#the only sibling with whom he has a normal sibling dynamic

[blood-orange-juice]

Hold on, you said something about Childe having a fabulously gay brother?? How did I miss that?

It's a headcanon! It's never mentioned in the game but look at this guy. No way he doesn't have a fabulously gay older brother.

As in, WHO DO YOU THINK PICKED HIS GLOVES FOR HIM? Huh? Huh?

[mystxmomo]

I’ve just started reading up on your characters so please discard if this is irrelevant/already answered but can you say more about enclave’s pregnancy and maternity as horror and a force of isolation it sounds really fascinating

I actually haven't talked about this at length before, and thats surprising because this is actually like. A huge theme within the story as a whole. I'm going to use this ask as chance to talk about everything I have in mind wrt family and motherhood with her, to the point that I actually ended up to break into my WIP word document for this one.

So. Starting with important backstory context before we continue.

Enclave's family was not nobility when she was born. She is old enough that she watched her mother get them power in real time. Her family is... small, disconnected, and headed by an incredibly ambitious and power-hungry matron of whom she has almost next to no memories of being around or knowing. She is the oldest child, but was placed in this vague middle ground that, with exception to exactly one sibling (We'll get to him), never really knew her younger siblings before they died.

In a lot of ways, her background is purposefully set up to give her no concrete identity for her to latch onto. She can't latch onto her families identity. She didn't know her family that well, and barely has a connection to the last name her mother earned for them. She was shipped off to clerical school - And then torn from that and pulled into training to become a soldier for lolth. She spends time in the underdark. She spends time on the surface. She spends time as a cleric. She spends time as an assassin. She spends time under Eilistraee and Lolth. Her early life, and her identity within her early life, was strictly what other people and Lolth needed her to be.

And that. Is the point she's at in her life when she first becomes a mother.

From the beginning of her early character development, I wanted to use Enclave to explore something I find DEEPLY fascinating within drow society and how their families function and operate.

"Noble drow weren't raised by their parents, whom they only rarely saw a few times a year, but by elder siblings and private caretakers before being sent to the city's priesthood, military, or wizard academy depending on gender and inclination...." ".... Merchant clans and commoners (who lacked the resources to hire tutors) considered raising children the entire family's duty, before they learned the parent's craft, enrolled in the military, or joined a wizard or cleric academy. Whether noble or commoner, children generally lacked any strong parental bonds, being both physically and emotionally distant to their absentee parents, thus limiting the emotional growth they could achieve in a more normal (by surface standards) home environment."

And so, from the conception of her character, her dynamic to the children in her family was always going to look like this: Her youngest brother (Nymryn) was born around the same time as her children, and it creates this dynamic where she ended up spending more time around her youngest brother than she did her own children just by circumstance and societal expectation.

Enclave has had three children total that were directly birthed from her womb. Her oldest was a girl that was born when she was around ~110, and then she had a set of twins when she was around ~300. All of her blood children, by the time she truly leaves the underdark for good, are dead. Her oldest being killed in childhood proper, and both of the twins being killed when they were like... old enough to be cognition with identities and shit, but not old by elf standards.

Both of her pregnancies were unplanned and accidents, the first being the result of an Eilistraee priestess she slept with and got close to while spying on that church for Lolth, and the twins a result of her relationship to a different houses weapon master (I haven't introduced him on the blog yet. He's ... interesting! We'll get to him eventually. Maybe I'll finish the concept sketch for him when I'm done with coursework for today.)

