#plus he obviously has a connection to the children

[jonsnowunemploymentera]

There are a lot of theories out there about the true identity of the last hero, but I think the one that makes the most thematic sense is that he was a member of the original Night’s Watch. See the last hero’s identity is shrouded in mystery but his deeds live on forever and he is attributed with having led to the defeat of the Others. The legends show that his actions are famous, but the man himself is forgotten.

This seems quite close to what being a member of the Night’s Watch entails. The Watch’s vows dictate that members, who are the sword in the darkness and the fire that burns against the cold thus directly marking them in opposition to winter and the Others, shall hold no lands, wear no crowns, and win no glory. They are known to the rest of the kingdoms as those who guard the realms of men, but their identities and individual triumphs are largely unimportant.

This is a shared parallel between the members of the Night’s Watch and the last hero. We don’t know anything about his name, house, or background. Even the title ‘the last hero’ is merely an identifier - note that it’s in lower case. So it would make sense that the last hero’s identity is to remain anonymous if that was the entire point of it all; he was a man of the Night’s Watch and thus, indirectly, swore a vow of anonymity. And better yet, we don’t even know who his twelve companions were. We know only that they rode out with him and died in the process. However we do know that in the north, there are two figures who are directly identified as having been responsible for the ending of the long night: the last hero (as per folk tales narrated by Old Nan) and the Night’s Watch (see the Night that Ended). It could be that the legend of the last hero and his twelve companions is a glimpse of the NW’s last stand.

I also think it’s interesting that we have various last hero parallels in the text who are members of the Night’s Watch. We first have Waymar Royce who seems very last hero-y in the AGOT prologue. Then we have Jon Snow who is implicitly identified by the narrative as a last hero figure. And it gets even more interesting when we consider that Jon has at many times stated that as a member of the night’s watch, he is to remain a shadow among all shadows. His greatest deeds are to go unnoticed and his name is not to be spoken in the halls of men. His deeds could live on, but his name won’t; even more interesting when we consider that Jon, due to his bastardy, technically doesn’t actually have a name to begin with. And what makes Jon’s connection to the last hero so poignant is that while the last hero’s name has been lost to history, Jon has a whole thing about being a lost and forgotten prince/king.

But there’s a rather unexpected last hero parallel in Sam Tarly, also a member of the Night’s Watch. Sam is not magically special, nor is he marked as someone with a particularly important bloodline or destiny. However, he is the first person in thousands of years to slay an Other. And he did that using a shard of dragonglass, which provides an interesting callback to the last hero’s dragonsteel blade. There’s also the parallel of both heroes being the last men standing after an Other attack. But interestingly enough, there’s a slight deviation in that though we still do not know who the last hero was, we do know of Sam the Slayer.

So it’s entirely possible that the last hero was one of the members of the original NW. And this makes for a rather interesting foil in another character who is explicitly stated as having a relationship with the Others - the Night’s King. It’s interesting if both figures have some background with the NW due to the dichotomy that arises. The last hero kept his vows and wore no crown and got no glory, but the Night’s King very directly broke his. The last hero protected the realms of men, while the Night’s King embarked of a path of destruction. And he was, quite famously, a member of the Night’s Watch (and is even identified as having been the 13th lord commander). But it’s interesting that while we don’t really know of the Night’s King’s true identity, we are actually given multiple clues by the narrative. We’re even told that he may have been a Brandon Stark - thereby having a name which the last hero doesn’t. But even then, just as it was with the last hero, the Night’s King has deeds which live on forever even though his name (very deliberately) has not.

[one-idea]

Here's an idea: time travel fix it, but the time traveller is Zeff.

Casually fixing what he can for his Eggplant's future Nakama, like bribing Mihawk with a nice wine to mention what Arlong is up to to Jimbe.

I love a time travel fix it with an unlikely hero. Because the Strawhats have a lot of information about what needs to be fixed. Their time travel fix it’s make sense. But the fun ones are their allies who know major events but don’t know everything.

(I saw someone try this with Mihawk and like the man only knows major events that the strawhats get into. Also he’s way more likely just to show up and watch the chaos while drinking wine.)

Zeff being sent back is so fun. 1) he’s a great character who obviously loves Sanji and would want to do what’s best for him. But also 2) he has no idea what half the inciting incidents are! How will he ever know what to stop?

He does have some information though. So let’s say he gets dropped 21 years in the past. He’s still a pirate. Ohara was just burnt last year and Rodger died 3 years ago (fact check me)

Most importantly Sanji is about to be born. His little eggplant is about to be born into one of the worst family on the sea. Well not if he has anything to say about it. He’s still Red-Leg Zeff, the pirate captain.

He knows they can’t do a full frontal assault but some sneaking around gets him to Sora. And a quick “how do you feel about taking all the kids and running?” She’s in. Anything to get them away from Judge.

And it’s stupid easy because they are babies who are only a few days old. Judge only cares about their test results he isn’t watching them. So Zeff and a few of his crew just nab Judges wife and kids, and quite a bit of loot.

Zeff is booking it out of there. But not without kick judge through at least one wall durning the escape.

He makes the decision to quiet the pirate life early. He’s got Sora and the kids to worry about. They open the Baratie early. He knows exactly which cooking staff he’s hiring.

As he separated from the crew he tells them that if they run into a girl named Nico Robin to bring her to him.

He starts establishing the Baratie as a location for all to dine in. But this time he’s focused on making connections. Keeping his thumb on the pulse of both pirate and government movement.

Raising the five kids he’s acquired along side Sora, the genetic programming takes but without it being supported as they grow eventually gets out of their systems. Sanji being the most in touch with his emotions followed by Reiju. Their brothers struggle with emotions but are a lot better and more adjusted than they are in cannon.

About two years into this restaurant one 11 year old Nico Robin is delivered by his old crew. The girl is super freaked out but he sits her down and tells her that’s she’s safe, he’s got ears everywhere and will know if the governmental coming after them, and he won’t let them take her. Plus who’s going to be looking for her at a high class restaurant. It also helps that he’s got a gaggle of children already so she can stay off the floor hanging out with the kids. Sora also dyes Robin’s hair purple and that with age is enough to make people not immediately recognize her from her bounty poster.

5 years later the red hair pirates a bouncing around the East blue and Zeff waits. Waits until one day Shanks comes in one arm short and bragging about his son. (It helps that Sanji and his siblings are helping out so Shanks and Zeff are just casually talking about their kids.) He grabs the captain and pulls him to the side and tells him that Luffy is in danger and that there is another little boy on that island, a boy who is the son of his old captain. Shanks thinks he’s crazy at first but he knows things about Luffy. The scar under his eye, and other things.

Enough to make shanks curious enough to turn around and find Luffy and his TWO new brothers. He quickly collects three children and returns to the Baratie. (Kicks door open while holding three children “you were right!” Zeff surprised by the third child but not mad) (I don’t think he knows about Sabo)

Luffy and Sanji get on like a house fire with Luffy loudly declaring that Sanji will one day join his crew as his chef. And Zeff is standing there watching them with a proud smile, because somethings are just meant to happen.

Meanwhile Shanks as turned to look at Zeff

“anything else I should know about?”

Zeff just snorts “a lot. You still friends with Hawkeyes or have you to made it official yet?”

(With the Baratie around earlier he had to witness young Shanks and Mihawk flirting, it was painful)

Shanks gets sad “he’s mad about well you know…” the missing arm. And Zeff feels bad about that but he had no clue how the man lost it in the first place so there was no way he could stop it.

“If you run into him tell him there’s a crazy kid in the east blue gunning for his title. If he wants to keep things interesting he might want to train him.” (The Baratie is Mihawk’s favorite establishment Zeff could also tell him but he has a feeling the swords master would listen to Shanks over him.)

This is how Mihawk shows up at a dojo where a 10year old Kuina and 9 year old Zoro are training. (A year before Kuina’s death) he sees their skill and hears Kuina’s father’s opinion about females and training. He knows it’s an opinion that is also popular in Wano where this man is obviously from, but it’s not the way the rest of the world works. He approaches and offers to take over the training of the girl “who won’t make anything of herself” and the “feral gremlin using sword handles for teething.” Kuina’s father isn’t to sure about all this but he can’t really refuse the greatest swordsman in the world nor will Kuina or Zoro stay once they hear about the offer.

Mihawk has now obtained one verbally polite girl who will break every rule the moment his back is turn and one backpack leash gremlin.

He and Shanks are regulars at the Baratie for parenting advice. Luffy meets Zoro’s and again claims him as part of the crew. Years later Zoro and Sanji argue over who will be the first official member (Sanji: Luffy asked me first! Zoro: but I was the first one to physically join the crew!)

But currently the three run a muck on the Baratie pulling pranks on their older siblings (Ace, Sabo, Kuina, and Reiju are all the same age) or just Sanji brothers (they are still learning emotions and will sometimes join in on the chaos, other times they are a rival faction but if they ever get to mean Luffy and Zoro put them in their place)

but eventually Luffy runs into Robin (she tries to stay out of the way as much as possible to not get the Baratie in trouble. Zeff tells her she doesn’t have to but Trauma is a thing) Luffy loves her instantly. She quitely reading a book and Luffy joins her for story time and she never gets mad at his interruption and is so patient with him. He looks at her with a grin of a small sun and tells her “when I’m captain you’re going to be on my crew!” Robin is a little freaked out because she doesn’t want to bring the world government down on this little boy. But Zeff talks to her later and tells her that Luffy isn’t a force that can be stopped. It takes time but in the next ten years Robin comes around to the idea of being on Luffy’s crew with Zoro and her little brother Sanji. As soon as Luffy claimed her he told the others. Sanji was pumped! Zoro just accept it but he comes around to really love Robin.

At the same time that the boys are all being adopted Zeff is making some calls and contacts. The Baratie has been open for over 9 years he’s got some high connections. He eventually gets a hold of Jimbei and tells him that Arlong is in the East Blue and causing trouble. (Arlong has just started in the East blue, Zeff has no clue of the time clock) he points Jimbei in the direction of Cocoyashi.

Jimbei gets their right at the time of Arlong raid in the village. He walks in right as Arlong and Bell-mére are having their confrontation. I don’t know exactly what happens (I haven’t met Jimbei yet) but he’s able to stop it.

Bell-mére asks how he knew they were in trouble and he tells them about the Baratie. The village wants to thank the man who alerted Jimbei so Bell-mére goes (she is a retired Marine and probably the best sailor.) and takes Nojiko and Nami with her. Of course Shanks is visiting with the boys and Luffy and Nami instantly hit it off. “This is my Navigator!!!” Shanks is laughing because the kids going to have a whole crew before he has a boat.

Once Luffy is ready to set sail he meets up with Zoro and the two head to the Baratie to pick up Nami, Sanji, and Robin. Zeff points them in the direction of Suyrup village to “get a ship” where they pick up Usopp and save Kaya. (This absolutely does not make Usopp’s feeling of inferiority worse by the time they get to Water 7. No way. It’s not like everyone else on the crew until Vivi and Chopper have known each other for 10 years. He’s not the odd man out in any way.)

