#sorry for the ramble 😅

[shuxiii]

ngl it took me some time too at first 😭😭

Also, know that I know you like Taylor, I want to brag that 1989 tv (my fav album) IS COMINF OUT ON MY BIRTHDAY

Lastly, what are your top 5 albums?

(mine is folklore, 1989, Reputation, Midnights, Speak Now in that order)

Ouch why would you tell me you have 1989 album on my face i love that album and advance happy birthday im happy you’re getting it as your gift sorry if i have nothing to give u for ur birthday so I’ll give you a kiss 😙 EDITED: I READ THAT SENTENCE WRONG I MEAN URE SO LUCKY TO HAVE 1989 TO COME OUT IN HR BDAY😭😭😭

for the top five albums its

1. 1989/speak now (i cant decide) (when i was around 7, blank space was my jam, along with ed sheeran’s thinking out loud) my fav in 1989 is gotta be, you are in love, style, bad blood omgkfmd IN SPEAK NOW omg where do i start… DEAR JOHN IS MY TOP, LAST KISS UGH, TIMELESS, BACK TO DEC, MINE, SOTRY OF US

2. FEARLESS. My fav songs there is the way i loved you, mr perfectly fine, today was a fairytale, fearless, you belong w me, white horse

3. REPUTATION. DONT GET ME STARTED REPUTATION IS SO MHIY!HANNI CODED 🥹🥹🥹 MY FAV SONGS DELICATE, DRESS, GETAWAY CARR!!!

4. LOVER. Idk why people didnt like lover bc i loved it my fav music is, lover, cruel summer, cornelia STREET, papwr rings, DAYLIGHTT

5. UGHH THIS ONES HARD ITS EItHER RED OR FOLKLORE, for folklore my fav song there is, the 1, cardigan, august, betty, ANS FOR RED ITS GOTTA BE, I ALMOST DO, RED, BEING AGAIN 😭😭

Bonus: i love right where you left me

[randomcartoonbro]

That's completely fair. And you are correct. I haven't seen it since then because I had associated it with some of the bad things that happened at that church. That combined with me not paying much attention since I was like 4 or 5 and didn't get it, so that definitely lead to me missing quite a bit of context. Thank you for pointing this out, though! I like being educated on stuff like this. I'll definitely have to rewatch it soon 😊

W.

[bitchass-emojis]

Re -> https://at.tumblr.com/bitchass-emojis/thoughts/prs3umruzvxu

First thought I had was “Whoa that hair is fucking awesome looking”

:3

Thank you! i did a lil shape study on them a while ago, specifically because i was severely struggling first drawing him. The shape of the hair in these scenes was the insp.

I just decided to exaggerate it by adding more volume and more fire qualities.

side view is similar.

[imnotditzy]

Imagine if Billy didn’t know Shazam died?

(This is actually apart of my AU lol)

But what if Billy didn’t know Shazam, the Wizard, was actually dead? Like maybe he did see Shazam get crushed by rocks but he just thinks a Wizard could survive that, Or he doesn’t remember meeting Shazam for whatever reason. (Like he knows it happened because his pantheon told him so, and he remembers like a tiny bit of being at the RoE, but maybe he doesn’t remember Shazam dying)

This would be kinda funny to think about, especially if the pantheon’s trying desperately not to let Billy know Shazam died. But they occasionally slip up, and each time they do Billy gets slightly more suspicious. Also, in my AU since Billy and Marvel and separate entities, I think it would be funny aswell if Marvel didn’t know either. (—which I do have an AU explanation to make it work, but I fear I may be getting too off track already.)

—

Heracles: Shazam was a good wizard.

Marvel: Was?

Heracles: IS, is. I simply misspoke—Shazam is a good wizard.

Marvel: Oh… 🧐

Billy: 🤨

—

Imagine if literally every other magic being knows Shazam’s dead, but Captain’s just none the wiser and tries to talk to them about the Wizard.

—

Zatanna: So…how’d you get your powers?