To give an example of the headspace Enclave was in around the time her first child was born, here's an except from the WiP's of her talking about her first child a few years after she died:

“She was -” Enclave had begun, sounding more perplexed than anything else. Urleyl had cut her off before she could finish the thought.  “Young?”  Enclave had been going to use far different words than that. Weak. Needy, maybe. She’d been small, and in constant want for attention. If not to herself, then to the chagrin of her teachers. She’d wanted held all of the time, had clung to her leg when Enclave had visited and cried when she left. A child could only be as strong as their heritage, and hers had been so.... weak.  (Enclave hadn’t even wanted the damn child, she’d just happened, and-)  She’d been killed by another girl, one only a little bit older than her. Enclave hadn’t been there when it happened. Had been sent back to the surface for another raid, and when she’d returned she’d been dead.  Better than being killed by a boy, she thinks. And then, remembering where she was, and who she was choosing to place herself under, scrubs the thought from her mind in trade for a….. Better than being killed by a….  a…..  Well. She’s unsure how to finish that. Enclave had realized then that she did have quite a bit to say of her daughter. But it was hard to backtrack that. So instead, she’d just says. “Ah. Yes,” and then, softer, “Not even in school.”

However, I also personally consider one of her students (Ironically, while I don't talk about him a lot publicly, I drew him last night before you sent this ask - Lymrith) to be her child by adoption. Neither of them would ever use those specific words, I don't think drow have a concept of adoption. But she put in a lot of work in protecting him. She was raising him to become part of Vhaeraun's church, but this didn't work out.

....

There's this consistent theme that pops up of Enclave's children's being used as a means of control, and connection. The first child is a pretty simple metaphor, imo? She was killed before she got the chance to even develop into a person, and Enclaves feelings on her are "I don't know what to do or feel about this, so I simply won't," (Rejection of, separation from Eilistraee's communities)

The twins, on the other hand, are where those theme's of isolation and control really start kicking in.

So Sabdra. Since you mentioned you're new and exploring the characters still, I would like to re-establish some things about her and her role in the narrative to properly paint the scene at play here. Sabdra is a born and bred chosen of Lolth, based on the 4e role Widow of Arach-Tinilith. She does not walk around Menzoberranzan with an ounce of fear in her heart. It doesn't matter what house your from, what position you have, or what your duties are. She is above you, and she knows she's above you. She has no interest in house politics and no interest in playing into the games lolth expects most to play. She's an instigator to it, and then a voyeur to the fallout.

She is going to be introduced chapter two, line one of the first arc. She's the reason Enclave is sent to spy on Eilistraee's church to begin with, and Enclave works under her throughout it. Enclave is hers. Sabdra loves Enclave so much. Everything she does to Enclave is rooted in that love. Love is a moral neutral here. We see how Lolth loves and Sabdra is, by nature of being her chosen, a reflection of Lolth's whims (And the only thing she knows how to be.)

Enclave getting together with Sabdra's house's weapons master is a direct result of her entertaining Sabdra and her wants. Her having children within the house gives Sabdra a direct tie to Enclave. Enclave's children dying is a result of Sabdra ordering it, because Sabdra no longer needs the connection of them to keep her. At no point in any of this is Enclave's own wants in consideration, because the twins were never about Enclave or her wants. It was about control Sabdra wants over her, the attempt to isolate her from the outside world, and forcing her to always have a connection to Sabdra (And therefore, Lolth) And Enclave goes along with it, both because this is an expectation she is not in a place to question, and because Enclave, despite everything, loves her as well.

And to be clear. Enclave does genuinely also really like Sabdra's House Weapons Master. She thinks he's a GREAT personality, and she tries to get him into Vhaeraun's church and almost succeeds. But his presence in her life is still a result of the control Sabdra has over her, which is (in itself) a reflection of the control Lolth still has over her. There is no agency in her motherhood here.

....

Now. On the other side of things. Despite the fact that they both came out of the underdark after having been raised by her, both Lymrith and Nymryn have VERY complicated feelings about their relationship to her.

Lymrith just like... gets out? Entirely? He's entirely uninterested in anything to do with the underdark or the drow gods. He manages to make a comfortable life for himself separate from all of this. She doesn't get to have a relationship to him as an adult outside of her finding out he's alive, but she doesn't mind the thin ties because in her mind it alienates him entirely from the horseshit Dark Seldarine religion political game that she's constantly steeped in as a result of her own loyalties and goals (She's self-aware of this)

("Isn't that the goal?" She asks, though it sounds more like a musing then a true question. Enclave's hands turn her blade around in her fingers, absentminded and thoughtless, "Creating a world where we don't have to worry about any of this...?")

