#not a lot of tim marius interaction in fics

[actionyak]

since the lennies canonically wore spiky helmets styled after the German ones from WWI that are similar to the one Marius wears, it would be interesting if Tim didn't like him at first because of that

[carmillatism]

you’ve already sort of shown the relationship brian has with religion, but i’m curious about your take on how he felt about galahad considering the whole “preacher” vibe. if we’re moving forwards with the complicated (and negative) relationship he has with religion then how does that translate to how he interacted with galahad? or was is more of a “large passing of time” thing so it wasnt as impactful?

sorry just have DBB thoughts again,,,

oh!!! i love that question a lot! thank u for asking. i was actually just thinking about this, what with my backstory fic about brian. i have many thoughts on this, so i'll set some of my basic thoughts up first and then answer the question once the context is set!

i think hnoc happens by the time carmilla is airlocked (after that second-ish but canon big one where who killed dr. carmilla comes from (i say second cause of a line jonny says in the homesick live, but that's not important here)) and tim, raph, and marius have joined. not entirely sure if this is after or before dr. carmilla comes back (what with her showing up in dr. pilchard with all nine of them), but i lean towards after (which i think this would be after she's kicked out again).

i say all this to explain the fact that i think brian has done a shit ton of healing from when he first joined, so he's definitely a lot better with not judging himself, healing from religious trauma, and working on being more assertive.

i also believe that brian doesn't actually have prophetic powers, at least not to the extent that characters like to bring up. i think he just has good pattern recognition and predicts things well (this leads into ideas of how people will blow up (lie about) people's fame in history and present time as a way of meeting their own ends. basically, i think brian has no part in these rumors, and people just spread it cause he can never escape the false accusations (i autism-code him no matter what apparently /lh)).

this all to say that brian probably found fort galfridian interesting and went down to check it out (it kind of reminded him of the settlement he stayed on in his backstory. his feelings are complicated about it). he goes down there, kind of chilling in the chaos, and then he comes across galahad and i think his first reaction when he sees galahad is "holy shit holy fuck holy-" and he just kind of spirals. cause yeah, he's doing better, but he also does remind him of one of his worst moments, so he may lose it a bit.

this could have maybe led to him being hung in the first place? he could have tried to question galahad's teachings because he worried galahad was using and lying to fort galfridian's people like the priest once did. this obviously causes unrest due to people liking galahad and not the outsider, so he's hung (this is just speculation i've sort of come up with on the spot!). when brian doesn't die from the hanging and continues to not die, the people are like "what the fuck". brian's pissed, and when he's pissed he says some ominous shit (but there is a place deep within him that does want to help the people), so they think he's a prophet and hang him by his ankle.

brian, who's like "well, this is interesting" sticks around cause it's wild, he's invested, and the mechs are a million light years away. he still doesn't trust galahad, however, galahad starts to talk with him, really about anything, a lot cause he finds brian interesting and because he feels bad for trying to kill this guy who was actually a prophet (probably thinks he's sent from god).

as he talks to brian, brian starts to have a change in judgment. he doesn't trust him all that much still, but he begins to realize that he didn't lead with an open mind and that maybe it would be okay to hear him out. he sees that galahad cares deeply about what he does and fully believes what he says to be true. brian is still weary on religion (especially organized ones) as a whole, but he does start to believe that what galahad is doing is better than he first thought. he finds company in galahad and other townspeople and really starts to care about them (and he's had a fucking headache for like a century now. wonderful).

and then the events of the album start to happen. when you're a hanged man in the center of town (idk if that's canon but it is now /lh), you hear a lot of shit: gossip, folklore, daily occurences. brian starts to catalog and connect this info he gathers (he's bored and a scientist; what more could he want?). a bigger picture starts to dawn on him, so he shares the info with the people who come to him (and who he seeks out). he wants to help galahad and tells him about the grail. he hopes that galahad will take the news well, but his reaction worries him, and he begins to regret what he said.

he hears later on about what galahad is doing and what he's saying, and he grows even more worried, seeing parallels between his past and the beliefs galahad begins to hold. brian thinks he's in too deep and tries to stop him, but that doesn't work out. he feels extremely guilty when he hears about galahad's death, and spirals a bit into blaming himself and having thoughts about his past that aren't the best. then he's in a sun for a century, and a good amount of his healing goes out the window. (but at least those lines of healing are still carved into his mind so it will be easier to find those routes and get himself back to healthy a lot faster than it did before (using a metaphor here that i heard and like with how it can be easier to heal once more if those paths of healing are there, fresh, and easy to reach. i was actually told about the opposite, which is why it's so easy to fall back into anxiety or other cycles of negative thinking)).

