#the character relationships are different

[buggachat]

SEASON 6 ILLUSTRHATER THOUGHTS

honestly, I was expecting the animation to be more jarring for me than it actually was. It was actually really easy for me to get into and tbh just looks really nice. Adrien is the character I'll need to get used to the most, but I like his look fine, I just need to get used to it.

But like. special shoutout to nino. NINO????? NINO LOOKS. SO FUCKING CUTE. I love him so much I want to squish his face?? I'm almost unable to watch this episode in a normal way because I'm too busy staring at Nino's adorable face the whole time.

the DJWifi was so cute in this episode. theyre so sweet

in general I really like the redesigns of all the characters. I think they all look like... them. Like Nathaniel looks more like Nathaniel to me, Kagami looks more like Kagami, Sabrina looks like Sabrina and Ivan looks like Ivan. I can't describe it — they look like they've matured enough to have a better understanding of who they are. I like it.

Also, the intro sequence. If there's still any doubt about whether the show will address "marinette's lie coming back to bite her / looming over her" this season, I feel like the intro answers that pretty clearly and with a distinct tone

Another thing — the background characters look soooo much better in the new animation. Not only do they not look like terrifying low res monstrosities like they did in the old show, but they have such a wide array of distinct body types that i really appreciate. a lot of diversity in the crowds w race and disability too. and they look good. it's really refreshing.

I. LOVE. the new butterfly-telepathy sequences. the way that butterfly!lila talks to her victims in a little dreamscape where she's able to use her body language and manipulation tactics. I cannot actually emphasize how much this strangely excited me. It feels so much more emotionally impactful and interesting and dynamic and Lila than what Hawkmoth did

I know people are going to be upset about Marinette being awkward around Adrien again, but I feel like it makes a lot of sense to me. In the more general sense, it makes a lot of sense for this soft-refresh of the show that is marketing itself to a new audience to re-introduce the adrienette dynamic in a way that is just a smidge redundant to old fans. This is kind of important background on how Adrien and Marinette have always been with each other and the context of their relationship! That's important to show.

As a more in-character/universe explanation — while, yes, Adrien and Marinette started to get much more comfortable in their relationship in the old season, they never really got time to BREATHE. they were awkward and messy for the majority of their time together in s5, and then right as they started to get comfortable, Gabriel started puppeteering Adrien in a way that made things pretty tense for them, and then a whole whirlwind happened where he was sent away, and then his DAD DIED and he presumably spent a lot of the summer in mourning and— and— i dunno. I don't think it's too much of a stretch for me to believe that their relationship still feels awkward, especially when a new butterfly villain just popped up and likely reminded marinette of the whole Fiasco and threw her into mega-stress mode.

Their relationship isn't technically all that "new" like they act like it is, but this IS actually probably the first time they've been able to go on regular dates like this! So it feels new, they're still sort of in that "new" stage. Before, Gabriel was keeping Adrien away, and then Adrien probably wasn't in a good headspace for a lot of the summer after he died.

(Also, I just enjoy watching Marinette be awkward about Adrien. I definitely prefer them re-treading some old ground to new audiences than for their relationship to feel too jarringly different than how we've seen them interact in the past. I wouldn't want the time skip to be used as too much of a crutch, especially when I expect that Adrien spent a lot of it in mourning)

But anyway, they're still kissing in the season intro, and this is only episode TWO of the season, so I'm excited to see them gradually get more lovey dovey as the season goes on. (Or for Marinette's stress and guilt to overwhelm her! Who knows! I'm down!)

Oh also, Ladybug looks SO GOOD. she is so shiny and pretty and I love the red in her hair and i love her and I love ladynoir talking about their relationships and and and. and. i love them. thanks for coming to my ted talk

[katya-1917]

I love the concept of a Nonsense Limit.

It makes me think of The Sims. A game series, that, on its simple premise, you expect to have a Nonsense Limit somewhere below 2. However, instead, the Nonsense Limit varies between players, and can indeed be around 2... but the game is known for that number often being more around 9. Sometimes over 10. There are entire expansions, game mechanics, and popular mods that center around raising the maximum Nonsense Limit. The medieval spinoff has both a limited modding scene, and a high Nonsense Limit within it - as the only game in the series to not include a means to adopt a child, but while still taking a very Sims approach to same sex relationships, various mods to fix the issue exist, from your standard Sims same sex pregnancy mod, to various methods of adoption. The most straightforward of which, has you go to the well at the center of town and literally wish for a child at the wishing well. Which, admittedly, isn't very high Nonsense, but it highlights the Nonsense Limit of the series, by the fact that it only exists as an alternative to the perfectly normal in the series concept of modding in same sex pregnancy.

Notably, The Sims differs in its Nonsense from games like Rimworld or Crusader Kings with similar character focus and potential for absurdity and war crimes, because you *expect* it in those games - The Sims has a higher Nonsense Limit because the same Nonsense is more unexpected in context.

Scott Pilgrim is, I think, the best example I can think of for establishing a setting's Nonsense Limit. The setting's Nonsense Limit isn't quite "How high-fantasy is this". It's mostly a question of presentation, to what degree does the audience feel that they know the rules the world operates by, such that they are primed to accept a random new element being introduced. A setting with a Nonsense Limit of 0 is, like, an everyday story. Something larger than life, but theoretically taking place in our world, like your standard spy thriller action movie has a limit of 1. Some sort of hidden world urban fantasy with wizards and stuff operating in secret has a nonsense limit around 3 or 4. A Superhero setting, presenting an alternate version of our world, is a 5 or 6. High fantasy comes in around a 7 or so, "Oh yeah, Wizards exist and they can do crazy stuff" is pretty commonly accepted. Scott Pilgrim comes in at a 10. If you read the Scott Pilgrim book, it starts off looking like a purely mundane slice of life. The first hint at the fantastical is Ramona appearing repeatedly in Scott's Dreams, and then later showing up in real life. When we finally get an explanation, it's this:

Apparently Subspace Highways are a thing? And they go through people's heads? And Ramona treats this like it's obscure, but not secret knowledge. Ramona doesn't think she's doing anything weird here. At this point, it's not clear if Scott is accepting Ramona's explanation or not, things kind of move on as mundane as ever until their Date, when Ramona takes Scott through subspace, and he doesn't act like his world was just blown open or anything, although I guess that could have been a metaphor. there's a couple other moments, but everything with Ramona could be a metaphor, or Scott not recognizing what's going on. Maybe Ramona is uniquely fantastical in this otherwise normal world. And then, this happens

Suddenly, a fantastical element (A shitty local indie band finishing their set with a song that knocks out most of the audience) is introduced unrelated to Ramona, and undeniably literal. We see the crowd knocked out by Crash and The Boys. but the story doesn't linger on the implications of that, the whole point of that sequence is to raise the Nonsense Level, such that you accept it when This happens