Nymryn, on the other hand, is kidnapped by his evil wizard pulled from Lolth society and the underdark at a comparatively young age, and only ever got to saw Enclave as the front she put up as a priestess of lolth. She wasn't a good person to him, and he does not have fond memories of her. But by the time Enclave see's Nymryn again he's been on the surface longer than he was in the underdark, and she's almost unrecognizable to him. They basically have to start their relationship from scratch because they're both entirely different people to who they were when they last saw one another.

They have to go out of their way choose to have a relationship with one another and keep eachother in their lives, and Nymryn especially does that in spite of what she put him through while under Lolth's church while raising him. And despite the fact he's far younger than her, and the way he presents himself (Which is very purposefully and intentionally as a foppish useless moron) he has far more emotional maturity than she ever will because he was given circumstances that allowed him to develop those skill. Compared to Enclave, who by that point has spent 300 years of her life being shaped by and in direct service to the most emotionally constipated Dark Seldarine gods we have.

So. It's not the act of raising him that gives her the privilege of a connection with him, but rather what she does and who she becomes when she no longer has to raise him. Because her raising him, and her act of motherhood towards him, deeply isolated her from him.

Her children are, in a lot of ways, a metaphor for the connections and relationships that she has. The child she had with someone from Eilistraee's church died young, and in large part because she refused a relationship with her. Her children she had with someone from Lolth's church were both a result of and killed by the manipulations of Lolth's community. The only child she has that survives is not hers by blood, and was given to her for the express purpose of raising him into Vhaeraun's church (A duty, worth noting again, that she failed to do.) Her relationship with her brother is something that she can only create once she's begun creating a community outside of her blood. These are all reflections of who she was at the time of being around them, and the kind of person she ends up becoming.

It's also worth saying. Despite all of this. Enclave doesn't hate children as a whole? She actually consistently kind of shown herself to have a soft-spot for them, to the point that she does become a lot more mindful of her presence and how she holds herself around them. Even non-drow children? (This is the part where I remind everyone she does unironically buy into the "Drow are superior to everyone" dnd racism mindset). But you know. Being okay with children doesn't give you the emotional maturity that you need to raise children.

She's still a drow raised in the underdark, so her mindfulness still isn't always the kindest. But it's mindful nonetheless.

"If you are too gentle with youth, they will never learn their lesson. The world we live in is cruel and unkind. They will go out into the world unprepared to face it, and they will die. However. Unlike my sisters within the underdark, I understand needless beatings and senseless torture only leads to shattered soldiers. Shattered soldiers are deeply inefficient ones. Perhaps they learn their lesson, but… That, too, gets them killed," She shifts, and when she speaks next it's through her fingers, "Not that my sisters care much about the repercussions of such things. That's simply the life we're bred to lead."

+

"When I was a teacher, I used to have my students try and attack me while I was in trance," ... "They could use any tactic, team with any other student. So long as they managed to draw blood, it was considered a success. And if they succeeded, I would ah... give them extra rations for the week. Reward their success fairly." "... And if they failed?" "Ah! I would stab them in return. Fair is fair, no? ... "However, if they did not scream out when struck, I would still give them the rations." She turns, a ghost of a smile tight on her face, "You know. I am considered rather nice, by drow standards."

So. The theme of the story and maternity within it is that it, like love, is a moral neutral. It just... is what it is. It's another relationship you have, for better or for worse, and this story and all of the characters within it is about relationships and the abuse of such.

To kind of draw this massive post to an end, I want to give some personal thoughts.

I think there are some other things I could talk about here that more directly tie into the theme's you're asking about, but that would result in talking about like... Enclave's sexuality and actual sex, and that would be a tangent all on it's own. So I'll leave it at that for now.