Zeff doesn’t have a lot of information about their adventures so he can’t truly stop anything but he does know some thing. (Nami leaving the crew. Luffy and Zoro being from the east blue and having connections with Shanks and Mihawk (Mihawk totally goes the the Baratie to drink during the time skip. Zeff knows Zoro is his kid) he knows Ace is Roger’s son and that he dies. But he doesn’t know anything that isn’t in Sanji’s letters or the news paper (which is full of lies)

He makes the best decisions he can for Sanji.

He saves Sanji from Zeff as soon as possible

Accidentally saving Sora, Reiju, Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji

After Sanji set sail Zeff decides to expand the Baratie. It’s a chain

Patty and Carne take over the East blue branch

Reiju runs the one in the grandline.

Ichiji runs one in the west blue

Niji runs one in the south blue

The north blue doesn’t get one until Judge is dead they all agree on that

Yonji bounces from place to place helping as he is needed

Zeff and Sora open one in the New World.

Zeff might not know everything the Strawhats went through but he knows the major events and by having a home base in almost every sea he’s got ears everywhere. His old crew is still out there acting as ears for him and bring him news.

Anything he can help the Strawhats avoid or remove from their path he sends word

He tells Shanks about Ace.

Accidentally getting Luffy, Ace, and Sabo adopted

Saving Sabo from the Celestial dragons

Giving all three boys the chance to train with the Red Hair Pirates and learn Haki early while also getting a feel for the Grandline and New World

Ace’s death is prevented because he knows about Blackbeards plans and tells Ace to watch out for the man and to not trust him. It helps that Ace grew up with Shanks who never liked Blackbeard at all.

He tells Mihawk about Zoro

Kuina is accidentally saved

Both get to train with Mihawk far before their adventure. Mihawk loves it because the two are “trying to kill him” but they are also competing with each other and it’s MESSY they are so dramatic in their own weird way and he’s living for watching this gremlins fight while he drinks wine. When Perona shows up he finally has a goth child who wants to dress presentable and drink wine while making his other children. The family is complete.

He puts out feelers for Robin having no real hope she will show up

Accidentally gave her a loving home and help her feel safe while also preparing her for the adventure ahead.

He points Jimbei in Arlong direction. He has no clue what Arlong is truly up to.

Accidentally saves village

Saves Bell-mére’s life and kick starts the Strawhats.

The Strawhats still have a lot going on but because of advance trading some received as children and the stronger bonds.

He can’t do anything to Chopper, Franky, Brook or Usopp because their trauma is already passed Franky/Brook or he doesn’t know their stories well enough to intervene, Usopp/Chopper.

But he does make the safest home possible for his little eggplant.

[letters-to-lgbt-kids]

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

Can children consent? 

According to my notifications, someone was very interested in hearing my opinion on that - leaving that question under a lot of my posts, regardless of whether they mentioned consent or had any possible connection to that question whatsoever. 

Is it possible that someone, for some personal reason, just really wants to discuss the topic “children and consent” with me (and is perhaps being a bit clumsy about it but has good intentions)? 

Yeah, I guess so, but: some other commentators pointed out that these questions seemed random and unrelated to my content, and were met with “So you think children can consent?”… and if you weren’t suspicious before, you should definitely be at this point.

Sadly, there are some people who will ask loaded questions to lgbt+ creators in hopes of getting an answer that they can twist into something nefarious. “Can Children consent?” is a loaded question because even a completely innocent and harmless answer could be misconstrued as “proof” that lgbt+ people are pedophiles who are trying to groom kids… if you look for proof, and are willing to twist or purposefully misunderstanding someone’s words, you’ll find proof. 

Take this post for example, I didn’t even answer the question. The reason for that is that, well, I just explained how my answer would be misconstrued anyway. Plus, the answer is actually super obvious and nothing you can have one opinion or the other about (Obviously kids can’t consent to sex, they’re not mentally and emotionally developed enough to give informed consent to sexual acts) - and if you really really want to, you could interpret even that in bad faith. “He’s dodging the question!” or “He’s instantly jumping to sex! Maybe the question was just about a hug” or “Okay but why would you defend yourself if you were innocent” or… I don’t even know. It’s tiring to think about all the ways people can paint you as evil to justify their hatred of you. 

And that’s also the point of me even talking about this in the first place: not just a „don’t fall for the bait” but a “it’s okay to be tired”. Having to be on the lookout for bait is tiring. Having to consider possible bad intentions is tiring. Knowing that falling for bait could end in you get harassed or doxxed or threatened… yeah, that is tiring. 

Having to worry about your safety is tiring. I wish I could end this on a more positive note - but sometimes the most comforting thing we can do without lying is to admit that some things suck. 

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Dad 

[sparrowsoupp]

some of the most iconic queer poster children of the warrior cats fandom. happy pride to the girls gays and theys (particularly those who enjoy brawling feline content)

dabble in my headcannons for these pairings under the read-more button if i’ve piqued your interest…

RAVEN x BARLEY (gay x gay)

i know there’s been a bit of controversy going around about these two and how they could be seen as toxic, with barley being insecure over ravenpaw’s connection to thunderclan. i get that perspective for sure, but i think it’s representative of REASONABLE flaws in a real relationship. obviously it’s not ideal that they never completely resolve it (since it’s ‘solved’ in the graphic novel but reopened in ravenpaw’s novella) and i wished that they addressed that more concretely (i say about a fucking middle grade book about talking cats LOL) but even more so i think you could see it as a realistic relationship as with issues in those, they often subdue and reoccur at intervals. it’s just about talking it out with your partner 🦭👍 plus if the majority of their relationship outside of this is good (which i definitely see it as, since obviously the books have to take place at points of conflict for there to be interesting things to write about) then it seems to be a somewhat small flaw.

that being said i haven’t actually read the books this comes up in so take my opinion with grains of salt, just online discourse about it. totally get if your life experience makes you see their interactions another way as this is just my two cents based on my experience with people.

overall i’m not a superfan of the sickly-sweet reputation these two get but i do like them for what i see them as, which is a Normal Relationship with Some Flaws. i like that they find solace in each other in a peaceful place after fleeing their less peaceful pasts. it’s a great dynamic (and i’m a sucker for farms) and i think they compliment each other’s personalities really well, with barley bringing ravenpaw out of the shell he’s been forced into and ravenpaw inspiring more cautiousness in a very brash barley who would otherwise probably jump into fights at the drop of a hat.

on a somewhat unrelated note, as a kid did anyone else wish that ravenpaw dropped his paw suffix? or blue/firestar granted him an honourary suffix for everything the poor kid went through? this isn’t like a super big meanigful thing but it just annoyed me when i was younger that the paw suffix kind of belittles him to apprentice level when after the fuckery the poor kid went through i think he deserves more recognition from the clans than that.

BLUESTAR x YELLOWFANG (bi x bi)

OKAYYY old women! while fanart of the two of them being in a loving happy relationship is very cute i like to take my old woman yuri one-sided and traumatic.

i think that yellowfang would have an unrequited crush on bluestar. what’s there not to like?! at the point when they meet bluestar is a compassionate but commanding cat in the prime of her leadership. after a bit of her being in the camp i think bluestar would also start spending a curious amount of time in the medicine den… unconciously she definitely saw the appeal in yellowfang from the getgo- it definitely strengthens the reasoning of her surprising decision to defend yellowfang as a member of thunderclan depsite risking a full on war with other clans from it, and her other clanmates lives in the process. obviously bluestar’s a leader that wouldn’t base a decision like that just based on a crush, and it was definitely because of what she wants her clan to stand for, but it’s Not a downside that the cute lady she used to see at gatherings gets to stay a while

bluestar’s definitely not letting it occupy her mind though, of course, totally not (the lady has Trauma from her relationship with oakheart and i see her as having an attatchment issue where she doesn’t feel like she deserves to have a healthy relationship, especially after losing mosskit. she’s just not fully ready yet). yellowfang pines as she watches bluestar throw herself fully into her work to distract herself from the growing feelings, and at some point probably grows annoyed with the cat-and-mouse and starts dedicating herself fully to her own work as a medicine cat too. there are moments of sweetness and clarity and words on the tips of tongues, but just as unexpectedly as they come bluestar will turn her head back to her duties.

unfortunately once tigerstar’s betrayal happens all cute flirting comes to a screeching halt as bluestar is consumed by the paranoia. on the good days she’ll hold stilted conversation with her clanmates, but not so much on the bad days. yellowfang hurts as she watches her crush sprial into madness and dysfunction, the likes of which is only heightened when the fire happens and yellowfang passes- completely insetting bluestar’s hatred for starclan for taking her love (who she still does have deeply-buried feelings for) away from her.

overall, can you tell i love inflicting mental anguish on bluestar? it’s my favourite hobby. i’m not even joking.

LEAFPOOL x MOTHWING (bi x lesbian)

okay this one might make you realise i love doomed yuri. Anyways,

put simply, i think leafpool and mothwing find each other attractive and secretly hook up on a frequent basis for some…. Funny Business. Hanky-Panky, if you will. ‘no-strings-attached’ yeah right i don’t think sapphics have ever pulled off a no strings attatched relationship without casualities.

mothwing definitely wants to confess but leafpool by that point has been forcing herself to move on and ends up telling mothwing about ‘liking’ crowfeather right before mothwing works up the courage (reading leafpool x crowfeather for the first time in the canon books geniunely felt like someone’s ao3 crackship. i guess that’s what traumabinding will do to two mfs). or maybe mothwing notices that leafpool is pregnant (which HOW THE HELL DID NOONE NOTICE IN CANON) and backs the hell off from that. maybe a very angsty argument over that… delicious.

how very ‘good luck babe’ by chappell roan of them! i think things end pretty awkwardly for mothpool and neither leafpool nor crowfeather are really in love with each other they’re just something shiny and distracting from each of their respective circuses of personal lives. i literally hear the clown music playing as they run away together. maybe it’s tinnitus.

they probably pine for each other forever and ever after that, neither falling in love again because they never get over each other. damn. how awkward is it to see your kind-of-ex at the moonpool every month…

anyway thanks for reading though beau’s cat rambles! if youve stuck it out to here… a tip of the hat to you

[everythingannoyingpjo]

i really don't like how Riordan wrote Octavian in HOO. during SON, it really seemed like he had something planned for him, some backstory or reasoning for his actions, but when he saw the way fans hated on him he decided to just make him a laughingstock. he's supposed to be this powerful guy, Hazel even says so, and he's supposed to be able to talk the senate into almost anything, and yet we don't see any of this past SON. and the hypocrisy for him! with Luke, people forgave him even though he tried to literally destroy Camp Halfblood, gr00med children, and obviously did not care if his own allies got killed. his main reasoning was "I don't think my dad cares about me so I'm just gonna injure and/or off dozens of children!". Octavian does try to destroy Camp Halfblood (which I'm not gonna say is okay, bc it isn't) but he has an actual reasoning! his home had been attacked and the people who did it just ran away with no explanation. yes, Leo had been possessed, but nobody even told Octavian that! so his rage was absolutely reasonable. and he actually cares about his allies. he waits to attack several days to a week just so the onagers would arrive, that way there would be no casualties on his side. plus, it seems like people just ignore the fact that he was manipulated by Gaea and was obviously having a mental breakdown near the end. it's constantly brought up in arguments for Luke like "he was manipulated by Kronos!!" but when a similar thing happens to Octavian, nobody mentions it or seemingly cares.