Matthew Patel comes flying down onto the stage, Scott, who until this point is presented as a terrible person and a loser, but otherwise is extremely ordinary, proceeds to flawlessly block and counter him before doing a 64-hit air juggle combo. Scott's friends treat this like Scott is showing off a mildly interesting party trick, like being really good at darts. The establish that Scott is the "Best Fighter in the Province", not only are street-fighter battles a thing, Scott is Very Good at it, but they're so unimportant that being the best fighter in the province doesn't make Scott NOT a loser. So when Matthew Patel shows off his magic powers and then explodes into a pile of coins, we've established "Oh, this is how silly the setting gets". It's not about establishing the RULES of the setting so much as it is about establishing a lack of rules. Scott's skill at street-fighter battles doesn't translate to any sort of social prestige. Ramona can access Subspace Highways and she uses it to do a basic delivery job. It doesn't make sense and it's clear that it's not supposed to. So later on, when Todd Ingram starts throwing around telekinesis, and the explanation we're given is "He's a Vegan" , you're already so primed by the mixture of weirdness and mundanity that rather than trying to incorporate this new knowledge into any sort of coherent setting ruleset, you just go "Ah, yeah, Vegans".

[r1elle]

a different type of affection | a. miya

throughout your relationship, there were times where atsumu had questioned your love for him.

your expressions seemed almost… ‘smaller’ than his. your words lacked the sweet sayings that his sentences would often have.

the way you’d glare at him whenever he did something annoying, (did you not find it funny? he only meant well..)

the amount of times you’d tell him to get off of you whenever he would be drenched with sweat after practices, (when all he wanted to do was hug you after a long day!)

or the fact that you get too hot when cuddling and eventually let go of him, (is it so much of a hassle to stay in his hold?)

but the more that atsumu stuck around, the more that he had noticed the details.

the quiet chuckle and relieved smile that you’d silently give after staring at him—indicating that whatever ridiculous thing he did was the first thing to leave a positive impression on your tiresome day.

the way that, even with the amount of times you’ve complained about him being ‘dirty’, you were always the first one to throw yourself onto his sweaty figure after every game, hugging him regardless of if he had won or not.

the light kiss that you’d plant on his forehead whenever you left his hold, purposely not putting too much pressure so as to not wake him—and how you’d slightly panic when he’d grumble to himself even just a little bit.

and if anyone were to tell him that there would be so much more realizations about you and your ways of showing love, he would’ve felt like less of an idiot in the long run.

so much things became clearer to him.

the way his baby picture was the main picture in your wallet.

the way your onigiri started to ‘coincidentally’ taste exactly how osamu’s did—just how atsumu liked it.

the way his favourite toothpaste suddenly became your toothpaste after he once commented how he didn’t like the taste of your old one.

the way how, when once passing by a room in your house, the sound effects of the video game he had excitedly introduced to you was suddenly being heard, despite the fact that you both had to stop playing the other day because of how bad you were.

and how you were oddly decent at it the next day when you told him you wanted to “try playing a second time”.

honestly? this wasn’t even the whole of it. not even close.

if there was ever something atsumu regretted within the course of your relationship, it was the fact that he was once in the belief that it was solely him ‘putting the effort’.

there was never a need to question your love.

not at all, not ever.

and atsumu made it an everyday vow to make sure you would never doubt, either.

— “i love you.”

“eh?”

“what? i love you.”

“that was random.”

“cant i profess my love?”

“we’re quite literally in an insurance office…?”

“so?”

“…”

“i love you too.”

made this in honour of the fl’s who’s display of love is never talked abt by the fandom bc the ml overshadows them 🙏🏽

guys are u tired of me making atsumu imagines yes or no (don’t say yes pleas)

I WANNA WRITE FOR A DIFFERENT CHARACTER SOON💔.. after exams guys trust.

[honey-tongued-devil]

[Arcane preference] reacting to a jealous s/o

Disclaimer: I’ve had about ten different requests regarding jealousy, and while this doesn’t cover all of them, it does address some. Disclaimer #2: It would be out of character to write that everyone handles it perfectly, so read at your own discretion. Lastly, as always, I’ve got an Arcane longfic in progress! If you’d like to read it, click HERE, and it’ll take you straight to the AO3 page.

Jayce:

You need to get a grip.

He’s an understanding person, but there’s a limit to everything. If jealousy stems from insecurity and is brought up as a calm and peaceful discussion, he’ll sit beside you to talk it out.

However, if it’s a scene, if it escalates into yelling, restrictive demands on his freedom, or absurd and over-the-top behavior, he’ll enter a period of coldness where he’ll reflect on things.

But if it happens again, don’t expect understanding.

You can’t expect to publicly humiliate someone like that, try to control them because of your own insecurities, and not face a negative reaction.

Viktor:

Raises an eyebrow, his only initial reaction.

The first thing he’ll do is laugh—whether because he finds the situation ridiculous or it’s just an instinctive response, that’s what you’ll see first.

From his perspective, he’s working like a beast of burden not just to be independent but to be a person with dignity, breaking free from the dynamic imposed by Zaun and Piltover that has shackled him like some original sin. And now, not only do you not trust him, but you’re also trying to put him back in the role of a pet that needs taming and obedience.

He knows he hasn’t done anything wrong, knows he hasn’t been giving attention to anyone else but you and his work.

That’s why jealousy only damages the relationship.

Ekko:

Perplexed.

Assuming no one would take a public scene well, in the case of a civil confrontation, he’d mostly be confused.

It makes sense, sure, given how close-knit all the Firelights are, but it never occurred to him that it might bother you.

He doesn’t even know how he should react. He’d definitely try to talk with you, figure out what exactly made you feel that way, and explain the ambiguous situation that set you off.

A scene isn’t a dealbreaker with him, but it does lead to a few days of awkwardness before a fight inevitably happens.

That doesn’t mean he lacks self-respect, though. After the umpteenth time, he’ll simply give up.

Vander:

He’s too old for this kind of nonsense, to be honest.

If you throw a scene, he’ll just ignore it. He’ll let you yell and stomp your feet until you’re out of energy, let you cool off, and then come back to have a conversation.

His response will be laced with irony, like, “Well, who wouldn’t be jealous of the most charming man in the Lanes, after all?” But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t take the issue seriously—he’s just trying to lighten the mood.

He’ll ask how you think he should handle it but ultimately decides for himself whether your request is reasonable or over the top.

When you lose your cool, he’ll treat you the same way he used to handle kids throwing tantrums.

Silco:

Let’s assume no one would dare make a scene in public with Silco out of pure survival instinct. That alone would be an immediate dealbreaker, and you wouldn’t have any chance to confront, talk, or even approach his space again.

A private scene would irritate him regardless. When you’re done, his response would be, “Is that all?”

He’s a diplomatic person. The idea of yelling—or even wasting unnecessary energy on these trivial little issues when his vision is grand, almost boundless—feels almost insulting to him.

