#obviously he has problems with other emotions lmao

[alexwilltellyouthings]

Rant (Thought About Edwin Payne Too Much Again):

Edwin may be the best one out of the main four in regards to dealing with his own anger. Isn't that something?

I mean, Crystal is constantly angry and letting it out in ways that hurt others or even herself. Niko gets angry at love and herself and thinks changing her whole personality is the answer instead of facing what she did wrong. Charles, well, duh.

But Edwin. We see him get worked up on episode one until he breaks down, says everything he needs about how the cases matter to him, and accepts the comfort that comes afterwards. From then on I think we don't see him get mad for a good while.

He gets annoyed of course, all the time, but that's just him. Anger, though? I can only remember the second instance being with the Cat King in the forest, shoving the bracelet in his face. Which he was brilliant to do, had every right to, stood up for himself and left.

He takes the anger when it comes, does something about it and lets it go. Something no one else seems to have learned how to do.

In conclusion: Edwin Payne, somehow the emotional role model of this fucked up little group

[bravevolunteer]

1:30am. plagued by thoughts of michael and everything going on in his tiny 10-13 year old head :(

[zukosdualdao]

so, this post was originally born from a post i saw a couple of months ago that was deriding people for criticizing katara’s main role in lok being a healer when that was never all she wanted to do but liking the scene where she heals zuko in sozin's comet. at the time i thought about responding directly and decided against it, but i have since scanned through transcripts of every instance (i could find; it's possible i could be missing something) of katara healing someone in the show and how they respond. (you know, like a normal and well-adjusted individual. lmao.)

anyway, aside from katara explicitly stating that she doesn’t only want to be a healer, another aspect of why people don’t like that this is how her story goes in lok is because of the way healing is treated in the atla narrative.

Katara: Aang, you're burned! Let me help you. [Katara heals the burn on Aang's arm.] Aang: Wow, that's good water. Sokka: When did you learn that? Katara: I guess I always knew. Sokka: [Sarcastically.] Oh ... Well then thanks for all the first aid over the years. Like when I fell into the greaseberry bramble. [Angrily.] Or that time I had two fishhooks in my thumb!

this comes, of course, after aang accidentally burns katara and she learns she can heal through her waterbending by healing her own hands. then (after comforting aang despite being the one who got hurt, not that i'm bitter), she heals aang after he gets burned in his fight with zhao. and like... there's not so much as a cursory thanks in this scene.

to be clear, because i can already hear some responses in my head and i am making a preemptive strike: i'm not saying that when other characters don't thank katara for her healing, they're like, the worst people ever for not doing so or there aren't other ways at different times where they show their appreciation. what i am saying is that it feels like this sets up a long pattern of katara's healing specifically being taken for granted, and it makes me especially uncomfortable when i see her healing as a sort of metaphorical parallel to the emotional labor often expected of her in the show, especially because this and being The Avatar's Girlfriend/Wife is more or less what she's relegated to in post-canon.

also, i have to note sokka's line here. i don't want to come down on him too hard for this, because it's obviously being written humorously (and does genuinely make me laugh, for what it's worth, if just for the inherent ridiculous nature of two fishhooks), but his sarcastically saying thanks for all the help over the years when katara says she always knew (which is supposed to be her saying it just somehow instinctively came to her) does feel like another mark in this pattern. but i also really read this as sokka trying to lighten the mood after a Difficult (TM) day, so i cut both him and the writers some slack for it.

Meanwhile, back at the Outer Wall, Katara attempts to heal a member of the Terra Team. General Sung: What's wrong with him? He doesn't look injured. Katara: His chi is blocked. [Stops healing.] Who did this to you?

i find it interesting that katara has sort of naturally fallen into a token team healer role, to the degree that we don't even see them ask for her help or her agree to it; it's just automatically assumed that she will. and i mean, on the one hand, it's fairly standard to have an Assumed Healer in a fantasy action setting like this, where people will get hurt in combat and therefore the narrative needs someone whose job is to help them. the problem for me is that the show kicked up such a fuss about how women shouldn't just be allowed to be healers, and yet it's still the role no one but katara ever fills. aang is also a waterbender! why couldn't she have taught him healing, too? i genuinely think it would have added a lot to the story, but katara is The Girl (TM), so healing is what she (and only she) does, what's expected of her, and again, with very rare thanks for it.

Katara stares open-mouthed at Jet, her hands hovering near her mouth in shock. Snapping out of it, she withdraws water from her water skin, with which she covers her hands, and it begins to glow as she kneels down next to him. Cut to a shot from over her shoulder, with Jet glancing at her while she rubs her hands over his chest in an attempt to heal him. After rubbing his chest three times, the glow fades, the water stains Jet's clothing, and Katara looks back over her shoulder toward the rest of the group. Katara: This isn't good. Smellerbee: You guys go and find Appa. We'll take care of Jet. Katara: We're not going to leave you. Longshot: There's no time. Just go. We'll take care of him. He's our leader. They stare at Longshot in surprise. Jet: Don't worry, Katara. I'll be fine. [Smiles a little.]

Cut to a closer shot of Katara placing Aang's body on Appa. Katara opens the vial around her neck and uses water healing on Aang's wounded back. The rest of Team Avatar, Kuei, and Bosco all look sadly and in anticipation. The glowing from the spirit water stops, and Katara starts crying, assuming that it was not enough to save Aang. Aang's tattoos glow for a second and Aang groans. Katara, overcome with joy that Aang is alive, looks at him, who smiles a little, and she holds him closer.

writing about these together because i have less to say about them. i'm definitely not going to fault jet for not thanking katara when she tries to heal him as he literally lay dying, or aang for not having the mind to do so after she brings him back. but i am still going to fault the narrative for putting her in a position where healing is just inherently expected from her and yet very rarely allowing her to feel the emotional toll of that or to feel constricted by it. and when she does struggle against the weight of it (not necessarily of being a healer, but of being expected to be kind and good and uncomplicated with no room for other aspects of her identity, which are very tangled up in why she is The Healer) in episodes like the runaway or in the southern raiders, she just... does not receive a lot of support from the people she should be most able to rely on.

Katara: Maybe we should go upstairs. [Helping Aang up.] You need a healing session. Back in Aang's room on the ship. Katara bends some water onto the scar left by Azula's lightning attack. Katara: Tell me where the pain feels most intense. Aang: Mmm, a little higher. Uhhh! Aang briefly flashes back to the battle at Old Ba Sing Se where he rose into the Avatar State, then back to reality. Aang: Wow, you're definitely in the right area there.

not much to say here, it's just another instance where it would have been so easy to slip one thank you in, and the writers just... do not. the reason i think it bothers me so much with aang specifically is because katara is supposed to be both aang's physical healer and his emotional crutch in a way that she's not written as being for, say, toph or sokka. he's sometimes shown appreciation for her emotional support, but he still comes to rely on and expect it in ways that do not always feel healthy, and knowing that, it bothers me that he shows even less appreciation for her healing, because it's just what katara is there for.

A figure resembling the Painted Lady glides over the water on a carpet of fog and enters the village. She steps into a hut where several people are sleeping on the floor, and bends over each of them in turn, healing them with a blue glow. Her last patient is the mother of the little boy seen earlier, her son sleeping at her side. He wakes as the Painted Lady turns to go and silently follows her out the door. Little boy: Thank you, Painted Lady.

this is a genuinely sweet scene in which katara does receive appreciation and genuine thanks for her healing, but i think it's also worth noting that katara is not being recognized as herself here. still, i am genuinely very glad that it's included in the episode because (again, unless i am missing something) it is the first time katara gets thanked for her healing.

The scene cuts to show Appa landing on the edge of the battlefield. Sokka and Katara help Hakoda onto the ground, and Katara starts trying to heal him. Katara: How does that feel, Dad? Hakoda: Ah, a little, better. I need, to get back to the troops. [Attempts to stand but is too weak to.] Ahh! Katara: You're hurt, badly. You can't fight anymore. Hakoda: Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission Katara, I won't let them down. [Attempts to stand again but can't.] Ahh! Sokka: Can't you heal him any faster?

they're in a high intensity situation, and sokka is Stressed because hakoda is supposed to lead the mission, so i, like, Get It, but "can't you heal him any faster?" does strike me as another moment in which katara's healing is being taken for granted. i think it's something that would bother me a lot less if this was an isolated incident in the writing, but *gestures vaguely at whole post*.

Sokka: [Brightening.] Dad! [Rising and approaching the two.] You're on your feet again. Hakoda: [Sitting down; somewhat weakly.] Thanks to your sister.

that being said, in the next hakoda and katara scene, there is this very sweet moment, where hakoda might not be thanking katara directly but is showing a lot of appreciation and admiration for her skill in healing (and though she's not in the dialogue i included, she's around to hear it, which makes me happy.)

Katara: It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. [Stops healing.] I wish I could have worked on them sooner. Toph: Yeah, me too.

once again, i'm not gonna fault toph for wishing katara could have healed her feet sooner, because she's been in pain all night, but the writers could have very easily (as they could have in any of these scenes!) chosen to include a perfunctory 'thanks' here, and they just didn't. i know this is getting repetitive, but i swear it's because it's largely more me being mad at the writers than the characters, lmao.

there are also a couple of scenes in which katara doesn't heal anyone, but her healing gets brought up by aang.

Aang: He doesn't look sick. You okay, buddy? [Appa groans and Aang pulls out Appa's purple tongue.] His tongue is purple! That can't be good. Katara, can you heal him?

to be fair, aang asks here, and it's not like aang gets defensive or angry when katara says appa needs medicine (and also to be fair, appa's not even actually sick, lmao, katara's being slightly trickstery), but it's another instance where katara is automatically positioned as the person who is and should be responsible for healing.