Billy (as Cap): Oh, by this Wizard, his name’s, uh…

grabs a piece of paper and scribbles the name down

Zatanna: Shazam?

Billy: Yup! Gave me my powers, have you heard of him? I think he’s very well known. I haven’t seen him in a while. Hope he’s still doing alright.

Zatanna (Going pale at the mention of a very much dead Wizard being referred to in present tense): Mhm….yeah…

—

(the league in the cafeteria, listening to one of the rare times they got Captain to talk about themself. —Billy’s just procrastinating going outside in the midwestern November cold.)

Billy: So I got my powers from this Wizard, his names…um. I think I told Zatanna? Captain looks over at her.

Zatanna (going pale): Really. I don’t remember.

Billy: Oh, okay, that’s fine! Here.

Grabs a piece of paper and scribbles down the name.

Superman: Shazam?

Every magic user in the cafeteria freezes.

Billy: Yeah! He’s the wizard who gave me my powers. I haven’t seen him since I became Captain Marvel, though. I should really go talk to him, maybe I’ll do that later.

****

Achilles: But what if we didn’t…

Hercules: How about we don’t…

Solomon: That wouldn’t be a good choice, Billy.

Zeus: I agree, you’d be just of a fool as Atlas to go.

Atlas (offended): Wow.

****

Zatanna (uncomfortable): I don’t think you should…

[myokk]

I had so much fun writing this up as I drank my coffee this morning, thanks for making the templates @kiwiplaetzchen 🥹🙏

A little bit of backstory for Eloise - I’ll do an actual drawing etc etc in the future but for now if you’re interested!!:

Eloise has a brother, Leonard (Leo) who is a year older than her (I want to draw him soon!!) and her parents are both (unfortunately 😔🙏) still very much alive. If the family had continued to the 1930s, they would DEFINITELY have been part of the Sacred 28, making it the Sacred 29 instead. Her father was an only child so he inherited everything, and her mother is Elladora Babbit née Black, the woman who started the Black family tradition of beheading useless house elves😭 (and yes unfortunately that makes Headmaster Black Eloise’s uncle😫).

Eloise was kept a secret from the rest of magic society her whole life. In my imagination, the pureblood families have so much inbreeding amongst themselves that it’s not uncommon for them to give birth to squibs. Part of pureblood culture is not announcing they’ve given birth to a child until they’ve shown signs of magic - normally around 3/4 years old at most. When Eloise never showed ANY signs of magic, she was just their shameful secret. On her eleventh birthday when it was all but confirmed she was a squib, she was burned off the family tree and spent the next five years at a muggle finishing school. Always looking to take advantage of whatever they could get, however, Eloise’s parents arranged a marriage between her and the firstborn son of a wealthy muggle landowner when she came of age.

Her family had no idea that she was admitted to Hogwarts (they cut off all ties to her and disowned her) and Leo, who had always been fiercely protective of her growing up was simultaneously devastated and ecstatic that he could see his sister again. It’s been really hard to repair the relationship though, as there is a lot of resentment that they cannot get over even though they want to😭. And, for as much as her parents dictated everything about how her life has gone, Eloise can’t help but try to work hard to get their love and approval as it’s all she ever thought she wanted. And now that she’s in a position to become the daughter they’ve always desired, she feels a lot of resentment towards herself. She feels as if she’s betraying the young girl who was abandoned by her family, because she wants their approval so badly (it will take a while for her to get over this😔🙏)

In terms of the personality I did it a bit like the sims where I just max things out bc I think everything in the middle is boring jajajaja. But:

Shy: not shy in the sense she can’t talk to other people and she isn’t necessarily socially awkward. She just doesn’t always know what to say and will remain silent if she thinks she has nothing to add to a conversation instead of yapping away (BUT unfortunately rambles and over explains herself to not be misunderstood when she does talk, THANKS narcissistic mother), and normally she wishes people would ignore her. When the Daily Prophet article came out about her “miraculous” recovery and introduction to magical society she HATED it & she HATES all of the people trying to talk to her and befriend her.