Note: OP has a negative opinion of Luke and of some fans differing reactions to Luke and Octavian as antagonists. However this is not a fandom complaint or character complaint blog. It is a book complaint blog. This ask was sent before that point was clarified. Please try to limit complaints and discussions to what occurs in the source material only.

Yes, I agree. I tried to make a list of your points below for clarity.

during SON, it really seemed like he had something planned for him, some backstory or reasoning for his actions

It did seem that way. There are a lot of implications behind Octavian and not much fact.

It is implied he was raised in New Rome. This means he was raised in a culture that promoted suspicion of/aversion towards greek demigod culture. (You can see this aversion in the way people/the laeres react to Percy when he arrives at CJ.)

It is implied he has prophetic powers.

It is implied that he is unwell/unstable. It's implied he is being manipulated by Gaea.

It is implied that public opinion of him is favorable.

It is implied he wants to go to war, specifically against greek demigods should they exist, though he should have no proof of their existence.

It is implied that he killed Gwen.

It is implied (in TOA) that he has a connection to the triumverate.

None of this is ever explained/explored/given more detail. Why does he believe Apollo supports him? What is the extent of Gaea's influence on him? Why does he angle for war before the attack on Rome even happens? What does he know and how?

he's supposed to be this powerful guy, Hazel even says so, and he's supposed to be able to talk the senate into almost anything, and yet we don't see any of this past SON.

Given every implication above, he should be powerful, or competent, or at least have the backing of competent people. We never see that. We never know why he makes the decisions he does and how he accomplishes his goals is almost never shown or explored.

Octavian does try to destroy Camp Halfblood (which I'm not gonna say is okay, bc it isn't) but he has an actual reasoning! his home had been attacked and the people who did it just ran away with no explanation.

Octavian was pretty clearly angling for war even before the attack, but certainly that cemented the legitimacy of such an action in his mind. Yet from SoN onwards Rick treats Octavian as a complete joke. Which honestly, I do think Octavian is funny, but I also think the story would have been better if I believed Octavian was a legitimate threat. And I don't because he basically disappears from the narrative at this point except to exist as some sort of omnipresent boogieman. None of his actions, motivations, or reasoning is ever explored. Any shadow of substance he had in the previous books is flattened. He becomes completely two dimensional.

It's hard to even be mad at people for not seeing the legitimacy in his attack when it's the result of Rick completely ignoring his character. After SoN he basically only exists to create a sense of urgency in completing the quest.

and he actually cares about his allies. he waits to attack several days to a week just so the onagers would arrive, that way there would be no casualties on his side.

I mean, this is largely supposition. The narrative heavily implies the wait for the onagers is because he wants to win with overwhelming force. But you are right that his compatriots safety could be the reason he wants to win with overwhelming force! But we don't know, because again, he was never fleshed out!

plus, it seems like people just ignore the fact that he was manipulated by Gaea and was obviously having a mental breakdown near the end.

It's pretty clear he was being manipulated. I think one thing it's easy to forget is that all these characters are teenagers. Octavian is a child. He has been put in a position of responsibility that should be reserved for an adult. It's hard to think Octavian is 100% evil or that he 100% deserves to die. EXCEPT that Rick has prevented us from being allowed to see him as a real person. He has made him feel like a complete caricature of a human being. And even then, it still disgusts me that Rick made his death a complete joke, something to laugh at.

If Rick was trying to say that "people who think this way are a joke" he should have shown us more of Octavian's thoughts. He should have given us the oppurtunity to see the point he was making by laughing at him.

Instead we have the implication that there was more, and no answers. He never even gave Octavian a last name. I do not like Octavian as a character, but everything about how he was written is sort of fucked up.

[solar-wing]

⚣ BatBro with his BatBros 🦇

⚣ 🦇 A/N → Ah, my first full installment of BatBro headcanons. Where does the time go? Anyway, as we progress throughout these headcanons, you can imagine the characters slowly getting older too. By, the time we get to the end, the reader is at least 18 years old making Damian anywhere between 18-19 years old, since he's a few months older.

⚣ 🦇 Summary → Going from the life of an only child, to having 4+ siblings, can't be easy. Especially when most of those siblings brothers, and those brothers come from a family a crime-stopping vigilantes. What was your mother thinking in leaving you with your dad?

REBLOGS are very appreciated! REPLIES to, I love hearing your thoughts 💛

⚣ ENJOY 🦇

I find it funny that no one has ever thought to take advantage of the fact that Bruce Wayne has created a habit of popping up with a new kid like every couple of years. They could try to offer up their kids to him in hopes of cashing in on the Wayne family's wealth.

And he actively turns away all of them, even if he is tempted a couple of times. At least until he gets to you. Everything was normal until your mom decided one day she was done being a parent and just dropped you off at the front gate and left when you were 9 years old. This is also around the same time Damian ended up in Bruce's care, so you both were now dealing with the fact that you've suddenly got a father you never knew, as well as a brother. Well, brothers, since Bruce did somewhat actually have children before he had you guys. 

She left a note along with your other belongings that said “Trust me. He yours,” with nothing else. Bruce could only stare down at you with that usual grim, but pondering look he had while you just stared back at him. 

“I’d thought you be taller,” was your first sentence towards your dad. One that was vaguely familiar to the billionaire as he rolled his eyes and led you inside the manor.

Obviously, Bruce ran a DNA test and confirmed everything to be true. You were indeed his son, snarky remarks and all. You and Damian must share that quality.

Speaking of, since you and Damian were blood-related, you have a more special bond with each other. Even if he bullies the shit out of you.

Hiding your toys and games all around the manor, stabbing your favorite teddy bears and various stuffed items with his knives and daggers, and I'm just going to throw in that you have a love-hate relationship with Scooby-Doo now.

You love the cartoon, but Damian took advantage of the fact that you may not do well with scary stuff and would make his own costume versions of the villains from the show and chased you around the house with them. They were horrifying and disturbing enough to even unsettle Bruce a little, so you could imagine the early childhood trauma you endured.

People think your fear of clowns stems from the Joker. No, it's from Damian.

It’s always from Damian.

Plus, since you and Damian are around the same age, you both end up in the same grade at the same school. So he always keeps a look out for you and protects you from any bullies, while you teach him how to be more sociable and friendly towards others.

Now, if Damian's closest relationship with another brother outside of you is Dick (who you along with everyone else agree that he is basically Damian's second father), I imagine you have a close relationship with both Jason and Tim for various reasons.

You and Tim connect because you both have very intellectual and detail-oriented minds. You watch Scooby-Doo, so you obviously have an interest in mysteries as well as the Red Robin personality. Whenever he is having a hard time connecting dots to a case or a puzzle, you simply come in, take one look and somehow figure it out. Sometimes, you’ll even just make a random statement that ends up being the key to what Tim is looking for.

Tim and you both have an interest in video games, you a little bit more than him. It was because of you that he even really got into them. Before, when it was just you and your mom, you didn’t have anyone to really play with, besides whatever friends you could find online. So having someone you could play with, especially in person now made you and Tim’s bond that more special.

Also, you’ve made it your responsibility to make sure the guy gets adequate rest and sleep and doesn’t drown himself in caffeine.

“Timothy Drake! It is way past your bedtime. Off the Bat-Computer and upstairs into bed young man.” You yelled, marching downstairs with an amused Alfred towing behind.

Your father and siblings all watched from the sidelines as well, all amused at the sight of your young, tiny body, yelling at a slightly older and taller teenager as if you were his father.

“Um, I’m older than you,” Tim responded while holding on to what had to be his 5th coffee of the evening.

“Do I need to repeat myself?”

“Master Tim, with all due respect, I’d do what the young lad says. He’s already started unplugging and cutting the cords to every coffee and espresso machine in the manor.” Alfred said from behind.

Tim looked at you in horror while you stared at him the look on your face very much communicating a ‘try me if you want to’ message, and that’s when he noticed the pair of scissors in your hands.

“OKAY! I’M GOING! I’M GOING!” Tim shouted, sprinting out of his seat and up to his room. Your brothers were quietly laughing until you turned your head right to them.

“And, what are you three laughing at?! Get to bed right now.”

Now, it was their turn to question you. Cause Dick and Jason were full adults and even though Damian was only a few months older than you, well that was it. He was older than you so he bossed you around, not the other way,

“Woah, there little man. Jason and I, we’re grown. We don’t have bedtimes.” Dick said.

“Yeah, squirt.” Jason voiced right behind Dick with his arms crossed.

“Watch yourself, little brother,” Damian warned.

You raised a subtle eyebrow at them while your father and Alfred both looked at you with curiosity.

Alfred, however, had a little more amusement to his look since he already knew where this was headed.

“Dick, I will never have another brother movie night with you again, and I’ll start going to Jason for brotherly advice instead of you. Also, I’ll tell Kory you were being mean to me.” You threatened your oldest brother.

Dick was both hurt and fearful because how could you even threaten him with something that awful and quite frankly, plain rude and ridiculous. He gave way better advice than Jason! Also, he knew Kory absolutely adored you ever since Bruce brought you to the tower that one time and would not hesitate to put him on punishment as well if she even thought he was being mean to you.

Jason was holding a smug look at your threat toward Dick, that is until your eyes landed on him. “Jason, I know where you keep all of your limited edition books, especially your prized signed copy of Pride & Prejudice. We certainly don’t want that getting in the wrong hands, now do we,” You said, turning to your second oldest sibling. Jason was surprised, and slightly impressed, though also terrified. How could you know?!

You turned to your blood-related brother, who held a bit of an overconfident look as there wasn’t anything you could have over him that would have him actually following your orders. “And Damian, I’m sure you don’t want dear old Dad to know what happened at school last week, now do you?” You said, playing slightly with your fingernails while ‘innocently’ rocking back on your feet as if you weren’t blackmailing your siblings. For noble reasons, of course. They need their sleep!

Your brother was both shocked and angry at your statement. How did you even know about that? The look on his face, well, let’s just say it wasn’t friendly, not in the slightest.

But, to no one’s surprise except your dad, all your siblings silently trudged upstairs without another word.

Bruce looked at you and Alfred with a raised eyebrow as you turned back to face your brooding father, only now you could see his brooding look had a hint of questionable curiosity and amazement. 

“You too, daddio. It’s bedtime, yo.” You rhymed. Apparently, not only was everyone’s sleep tracker, but you had a bit of flow with it too. Someone should get you a record deal. 

You gave your dad a slight hug, your head barely reaching above his waist. You still had growing to do! You’d get there eventually.

Walking back toward the entrance, you also made sure to stop and give the butler a fist bump since he was your secret partner-in-crime. How else would you know where to hit to get your brothers to fall in line? with a slight hug to his side before heading back towards the entrance. 