Aang: [Chuckles.] Well, not over over. I mean there's always Katara and a little Spirit Water action, [Turns to Katara.] am I right? Katara: Actually, I used it all up after Azula shot you. Aang: [Disappointed.] Oh.

i actually don't mind this so much as a writing moment, as i think it's a lot more intentional wrt aang not always conceptualizing the reality of the violence he’s facing. still, it’s another instance of katara’s ability to heal and care for him being taken for granted, and i find it especially notable it’s in of the last significant moments they share together (the other being an argument as katara urges him not to run away from the reality of their situation with ozai) before they spend the rest of the finale separate until they’re kissing without a word at the end.

and then there is the zutara healing scene, where katara heals zuko after he interferes and takes azula’s lightning to the chest when she’s aiming for katara.

Cut to Katara as she rolls Zuko on to his back and begins healing him. Zuko opens his eyes, feeling the pain lessen, and smiles weakly at Katara, who smiles back as she sheds a tear.

Zuko: Thank you, Katara.

Katara: I think I'm the one who should be thanking you.

it seems fair to me to say that one of the reasons the motifs of healing in the zutara are dynamic are so appreciated by their fans is because of how it contrasts to a lot of moments where the work katara does with her healing is under-appreciated. for one thing, it happens as part of a mutual exchange—katara heals zuko after he gets hurt saving her. (this also somewhat calls back to their scenes together in the crystal caves in the tcod, where she offers to heal his scar after they are trapped together and zuko extends her empathy.) it’s based in reciprocity. it’s also, as shown here, one of the few moments of explicit, heartfelt appreciation and thanks given for katara’s healing.

[callsign-rogueone]

part of the family - d.a.

Dain Aetos x marked!reader The marked ones have been your only family since your parents were executed — until now. [request] words: 3.7k 🏷: IRON FLAME SPOILERS. she/her afab reader in an established (but secret) relationship with Dain, descriptions of fainting and loss of vision, talk of contraceptives, periods, and pregnancy, you love Dain but he still has his problems (you’ll see), featuring bestie Bodhi (who is the captain of this ship lmao) and older (foster) bro Garrick. went totally overboard on this one but like. girl dad dain 🥺🥰

You slip into the meeting quietly, pressing yourself against the wall -- most assembly gatherings are open to any who wish to attend, but you’d rather them not know you’re here. 

Xaden stands before the elders, in the thick of an argument that is very obviously about Dain.

“He’s clearly here as a spy. Why else would he side with us?”

You can’t hold back your response. “Because I showed him everything. Resson, Liam, the wyvern, the fliers, the dagger drops… all of it.”

So much for staying incognito. All heads turn to you, different emotions on their faces. Xaden looks as if you’ve stabbed him. Two of the elders look like they want to kill you where you stand. You can’t quite read the look on Brennan’s face. 

“I say we confine her with him,” one says, eyeing you with contempt. “She is clearly a danger to the movement, if she was willing to take such a risk.”

You step forward to address them properly. “It was a calculated risk,” you say carefully. “Of all the marked Tyrrish, I am the one he trusts most. And I was prepared to kill him, had he not changed his mind about us.”

“Does he know that?” Xaden asks.

“No,” you answer, ashamed. You still don’t know if you could have gone through with it — could have lifted the dagger you’d held behind your back while he watched the last year’s events through your eyes and struck true, stopped the heart of the man you love.

Acid rises in your throat at the thought. You swallow it back down, continuing. “He may have hurt us in the past, but he was not raised as we were. A hundred others we brought with us can attest to the history that he was taught, the side of the story he was led to believe until I showed him otherwise.”

The assembly is silent.

You lower your head, unable to look at them. “Lock me up if you wish, kill me if you must. All I ask is that you spare his life.”

Brennan is the first to soften — he knows Dain, regarded him as a younger brother for years. That and the fact that you’re willing to die for the boy is evidence enough for him. “Very well. He may join the rest of us and keep his position as wingleader.”

Nobody dares to disagree with him.

“Thank you,” you say quietly. You bow to them, taking your leave.

It’s easy enough to swipe a plate of food from the kitchens, carrying it up to the room Dain has been locked in all weekend. The guard posted outside sees the mark on your arm, letting you enter without question. 

At least two people in this fortress still trust you.

Dain’s head snaps up when the door opens, visibly relaxing as he sees it’s you.

You set the plate aside, moving to embrace him for the first time in days.

“Hi, my love,” he says softly, wrapping his arms around you.

“Hi,” you sniff, eyes watering.

You had told the assembly that you were prepared to kill him, but now that you’re in his arms, you know that you could never do anything to hurt him, no matter what he had decided.

Your tears are falling steadily now — you’ve cried nearly every day these last few weeks, constantly overwhelmed with emotion. You climb into his lap, needing him close. 

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he soothes, resting his hand on the side of your neck and stroking his thumb over your pulse. This is the closest he’ll come to touching your face since the night he discovered his signet — save for the other day, when you’d taken his hand in yours and pressed it to your cheek, showing him everything.

You’d cracked open your heart for him, spread it onto the table and let him see it all, and he had stood and watched, seen the other side of the story. It had hurt him then, to realize that you’d hidden all of this from him for almost two years, but the warm saltwater dripping onto his hand had snapped him out of it quickly.

He wants to dry your tears again now, to brush them away with a gentle sweep of his finger, but he won’t cross that line with you again. He can’t.

“I love you,” he says softly.

“I love you too,” you answer, rubbing at your eyes with the back of your hand.

He shushes you softly, holding you closer. There’s a moment of calm quiet, the two of you just breathing each other in.

“I told them,” you say in a cracked whisper, unable to keep it from him any longer. “I told the assembly that I showed you everything.”

His eyes widen. “Why did you…?”

“I couldn’t stand silent while they talked about you that way. I convinced them that you are truly our ally, that it wasn’t your fault that you were taught only one side of the story.”

He leans down to rest his forehead against yours, your noses brushing. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” you reply. “For doing the right thing. I don’t think I could have bared to leave without you.”

He smiles softly. “I would follow you anywhere, my love.”

-------------------------------------------------------

You are so sick of this hike, and you aren’t even halfway done. For team-building, the leadership had said. Yeah, right. You feel like you’ve been herding a pack of wild animals all morning.

“If we press on for twenty minutes, there’s another flat section,” Bodhi explains, showing you the map that Brennan had given you.

You can’t hear the rest of his explanation through the ringing in your ears, the map blurring at the edges. You blink rapidly, trying to clear your vision, but it’s no use — the tiny black spots won’t go away.

“Hey,” Bodhi prods, waving a hand, “are you hearing me?”

“Give me a minute,” you pant, reaching out to touch the wall of rock behind you. Your legs feel too heavy, your upper body too light — your heart is racing, but the beats feel too shallow. 

Something is wrong.

“You should sit,” he and your dragon offer at once.

You shift your left leg, moving to lower yourself to the ground, and the black spots grow until you can’t see anything. You lose the last of your balance, crumpling into the dirt.

Bodhi stops your head from hitting the rocks just in time.

-------------------------------------------------------

You don’t remember how you got here, nor much of the physical exam; don’t know if it took five minutes or an hour, but the healer is incredibly gentle with you; speaking softly, giving you water to drink and medicine to take, encouraging you to rest.

You shut your eyes, but you can’t bring yourself to sleep, not when the rest of your friends are still out climbing that mountain, crossing a trail littered with death traps. 

“They’re doing just fine,” Cosa soothes. “They’ll be back faster if you sleep.”

You feel much better when you wake up. 

The sun is starting to set. You must have been out for hours.

The healer comes back a few minutes later with Dain in tow. You reach for him instantly, relieved to see him in one piece. He stands at the side of the bed, wrapping an arm around you and letting you lean into his side.

“It could be a circulation issue, but since it hasn’t happened before, I’d say it was likely just dehydration and overexertion,” the healer explains.

That’s probably it. You were too busy making sure your section was moving quickly enough, that they were avoiding the traps and staying out of trouble. You’d spent your two rest breaks preventing the riders and fliers from coming to blows, having to physically restrain one of the first-years. Your jaw still aches from where you’d taken an elbow to the face in the process.

“There’s another thing,” she says, hesitating as she looks between you and Dain, appearing to debate if she can say this in front of him -- whatever it is, it clearly isn’t good.

Dain takes your hand in his, intertwining your fingers and looking up at her, waiting.

You nod in permission.

She overcomes her nerves, spitting it out. “You’re… expecting.”

The air in the room stills completely as you take in the information, the soft tick of the clock on the wall the only indication that time hasn’t frozen solid.

“I’ll give you two a minute,” she says quietly, darting out of the room and shutting the door behind her.

You still haven’t moved. You’ve forgotten how to speak.

“Breathe, love,” Dain soothes, rubbing your back. The warmth of his hand brings you out of your stunned haze.

You take in a lungful of air, letting it out slowly.

There’s no denying it, no pleading innocence or wondering how this could have possibly happened — it makes total sense, even through your dull headache and the fog still clouding your mind.

You’ve spent two nights a week in his bed for the last year and a half, and you haven’t had one cup of contraceptive tea since you arrived at Riorson house, or in the month before that either — you’d been out in the field every weekend for your third-year classes.

You’d missed a period or two, but you had chalked it up to the stress of your responsibilities as a section leader and the final straws that had led half the quadrant to desert with you. It would definitely not have been the first time that Basgiath had messed with your cycle; hardly any of the girls in your year got their period until after Threshing.

“Talk to me,” Dain coaxes quietly, looking at you with softness in his eyes.

“Why are you not freaking out right now?” You ask after a moment.

He manages a soft laugh. “I am, but I know you are too, and I’m more worried about you right now.”

You blow out a breath. “I don’t know how we’re gonna do this. None of our friends have kids. My parents are dead, and yours…”

“Have probably already disowned me for being here,” he finishes for you, shrugging, but you can tell it hurts.

“I’m so sorry,” you whisper, guilt tugging at you. Had he stayed behind, he would have been able to keep them, he’d still have the thing you’ve desired most for six years now.

But then you’d be completely alone in raising this child.

