#sorry wow this got really long

[reengeen]

NEW OBSESSION AQUIRED

[surreal-duck]

master artist and his number one fan

guy who is being so normal about the new additions to their profiles. i think abt midoris initial infatuation with his art slowly developing into appreciating yuzuru himself as a person and idol to the point he worries about how he sees him (ex: a bit of home party and in workplace survival rules) sometimes thats a lie i think about it a lot. and yuzuru learning to enjoy art just for the sake of drawing!! seeing the lets try diy story where he doesnt even refute drawing on midoris desk and was only worried that his doodles might cover up the mascot design compared to how discouraged he usually would be in earlier ! stories. everything to me i adore their dynamic if that wasnt obvious by *gestures to basically everything*

and happy pride month 🏳‍🌈

[possamble]

do you have any particular thoughts regarding marcille being a half-elf? its interesting to me considering the fact that she seems self-conscious about being a half-elf, but denies it when its brought up

i remember marcille looking visibly uncomfortable over laios simply asking her how old she is, which i think the only reason she might feel nervous about this is because it might reveal her as a half-elf to him.

she's never corrected anybody whose called her an elf either.

never mind the circumstances of the reveal, in which thistle goes on about how half-elves are inferior and accusing her of wanting to become full blooded elf, she seemed particularly upset like he struck a nerve-

i wish the half-elf thing was built upon more. also, underrated marcille line:

okay so i revisited this sequence just to make sure I could back myself up and it's just... man. there's a lot going on.

the first reaction we get from Marcille is this huge panel that takes up half of the page

she is viscerally affected. flushing to the tips of her ears with the intensity of it. and we see it again, a few pages later

so it might seem like she's embarrassed about it and lying to herself, but... I really think it's just that Thistle is accidentally hitting sore spots. If you really look at what he says to get these reactions

"you'll live out your entire life [...] and die that way too"

"a hundred years from now, nobody will be there"

Hear me out. I think, if he stuck to harping on about her inferiority without bringing up how terrifyingly long-lived she is, she wouldn't have been as bothered. But right now, Thistle is accidentally hitting all the marks on Marcille's deepest fears-- and this is after the Winged Lion promised her that her dreams could come true in an extremely vulnerable moment, so it also hits her slightly guilty conscience as well.

I do truly believe that Marcille isn't bothered about being a half-elf the way that people assume she'd be bothered by it. To her, the biggest problem with being a half-elf is that it's isolating.

On one hand, it's not hard to imagine why she'd distance herself from elves in the west. A lot of them can clock her as a half-elf on sight, unlike other races, and therefore she's always branded with this weird stigma of being Othered -- I would even say that she considers herself lucky for being born outside of elven culture instead of having to grow up in it. I mean, just... look at the way elves talk about her.

Skipping past the uncomfortable implication of what 'not tolerating the existence' of half-elves would actually entail, this is incredibly fucking annoying. You can see why she wouldn't want to be around elves much. You see a lot of Marcille reacting badly here, but honestly, almost all of it can be attributed to her freaking out that her bluff completely failed. She's honestly more paying attention to Izutsumi's footsteps and trying to coordinate an opportunity to escape.

And in the end, you see her built-up frustration at being asked if she wants to be a full-blooded elf like 2-3 times in a row.

Yeah, yeah, "the lady doth protest too much," and all. But we know Marcille. We know that she's a lot more embarrassed and horrendously unconvincing when she's being prodded about something she's actually self-conscious about.

Moving onto the flipside of things, it might seem weird that she "pretends" to be a full elf around other races, but it's not really that strange if you think about it. Again, people are weird about her being infertile or whatever, and a lots of them don't even know much about what sets half-elves apart from everyone else. I mean, look at how uncomfortable Laios is just asking her about it

and look at how exasperated and resigned she looks

And like... she's right. Where would that come up in normal conversation? Why would she go out of her way to tell them? She's functionally a normal elf to other races anyway -- got the ears, the abnormally long "childhood", and the huge mana capacity. Unless it's directly relevant or important for people to know, I don't think it's all that strange or indicative of insecurity that she prefers not to bother with it.

(This combined with her sense of being an "outsider" to elf culture also explains why she thinks elf superiority is embarrassing. She sees the way elves treat short-lived races from the "outsider" perspective nonetheless, and thinks it's obnoxious; especially more so because she usually has to play the elf around short-lived races and deal with the reputation of arrogance that elves have built up.)

The sad thing is, this all means that... she doesn't actually fit in anywhere. She doesn't like going out West much because of how elves treat her. But she's also an outsider in the continents she was born in, treated like this exotic long-lived alien choosing to live among short-lived races for some reason. She is always an outsider, the Other, no matter where she goes. Add in the fact that she'll live longer than literally anyone she knows, and it's honestly kind of heartbreaking.

And I think that's the crux of it. Marcille really doesn't act like she's at all self-conscious about being a half-elf because of any feelings of inferiority or being half-made or whatever. She considers herself a perfectly legitimate being and might even, in some ways, consider herself superior to normal elves because she's not blind with elf supremacy or whatever. (And whatever "elven biases" she displays, all of them are born more out of the fact that she's kind of bad at conceptualizing how other races age and mature compared to herself, not that she actually considers herself better or more mature simply for being an elf.)

I think that whatever self-consciousness Marcille has about being a half-elf is, instead, related to terror and loneliness. The reminder that it ensures she'll never truly belong anywhere for the rest of her very long life. The reminder that, in truth, even she's not actually sure how old she is by other races' standards (hence the discomfort when asked how old she is). She doesn't want to not be a half elf, or be a full elf or full tall-man-- in her ideal world, she's still a half-elf. She just gets to live out her life at the same pace with the people she loves and doesn't have to say goodbye again and again and again until she dies.

and one last very important panel, right after Mithrun tells her that all her desires would be devoured

In her ideal world, she's still a half-elf and reality magically starts marching at her pace. But failing that, the second best thing is that she's still a half-elf-- but one who is able to accept reality and let go of her fear.

(But the rest of the story pans out the way it does because, to Marcille, taking reality apart and reshaping it was less scary than simply and fully reconciling with it.)

[formereldestdaughter]

ok wait i need to hear more of your thoughts on peeta owning a bakery....

This is one of those rare times where I’m pretty sure this anon isn’t someone I know personally bc I’ve subjected anyone who will listen to my rant about the Peeta Bakery Headcanon. Anyway, you’re gonna regret asking this anon bc there are fucking Layers here.