Active: NOT active as in super energetic. She just wakes up really early and always needs to keep herself busy. She gets anxious if she doesn’t have anything to do - but, she includes thinking as doing something, and often retreats into her thoughts and doesn’t realize when people are talking to her.

I think grouchy and nice can exist together so with this one I put it in the middle. She’s both simultaneously😭

Aaaand with cowardly/brave, she thinks she is really cowardly for going back to her parents so easily and wanting their love so badly, and hates herself for it (not realizing it’s an accumulation of a lifetime of emotional trauma). But lots of times when things get very high-stakes she will jump in and do incredibly reckless things without thinking of the consequences, although if she stopped to think before she acted she would definitely NOT do them. So maybe brave in actions, cowardly on the inside (IDK)

If you read all of this I love you!! I want to share more about her but this was getting crazy long jajajajajajaja😇🙏

[acornsandoaktrees]

i'd say this is more a 'long-campaign-too-cumbersome-to-wear-when-battle-could-start-at-any-moment' kind of crown.

this excerpt from The Hobbit,

"On his head was a crown of berries and red leaves, for the autumn was come again. In the spring he wore a crown of woodland flowers."

is at least to me kind of ambiguous? does the crown itself change, or does the foliage? now, (and i cannot say enough, this is only my opinion) i think it means foliage, because crowns tend to be quite an important image. and a hefty investment. it's safe to say there's probably something special/unique in the wood Thranduil's crown is made from or some sort of sentimental/cultural value, so it doesn't make sense to me that he would have up to 4 crowns. i've heard elsewhere that in the summer/spring his crown was occupied by beech leaves (the symbol of Greenwood), so the facts around it aren't quite concrete.

also (and i add this as a matter of what i believe is headcanon because i have yet to find it mentioned by tolkien, so take it with a large grain of salt) some people believe the crown to be a gift from the trees themselves/Ents, etc., which would make it precious and something Thranduil would be unwilling to risk.

so, during Smaug's arrival (probably visible only as a plume of smoke from Greenwood, which could've meant any old sacking) Thranduil has to quickly send out scouts, amass his army -- get them all equipped and in heavy armour -- and march across the marshes between the Long Lake and Felegoth (his halls). as we know, it was a rather sudden invasion, over quickly. Thranduil probably knew he himself wouldn't be fighting, rather strategising, if they even arrived before its end. and they didn't.

i'd imagine Thranduil's primary reason for showing up was really to make sure Smaug didn't set his sights on Greenwood. if he did, then it was in Thranduil's best interest to be as prepared as possible (and meet him before he could reach the forest and set it aflame, which Thranduil then has to devote crucial resources towards mitigating, with obvious great loss of fauna and flora). when he arrives at Erebor and sees the dragon going after the horde in favour of killing fleeing Dwarves, his experience tells him that the danger to his own land is now negligible.

also, as @mirkwood-hr-department stated, if the Dwarves couldn't defeat Smaug then Thranduil must've known his forces stood little-to-no chance. and of course, he's a flawed character! his interests are with his own people, and that made him insensitive to the plight of the Dwarves.

but i'm getting off-track: as far as the movies go, when Thranduil later takes his army to Dale, he 1) had already offered to help Thorin slay Smaug in return for the white gems of Lasgalen, an offer Thorin refused, and 2) knew a seige was likely in order.

the Dwarves had already made it inside the mountain and fortified themselves, to say little of the very dramatic death of Smaug. without a dragon in the equation, Thranduil is more willing to commit to the cause. in my eyes, the supplies he brought were at least in part to feed his own army -- and they are there for a little while: his tent is set up, he has the luxury of wine and glass, and his home is nearby should he require anything.