The thought sends a sharp spike of fear into your chest. You’ve already lost so many friends in your two years at Basgiath, and you’re headed straight for a war, fighting against dark magic that none of you really understand. What if Dain doesn’t make it through?

“We’ll figure it out,” he reassures you, “together.”

-------------------------------------------------------

Dain doesn’t leave your side all night, keeping one hand on you whenever he can. He treats you like a princess, going so far as to kneel down to lace your boots for you in the morning, despite your quiet insistence that you could do it yourself.

You’re prepared to resume your usual routine; strict professionalism by day, gentle words and soft touches after dark, but he takes your hand, walking down the hall with you to the mess for breakfast.

You get shocked looks from a few of your classmates, but it’s nice being able to be seen with him for once instead of keeping the two of you a secret. Not that you’d be able to for very much longer, anyway — two is quickly going to become three.

It takes all of five minutes for your friends to spot you.

“I called it!” Bodhi exclaims, elbowing Imogen.

“I already knew,” Imogen says, unamused.

You’re deathly still, heart racing. 

Dain rests a hand on your lower back as he speaks. “Knew what?”

“About you two hooking up. Do you have any idea how many times you idiots have shown up to morning formation with your shoes untied, wearing each other’s knives?”

You laugh at her bluntness — you thought you’d been slick, always arriving to class five minutes apart and from different directions, avoiding eye contact at all costs… evidently not.

“You two look good together,” Bodhi decides. “It’s weird, but it’s cute.”

You sigh in relief. Bodhi is the one that you knew you could count on to be nice about this; the one you’ve wanted to tell about you and Dain for months now.

Dain blinks. “Why are you guys being so chill right now?”

“Do you not want me to be chill?” Imogen challenges, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just… I was expecting the shovel talk. You know, the whole “I’ve got a sword and a shovel and I know how to use both” thing?”

“Oh, that’s Garrick’s job,” she supplies, almost too cheerfully. “And I think he’ll be a little more detailed than that.”

Dain pales, realizing that your foster brother likely won’t be as calm about this as your friends — and that there’s another very important thing that you’ll have to tell him, too.

You laugh, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t worry, love. I’ll be there to hold him back.”

Imogen nearly gags at the sight, but straightens her face quickly enough. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” 

“Me too,” you respond, smiling for the first time this week.

Maybe this won’t go as terribly as you’d thought.

-------------------------------------------------------

Word travels fast in the rider’s quadrant.

Garrick approaches you in the main hall that afternoon.

You begin the speech you’d rehearsed in your head all morning. “I need to talk to you about something. I-”

He raises a hand, and you fall silent. “Bo already told me, and he made sure I was unarmed for this conversation.”

You let out a sigh of relief — he’s missing his two longswords and the array of daggers he normally keeps strapped to his body. 

If you survive the next seven months, you’ll name Bodhi the kid’s godfather for this act alone.

You still place yourself in front of Dain as subtly as you can as Garrick starts a speech of his own. 

“You’re an adult, and you can make your own decisions. It’s not my place to tell you what to do off the battlefield. Even if I did, I know you wouldn’t hear it. You’ve always been your own person; it’s one of the things I admire about you.” 

You’re actually touched.

“Do you love him?” He asks, looking over at the wingleader, who has remained uncharacteristically silent, probably too terrified to speak. 

“I do,” you answer, smiling softly. “I have for two years now.”

Garrick believes you. 

It’s clear that the words pain him, but he says them anyway; “Welcome to the family, Aetos.”

Dain extends a hand to shake. “Thank you.”

Garrick takes it, gripping it hard enough to hurt as he tugs him forward, clapping his other hand onto the younger man’s shoulder. “Know that if you ever do anything to hurt her, you’ll be answering to me and me alone.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Dain says, and the Lieutenant knows that he means it. 

Garrick leaves before you can work up the courage to tell him the other news.

-------------------------------------------------------

Dozens of riders pass by, ready to head to the flight field and assume their positions — but Dain keeps you locked in place.

“You really expect me to stand idle while you and all of our friends fight for their lives? I should be out there with them!” You huff. You’re ready to fight, fully dressed and heavily armed, and you couldn’t give a damn what he thinks.

“Absolutely not,” Dain says. “I won’t let you risk it.”

You bristle. “That isn’t your call, and you know it!”

“What are you two bickering about at this hour?” Garrick asks, one eyebrow raised.

You cross your arms over your chest, looking at your brother like a child tattling to their schoolteacher. “Please explain to the wingleader that we’re at war, and that he can’t just bench me whenever he feels like it. I’m a grown woman, and I can decide what is and isn’t safe for myself.”

“But it isn’t just you we’re talking about here,” Dain says quietly, genuine hurt in his voice.

You’re silent. Dain has a point — you don’t want to admit it, but he has a point. 

Garrick doesn’t follow. “What is he going on about?”

Dain looks at you, standing his ground. “If you won’t tell him, I will.”

Your heart drops. Is he really going to force your hand here?

You have to tell Garrick eventually — you can’t keep this a secret much longer. You decide to rip the bandage off, turning to face your foster brother, though you can’t seem to raise your voice above a whisper as you speak. “Please don’t freak out, but…”

His eyes drop to the hand you have placed over your stomach, a nervous habit you’ve developed in the last week, and he puts it together before you can say the words aloud, lunging toward Dain — he’s going to kill him.

You jump between them, wrapping your arms around Garrick tightly and planting your feet to the floor, pushing him back.

He relaxes at your touch, unfolding the fist that was aimed for Dain’s jaw and resting his hand flat on your back; he could never hurt you, especially not now.

“Please don’t be mad at him,” you say into his shoulder, your eyes still squeezed shut. “This is as much my fault as it is his. We’re both adults, we knew that this could happen, but we acted anyway, and now we’re facing the consequences, together.”

Dain nods in agreement behind you. “I have every intention of marrying your sister and spending the rest of my life with her after this is over.”

You turn back to look at him, stunned. 

He's never told you that before. You’d never discussed life beyond graduation — had lost too many of your friends over the years to make any promises about the future, and there was never any guarantee that you’d be stationed together after graduating, either.

“If she’ll have me, that is,” he adds, nervous.

You nod, letting go of Garrick and moving to hug Dain, hiding your face in his neck.

“Are you… crying?” Garrick asks.

“Of course I’m crying,” you sniff. “It’s the hormones.”

Dain laughs, wrapping his arms around you and pressing a kiss to your temple. “I love you, and I’m sorry for overreacting. If you want to fight with us, I won’t stop you.”

“Love you too,” you say quietly.

“Holy shit,” Bodhi breathes from across the room. “I’m gonna be an uncle?”

Oh, gods.

“Congratulations,” he grins at you before running off. “Hey guys! Guess what?”

Three seconds pass, and then there’s a loud “What the fuck?” from down the hall — that can only be Imogen. 

You laugh through your tears as the ruckus continues, the rest of the marked ones reacting to the news one by one.

“At least we won’t have to tell everyone ourselves,” Dain jokes, still holding you. “Bodhi will have informed the entire army by noon.”

Garrick shakes his head, laughing too, but he sobers up quickly enough. “The circumstances may be shitty, but this kid is going to have two dozen aunts and uncles who will protect them with their life.”

“And a riot of dragons,” Cosa adds. “We will care for your young like one of ours.”

Dain is right -- you’ll figure this out together; all of you.

-------------------------------------------------------

“A perfect baby girl,” the older of the two healers tells you, smiling warmly.

You sigh in relief, resting back against the pillows and loosening your grip on Dain’s hand. 

He presses a kiss to your sweaty forehead, murmuring soft praises; how strong you are, how amazing you were…

“Hi, pretty girl,” the healer coos down at her. “Let’s meet mom and dad, hm?” 

It finally sets in for both of you, that you two are mom and dad now — you’re parents.

She slowly transfers the babe into your arms. You’ve never held anything this carefully in your life; afraid to move or breathe, utterly silent.

A tiny hand wiggles free from the blanket, fingers grasping at the air.

“She’s so little,” Dain whispers in awe, extending a finger. She’s quick to wrap her hand around it, latching on to him.

He looks like he’s going to cry.

“She’s not marked,” you breathe.

You’re the first of the marked ones to have a child of your own, and while you knew it was probably irrational, your biggest worry over the last six months — aside from the venin and wyvern or anything terrible happening to you or your friends — was that you would somehow pass down your relic to her, that she would live her whole life with others instantly assuming the worst of her.

“She’s free to be whatever she wants to be,” Dain says, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “She won’t be forced into conscription like we were.”

You still haven’t decided on a name -- until now.

“Saoirse Álainn,” you say softly. “It means beautiful freedom, in the old language.”

“Saoirse Álainn,” he repeats, still gazing down at her. “I like that.”

She’s beautiful indeed — the best of both of you; the gentle warmth of her father’s skin and a dusting of his dark brown hair, your eyes and nose.

“Thank you,” he says quietly, “for showing me that what I’d been taught was wrong, and giving me the greatest gift I could ever ask for.”

You can’t help but melt into him, the exhaustion finally starting to overtake you. It’s been a long night — you’d woken up around two in the morning and realized what was happening, quickly rousing Dain, who carried you down here. It’s almost noon now, soft June sun filtering through the drapes.

“I got her. You should sleep.”

He takes Saorise from you gently, careful to support her head like the healers had taught you as he cradles her in his arms. 

The tiny girl makes a soft sound of complaint at the movement, but quickly relaxes, content to fall asleep against his chest. 

“Get some rest, my girls,” he whispers. “I’ll be here when you wake.”

[muzzlemouths]

The latest chapter was soooo tense! Gosh i loved it. The situation is so tricky too- And Moon showed up! Even though Sun was still more conversational. And that cassette has me asking questions

Sun is definitely the more talkative of the two in any given situation lmao.

Moon in this au is mostly nonverbal, save for when you piss him off (as reader very quickly does). This is mostly due to what they went through ten years ago. Sun "coped" by going off the deep end, and Moon coped by shutting down entirely.