I know this is probably a controversial take based on the number of fics where I’ve seen it, but I simply do not think that Peeta would open a commercial bakery after Mockingjay!! Like on a metatextual level, I don’t think it really fits with the point of the ending of the series. It actually sort of fascinates me that it’s just such a common headcanon because the ending of Mockingjay is exceedingly vague. I think that vagueness invites us, as readers, to imagine a better world post-revolution. A world where Katniss would feel confident that her children would be safe from injustice, where she’d feel confident that her children would never know want the way she did as a child. A just world. A kinder world. Can a capitalist society ever be just? Is a capitalist society where a disabled teenager has no other means to subsist himself (or feels like there’s no other way he can be a contributing member of his community) really the post-revolution world we dream of? Is that really the best we can imagine?

(This got so insanely long I’m adding a read more lmao)

I get that showing a better world is not always the point of post-mockingjay headcanons/fics. Like there are plenty of really great post-mockingjay fics I’ve seen where, yeah, part of the fic is that society like ISN’T all that different or all that much better. I’ve seen that really well done! Hell, I’ve written them myself! It’s easy to imagine how a lot of aspects of society would not get an overhaul, a lot of the same structural inequalities would continue to exist. One headcanon that really stuck with me (I can’t remember which fic it was from) was that Peeta sells basically mail order baked goods to people on the Capitol, sending them iced cakes and pastries by train, because there are still people who were “fans” of theirs during the Games. And idk this doesn’t actually have much to do with my point lol but I liked it because it’s kind of fucked up and like! Yeah! It makes sense! If he needed money that would be a good way to make it! War often makes people rich, often for horrible reasons, and often it’s people who already have capital in the first place.

Anyway, more about the hypothetical bakery because alright. I bring up the fact that “yeah society not being all that different post-revolution and still being an unjust capitalist hellscape” could be a reason why Peeta re-opens a bakery because that’s actually never the types of fics where I see the bakery headcanon. Fics where Peeta opens a bakery are usually trying to make the exact opposite point. Like. Things are getting better, now he can open a bakery! Look at how much better the world is now, plus he’s got a bakery! Peeta is healing, that’s why he can open a bakery now! And I am so, so sorry to inform everyone who’s never had the grave misfortune of owning a family business, but there is truly nothing further from the truth lmao. Like just putting aside the immense amount of emotional baggage that Peeta has about his family, running a small business is an insane amount of work in any context and being a baker especially is physically grueling and involves early hours (and long hours) that aren’t really the best fit with the multiple ways that Peeta is disabled now. (I could go into this more because I have a lot of thoughts. But I will spare you.). I also think it’s seen throughout the books that Peeta is someone who needs time to pursue creative outlets to process his feelings and someone who values leisure and values quality time with his loved ones. And having grown up in his family’s bakery, I think he’d understand the reality that running a bakery wouldn’t leave much space of those pursuits and wouldn’t leave much space for him to have the things that keep him healthy and stable. I think he’d know that the way he is now— after two Games and the war and unspeakable torture at the hands of a dictator—isn’t compatible with the lifestyle necessary for running a commercial bakery.

And tbh with that in mind, I don’t think he’d push himself to re-open a business (one that would be a constant reminder of his dead family and his complicated relationships with them that got no closure) that would require him to sacrifice his physical and emotional well-being. Like I think he might look into the possibility, I think he might even start trying to open a bakery out of a sense of obligation/duty, maybe harboring some idea that this is who he was supposed to be, who he would've been without the Games, or that it’s this last piece of his family that can live on, or that it’s this last connection to his family so he can’t let it die too. But ultimately, I think any attempt to open a bakery wouldn’t get very far. Maybe he'd start wading into the logistical nightmare that is small business ownership and realize it's not for him (because it's probably also true that as much as him and his brothers were involved in the business, there's almost certainly parts they weren't involved with and didn't see, i.e., filing taxes). Or maybe looking into opening a bakery— how triggering it is, the stress of it— causes a downward spiral. Maybe he hates how much he's worrying everyone by unraveling. Maybe having a breakdown from the stress of just trying to open a bakery makes him realize, yeah, maybe in another life he would have ran his family’s bakery but the way he is now just doesn’t work with running a bakery, not without great sacrifices he's not willing to make. I just can’t see a bakery coming to fruition.

I know a lot of fics include Peeta deciding to reopen a bakery as a big step in his healing or include him rebuilding a bakery as part of his healing process but honestly, I think the opposite would be more true: I think Peeta either trying/failing to open a bakery or ultimately deciding not to open a bakery would be hugely healing for him. I think it would be a huge part of him accepting the way he is now as a person, his new limitations but also his strengths. I think it would be a huge part of him accepting the way his life his now and accepting that he likes his life the way it is, that he’s satisfied with his life without needing to own a bakery. I think it would be an important part of him coming to terms with the loss of his family. I think he knows he can never have things back as they were and I don’t think he would try to recreate them, especially because his family’s legacy isn’t a business. I think he’s emotionally intelligent enough and self reflective enough to realize that what mattered to him about the bakery— taking care of others by feeding them, being integrated into his community and being actively involved in it, brightening people’s days with delightful things whether that’s beautiful cakes or hearty food or delicious treats— and the things he learned from his family through the bakery, are things that he can carry on in other meaningful ways.

(Do you regret sending this ask yet, anon? Because if not, you will soon. I’m not done yet. There’s more.)

I wasn’t really sure where to put this next part in what is rapidly becoming an essay because it sort of combines the points about like “what do we imagine a post-mockingjay society to look like” with the practical difficulties of starting this bakery but here’s another thing: do people really think that the Mellarks owned the land the bakery was on?? Like, sure, the merchants are the petit bourgeois of Twelve but I still don’t imagine they really own anything. In a society where houses are assigned to people upon marriage, where property ownership and capital are so closely interconnected with citizenship (as shown by the Plinths who, by having immense capital, are able to leave their District and become citizens of the Capitol) do people really think the Mellarks would be allowed to own the land their bakery is on?? I always imagined it sort of like a tenant farming situation: the Capitol gives them the raw materials for the bakery and in return the bakery give them some absurdly high portion of their profits, or the Capitol sells them a year’s supply of raw materials at a premium on credit and at the end of the year the Mellarks have to use the money they made with those materials to pay it back, except it’s never enough to turn a profit so they always have to buy next year’s materials on credit and the cycle continues.