Second thought to end it all. I think a lot of people, when they're doing "Female character is bad at being a mother" tend to leave it at that. I think because of how heavily motherhood is pushed onto woman by the cultural zitguist, people's responses to making female characters mothers is to separate them from the theme entirely. But with Enclave, I wanted there to be a lot of like? Building nuance to it as well. I do think being a mother, and being a bad mother, is actually kind of an important aspect to her character. But it's a reflection of what she has going on in the larger scheme of things. And also, does not erase from the fact that she's kind of a bitch. Love and respect to her.

[emotreech]

tell me the mizzen thoughts i beg

YES HI I LOVE TALKING ABT HIM

okay so to preface mizzen is my fave character in the series if i am thinking abt the hunger games im probably thinking about mizzen and / or district 4 ( d4 tributes get behind me )

anyways recently ive been mostly thinking abt his family dynamic and how it intertwines with his relationships in the book. i feel like he lives in a pretty matriarchal household , purely self - indulgent but his mom is a single mother in my eyes. i also think he has an older sister whom he really looks up to / tries to emulate , leading to his close relationship with coral and pippa , two strong women who entered his life when he was incredibly vulnerable and needed support. also just him in d4 in general. who were his friends?? did he have to work?? we know he's good w a net and has basic trident skills so maybe he had to do stuff w that. did he do well in school?? what was his dynamic w his siblings?? what was his favourite subject??

wait i just realised i turned him into prim whoops 😭 coral and mizzen as katniss and prim parallels or smt even tho they are barely similar

( editing to say: i personally headcanon mags to be mizzen's older sister for no reason other than sad bcus there is NO canon evidence to support that )

for a tribute so young he lasted an incredibly long time in both the book and the movie , surviving a couple pretty close encounters ( moreso in the book but in the movie too , ) only being stopped by extraneous factors ( teslee's drones and gaul's snakes. ) id love to see how far he'd last were it to have been " fair " ( though i argue that technically teslee didn't do anything to crazy all she did was manipulate the capitol's faulty tech which , though im sure the capitol didn't like it , is really their fault that it was able to be manipulated so easily. ) im also interested in how she managed to do that but that's another topic.

i don't usually think abt the mentors a ton ( besides festus and the usual sejanus and coriolanus ) but ive been thinking abt pippa a lot recently. idk just their relationship in general , ik it's not that realistic to think they formed a pseudo - sibling bond in the time they spent together but let me dream 😭 she obviously cared about him more than coriolanus' unreliable pov would let us see cus he was too busy claiming lucy gray and being mad at sejanus for existing. you're the pippa expert im sure you have better thoughts on their relationship ( which i NEED to know btw i love reading your writing. )

unrelated but his actor was perfect he looked so little ( obviously because he was young filming it ) it made me even sadder having to put a face to the character

okay final one i think but i canNOT stop thinking abt coral and mizzen. did they know each other before the games?? were they just super close immediately because they were thrown in the situation together?? are they family friends?? they obviously had this incredibly close connection that honestly i don't think we saw between any other two tributes in these games. they seemed to be able to speak to each other without words and she trusted him with things im sure she wouldn't trust tanner or treech with ( taking her trident to find lucy gray for example. ) ugh she just protected him and was softer with him and he was rlly one of a few people to see past her angry protective exterior i wish we could've seen them outside of this because i love them sm.

no i don't like mizzen wdym 🤧

delilah be normal challenge ( impossible )

[seriousbrat]

hypothetically if the story was different and James and Lily were the ones who were supposed to take care of Dudley due to Petunia and Vernon's untimely deaths (I know they probably wouldn't been assigned as legal guardians, but still) i think Lily would never have treated Dudley in the horrible way Petunia treated Harry, but how do you think Lily would have tried to prevent Dudley from developing the same jealousy she was subjected to, towards Harry this time? And what kind of father figure would James have been to Dudley?

Oops this got a bit buried and I've only just seen it!

Hmm, I think Dudley would honestly be very different had he not grown up with the entitlement the Dursleys enabled in him.