They're both an emotional mess, obviously, but Sun makes his delusions other people's problem whereas Moon withdraws himself from situations as much as possible, only ever getting involved when he has to. For the first couple of years after The Incident it was a struggle just to convince him to talk to Sun, and he only did because each other was (and is) all they had.

[cowboylikeyouu]

why does everybody hate mcu clint so much??? i’ve read his comics but i still love jeremy renner’s portrayal of him and stuff :(

like i can understand being disappointed in some ways about how the character was changed for the movies, but i can’t understood all the hate for him

for me, personally, it's not that mcu clint is a bad character per se, it's really just the fact that he doesn't feel like clint barton. give him any other name and he's a fine character, but compare him to comic clint and they're in NO WAY the same person.

on one hand you have that responsible, serious husband and well adjusted father of three, who cracks a joke here and there but takes everything pretty serious most of the time, who has his life under control, while everyone else on the team is a mess. he doesn't have that much of a personality, no weird habits or (dis)likes, he really fades in comparison to other team members like tony, who's lines are always on point and who gets a back story and everything.

on the other hand there's this 6'3" disaster of a human being, who lives for coffee, dogs, tv shows and nothing else, is obsessed with purple for no reason at all, grew up in a circus after he escaped his abusive dad, can't take anything seriously and cracks the funniest joke all the fucking time, even makes fun of captain america on a regular basis (at least in the early avengers comics), runs away from himself and responsibility, fucks up nearly all of his relationships because he really sucks at emotions, but then forms those really precious bonds with people like kate, and who's just kind of an asshole really, but simultaneously a fucking ray of sunshine. plus he's deaf and we always love some representation. oh, and mcu clint is like the straightest guy ever, and then there's comic clint who is just so easy to headcanon as this bisexual disaster, and we all know how much fandom loves a queer coded character.

so, the mcu basically took away every fun part of the awesome character that is clint barton and it SUCKS. i really don't hate movie clint as his own character, i just hate hate HATE the fact that he's supposed to be THE clint barton because he IS NOT, and he'll never be. i'm sorry, but jeremy renner just can't pull it off, i'll never understand how they saw bigger-than-steve, blond-mess, purple-loving, coffee-addict comic clint and where like: "oh yeah, let's cast 5' 9" jeremy renner and give his character a huge, healthy family, and no mental health problems, that's just perfect😍"

it's just so sad to be aware of the awesomeness of comic clint and then watch the movies because you're constantly thinking "oh what could've been..." if they did comic accurate movie clint, he'd definitely be a fan-favourite and we'd have tons of edits, and ships, and merchandise, but NO, most mcu fans just forget about him or don't find him special or entertaining (bc his mcu version really really isn't) and he gets left out of all the casual merchandise you can find in random shops (i literally have an album on my phone that's dedicated to photos i took of cheap avengers merchandise with the "o6" avengers sans clint lmao)

you're obviously allowed to love movie clint and jeremy's portrayal, that's great!!! i was an mcu fan way before i even knew just how different comic clint was, and i loved mcu clint so much back then! but after reading the comics and thousands of fanfiction, i'm just really really angry that there isn't a good live action on screen representation of my all time favourite fictional character, and i think many people feel the same :(

okay, i think i'm done lmao.

anyways, shout out to avengers assemble clint, my one true love <3 the mcu should take notes.

[iamnotadumbdonut]

some observations about the changes in Percy's personality in the chalice of the gods because im a fucking dumb fuck

if you've read chalice of the gods, (and if you haven't then just go and read it PLZ), it's pretty obvious that Percy's personality has become more "bby girl" sassy than his original "angsty skater boi" sassy. now i know I'm probably making excuses for rick's writing still, which changed considerably after writing 5 whole books from apollo's perspective, who is the canon bby girl btw, but some of his sass has transferred into Percy's personality. this could also be because of the natural change in Percy tho. for starters, he's growing up now. leaving the angsty angry teen years behind. obviously, his emotions are more in control. in chalice of the gods, it is indirectly stated he keeps his cool more than he did before. in the tower of Nero, he seems more amiable than he ever was, which just proves my boi has become a well rounded individual on the way to adulthood who has learnt to not be angry and childish. good for him.

another reason he's a lot happier than before, and i could be wrong, but i most definitely am not, is that Percy was pretty angry and snarky before he went into Tartarus, right up till MoA. and boom, in house of hades, he falls into Tartarus, gets hella traumatized, broken af and just fucking destroyed, and then he enters the mortal world again, all sappy and shit. most people think that he's all happy and so he's dumbed down in the blood of olympus in order to raise all the others to the pedestal, but isn't that how anyone will react after going to hell and back??? sure he was dark and all scary at first, but when that boy healed (almost completely, after all PTSD never really leaves you ) he was just so full of joy. because that's the rational way to go about it. compared to all the shit in Tartarus, any problem in the world was next to fucking NOTHING. no problem was too big because he has been to literal hell, and hence all his anger has died down and is just a little spark now, and so just pointing it out old Percy= snark/ impertinence (close enough eh) Percy in Tartarus= fucking broken lmao new Percy= lost most of his anger, a lot happier, nothing else. and hence a new equation is formed snark-anger=sass so now all that's left is sass it's also given in the dictionary that while sass is just playfully feisty, snark is supposed to rude. that's all. Percy hasn't been dumbed down. he's just happier and more carefree (again pointing out, not the same as careless, which Percy was before) wait wait wait yes

old Percy= careless new Percy=carefree careless + more responsible + more considerate - anxious =carefree

boom bitches im the psychological mathematician. ciao muahahhhhaahahaha

[faerise-fae]

Not really a marauders character but: Tom Riddle #20!

YAPPING WARNING ABOUT ASPD TOM RIDDLE AGAIN

Ok so sorry for taking so long to do this, but my brain crashes every time i try to think about something that isn't obvious or just fucking boring. BUT I REALLY WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT WITH YALL SO GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS

The hill I'll die on is that he is an ASPD baddie, tho I bet he would prefer thinking about himself as sociopath, as edgy teens do. It doesn't mean I think he is totally emotionless, i think he is very emotional. Just not empathetic? This man is purely driven by his emotions from the start. Be it fear of death, resentment, and hatred towards Dumbledore or just general anger directed at the stupidity of the wizarding nation. In ASPD it's just that the intensity of expression of those emotions is different. He can look totally put together and like an oasis of peace, but inside planning whatever insanities only he can think of.

Because the thing is, anger issues are not rare in ASPD. ASPD is associated with impulsiveness and violent or risky behaviours, which can result in lashing out in anger. It's just that when you don't have many emotions to begin with, controlling the stronger ones can be difficult.

People have very different headcanons about him in that matter, i see a lot of totally stoic, calculating tom riddle who doesn't have absolutely any emotions and stuff like this, but I really can't see it. My man is a dramatic, cruel, entitled and IMPULSIVE edgelord BUT:

HOT TAKE #1:

Canon Tom Riddle headcanonned himself as fanon Tom Riddle.

He might have thought of himself as emotionless, but he just didn't acknowledge it. Growing up in an unstable environment, he hadn't learned how to stabilize himself.

Because ASPD is partialy caused by genetics, yes. But a very big factor in developing it is childhood and home life. We can agree his was very unstable, he has probably witnessed violence and definitely experienced emotional neglect. ASPD is all about lack of security. Its defence mechanism. That means:

My man just doesn't know how to cope, LMAO. When it was too much even for him to stuff into the back of his brain, he just lashed out. Acting on impulses was his relief from it. Adrenaline from it also helped to mute his feelings.

But at the same time, he just didn't think of himself as unreasonable. "It was never his fault, he was just provoked!" He also didn't feel guilty about causing harm to others because he didn't have any empathetic feelings towards anyone. How can you feel bad about idk, cursing someone if you don't see them as an individual with feelings of their own. Because how could he think about their feelings when he didn't have much of his own to compare and to even comprehend what they feel beside some very shallow understanding. AND BY THAT I DONT MEAN HE DIDNT KNOW HE WAS HURTING PEOPLE AROUND HIM HE WASNT A POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW. HE KNEW, HE JUST DIDNT GET IT SO HE DIDNT CARE. But he obviously knew. So no empathy but more like an educated guess. Masking king. He learnt how emotions worked for other people and used it whenever he saw fit. Pure manipulation.

Because again neglectful caregiving = problems with attachment to people and forming relationships. In the end it's all about him in that aspect. His feelings are always about himself and making himself feel comfortable and stable. He was fond of his friends till they were useful and till he felt good with having them around. He took pride* in gaining their respect and loyalty. He was using them to stroke his ego basically. And was using them in general. For stuff and things.

*HOT TAKE #2:

And here i have my latest hot take: his similarity with Harry in that matter. Harry is a gryffindor with some slytherin traits. And imo Tom, with him being the most slytherin to ever slytherin, his crazy pride and impulsivity is so gryffindor.

So there's that beside how we can all agree he was a liar and manipulator.

[goodtoembrace]

Reacting to The Vampire Lestat - Part II (with a bit of spoilers)

I found out my problem with the narration and description isn't with Anne, but Lestat. That dude sometimes focuses on the most useless stuff instead of telling what is happening or what he's feeling. I'm like, Lestat de Lioncourt, get your priorities (not) straight? But it's not much of a problem anymore now, because it gives me a better idea of who he is and how he thinks, so I appreciate that. I enjoy the immersion, even with someone as chaotic and as distracted as he is.

Turns out when Lestat FINALLY gives me a good picture of things, it's with the WORST event possible.

Remember what Louis said about the little drink? That's the whole experience from the moment Magnus kidnaps Lestat, turns him, kills himself before his eyes and leaves him completely alone. Multiply your worst case scenario by a trillion.

Not that I would want Magnus to stay, God forbid, but the next moment is still pretty bad. You might believe it gets better after his death, but it's not immediately.

Lestat goes from being too frozen to move, to fighting with every fiber of his being and then trying to take it as a positive thing? Which, well, it's a realistic reaction to it, but also heartbreaking.