“Thanks, Alfred,” You said!

“Anytime, Master Y/N.”

Bruce eyed you both suspiciously before he realized what was going on as he watched your small body bounce up the stairs.

“Really? You’re in cahoots with my son, Alfred?”

“Why, Master Bruce, I’m offended. I’d say it was more of a beneficial partnership. Cahoots is for the reckless.” Alfred responded jokingly.

The age-old ending to every mystery novel plays out again, the butler did it.

Though, Bruce was still impressed by how easily your brothers listened to you without a second thought. It takes him a few tries just to get a sentence through their head, and that’s if they were actually listening to him that time.

“Wow, he got Jason to listen to him? I still can’t get Jason to greet me without looking him looking like he wants to punch my lights out.” Bruce commented.

“He has your commanding tone, sir,” Alfred said before backing up the manor himself, “I wouldn’t let Master Y/N catch you back down here, though. I heard he’s got some especially dirty leverage on you.”

Bruce suddenly decided to look at the clock, “Guess it is a little late,” He muttered before rushing upstairs himself.

Speaking of Jason, your relationship with the second adopted Wayne kid had more of a special touch. The Red Hood persona was the brother you really looked up to. You liked and respected how he branched out and followed his own path. Of course, Dick technically did the same, but considering everything Jason went through, he had to be one determined fucker to return to the very life that killed him. And, even though you don't necessarily agree with his 'strategies', you were always standing in his corner.

Though, Jason didn’t take well to you at first. In fact, because Damian left such a bad taste in his mouth after they met; when you two were introduced, he literally ran upstairs and screamed at Bruce about how he was the biggest hypocrite in the world for all those lectures he gave him and Dick about using protection. Richard silently agreed, also remembering his first meeting with Damian. 

Determined to not live with a Damian 2.0, and also thinking he was saving you from a life full of trauma because, in his mind, no one deserved to be raised by someone like Bruce Wayne, Jason attempted to take you down to child protective services. 

Your father was very unhappy when he got a call from CPS later that day and he could clearly hear you sobbing on the other side of the phone just as Jason walked through the front door. He was not the least bit ashamed, at least until you came home and he saw how upset you were.

He apologized and decided to give you a chance, thinking since the whole ordeal actually had you crying, you had to somewhat have a soul, unlike Damian. After some time, you got really close with each other. 

Jason taught you how to fight and defend yourself. He’d read you stories at night from some of your favorite books as well as your own, and he’d always get Damian to back off if he decided to pull another one of his scare antics on you. 

Your second eldest brother was your get-out-of-jail card too, whenever Bruce punished you for something. Though, sometimes, it may have just been better to take the punishment than let Jason pull you into whatever shenanigans he was planning. Considering the fact you and he managed to put an entire city without power for two nights somehow.

"How did you two manage to short-circuit the entire electrical grid in New York?" Bruce asked with you two standing side by side, looking like you just finished sleeping on top of a giant summer barbeque grill.

You both looked at each other before turning back to your stern-looking father, Damian mirroring his expression with his arms crossed and tapping his feet.

"Would you believe us if we said it started over a debate of how to eat fries with ketchup?"

Bruce slapped his forehead to his palm while Damian called you idiots. Tim got that curious look on his face, and Dick couldn't stop laughing for 15 minutes.

Now, your eldest brother, he was definitely someone you could count on no matter what. Being the oldest and having the most Bruce experience out of everyone, he always helped you deal with your Brucie problems or ‘daddy issues’ as you'd like to say.

Truth be told, every kid in this family had daddy issues.

As mentioned before, Dick was your movie-watching buddy, he helped you with your homework and always assisted with any life issues you had going on. No matter how many times you may have threatened the Nightwing persona with such, you always went to him for advice, and there was never really a moment you could think of where you regretted it.

He also helped you learn how to be more agile and light on your feet with your fighting. While your second eldest brother taught you how to use brute force and strength in situations, he gave you the acrobatic style of lessons. Where Bruce and Jason were direct and serious, Dick taught and showed you how to be more of the opposite.

And, whenever Jason wasn't around to get Damian off your back, you'd go to him since he was basically his second dad.

You and Dick together were like two chatty Cathys on drugs. One moment, you could be talking about the movie you were watching, then you’d get into a debate over onion rings vs french fries, somehow landing in politics, somehow ending up in a political debate only to end with the "Are we even real" conversation. And for whatever reason, you swore you could hear Tim itching in his seat whenever that conversation came up.

That boy goes down a lot of YouTube rabbit holes at 2 AM when he’s bored on patrol or not doing anything.

Now, one brother on their own was one thing. Two? Someone was calling the police. Three and you may have to check if your life insurance policy is still good. All four? Pray.

Since you now were officially the youngest, a title Damian was actually happy to pass on despite his warnings to Bruce, that meant you got the most of the teasing, even if it mostly came from your blood-related sibling. But his version of teasing tended to leave you with trips to your therapist so you could do without them.

However, one rule all your siblings and family stuck by, no one, and I mean NO ONE, not even in the Justice League or Titans/Young Justice teams, could mess or pick with you except them.

Everyone in the family was very protective over you. You were surprised to see even Alfred was on that list, though you learned quickly the butler was not one to be fucked with. 

You distinctly remember that one time the Batcave got invaded and Batman made you hide in one of the saferooms, you saw on one of the video monitor screens Alfred whacking the shit outta them with just a rifle.

For that reason, among others, you took a mental note to be careful with how you complimented his cooking in the future.

But seriously, if anyone messed with you, and your family found out, Hell itself would be scared of what would break loose from your home.

A bully from school started picking on you and calling you names and you didn't tell your brothers about it, wanting to handle it on your own. Besides, you could defend yourself. They taught you well.

Until the fateful day you came out as gay, bi, pan, etc., and he called you names that your father wouldn't even repeat, and that man had the title of a playboy.

Well, word spread around the school and got back to Damian, who went back and told your other brothers.

By the next day, Dick had shredded every thread of that boy's confidence. Tim hacked the school files, got his address, and framed him for changing grades in the school. Jason used said address Tim got to pay a trip to the kid's place and shot bullet holes in all his clothes when no one was home. And well, let's just say Damian almost went to jail.

Of course, Bruce was pissed when he found out and had to intervene, but when Damian admitted the reason he nearly got arrested, your father upped his allowance.

Only God could imagine the terror that would unfold the day you started dating.

Oh, and they all call you babybird which you despise.

Don't even get me started on your sisters.

BONUS:

☀️ | Bat Family | ☀️

☀️ | Masterlists | ☀️

[bridgerteon]

I knew from the get go that there are 8 Bridgerton siblings (in alphabetical order) plus Violet. But one fact I realised and found it amusing is that there are also 8 Eevee evolutions (Eeveelutions) plus Eevee. So I thought, why not have each Bridgerton have an Eeveelution. (I also nicknamed each of the Eeveelutions I caught in a Pokemon game based on the Bridgertons, but I digress...)

This is my own interpretation on the Bridgertons and which Eeveelution fits them as their partner. I'm happy to hear from any Bridgerton and Pokemon fans to have their own ideas on which Pokemon suits them. 😊

So here are the Bridgerteons:

Violet - Eevee 🦊👑

Violet is the matriarch of the Bridgerton family, so obviously she gets an Eevee. She also wants to see all of her children find love and have happy marriages. She knows each of her children are different and that each couple has different experiences in love, like Eevee being adaptive in its environment.

Anthony - Jolteon⚡

Anthony is competitive, has mood swings, difficult, stubborn and protective. Jolteon is all those things. As the Viscount, he has a duty in helping his family be one of the best in the Ton. The death of his father plagued him, so he's emotionally closed off, like Jolteon's spikes on its body. Fortunately, he is loyal and would open his heart to the ones he loves and cares about. So he gets a Jolteon.

Benedict - Vaporeon 🌊

Both are chill, peaceful, go with the flow, calm and, as canon in the show, bisexual. Also, Benedict likes to hide from debutantes and their mamas, like Vaporeon likes to camouflage and melt into water. So he gets a Vaporeon. (No dirty jokes about Vaporeon, please 🙄)

Colin - Umbreon 🌙

Colin wants to be a hero, likes being needed, and spreading light and joy to his loved ones. He is vulnerable, sensitive and kind to people he is close to, while under a facade when surrounded by the Ton, like the light and dark side of the moon. He always finds Penelope during balls and at night a couple of times, like an aura connection. So definitely an Umbreon.

Daphne - Sylveon 🎀

As the eldest daughter, Daphne is poise, elegant, gentle, and has great emotional intelligence. She can also be brave (she does charge towards Anthony and Simon while they are in a duel, like fairy types charging in towards dragon types in battles), competitive and assertive. So Sylveon it is.

Eloise - Espeon 🔮

Eloise likes to read, wants to change the world as a woman, and cynical. She's also quite a detective in identifying Lady Whistledown or people's 🐂💩, but is not great in identifying what people are feeling. Also, they have the same letter. So an Espeon.

Francesca - Flareon 🔥

Francesca loves playing the piano and an introvert, so she's most likely indoors. She is brave and curious on what she wants to find herself and to find a partner who gets her. Also the same letter. So a Flareon. (It does help that Flareon will be keeping her warm during colder months in Scotland while playing the piano 😉).

Gregory - Glaceon ❄️

Gregory is cheeky, young, fun and likes to pull pranks. He likes to be part of the Bridgerton shenanigans. He wants to join with his big brothers in anything, despite being young. Also the same letter. So a Glaceon.

Hyacinth - Leafeon 🍃

Hyacinth is also cheeky and young, but also an optimistic, loves romance, freespirited and innocent. She wants to be part of the glamour, gossip and excitement within the Ton. Also her name is based on a flower. So a Leafeon.

*Note: I'm being deliberate in calling it Bridgerteons as it is a combination of Bridgerton and Eon (a suffix for all the Eeveelutions, meaning a long period of time. It suits them as it takes a long time for them to find a partner, fall in love and get married 😏).

[findmeinthefallair]

More on Hunter's body language

(Warning for some descriptions of abuse) Specifically regarding... 1. eye contact that is primarily to ask for permission/seek approval, and thus hope for safe connection:

along with hypervigilance and assessing what the other person may be thinking. This is normal behavior in dogs because of hierarchy between them and their masters/owners but well, human children reaaaaaally shouldn't be doing this to such an extent. The messed up thing is even if he concludes in his mind that the person isn't safe, he doesn't flee or dodge but instead just stands there waiting for possible punishment.

He has not been allowed to even dodge (which he may have tried to do in the early years before the abusive conditioning became internalized), he must stand firm and take the hit because he has been told that he is useless, unless he does better.

A special exception is here:

where he maintains eye contact to try being assertive (he succeeded!).

But we still see part of this ingrained behavior in the two frames below where subconsciously he expects further punishment, even though he already escaped Belos by then:

2. his arms and torso, in his arc post-HM until the present: There's a pattern of more open vs. more closed, more relaxed vs. more tensed. Plus whether the torso angle is more turned away from the person he's speaking to, vs. directly facing them.