I'm sure James and Lily (Lily in particular) would do their very best, but I honestly think a Dudley growing up as a Muggle in a magical household would be cripplingly insecure. He does already have a bit of an insecure streak in canon imo, one that we see come out later on. Kind of like James or Draco I think insecurity is a common trait in bullies. But I don't think Dudley raised by the Potters would be a bully, at least not on the same level; honestly it's Harry who might bully him at least to some degree while growing up. I think it's probable that this Dudley would be more along the lines of a Neville or a Peter-- he absolutely might harbour resentment and bitterness towards Harry, but simply wouldn't have the entitlement or freedom that he has in canon to take it out on Harry.

On the other hand, it's also possible that Dudley and Harry would be friends and, honestly, brothers. They do eventually reconcile in canon, and even though I think Harry might have been a bit of a shit sometimes if their places were switched (and conflict is normal with siblings to a certain extent) there's no way Lily would raise Harry the way Petunia raised Dudley. And there's no way she would treat Dudley the way Petunia treated Harry.

Of course, Lily is still a product of the way she was raised, and I think there's every chance Dudley and Harry in this scenario would slip into a dynamic very very similar to that of Petunia and Lily. In fact I think that's almost certainly what would happen, and Dudley might end up basically turning his back on the Potters upon reaching adulthood.

As for James-- it's not that he has bad intentions, but I just think naturally he would not bond with Dudley as he did with Harry. It's sad tbh-- I don't think this has as much to do with blood (although that's realistically probably a part of it) rather with the fact that as a Muggle Dudley can't really participate in James's world. He can't play Quidditch, which would likely be a major bonding point for James and Harry, he won't attend the same school nor pass through the same milestones. I definitely think James would be nowhere near as bad as Vernon, if only for the fact that James does not literally despise what Dudley is, but I don't think Dudley would feel very fulfilled by his relationship with James. (weirdly I feel like Sirius or Remus would be better father figures to Dudley.)

It kind of reminds me of the Hawke family in Dragon Age (if you play as a mage)-- basically a magical father who has three children, and only one is non-magical so he just didn't have the same bond with Carver as he did with his magical children with whom he had to spend a lot of time, teaching them etc. And as an adult Carver clings onto a lot of bitterness towards his father and siblings. It's to be expected in some ways, but it's still sad.

Almost certainly though Petunia and Vernon would intend Dudley to go to Marge haha. And I think Marge would fight bitterly for him. In which case he would probably turn out quite like he does in canon. Tbh the Dursleys probably had a clause in their will stating specifically that he should NOT go to Lily under any circumstances lmao.

[socte-blue]

Cw mention of self harm. If u read winter turning you already know but just making sure.

So many thoughts about the icewing sibling dynamics

Like, First we have hailstorm; He had been the “golden child”, he was top of the ranks, probably did great in school, had this whole grand future set up for him. But he… was a teenager. He probably had IMMENSE stress from always having to be perfect all the time. That was a kid! He wanted to be a kid! His parents were abusive and neglectful pieces of shit! And he like,,, has to take care of his siblings, too. We know tundra and Narwhal only cared about them if they were “doing something for the family” they probably where neglectful as shit to them when they were younger. Pretty much the whole responsibility of being a semi-healthy parental figure was put on hailstorm!!!! But like,, he wasn’t really supposed to be taking care of them . he probably knew that too, or at least partially. He loved his siblings, of course, but like I said; he’s a kid! He wanted to be a kid!

Then we have icicle; who had they same pressure but as hailstorm but also like … couldn’t deliver all the way he did. She probably actually had a a lot of resentment to him in some degree. But, like I said, that’s like her parental figure! She loves him! She literally self harmed to try and get him back! She had to always try and be the perfect daughter but, she never seemed to quite get there. She’s a burnt out gifted kid at its finest. She been told she has to try for the throne, like, life or death battle! She knows she’s either gonna win or she’s gonna die and she’s known that since she was like a toddler, probably. And like, she loved hailstorm, but he was simultaneously one of the reasons she could never really deliver. And then we have her other brother, who she loved too, but she like… had to be unkind to him. With how she was treated, she really believed he deserved it. That really had to drive animosity between them, even if it was normalized.