It's not exactly "rape", but it has pretty much everything a rape can have without penetration? So it basically felt like the same thing to me.

It's quite a long chapter, it's considerably graphic (at least for me), took me over 2 hours to finish it (maybe it was even closer to 3 hours, I don't remember anymore, but I struggled a lot), I kept taking pauses, whenever I thought it was over it kept going and kept getting worse.

It is well-written in the way that makes sense, that moves the story, that narrates and describes what's happening with details, that you can really picture it in your head, that is extremely intense and emotional... But it's obviously not an exciting part.

I feel bad for the way Lestat immediately shifts afterwards and tries to make the most of it. Not that I wanted him to be miserable and feeling sorry for himself, but I'm like, something terrible happened to you and it's okay to take time to deal with it. I'm not even sure he understands how traumatic that was? If he does, he doesn't acknowledge it, let alone admit it. Not even to himself. And it's just frustrating.

Even after I read it, it stuck with me and took me more than a day to get over. I kept remembering it even when I was doing totally different stuff.

It's cool to navigate through things with him as Lestat finds more about how his body and powers operate.

When he went to the village and began to experiment with his powers was fun. Him jumping, cutting trees and whatever the other silly things he was doing and I can't fully remember... It was like an ADHD child high on sugar and sort of cute.

Is that presence... Armand?

You can take the man out of the church, but you can't take the church out of the man (or the vampire), apparently.

This probably isn't necessary, but I want that scene that he sees the house with the family and reads their thoughts? The idea of seeing the thoughts of babies is so sweet... It's not even for him, it's more of a me thing, I guess. I would just like to see it. I don't know. Maybe I'm being too sensitive and PMSing lol. Don't @ me.

Lestat has kissed so many people at this point and he hardly gives details, so I'm like, what are you kissing? A cheek? A hand? A mouth? Is it a friendly peck on the lips? Is it tongue-kissing? Elaborate? I mean, I don't care because the way he does it feels as trivial as a fart lmao. The only one he really has a deeper relationship with so far is Nicki, so I only kind of care about Lestat with him. It's not really a problem, but I just find the whole thing vague and ridiculous lol.

It's not even Lestat that has BPD, but BPD has Lestat at this point. The man is intense, has crazy mood swings, has extreme reactions to things, engages in dangerous behavior, is highly irresponsible with money, has a chronic fear of being alone... I know one when I see it. And vampirism didn't fix it, it only made it worse.

A bit off topic, but there's something about France that is so enchanting? I've always been obsessed with it in some ways, some places, the architecture, the language, the art... It's not like I'm a big nerd or anything, I can't barely name stuff to save my life, but just looking, hearing and thinking about it... There's just some charm to it. I've realized that the simple fact of stories being set in France makes me excited for some reason. I would love if they filmed there and in some of my favorite spots (cough Sainte-Chapelle and Carcassonne cough), for the mere reason it would look gorgeous and they should because I said so. Maybe in a past life I lived there or something, but I've always had that fascination, God knows why.

"Why the hell did Anne write and word it like that?" moment #1, I guess. At least it was fast and I can erase it from my memory.

The book has gotten quite faster and more eventful now, it's definitely better than when I first started it. I hate when it takes too long for things to happen, so this pace is good. And crucial moments happen pretty early on, which I appreciate. It's nice to know I've read some of the most important events by now, even as disturbing as they are. One of the downsides of being in this fandom is not having the full information, so already knowing part of the big events is satisfying.

P.S. Nothing is permanent, opinions might change and this is based on Lestat's narration, which can be unreliable. I'm reading the books so I can find out more about the characters, what potential events might happen in the show, what I can expect etc. This is my favorite show in the universe, so I want to be as informed as possible. I have no idea if I'll become a legit fan of the books or not, but so far I'm enjoying it. I'm posting these comments only for fun.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

https://youtu.be/0nugWOaC8lU?si=L9gDvlcLg_F121gx

I came across a post with music that you associate with something or someone, and I also had some associations when listening to some of it. Or to be more precise, when I listen to this, I imagine how complicated the relationship between Color and Killer/Delta is.

Do you think that their relationship is like that, or are there other views on this? (and I will add that I like both ships, and sometimes I even consider the possibility that this could even be a triple)

Oh thats a kinda cute song, even if a little repetitive at points. Does anyone happen to have any more song recommendations? 👀

And yeah I do think the dynamics between Color, Killer, and Delta could potentially be rather complicated; regardless of romance or not. In fact it works just as well with friendship.

Color’s Delta’s first and closest friend, and Color’s Killer’s first real, genuine friend.

I’d imagine that a lot of the issues is mostly because of Killer. As said before, its not like he has much grasp on healthy or equal relationships of any kind; and with every other “friendship” he’s had most recently—Chara, possibly Nightmare—they were always possessive over him.

Wouldn’t be surprised at all if Killer is a little possessive and territorial over Color, too. Whereas Stage 1 may experience things like emotional jealousy, insecurity, feeling undeserving of it—fears of being abandoned.

Stage 2 would possibly view it more as losing a very valuable resource, someone he not only views as very important to his stability and happiness and happy ending, but someone he’s actually grown to want around.

As said I mentioned before, Color is one of his “red lines.” Someone who knows a lot about him, someone he’s trusted with a lot about himself, eventually. And even if he’s growing to trust Color, that doesn’t mean he trusts Delta.

He notices how close Delta and Color are, and he thinks of all the ways that can be used to hurt Color, which in turn, hurts him. If Stage 2 is ever jealous or afraid of being left behind, or that Color likes Delta more or would choose Delta, I doubt he’d ever willingly acknowledge that. Let alone say it.

Killer wants control. He sees so many things he can’t control about Delta and his relationship with Color, they’re so obviously close, and he doesn’t like it. It doesn’t feel safe.

If Color is the hope that brought light into his world, then I’m sure the concept of sharing that with someone he doesn’t know—someone who has made it obvious that he doesn’t like Killer and would prefer if Color wasn’t around him—feels less like sharing, and more like Delta is trying to take from him. Like Delta is tryna hurt him specifically, or control him, or punish him—by taking or stealing who makes him happy.

Killer doesn’t often think he deserves to be happy, and for awhile im sure he thought it wasnt possible. But now that he knows it is possible, he still doesn’t think he deserves it, and he doesn’t think anyone else besides Color would probably think he does. He doesn’t really offer people much trust, does he.

Delta already doesn’t like him, and he’s close with Color. But he doesn’t need Delta to like him, he just needs Color to like him (to like him so much he stays), and he needs Delta to know how much Color likes him.

But you know, instead of voicing all these concerns and needs like a well adjusted person, he will instead gaslight, torment, fuck with, and manipulate. (Someone once said Killer is like a cat because he plays with his prey. Which is basically what he’s doing here lmao.)

He will create little scenarios that make Delta feel unsure and frustrated, he will do and say things to subtly make Delta feel left out and insecure—and he will do it all so casually that Delta starts wondering if he’s actually the one causing the problem here.

He likes having control over this. He likes that he can do or say something to have Color’s attention and focus on him, he likes that Color is so kind, sweet, attentive, despite still knowing not to trust him completely when he’s like this.

He likes that Color is smart like that. He likes laying down these little games and tests of loyalty and seeing how much Color cares about him. He probably likes pushing boundaries and buttons just see not only how much Color will tolerate from him, but exactly how much he cares despite it all.

But Color also cares for his friends, and he also understands Killer, and so he will eventually realize what’s happening—and he will realize that there’s more reasons going on for this behavior than only territorial and control reasons. And he will seek to try and talk to Killer about it—and lay down some firm boundaries with Killer.

Ultimately I think things will ease up a little when Color gets Killer to understand what’s going on, what he needs from Color, and gather the courage to learn how to ask for it.

It’s not like Color’s going to have any issues with showering Killer with any validation, reassurance, praise or comforts he needs but feels either too weak and vulnerable (Stage 2) or ashamed and guilty (Stage 1) to ask for—let alone the hard work of teaching killer that he can ask for something and expect to have it given to him happily with no other strings attached for no other reasons than Color loves and cares about him. Because its not something to be ashamed of needing, and it doesn’t make one weak to need.

[bcolfanfic]

hi hi! I would love to hear all the angst that happens during the time period where Bucky is drinking again and the build up to the intervention. Did Bucky struggle with drinking before this? How does he act when he’s drunk? How does buck react if Bucky tries to initiate anything intimate when he is drunk(if he ever does) does Bucky ever resort to other substances to cope? Does Gale feel ‘angry’ with Bucky for drinking to cope instead of coming to him for help, if so how does he deal with those em? Does he lash out or go self deprecating? Thank was a lot sorry! But I would love to hear your thoughts on literally any of these things or whatever you have thought about this time period so no pressure at all ofc!! I just absolutely love this au it’s so special to me 🫶🏻

lmao re: other substances i have a 'in my head wip' thing about *gale* having a bit of a pill problem. and rachel and i gave kenny that issue too once. poor boys </3 but re: bucky in my head he just sticks to alcohol. i think he has some issues with paranoia re: his ptsd and that something like taking pills or other drugs is just too shrouded in what ifs that drinking alcohol from the store isn't y'know?

timeline wise i think he was always *susceptible* to having a drinking problem but knew that to the extent that he kinda harm reductioned himself? drank quite often, got *drunk*, but esp being with gale was pretty good about having limits and sticking to them. which becomes shakier post-suicide attempt when he's picking up the pieces from a months long mental breakdown. starts to feel like it's all less scary to deal with if he's more "loosened up"- which is what starts the more for-emotional-comfort drinking ie: keeping a flask on him or around him almost 24/7.

my experience with alcoholism comes from someone i know really well- and the thing with them was that outside of like nighttime party drinking they could be drinking heavily during the day and about 75% of the time you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't know them. when it's a habit like that you learn how to Function to hide the problem which i think bucky is pretty good at at least to begin with. plus he's always been more of a loose canon personality sober too, so to put it bluntly just ~being a little weird~ isn't necessarily a red flag.