yet he doesn't have his crown. because this is a military situation he has prepared for, probably since the Dwarves' escape. and, look at that thing. it's intricate and visually powerful, but the longer spokes make it heavy and unbalancing. Thranduil can't be turning his head around to see approaching enemies with the ease and speed that might save his life. also, the way it sits on his head is... somewhat precarious -- you can see it is loose by his ears/cheeks.

this crown is a decorative piece, meant to look impressive, not be practical. (a common trend in irl royalty -- the English crown is so heavy that most monarchs suffer through wearing it for their coronation then never again, instead using a lighter mock for special occasions. Thranduil's is made out of wood so that's notsomuch an issue, but it is still cumbersome.)

the smaller circlet, meanwhile, is small, better fitted, and holds his hair out of his face. perfect to spring into battle at the slightest provocation.

(i've just thought of this: i headcanon that as promise of his commission of the white gems of lasgalen, Thranduil was given one of the gems ahead of time, which he gifted to his partner. upon her death, he took possession of the gem in remembrance -- and unless my eyesight is just Bad, that might be a diamond set into his circlet. if so, what better to wear when going into battle to reclaim said gems?)

For the people of the internet out there saying Thranduil didn't intend to fight because he was wearing his fancy crown and not the circlet he fights in during Battle of Five Armies can I remind y'all that canon Elvenking picks his crowns based on season not occasion. So this is obviously his fall crown both thematically and based on when we see him wear it in the films. Now it's repeatedly stated that Thorin & Co arrive on the last day of autumn.

So this isn't so much his battle crown as it is his winter crown

[hailsatanacab]

Your Favourite Author's Favourite Fic

in no way is this me sneakily trying to get fic recs out of people, but here's my new tag game!

Rules! When tagged, reblog with the fic you've written that you love the most

Not the fic with the most kudos, or the most comments, or the most hits, but the fic that you're the most proud of. I'm talking about the story that kept you up at night, the one that you still think about, the one that you wish more people would read

So, it's time to show off! I strongly encourage - in fact, I demand - that you give yourself some compliments, a well-deserved pat on the back, and tell us all the reasons why it's your favourite!

Then tag five people and make them go through it, too 🥰🩷

I'll tag @wolfjackle, @tourettesdog, @gilbirda, @die-erlkonigin6083, and @thewritingowl to get us started, please and thank you!!

[frojdh-art]

”Then again, he was a pirate, and not only that, but a captain. And he was a lot older than her. This was probably all par for the course for him—a new port, and a new girl smitten out of her wits. It wasn't like he was oblivious to the effect he had on people.”

Inspired by @missmungoe’s story Heed the Siren's Call

[whereismyhat5678]

HOLY. SHIT.

I don’t even wanna separate these?? TAKE THE WHOLE SHEET I’M SO PROUD OF IT WHAT????

I was playing around with expressions and OMG, I think I unlocked something???

It was mostly from yesterday’s post, I liked the way I drew Pizza Head so I decided to try drawing him again (since it’s been a while) AND GOD I LOVE THESE‼️‼️‼️ Seriously started out rough but then I just kind rolled with it! I like it! I like it a lot‼️ 😆😆

Also since I drew Brick yesterday as well, I decided to change the way I draw him, just a bit 🤏

Today was so fun AAAHHH!!!! 💞💞💞💞💞💞

[fangswbenefits]

Was just having this conversation on the Astarion discord server, and it's something that happens often and across many fandoms and characters. Orher users have picked thag up, too. The moment you write a more sub-ish man in a M/F pairing, it's like people don't really like it? Idk what it is 😅

In Astarion's case, I think it would make sense for him to be a switch? Reaching that point in a relationship where he just feels so comfortable and trusts his partner so much, he's willing to give up the need to be in control even if just momentarily 🤔

Don't get me wrong, I love Astarion taking the lead and being a tease, but I also think it's neat to explore a different side 👀

Idk why but I'm so nervous about that one shot 😭😭😭😭😭 hope you guys like it!