We (understandably) get a really skewed view of the merchant class through Katniss’s perspective so I can see why people come to the conclusion that his family owned the property and, as the last surviving member, he would’ve inherited it. I’ve seen the inheritance thing in fics a lot or a hand wavey “well Twelve was decimated to no one owns anything anymore so it can be his” or even like an almost sort of reparations type situation where he’s entitled to the land as a surviving refugee of Twelve. But I don’t know. I guess I don’t think it fits with everything else we know about Panem that the Mellarks would’ve owned that land and I think the question of whether the government would’ve let him take ownership of the land post-revolution brings up a lot of issues about the structure of society post-Mockingjay that I find more interesting to explore in other ways, especially when, from an emotional perspective, 1) I find the idea of Peeta not opening a bakery more compelling and 2) I don’t think it really fits his character arc by the end of Mockingjay to reopen a bakery, as I went on about at length above lol.

On the flip side: literally who cares!! Do whatever you want!! Headcanon whatever you want!! I get why people go for the bakery!! It’s fun, it’s wholesome, it’s a built in bakery AU that isn’t even an AU. It doesn’t matter if it’s practical or realistic!! It doesn’t need to be practical or realistic!! It’s fanfic of a dystopian YA series!! My unfortunate affliction is that I grew up in a family that owned a restaurant and that I have multiple degrees in the social sciences so I can’t see the bakery without being like “What about the overheard? What about the start up costs? Who’s spending long nights balancing the books? Is Peeta covering shifts when an employee calls in sick? Is Peeta the sole person working there until the bakery is open long enough (often a year or more) to start turning a profit? How does that sleep schedule work with his nightmares? How does that work with Katniss’s nightmares? What happens when he has an episode and suddenly needs to take the day off before he has any employees? Does the bakery just remain closed for the day? Can the profit margins withstand regular unexpected closures? Can the supplies withstand regular unexpected closures?” And if the answer is “Elliott none of those things matter he’s not doing the bakery because he needs the money but because he wants to”, then my question is why does he want to? Does he not get the same sort of satisfaction out of feeding his loved ones? Doesn’t Peeta seem like someone who would rather give away baked goods than sell them?? Doesn’t Peeta seem like someone who would prefer to make cakes for people’s special occasions upon and then when they insist on paying him for it, he only lets them “pay for the ingredients” which actually cost significantly more than he says they did??

So yeah my point is that it’s a matter of personal taste! It doesn’t fit the way I see the series but that doesn’t mean it’s like wrong, I’m not an authority on Peeta lmao.

It’s also a matter of personal taste in the sense that I find the themes that most resonate with me at the end of Mockingjay (and the end of Peeta’s arc specifically) more interesting to explore in other ways. Grief, living with loss, relearning yourself, finding hope, figuring out your place in a dramatically different world when you don’t even know who you are anymore, healing, building a new life after such complete and total destruction of your old life— those are all things I find compelling about the end of Mockingjay but for me the bakery isn’t the most compelling way to explore them.

Not to say I find the concept of the bakery totally uninteresting. I have this fic about Johanna that I’ll probably never finish where the point sort of is that, yeah, her life really isn’t all that much better after the war. It’s been years at this point and she’s still miserable and she doesn’t know how to be a person but by the end she’s trying to figure it out. And towards the end, Peeta tells her that he’s spent years sort of passively, half-heartedly trying to figure out how to inherit the land his family’s bakery was on, only to find out it was never theirs in the first place. They’d been renting it the whole time and he’d never even known as a kid. So he sort of passively, half-heartedly went on another wild goose chase to find the owner and now, finally, after years of writing to various government agencies and being sent in circles and things being barely functional, he’s managed to track down the owner. Now it’s owned by the daughter of the man who owned it when he was a kid because the original owner (who was likely up to some sketchy war crime shit) died during the war and she inherited it (the irony…). He got in contact with her and asked how much it would take for her to sell it and she told him she’s not interested in selling but in light of the situation, in light of the fact that he’d have to build a new building in order to operate a bakery, that she’d cut him a deal— she’d only require 50% of the bakery’s profits as rent instead of the 80% his family used to pay. And of course Johanna is outraged, that’s not right, the owner shouldn’t be allowed to do that, they should do something about it, they should fight back. And Peeta is like. Not interested. He was actually sort of relieved that opening wasn’t very feasible. Getting the answer was a lightbulb moment where he saw that over the years of trying to look into this, he’s built a life that he likes— one where he’s stable, where his loved ones are stable, where he’s cared for and can care for others— and he doesn’t really want to change it drastically by opening a bakery anyway. He just needed an answer, one way or another, before he could get some closure and move on. (And the point of the conversation is Johanna is having her own lightbulb moment that it’s okay to move on, it’s okay to change, it’s not a betrayal of the people and things she’s lost but that’s not my point here!!).

But anyway. That’s obviously not about running the bakery— it’s about the choice to not run one.

Anyway!! Anyway… are you satisfied anon? Is this what you wanted?

Lastly, here is my most important qualm with the bakery headcanon: must Peeta be gainfully employed? Is it not enough for him to be Katniss’s boytoy? Can’t he just paint and garden and bake and hang out with his girlfriend all day? Is that really too much to ask?

[cerealmonster15]

IM GOING TO TALK ABOUT ALHAITHAM AND KAVEH AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

i love this fuckin argument kaveh and alhaitham have on the port ormos bulletin board

it's one of those instances where kaveh and alhaitham are arguing and alhaitham is saying that like, while he disagrees with kaveh lol, he also doesnt deny theres truth to what kaveh says.

but i also think it's funny how alhaitham is like "end of conversation. ALSO-" like bitch you kept going IMMEDIATELY fkjsjfklds and then that stupid bit where theyre like "he said this" "he did not fucking say that" "he did" "no he didnt fuck you" "he did give me a month ill prove it!!!!" THEYRE FIGHTING LIKE CHILDREN ON A PUBLIC MESSAGE BOARD😭😭😭

also i have this one bit stuck forever in my mind from kavehs hang out

[video source i screenshot from]

MAYBE im reading into it way too much bc i have terminal haikaveh brain. maybe. BUT!!!! art is subjective i can do what i want :^) anyway i think a lot about this part because TO ME it sounds like kaveh keeps assuming the worst from alhaitham - makes sense, they argue all the time and they def have a turbulent relationship. HOWEVER!!!!! while alhaitham does like poking fun at kaveh and gets annoyed with him dskjfdsklf i FEEL LIKE theres an implication that he like, does not enjoy seeing kaveh suffer the way kaveh just assumes he does.

