#most of them are just petty grudges but I do legitimately find child of the galaxy a bit disappointing unfortunately

[arolesbianism]

Was trying to figure out what my favorite abnos are and made a tier list to figure it out and realized I like dream of a black swan Way more than I thought I did

[mistressofallthefiresofhell]

Miscellaneous Headcanons #1

Just gonna go ahead and hash out some headcanons for Maleficent's default verse, her Twisted Wonderland verse, and her Kingdom Hearts verse. Because why not?

Default

The fact that Maleficent has such fondness and trust in Diablo is very important because it demonstrates she is capable of feeling fondness and trust for another. Maleficent may not understand empathy beyond an intellectual level (enough to understand that hurting those your targets care for hurts them more than just killing them would), but it seems she is capable of feeling it. However, since she sees herself as "beyond" such "weakness," she is incapable of seeing her affection for Diablo for what it is.

Maleficent doesn't hate Aurora. She doesn't actually have any grudge against the princess herself; Aurora's just a useful instrument in causing pain to those who've slighted her.

Technically speaking, when Maleficent said "She will indeed grow in grace and beauty, beloved by all who know her", that was also a part of Maleficent's "gift." The curse, therefore, ensures that Aurora's beauty and grace are never tarnished, and that any who get to know her stumble into situations where she becomes beloved by them. They still love Aurora for who she is, of course; the curse just forces them to learn who she is.

Relatedly, Maleficent is technically one of Aurora's fairy godmothers. Sure, nobody in their right mind would ever peg her as such (and she certainly doesn't act like it), but she is a fairy who provided a magical "gift" upon the princess on the day of her christening. The fact that the gift came bundled with a death curse aside, this means that Maleficent technically has the same role that the three good fairies do, even if she chooses to act directly against that role for the sake of her revenge.

Maleficent is stronger physically than she looks. Being a fae who is also a dragon, she is possessing of superhuman strength even in her humanoid form. However, this is only very rarely demonstrated; she believes herself to be the pinnacle of feminine regality and stature, and a regal lady of stature is above throwing hands like common street trash.

Twisted Wonderland

Let's get one thing straight right out of the gate: Maleficent does care about Malleus. She might not show it in the most healthy or moral of ways, but she does legitimately have his best interests at heart. A part of this is narcissism, of course. The fact that he is her grandson marks him as one of the very special few who are worthy of almost as much respect and reverence as she is.

She has been keeping tabs on Malleus pretty much his entire life, even if he never quite realized it. The only people that remained in Malleus' life while living in Briar Valley were those that Maleficent approved of; those she did not approve of quickly disappeared, never to be seen again. This, naturally, extends to Lilia as well; Vanrouge's presence is something that is tolerated because he is beneficial to Malleus.

Everything I've been able to find on the subject seems to suggest that Headmaster Crowley is based off of Diablo. Until or unless the game/person I'm rping with disagrees, I will be running with this assumption and saying that Maleficent is Crowley's fairy godmother. Like, a proper one, not the one-by-technicality thing I mentioned above. She's not as peppy or forgiving as fairy godmothers tend to be, but she does deign to aid him at her leisure so long as Crowley behaves in her presence. If he doesn't behave in her presence...well, spare the rod, spoil the child, as they say.

Maleficent is convinced she knows what is behind the blotting phenomenon. She refers to it as an "archaic" or "obsolete" phantom from an age long irrelevant. She is also fully convinced that she is immune to overblotting, despite how petty, wrathful, and just generally emotional she can be.

Maleficent learns of the MC from both Crowley and Malleus, and she comes to have a detached interest in them. Their ability to wrangle all the disparate personalities and egos of the college towards a common goal is intriguing to her as a ruler, wish-granter, and curse-maker. They have her attention, which may or may not make their lives harder as time goes on...

Kingdom Hearts

Maleficent is about as Dark as one can get before becoming a Heartless. The fact that her Heart goes to the Realm of Darkness when she "dies" without turning her into a Heartless is proof of that. Just as she cannot understand goodness and Light, she understands Darkness on a fundamental level to an extent that no other does. This is why she never underestimates it, despite her own not-inconsiderable arrogance.

Maleficent's losses to the protagonists were collectively something of a wakeup call for her, and she's dedicated herself to becoming more mighty than ever before while also continuing her dastardly book-based schemes. To that end, she has completely mastered the Squeenix magic system, with all the -za and Zeta that implies. The only exceptions to this are Cure and Holy; these spells require an amount of Light within one's Heart that Maleficent simply isn't capable of.