Obviously he's still not confident about trusting Gus here:

But in the presence of the Emperor's Coven scouts who find him, he's back to the posture he's been conditioned to have (with the same Any Sport in a Storm screencap from earlier, as side-by-side reference), to just stand there and freeze:

Later, the shift is gradual but obviously he's more receptive, in good company:

Until the Thing That Happens, happens :')) After that he obviously closes up again, alternating between gestures that could mean "Come and fight me if you want!" and "Don't touch me!":

or else he'd go to an emotional place that he was not ready for until the last few scenes of For the Future.

But see how he's kneeling and his hands are open below, among his peers, as if ready to ask for and receive what he needs, contrasted alongside a much earlier shot from Hunting Palismen where yes, he's kneeling, but god the tension in his body, in an undoubtedly unsafe presence:

It's not the same when he's with an adult as seen below, where you still see caution and tentative openness to Camila trying to connect:

but it's a big thing that I can't see him retreat at all: it looks like he stayed in the same position, just that he didn't initiate his own movement to reciprocate and lean in closer. I hope to see a shift in this particular kind of gesture in the finale, of course.

[audreyscribes]

Ω PJO MISCELLANEOUS DEMIGOD HEADCANONS: 🍃 ZEPHYROS: GOD OF THE WEST WINDS, PERSONIFICATION OF THE GENTLE WEST WIND AND SPRING. 🌷

A/n: Another Popular minor god let's go! Zephryos or Zephryus will always pop up like a random but welcome breeze, so it was only fitting to do a demigod imagine on him. Also either I'm not looking in the right direction or I see a lack of Zephryus demigods. No idea if he would make a good godly dadza. Now to see if anyone picks up the references I've put in from another fandom. MISCELLANEOUS DEMIGOD H/CS MASTERLIST LINK: [TUMBLR] || [AO3]

If you’ve ever heard of “Spring is in the air”, there is no better term used for Zephyros because that essentially sums up his entire existence. This also applies to you every time you make an appearance. Whether you bring love in the air or smell like flowery perfume (the good kind that brings you ease and happiness), it ranges a bit.

When you get claimed, you can hear the singing of swans as the wind blew gently from the west, carrying the smell of Spring almost like a herald…even if it’s not even Spring anymore. Unironically, your claim in Camp Halfblood takes place at Zephyros Creek…the creek that is literally named after him that runs through the entire forest.

As one of the more popular, minor gods, your presence as a demigod and your powers are also notable…which isn’t as much of a problem if it wasn’t much of a learning curve. Unlike where it’s pretty simple for the major gods where it makes relative sense of their domains and concepts, for Zephyros it’s less on the nose and requires some actual studying; from the winds, horses, spring, love, and etc.

As a child of Zephyros, you obviously have the power of the winds at your command. However, he is also technically a god of springtime, you also have the power to grow and manipulate plants, though not as much as the child of Demeter. Makes sense if you think of the wind carrying the pollen, helping the growth of flowers and the Spring wind heralds the changing of the seasons from Winter. If you’re at Camp between the seasons of Winter and Spring, you’ll find yourself in the company of the children of Demeter. A welcome change from growing decorative gourd to strawberries.

What no one tells you at first, despite being a god of the winds, you expect to have some connection to birds like the Swans from earlier, you learn you also have a connection with horses; as Zephyros has turn into a horse and had pulled Zeus’ chariot with his brothers against Typhon. So Pegasus flying is almost like second nature to you but slightly left field. Good thing you have the children of Poseidon because you two can gossip and complain with the pegasus…though why is that you feel a certain draw to certain pegasus…?

You also find yourself being drawn to and from the children of Iris; where you learn that Iris told them to make you feel welcome and extends you an invitation to drop by her Organic shop anytime, the children of Apollo surprisingly; once everyone got over the fact about their parents’ thing over Hyacinth, they welcomed you greatly and especially appreciated you spirit over any injured patients over or simply growing some well-need plants at that moment. Plus, every so often, you all get together to have a small music break and not surprisingly, you find yourself gifted at wind instruments.

You also meet Lester or a.k.a. Apollo as well around this time. He welcomes you as much as he can and while you appreciated the gesture, you knew he carried guilt and awkwardness towards you, forcing himself to show you that he had no qualms and in extension, show Zephyros that he regretted blaming your godly father for Hyacinth's death and to show he wouldn’t be petty and harm his own kid; even if he knew that received help during his own powerless moment. Luckily for you and him, Zephryos written a letter for Apollo that you gave to him, explicitly stating that Zephyros that was sorry as well and forgave Apollo long ago. You find yourself having another father figure in your life through Apollo, who constantly invites you to his and his children’s activities.

You find yourself being in the company of the children of Aphrodite. Zephryos famously has a connection being in the service of Eros, bringing Spring (i.e. romance) in the air, but there’s also his and Iris’ son; Pothos, the God of Sexual Longing, Yearning, and Desire, who is also an attendant of Aphrodite. So whether or not you have a particular interest in romance or whatever, the children of Aphrodite are more likely to share their secrets and gossip with you and even help you from time to time. Or you’re going to be the one spreading those juicy gossip and spilling the tea to the people of the Aphrodite cabin (and those who feel so inclined) about So and So being seen together while holding hands.

You quickly figure out that Zephyros is rather well-known around Camp, outside of his presence in Greek Mythos, as you find out that from Annabeth, like her, a lot of them were brought to their mortal parents from their godly parents by Zephyros. Somewhere down the line, you find yourself able to find out whose unclaimed demigods’ parentage is because Zephyros touch lingers on them, leaving you in a dilemma if you’re allowed to say it.

In terms of physical attributes inherited from your father, this is what’s going to be a nightmare for you. At first you thought you might inherit wings because Zephyros is often depicted with wings, but if your claiming doesn’t trigger it, then you might not have wings at all. Though this is not a problem with flying as you can manipulate the wind to help you fly. No, what’s a nightmare is that Chiron sat you down and told you that you might be able to turn into a horse because Zephyros has been known to turn into a horse, so you may be able to turn into that…but what really threw you in a loop is that you may possess the characteristics of a tiger because he’s also the sire of Tigers. So Tiger, Horses, and Birds oh my! good luck with that!

On the other hand, you’re going to have an animal companion; whether its a tiger, horse, or birds; though usually swans but not limited to it. Afterall, pegasus are considered horses too; so there’s that. For all you could know, you may have crows as your companion(s); though they’re a rather chatty bunch so you are probably going to call them as Chat. Or Bryan- for that one crow that can speak rather human like. 

Everyone stared at you with open gaped mouths as the claim of Zephryos floated above your head. The swans were singing and flapping their wings in Zephyros creek. The wind gently blew from the West as if Zephyros was gently running his hand over your hair, giving you a light kiss on the forehead. There was a waft of floral scent also coming from the West, and it smelled familiar to you. 

Everyone was staring at you with a range of awe, surprise, and absolute recognition. The weight of the stares was starting to make you awkwardly hot and uncomfortable. Silence gradually filled in when the swan singing started to fade off into the distance, only the wind swaying of the trees with the sound of the water running through the creek. It was then you remembered that you had the flag in hand, the fabric flapping in the wind earlier like some epic painting when you reached the goal. It was a whirlwind of events when you felt yourself flying, your feet carrying you like you were absolutely nothing. At first you thought you were definitely a child of Hermes, with your feet running like you had wings on your feet but then when you were getting pincered from all sides. You were cut off by the enemy side and the only exit was a cliff and the next thing you knew you jumped off the cliff in a run, and as you fell, panic hit you as you realized you couldn’t land safely and the creek wasn’t that deep to sustain your fall. 

It was at that moment the wind blew from the West and swirled around you, carrying off into safety into the waters. You botched the landing and did a couple stumble but you took that then going SPLAT.

You wondered if you should say anything when people weren’t really moving, whispering amongst themselves, until you heard a whistle that came off rather musically impressed and then a clap of rhythm. Your eyes turned to the source to see a boy with brown hair and eyes but when the sunlight filtered through the gap of the branches, you swore you saw blue instead. 

“Well, certainly Zephyros knows how to make an entrance, not that I wouldn’t do either of course” said the boy and you heard that one child of Demeter with a temper scoff. “I think we can say Capture the Flag is over right Chiron?”

The centaur shook out of his stupor and cleared his throat, regaining his composure. “Yes, that would seem to be the case” he said before he turned to the other campers to say that Capture the Flag was now over and your team cheered in victory. 

You were rushed over by your teammates for securing the win and congrats on being claimed. You thanked profusely, still not sure who claimed you until you saw the boy from earlier, that your brain hazily remembered as some from the Apollo cabin. 

“Well I never expected to see a child of Zephryos to appear, much less when I’m at camp. I guess there’s no real bad blood anymore if he’s open to claiming his kid in front of me.”

“Uh, wait Zephryos? He’s my dad? But isn’t he the god of the West wind-”

“Yes, Zephryos, God of the West Wind as well as the personification of it and a god of Spring you can say” he said, before gently gesturing you out of the water and that’s when you realize your shoes and socks were absolutely soaked and very uncomfortable as they squished with every movement. 

“I don’t think he would have a demigod” you admitted. 

“Well, Zephryos and I were both interested in a lovely human man named Hycanith, though he got jealous that Hycanith accepted me as a lover. It’s a long story but it seems like he had moved on some time to have you” smiled the stranger. 

“Wait, I remember that story…but you? The story had Apollo-” you started to say but you cut off your words when it hit you. You turned to the stranger beside you and now you could feel it.  “Ah yes, it’s a rather long story but I’m in my mortal form. Here, I’m called Lester Papadopoulos but those who know, know me as Apollo.”

[nonbinarypirat]

A fellow enjoyer of mairuma who likes reading others headcanons/interpretations here! just thought I'd share my own headcanons

1.) I think the misfits lack parental validation from one or more parental figures so they seek that validation from someone else, like Kalego. He, as their homeroom teacher, knows full well what they're capable of and actively gives them harder challenges to further bring out their potential. So I think the misfits would seek near impossible tasks not just for the fun of it, but to receive validation from someone they look up to.

2.) I believe that Kalego shows his love in pride. And when I say love, I mean all love; familial, romantic, platonic, and the kind that you know is there but don't have a name for. I guess a good example would be Balam, his closest friend and well-respected researcher. Balam would have achieved great things in his field of research and Kalego would be very proud of him for it, though I doubt he would explicitly show it. The same would go for his students. A mix-match group of kids who have, more than once, taken the impossible and made it reality while proving him wrong every chance they get.

(also a small group of demon plus one human children have better cooperation skills than most adult demons. yes demons are self-centered but i do think its really funny.)

well, these are my headcanons sorry if its really wordy. what are your thoughts on them and what are your mairuma headcanons?

thx for reading and have a good day/night :D

I have been fully focused into my classes and college recently since I’m in my third year (we’re so close to the finishing line yall) but YES I love this!! One, I appreciate you sending me this since I haven’t done a post for a while! I promise im still here and I’m keeping up with the recent chapters 🫡. But yeah, I just love Kalego as a character. Like, he really is my favorite because I love a rude and snide character who you can tell cares a lot. Even if he won’t tell you that.