like here, kaveh is like oh, youre not hoping to see me make a fool of myself are you >:(?? just bc alhaitham was like. in a location unexpectedly. lol. and then alhaithams phrasing is just so specific where he like, doesnt say yes but doesnt say no either lol. hes like "oh so you think i get joy from seeing you in pain day in and day out? well if that were true id be entertained always because youre always in distress"

but like. I DUNNO MAYBE IM BEING STUPID BUT JKSDLFJDKL to ME it felt like he was deflecting the question. to be fair it was a silly question so maybe alhaitham didnt think it worth answering lololol but like "are you here to watch me struggle" "why do you assume i enjoy you struggling" is the vibe i get. but then with bullying also bc alhaitham is still poking at him and his distresses lol jdkslfdskl

and then like the moment the traveler is about to be like "kavehs feeling sad" and kaveh tries to deflect it, i personally think alhaitham managed to come up with a distraction to get kaveh to walk away for a minute so he could hear about kavehs troubles bc hes IMMEDIATELY LIKE

ok now that hes gone tell me about kaveh and his issues. and then goes on to explain kaveh and his behavior

and there are SEVERAL INSTANCES i mean this is an obvious thing lol but like, many such cases where kaveh and alhaitham will be like "yeah this guy is incredibly smart but his personality is fucking unbearable" i just enjoy that as much as they rag on each other theyre still like "no he is a genius though im not gonna deny that" AND ALSO [help]

alhaitham says stuff like this a few times, i think hes got a teapot line or so where he says similar things 🤔 but hes like "yeah people go about their lives doing different things and thats fine everyone should stay in their lane as long as theyre not disrupting the lives of others" AND YET!!!!!!!!!!!! he and kaveh endlessly fight with each other on how they go about their lives. trying to get the other to see their way of thinking even though i think they both acknowledge [or it says somewhere in the lore that they do] that it is a losing battle bc theyre both really set in how they see things and their methods of doing things. I JUST FIND IT REALLY INTERESTING that alhaitham is like, "mind your business and ill mind my business what ever bye" but when it comes to kaveh hes like. no actually i have to debate you. the way you feel isnt wrong however your actions make your life really hard for yourself and you could be living better if you changed" like he cannot stay in his lane when kaveh is involved!!!!! and like the whole reason he's even IN the parade of providence event at all was bc he was pursuing a thread of research that he figured out was connected to kavehs dad and his disappearance!!! mister "i dont want to get involved if it doesnt disrupt my life" got involved to give his boy some closure on the haunting of his dead father!!!!!!!!!! I am going to explode now goodbye!!!!

[boxwinebaddie]

heeeeello party people!~ super bacteria uncle nina here using my silly tumblr to cope again ( my culture came back and it was...suuuuper fucking bad! like i knew it would be, lol! awesome! <3 thanks, god! )

but we're not thinking about, what were gonna think about is the time that ravenstan got a little Too tipsy topsy turvy on jerseyky boxwine,

( it's the cab sav one, fyi. i can't drink on all these Fucknut Antibiotics - they prescribed me the wrong one and i took it, if you can believe it; i luv doctors - can y'all believe i did this shit Sober? unREAL, brohs! )

and was on tiktok live, the dawn spawns of the world convinced him to do the 'White Boy Of The Month' filter bc he's too impressionable and what can i say;

The Man LOVES White Boys. ;) xxx

( helpsksdj )

so, he started doing it and was like 'nooooo, is /KYLE/ on this one?!?! You're Joking.' ( everyone said 'JK <3' because they all think they're jimmy valmer stand-up sit-down comedians, smh...but no, naught joking, Actually JK bc in my ncau-niverse, cd and the blondies gang are celebrities, so naturally they’re on A Lot of social filters )

so he was GOING to save The No.1 slot...for the no.1 slut ( if you will, ) my ginger gringo king, ceo of dark academic debauchery and bottom feeding ;), new jay's finest - literally - kyley b matthew broflovski; <33 ( buuuut! he's a reformed manhoe; so watchya mowtH! )

buuuuut x2 ( and i'd say it's a big butt, but it's not, it's ravenstan, so it's flatter than the sidewalk; luh you flat stanley ) Gaydhd Won Again and tipsy ravenstan got distracted by all the FINE ASS WHITE MEN and started getting philosophical about it ( that man put a lil too much #thot into those placings; he was born for it, soz )

had about two spots left ( the top and bottom spots; i am laughing ) figured that there was almost 'No Chance!' he would get jersey...

PUT /MATTHEW! GRAY! GUBLER!/ AT ONE ( Immaculate Taste, btw! he also put jacob elordi at number two because he is a fucking genius and that...really tells you Everything you need to know about my stan. like tall, could probably be a runway model, intellectual, kind of a jackass, stays fitted, accent or eccentric manner of speaking...yeah )

-- BUT HE WANTED TO BE CLEAR, HE HAD TO SPECIFY THAT HE WAS SPECIFICALLY REFERRING TO /DR. SPENCER REID/ OF CRIMINAL MINDS. WHEN I TELL YOU HE HAS NO IDEA WHO MGG IS BUT HE HAS SEEN EVERY EPISODE OF CRIMINAL MINDS SEVERAL TIMES. IT’S LIKE...HIS /FAVORITE/ FKN SHOW. AND HE DOES HAVE A FAT CRUSH ON REID. YES, I DOES TRACK; I KNOW. )

and RIGHT when he was rolling for the very last spot ranking on the filter ( that's the BOTTOM, i repeat, THE B/O/T/T/O/M of the tierlist )

...hE GOT KYLE

FUCKING

BROFLOVSKI

and had to place him at /TEN/.

-- riiiiiiight as Kyle /FUCKING/ Broflovski came out of the kitchen in the dorky ass star of david apron that sheila got him for hannukah, with his hair up and everything, holding a fork so stan could taste...

...T-THE PASTA HE JUST MADE HIM FOR DINNER BECAUSE HE'S A SWEET BEAUTIFUL /ANGEL/....and i'm talking The Very First Bite Of EXTREMELY DELICIOUS KYLE Pasta that he put ZUCCHINI IN JUST FOR STAN BECAUSE HE IS ( what? ) AN ANGEL!! FROM hEAVEN!!!!! AND THE WHITE BOY OF THE /YEAR/: TAKE YA JERSEY SLANDER SOMEWHERE ELSE: HE'S MY WHITE BUOY UVF FOREVA!

...proceeded to Blow On It ;-;, s-so stan wouldn't burn his mouth... ( bc rav always gets too excited and burns his mouth; nooo :c </3 ) and asked him why his phone was blowing up w/ people tagging him in thirst traps of 'That Supa Nerdy Guy From That One Crime Show' and asking him if stan tweeted something about him cooking bc people keep telling him that he's 'Cooked'. SHKDLDHLKS HEEELP.

And....

