that's best, Counsellor."

"Come on, I'll take you to my office."

[wishcamper]

All in the Family: ACOTAR PART II

Welcome back to our multi-part lesson on ACOTAR and Family Systems! Today’s topic is family roles, the interplay between them, and their combination’s influence on the nuclear family emotional process in the Inner Circle.

Pre-requisites: Part I

Creds: license and mf master's degree in counseling babyyy. and unhinged enough to write it all down.

No content warnings, just garden variety family dysfunction.

oh my god what the fuck does that mean

Let's back up and start with the structure of the IC pre-Archeron invasion. We have Rhysand, Cassian, Azriel, Morrigan, and Amren in a found family. This is where we have to suspend our disbelief a bit, because you’ll notice there are no parents in this family. However that doesn’t mean no one functions as a parent, because in any system there is a hierarchy, at least in an emotional sense, and the power vacuum will always get filled.

When a parent is missing from a nuclear family, very often one of the children will step in to fill the role and rebalance the system. Older siblings caring for younger ones, female children picking up housework, even phrases like calling someone the “man of the house” confer symbolic authority and responsibility to someone theoretically on the same level as the others. The dark end of this road is emotional incest, when parents rely on a child emotionally in the same way they would a spouse, a dynamic that is deeply inappropriate and incredibly damaging for a child.

Okay, so let’s talk about sibling position to see who is most likely to step up. This is a found family, so obviously none of these are based in biology, but if we look at the core four, they have a pretty clear birth order layout in terms of both power and personality. 

Rhys: A textbook oldest child - responsibility-seeking, serious, tending toward leadership roles. Oldest children often feel the burden of setting a good example for others. Prone to relieving anxiety via control.

Az and Cas: Classic ends of the middle child spectrum (invisible to hyper-visible). Middle children are flexible, adaptable, and competitive, and often struggle with questions identity. They may seek to meet needs for connection and validation in unhealthy ways.

Mor: Baby of the family energy through and through. Youngest children are more likely to be outgoing, creative, and rebellious, and struggle with inferiority and self-centeredness. Interestingly, they’re also more likely to abuse alcohol and are overrepresented in psychiatric populations.

Amren, hilariously, comes across as an only child - they tend to be wise, independent, and private, struggling with social skills and receiving criticism. (1)

So who’s filling our parental roles here in the IC? Who has power over the others? Rhysand is an obvious choice - he regularly makes decisions for the group as well as individual members on the basis of his feelings and his political position. I think you could even argue Rhys sees the people of Velaris as his children, too, though he definitely plays favorites lol. Amren also emerges as a person with power, given everyone is afraid of her and she has influence over Rhys. Amren has some authority over the others, though she is less invested in their personal lives and so functions differently in the system than Daddy Rhys.

So Rhys is one parent, and Amren is like a weird aunt. It’s very normal in systems with a parentified child (PC) that the other children feel resentful - they’re all supposed to be on the same level, and yet one of them has been exalted above the rest. The PC can respond to this so many ways - force, charm, control, bribes, threats, ignoring them - it’ll depend on the person and the individual system. But the PC will also feel that counter-resentment and leverage the power position to create balance in the family (Cassian, Azriel, stop trying to kiss your sisters). The irony is that, in this system, no one asked Rhys to be in power over his friends - he decided he wanted them in his court and blurred those lines himself. I suspect this was intentional, though likely unconscious, because it gives him a nuclear option if he ever needs to reestablish order and control in his family. We see him pull rank in tense personal moments that have literally nothing to do with politics despite his excuse they do.

(I do think, though, that there’s an argument to be made here that, for people in certain positions of prominence and influence, all your choices are political. Your image is part of your power and so, by extension, the parts of your personal life that become public have an effect on your ability to rule. Rhys and Feyre use this rationale with Nesta in ACOSF, though my babe isn’t exactly a Hunter Biden. More of a Claudia Conway, I’d say.)

Let's go back to our scary image from the beginning.

Bowen believed in the importance of visualizing this structure, so he advocates for family mapping or construction of a genogram (2). Given what we’ve unpacked so far, we can roughly plot the individual connections and hierachy. I’ve created this one to show the basics of the relationships and power structure in the IC, and we’ll get more specific from here.