If, however, you approach it as a calm and rational discussion, while he may still feel mildly annoyed, he’ll try to reassure you and help you understand that there’s no real reason for you to feel that way.

Jinx:

A fertile ground for conflict, given her fear of abandonment, obsessiveness, and jealousy.

Reverse card: if you start a scene, there’s a high chance she’ll throw it right back at you, leading to a full-blown argument.

Her fear of losing you means that even if your request makes her furious, she’ll still do what you want.

Not the healthiest relationship you could have, but hey, who am I to judge?

She’s not one to leave arguments unresolved. After the shouting match, there have to be cuddles, even if only to prove there’s no lingering resentment between you two.

Vi:

Completely caught off guard.

Now, no one likes a scene, BUT she grew up with a sister who felt emotions way too strongly, so there’s a good chance she’ll switch into “caregiver” mode and try to calm you down immediately instead of getting mad.

She wasn’t expecting an outburst like that. She’s likely more hurt by the fact that you feel this way than anything else.

After the fight, she’ll probably ask to hold you for a bit, trying to make up for unintentionally hurting you.

She’s open to changing the things you need her to change because she values you more than other people.

Caitlyn:

Caitlyn’s problem is that she has the dignity—and let’s be honest, that’s what it is—to tell you to fuck off after a jealous scene, especially if it’s in public. But unfortunately, she pours her soul into relationships, so she’ll try to talk it out.

She’ll meet you halfway within reason. Obviously, you can’t ask her to stop going out alone with colleagues after work, but if your concerns are more reasonable, she’ll try to accommodate them.

However, that doesn’t mean she’ll be calm immediately after the scene. Quite the opposite. She’ll need the rest of the day to cool off and a night’s sleep to forget how angry she was.

If you handle things diplomatically instead of with a scene, she won’t be angry but might feel a bit sad.

Mel:

If you throw a scene, expect to be left right where you are—literally.

If you want to yell, stomp your feet, and act immature, she’ll just turn and walk away, and you’ll find out the state of your relationship when you try to return to your shared apartment and find it empty.

It’s not about pettiness; it’s about the humiliation of being publicly exposed, about dragging your private matters into the open, showing so little respect that you can’t even grant her privacy.

If it’s a discussion, prepare to bottle it up.

Everything she does is for appearances, for trust, and as a political figure, she can’t neglect something as crucial as her public image.

It’s up to you to trust her enough.

Sevika:

A public scene disgusts her and puts her in a horrible position. She’ll be mocked—Silco will hit her once and tell her that “You walk her like a dog,” and his goons won’t let her live it down either.

Depending on her mood, the timing, and countless other factors, her reaction could range from ignoring you to screaming at you in the bar to telling you to get a grip or even walking away and ending it.

It’s about respect, pride, and understanding where your limits lie—and this might be one of those moments where you’ve crossed the line.

If you talk things out calmly, don’t expect her to console you. Whether you trust her or not isn’t her problem.

She holds no grudges, but she also has no intention of babying you.

[gay-otlc]

AO3 statistics for trans men

I looked at three main categories of ao3 stats: number of explicit fics, ratio of M/M to M/F fics, and different types of sex listed under "additional tags" (vaginal, oral, etc). There are definitely more things that could be looked at but these are what I focused on.

Explicit rating

At the time I collected these numbers (they've likely already changed, fic authors publish stuff fast) there were 14,221,609 total fics on ao3. Of those, 2,569,913 fics were rated "explicit," or 18.1% of fics. There were 91,487 fics tagged "trans male character," and of those, 43,845 were rated "explicit." That's 47.9% of fics tagged "trans male character."

Nearly half of all fics featuring trans men are explicit, compared to about a fifth of fics overall. This indicates that trans men are heavily sexualized in fandom spaces.

M/M vs M/F fics

For fics in general, there were about 2.0 times as many M/M fics as M/F fics (6,822,062 and 3,439,600, respectively). For fics tagged "trans male character," there were about 6.0 times as many M/M fics as M/F (68,507 and 11,359, respectively).

When filtering for fics rated "explicit," the difference in ratios is even more significant. Explicit fics in general had about 2.2 times as many M/M fics as M/F (1,616,555 and 743,455), while explicit fics tagged "trans male character" had 8.6 times as many M/M fics as M/F (38,490 and 4,489).

Fandoms in general tend to lean more towards M/M relationships than M/F relationships, but this discrepency is much stronger when it comes to trans men, and I'm not sure what the reason for that is. Trans men are more likely to be non-heterosexual than heterosexual, but not necessarily more likely to be attracted to men than women (a lot of trans men are bisexual, pansexual, queer, etc).

Trans male characters are more commonly shipped with men than women, to a greater extent than the overall fandom preference for M/M ships over M/F, and I'm not really sure why, but it's definitely interesting.

Additional tags

For explicit fics tagged as "trans male character," the most popular additional tag by far is "vaginal sex" at 13,685 fics (31.2% of explicit fics tagged "trans male character"). Since this tag doesn't necessarily refer to the trans male character (it could refer to a cis woman being vaginally penetrated by a trans male partner, for example), I filtered for fics tagged as M/M. That resulted in 12,504 fics tagged "vaginal sex," or 32.5% of explicit M/M fics tagged "trans male character."

Overall, for explicit fics tagged as "trans male character," the most common additional tags referring to different types of sex were:

Vaginal sex, at 13,685 fics

Vaginal fingering, at 9,908 fics

Oral sex, at 9,147 fics

Cunnilingus, at 7,712 fics

Anal sex, at 4,590 fics

There definitely are trans men out there who enjoy vaginal penetration/fingering or receiving cunnilingus, and many of the fics tagged as such might be reflective of that fairly common* experience for trans men. That being said, there is a really heavy emphasis on vaginas and vulvas in explicit fics about trans men, and I find that uncomfortable.**

*I think? Unsure how common it actually is

**BEFORE PEOPLE START MISINTERPRETING ME: I'm not saying I'm uncomfortable with trans men who enjoy using their vaginas/vulvas for sex, or the existence of that kind of fic. I'm saying that fandoms in general tend to focus on trans men having vaginas to an extent that I'm uncomfortable with.