but gale *does* know him, better than anyone so he does pick up on it eventually. which is hard at first because he *wants* to be wrong so so badly that he tries to brute force convince him he is. and then he finds a flask that john had hidden somewhere and the lying to himself about this being a capital p Problem gets a whole lot harder </3 doesn't even know how to bring it up because even though this is obviously /bad/ john is doing miles better than he was before his attempt. less nighttime episodes, less depression fatigue, seems a lot happier generally speaking. which gives gale so many conflicting feelings because it's different than the alcohol issues his dad had but. still issues. but not as bad so maybe its fine right? right?

i had a 'in my head wip' thing a while ago about john going out with some local buddies and getting a little 'lost along the way' getting back. ends up calling gale slurring his words begging to be picked up, which gale of course does but. poor john is a mess. needs quite a bit of help to get in the house, gets sick and now he *is* starting to remind gale of his dad which makes him itch so bad.

is so apologetic too when gale is helping him clean up and get into different clothes so he can sleep- and i think that's the only situation he'd really try to initiate something when drunk under. just feels so vulnerable and guilty and wants gale to kiss it better </3 kills gale to see him upset too when he has to reject him but just kinda. squeezes the back of his neck tells him not now and keeps chugging on getting him into bed so he can sleep.

coping wise i think gale goes right into self-deprecating mode. gets a bit angry during the whole debacle when they're in new york and john gets into that fight with croz and brady, because all their friends now know what's going on and he's embarrassed. but otherwise is real internal about it all. feels like he failed at Fixing him like he was supposed to and that they're never going to be truly settled/there's always going to be Something. which is also hard itself because he's so used to their life just being. like that. that he gets somewhat resigned too. even when curt is trying to push him on the intervention thing after the new york incident he has to pull teeth a little to get him on board because gale is just well. well it might not work /: it's fine i can handle him, i always have /:

couples therapy. couples therapy for everyone lmao but in all seriousness i do think this pushes them there once john is actually one foot in front of the other on the sobriety road. something they probably should've done after john's attempt to begin with it but they were a little in lalaland re: if john is okay gale will be okay and then we're both okay (: thinking.

[trashrattt]

Some Code Lyoko headcanons I have had over the past couple of months:

Out of all the things Odd has pursued in art-wise, he loves painting and film-making the most, as it doesn't matter how messy or terrible it could be, he just loves trying his best (and would argue that whatever it is, IS art, and lists off the reasons why it's so great in a heartbeat)

When Aelita first came to earth, she ate too much ice cream at once, and thought she was dying when getting a brain freeze (she LOVES caramel with her ice cream, she cant do without it)

William is a HUGE theater kid, he could recite his favorite play quote for quote in a heartbeat (I can't say what his favorite could be because I've only seen Heather's, and I'd probably make some people mad lmao)

After months of Aelita lecturing him about 'getting some fresh air once in awhile,' Jeremie unintentionally picked up a habit of sitting at a particular bench while in intense thought (when they defeated Xana, he would often sit there and think of miniscule school related problems, and thinks of Aelita whenever he passes by that bench)

Out of all of Xanas monsters, Odds favorite are the Hornets because "Sure, they're pests, but they helped improve my aim, and now I always know where to shoot, theyre practically nothing now" (he HATES megatanks to death, he often asks someone else to deal with one if they pop up)

Yumi is a huge fan of classic literature, and often asks William if there's any books she would like, as he too loves it (they would often talk about different plot points they liked or despised in a certain book they read)

Ulrich loves to indulge in his Pencak Silat training, as often that's how he can express himself (it's the only thing he truly likes to do, and his father doesn't bug him about it)

(This takes place during Evo) after William got integrated into the group again, he and Aelita often get together to do their nails, while eating pizza secretly after hours (the two think they're so bad) Aelita often tries eyeliner as well, and William always compliments her no matter how good or terrible it is

Yumi definitely went to Kyoto when she was a little older, as she was already talking about it in the series

William had braces up until he was 13, he would often complain how "braces didn't look cool on him" and "my teeth are already straight" until his parents finally obliged, getting them removed a couple days prior to being expelled (he hated smiling for photos during that time, as he had this punk look to him, while having very obvious braces on) (he wears retainers to bed when he was at Kadic)

Odd and Aelita had this ongoing bet, where one set a bet that either Yumi or Ulrich confessed first, the prices raising every week (when they did, the number was up to the thousands, and neither one could pay each other, even if they wanted to, but that doeant mean they dont joke about it)

(This one's more of an observation from Evo) William LOVES going to Lyoko, giving him the thrill he wanted in life, but he has repressed rage back when he was Xanafied for months, often taking it out on Xanas creatures as if to make a point that he HATES Xana for what he did to him (often being rather brutal in the way he fights)

Jeremie will always keep the photos he took with Aelita the first day she came to earth, and often treat it as a precious item of his (and would complain for anyone slightly damages it)

Ulrich and Yumi often bonded over the fact that before meeting Odd and the others, that they were two lonely kids in their own families, both liking the fact that they related strongly to one another due to their strict family lives (this was when Hiroki wasn't there at the time)

Jeremie is obviously very bad at expressing his emotions, but he holds his freinds dear to him, but doesn't know how to show that, so instead back then he'd buy small cheap gifts for everyone as he saw on the internet "gift-giving is a good way to express your gratitide to people that are dear to you" (evreyone eventually convinced him to stop as he was spending too much)

Back when, Williams mom often was overly affectionate, and Will was always "Mooomm stoooooppp-" but after being Xanafied for months (Which must really be disorienting having the month be May, and then the next being fucking December or some shit) he doesn't mind his parents being affectionate, as he realized just how important they are to him

After William being dished on the lore that happened (because I'm sure nobody told him much) he and Aelita had a invisible bond with each other as they were both Xanafied (alot,) they often comfort each other if one had a nightmare or whatnot, very wholesome

And so on, I should stop because I have too much on my mind (I can make a part 2, Def)

Ulrich hates to admit it, but he and Will are very simular, as the two have a 'older brother' vibe to them in the group, and they often argue with each other often, arguing who "has to" protect each other (William often using the excuse that "he's the older one")

[pestorik]

can you please expand on deuce/riddle ??? im rlly curious abt them tgt in your AU,,,,

(if you have the time i would also love to read abt azurid & mallerid :D ! no pressure though! im mostly interested in deurid ^^)

the riddle ship trifecta...

i enjoy them bc i think riddle really needs a calm presence in his life that makes him feel like he can act in ways he never had the freedom to do before, without feeling judged or made fun of. whether that is acting childish and silly or just expressing emotion freely. he's obviously really sensitive to being teased so he needs someone who is ok with that and just finds joy in his joy.

i relate to this a lot bc i myself am a very sensitive person, and get emotional really easy but im also very cynical and dry, so i think ppl see that contrast and find it funny. which is fine, but i get hurt or annoyed really easily by teasing bc i think what i really want is for someone to see how easily i get emotional (like crying at almost every movie i watch) and rather than seeing it as smth weird and funny, they recognize my empathy as something good. i want someone to see the value and worth in my emotions, no matter how trivial they seem.

and i think riddle needs that too. deuce isnt super smart but i think he's really earnest and riddle would appreciate that about him. he shows a lot of self awareness in recognizing how his past actions hurt his mom, and realizing he needs to be proactive if he wants to be a better person. very few ppl are willing to admit when they are the problem. he's just a very soft guy, but like, passionately soft. he wants so bad to be good. and i think he would want so badly for riddle to be happy, it would become really important to him just like his mom's happiness.

malleus is super honest about his intentions, which i think riddle needs bc his lack of social skills leave him anxious. he probably would get too frustrated having to play games and guess feelings. malleus just has a super calming presence and riddle needs that so bad. i think they are both pretty awkward bc of their upbringing so maybe they could find comfort in each other, knowing there's no judgement.

azul is none of these things lol 😂 i do NOT think these 2 would be a perfect healthy couple but i enjoy their dynamic. riddle is sensitive ofc but hes also super smart which is why i like the thought of them together. the two top students, not really in a competitive way, more like they recognize each other's weaknesses but also highly respect each other. to the point that they wouldnt ever make a move against the other. i could see them having a more loving relationship but in my mind they are more like a power couple lmao. like two powerhouses joining forces. i do think seeing riddle trying to overcome his own trauma and be a nicer person could inspire azul to do smth similar, realizing that if he likes and respects riddle, there must be some value in kindness without reward.

none of these would be canon in the AT au unfortunately, at least not in my mind (you can do whatever you like with it tho, it also doesnt mean i wont still talk/draw about it). there would definitely still be interactions among them with plenty of room for interpretation. obviously the most between deuce and riddle bc they are both HL.

i could see an episode where riddle recruits deuce to help him repair one of the elephant guardians (since deuce is good at repairing stuff) and they become closer. bc deuce used to get up to a lot of trouble he also has a lot knowledge of some of the rougher parts of the kingdom (im referring to deuces former crew as the spoiled fruit gang) and probably accompanies riddle when he needs to go there. riddle might sometimes go to deuce for advice on his relationship w his mother, since deuce is close w his mom. it would be cute if deuces mom came to really adore riddle and gave him a lot of the experiences he didnt get w his own mother.