Solid lines=connectedness

Dashed lines=conflict

Arrow=direction of energy

Squiggles=ambivalence/fluctuation

Line thickness=emotional closeness

Amren’s special line to Rhys=whatever ulterior motive she has

If you remember from my last post, one of the most important forces in a family is the triangle. Take another look at the triangles above, and see which ones seem unstable to you. The one that immediately stands out to me, even just visually, is the Cas/Az/Mor triangle. Each individual relationship has a different tenor, which creates a lot of instability. You can see how Mor needs that closeness with Cas to balance the tension with Az, but in order to keep their relationship stable, Cas and Az have Rhys as a moderating presence. Because what is the one thing they all have in common? A close relationship with Rhys. And Rhys has Amren to reinforce his power and responsibility, keeping the whole system in balance.

In this way, the IC’s system, while dysfunctional, is relatively stable pre-Archerons.

To understand how that’s possible, we have to talk about anxiety. Anxiety is the main energy that moves conflict through the family and sets off the nuclear family emotional process (NFEP). Anxiety must go somewhere. In enmeshed systems like this one (members’ emotions and security are highly dependent on one another), members relieve their anxiety through the system instead of resolving it individually or in dyads. In cut off, emotionally distant systems, anxiety gets internalized or displaced outside the family.

Given the sheer variety of relationships in the system, the most likely source of anxiety is Morrigan. She has a different relationship to every person in the system. She’s in the middle of the power hierarchy between the “parents” and the “kids”, and floats around inside the relatively stable triangle of the bat boys, with individual connections to each one . She also has a pattern of internal conflict that she moderates externally via alcohol and relationships. Despite not having the most power externally, Mor’s actions and reactions often cause the rest of the system to shuffle around her, giving her a great deal of power.

But don’t just take my word for it - let’s look at this in action.

Say Mor, Cas, and Az go out together bc apparently that is something they do regularly. Mor feels Azriel getting too close, which triggers her anxiety because she does not want to talk about whatever is between them. In response, she communicates her displeasure by leveraging the triangle and focusing her intimate attention on Cassian. But this creates conflict for Cassian, who wants to moderate Mor’s anxiety without rupturing his relationship with Azriel. Hence, we get the weird overfamiliar platonic besties routine, threading the needling of giving Mor the protection she’s asking for without out-and-out antagonizing his brother. Azriel buries his hurt feelings and retracts emotionally, despite wanting to be connected, and they go back to how they were.

So we can see how Mor has generated the anxiety, and it follows down the chain: she passes it off to the boys, who deal with it through emotional cutoff (Az) and enmeshment (Cas). Cassian steps in between the conflict at Mor’s unconscious request and takes inappropriate responsibility for Azriel’s feelings of rejection and Mor’s anxiety, while Az puts his feelings away and reestablishes emotional distance. This is the NFEP in action.

And yet Cassian and Azriel are still shown to be close, so where do these feelings go? I mean, they do physically fight each other all the time lol. Azriel banks a lot of repressed resentment he has to discharge elsewhere. Cassian feels the burden of peacemaking and internalizes the unresolved conflict as his own fault, doubling down on his commitment to making it better. Mor avoids contending with her own feelings because everyone else is doing it for her.

And here’s where Rhys becomes a moderating presence for all of them. Rhys has ultimate decision-making power over who is in and who’s out of the family, and sets the rules of engagement. He decides who gets respect, who’s allowed to initiate conflict. Rhys hold’s the power in the bat boys triangle, the strongest alliance in the system, incentivizing Cas and Az to get along with each other. He also incentivizes Mor/Cas/Az to keep their shit together because Amren has influence over him, and they need their alliance to leverage power against her. Rhys doesn’t have a problem with the buffer, so they rest of them “don’t” either.

The best question to ask when it comes to dysfunction is this: who benefits? We can see this in larger systems, too: who benefits for housing disparity, patriarchy, systemic racism, ableism, homophobia and transphobia? People in power. If a system is balanced via dysfunction, it’s because whoever is in power wants it that way. With families, this is often more unconscious - perhaps Rhys is just as afraid of family disintegration as Mor, and believes addressing their issues will cause them to split. Perhaps there is a more generational pattern at play. I think it’s worth considering not just how this family functions, but what conscious and unconscious choices are being made given their individual families of origin.

And then the Archeron’s come, and all these cracks will be exposed and the system will get blown to shit. See you next time, class dismissed!