*rawr xd home mid/hschooled ravenstan vc*

Scene. <3

[averlym]

whshdfhfjf.,,,

[taigertea]

spoilers for the new additional 6 pages of Tiger and Bunny 2 (which you can access through this post (big thanks to TLF and @tnbdirectory), i wrote a less coherent rant about this on twitter but like omg

I believe now this is the 3rd (?) time Barnaby has explicitly shown/said he wants to be with Kotetsu, with it being of his own volition

(The three times I can think of 1. when Barnaby comes out of retirement with Kotetsu end of S1 2. episode 21 of S2, in cour 2 when he wants to be partners with Kotetsu for the last time 3. the new TL'd 6 pages for post S2 ending where he really makes it clear he wants to support Kotetsu by Kotetsu's side, without any snark about it, just really requests that he stay and help even when Kotetsu tells him he doesn't need to stick around)

(I don't really count the elevator scene from S2 ep 18 and the final scene from The Rising because though it's obvious to the audience what Barnaby is thinking, I don't think it's clear enough for Kotetsu to REALLY get it. Though you could debate more with the elevator scene, I'm open to conversation lol.)

But I'm just pulling my hair out at how Kotetsu still just really wants what's best for Barnaby, when he looks at Barnaby's bangle it's feels like he's just about to say something along the lines of "can you really be here?" when he could be doing something "more important" or actual hero work.

But Barnaby doesn't even dignify Kotetsu's attempt to push him away just giving that line (that makes me insane) of how he wants to be Kotetsu's support. Also just the way Barnaby KNEW what Kotetsu was going to say.

It's so wild that it's like a mini version of their Rising situation, but this shows how far they've come. Like Barnaby does not stay silent here. I'm sure he remembers how that went down, and at least this time Kotetsu asks Barnaby instead of making the executive decision to leave him in the dust on his own. Barnaby's just so honest here? No bullshit, little snark, just here it is, all on the table. It does make me wonder if the past couple months not working with Kotetsu has made him not want to not cloak things as much and say it straight. Though this might have been something even spurred on as early as S2 ep 21 when there was real risk of their partnership being over, after his super ernest confession.

But this made me think, Barnaby's made it pretty clear to Kotetsu he wants to be partners, even in non-hero situations, but it made me realize that I don't think Kotetsu has ever reciprocated verbally? Not because Barnaby isn't important to him or that he doesn't want partners, but more because of how Kotetsu views himself as a burden/problem to Barnaby? And also because I don't think Kotetsu's love language is really through words (though I think it's important that Barnaby DOES show love through words occasionally without snark, because Kotetsu's a pretty insecure and dense guy, he needs it spelled out for him plainly).

Like Kotetsu seems more to me as an act of service love language guy, which we've seen (and @abluescarfonwaston has made a great post about here). Which makes sense how he reacts in seeing him being a potential problem for Barnaby and trying to remove himself as the problem. Which would be great... if that actually wasn't causing MORE of a problem in Barnaby's life (in that Kotetsu's not a problem at all AND PLEASE STAY FFS).

The big moments that indicate Kotetsu appreciates his partnership with Barnaby directly are basically just in ep24 of S1. Every other time he's just kinda... gone with the flow? Like it's usually Barnaby initiating or asking Kotetsu, except in the elevator scene which was a question and not really an affirmation. WE as the audience can see how clearly Kotetsu adores Barnaby, but I wonder how it comes off to Barnaby in the show when he can't see how torn up Kotetsu gets at the thought of or actually having lost Barnaby as a partner (Rising and hospitalization).

And yes, we see they can "know what each other is thinking without saying anything" but I don't think that's 24/7, as shown by a couple moments throughout S2.

Despite being the more "tsun" one, Barnaby has been more explicit and straightforward about what he wants from Kotetsu (Kotetsu in his life, whatever form it may take).

Which makes me wonder, man would Barnaby just snap, like all the safeties are off, and just kiss Kotetsu if he ever explicitly told him that he wants Barnaby in his life? The other option is acting tsun but I think the previous option would be infinitely more fun.

also bonus thing I noticed:

Barnaby says "WHY" for the word game and Kotetsu asks if he couldn't choose another word. Barnaby refuses, but the next thing Kotetsu says is "YOU" which works out in this situation lol (dunno if this is a English TL version only thing but thought it was funny how it worked out)

also wondering why Barnaby was so stuck on keeping "WHY" 😆

[relaxxattack]

I apologize if this is like weird or anything so just ignore this if it bothers you, but all this talk about palewear and quadrant holidays is reminding me of this one joke I saw once where it was something like "marriage counselors are just Ashen prostitutes," and now I can't stop thinking about what it would look like in Alternian society for prostitutes of the conciliatory quadrants.

Like every time I just start cracking up bc like how would that even work. If you have an established business how do you advertise that. If you're trying to attract clients with how you dress in public what's the difference between wearing something that *suggests* your line of work vs the conciliatory equivalent of standing in the middle of Walmart in lingerie. I guess how you'd view stuff paleways would depend on how important you'd headcanon papping as a biological need vs a social expectation but the fact that it's literally supposed to be the most emotionally intimate, or at least requires the most trust, is like. How the fuck do you even have a one night stand. Like how does that work. I'm giggling just thinking about it.

Anyways sorry for rambling in your inbox but tl;dr What are your thoughts on conciliatory prostitution?

this is the funniest ask i’ve ever gotten

i would say the line between therapists and conciliatory prostitution is the fact that therapists are more of a health/medical thing… by definition a therapist usually finds a mental medical problem of yours and helps with it the way a doctor would help with something physically

IRL, getting bandaged up by someone can be either professional (ie at a doctors office) or unprofessional/erotic, (ie after a battle your crush is tending to your wounds and keeps making eye contact and leaning in very close…) so in human society there are already cases of things that can be medical or romantic depending on literally just context and vibes

a therapist is going to be in a clinical office, their room is not going to lend itself to a troll’s comfort in a way that screams romance— a therapist is NOT going to be anywhere near a pile, for instance, though they might prescribe that activity to their patient lol

meanwhile an actual conciliatory prostitute… you’re right that it would be a little strange, and maybe hollow, given that proper moirallegiance is supposed to involve the most amount of knowledge + trust out of any other quadrant.

but, consider that matespritship— and human romance, here— involves trust and emotional attachment as well, usually! and yet prostitution still exists…. because it’s about the physical aspect of romance alone, for people who need to get that energy out occasionally

so let me postulate that conciliatory prostitution would be the same— focused only on the physical parts of the relationship.