[lagomorphics]

Majora's Mask remaster for the Nintendo Switch OLED screen could you please make a relationship chart for your AU's 🥹👉👈

ABSOLUTELY. SMILES. i've only made charts for narigoatlamb / narilamb but at some point i'll probably do some big charts including the bishops and other side characters :)

PUTTING IT UNDER THE CUT THOUGH BECAUSE THIS GETS. VERY VERY LONG. because i looove overexplaining myself <3

starting with lucky card!! since i'm still working out everything for how i want these threes dynamics to evolve i only have one version of their relationship </3 but heres my longass ramble on each dynamic:

Ines and Jahel's relationship kinda takes front and center for most of the au, since they're in close proximity most of the time, and they care about eachother A LOT. pre-Ines' deal they were 'friends', and only got closer because of All This Mess. Ines likes the fact they can be themself around Jahel, and Jahel loves Ines for all their snark and charm <3

Ines and Nari spend a lot of time having a very hot n cold relationship. Narinder usually texts Ines and holds the deal over their head to get them to go somewhere or come to the casino for something, which pisses Ines OFF because they like DOING THINGS, NARINDER. Nari has a very hard time being emotional and is practically A Wall, and Ines is. well. the opposite. Ines does think Nari is extremely hot, and (while annoyed) does go along with the deal they have, but it's only really late into things do they actually start to genuinely Fall for Nari. Nari falls first, because Ines' presence starts becoming less of an annoyance and more of something she.. really enjoys. Sorry about the divorce in their future

AND FOR THE MOST STRANGE OF THE BUNCH. HOO BOY. Nari does NOT trust Jahel (for very funny reasons. haha. lmao. lol.) and thinks they're going to ruin everything she has been trying to accomplish. Jahel is doing everything they can to convince her like "hey. i know. i swear i'm not that." but its. a very very slow process. The two probably wouldn't ever be alone with oneanother until like halfway through the plot, where Nari DOES try to kill Jahel. lol. it's fine. I'd say after that they'd start trying to get along a little better. They don't fall in love until post Nari's 'defeat' though

i also included a little funny. Jahel has another connection that they feel very very conflicted about :) wow i wonder who that is. aha. whaat. runs away extremely fast.

SNAH au <33 three lil versions of their dynamic evolving (can you tell i REALLY rotate this au around)

to start off; when Narinder was TOWW, Lambert was VERY infatuated with him, to the point that they kinda convinced themself that despite how much he talks about sacrifice, they would be the exception. To TOWW though, he grew to care about them and admired how vengeful they were, but watched as that vengence slowly cooled and mellowed out, almost resenting it. He always planned to sacrifice them, because to him; what's a greater honour than that? he promised he'd make theirs meaningful, though. Obviously Lambert did not like this in the slightest.

Post-defeat and for the early days of their relationship, Nari just kinda hated them really bad. To him, Lambert took EVERYTHING from him, including his own death. my Nari is.... not the most stable at the start? he struggles a lot mentally, and (if the day ever came) he knew he wanted death to be his end, to not even have That pissed him off. Lambert, however, still has lingering feelings for him, because at the end of the day, Narinder was like a friend to them. he did listen to them, let them spend time with him, gave them advice etc etc... so it hurts a lot to know that a) he was gonna sacrifice them (they are very pissed off about that still) and b) he is actively making everything difficult. it does not help that Nari is able to read minds and can use magic, hes causing problems and its stressing them out </3

they do eventually get to a point of being friendly though!

AND THE LAST ONE. so in SNAH, Nari DOES die at a specific point (lol), and it is an extremely rough time for both of them because Narinder realises Oh actually. i dont want to die. and his time in the afterlife is horrible, and Lambert is freaking the hell out because Holy shit. Hes dead. Oh my god. They actually personally go and retrieve his soul because the last thing they wanted was to potentially fail the resurrection ritual, but after all that happens they both just... grow closer. Narinder realises that Lambert cares about him so much, always reaches out for him and is ready to catch him at any moment. He realises he does still care about them, and he also starts to appreciate mortal life and everything way more. what dying does to a mf.

Nari dying also made Lambert realise their infatuation HAD changed into being genuine love and care, and also it hurt really bad to see him like that. it also helped them connect better to the domain they now rule over, and just... they realise that they never want to see him hurting like that again. they really do love him and want him by their side, if he wants that too. (they get. way better at Being Normal about their own emotions)

AH!!! AGH!!! (BLOWS UP)

[novastarrart]

Banban/Devil Headcanons

Just wanna get my thoughts out there so here goes. It's a lot so, there's your warning lmao

*Note: For simplicity's sake I’ll refer to normal Banban as Uthman and the actual researcher/genome donor as Dr. Uthman*

Banban/Uthman:

All the mascots seem pretty tall so I hc him to be like 6'5"?

His tongue hangs out of his mouth constantly, it was done this way to make him more appealing/cute to kids.

That being said, When he's aware, he can keep his tongue in his mouth, usually to talk. But absentmindedly it just sorta lolls out.

He has a form of body dysphoria, being that he sees himself as a human, even when looking in a mirror.

This is why he hates being called Banban and not by his "true" name Uthman (or Adam if he knows you well enough).

However, he doesn't get too angry if you don't know about all that in the first place. Still, he'll correct you with some annoyance (Like he did with Bittergiggle in part V).

He has some memory problems, due to his own memories mingling with Dr. Uthman’s. Sometimes he’ll forget who another mascot is (Like when he referred to Nabnab as “That thing down there”. Or when Sir Dadadoo first appeared: “Hey is that a friend of yours?”)

The party hats hide his horns, this was partially his choice, and partially the researcher's. They were worried the horns would scare the children, so they decided to hide them with something “fun”. He doesn't mind them though, he wants to look as human as possible.

His voice is very apathetic and monotonous, he doesn't have much control over this, it's just natural at this point. Whether or not his donor, the real Dr. Uthman, spoke like this, I haven't decided on. He definitely has an accent of some sort, which he picked up from Dr. Uthman.

He's actually a lot more emotive than he is in the game! Although he does usually default to that goofy smile

He doesn't really blink! He can close his eyes, and has eyelids, but for some reason he just cannot blink. He does not realize this at all, and it unintentionally  scares others.

Thanks to his donor, he's very intelligent and can actually perform a lot of different surgeries and has a vast knowledge of medicine. He obviously uses this to his advantage to uhh open up victims.

He can consume human food and drinks, but it really doesn’t do anything for him nutritional wise, this is more than likely why he feels consistent pain near his abdomen

Hellish Banban/The Devil:

So comparing the models, bro is taller than regular Banban, so he's probably like 7ft tall

Definitely more muscular and stronger, has better endurance too

VERY FERAL. He relies on pure animalistic instinct in this form, although he is still capable of speech if he needs to speak.

Loses his "human" side and gives in to his more monstrous side. Any human memories are probably just gone at the time.

Speaking of which, If you call him Uthman, he'll probably just laugh and rip you apart. He does answer to Devil/Demon or just Hellish for simplicity's sake.

As said before, this feral side is triggered by adrenaline. Usually triggers when Uthman is about to die or is severely hurt (sorta like a Bruce Banner/Hulk sorta relationship).

His horns grow longer and sharper in this form, as well as his teeth. This is... probably pretty obvious why.

He seems to lose his pupils in this form? Uthman's eyes turn all white when he's turned or about to turn.

And that's an indicator you should start running!

Relies more so on his sense of smell, then his sight to find his prey. I like to think his tongue is like a snake which he uses to pick up scents/vibrations (another reason it hangs out).

He can DEFINITELY smell human's organs/blood/etc.

He can probably also pinpoint if something is medically wrong with their organs too (Diabetic, kidney failure, heart problems, etc.). This would be very useful, however he's not really thinking of helping you right now.

He's a lot tougher and can handle being banged/smashed around (Like that fight with Jumbo Josh). He’s VERY hard to kill.

He'll eat any organ honestly, Pancreases are just his favorite! (Maybe they're sweeter due to them producing insulin? Who knows!)

Still has some intelligence, but this is mostly overridden by adrenaline and instinct to eat and kill others. Overall, he doesn’t think correctly when in this form and will do things that are harmful to himself and others without much thought.

Aaaaand that's about it for now? Let me know what you think if you want!

[atopvisenyashill]

Aligon takes please I'm beg you

i hope this answer is what you’re looking for lol i think my preferred take on this one isn’t that much more sexual than what they have in canon, it’s more about reframing their in canon dynamic with the caveat that over the years, they have developed romantic & sexual feelings for each other. i have like, a few really specific aus in my head and i love to follow those down the rabbit hole, but when it comes to their canon dynamic, where they are still in love with each other (because they are, i’m right, just like with visaemonyra) and the dance still happens, my preferred dynamic takes like,,,,, a long time to simmer.

Obviously this is a weird mix of show canon and book canon. I always imagine Alicent just slightly younger than she is in the book (to keep her as a confidant and lady to Rhaenyra at court, more of a big sister role than what they have in the show, but also I like her being a young mom, and also I like when Jace is a bit closer in age to Aegon, Aemond, and Helaena). Just roll with it here lmao. Also also, I want to lay some ground rules for some terms I'm using here because I'm not sure people are familiar with like, clinical talk, nor do they recognize that this behavior is abusive.

So "emotional incest" is when an adult relies on their child to meet emotional needs that child is not prepared for. you've probably heard the term "parenification" which is a form of emotional incest wherein a child is expected to act like a parent to their own parent, and that is similar to what i'm talking about in that it's also emotional incest but what i mostly see in aegon and alicent's dynamic is "enmeshment" which is a little to the left of parentification - basically the idea that a parent doesn't have the correct physical or emotional boundaries in place with a child. children who experience enmeshment often respond by being people pleasing, incapable of setting boundaries, and unable to discern when someone else is setting a boundary. this is something you can clearly see with both of their behavior already in canon - she violates his personal space in at least half the scenes we have of them interacting, and aegon is clearly completely unaware of sexual and emotional boundaries. i’m sure there’s plenty we don’t see that’s just as weird, or weirder (which is were i come in lmao).

I think Alicent will go along with his bad behavior at times because she wants him to be more measured, more kingly, more assertive, so she wants him to boss her around a bit but also, she does not appreciate her son bossing her around nor is she willing to face with the fact that her power once he's king is all theoretical because it terrifies her. I think the crux of this dynamic is that Aegon wants to prove he can be a better king - a better husband - than Viserys was, and he’s conflating affection and sex and family in his mind bc his Model For Masculinity includes Viserys, Criston, and Otto and that’s just,,,,,a fucked up combo of anger, manipulation, and devotion. Meanwhile, Alicent withholds affection because it’s the only motivator that gets to him, and yet this affection is literally the most intimate she has ever been with anyone but his older sister.

examples-

I think it's very likely that she is regularly in his room having private conversations with him, and she chooses weird times of the day to catch him off balance (because she wants a real answer and not bullshit) (and also because he's like, asleep during the day).