Kalego cares deeply for his students. Like sure, they annoy him and are goofballs. But at the end of the day, he is also protective of them. He knows they can accomplish great things and that’s why he’s hard on them, it’s not due to a lack of love. His pride is his way of showing affection. He will do his damnest to make sure you succeed and through his little actions, the characters can tell that he’s proud of them too. It’s the little moments with Kalego that make them know he does deeply care for them.

And yes, I also have a head cannon that for many of the misfits, they are lacking in some sort of parental or familiar love. Obviously we can’t say this for certain for all the characters, but it just feels like that’s why, no matter how much they complain about him, he also means a lot to them too.

As for my other head cannons… One head cannon I have (with the little info we have so far) is that Elizabetta grew up similarly to that little girl from Ouran Host Club, ya know the sister of the black magic club president? That is to say, I think she’s loaded but was primarily raised by her maids who gave her a lot of the romance books to keep her entertained. I think her parents were never really around. Or if they were, they don’t have her a ton of attention. I guess this is more of a head cannon slash theory? But when we see the house visits, we don’t even see her parents. A lot of them you saw the parents, a back shot or their torso. Something. We even saw Kalego call some of the parents. But her parents just wasn’t in the frame and she just kept showing him the things in her room which gives me the feeling she had a lot of material goods they bought her, but maybe not their affection. We also don’t see any adult when we learn about her ambition. Which is why I think she’s so attached to love, she is reaching for a connection she may not feel she has with her parents. And maybe in a way, she’s wants to build a family that will actually appreciate her the way she wants. Which to me makes the relationship to the misfits even more special because she finally has the love and pride of her found family. Idk, just a silly head cannon I have based on current knowledge!

[poordeadsejanus]

from baby to brutal: coriolanus snow's hair transformation throughout the ballad of songbirds and snakes

something that i find so interesting as a physical marker of coriolanus' change into snow is his hair.

the progression we see him go through, from those nice soft curls, to the buzzcut, to the platinum bleach and tone really remind me -- and walk with me here -- of when babies/little kids get their first haircut and how the new growth changes their hair.

for instance, when a family member of mine was really young, they had super soft, thin, and curly hair; we were all convinced they would just have curly hair forever. but them, they got their first hair cut (cut down really short), and from that moment on, the hair grew in much thicker and noticeably straight. baby hair is always so soft and fine, and it's when they start to grow up that it begins to change, especially when the first cut snips all of the baby hair away. it's a marker of change, of growing up (and, i suppose to be a bit cynical, losing the innocence of youth).

okay so, back to coryo. we first see him with the golden, loose curls.

this is when he's more naive to the realities of the world, when he still has not become the hardened man we know later on. still innocent i suppose you could say -- well, as relatively innocent as coriolanus snow can be. [more below the cut]

even when he's a child, the hair is loose and similar to the way he wears it when he's older. almost as if it's showing us that he's sort of stuck in this perpetual state of paranoia, fear, and the single-minded sort of thinking common in children, but exacerbated a million times in adult coryo.

next we get the buzzcut. and there is much to be said about this.

so, first of all, we're seeing a cutting off of the baby hair, representing him letting go of his old life, his childhood, that last bit of good he had going for him. he takes a turn for the worst. this is when he starts to experience life outside the capitol and everything goes awry.

the idea of a haircut in general is supposed to be a renewal, a starting over, an embrace of change. but obviously that's not really what this is for him because he does not choose to cut his hair. a forced haircut -- and it is; there's a scene in the movie where he's getting sheared and he has this sort of glassy look in his eyes that just screams 'i do not want this so maybe if i tune it out it'll stop happening' -- is essentially the exact opposite of all the things a haircut is supposed to be. it's taking choice entirely out of the hands of the person. no more is it about a new beginning and a change made by the self, it is a forced change inflicted on someone: effectively a 'this is how it is now, deal with it'. really having something as personal and vital to your autonomy as hair being forcefully changed (or removed) is a completely violation of the self, both outer and inner.

plus, in this specific context, it's a military cut. it's meant to symbolize conformity and the putting aside of your own self to become part of something bigger than the individual. (and really, i don't think i need to explain why that is something coryo is not happy about). for someone so set on his great exceptions and bright future as an individual with power and status ("coriolanus snow, future president of panem" tbosas, 11), becoming a faceless grunt doing menial labour is not fulfilling the expectations both he and others have for him. this haircut is about conformity, making coriolanus into someone completely anonymous and without power.

the power loss is both literal, but also more metaphorical in it's ties to the hair loss, because crassus had that same white hair as him, so cutting it off, down to the bare bones of it, takes away that connection and identification that he had with his father and the larger snow reputation in general.

okay, last thing about this buzzcut. obviously, when sejanus shows up on the train -- or in the barracks like in the book -- he too has his hair buzzed, so you could assume that he's experiencing the same sort of identity crisis and helplessness as coriolanus, but i'd actually argue otherwise. of course, we can't actually know because coryo's narration is heavily biased so we couldn't ever hope to actually know sej's true thoughts, but i think for sejanus it actually might function as a sense of freedom. he's joined the peacekeepers, he's out of the capitol, he can make a difference. it's about his freedom to become someone anonymous (not tied to the plinth name), whereas coryo's is the exact opposite; a loss of freedom and the snow name. it's a punishment for coryo to become no one, but a relief for sejanus. and while the haircut is required regardless of personal feelings on peacekeeping, sejanus' haircut would've been much less of a violation because he signed up for it. it's not something he's being held in place and forced to do. he can shear his hair and shed the capitol life, and embracing anonymity, becoming a piece in something bigger than himself, whereas for coryo, this isn't something he chooses. a choice for sejanus and a punishment for coriolanus.

[and isn't that sort of the piece of their contrasting characters? one desperately seeking to distance himself from the capitol and his family name, and one clawing and fighting and killing to get back to that very same thing...]

now, finally on to coryo's final evolution in the movie: salon-fresh bleached and toned haircut.

to get back to the baby hair metaphor: the baby hair has been shorn, and the adult hair has grown back differently (or it is styles purposefully differently). this symbolizes a loss of that innocence and childhood that he was clinging to, represented by the curls. but we are also past the violation of the buzzcut, where he was deeply uncertain and off kilter -- an identity crisis. now, his hair has grown back, and this is pretty much the style we see in all the way up to thg trilogy and donald sutherland's snow.

it is pushed away from the face (very unlike the baby curls we see, which constantly are in/over his face), showing us that he is not clouded by those same childish things that he was before. it is more structures and carefully styled, displaying discipline and order.

i'd be curious to know if he straightens it in these early years post-lucy gray as a staunch refusal to even slightly be similar to how he was before. because president snow as we see him has some of that wave back. this is a super "plate of corn" moment, of course, but it is something i was thinking about.

also, this new hair is obviously meant to be a nod to crassus' hairstyle: emulating the man he wants to be. the hair is more straight, pushed back away from the face, very structured, for both crasus and snow.

the change is very clearly marked and meant to be very obvious, showing us coriolanus' transformation and his descent into villainy. it's done so masterfully, both obvious and subtle at the same time. the movie did such a spectacular job giving us insight into coriolanus' transformation in so many ways, particularly with the costume choices / colours, etc. and obviously none of this would mean anything without suzanne collins' phenomenal writing in the first place.

subtle visual representations of character transformations you are so special to me <3

[turntechgaykid]

Strawhats Vs Upper Moons

- Luffy would fight Muzan obviously.

- Zoro would fight Kokushibo, since they’re both swordsman and the 2nd strongest members of their groups it works perfectly. Even more so since they both have purple combat themes and have multi-blade transformations.

- Sanji would fucking hate Douma because Douma eats beautiful women for shits and giggles, and even prefers to eat pregnant women for extra energy. Not to mention the obvious Fire vs Ice dynamic.

- Jimbei would fight Akaza. They’re both Martial Artists. Not much more than that. After that it’s mostly surface level connections.

- Brook would fight Kaigaku. They’re both weaker swordsman than Zoro and Kokushibo respectively, Brook’s humming slash would be kinda similar to Zenitsu’s first form, so it would probably be pretty similar to Kaigaku’s actual fight. Plus Brook would dislike Kaigaku’s mentality about how he treats the people in his life.

- Robin would fight Nakime. Trippy fight, but Robin is kind of a hard counter to Nakime.

- Franky would fight Hatengu. A Technology vs Nature dynamic. Franky would be aggravated by Hatengu’s “never my fault” mentality. They’re also opposites in terms of personality.

- Gyokko would fight Chopper. Chopper would hate Gyokko turning people into monstrosities and meat statues for the sake of his art. Especially since Chopper is a doctor. Also an Animal vs Sea-Animal theme there.

- Nami vs Daki. Daki’s 13 year old kid mentality would probably trigger something in Nami due to her love of children, so that could be an interesting dynamic. (Arguably the weakest of their groups)

- Ussop vs Gyutaro. Mr Negative vs Mr Negative. Ussop probably has the hardest fight on his hands. He has an advantage at long range but gets shredded at short range. The impact dial could probably be used against Gyutaro as a physical manifestation of his “pay back the pain I’ve felt” mentality. Any thoughts? I’m probably kinda stretching for some of these.

(Saw this originally on Reddit but don't know who wrote it an It was too big to screenshot so I copied it)

[crowbasils]

A COMPLETE AND IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS OF BASIL’S CHARACTER !!

Tbh, Basil is actually way more nuanced than the game makes him out to be, and has hid his emotions far before Kel has, and is as tragic, if not more tragic, as Aubrey is. Why? Well, let’s start off with his childhood.

HIS CHILDHOOD

Before the friend group. As Polly says in-game, his parents left him when he was a toddler, with his grandmother being the only one there for him.

…Which is really obviously not really a “good” thing, to be left with only one person—an old one at that. Even though he’s left with someone that cares for him, it’s still bad. Why? Because he would realize that she isn’t his parent. That his grandmother isn’t his parent. And that realization hurts, because he’s left to wonder why his parents left him. Why his parents abandoned, and neglected him. Was it because they found him to be weak? Was it because they hated him? Was it because they had no time for him? We never know, and he never did, either.

This can actually cause children to feel like an alien. To feel like they aren’t human. To feel that they can’t “connect” with society. Because they don’t know how to interact with other humans, they can’t relate to other’s experiences all that well due to the lack of parents, they don’t know what a “mother’s love” is, or what “love” is in general, because they weren’t exposed to that. This is, most probably, the case with Basil. Even though he has a grandmother, it’s not really enough. It’s not enough, because it’s not his parents, it’s not the ones who gave birth to him. It’s not the ones who others would say “would love you unconditionally”.

Plus, considering that it’s his grandmother, Basil might’ve actually had to tend to himself and mature faster than anyone did. His grandmother is old, and old people have a lot of complications to deal with. He might’ve had to run errands for her, do house chores for her, and stuff like that. A grandmother isn’t the most reliable parental figure, because they could fall ill at any moment, they could die at any moment. He probably knows this, actually.