Sources: 

Eckstein, D., & Kaufman, J. A. (2012). The role of birth order in personality: An enduring intellectual legacy of Alfred Adler. The Journal of Individual Psychology, 68(1), 60–61.

Brown, J. (1999). Bowen family systems theory and practice: Illustration and critique. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 20(2), 94-103.

Genogram made with Canva, art by @artworks_by_rokii, rosalynnart on deviant art, @sallteas

[chadillacboseman]

Does Jesse feel love? Like is he capable of it?

This is an interesting question that requires a complex answer, so I apologize for the rambling.

Jesse suffered from severe head trauma as a teenager when he was in a car accident. This accident gave him a traumatic brain injury and resulted in a trigger of borderline personality disorder and damage to his anterior insular cortex when blood buildup put pressure on the area. Part of Jesse's skull is artificial due to this accident. Add in long tours overseas while in the Marines that gave him PTSD and, well, you've got a lot going on.

Jesse struggles with empathizing with others, but I would not say he's entirely devoid of empathy. He does not care about most people he meets, not because he sees them as 'pawns' or targets for manipulation, but rather he just...does not see them at all. Sometimes he sees himself as an outsider and is jealous of those who have support systems or loved ones. Losing his brother, his one steadfast tether to normalcy and structure, was a big trigger for him. Jesse now stands as the last of the Geller line, and he is painfully aware of his own mortality. Hence the Malleus exoskeleton, the constant upgrades to his forces, and the hunger for money. He will do anything to prolong his mortal life and his seat at the top of the food chain.

I wouldn't even call him a narcissist, because he certainly is not. He isn't surprised when he experiences consequences (just angry, usually), and while he can be charming, he hates doing it and, again, can struggle finding the will to empathize with the target of it.

Now, as for the love question-

Jesse loved his brother and his parents, certainly, but his love looks a little different than one might expect. He feels very strong waves of emotion that oscillate wildly to different ends of the spectrum. Anger is his most common and easily triggered- he is prone to blackout periods during which he cannot remember his whereabouts or his actions for extended periods of time. The rigid structure of the military and his brother's command of RCMG gave him outside control that helped keep him in check; that coupled with a medication regimen that Jason heavily enforced, gave him some regulation of his emotions and behavior. Jason's death made him lose all of that, and now he's been thrust into command of a massive private military operation and he is the control, which is ...not working out.

Jesse's love might look like an obsessive devotion, a willingness to kill for someone, but a constant fear of being left alone that just might piss him off or cause him to become paranoid and accusatory. It might look like an all-consuming fixation that eats at him until it is unbearable. Or, he might just love someone 'normally' (whatever that means lol) depending on the circumstances surrounding his life at the time.

All of this is to say: his injuries and disorders do not excuse his fucked up behavior. He is very aware of the fact that what he's doing is wrong, though his victim complex is still quite strong. He knows he should take his medication. He knows he should try to enforce structure in his life and get his shit together.

He does not want to.

Jesse does also have a sadistic streak, which you can glimpse in a few of my works of him. People who he perceives as having wronged him in some way are often on the receiving end of whatever pain he can cause them. He likes to wield fear as a weapon, and nothing instills fear in your enemies and your own men quite like murder. Remorse doesn't often come to him for these acts, because, in his mind, he was wronged first. It's his right to take his pound of flesh (or litre of blood).

Thank you for listening to my rambling.

[munchboxart]

Possibly graphic (I drew something that involves melting faces + something that looks like a blood transfusion) but I'm just gonna be talking about my headcanon about the biology of Inkfish, so I will be going into blood details and such

This is such a long post so warning for that too

Ok so I've been floating around the idea of internal ink, which is what keeps the Inkfish's body structure.

To get this out of the way since I think I remember hearing someone mention about Inkfish not having blood because Ink sac make's them explode etc etc. I don't think Inkfish evolution would go as far as to remove their essential internal body parts, especially when blood is what keeps most creatures alive, especially fish. I still think Inkfish has blood and such. It's what keeps them alive and works exactly the same as all living creatures including us.

So what about internal ink? I believe there needs to be a set amount of internal ink that let's Inkfish control their body structure (like how they can switch forms and such). Though if one loses too much, they won't be able to hold their form for too long, which includes their internal body system and such and will die since their structure collapses.