Very likely to me that she dictates his wardrobe in the same way Otto dictated hers when she was younger but I think it goes farther in her being in the room when he’s being dressed/dressing him herself - he’s hungover, and she’s the queen and he’s the future king so The Queen Must Deal With The Problem On Her Own, because of course, she would never subject sweet, fragile Helaena to this sort of thing.

When I say "weird" I mean weird - she's asking him about his relationship with Helaena, she's telling him about her own issues with Viserys and Otto and Criston, maybe hinting that she doesn’t like Larys, she's dictating his every move and trying to keep him on a schedule and get him to take his studies seriously, she's comparing him to Helaena and Aemond (not favorably), she's likely leaning on him for validation when she's having issues with Viserys and Otto, possibly even asking him for advice on how to handle his siblings and then guilting him when he doesn't give an answer she likes.

On the flip side, I think it's likely he also sleeps in her bedroom a lot. Probably this started as a whiny, needy, "i had a nightmare" or "i just sleep better here" or "you're the one who wakes me up anyway why can't i just sleep here" that alicent just gives into because it's easier than arguing about it, and also, she's trying to encourage him to be pushy about things he wants and affection is clearly something he desires.

Obviously this is less of an issue as Viserys gets older but we don't really know when they stop having sex, and I like to believe that it happens often that he will call for Alicent to come to his room while Aegon is sleeping in there, and Aegon just waits around for her to come back and loses his mind over it. He remembers the exact day that Daeron was conceived, it is burned into his memory. yes, aegon has emotions about essentially being cucked by his own dad.

Once he marries Helaena, there's a fair amount of forcing him into the role of Alicent's spouse and Alicent acting as his wife. When there are events at King's Landing - tourneys, birthdays, celebrations, religious holidays, someone important is visiting for a meeting so they're having a big dinner, etc., - Alicent is often escorted by Aegon and not Viserys. This is partially Otto wanting everyone to see Aegon, partially Alicent worrying Helaena can't take the strain of the spotlight, and partially Alicent feeling she needs to keep an eye on Aegon to make sure he behaves.

When she's fighting with Otto or Viserys, she will go to Aegon to make herself feel better. A lot of times it starts off as taking her anger out on him but once she's calmed down, it morphs into spending the day with him, even discussing her problems with his father or her father with him. Similarly, I think it's likely that if he gets snapped at by Otto or ignored when he wants attention from his father, he'll go to her for comfort. The sheer amount of crying he does obviously disgusts her but I think she'd react very differently if he's crying because of something Otto said, and the difference in reaction (ie comfort instead of scorn) makes Aegon go to her more because she'll be physically affectionate with him even while she's explaining all the ways in which he's fucked up. Like a date, but more fucked up basically.

if we want to enter into dead dove territory here a bit...

the co-sleeping takes on a more sexual nature after Helaena has the twins. I think it freaks Aegon out that he's a young father the same as she was a young mother, and vice versa, and the fact that both of them are purposefully missing these big milestones when it comes to being a parent because they have a hard time connecting to their children means that when Aegon starts missing these things, Alicent wants to confront him over how lucky he is to have the freedom to decide how to raise his own child, and that makes Aegon feel very weird about his own relationship with her - because she is the only parent he has any sort of connection with yet she's saying she was denied a connection to him.

Anyways, I think he starts just straight up feeling her up after that. This is something I think she would justify very easily in her mind but also, it's something she can take control of - we get that moment at the coronation where he's hugging her tight, but she pulls his hand off yet keeps hold off his hand. I think it's likely he would claim he's just like, tired, wants to hug his mother, while his hand is right on her breast, and she would move it but she'd still keep him close - over her stomach, on her hip, in her hair, around her neck. This is the most affection she has gotten,,,,basically since she and Rhaenyra stopped speaking.

When she starts feeling weird about this, she makes him spend a few nights with Helaena. When he sees her be carelessly - and normally - affectionate with Aemond or Helaena, he spends a night with Helaena and makes sure Alicent knows he's spending the night with Helaena. I think it’s even likely he’d go to Helaena and then insist on sleeping in Alicent's bed, and Alicent is just like. Well he did what I told him to do, and he thrives off affection, so I reward him with affection. And forces herself to overlook how he smells like he just had sex, had sex with her own daughter, his own sister, and now he’s sleeping with his head buried in her shoulder and his hand right under her breast (because she moved it down from on her breast, but he kept his grip on her hand tight and she sees no reason to let go now).

He has definitely described in detail his sexual escapades when he's feeling especially cucked by his own father.

I think the first time they really cross any sort of line would be after Viserys dies. It’s the stress of grieving a man who didn’t give a fuck about either of them, of spending the whole day searching for Aegon only for him to have been in the Sept the whole time…when she wants comfort and affection she goes to Aegon, and yet she uses it as a carrot, and YET he reached for Her Faith and Her Safe Space when he ran. But he’s also feeling real prickly about the whole thing. I think it’s the first time she just rewards him with affection without a string attached and it leads to the carriage scene where he’s clearly searching a concrete answer and not another dodge.

After he’s king though, the dynamic flips. Suddenly he has the power. Suddenly he has the leverage over her. I think he’s going to flip wildly from wanting to protect to her to wanting to punish her the way she does him. Withhold affection that she’s craving for the first time, but show her he can protect her and love her the way Viserys couldn’t.

So he comes to her room the night of coronation, and keeps pushing and pushing because he’s king now, until he’s forcing her to let his hands go where they want, and kiss where he wants, until she can’t rationalize the line he’s crossing and like, almost comforting him & assuring him he IS better than Viserys because he’s insisting he won’t hurt her, she’ll enjoy it, and it’s going a lot farther than she wants it to, but she can’t say no to him - he’s the king, and he’s her son, and she’s also not saying no specifically because she likes what he is doing.

She's not moving out of the queen's apartments and into the dowager apartments. why would she, when she's still acting like a queen. But she's in the king's apartments more often with aegon than she ever was in the two decades married to Viserys. She's spending night after night in there "plotting" except Aegon is holding her from behind, and kissing her, and ignoring her when she says it's inappropriate, and it doesn't matter how many layers she's wearing, he's still there, but she's not seeing this as "he's sexually abusing me" she's seeing this as like....a little kid pulling on your dress to get your attention. Or well, she's rationalizing it that way and then praying a LOT later over the whole thing. He's the king. It's fine. She's the Queen. She's just doing what's always been asked of her. She's sparing Helaena. Is it so bad if she's enjoying it.

his jealousy is SO much worse. i genuinely think when he finds out about the dalton greyjoy plan he's going to lose his mind. alicent is never getting remarried. he won't let her meet alone with larys and he does get violent when larys mentions it. he cockblocks otto and criston constantly.

i think he tries really hard to be nicer to aemond after he's king. the fact that aemond was working for alicent and not otto + aemond almost letting him go makes aegon feel marginally better about aemond's existence. this gets more pronounced after rook's rest where he has to lean on aemond and aemond is not taking advantage of the position, which therefore means aegon gives him more responsibility. i am saying aegon puts aemond on cockblock duty re: otto and larys, yes.

i fully believe alicent calls him rhaenyra at least once in bed. aegon does not stop crying about it for a long time. there may or may not have been some weird "does it count as kink if it's not negotiated clearly unsane and unsane but consensual on a technicality" sex stuff that happens that whole week.

what is the weird sex stuff you ask.

well in typical george style i do in fact think there's a lot of tiddy stuff happening here re: breast milk and breast feeding. sorry that comes with mommy issues.

i think he lives with his face between her legs. it's incredibly important to him that she enjoys what's happening. alicent dreads it almost as much as she likes it tho because like, there are some lines man, and getting great head from your own son crosses it in her mind.

[please note i genuinely don't think he goes down on helaena. he doesn't care enough to expend the effort].

do you know what "dollification" is. well it's not alicent that's the doll though, it's aegon. he is her little king toy and she dresses him and bathes him and feeds him and plays with him exactly how she likes.

i go back and forth on impact play, i think HE likes being hit in a sexual sense but SHE does NOT but that doesn't mean he hasn't slapped her a few times or choked her once or twice. i don't think he purposefully does things in bed that make her upset but i DO think, especially after he's crowned, he likes the idea that he can make her cry and he's the king, she can't argue with him over it.

that does not mean she doesn't slap him right back,,,,but he likes when she does that so!

he has absolutely throated some sort of seven figurine or star or some shit in front of her. bit one of her necklaces while she's on top of him. she refuses to actually fuck in the sept altho he did attempt to finger her (she dragged him to a room though, she has to have Some dignity here).

i think they fuck face to face most of the time. he wants her to be very aware that it's him in her bed and not his father (or anyone else). i don't think alicent really knows enough to know that she could enjoy like, doggy style lol, and I think she'd find it debasing so it's not something she would suggest.

also, i say that he wants her to enjoy it but i think the line between "sex that hurts alicent" and "sex that alicent enjoys" can be a bit. thin. because she has a very negative view of sex, it's not something she enjoys, i don't think she would recognize when he's hurting her even, and aegon likes to be incredibly rough. i think early on, he probably assumes something very naive like "she doesn't need as much foreplay" but it's only because alicent just isn't saying that she needs more foreplay (she doesn't even fucking realize that's a thing you need). after a while, i think he would become more aware of when she's just waiting for it to feel good and when it actually feels good, and would use that when he's upset by just. skipping what feels good. he's not actively damaging her - like i don't think it would get to the point where she's bleeding or something - but he is careless once he knows her body a bit better, because he's careless with his own body.