[happyheidi]

I'm turning 29 this year and regret not being where my parents were at my age. They weren't rich or well off at all, but they were married and had me and their own place. I don't think I'll ever have a relationship that doesn't end with being cheated on, or my own place, let alone the stability to have a BABY. I see my high school friends on facebook having babies and travelling and getting great careers and feel like I missed all my chances already. I'm almost 30 but I'm still doing the same shit I did 15 years ago. The only difference is now I'm hyperaware that life is fleeting. I don't know if I have a question to wrap this up, I just needed to tell someone that and I saw it was therapy hour so I might as well tell you.

Ok this is every girls way of thinking when they reach that 30’s spot. I did it. You did it. They did it. Its programmed in us PLUS we have our biological clock ticking away as well. If I were where my parents were at my age I would have a kid and a math degree. It’s a totally different time so we can’t see ourselves in that light. I’m a victim of it too. I’ve thought of taking out a loan so I can freeze my eggs but it costs like 90k for 3 eggs so yeah but I digress. I turned 33 this December and yes it sound cliche but I don’t feel a day over what.. 24? I’m stunted. So I’m not the person to answer this as I’m kinda in the same boat.

What can we do? Think about how it should be… “how far we should be" by now? Doing so doesn’t change anything other than our moods. I’m actually getting kinda queasy as I’m writing this cus it’s this weird innate feeling that I have no idea how I turn of..

But remember that not all that glitters is gold. And it’s not always greener on the other side. But let’s try to break the fence anyway.

but hey let’s use lots of money on skincare and makeup in the meantime so we help capitalism and ruin ourselves slowly 🎉 (oopsies..)

[herefortheships]

What do you think of the Bj and Lydia controversy due to age?

You know, the short answer I have for this is that I do not think it should be an issue that's even brought up anymore. Lydia is now an adult woman in her 50s; plenty of people end up with a partner who is 10+ years older than them, meaning that they would have been a full adult if they would have come across their partner at sixteen. And that's just speaking about the real world; let's not forget Beetlejuice and the characters in that world are all a work of fiction. I don't think the fact that they met when she was a teenager all those years ago should even be an issue to ship it or not. As a matter of fact, people can ship whatever they want. They can even ship it in the first film and it's not an issue... Shipping in itself is inherently innocent. These characters and the situations around them don't even exist, and therefore, whatever you imagine with them, has no effect in the real world. Shipping is no different from a kid grabbing a couple of dolls and making them kiss. It's all in good fun.

Let me tell you, I had written a long freaking essay under this question 😅, but I decided to leave all of that for a separate post. But a few notable points from that essay which I think would be good to include here are the following.

Back in the 90s and early 2000s we had ships with pretty big age gaps on network TV and nobody batted an eye about the age gap (as far as I'm concerned). I'm talking about Buffy the Vampire Slayer specifically in this post. This was before social media, but as far as magazines and fandom spaces go, I'm sure the discussions around Buffy's love interests in BTVS centered around which hot vampire was better for Buffy, Angel or Spike. (Even nowadays we see this kind of article, exhibit A). And you don't see these articles starting with disclaimers and trigger warnings, either.

For those who haven't watched BTVS, Angel was around 240-something when he slept with 17 year old Buffy. He slept with her the night she turned 17, by the way; they were already together while she was 16. At the time he was turned into a vampire, Angel was around 26 years old. Angel met Buffy when she was 16, but he was stalking watching Buffy since she was 15:

Now about Spike. Spike met Buffy when she was 16, but he didn't actually become obsessed with her until she was around 20. Still, they got together and it wasn't ever an issue that he met her when she was a teenager. In Spike's case, he did stick around and interacted with Buffy multiple times before they started dating. In Betelgeuse's case, we know that while he watched Lydia from afar, he never actually managed to interact or even be seen by her during the years they were apart.

A lot of antis throw around the word "grooming" around Beetlebabes; I don't think they understand the meaning of that word. To put it simple, to groom someone is to condition them and emotionally manipulate them for years into a certain behavior, in this context, into falling in love or becoming sexually involved with the groomer. This term, therefore, cannot and will not ever apply to Betelgeuse and Lydia's relationship (it also does not apply to Spuffy, while we're at it). How can it? When they only had a few interactions over 30+ years ago and only met now after all that time.