I got this idea from how they melt/dissolve in water because there's an imbalance of ink (I forgot the word I'm stupid) and so they can't hold their structure because there's too much other liquid (if I'm remembering this right). Though they still come back from that (same with enemy ink and such). I don't know why, I don't know how, maybe there's just enough ink for them to recollect and coagulate together since it's not the internal ink that was lost (though I remember hearing that the ink sac is what explodes them or something, I don't know if this is right, if it is then ignore me for what I'm gonna say next).

If someone loses too much internal ink, I'd imagine you can get some sort of transfusion for that from another inkfish, either directly from the ink sac or maybe some sort of ink veins. Also since like, Inkfish output a lot of ink, I think there could be like, 2 types of ink, input and output. Input is a lot denser (aka the body), output is more loose whatever that means. So Inkfish can put out a lot of ink but still have enough to regulate their body.

How someone can lose their internal ink? I think you can lose it from having an imbalance for too long (so like your ink doesn't get recovered/inkfish soul thing that flies around after you get splatted(?????) stays too long in other liquids). Maybe you some how got separated from your other ink (in terms of physical distance) that you aren't able to regulate your body anymore. Maybe your ink sac being infected/too damaged (although if the exploding ink sac thing is real, then ignore the 2nd part). Maybe a mix of blood loss for fun? MAYBE you lost so much ink at once somehow and aren't able to recover in a short amount of time (maybe unlikely. Though possible for older Inkfish since they do dry out...). I don't know I didn't think this far 😭

Anyways the next part is me explaining the image above and it's purely just my insane rambling about JunMui, you're free to go.

Ok so I had the idea of Mui losing a lot of internal ink by losing so much at once that his body is having a hard time recovering, so Jun does a direct ink transfusion, but so much was lost that his structure also starts to melt. He's going to recover, it's just that it's going to take some time compared to Mui who lost way more.

Sorry this is a lot, ramblings of an insane person LOL Though feel free to let me know what you guys think, just don't be mean, I'm fragile LOL

I like to stick to canon too as closely as possible but I might ignore some stuff because 1 there's a lot of interviews 2 I'm lazy (sorry....) 3 I probably didn't know

[macbeth-n-cheese]

Glowing Ones: Why and How

They look beautiful, don't they?

Lonely beacons of light in the darkness of the wasteland, those radiant guys were difficult to break down.

In definition, glowing ones —or "luminous necrotic post-humans" as the wiki states, despite them not being necrotic whatsoever— are said to be "ghouls who have absorbed so much radiation that they emit a strong, green glow," and I could've taken the easy approach and agreed, but then I continued reading the wiki, and they presented me with this:

"The distinctive luminescence that is the trademark of the glowing one can be best attributed to an unusually high amount of radioactive material that builds up in the bloodstream and muscle tissue of a typical ghoul. Sometimes, upon the transformation into a feral ghoul, the neurological systems of the body cease filtering these particles from the blood and tissue, instead of causing them to build a distinctive bio-luminescence that is a characteristic of the glowing ones. In daylight, they simply appear to be incredibly pale feral ghouls, but in the darkness, they glow with a vivid yellow-green hue, their opaque skeletons clearly visible as in an x-ray."

...And I felt like I had to intervene.

Disclaimer: I get the green glow allegory for radioactive stuff, and I know making those ghouls glow was a design choice more than anything, but I like speculating and applying medical knowledge to daily life. I could also be wrong in my assumptions, and am always happy to be corrected when needed.

First of all, it's really not the "neurological system" (nervous system, I assume, because there's no such thing as neurological system) that "filters the blood and tissue" :") it's the organs from our immune system, like the spleen, lymph nodes and other glands. And as for the "radioactive material build-up," if there were solid radioactive particles in your blood stream I think you'd have to have injected them with a needle lol, because simple exposure to radiation wouldn't cause solid particles to infiltrate the human body.

Radiation damage to tissue is caused by, wait for it, the radiation in itself, the invisible waves that are emitted by a solid like radium or uranium (or graphite...). Fabrics, rough cement and some types of wood catch a lot of particles because of their structure, and they 'become radioactive' because of that, but our skin is not as favourable to this and taking a good shower would be enough to decontaminate us in some cases.