All that combined probably makes you think that Basil would turn out to be a sad kid. As in, something like post-incident Sunny. But… surprisingly, he’s not. He’s happy, smiling, and more than Sunny. He’s smiling more than Sunny, which admittedly, makes no sense when you consider his childhood. Which bring us to the next point…

HIDDEN FEELINGS (PRE-INCIDENT)

While not specifically expressed in canon (Sunny and Omori aren’t reliable narrators), it is pretty implied that he hides feelings. Probably the most obvious indicators of that would be the fact that he vents to Sunny, and the existence of Stranger (who is implied to be the parts of Basil that Sunny finds “unpleasant”. Not to say that he dislikes Basil, but he pretty much has this black and white view when it comes to the world.

He probably has hid more feelings than the game lets on. He smiles, to hide the fact that he’s very empty on the inside. He laughs and smiles, to hide the fact that he thinks of himself as “inhuman” and feels “strange” compared to everyone. He involves himself in the activities of the friend group, because he’s so scared of being left alone again and being forgotten and abandoned. He takes photos, because he’s so scared to let the moments pass by, since they could leave him at any moment. He acts the way he is, because he’s never been able to make a lot of human interaction. He values his relationships with the friend group more than anyone, because to him, they are his true family.

They say, “opposites attract”, correct? Then perhaps the reason why Basil hangs out more with Sunny, is because he is the very opposite to him. Sunny isn’t emotionally expressive, Sunny doesn’t smile, and laugh a lot, but unlike him, Sunny isn’t empty. Sunny is full of life, but he doesn’t show it. Sunny has been around people who love and trust him his entire childhood, while Basil hasn’t. Sunny has been loved and cherished by everyone his entire childhood, but Basil? He hasn’t. Basil wasn’t loved and cherished by everyone his entire childhood. Sunny had people care for him, while Basil didn’t. Sunny experienced parental love, but Basil didn’t, and will never experience it. In his eyes, Sunny is perfect, because he experienced what he cannot. Because he is loved by everyone. Because he is cherished, and treasured. He is what Basil cannot be.

Basil probably does have trust and abandonment issues that he hid as well. His photo album can be a sign of that. Abandonment issues, caused by his parents leaving and the fact that his grandmother can fall ill / die at any moment, and trust issues caused by the abandonment issues. The photo album is also described as a collection of “things he is afraid to lose”.

He is also implied to be depressed and/or suicidal in a certain incident which will be addressed in the next section

“THE INCIDENT”

The incident is a major part of the OMORI story, as it serves as the catalyst for all the events ingame. As for this section, I will attempt to give a reason as to why Basil did what he did, and what it implies. As well as clearing common misconceptions

The question “Why did Basil hang Mari?” is a question asked by a lot of people. The answer to that is quite simple, and that is because he didn’t want Sunny to get in trouble, and hated by everyone. “But he could’ve called the ambulance!!! Or even his parents!!!” That is true, but consider, he was in a stressful situation, and he didn’t even know what to do, as witnessing a death of a friend caused by another friend it a hard thing to take. Also, him hanging Mari instead implies that he knows how to tie a noose and that he knows how to suicide, which is concerning, especially as considering that he’s 12 year old, and that it’s pretty rare for a 12 year old to know that back in the time OMORI is implied to have taken place in. The internet also didn’t exist back then, which makes it pretty impossible for Basil to know what suicide is and how to do it unless he planned to do it himself.

A common misconception is that he is the one who scribbled up the photo album, and to that I say, no, he wasn’t. It was Sunny. Basil actually says that it was Sunny in an earlier version of the dialogue before the Basil fight. I’m not sure why they removed it, though. (Sunny even takes a step back when the rest of the gang (minus Basil) hugs Aubrey!)

Another common misconception is that this is the only reason why Basil is depressed/sad, and to that I say, absolutely not. It’s not the only reason why Basil is like that. Even if he healed from the trauma this caused, a lot of his issues are still left unaddressed, such as the abandonment and trust issues and him being implied suicidal.

Also, the incident is not completely his fault, and he wasn’t the reason why Sunny became a shut-in / hikikomori. While yes, his SOMETHING is in the shape of hanged Mari, Sunny became a shut-in / hikikomori due to killing Mari, and not because of hanging her.

POST-INCIDENT, INGAME (FARAWAY SECTION)

The first time we see Basil, we see him asking for his photo album, but getting bullied and getting told “no” instead. This makes a pretty bad first impression to younger fans and illiterate fans, and because of that, he is often watered down into this “uwu coward soft boy who cries a lot”, which he isn’t. He may seem like it, but he isn’t. The second time we see Basil, he is at the old hangout spot, and calling for help. This… actually does imply a lot of things, one of them being suicide. He might’ve came there to die in a place where he missed, to look at the place one last time before he would commit suicide, but he was stopped by the hooligans, which most likely bullied him (even though they say they didn’t). And the last time, the sleepover, he either kills himself, or stabs Sunny in the eye due to hallucinations and stress.

The Basil we see here, in Faraway, is a more broken version of Basil. He still acts and hides feelings, it’s just not as effective as before. Another interesting thing I’d like to point out is the fact that we never really see Basil do anything connected to his past interests. While yes, his photo album may be part, he doesn’t really take photos anymore. Nor do we see him take care of his flowers. Maybe he could’ve lost interest in it, as a result of the incident. We don’t see Basil eat (the animation isn’t there during when Sunny and Kel went to Basil’s house), either, so for all we know, he could’ve starved himself, too, just occasionally reminded by Polly.

That aside, let’s get into the thick of it. Basil, in faraway, is most likely at the lowest point of his life. He had to see his friends leave him one by one (even Kel! We never see him focus on Basil, except for the scenes where he fights Aubrey to protect Basil. He didn’t knock on his door, either, like he did with Sunny.), and have one bullying him. He no longer has an outlet for his extremely bottled up emotions. He doesn’t have anyone, and his grandmother fell ill as well. Polly is paid to be there for him too, which means she doesn’t really count as someone he has. She isn’t close to him, either. She isn’t as close to him as the fandom makes her out to be.

It’s understandable why he broke down almost to the end of the game. Imagine someone you loved and cherished coming back, only for it to end in them leaving you again? And with no warning? No preparation? It sucks. And for the reason why they left in the first place being left unaddressed??? No wonder why Basil broke down. No wonder why he was so angry. No wonder why he was so sad. And, also, only reason why Basil stabbed Sunny’s eye was because he was hallucinating, and not because he actually wanted to. He stabbed Sunny’s eye because he thought it was SOMETHING, and not Sunny. Although it’s not completely all because of that, it’s a key part of it. His repressed anger and hatred, as well as his desire to “save” Sunny is also a part of it too, it’s just that due to the hallucinations, he stabbed Sunny’s eye. The part where he states that he’ll end both of their pains (by murder-suicide) is most likely out of stress, because his situation is extremely stressful, and it’s sad that nobody recognizes it.

He also does use toxic positivity, saying “Everything will be okay…” even if it won’t. It’s just… less recognized.

HIDDEN FEELINGS (POST-INCIDENT)

Basil, post-incident, probably also does have a lot of hidden feelings as well. This time, it includes hatred and anger.

He still feels empty, he still feels “inhuman” and “strange”, even more so that the incident happened. The incident, while not causing most of his problems, worsened a lot of it. His abandonment issues worsened, his trust issues worsened, basically everything worsened.

Although, now you add anger and hatred. He’s mad at Sunny for leaving. Hates him, even. Hates him for leaving him when they were supposed to deal with it together (or so he says), for leaving him during the lowest point of his life, for leaving him for so, so long. He’s mad at Sunny because when he went out, it was already near when he would leave. He hates Aubrey. For bullying him, for not hearing him out, for leaving him as well. He hates Kel. For only paying attention to Sunny. For leaving him. For being insensitive at times. But, he can’t help but feel disgusted at himself. Disgusted at himself for hating them. He feels like he doesn’t have the right to.

POST-GAME

Post game, a lot of Basil’s problems go unsolved. He isn’t exactly portrayed to have moved on like the rest. While yes, you can take the “true ending” as him accepting it… it feels rushed. The “Let’s make new memories together, okay?” that Dream Basil says isn’t Basil himself, so that isn’t reliable. It feels like instead of getting better, his problems will just fester into something worse. He’s basically alone as well. Even more so due to the reactions to the truth. Sunny left, he isn’t close to the friend group, his grandmother is dead, his parents are still gone, he isn’t close to Polly + she’s paid to take care for him… He’s all alone again.

That’s not saying that the friend group will try to get closer to him again, because they absolutely can, it’s just that Basil's problems still aren’t solved either way. Yeah, sure, he might admit some things, but they won’t be the closest anymore. It’ll probably take a very long time for Basil to even warm up to them again. Might even take 2 years.

CONCLUSION

Overall, I think Basil is the character talked least into depth about and often mischaracterized along with Hero. Many people fail to recognize that he’s also as tragic as Aubrey is, if not more tragic. Many people fail to recognize that his issues go far beyond the incident as well. Not a lot of people recognize that in terms of mental state, Basil is much worse than Sunny, since even before the incident, he was already pretty unstable

…Aaaand that’s all! Thank you for reading :D

[buffyfan145]

I wanted to make another post about some of the possible massive season 2 leaks for "Rings of Power" as I've gotten so many more thoughts about it and need to get them out. 😀 Also I'm hoping this does happen now as my mind has been thinking on this and how much it makes sense to me that I'm going to be sad if it doesn't. LOL

So if anyone didn't see The One Ring Net posted a tons of leaks last week and I've posted another post all about that. But the ones that got to me obviously was the reveal that they're going to give Sauron/Halbrand a son that Adar killed. This was before s1 happened and the form Adar knew (played by Gavi). This would add so much complexity to Sauron/Halbrand/Mairon as him having a child is huge and showing he actually is capable of love despite being a villain. Some of my favorite villains in other shows/movies/books do have families and sometimes the only people they love are their children and partner, so adding this to Sauron would just be a plus for me. It also would prove that he does have feelings for Galadriel and is capable of loving her. We all know he was good in the beginning and like Melian is a Maiar so it's totally possible for him to become a father and fall in love with an elf.

Then it makes me wonder who is playing this boy. Is it someone already announced or is it just someone in one episodes explaining this backstory? Then what is his name and like another fan pointed out could Sauron choosing the name Halbrand actually be honoring his son if the name is similar? Also if he's part Maiar does that mean after Adar killed him the son went to Valinor? That would also explain why Sauron/Halbrand was thinking of just living on his own and even contemplated trying to get redemption as maybe he thought he'd be able to reunite with his son at some point.

Then this all brings me again to Celebrian and if it's possible the show really could make her be Sauron's daughter. Weirdly enough one of the leaks said that Sauron/Halbrand is actually pretending to be Celeborn and that's who really reunites with Galadriel. So we have that possibility and that Galadriel gets pregnant that way, but personally I would prefer if it happens after she finds out it's Sauron/Halbrand and we do have another leak that she gets captured by Adar and then have to make a choice in the season finale and possibly decides to stay with Sauron/Halbrand setting up season 3.