Then we have Winter, who’s the “problem child”, even though he’s barely been a problem. He been trying SO HARD, for so LONG. And he really feels like he can’t seem to get it right. especially because one of the only people who was at least vaguely positive and whom he really truly loved and looked up too, got (supposedly) murdered because of his actions. And his last main action to him, let’s not forget basically his parent and someone he actually feels happy around, insulting him into the dust. It also would be so hard, because now, he just has Icicle. Who he loves of course, but they already probably had a strained relationship and now we have all the grief of losing hailstorm, and icicle is probably blaming him too! Not to mention, he’s blaming himself! But he’s still with her, they’re siblings. That’s shown they were still there for each other in the faintest way.

[author-alana]

I'm so particular about Destiel fanfics because of how I see Dean. Especially the fix it fics.

As much as we all want them to fall into each other's arms.

I don't think Dean knows that he loves Cas. I don't think Dean quite knows what love is. The desperation that he feels when Cas is gone, well he's desperate when Sam is gone so it must be the same thing.

He knows Cas is his best friend, so when he loses Charlie, it can't be all that different, right?

He would never leave Sam behind, just like he would never leave Cas behind. Because they're family.

Dean has never known what love was. At the age of 4, all love was sucked out of his life. The only people he saw were his father (abusive and negligent) and his baby brother, whom he loved from the pov of a parent, not a sibling. And as he got older, his dad encouraged him to chase girls "for the fun." Never even hinting that Dean, in all of his wishes, could ever have a normal life. LEARN to love. Have things that he wants. He was to be a soldier, the grunt, and nothing more.

So Dean knows lust. And he knows familial love. But he never knew anything about how he loved Cas. Because when he thought of Cas, it was hardly ever just "I want to get in his pants." Dean honestly would have been able to get over that. No, with Cas, it was more. With Cas, he wanted that apple pie life. He wanted more of the days where they woke up and shared space, where Cas sat with him as he silently drank his coffee. Where Cas texted him throughout the day with an embarrassing amount of emojis and made him laugh with his lack of pop culture knowledge. The dynamic was love, but to him, friendship was so foreign he didn't know the difference.

So of COURSE Dean didn't respond when Cas confessed. His whole perspective on everything was altered the second Cas started speaking. When he said "I Love You." And Dean didn't have time to realize that THAT'S what he'd been feeling before Cas was ripped away from him forever. Years of it. Gone in an instant.

So he sat on the floor and he sobbed. And he ignored Sam. Because in all of this, he realized that for YEARS he'd had his shot at happiness in front of him, but couldn't see it, because he didn't know the words. He didn't know the difference. And he knows that this time, he'll never get that chance again.

[anghraine]

I was just thinking about The Borgias and how one of the changes from history had an intriguing consequence for its own narrative.

The Borgias focuses on Rodrigo's children by Vanozza dei Cattanei, and I think suggests that they are Rodrigo's only children in order to simplify things. But IRL, this core trio quartet did have older half-siblings, at least including two older sisters (Isabel and Jeronima) and a brother (Pedro Luis).

This matters to the family dynamics in The Borgias because, historically, Cesare was not the firstborn son. The various firstborn-son privileges went to Pedro Luis because that was a perfectly normal thing to do and Cesare went into the priesthood—also perfectly normal for a younger son. And then, when Pedro Luis died, his privileges fell to the next son who could receive them, Juan.

But in The Borgias, Cesare is the firstborn. So Juan getting the duchy and the military career and basically every secular advantage is genuinely quite strange.

There's eventually some blahblah about Rodrigo actually having a master plan for Cesare with a hereditary papacy or whatnot, but this seems a pretty weak retcon to me. To me it seems like show!Rodrigo just bypassed his firstborn son in all this for not much of a reason beyond personal preference, which would be a really big deal in their social context (even as depicted in the show).

I don't think their dynamics suggest Cesare was recently disinherited; I think Juan has clearly been given the firstborn son treatment for a long time.