therefore, a pale prostitute would really be more like a masseuse than a therapist. they’d ask you questions about your life, of course, get you in a pile and listen to you talk for a bit before massaging you and getting your tension out; you know, there’s got to be foreplay. but it would likely feel somewhat hollow and businesslike as opposed to… you know, an actual pile session with a moirail. sort of the same as concupiscent prostitution

[beesorcery]

google how do i tell my dad that the reason i keep bringing up elon musk's transphobia isn't that i've got gen z political tunnel vision that makes me blind to his "innovation" in electric cars but because i am desperately crying out for you as the father of a trans child to feel just as outraged and angry as i am that that man has so much power

[aquariumgraveleater1205]

Since pip has no parents, I would be interested to know where he lives and some details in general:

- clothing

- accommodation

- money

- medical care

- Toys (he is still a child)

- school supplies

- who looks after him

- his bedroom

And so on

I always assumed he lived at an orphanage and if he wasn't there he was at summer school (s2 ep8 "summer sucks" he says that he can't be left alone so he has to attend summer school every year) so that's what I'm sticking with

• clothing

Possibly his clothes could come from donations to said orphanage or he saves money to buy thrift clothes

• accomodations

I'm not too sure what this means so I'm just going with what Google says: I would say hes not very smart book wise (but then again what 4th grader is) but I would like to think he has a lot of street and common knowledge like he would probably have some difficulty with solving math problems but he knows how to do other stuff pretty well (such as archery, fencing and how to act like a gentlemen)

•money

Ok this one is a bit tricky but I like to think that when he left Britain he was given some money to help him stay on his feet and when that ran out (probably quite fast because knowing children he most likely spent it on stuff he didn't really need like see here) he did some mini day jobs around the neighborhood

He most likely just caved to pier pressure when buying these but he also offered 75$ to buy a starving Marvin for himself

So Its a bit of a mystery to say how he's doing money wise but it looks like he's doing good from what I can tell

•medical care

I would say he was kinda screwed there considering his only kind of healthcare was the school nurse who wasn't very good at her job considering her method for helping a giant open wound on his head was a single bandaid and a shot

He probably had to take a lot of sick days cause really the only thing a school nurse can do is call your parents and tell them to pick you up and pip is an orphan....so that wasn't a option but on the bright side he probably has a very strong immune system

•toys

Kinda the same for the clothes all his toys were most likely donated to the orphanage or he bought them from thrift shops but occasionally he would save up enough money for a brand new toy like for example he has two Chinpokomon figures and I'm assuming that like real life Pokemon merchandise it's pretty expensive

He probably worked random jobs all over town (raking people yards, washing cars etc) to save up for those toys

•school supplies

Growing up being kind of poor we never really could afford School supplies either and usually when the kid or parent can't afford school supplies the school should provide it for you but not all cases are like this, and if that was the case he was on his own

•who looks after him

The teachers at the summer school or the workers at the orphanage I'd assume as he stated he can't be left alone

•his bedroom

Knowing orphanages he probably split a room with like four other kids so not a lot of privacy and he probably just shoved all of his stuff in a bag ethier under or on his bed (if it was on his bed it could've double as pillow as well)

[sunflowercider]

Wait Lloyd turned them into mummies how was he able to do that? I think I missed that. Is it the supercharge that he was able to turn them into mummies? Actually how did he purify the skulls stones too? The supercharge or the asrahan core technique?

Whoops, sorry to leave you hanging on such a gruesome image bahahaha. He doesn't initially do it on purpose!

Backing up a bit to the skulls, since theyre relevant anyways - a few days before, lloyd stumbles onto some skulls while surveying Namaran. Theyre exuding a buncha dark magic, and lloyd realizes they must be the catalyst to Namaran's Wall. The Wall is actually a huge barricade of magic that also doubles as a mana vacuum that will harm everyone inside the city once it activates, and its something lloyd's been dreading.

So he goes "well hell yeah, lets stop this before it even starts" and tries to move the skull. Nope, the skull also has a protective barrier. Lloyd wants to absorb the mana but its nasty stuff and would make him sick, so he patiently sits with a skull and uses the Asrahan Core Technique to slowly and carefully dissipate the mana into the air "like untangling a ball of yarn." With the mana gone, the skull can be moved and the Noctantium jewel inside is revealed, the original source of magic. Lloyd then does the same thing to every skull he can get his hands on.

Fast forward a few days later. The necromancers can't just hit the "on" button on their wall anymore, so they must go out and do it themselves. Wall goes up, and lloyd gets locked out of the city without javier (you know. the one guy who could actually power through the wall by force).

Lloyd wants the wall down asap, and tries to just smack the first guy he sees in the face. No dice, they also have a barrier. But they also clearly have a power source he recognizes - noctanium. Lloyd decides he wants to not only remove the wall's power, but to change its target. And he's not only good at absorbing mana, he's also good at rearranging it.

This is a blueprint. A design outline. I just need to imagine it's one that my groupmates majorly messed up on. So, what now? I need to fix it. Modify it.

And then boom. Lloyd takes control of the noctanium and reverses the direction of the absorption. And all the mana in the necromancer is sucked out of him, mummifying him instantly.

It's unsure if Lloyd was looking to kill the guy, and he definitely didn't expect a mummy, but even if he's a bit regretful, he also thinks the necromancer "reaped what he sowed" for trying to massacre a whole city. And then he moves on to take care of the other 29 necromancers.

[phoenix-flamed]

Alright, let's see if I can get this all written out. Please bear in mind that this headcanon is written with general Anabella, Clive, and Joshua in mind, rather than based on any specific muses/portrayals -- so don't worry if you don't agree! Naturally, these subjects are going to vary based on interactions with individual muses of aforementioned characters, and based on the headcanons attached to those muses and their personal stories. But this will give insight into how my Elwin thinks, feels, etc., and why he makes decisions he does, be it for better or worse.

Considering this headcanon is going to be talking about my muse's relationships with his family members, which includes Clive's relationship with Anabella -- reader discretion is advised.

This is probably going to be a very long post, which I profusely apologize for.

Let's start with my Elwin's relationship with Anabella. Canonically, we aren't told much about their personal relationship, at least not from Elwin's side. Much of what I pull from for my headcanons regarding their marriage is the bedroom scene at the start of the game and how they interact during it, and Anabella's final confrontation with Clive and Jill, as well as little context clues throughout the game of things that Anabella either says or does.

My Elwin didn't have a necessarily "bad" marriage with Anabella. They were arranged to marry, both as the two eldest children of their respective branches of the Rosfield family, and, due to their close blood relation, as two of the most likely candidates to produce the next Dominant of Phoenix after Elwin's father had passed on. But at least in the beginning, they didn't dislike each-other.