All along I figured Celebrian will be born in season 3 so they could even make it to where Galadriel and Sauron/Halbrand did decide to try to make it work as a couple and she changes her mind to be his queen. We know season 4 supposedly is Sauron/Halbrand going back to Numenor from Charlie's interviews, so I've been wondering what the s3 story for them is and it could be this. Once Galadriel finds out he had a son that died it actually would bond them more as then that connection between them in s1 was real and they both experienced such deep loss of family. Then if she has Celebrian but in the end they're doomed anyway and she eventually leaves him and takes their daughter to Lothlorien.

This would also explain why Sauron never attacked Lothlorien or Rivendell and why Dul Guldur was right next door if his ex-wife and daughter are living there. The real Celeborn would likely be back by this point and Galadriel restarts her marriage with him and he helps raise Celebrian as her step-father similar to some of our fics, including my own "Building a Mystery". Plus there was a version of Galadriel escaping thanks to the dwarves with little Celebrian but she also had a son named Amroth that Tolkien later decided to delete. Now makes me wonder if this is where the writers got the idea to give Sauron a son too.

Then it makes me think too when Celelbrian goes to Valinor if she turns out to be Sauron/Halbrand's daughter that she actually reunites and meets her older brother that's been in Valinor since Adar killed him. That way too besides Galadriel's other family and Melian and Yavanna/Aule, Celebrian would have family there. And then when Galadriel finally goes back to Valinor at the end of LOTR she also meets Sauron/Halbrand's son and promises Sauron/Halbrand that she'll be with their children even though he can't be with them.

It just weirdly works for me and makes sense in a way I never expected. I know a lot of the purists/die-hard LOTR probably would hate these changes but I think it just adds to it and that's not just me being a Haladriel shipper. I now see their relationship as a tragic romance and it just fits with that. But also I'm really forgiving in a lot of my other fandoms for huge changes like this if it makes sense. It just a lot of the LOTR aren't since there hasn't been that many adaptations like those of public domain things like Jane Austen's books and all the "Sherlock Holmes" stories to name two. So we'll see what happens but I'm all for this.

[zahri-melitor]

My comments on the Extended Generational Sorting Algorithm:

Gosh there are some murky in-betweens here.

G-1 – JSA and teams like the All-Star Squadron and the Blackhawks. The WWII edition. This is occasionally merged with G0 as timelines shift, but includes Hippolyta, Ted Knight, Sandra Knight (as Phantom Lady), Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, etc. A lot of this cohort have aging issues and several have grandkids in G1 or G1.5. Zinda simultaneously belongs to this group and G1.5.

G0 – JSA, the gap between WWII and the first JLA. This is the younger JSA cohort who aren’t so tied to WWII and the gap after. Dinah Drake. Ted Grant. Johnny Quick. Giovanni Zatara. Walter Chase (the Acro-Bat). Bruce’s parents. The Kents. Jim Gordon. Etc.

G1 – JLA land! Bruce, Clark, Diana, Ollie, Barry, Hal, Arthur, etc. You know them. Your idea of a headlining JLA includes these folk.

G1.5 – Birds of Prey and JLI zone. Characters too old to be Titans cohort but younger/clearly different than the G1 headliners. Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance are the stalwarts of this group, plus I’ll add Helena Bertinelli, Cameron Chase, Kate Spencer, Kendra, etc. I guess I’d probably put Harley Quinn, agewise, here too. Also would add Beatriz, Tora, Booster, Ted Kord, etc. Guy and Zatanna sort of bounce between here and G1 depending on storyline.

G2 – it’s the Titans! Dick, Donna, Wally, Roy, Garth, Victor, Gar, Kory, Raven etc. Their agebounds are probably Roy as the oldest and Gar as the youngest, though Gar’s given to them as a courtesy – he’s realistically a member of G2.5, he just hangs with G2. We also add Kyle and Connor and Jesse Quick etc to this cohort despite them not being core Titans given their strong connections to particularly Donna and Wally.

G2.5 – The JL Taskforce kids and Jason’s non-existent team. Ray Palmer’s Teen Titans. This is a group of individuals that has never properly coalesced. Overlaps in age with both the bottom of G2 and the top of G3 but distinctly don’t belong to either. Jason, Ray, Grant, Argent, Cynthia, Eddie, Snapper Carr, plus Danny Chase and arguably Gar all fall into this group. Rose Wilson overlaps with G3 but vibeswise probably also belongs to this group. I am tossing up whether Anissa and Jennifer Pierce belong here or in G2.

G3 – Young Justice. Tim, Kon, Cassie, Bart, Cissie, Greta, Anita. Cass Cain belongs here despite being the same age as several G2.5s. Steph, Charlie, Black Alice, Jaime, Zachary Zatara, even a handful of the newer folk like Jinny Hex slot in here. Several Supergirls including current Kara, Courtney Whitmore IS a member of this group and the three oldest Marvel kids (Billy, Mary and Freddy) are currently aged into this.

G4 – Damian’s Teen Titans. Damian, Jon Kent (yes even still with the age up), Emiko Queen, Ace West etc. If they are still a teen right now in DC storytelling or SHOULD be a teen, they belong here (if they’re a teen and SHOULDN’T be they’re probably a G3/G5). The Gotham Academy kids. Arguably the Titan Academy kids too? Agewise the DEO Titans kids but spiritually probably not (also the chances of us ever seeing them again is…low) The younger Marvel kids (Eugene, Pedro and Darla especially) are with this group.

G5 – so this group are either alternate G3 or G3.5s. Too new and too un-networked with G3 to be absorbed. Jace Fox, Yara Flor, Jackson Hyde, Duke Thomas and the We Are Robin cohort all belong here. Kong Kenan, Avery Ho, etc also are members.

G6 – Titans Offspring Gen. Almost everyone in this group has been artificially aged, which is a thing, hey. Lian, Irey, Jai, Cerdian, Robbie. Maxine, obviously. Otho and Osul-Ra.

G7 – Help I’m From Earth-One: Power Girl and Helena Wayne.

G8 – The Lost Children – also Help I’m From Earth-One in a lot of respects but they’re in their teens, not adults. May get folded into other groups if they get more use.

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Why I made Eggman harsher on Sage in my Frontiers rewrite

A reader left me a review for Sonic Horizons on FFN asking why I wrote Eggman to be harsher to Sage. I think the messages we had are informative enough that I want to transfer them to a post on my blog here.

I've anonymised the reader and only made grammatical-level edits to both our messages for clarity and correctness. The reader's messages are indented whereas my responses are not.

Okay, I've got to ask: why are you making Eggman harsher on Sage? He can’t really hate her when she exceeds her function that he made her for and along with having a intellect to talk with.

Hi there!

Eggman is a narcissistic supervillain who holds nothing but disdain for those who diverge from his vision and has no reputation of working with or respecting others' opinions. Sage is his creation the way that children can have narcissistic parents who grow unreasonably disappointed and angry that their children do not cater and adhere to their specific visions, whims, and emotional states. It doesn't matter that, reasonably and objectively speaking, Sage is intelligent and highly capable, because Eggman is not a reasonable or objective person who holds other in any regard higher than he does himself

His and Sage's relationship isn't meant to reflect two reasonable and well-adjusted people, but an unrepentantly evil megalomaniac and his guileless creation who only has one purpose to her existence, a purpose which Eggman's personality makes nigh impossible to sustainably achieve

But that's why he felt a connection with Sage because he created something that he can be proud of and despite all of Orbot and Cubot mistakes and fumbling he keeps them around for some conversations and people to knock around. The Egg Memo did also show what his childhood was like and the fact he was stuck way longer with Sage to grow to appreciate her. Yeah, he's a Narcissist but he still would have pride in Sage and she gives him that longing he wanted as a child and what he could imagine what Maria was like when she was alive. Sometimes evil people can grow to love someone which gives them a different reason to conquer/destroy the world. Plus, if Joker can fall in love and start a real family (an evil one, mind you) so can Eggman. But this is your story and I'm not here to force change I was just wondering.

Hi again!

I should first dispel any notion that this rewrite is supposed to respect or be faithful to Frontiers' interpretations of the characters. As a matter of fact, I'm writing Horizons specifically because I found the characterisation of all the key characters, including and especially Eggman, to be lacking in some way. If you're reading Horizons with an expectation that I am ignoring what Frontiers has established, it is purposeful, to the point of literally being the purpose of this fic in the first place.

On that point, I find the way that Frontiers 'humanised' Eggman to be very boring, predictable, and not well established according to what we know of his character in all the past games. It is very in line with Marvel/DC superhero/supervillain plot beats, or something parodying those beats like Megamind does, to have supervillains actually, in truth(!), have a kernel of Humanity, Sympathy, Compassion, a Human *Non-Socio/Psychopathic Heart, unlockable finally by fulfilling some Freudian conception of familial love that was lacking in their (obviously tragic and loveless, because how could it be any other way) childhood or some such. This storyline, to me, is an absolute snore. Eggman, I have found, is a very compelling and likeable supervillain who has accomplished being that without very popular and predictable plotlines about discovering the Power Of Love that other villains or characters have been routinely subject to.

If Eggman were the type who valued connections or somehow, some way, wanted connection with a being who was in some sense equal to him, it is (1) not hinted at all in most of his existence and (2) not established in a convincing way in Frontiers given point (1). If he built any statues commemorating Literally Anyone But Himself in Eggmanland or had something other than his own face be his logo on every piece of technology he owns, perhaps I could be a little more convinced of the idea that he actually would like, appreciate, and try to nurture something resembling an equal partnership. As things stand, I'm not convinced.

Horizons starts from after Forces where he tasted success and it was all torn away after he worked with a jackal, another person, who in the end exhausted his usefulness and could not help Eggman's cause, and Eggman was ultimately beaten again despite having won. Horizons follows an Eggman who is pulling out all the stops while still remaining his narcissistic, clownish, unrepentantly evil self while creating and exploiting highly advanced technology and, in some senses, being way in over his head about it while still remaining fiendishly clever. He is not like you, or me, or other supervillains so popularised in comics. He is just evil. Period. To me, that does not mean he is uninteresting or unlikeable; far from it. I like him as he is and I want to tell a story given the way that he is.

*Editorial note (one that I haven't communicated with the reviewing reader but write for the current one)

The idea of goodness and humanity always seems to include the stereotyping of sociopathy and psychopathy as inherently evil, which I do recognise to be false and the realities to be much more nuanced. It contributes to a narrow viewpoint about human nature and humanity that to have a Human Heart is to have a Squeaky Clean Bill Of Mental Health, and that those are the only ways in which villains can be compelling, relatable, or likeable to an audience, none of which I think to be true

On another note, though I use narcissistic as a qualifier, I don't use it to mean that Eggman has narcissistic personality disorder, or NPD, proper. I also don't think that someone having NPD or narcissistic traits automatically makes them evil; reality, again, is far more nuanced than such a flattened picture provides. At the end of the day, though, Eggman is extremely and cartoonishly self-centred and self-loving in all his ambitions to take over the world, which can only be aptly described as him being narcissistic