[kurishiri]

9 lil things abt the way some ikevil chars speak in japanese you probably didnt know

in the jp version, even after getting into a relationship, kate actually still consistently calls elbert with his title, “lord elbert” [エルバート様] (erubāto-sama). in jp, the only ones who do not use the honorific would be victor, william, and on occasion, alfons, who seems to switch between [エル] (eru), [エルバート] (erubāto), [エル様] (eru-sama), and [エルバート様] (erubāto-sama) on a whim.

in case en doesnt localize this well or fully when it does come…there is a time when victor switches his personal pronoun from [僕] (boku) to [俺] (ore). these words mean the exact same thing (i, me, my, etc), but the latter is meant to have a more “masculine” feel. [僕] (boku) is used quite a bit by boys as well (in fact, ellis’ personal pronoun is [僕]), but it can also treated as a sorta “gender-neutral” character in songs, for example, and girls can use [僕] as well. on the other hand, you wouldnt ever see a girl using [俺].

nica has an interesting…speaking quirk, where certain words that should be written in hiragana r written in katakana. for example, he might say [イイ] (ī) as opposed to [いい] (ī), or [ホント] (honto) rather than [ほんとう] (hontō), [ワケ] (wake) over [わけ], [てアゲル] (—te ageru) over [てあげる], etc. this is likely a “personal style” thing to make him seem more flippant, cuteish, or youthful. this kind of thing is also more common in fictional characters who were raised abroad.

darius uses [ほっぺ] (hoppe) to say “cheeks”. the traditional way to say cheeks is [頬] (hoho). they mean the exact same thing, but saying [ほっぺ] (hoppe) to refer to cheeks has a childish or “innocent” air to it, partially due to the way its written entirely in hiragana. he does tend to have a childish air abt him, and this is probably one of the most direct examples of his childishness when it comes to the way he speaks.

alfons changed his way of speaking at some point after entering the greetia manor. before then, he often used more casual speech, known as [くだけた表現] (kudaketa hyōgen), but eventually he changed his way of speaking to whats known as [です・ます] (desu•masu) form, even using [敬語] (keigo), which is like very polite or humble japanese with their own set of vocabulary and conjugations. this is likely due to becoming elbert’s “attendant.” so he likely had to speak that way and it may have just become a habit or a sort of integral part of his identity, as he uses this language even after getting into a relationship with kate.

another tidbit of victor: he often — for example — ends questions with [かい] (kai). the other way to end questions in japanese would be to just use [か] (ka). but by adding [い] (i) to it, it can add emphasis or “soften” the tone. its mostly used by men, and using such a form is often associated with older men and women (40+), but younger men can use this too.

it might be more noticeable with jude bc he originally speaks in a whole different dialect [関西弁] (kansai-ben), and will switch to queens english, i.e. standard tokyo japanese, for business related reasons or if he feels its necessary to for a reason. but roger also can switch his way of speaking as well. he would mainly do this with ppl hes not well acquainted to or with well respected personages. he normally speaks pretty casually in japanese, shortening words or phrases, though not speaking in a different dialect. for example, he might say [そりゃ] (sorya) instead of [それは] (sore ha). but in certain situations, he might opt to use [それは].

william and elbert speak in the same form [だ・である] (da•dearu) due to the fact they r nobles — such a form comes off as more direct, imposing, or just strong in general — but they also do have their own “speaking quirks” as well. for example, when saying the word “but” or “however”, will often uses the word [が] (ga), while elbie opts for [けれど] (keredo). will also tends to end his sentences or remarks with [だな] (da na), something that elbie does not really do. that said, the way they both say “yes” is the same: [ああ] (ā).

kate uses honorifics with ring, specifically [くん] (—kun), when requested by ring to not be so formal with him (btw kate also uses [くん] with ellis), but when ring refers to kate by her name rather than “robin”, he doesnt use any honorific on her. on the other hand, nica continues to call her “robin” / spatzi / rotkehlchen what have you, but asks her to not use [さん] (—san) with him at all. so kate just calls him [ニカ] (nika). not using any honorifics is what’s known as [呼び捨て] (yobi-sute), and its smth that should really be done with ppl you feel v close to or with family (or otherwise its incredibly rude), but kate probably only did so with nica at that pt so she could respect his request, rather than an actual feeling of closeness.

[hobbitkiller]

“What happened to rebel Vi? Season 2 destroyed her character!”

“What happened to rebel Vi” is that Vander took her to the bridge where her parents died in his revolution and asked her what she was willing to lose. Then she meets Cait who is gentle and kind while still being tough and it makes her rethink how she sees topside. When Jinx tells her she changed too, that’s what she’s talking about.

I’m sorry if you thought Vi was going to be a topside-hating revolutionary in Season 2, but that’s clearly not where her character arc was going. Remember how she forced her way between Ekko and Cait? It seemed very straightforward that was the role her character was taking on.

I feel similar about people who act like the show was betraying its premise because it ended with reconciliation/Zaun and Piltover working together. Again, the fact that two of the most important relationships were between characters from both sides and that they made a point of talking about Zaun and Piltover first coming together against a common enemy was a pretty clear indicator that was the plan.

Now, I get being annoyed that that was what they chose to do. You don’t have to love the creative decisions of media, just like media doesn’t have to compromise its creative direction to satisfy you. But not liking that they went that direction is not the same as the show having bad writing or engaging in character assassination.

Everything Vi did in season 2 was very much in character with how she changed and who she became throughout Season 1. Hell, she used enforcers and Hextech to raid Shimmer facilities before Commander Kiramman ever threw on a beret. So, yes, actually wearing the uniform was a huge and complicated decision that she was definitely not happy about, but it also fell in line with what she had been doing.

There’s meat for another post at some point about the three different Zaun/enforcer partnerships we see in the show: Vander/Greyson, Silco/Marcus, and Cait/Vi; but I’m not going to go into that now.

TLDR: “Rebel Vi” who wants to fight all of topside hasn’t existed since the end of the second episode of the show.

Editing to add that Vi doesn’t see attacking Chem Barons as attacking Zaun; she’s taking down the people who are destroying Zaun.

[bloomeng]

There’s so much to be said about Jason and this is a much larger conversation but I feel like when people are discussing Jason and Bruce’s relationship sometimes we forget that killing is… bad? Like Bruce isn’t angry about Jason’s politics or even his worldview, he’s disturbed because he’s willing to kill and to kill brutally. And Bruce’s philosophy is that the difference between him and the villains is that he doesn’t cross that line. Not to mention that at his core Bruce is an optimist who wants to believe anyone can change.

And like sure killing the Joker is one thing and a debate within itself but I feel like people see the violence as just fictional violence, which it is to us, but to the fictional characters it’s not. Does that make sense? Like we the audience are desensitized to onscreen/onpage violence and the death of random henchmen number 37 is just ink on a page but to a character inhabiting that world that could very well be a single father whose child is now an orphan etc.

I’m not even anti-Jason-killing because it’s interesting, it builds tension, it’s a different perspective that’s safe to explore in fiction. But it’s odd to pretend that Bruce is in the wrong for being very hurt by Jason. Doesn’t make all his actions valid but his emotions are.

[happyk44]

[ID: Characters from both Hades games with different posts edited next to them. All pictures, except one, feature official character art edited on top of a blurred background of Hades sitting at his desk. The one exception is a screenshot from the games of Zagreus and Thanatos standing in front of one another in one of the Elysium rooms.