He did care deeply for Anabella, though it wasn't necessarily full-on romantic love, or if it was, it wasn't necessarily the same type that he felt towards the two he had been in a relationship with before his marriage to her. (Obviously the depth of his feelings towards specific Anabella RPers is always subject to vary, depending on the Anabella RPer's headcanons, chemistry between our muses, and how the other mun feels regarding the two!) But he, if nothing else, loved her as a friend and a partner, and he trusted her, even if there were so many things they didn't agree on all across the board. She was not only his wife, but the Duchess of Rosaria -- his fellow ruler, his equal. It was his understanding of their relationship that the two should work together and fulfill their duty as the current heads of the ruling family, which was to faithfully look after for their people.

It was also their duty to teach their children of their family's legacy that would then be passed on to them as well, and to lead them by example of how to serve their people for when their own time came to take over.

When I say that my Elwin was "afraid" of Anabella, please bear in mind that it isn't fear of what she can do to him physically. Elwin wasn't, deep down at heart, an overly confident man, although he hid it well. Beyond his most trusted friends and his brother, the only other person he had shown his "real" self to was his wife. He trusted her enough to let his guard down and take off his mask, so to speak; he trusted her enough to be vulnerable around her, if only in glimpses. As a result, whether she chose to use them against him or not, she knew his weaknesses -- she knew where to wound him with her words and get into his head or appeal to his emotions. She knew how to manipulate him, and conversely, she also knew how to soothe and reassure him.

They were, in short, opposites, but two sides of a coin. And in this respect, and this respect alone, they did fulfill their roles as equals in power.

However, for all of their disagreements on how the duchy should be run and what the future should hold for it, and many other political matters -- the biggest divide between them, at least on Elwin's part, was Anabella's reaction to Clive's "rejection" by the Phoenix, and her resulting poor treatment of him. He didn't, and still doesn't in the post-Phoenix Gate verses, understand how she could base his worth as a person, and his worthiness of her love, on something beyond the child's control. Clive had done nothing wrong; if anything, their firstborn did his very best to do everything right, in order to prove his worthiness to everyone, but especially to her, and to earn her love. To see Anabella continue to shun him as a "failure" despite his efforts broke Elwin's heart each and every time, made all the worse by his father knowing of the rumors started by the other nobles of the court. In Elwin's viewpoint, and whether true or not, these rumors were likely an attempt at disrupting their family's relationship by targeting what could be perceived as the "weakest" part of their marriage. Whether it be for the end goal of planting a seed of distrust on his wife's side, or taking a swing at Anabella's pride and the importance she holds for things like status, reputation, appearances, and most of all her personal duty of birthing the next Dominant of Phoenix... he isn't sure which it might be.

But doubling back to that mention of my Elwin's "fear" of Anabella, this is another instance, and perhaps an even bigger one, where it comes into play: it's the fear of how deeply Anabella's words are hurting Clive, and a fear that with a single wrong move, Elwin could cause Anabella's attitude towards the boy to worsen. In short, it's a fear that his wife may redirect her frustrations or anger or discontent with her husband out on their child, who has himself done nothing wrong beyond being Elwin's son too.

Maybe it's because he sees so much of himself in their eldest son, right down to the fact that they are both "ordinary men" rather than Dominants, and thus have to work hard to make up for the inherent shortcoming in terms of power when compared to a Dominant -- but my Elwin is undeniably incredibly attached to and protective of Clive, even if he has a difficult time of outwardly expressing it. That is his baby, his first ever child, and he can't stand even just the thought of him being hurt in any capacity, be it directly or indirectly.

The subject of Clive and Joshua is an incredibly complex one for Elwin, and it's made even more complicated by his and Anabella's unsteady relationship, which I'll elaborate more on that specific part in a bit.

But first. As much as Elwin may have aspired to overthrow the traditional order and dismantle the societal hierarchy to ensure equality for everyone, including Bearers -- he was still the ruler of a nation, and he was still part of a royal family and lineage. Because of this, no matter how much he may have wanted to just do and say whatever he wanted, whensoever he pleased, the reality was that he couldn't. Even if he didn't give a damn about the opinions of his fellow nobility, and even if he didn't feel like he needed the support and favor of the court, he was still very much a servant to the people of the duchy. During the banquet scene, when Joshua asks why the Phoenix is always born into their family, Elwin explains it's because they, the Rosfields, have been chosen to uphold a duty to the people of Rosaria, which is to share the power granted to their family by the Mothercrystal's Blessing with all of them -- and the way that they have been chosen to do that is through the Phoenix first and foremost, and by using the magic that comes along with it for the betterment of all.

This was a duty that my Elwin held extremely close to his heart. He had been raised and taught and so wholly immersed in this mentality, that the Rosfield family was meant to use their power to serve and protect and guide Rosaria, and that the Dominant of Phoenix was more than just the rightful ruler of the duchy, but was also the symbol of hope and strength for their nation as well.

This isn't to say that he had ever viewed Clive as inferior or as a failure for not awakening as Phoenix's Dominant, or that he only cared about Joshua because he is Phoenix's Dominant. It's the opposite; he loves his boys unconditionally. But he also considered their family's duty of serving their people as something to be proud of and aspired to, whether it be through the Eikon of Fire's power or through swordsmanship and the life of a soldier.

Before the Night of Flames, he didn't understand that both Clive and Joshua needed reassurance on a more personal, emotional level from their father, or that there actually is a distinction between expressing his love for them as his sons versus expressing his love for them as heirs to the Rosfield legacy -- and that these two sentiments, while co-existing, are separate from the other. In his mind, the roles that the two of his boys each played are not what define them or their worth, no, but they were something for the two to each hold their head up high over. They are, at the end of the day, Rosfields, and it was the Rosfield family's traditional duty to carry out this obligation to Rosaria, as it had always been in generations before.

The same way that Elwin adhered to tradition in this sense, as is incredibly fitting for the Archduke of a nation referred to as the "Bastion of Tradition", he also tried to navigate his relationship with his children in a way that supported and encouraged their growth in their devotion to their people. Especially when it came to Clive being a part of the ducal army, and with them having been the ruling family, he felt that he must straddle the line carefully between expressing his love for his eldest son while avoiding showing favoritism or preferential treatment towards him versus the other soldiers. If the message he was trying to convey was that everyone deserves to be treated as equals, then shouldn't members of the royal family(including Elwin himself) be treated as equals with the common man?