The interesting thing about this to me is that steamrollering Cesare into the priesthood and handing everything else over to Juan would be such a weird slight on Cesare that his resentment and longing for Rodrigo's validation make a lot of sense in his context.

At the same time, all this makes Juan's position very shaky on paper, because Rodrigo could just push Cesare back out of the priesthood and actually treat him like the firstborn son if he felt like it, and people would probably think this was more appropriate. And IIRC Rodrigo actually threatens this at one point, so it's not just a theoretical possibility. I personally don't think show!Rodrigo would ever have really displaced Juan (least of all in favor of Cesare, on whom Rodrigo projects all his self-loathing). But it makes a convenient bludgeon to get Juan in line.

And I don't think Juan knows that Rodrigo wouldn't actually do it. But I do think he knows that his position and privileges are dependent on this apparently arbitrary, highly unusual choice of Rodrigo's that could easily be changed. And I suspect this plays a major role in how Juan thinks of himself and Cesare, and what their dynamic is on his side as well as on Cesare's.

[zahri-melitor]

I was discussing this with a friend of mine and I’d be interested to know your take.

We’re both big comics nerds for the batfam, and we’ve come to the consensus that even with the out of pocket moments, arcs that don’t hold up well(fugitive comes to mind), and the slew of other post crisis issues—We think the best version of the batfam would be right before Damian was introduced.

I know how this makes me sound and I’m not sorry, Tim as robin was great and I loved him as the younger brother of the fam but also not bruce’s son let them be weird friends like before identity cri-

I’m getting off topic. I apologize.

Batfam feels very bloated modern day, and I genuinely preferred when Jason was a crime lord, Dick and Tim were close tightknit brothers. Babs was oracle and Cass was batgirl. I’d want Steph to be alive and not taking cass’s job but one thing at a time. (also tim and cass are lovely as siblings/friends)

What is your ideal batfamily composition, what do you have the most fun with?

And I hope you’re doing well!

Oh here’s a dangerous question.

My favourite period of Bat comics is probably, hmmm, 1996 to 2004. Not only are there some great writers doing work during that period, the family dynamics are interesting and complex because there's fun levels of tension between various members, but also there are almost equal numbers of male and female characters and the women are allowed to be messy and complex and flawed while still heroic. You've got Bruce, Dick, Tim, Barbara, Helena, and Jean-Paul, plus Cass from 1999 onwards, with assistance from Steph, Selina and Dinah to varying degrees.

What characters and dynamics do I find the most fun? Well, I like there to be tension in the Bat family. I like every person in the group to be linked in differently, with different relationships with other members, rather than being "Bruce and his kids". There's this concept I have of what is the 'core' of the Batfam in the period between 1995 and 2009: it's not Bruce, it's actually a trio, consisting of Dick, Tim and Barbara, all of whom who have very strong ties to each other, managing and balancing the rest of the family between them.

Dick manages the broader community ties, rather than the Gotham ones. Dick's the one who all the other families know and are most likely to approach for help; he's got the respect of the Titans but also of the Justice League. Dick is basically the public relations guy standing between the Bats and everyone else.

Tim is the glue of Gotham. Tim knows everyone in Gotham and has teamed up with them at some point and knows how to convince them to come and help out, even if they aren't on good terms with the rest of the Bats, and can force people who are normally opposed to work together. Tim's the reason all the Gotham vigilantes aren't six separate bitter blood feuds or a perpetual mafia war.

Barbara is the expertise. She's not only the coordinator and planner who ensures that everything runs smoothly, who has everyone's contact details and the ability to pull in the specific assistance needed, but she also maintains contacts that still see Dick as 'Bruce's kid' with the way most of the Justice League only are familiar with her as an adult hero. She's got the best JSA contacts via Dinah. She can stand up to Bruce and tell him to back down and pull his head in in a way the other two cannot. And she's the only one of the three who has a proper working relationship with Jean-Paul Valley.

The changes in the Batfamily dynamics by firstly removing Barbara from Gotham, and then adding Jason and especially Damian, forced the shape of the dynamics to centre themselves around "Bruce and his sons" and "everyone else", rather than being a spread network that converged on a trio.