Zagreus: calling your dad "my father" is just the socially acceptable way of saying "my dad's a bastard and i hate him"

Dusa: The reason I've always felt so outcast in my friend group is because apparently they're all in a polyamourous relationship and I didn't fucking know

Hermes and Charon: I love the term "partner". are we dating? are we detectives on a case together? are we cowboys? are we cowboy detectives in a relationship? there's no bad answer

Megaera, Zagreus and Thanatos: EVIL polyamory. they call it is diabolicule [purple devil emoji]

Persephone: get you a man who despite his literal decades of practice repressing and hiding his emotions to survive physically cannot hide how smitten he is with you

Zagreus and Thanatos: my favorite kind of gay sex is gay sex where they're not actually having sex and they're doing another activity that is obviously supposed to be gay sex

Skelly: slipping a tiny figurine of myself into the pocket of a stranger

Patrocules and Achilles: I love my boyfriend I mean husband I mean soulmate I mean boy best friend

Orpheus: Updating my CV and trying to find out where to add my girl cause she's my highest achievement

Hypnos: never let your job stop you from acting unemployed

Hades: born to be a malewife, forced to become a mob boss

Melinoe: girls when they feel their father's traits coming out

The source of each post are:

Zagreus: Tumblr post from @/hexglyphs

Dusa: Tweet from sraha @/LBPluvr

Hermes and Charon: Tweet from useless homosexual @/criedwolves

Megaera, Zagreus and Thanatos: Tweet from Bright Sunshine [sun emoji] [blue checkmark] @/KindaSortaMaebe

Persephone: Tumblr post from @/hybrix-hidings

Zagreus and Thanatos: Tumblr post from @/superorganism

Skelly: Tweet from ipad pro jones @/ipadprojones

Patrocules and Achilles: Post from @/locklynmusic [blue checkmark]

Orpheus: Tweet from Jerrie [blue checkmark] @/jerrieblogg

Hypnos: Tweet from sophia @/hellopugh

Hades: Tweet from yaoi ko-caine dealer @/pzxce

Melinoe: Tweet from dani @/girlascendant

/end ID]

Supergiant Hades + textposts

[lover-of-mine]

Okay, last week I made this post and in it, I said that what makes buddie is time, everything that happened to them, and then I corrected myself by saying what actually makes them something you can't fight against was Christopher but that that was a different post. Well, this is that different post.

So buddie. We have 2 main characters whose main screen partners are each other. Something that makes Buck and Eddie different is that Eddie was written in for Buck. Connie leaving left a gap on the show, they lost the dispatcher and Buck lost the thing he was written for, since s1 Buck is very much there to be the love interest, to give Abby something, and the bridge between the firehouse and dispatch. Since the space was surrounding Buck, they filled that space through him. They added Maddie in. But Maddie alone didn't really fill the void, a sibling dynamic doesn't really fill that space because Buck would need a more constant scene partner, so in comes Eddie. Giving him a partner in the field plus adding Maddie in fills that gap. So they gave Buck a best friend.

The thing is, in a universe where Christopher isn't a variable, where Eddie is just some guy Buck's age going through a messy divorce at the same time Buck is coming to terms with Abby abandoning him making them bond, the basis of their relationship is something completely different, and it is something you can fight against if you really want to separate them and give them other endgame love interests. If they are just best friends, you have a lot less at stake, so you can put the space between them a lot easier if necessary. A new love interest would be fighting against one person. That's a fair fight. That's a fight a new person can win if introduced correctly.

But in the universe we have, Christopher is the thing that makes them bond. The foundation of their relationship is Buck stepping up to help Eddie and Eddie deciding that that would warrant Buck his full loyalty and the relationship builds on that. Major movements in their dynamic are marked by Chris (and death, but again, different post). Chris' existence brings them together, with Buck deciding to introduce Eddie to Carla, then the tsunami shows us that there is a deeper trust between them, and then the will reveal intensifies all that and seals them together as an unconventional family (it all makes me wonder about the way they took Chris off the board, why would they do that if they aren't about to use him to snap the last piece into place to get them together since Eddie makes statements through Chris).

All this means that a love interest isn't fighting a best friend, which is something you can make work, a love interest is up against a life partner and child. Since Eddie is a single parent and the person that Buck turns to, they aren't really best friends to the audience, they are partners. And the show made a conscious effort to develop Buck's bond with Christopher outside of his relationship with Eddie. They have been adding that in since Eddie's introduction, the tsunami makes it clear, but season 4 is the one that puts the focus on Buck and Chris by showing us Buck at the house in a casual setting then making Buck a trusted adult Chris runs when upset with Eddie to then making Buck step up to take care of Chris before he knew about the will. They built upon that in s5 and then during s6 they really drove home the point that Buck sees Chris as his and that's when we start getting casually parenting, with the cookies, then the conversation they have in s7. The 3 of them have their individual connections, so for all intents and purposes, they are a family.

The chances of you actually convincing an audience that a new person (especially a new person that only exists as a love interest, since we established on the other post that audiences aren't inclined to care about characters they don't see a lot) is a better fit than an established family unit are null. It will literally not happen.

To give someone new a chance they would need to separate Buck and Eddie, they need to effectively break their partnership while building the fuck out of the new person, but that means making Buck abandon Christopher. And that's the point that would make audiences riot. The whole time Chris has been on the show, Buck was made into someone Christopher could count on like a parent. By s3 Buck and Eddie were having custody battles at a grocery store. And if you need to keep Buck in Chris' life, you can't separate Buck from Eddie. And that's what makes them IT. They can get away with separating Buck and Eddie, they cannot get away with making Buck step out on Christopher. So there's no way around them into someone else. It would never feel as satisfying because they can't really exist in a space that's like "I'm Eddie, this is my husband Buck, that's our kid Christopher, and that's Buck's boyfriend whatever" it gets boring. Especially when the show isn't exactly trying to establish the other love interest as someone worth rooting for, as explained on the other post.

[remstrrs]

Stranger Things VR and How it Portrays Byler/Elmax VS Milven

I wanted to make this post bc I haven't seen the ST VR game discussed on here much at all, especially in terms of it's Byler/Elmax content, and I think some people weren't even aware of it's existence!

In short, the game consists of nine chapters which switch through different time periods from 1979 to 1986, and contain the perspectives of multiple characters, including Henry/001/Vecna (mainly), Will, Billy, and El. The chapters all focus on how Vecna is influencing the characters or vice versa.

Although all of the chapters have very interesting lore woven into them, in this post im going to focus in on chapters 3 and 4 (which are more Will centric) and chapter 9 (which is El centric).

Chapter 3: The Possession of Will Byers

Chapter three opens with us as Will in November of 1984 while he slowly becomes possessed by Vecna. Vecna begins tormenting him in his mind, which prompts Will to attempt to focus on a good memory. He ends up at Castle Byers with Mike.