And about those interactions in the first movie, the fact that Betelgeuse attempted to marry Lydia is attached to an idea of sexual inappropriateness only when that particular idea is projected onto what actually happened in that scene. Objectively, for Betelgeuse, marrying Lydia was a means to an end; there was no sexual or romantic implications in their marriage in that movie.

I believe in the case of Betelgeuse x Lydia versus ships like Buffy x Angel or Buffy x Spike, people are quick to see an issue in one where they never notice an issue in the other for the following reason: While Angel and Spike are hot, young-looking vampires, Betelgeuse is gross and does look like a dead guy. That is literally the difference. Spike and Angel are good-looking hotties; Betelgeuse... I love him lots and he is hot for me, but he is not conventionally attractive. I bet you if Betelgeuse looked like Michael Keaton did playing Bruce Wayne... People wouldn't have an issue that he's lusting after 50-something year old Winona Ryder, (also a hottie herself btw).

Let's add here before I close off this post that both Angel and Spike did objectively horrible things to Buffy when they were soulless (Angel while Buffy was still a minor), and meanwhile Betelgeuse has never harmed Lydia (no, the insta-pregnancy didn't harm her; everything that happened in that scene was an illusion). He didn't even behave inappropriately toward her in the first film when he was wilder and hornier than he is now. And yet shipping Bangel or Spuffy (last I checked lol) isn't widely seen as problematic. I ship Spuffy to the moon and back, and used to ship Bangel as well at some point 🤷🏻‍♀️ and I haven't seen people attacking shippers nor have I seen discussions of these ships being inappropriate (though I'm sure there must be... it's 2024 and the purity culture fandom infection has spread widely), not in the way I see Beetlebabes fans being harassed.

Anyway, I wrote a separate post about this and will post it eventually. This wasn't meant to be this long, but here we are 😅.

[espressoristretto-patronum]

My MC Tori and I if we were in the same room 🙃

[skyloftian-nutcase]

It’s a wonderful day to reply to AO3 comments that I have been adoring and hugging and admiring! Oh look, tumblr. Oh look, writing prompts! Oh look, that fic I published ages ago I haven’t reread that, oh wait I need to shower—have I brushed my teeth??—ah crap I forgot about laundry—

[witch-craft-works]

I read through the @yuri-is-online's Yutu pokemon au and I had a blurb idea: (AceYuu mentioned)

"Ah! a Piplup! how cute!"

Those were the first words Piplup had ever heard.

When Yuu was 13 unlike the other kids who went to the professors lab to pick out their starter Yuu hatched a Piplup.

Piplup was their little baby and Piplup knew it, soaking up all the love his trainer had for him he had grown quite spoiled if we're being honest.

Piplup had a defect where he couldn’t evolve at all no matter how much training him and Yuu did Piplup just couldn’t.

Oh well it wasn’t really a bad thing that just meant that Yuu could carry and coddle him for the rest of his days! No loss there just because he couldn’t evolve doesn’t mean Piplup couldn’t be strong.

And boy did he enjoy the attention that Yuu gave him. Until the GREMLIN! (Ace) came around and begun stealing Yuu’s attention once they arrived in Twisted Wonderland, dragging them into trouble. Like come on Yuu there are tons of guys that are WAY better than the ginger. But he digresses as long as Yuu was happy he was happy. And he guesses he can get along with Ace as well.

Time went by and it was discovered that there was no way for Yuu to return to their world and would be staying in Twisted wonderland from here on out.

At first Piplup was sad and Yuu was sad as well. But seeing the people around them...maybe things would be ok.

Yuu and Ace got a nice little apartment after they graduated oh and Grim was there too. He could never get along with that cat, fire and water don’t mix you know but he’ll get along with him to make Yuu happy. (but next time he steals his pokepuffs he swears...)