(chunk of radioactive material^)

If a person has breathed in a significant amount of radioactive dust (the literal meaning of fallout), however, then there would be deposits of said dust inside the lungs, and the radiation emitted from it would destroy the nearby tissue. Also, if a bomb fell somewhat close to you and you survived, chances are you're completely peppered by radioactive shrapnel, so...

Now that that's dealt with, let's move on!

The first thing that comes to mind when considering their glow, besides cartoony radioactivity, is bioluminescence. This is a living being's ability to emit light, and it is present in many species of algae, bacteria, sea creatures and even insects like fireflies and other beetles. It's the result of the activity of a very specific enzyme, and knowledge surrounding it is complicated, so for convenience's sake I'll say it's a product of a cell's metabolism, that can be triggered by specific circumstances.

(Look up Aequorea victoria, aka crystal jellyfish, they're very pretty)

Nowadays, some species of bacteria have been found to thrive in radioactive environments, processing substances and essentially using radiation as fuel. This has huge potential in leak-prevention and management of disaster sites like Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Imagine now, if you will, that there exists a type of bacteria in the Fallout universe that feeds off of radiation and responds with bioluminescence, shining constantly as long as there's a stable source of fuel for them. This would pretty much explain the glowing as a biofilm (visible bacterial colonies that stick to stuff, plaque on teeth for example) of that specific bacteria feeding off of radiation, with the shinier patches being a thicker film that grew above radioactive material deposits, or just areas in the body with higher radiation. This material could be a piece of shrapnel from the bombs, a chunk of uranium, or any other solid and long-lasting irradiated thing that got lodged into the ghoul's body.

The relationship between the ghoul and the bacteria in this case would be symbiotic (cooperation of organisms from different species that can't survive when separated) to a point or even just mutualistic (cooperation of organisms from different species that can survive when separated), because they continue glowing even after the ghoul's death. For those ghouls to be as long-living while glowing all the way, though, this bacteria's feeding process would have to be extremely slow, so that could be tied to this.

Tldr: glowing ones have radiation-eating, bioluminescent bacteria infestations as an added bonus to their ghoulishness.

And that settles it : ) hope ya liked it!

(P.S.: I have some other posts in this same vibe, in case you're interested ^^)

[uncivilcivilservice]

I know we've talked about Armand and snow, but do you have any other random headcanons about the other vampires and snow?

These are going to be in no particular order, just a snow themed blast of headcanons lol

One year when it snows heavily at Trinity Gate, Daniel and Benji have a competition to see who can build the biggest snowman in the garden. This takes place over 3 days, there are remarkably snow free areas around TG where Benji and Daniel have gathered it all up. Precariously balanced ladders, and falls from said ladders, are involved. In the end there is no winner because Armand becomes worried about the damage the giant structures of melting snow might do to the gardens or house if they get any taller, so they both have to stop at around 25 feet, and knock them down after many, many photographs have been taken.

More ice than snow, but ever since I've watch Safiya Nygaard's video on the ice hotel/ice sculpture art gallery, I am convinced that Daniel takes Marius and Armand there because they would absolutely love it, and since it's open during the winter in northern Sweden, they would have such long nights to spend together and explore the hotel and galleries.

Please imagine the look on Marius's face when Daniel throws a snowball at the back of his head while they are out walking near their house up north

Marius can't stay too mad when it's the first time he's heard Daniel laugh and seen him smile like that in weeks

He absolutely gets his own back though by shaking a snow laden branch as Daniel walks under it. Even better that it makes Daniel laugh again

This is an open invitation for other people to add on their own snowy headcanons!

[felixstudios]

Playground Swap AU!

This is an AU that swaps out which playgrounds the 16 managers from 1.3 reside in as well as trying to strike a balance between their own personality and the personality of the Cog they're swapping places with. Additionally, "gimmicks" {usually the cheat or power the manager is most known for} are swapped. Some job titles are swapped, while some are not- and that one was completely random just to add to the chaos of this AU.

Credit to the creation of this AU belongs in part to @peachymunmagenta for giving me the initial idea and I basically took it and ran off with it. They also came up with the TTC/AA swap!

This post is considered the "master list" of this AU. That means over time I will edit it to include links of extra information/lore made in other posts.

31. August, 2023

New Management Changes - Effective Immediately!