Mike talks to Will for a couple moments, but soon, Will's mind goes back into Upside Down hallucinations.

The player cycles through multiple hallucinations in which Vecna taunts Will and tells him his friends see him as a freak, while also tormenting him with visions of the demogorgon. This continues until Vecna tells him that he'll show Will "how miserable he really is"

We then cut to another memory/hallucination (it's slightly unclear, and i believe that's the point) where Mike tells Will that El is "different from anyone" Mike's ever met, and tells Will he wouldn't get it because he's never liked anyone. Then, we get this heartbreaking dialogue that lowkey makes me want to cry (all lines are Vecna speaking to Will):

Obviously, Will's feelings towards Mike are already canonical, but this gives us even more confirmation that these feelings root back all the way to at least mid-season 2. Also, we do get more of a look into Will's POV on El before he met her, which is a little bit upsetting :(

Then, Vecna taunts Will more by telling him that he understands him the most out of everyone, and we cut to Ch4.

Chapter 4: The Spy

Chapter 4 also takes place in November of 1984, but it's main premise is Vecna attempting to take hold of each of the party members' minds by taunting them with their fears.

He fails in taking hold of Dustin, Lucas, and Mike's minds, as they have been made too strong by the events of season one, but manages to weaken Will's mind enough to be let in.

I'd like to point out, though, that the main fear Mike is taunted with is losing El, and never knowing what "could've been" between them-

But when Vecna breaks into Will's mind, he specifically asks him what Mike is afraid of. It's as if he doesn't know because taunting him about his relationship with El couldn't reach him. Keep in mind that he also failed to break into Lucas and Dustin's minds, but it was only Mike's fears that he asks Will about.

Shortly after, Will's nose starts bleeding and Mike immediately notices and uses Nancy's shirt (lmao) to go up to him and stop the bleeding.

At this point, we reenter Will's mind, where Vecna is throwing all sorts of taunts at him, and telling him that his friends have outgrown him, and that "he'll finally matter to someone" (i assume this is referring to him potentially joining Vecna, but it's an interesting detail). However, Will is able to break free of Vecna's control by paying attention to Mike, who is tending to his bloody nose and taking care of him.

I do believe that it means something that a lot of post s4 content focuses in on Will's relationship with Mike, and, knowing that Will could experience possession in season 5, it sets up an interesting dynamic by giving us even more examples of Mike being the only one able to get through to Will.

Now, you might be asking, "well, Will's chapters are very focused on his relationship with Mike in particular, so El's probably is as well, right?"

Well, you'd be wrong!

Chapter 9: The Resurrection of Mad Max

Firstly, i want to start of by saying that while chapter 8 is also El POV, it only covers her origins with 001, and covers already mostly known info, so I decided to focus in more on chapter 9 instead.

Ch9 takes place in March of 1986, and we open immediately with the scene in which Max gets put into her coma. Vecna speaks to El and blames her for this, but El tells him that she won't let him take Max.

We then get an expansion of the S4 scene where El goes into Max's mind, cycling through different memories there while Vecna continues to taunt her.

In this sequence, one of the most interesting lines in my opinion is this one:

"You chose her"

Here, we get more evidence that Max is El's most important relationship. Max is El's person.

Throughout both El-centric chapters, Mike is mentioned only a couple times in passing.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, is an almost perfect parallel to Mike's speech to El, but this time it's from Max:

Max brings up the first time her and El met, just like Mike did in his speech. However, while Mike blatantly lies and tells El it was love at first sight, Max is honest. Even though their first meeting wasn't pleasant, she recalls it truthfully.

Then, we get this parallel, which I think is insane:

In Mike's speech, he tells El that she's his superhero, which is one of their main points of argument earlier in the season- El doesn't want to always be the superhero, she doesn't want to be placed on a pedestal, but Mike doesn't quite understand that. Max, however, tells El that she likes her just as herself - that she's human, and doesn't constantly have to fit that role that she's been put into.

Max knows exactly what El needs to hear, and their bond is more important to El than her bond with Mike, which is why Mike is not a key character in her story in this game (and wont be in s5). Will needs Mike, and it's Mike's care for him that pulls Will out of his visions and nightmares - which is why Mike is a part of Will's storyline in s5 (and will be in s5).

Max is El's person, and Mike is Will's person. Ty.

[thegrayascendancy-if]

I am about to mention something that has become a bit of a touchy subject in this space, so I might as well do it right away: a rewr—major edit. Before you close this post, give up on me and unfollow, I have great news! It has already been completed, and it isn't about changing the plot (I think I added no more than five variables in total) but about fixing the pacing and fleshing out the world and some characters. To dodge the allegations I will release it together with the third part of chapter 1 to guarantee there will be something for everyone in the next update.

The changes are restricted to the prologue:

replaced vagueness with specificity on magic,

improved the fight choreography,

overhauled the section of the return travel with Jax,

reworked the encounter with Mort,

edited, extended and rewired the scene with Y in their study, hopefully taking care of the inconsistencies it is peppered with (no mini-game yet, sorry!)

misc. edits of the awkward phrases and descriptions

Overall, the prologue is now 15k words longer, but probably more in "new" content as I removed some parts too.

This reflects my growing certainty in some aspects of this fictional world and my improved understanding of particular character dynamics. Not to mention that as a prologue, the entry point into the story, it desperately needed to catch up to the changes in my style. There were other concerns too. In the beginning, I often tried to do too much in a single choice, most evident in the conversations with Jax, and the pacing suffered because of it. I also realized that as an author, you do not have to serve an opportunity to flirt with every RO right away just to establish that they are an RO—circling back to my point about confidence. Some stories gotta flow differently.

Among the less obvious changes, I finally got to fix the code that upset me just by existing in the files, sheer sadness in Sugarcube form. But now, with everything I learned in the process of making the consequent updates, I was able to not only improve readability but also make branching less tedious for me. That, in turn, makes me naturally open to introducing more of fun little choices. Honestly, positives only.

Phew, thank you for reading all of that! I want to be open with you about what is coming and my reasons for doing it. Once the update is out, you might not get the same numbers in the character/relationship stats as before, but that is nothing to worry about.

tldr: prologue edit done, coming bundled with the next update to chapter 1

[edwardteachswombtattoo]

The interior of Ed and Stede's relationship is well-tread both in analysis and the show itself. We know why they fall for each other, how they fall for each other, when they fall for each other. We've been inside their heads. We could, if we wanted to, probably compile a rough timeline of events from Point A (Ed hearing of Stede's existence) to Point Z (Ed and Stede retiring from piracy to open an inn). Has anyone done that? Someone should do that. I might do that.

But a thread the show keeps pulling on from their first meeting all the way to the end of Season 2 is the persistent showing that no one else seems to fully understand what Ed and Stede have going on.