Maleficent's ultimate goal is dominion over everyone and everything everywhere. The ultimate power that she seeks is simply the tool she requires to achieve her ambitions; it alone is not enough to satisfy her. To that end, she opposes anyone who espouses oblivion; if everything is consumed by the void, she will have nothing to rule, after all.

Maleficent is shown having gone up against keyblade wielders before in both Union X and Dark Road, winning both times. Hell, she killed four of them at once in Dark Road. This blog takes this as the norm; most keyblade wielders cannot stand against the Mistress of All Evil, with the protagonists who demonstrably can defeat her being the exceptions instead of the rule. This is also why she was so complacent until Sora kicked her teeth in one too many times.

Relatedly, Maleficent is old enough to have been around during the Keyblade War. She is not responsible for its start, but she did do her part in escalating things beyond the breaking point by stoking the Darkness within select individuals. She remembers that terrible time with great fondness.

[beneaththeweirwoodtree-blog]

They were children, now they’re not: or Why the Stark sisters’ season seven arc makes no sense

Below are spoilers for season seven of Game of Thrones. I also quote the books because they reveal some of the characters’ inner thoughts that occur during the same time frame covered in the show. This is a Game of Thrones critical, book-to-show comparison post. You’ve been warned. 

During season seven of Game of Thrones, I was really looking forward to the promised Stark sibling reunions. The reunion between Sansa and Jon brought me to tears and I had high hopes for the others. Sadly, I was left wanting, particularly the reunion and subsequent tension between Sansa and Arya. I think that season seven served neither character well (nor Bran, either, for that matter), and the tension between the Stark sisters--created by an ever-scheming Littlefinger--makes very little sense. 

Point 1: They were children

When Arya and Sansa were younger, they didn’t get along. Typically this is when people bring up the fact that Sansa called Arya “Horseface” or that Arya thinks that Sansa is stupid. I’m not disagreeing with either of these facts.  However, when these disagreements occurred, Sansa was 13 (11 in the books) and Arya was 11 (9 in the books). Arya shows some jealousy towards her sister because Sansa is praised for doing all the things that Arya is not good at. Sansa is annoyed with her sister for doing all the things that they’ve been taught girls are not supposed to do. Furthermore, Sansa doesn’t understand why her parents indulge Arya’s behavior when she’s been taught that those sorts of things (getting dirty, sword fighting, etc) are not appropriate for a lady. They may be living in medieval Westeros, but the Stark sisters are having a moment that most people with siblings are familiar with. They each believe that they’re being treated unfairly. Arya believes that she’s forced to do things she doesn’t like and then is compared to her sister, who is much better at those things; Sansa believes it’s unfair that Arya doesn’t follows the rules and gets away with it. 

To a child, both of these complaints feel legitimate. However, these are clearly the thoughts of children and when the sister reunite in Winterfell, they’ve got years of growth behind them. They aren’t the same people they were when they left, so why would they have the same grievances? Their time apart and their experiences (as evidenced in the books) gives us reason to believe that both sisters think fondly on each other when they’re apart.

Just a few quotes from Arya’s chapters: 

“She wished the Rush would rise and wash the whole city away...everything, and everyone too, espeically Prince Joffrey and his mother. But she knew it wouldn’t, and anyhow Sansa was still in the city and would wash away too.”  A Clase of Kings, Arya I

“When she thought of seeing Robb’s face again Arya had to bite her lip. And I want to see Jon too, and Bran and Rickon, and Mother. Even Sansa...I’ll kiss her and beg her pardons like a proper lady, she’ll like that.” A Clash of Kings, Arya VII

“Needle was Robb and Bran and Rickon, her mother and her father, even Sansa.” A Feast for Crows, Arya II

And now from Sansa’s:

“Once in a while, Sansa even missed her sister. By now Arya was safe back in Winterfell, dancing and sewing, playing with Bran and baby Rikcon, even riding through the winter town if she liked.” A Clash of Kings, Sansa II

“She sang for mercy, for the living and the dead alike, for Bran and Rickon and Robb, for her sister Arya and her bastard brother Jon Snow...” A Clash of Kings, Sansa V

“In Sansa’s dreams, her children looked just like the brothers she had lost. Sometimes there was a girl who looked just like Arya,” A Storm of Swoards, Sansa II