It has come to our attention that our newly hired managers have not had the expected outcome of getting rid of the Toons. While progress has been made in slowing them down, that isn't enough. We will be experimenting with new corporate structures that will move some of you to different districts to see if this helps the Toon problem. Some of you have also changed departments- if that is the case, contact your new boss for your new uniform within 24 hours of receiving this notice or else YOU'RE FIRED.

The new assignments are as follows:

1. Toontown Central & Acorn Acres

Swapped pairs: Buck/Chip and Spruce/Brian

Buck Ruffler, Acorn Acres Kudos Manager

Duck Shuffler, level 50 Cashbot

Fight concept

-Gains an override so that his last minute changes to projects become efficient and more beneficial to the company

-A little more serious, but he's still pretty out there.

-Buck's override is triggered if he spins his slots and rolls 777 {and will deactivate with another 777}. Additionally, his other slot outcomes have been changed while the printing stays the same.

-During an override, Buck would be very similar to Chip in canon in that he'd be monotone and incredibly hostile to Toons {but his speech impediment would still be there lol}. I feel like in a battle this would be reflected by Buck doing more damage, his slot outcomes changing to things that are way more negative for Toons {but also WAY more random}, the inability to receive a 'bust' outcome, and/or getting more slot rolls per turn.

Chip Revvington, Toontown Central Street Manager

Chainsaw Consultant, Level 5 Bossbot

-He leaves firing employees more up to chance than anything

-Despite being such a low level, since he's a manager he can fire any non-manager Cog. He just couldn't fire any managers that are above him, which is fine for the company since they don't want layoffs that high up their management chain

-Without his override anymore and also some of Buck's personality, he becomes quite friendly and even slightly outgoing. He even jokes about his chainsaw and how scary it looks when he's nothing like that

-Has WAY less cheats since he's literally the first manager now. It would still operate based on an RPM meter, but it'd be WAY more straightforward and forgiving... Something like +1K/turn regardless of what attacks are used, cheats draining all his RPM regardless of when it was used or how much he has, only having 2-3 cheats {and just one RPM meter}, and each cheat's trigger is easy to figure out or is literally said to players.

Spruce Campbell, Toontown Central Kudos Manager

Treekiller, Level 12 Cashbot

-He strategically steals paper and logs {along with other resources} from the Toons

-Although he still SEEMS to talk and act exactly the same as in canon, this is now just an act he puts on for the Toons so they don't realize how genius he actually is

-Becomes a little full of himself, but not to unreasonable standards. He just likes to boast about himself a lot

-In battle, his cheats would both be annoying like Brian's and use some of the resources he's been stealing

Brian {no last name}, Acorn Acres Street Manager

Prethinker, Level 24 Sellbot

-He just works on more projects than before but becomes a bit more outspoken

-Is now okay with admitting he made mistakes and doesn't hold it against himself very much

-His cheats now reflect the resources around him and have an underlying theme of wood and acorns

-Since he's also later in the game, his cheats are more complex and allow for his strategic prowess to truly shine

-A bit bolder than before, which sometimes backfires on him. This is especially true if he accidentally makes a miscalculation

2. Barnacle Boatyard & Ye Olde Toontowne

Swapped pairs: Misty/Prester and Mary/Holly

Misty Monsoon, Ye Olde Toontown Kudos Manager

Witch Hunter, Level 20 Lawbot

-She convinces large groups of people to have class action lawsuits

-Will send out anonymous letters to Cogs in an attempt to get them riled up against Toons and start a witch hunt against specific Toons {usually whichever one hurt her the most that week}

-Still very quiet, but now it's because she's incredibly bitter and jaded towards everyone and doesn't wanna talk to anyone

-Still has self esteem issues, but she buries this really deep so that way nobody knows about it

-If she does speak, it's usually something really vague. She prefers to do her mob collecting from the shadows so as not to trace it back to her

Prester Virgil, Barnacle Boatyard Kudos Manager

Rainmaker, Level 16 Lawbot

-He gains weather changing abilities, which he uses to cause disasters and convince the company they need to make insurance claims {or sometimes normal Cogs}

-Doesn't use... as many big words

-A bit more soft spoken, but still pretty obnoxious about things

Mary Anna, Ye Olde Toontowne Street Manager

Deep Diver, Level 10 Boardbot

-She's put her defenses up and does her deep searches with more bias and sass

-With bias now comes sometimes overlooking things or having a confirmation bias where things might not get as thoroughly checked