There are exceptions to this. Lucius with his emotional intelligence and arguably the whole crew of The Revenge understand that Ed and Stede feel something for each other that is somewhat outside the framework. The Revenge is a safe space where they are allowed to explore and hold feelings like that and their influence (Stede's, but really the whole crew's) outgrows the ship and spills out into the wider culture of piracy. They don't fundamentally change the whole culture of piracy, but their influence forces characters who would otherwise be immovable and rigid in their personal philosophies (Anne and Mary Read, Zheng Yi Sao, Auntie, Ned Low's crew, etc.) to rethink their relationships with each other.

I already made a post about Jack and how he seems to think Stede is just a passing fascination, so I won't repeat myself. But this is not the first nor will it be the last time a character fundamentally misunderstands how much Ed cares about Stede. Izzy in Season 1 legitimately believes that Stede's death will force Ed back to normal, to the extent that he does not even try to comfort or console Ed during Stede's almost-execution. And he is caught totally caught off guard when Ed gives up his life to save Stede's.

Ned Low demonstrates an awareness of something being there, but he dismisses it the same way Jack did: Ed only cares about Stede because he's new and interesting. Ed will move on once that shiny new pirate smell wears off. "Ed only cares because you're interesting" and "Ed only cares because you're inexperienced".

These are easy assumptions to make when you only have one half of the picture. And when you don't understand that Ed exists as a multi-faceted whole thinking person outside of his Blackbeard persona and piracy. The distinction between "Blackbeard" and "Ed" was made very early on (Ed introducing himself as "Ed") and reinforced later with "His name is Ed". When other characters refer to Ed, it's useful to ask: are they talking about Ed or Blackbeard? Ed and Blackbeard are not fundamentally distinct personalities, but Blackbeard is a performance and a mask Ed puts on. His arc at the end of Season 2 deals with reconciling his past, Blackbeard, The Kraken, and all these other facets of himself into one cohesive person who is just called Ed.

Yeah, Ed is fascinated by Stede's things. His fabrics, his wardrobe, the model ship, the secret passages, the books. But even from their first meeting, Ed and Stede are not just connecting over Stede's clothes and his books. Ed is sharing his love of soft things with someone for probably the first time in his life, he's being vulnerable and truthful. He remains guarded through their first interactions, but he's being more open and candid than Blackbeard would be. "Do you fancy a fine fabric?" is not a question Blackbeard would answer honestly. And when Ed casually makes the reveal ("I'm Blackbeard") in the auxiliary wardrobe, Stede does not treat him any differently after the fact. Everyone else is like "big scary pirate Blackbeard!!" but Stede is like "That's Ed :) He's my friend :) He's very cool and he likes fabrics and did I mention he is my friend?? :)"

Ned Low, Izzy Hands, and Jack all ask the question Why does Blackbeard care so much about this fucking muppet? and collectively decide it must be because Stede clearly does not know what he's doing and/or he has a lot of cool stuff and Ed is into that shit. And there is a part of Ed who probably did at one point think it was just Stede's stuff he was into, that he just wanted what Stede had and then realized it was not about the fancy stuff it was about Stede as a person. That is why Ed starts to really fall for Stede at the end of "The Best Revenge is Dressing Well". They have their intimate moment and Ed is like oh fuck I might be in love with this guy for real oh fuccccck I want to kiss him so baddddd oh shit oh fuck. I've always been of the (maybe controversial? idk) opinion that Ed was flirting during their first meeting and making it obvious as possible he was DTF if Stede was into that, which is the maximum amount of physical intimacy and wanting Ed could allow himself to express without getting scared. He wasn't full bright lights in love with Stede at first sight, but he was infatuated at first conversation.

Interestingly, we never see this on the other side. It is always assumed that Stede just doesn't understand Ed, that he doesn't understand how Ed really feels about him and if he only knew The Real Ed (Blackbeard) he wouldn't have so many soft feelings. In Season 2, Stede is continuously confused when people suggest Ed might try to kill him. Because Stede alone knows that the last time Ed tried that, he ended up having a panic attack and hiding in Stede's bathtub. Izzy tries to pull the whole "you don't know him like I do" and Stede rebukes that fucking instantly by describing Ed's entire mindset in a single sentence while Izzy was just last season struggling to understand Ed's sudden shift in behavior. Izzy sees a change in Ed's behavior and is at a loss to understand, while Stede sees a change in Ed's behavior and instantly clocks what is going on.

"You don't actually know him" is how outsiders rationalize Stede's feelings about Ed and "he's just a momentary bit of fun" is how outsiders rationalize Ed's feelings for Stede.

The key to these intimate moments between Ed and Stede is that they really are between Ed and Stede. Ed never shares these memories with anyone. Even when he's talking with Mary Read in "Fun and Games", he brings up the stabbing because it's relevant and then tries to brush it off a little by saying he had to force Stede to do it and calling Stede "fragile". He does not even allude to the intimacy of that moment and his own being vulnerable. Stede and Lucius are the only people Ed reveals those parts of himself to.

[nexischillin]

Bvz 1:

Mad Crow || 0:00-1:45

"Everyone deserves a second chance. We've heard that before haven't we?"

"Did you really expect me to play fair?"

Wishful thinking is the only thing honest about Karmor. Is the Crow just saying that or was Karmor a frequent liar. Maybe he put up some kind of act?

"No matter power you have you will never destroy me"

"If I had my way I'd kill you right now"

"Maybe I'll finally get lucky this time"

Theory Town:

From this all I think the relationship between the Mad Crow and Karmor was never good to begin with (why tho?). It seems their relationship was always somewhat rocky but it got to a grace period at one point for some reason (higher ups maybe?). I think they fought a couple of times before (at least two but that's rocky) but the last time is really when they tried to kill each other. It failed of course but it seems like it was because of intervention by someone leaning towards Crows side or a hidden power that Crow had. That power or someone powerful is the thing keeping Crow in check. As much as I think that Crow is doing this for the love of the game, I also think that he would have just up and killed Karmor by now if something or someone wasn't stopping him. Something has to be enforcing the rules. Otherwise, the game wouldn't have gone on this long

Mad Crow taking away Karmor speech is a way to isolate him and keep him from telling people what he knows (it also signifies that Karmor was very mouthy and probably often defiant)

Mahatma/Attilla || 13:12-20:40

Karmor freaks the fuck out at the sight of a syringe. The experimented out Theory is kinda held up by this scene but I'd also like to put out that maybe Karmor was frequently drugged/sedated by a captor of some sort. Experimentation doesn't have to be the only reason (then again, it is the most likely)

"You're never leaving" This is said by Attilla and reminds Karmor of Mad Crow. This could be a few things. Maybe Mad Crow was Karmor's captor or maybe he was in charge of keeping Karmor in a certain place and/or docile. It could also be him saying that Karmor would never leave the trial.