“ Sansa had chased Arya through the stables and around the kitchen until both of them were breathless. She  might even have caught her, but she’d slipped on some ice. Her sister came back to see if she was hurt. When she said she wasn’t, Arya hit her in the face with another snowball, but Sansa grabbed her leg and pulled her down and was rubbing snow in her hair when Jory came along and pulled them apart, laughing,” A Storm of Swords, Sansa VII   

In the books, we are given textual evidence that once separated and exposed to the trauma of the world, each sister begins to reflect on the other. Yes, they’re still noted towards the end of each list of people they would like to see, but it is obvious that there is affection in their thoughts of one another. Now that they have matured (through horrific circumstances), they appreciate one another more. They recognize a fondness for one another that they couldn’t see as children. Given this, it doesn’t make sense that they would be reunited at home in Winterfell and immediately begin to dislike one another and hold petty grudges a la “You always liked pretty things because it made you feel better than everyone else.” They’re not gonna braid each other’s hair and exchange trauma stories, but they’re not going to cling to old grudges, either. 

On a side note: I know that these quotes are from the book and not directly referenced in the show. However, they are pulled from moments/situations that are very similar between book and show, so it makes sense that the show versions of the characters would still think them. 

Point 2: Previously, on Game of Thrones

Just a little recap on Arya: Before she comes back to Westeros, she was in Braavos at the House of Black and White, where she trained as a faceless man. She was trained in multiple ways to kill people and to be pretty sneaky about it. She was also trained to essentially be a human lie detector.  Having decided that she is not willing to give up her identity, she declares that she’s Arya Stark of Winterfell and she’s going home. At home, she runs into some Lannister soldiers, chills with them, actually seems happy for the first time in a few seasons, and then heads to Winterfell after hearing from Hot Pie that the Starks have reclaimed it. 

Recap on Sansa: She has helped her brother Jon Snow reclaim the North and was present when he was declared King in the North. She also expressed to him that “only a fool would trust Littlefinger,” the very same Littlefinger that she looks concerned about when her brother is declared King in the North. 

So, why is the reunion between the sisters so frosty? Arya manages to be kind to strangers who fight for the opposing side in a war, but is less than enthused about seeing the sister that she was violently separated from? Sansa is the first family that Arya has seen in literally years and her reaction is flat as hell. 

Sansa seems a little more enthused until she notices how odd Arya’s acting. Of course, then we fall into the mess of finding a letter that Sansa wrote (under duress!) when she was a child trying to save her father’s life. Now, if Arya were still a child, it would make sense that she was skeptical about the letter and confronts her sister. However, she is no longer a child and she’s been trained to spot a lie by a professional assassin death cult. It makes no sense that she would fall for Littlefinger’s tricks. Also, Sansa has been on the most horrific downside of one of Littlefinger’s plots gone wrong (see marriage to Ramsay Bolton, show only); she has confronted him about it; she doesn’t trust him. 

So how does it make sense that two women who should be able to see through Littlefinger’s scheming get caught up in it again? 

It doesn’t. the writers planned to kill Littlefinger at the end of the season and needed plot filler until then so we got stuck with a ridiculous sister-vs-sister plot that largely ignores Bran and only uses him as a plot device (which, if employed sooner, could have also avoided the entire fiasco). Arya’s faceless man training is available for use to threaten her sister but not to see through Littlefinger. Sansa’s political skills are available for use when she’s trying to appease the Northern lords, but she somehow conveniently trusts the man who confessed to killing the king and selling her to a brutal husband? Makes. No. Sense. 

I’m not saying that the sisters would get along swimmingly from the get-go. The one moment of tension that didn’t feel completely manufactured was their difference of opinion in how to handle the Northern lords getting restless about Jon. It makes sense that Arya would want to chop heads because violence has been her story arc. It makes sense that Sansa would want to use a diplomatic solution because her arc has been more court-centered. However, the moment the argument tips into childhood bickering and not actually being about the issue at hand, it feels manufactured and ridiculous. 

Conclusion: The writers giveth, the writers taketh away 

If Sansa and Arya were still the exact same girls from season one, this tension would make sense. But they aren’t. The writers have spent the five seasons since their separation trying to convince us that they have grown into strong, capable young women with differing areas of expertise. But with the plot of season seven, they manage to undo all of that character development and fall right into the trap of pitting the sisters against one another because the writers can’t think of anything else better to do while they waste time until Littlefinger can be killed.