-Mary is now also a perfectionist trying to work through this flaw in her performance because it's causing her a lot of stress

Holly Grayelle, Barnacle Boatyard Street Manager

Gatekeeper, Level 7 Boardbot

-Does extensive research into pretty much anyone she or the company wants to interact with, hire, ETC. to determine if they're allowed to or not

-A little more mellowed out and not so bad of a perfectionist anymore, but she hasn't completely toned it down

-Quieter, but it's because instead of talking so much she's observing. This will inform future judgements she makes about others, for better or for worse

3. Daffodil Gardens & The Brrrgh

Swapped Pairs: Cathal/Flint and Ben/Cosmo

Cathal Bravecog, The Brrrgh Street Manager

Firestarter, Level 20 Bossbot

-He tries to help out his dad from The Brrrgh, but he just seems to always cause problems

-Very chill and laid back manager who outwardly doesn't show much reaction to his mistakes... at first.

-Over time {and in battle this would be reflected by entering different phases}, he becomes more and more insecure about it until he's clearly pretty anxious and worried. This results in more severe mistakes being made and so the cycle goes on and on

-Tries to get praise from his dad, but he's pretty sneaky around the subject

-He will gain Flint's fire abilities, and it does NOT mix well with his anatomy that's not built to take the heat

Flint Bonpyre, Daffodil Gardens Kudos Manager

Multislacker, Level 24 Sellbot

-Flint is 'burnt out' and doesn't have the emotional capacity to do much work. This would be literally represented by the flame on his head always being very weak

-Very quiet since he just doesn't have the energy to speak much

-Spends most of his time kinda staring off into space or only putting in just enough effort to not get fired

Benjamin Biggs, The Brrrgh Kudos Manager

Bellringer, Level 38 Sellbot

-He gets to have a mafia of his own and they go around "convincing" people to buy from COGS, Inc.

-Uses gossip and blackmail to control everything, basically

-Not really much for getting himself into trouble anymore and is WAY more interested on just finding dirt on anyone and everyone in case he encounters them at some point and needs to "persuade" them

-Instead of Satellite Investors, he has Bell Boys... lol

Cosmo Kupier, Daffodil Gardens Street Manager

Plutocrat, Level 13 Cashbot

-He uses the power of his money to create quite a bit of gossip. Money talks for him a lot

-Whether it's starting fake rumors, starting true rumors, or hearing gossip about somebody, he's paying for it

-While they no longer appear in battle, his Satellite Investors still help him out with a lot of stuff

-His cheats would still be ice themed, but they wouldn't be as extreme both due to not having a frozen office and for being earlier in the line

4. Mezzo Melodyland & Drowsy Dreamland

Swapped pairs: Belle/Tawney and Dave/Graham

Belle Dama, Drowsy Dreamland Street Manager

-She delegates her work to other Cogs and has to frequently nap due to her age

Mouthpiece, Level 30 Lawbot

Design concept

-One of her cheats would literally be not attacking for like 2-3 turns but in return she gains like 50-60% of her health back

-But even though she's old and a bit more frail, she's still got hands to throw. AKA she can do a lot of damage!

Tawney Esta, Mezzo Melodyland Street Manager:

Featherbedder, Level 16 Bossbot

-They do their work with less napping and delegation basically I guess

-Maybe more social

-I really didn't know what else to put here

Dave Brubot, Drowsy Dreamland Kudos Manager

Pacesetter, Level 66 Sellbot

-He basically does his show but like... really fast

-As a star performer, he sets ALL the trends, babe! Both in the company and even on social media!

-You thought he didn't slow dance before? Well now he REALLY doesn't slow dance

-Becomes more self-absorbed, leading to a lot of posters of himself being hung up around his lobby and his stage

Graham Payser, Mezzo Melodyland Kudos Manager

Major Player, Level 28 Bossbot

-He's slowed down a bit and replaced it with more drama!

-Think you can take on someone as beautiful, stunning, and perfect as him? Think again!

-Even without his signature speed to help him, he's still quite the formidable opponent who will use his strength and ranking in the company to his advantage

-Also WAY more into performing and showing off. Somehow. Because he wasn't already maxed out here.