Extra Notes:

Static starts at around 27:10 i think

"Got ya" - Mad Crow. Does this not count as him intervening? Or was the bomb always there, and he just utilized it?

Karmor's powers sound less like tv static and more like electricity to me. Like a live wire

Honorable mention to my boy @bookwor-mmm for getting me into this series. Now it's my case study

[gauguinhater69]

Guys, I’ve had Thoughts.

House’s childhood isn’t really explored in a whole lot of depth during the show. The only details we get are some brief mentions of his father’s abuse and the fact that House grew up moving around a lot due to his father serving as a Marine Corps aviator.

I’m pretty sure the only countries that are directly mentioned in the show as being places that House grew up in are the States, Japan, the Philippines, and Egypt. Both of House’s parents are American, as far as I am aware? He also mentions having a Dutch grandmother in One Day, One Room, but I can’t remember if that’s ever mentioned again or if he just said that for the plot. Regardless, this makes House a Third Culture Kid (or TCK).

Third Culture Kid is a term used to describe people who grow up in a culture that's different from their parents' culture or the culture of their country of nationality. TCKs are often children of expatriate workers, including members of the military (like House), or they can also be the result of transnational marriages. TCKs often develop an identity that's based on relationships with people rather than places. 

I feel like this aspect of House’s upbringing explains a lot about his character and why he is The Way He Is. However, I think it was kind of glossed over in canon and could have been dealt with in a really interesting way, but instead they were just kind of like, “Haha, he read manga because army.”

Whether it was intentional by the writers or not, a lot of the ways House thinks, acts, and interacts with other characters is reflective of a TCK childhood. As a TCK myself, I unironically find House to be one of the best-written TCK characters I have ever come across, despite it not being explicitly discussed in the show (genuinely the only other TCK character in mainstream media that I can think of at the moment is Cady Heron from Mean Girls, who is not a good example, sorry girl).

The most compelling aspects of House’s personality, which I believe make him a well-developed representation of what it’s like to grow up as a third culture kid, include:

A complex relationship with authority and rules: TCKs often grow up in environments where they must navigate different sets of rules and authority figures, which could lead to a heightened skepticism about institutional authority. House's disregard for rules, his insubordination, and his tendency to challenge authority figures such as Cuddy, Vogler, Dr. Nolan, and even Wilson at times seem like an indication of a deeper mistrust of systems and structures. House appears to almost compulsively rebel against structure and situations where he is not completely in control, even if he knows that people are trying to help him, as seen in his time at Mayfield.

Alienation of self and others: I feel like this in particular is very central to House’s character and the show. He is constantly pushing the people who care about him away, like Stacy, Cuddy, Wilson, and the Ducklings. He avoids relationships (both romantic and platonic) and emotional connections with the people around him and believes that he is better off relying on himself alone. Many TCKs experience a sense of never truly fitting in anywhere and tend to alienate themselves (whether on purpose or not) because of it.

Detachment and critical thinking: House’s whole thing as a diagnostician is being able to see things from unconventional angles, and his sharp, often brutal, critical thinking is a reflection of this adaptive skill. However, this also contributes to his emotional detachment, as he prioritizes logic and objective analysis over subjective or cultural norms, distancing him from emotional involvement. Being exposed to a variety of different cultures, people, and cultural norms often contributes to TCKs developing the ability to view situations from multiple perspectives and come up with unusual solutions. This could also contribute to House deep desire to figure everything out, this includes the medical mysteries he solves, but also he needs to understand the actions and motivations of all the people around him. He wants to understand and know everything because this gives him a sense of control.

Deep need for control: Growing up in different places, where cultural norms and expectations may have shifted, could have made House feel like he had to assert control over his immediate surroundings to maintain some sense of stability. The trauma he experienced, particularly with his father’s abuse and emotional neglect, likely influenced this desire for control, as he may have associated control with safety and predictability. In addition to this, many TCKs create rigid systems or behavioural processes to compensate for a lack of “home”. House’s fractured sense of identity and personal trauma, which developed as a result of his experiences as a TCK, likely contributed to his need for control in all aspects of his life.

I also think these are all reasons why House is so drawn to Wilson. While Wilson is absolutely as much of a freak as House, he is the most stable and constant thing in House’s life (even more than his job as a doctor is). While medicine is extremely important to House, he works at the hospital on and off, unable to continue his practice while he is at Mayfield, and he ultimately gives up medicine entirely for Wilson. Through all the ups and downs of House’s life, Wilson is there, no matter how hard House tries to drive him away.

House values his relationship with Wilson above pretty much all other things in his life, because Wilson is one of the only constants in House’s life, which is something that House had been lacking before Wilson. House likely had developed the idea that relationships are fleeting due to his constant upheavals as a child, and this may be part of the reason why he is constantly pushing others away to try and save himself the pain of losing people.

However, Wilson keeps coming back no matter what. Despite the fact that House is rude and brash, despite the unhinged pranks, the borderline criminal acts, after House stole Wilson’s prescription pad, after House played a role in the death of Wilson’s girlfriend, again and again Wilson comes back.

I’m going insane, and I think this is very nearly incomprehensible. Does anyone else see the vision?

[lyltinc]

listening to the edison kingdom arc as a certified chip enjoyer is so delightful. chip's vague suggestion that they should get the older kids from the sunny side up orphanage to help him and the rest of the albatrio pickpocket the richer blossom district residents... and it immediately gets shot down by jay and gillion because their lived experiences are so different.

i imagine reuben really prioritized/pushed chip's ability to go unnoticed and sneak around. if reuben's hands protected chip from danger (at a point where their relationship was being built into something, before it went downhill), chip's hands slipped into the pockets of wealthy passerby.

chip obviously sees himself in these kids in the orphanage, and begins to track his lived experiences with reuben (and later their crew) onto them. why wouldn't they want to go up there to steal for themselves? that's how chip was useful in his youth, doing something that'd keep him and reuben alive. stealing and thievery meant agency and survival.

and jay thinks he's crazy! he'd be putting them directly in danger of being caught! she thinks it's a terrible idea, because she thinks it's dragging them into the situation, into peril. chip sees these kids as already in danger. he thinks that the reason these kids currently pickpocket people on the bottom layer is because they don't have the opportunity to do so from the people up top (because of the five gold coin fee to even get into the layer that they certainly can't spare). in his mind, he's giving them agency.

not to say that sending a bunch of orphans to go steal from rich people on the blossom district would be a good idea: another decision he thinks he's making logically, aka more people stealing = more gold coins, but is instead emotionally driven.

jay and gillion object so immediately because they don't have the lived experience that chip does, so they don't have the emotional connection either.

everything else that happens after in edison kingdom, especially with chip's conversation with king leon where he talks about how people can't choose what they're born into, and the kids living in poverty never chose that either, is also so telling of his character and who he is. all such a good direction for his character to have gone after opposing gillion's drive to help loffinlot/desire island/win the paramount tournament.