He didn't want to be a hypocrite, nor did he want to unintentionally cripple his eldest son in terms of personal growth and strength, nor weaken others' opinions on Clive with the impression that Clive had been handed his esteemed position rather than earned it. In his mind, Clive very much deserved to be respected and admired for his unwavering devotion, perseverance, tenacity, and strength. But Elwin still tried to respect and love him as a person as well, which was why he did things -- or rather, didn't do things such as force Clive to join their fellow soldiers during celebratory events like the feast held at Phoenix Gate.

He knew full well that Clive was full of talent and promise. He saw it in every aspect of the boy -- from his demeanor, the way he regarded and treated others regardless of their status or position, his skills in combat, the quiet compassion he extended to people, so on. He wanted others to see it, too, especially Anabella. Because at the end of the day, there was also the fact that both Clive and Joshua were Rosaria's future, and he wanted his wife to see for herself that the future of the duchy -- and perhaps more -- were in good, capable hands.

This was why, for as many times as my Elwin had confronted the Duchess about the boy's capabilities, he did ultimately make the mistake of encouraging Clive to prove himself to her. He believed that he, even as the young man's father, was incapable of changing Anabella's mind and her harsh opinions about their firstborn son, despite his praise for him and reassurances to her of his skill. If she wouldn't listen to reason, he surmised, then the only alternative was for Clive to outright show her.

Should he have pressed the matter more relentlessly on Clive's behalf, and gone to greater lengths to curb Anabella's harsh, undeserved treatment of him? I personally believe so. By urging Clive to prove himself to his mother, and while Elwin's intentions were good, it was more likely to backfire than to succeed -- especially because of Elwin's turbulent relationship with Anabella. In short, whether he had intended to or not, he had put Clive in a position where he was being pitted against Anabella, and both of their sons were regrettably caught in the middle of the tension between their parents.

The fact that Elwin was so frequently away from Rosalith to attend to business, be it on the political front or on the battlefield, didn't help in the slightest. It ensured that no, he couldn't be there to defend their son each and every time the Duchess started in on him, treated him with contempt, or altogether refused to not ignore his existence.

When it came to Joshua, their youngest son was at a disadvantage with regards to forming a bond with his father. Joshua just happened to have been born during the onset of the conflict with Kanver, when Kanver decided it wanted its independence. As we find out in the Ultimania book, this entire situation lasted for around eight or so years, and at the beginning prompted Dhalmekia and Rosaria to enter an alliance, so that they could work together to stop Kanver from obtaining its goal. Towards the end of the conflict, things had escalated into full-blown war, with Dhalmekia and Rosaria fighting against Waloed after Waloed stepped in to stand against Dhalmekia in particular.

Both Rosaria's history, along with its "present" time, was filled with conflict and struggle. Before the Kanver situation, Elwin had to deal with the Northern Territories and Silvermane choosing to try to invade Rosaria in the wake of their Mothercrystal's death and the loss of more and more of their lands at the hands of the Blight. There was the issue of the Blight in and of itself, and finding methods to protect the duchy from the creeping devastation. Then there were the political relations that needed to be upheld across Storm, and all of these factors were just the tip of the iceberg in terms of responsibilities. They all ensured that, in short, both the Archduke and the Duchess had their hands full, and Elwin was often the one that had left Rosalith to accompany his men onto the front lines.

He missed much of Joshua's young life, and because of that, missed so many vital moments and opportunities that would have given him the chance to forge a deeper connection with the boy. He by no means meant to neglect Joshua, or to abstain from getting close to him emotionally, and he did try to reach out to him. But because he didn't know him in the same way that he had known Clive when Clive was little, because he hadn't been granted the same time and opportunity to get to know Joshua, to learn his needs and understand his thoughts and feelings, and at least to some degree watch him grow through the years -- Elwin struggled. But he did love Joshua, and he never considered Joshua's only value to be as the Dominant of Phoenix. The child was his son first, and the bearer of the Eikon of Fire second.

His decision to take Joshua to Phoenix Gate to have him carry out the tradition of communing with the Rosfield family's ancestors for guidance in the upcoming war with the Iron Kingdom was not a decision made lightly. It was also not a decision that he wanted to make, but it was ultimately a choice between his duty to Rosaria and his love and protectiveness as a father. The fight against Waloed's army, and Dhalmekia's abandonment of the fight -- and subsequent forced retreat by Rosaria -- highlighted one very important problem for Rosaria, in terms of strength and defense: unlike most of the other nations of Storm, they didn't have an Eikon fighting at their side.

His father, the previous Dominant of Phoenix, had passed away so many years prior due to sudden illness, leaving them to have to fight their battles after that point on their own. And even with Joshua's awakening as the next Dominant, Joshua was far too young during that time to go to war with them, leaving them at an extremely great disadvantage. Even Elwin, for as skilled and strong of a fighter as he was, for all of his prowess with a blade, was still just an ordinary man, and his strength would never be able to hold up against that of a Primed Dominant.

And so he had to make a heavy decision, one that he would continue to regret long after The Night of Flames had taken place: despite Joshua being a child, and despite the boy's susceptibility to illness, Rosaria needed the Phoenix with its army on the battlefield, as well as to gain that valuable insight from their ancestors -- because the Dominant of Phoenix was the only one who could enter the Apodytery and perform the ritual to commune with them. Even against the Iron Kingdom, who presumably had no Eikon of their own given their grim views towards Eikons, the Phoenix would give them a much-needed advantage, because remember, Rosaria has been struggling against the Iron Kingdom on and off for centuries by that point for control of Drake's Breath, and each time they've fought, Rosaria has been forced to retreat.

Unfortunately, because of this situation, it also meant that Elwin had to ignore his wife's pleas for him to reconsider when it came to Joshua, and had to ignore his wife's attempts at appealing to his better sense and emotions as Joshua's father.

Now, this leads into another glaring matter:

Elwin loved his family with all of his heart. He really, truly did. However, in the end, without fail, he always prioritized duty to his people, and the people of Rosaria in general, over the needs of his family. It wasn't right, no -- but it was what he believed at the time was right, regardless of his personal feelings. He was, after all, the reigning Archduke, and it was his obligation as both ruler and as a Rosfield to serve and protect and care for his people, no matter the cost. It was what he knew, what he had been shown, what he believed was a necessary sacrifice of a good ruler.

I think I managed to cover everything that I wanted to cover? Uh. You're one hell of a trooper if you've managed to read all of this.

[loafbud]

The first Splatoon game turned 8 yesterday!

[steakout-05]

holy shit

[qqqqqqqqqqq0]

i've been having some trouble falling asleep lately