Anyways life was peaceful…and the small family was expecting a baby as well! Piplup was going to make sure that he taught the baby everything he knew! Like bubble beam and water pulse.

But before he knew it that day came. The day those men from the marshals office arrived. Ace was out doing a couple of errands so it was only them. They came because something about Deuce came up. Yuu had told him to keep an eye on the house until they came back. That they would only be gone for a little while and not to fight with Grim but…Yuu never came back

Before he knew it life fell apart, Ace, Deuce and Grim overblotted and Yuu was still missing with no sign of them ever coming back. Almost all his friends were gone...

He found himself in the care of that strange professor the one that would always call Yuu and their friends puppies and every once in a while he would see one of the eel brothers tending to the bar. He desperately missed Yuu, their comforting words when ever Grim or Ace would poke fun at him the delicious snacks that hit the right spot and…he just missed their warmth. It had been so cold without them, he was even missing Ace and Grim as well the once vibrant world had grown so dull and dark… If only he didn't have this dumb defect maybe if he had been able to evolve into Empolion he would have been able to protect Yuu but...he was just stuck as a small and little Piplup. Things seemed hopeless...

Until he met Yutu...

[fayesdiary]

reverse unpopular opinion for....aw heck, go ahead with Rhea for this one as well

This might as well be a part 2 to the previous Rhea ask so :D

I find Rhea to be so compelling for several reasons, one of the biggest being the inherent contradiction that she is very much capable of caring, loving and trusting others, sometimes with some insane gestures when you realize their meaning behind them (ie. Saving Jeralt's life by giving him her blood thus risking outing herself because of it, letting Catherine keep Thunderbrand despite the fact it's the one Relic she could safely recover- implicitly trusting her with one of her family's remains without any obligation to do so, risk angering a noble house to give Cyril a better life and treating him like her son in all but name)... And yet she cannot, for the life of her, bring herself to be honest with them.

Something fascinating I noticed about Rhea is that she ironically seems to prefer people who are blunt with her, because look at the people she's closest to - Seteth spends all of Part 1 openly questioning her, Flayn is constantly on the verge of accidentally outing herself, Cyril is so direct and honest he sometimes accidentally comes off as rude (Shamir too even if she's not as close to Rhea) and Catherine wears her heart on her sleeve.

Heck, all of them are either not that religious or outright non-believers, which ironically I believe helps reassure Rhea they love her because of who she is as a person and not because she's the archbishop, especially given how much she implies to find the position incredibly alienating.

And isn't that just so fascinating? That she is more than capable than loving others and caring for them risking her own personal safety, she appreciates people being honest with her.... But cannot, will not be entirely honest with them in turn.

Because make no mistake, that right there is Rhea's true fatal flaw: her compulsive need to keep everything a secret.

From the big but understandable stuff that would get her and her family scrapped for parts if it became public to downright pointless shit to hide like not liking hot drinks, and it's the one trait that screws her over the most, between being the reason Jeralt left (since she didn't tell him ANYTHING about what happened with Byleth so he assumed the worst and fled) and the thing preventing her from making connections as deep as she actually wants (like even just telling her loved ones how much they mean to her), as well as getting the support she actually needs. And because she feels she has to bear everything on her shoulders, she crumbles under the weight because no matter how hard she tries, she will never be good enough.

In that sense the role of archbishop is a sort of mask to her. It's definitely a part of her, but also something she has sort of burrowed into like a safety net preventing her from being true to herself. Because that'd mean making herself vulnerable, in more ways than one. To say nothing about putting her surviving family and remnants of her dead kin to jeopardy.

If she were to open up she'd be... More lively, I think. Definitely sillier if Heroes is any indication, and arguably more willing to take a direct approach in helping people. And definitely more loved and happier.

And perhaps, one day she'd realize she doesn't need to bring her mom back to fix Fódlan. She's not doing it alone anymore, after all.