anyway... i am not one for brevity, apparently (no one is surprised). haven't thought this much about any of the albums before lmao (i usually focus on the mechs themselves abdknkd). but this is quite a fun concept to think about. i also like the idea that galahad is absolutely smitten with brian. it's just really fucking funny to me lmao. i also like to think that brian is just along for the ride whenever it comes ot galahad like, okay, you go you crazy guy.

also, sorry for any discrepancies between this and hnoc canon, i have not faithfully inscribed the entire album and it's info into my mind with long-lasting ink /lh.

thank you for the question, and don't worry! i love your questions and adore that you find my thoughts and writing so interesting and cool! it means the world to me. anyway, thank you again!

[fuckjohncalvin]

Emily is the best way to describe it omg you're so right

aha ha ha I have created another one >:)

so as there is so little of them in the canon, there's a wide variety in different people's interpretations and fics, so it's really up to you! I have, however, discovered some recurring traits:

-a little bit done with everyone and everything

-does not enjoy the mechanisms' bullshit (though often they grow fond of it)

-braids are a cultural things for them, with hair undone signifying mourning, or letting another braid it signifying great closeness or trust

-typically joined the police force thinking they could incite change or do real good, but came away disillusioned

-in the few mechanized fics I have read them being MAD about it

-generally not ok with their own immortality, be it from the bifrost or a mechanism

-fond of poetry and even writes some of their own (but would rather die than admit it)

-snappish

-very awkward in social situations where snark is not sufficient for interaction but also very kind and sympathetic when they realize people are hurting

-it's common that they're pissed at marius specifically for not warning them and not as much the other prison mechs, usually bc people think marius engaged with them the most, but I hc differently

-almost always HATES Jonny

-violinspector ofc

-deeply moral

-getting along with ivy and spending time in her archives a lot

-either great or horrible relationship with Nastya. no in between. oh yeah and people generally have Nastya be there, whether they try to justify it so it makes sense or not

-if they join the mechanisms, they obviously need an instrument, and most common is they used to play cello and pick it back up again, though I've also seen saxophone, flute, just the sound guy, or even violin, like I said whatever you think works best

-lots of skirts

-winged!lyf is also a common subset of lyfrassir, or them with a tail, or both, all of which I am fond of

-raph running tests on them happens a lot too

-going to/getting advice from gunpowder tim about how joining the mechanisms is hard and honestly sucks at times

-hardcore introvert

-oh and sorta related to what I said earlier just hair being really culturally important so things like head massages and playing with hair being the greatest yggdrasilian show of intense, close, and personal affection, and the mechs being entirely unaware of this and miscommunications ensue

-some sort of loss of morality arc or at least becoming more comfortable with the mechanisms' level of complete psychopathy

-general 'lyf loosens up and learns to enjoy the occasional heist or hide-and-seek-and-bloody-death game' arcs as well

So yeah. take any of these, or all of them, or none, if you don't like them.

When it comes to Lyf getting mechanized, I'm the biggest fan of the mechs find them almost dead (or already dead) and marius and/or the prison mechs are like hmmm no I like this person I know what to do! Also them joining the mechs and then dying in some mechanism-typical shenanigan and the crew being like 'yeah well they're already a crewmate so might as well' and/or 'absolutely not I care about this person they don't get to die'. Any level between comedic or angsty works for me, really.

(I probably like it best when marius is crying and begging for Brian and raph to fix them and the others hesitating but he will NOT let this happen. but uh. that's just me.)

Oh and adjusting to the prosthetic being difficult and getting advice on how to take care of it and the join site from the other mechs is always nice fluff and occasional hurt/comfort.

ANYWAYS this was way longer than I intended but. What can I say. I love them. If you want any fics recs for them being mechanized or just them in general, I have a lot. And if you do ever write a fic about them, please tag me so I can find it! I need more of them lol.

so @yourlocalmechanism has requested I give some examples of lyfrassir edda fan art, thus enabling me and giving me an excuse to go down a very indulgent rabbit hole. Anyways, here are some of my favorites!

by @v-o-i-d-p-u-n-k

by @dropitdoeeyes

by @reegis

by @lunarmicrowaves

by @southern--downpour

by @hershelchocolateart

by @pidgewings

by @twasforresearch

by @fruttaseccx

There's definitely a lot of variation in appearance, but the biggest commonalities are braids and rainbows.

I love all of these so much it's not even funny. I know you said you're not a fan/don't really get the fandom obsession with lyf, but you should still check these blogs out. each and every one of them is awesome.