My ideal Batfamily? It's Bruce, Dick, Barbara, Tim, Cass and Damian. While I think that Damian is part of a very clear change of direction in storytelling, I think there are worthwhile stories to tell about his dynamics with the others listed here, and on balance he allows for new directions of storytelling.

(Yes, there's an obvious name missing there. It's deliberate. I remain unconvinced that having Jason around as 'family' is a better use of his character than as a ghost haunting the narrative or, if he must be alive, as an extremely irritating villain)

[lullabydraws2006]

𝓢𝓽𝓸𝓻𝔂 𝓘𝓷𝓯𝓸

Masterlist - Next Chapter>>>

Hi Fox and Friends! My name's Lullaby, and welcome to my story 𝓷𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓭. Here I'll give you lovely kids some of the changes I've made to the cannon for this story as well as introduce you to my OC and her family.

    In terms of the story, this takes place just before the USJ incident, like the day of actually, my OC enters UA after school starts because of some accommodations she requires due to her quirk. She's originally from New Orleans in America, and is best friends with Sero whom she grew up with in the states. They stayed friends when they both moved to Japan. Their friendship is very entertaining, while my OC is normally quite reserved she lets loose a lot more around him. Typical extrovert adopts introvert type of relationship, she's very well acquainted with his family, but he's not so much with her's. She's also become very friendly with Shoji, whom she met during entrance exams.

In terms of The League, Dabi does not exist here because the Todoroki family are healthy. No abusive Endeavor, Shoto doesn't have his scar all that good jazz. Therefore Touya is a pro hero by the name Valor and he works at his father's agency. Where his mother Rei is a Pro Hero by the name Vanguard. Fuyumi is a daycare worker, and Natsuo works as a hacker also for Enji in the event of cyber attacks. Shoto isn't as nonchalant as he is in the canon he's more outgoing and sarcastic. So expect a lot of sassy Shoto. Endeavor here is very... dad. Not in a bad way he is very protective of his family, he's the type of dad who will give his kids his black card and let's them do whatever. He is the dad who will let Fuyumi paint his nails when she was younger or let his sons ride him like a dragon. Just a lot of wholesome stuff. Him and Rei are deeply in love very healthy love life. They fly each other out for birthdays anniversaries and all that good stuff. (Enji and Rei's relationship is gonna be very important towards the beginning of the story.)

Also, something I thought would be pretty cool, is I'm making Izuku's mom, Inko a pro hero. The Green Grace Hero: Kijo, you all know her quirk and here's her design will appear later. Having a pro hero mother I feel would just feed into Izuku's goals more, and I thought it'd be cool for her to be one considering the potential of her quirk.

In terms of other ships you'll see that'll play an important role, Hawks and Miruko. I love bunny girl and bird man, and I find their potential dynamic entertaining. I hope you do too. I do have another OC who I'll be shipping with Gang Orca. ( I may do a spin off for them later along the line. Not sure yet.)

This story will also feature a crossover with Rise of the Guardians.

Because I'm feeling nostalgic.

And I'm old.

(I'm eighteen when writing this. 😅)

Anyhow, North is the owner of a daycare along with the Tooth Fairy, the same one Fuyumi works in, it's more of a side hustle for the both of them. The Tooth Fairy owns a dental firm and is a renowned dentist, and North owns a toy company because why not. As for the Easter Bunny, I thought it'd be funny to make him Miruko's uncle from Australia where he is a pro hero by the name Bunnymund. The Sandman is a teacher at UA for the third years, and Jack is a third year there. So we'll be seeing him shortly.

As for Pitch . . .

You'll see him later.

Now as for my OC, here she is!

(typo in the image, it's supposed to be '35% in her right eye' in the quirk description.)

Say hi to miss Hermine Theriot. A fifteen year old Capricorn with daddy issues, and she is tall, my goodness. Originally her family was from Louisiana before moving to Japan when she was ten years old. She has a creole accent but it only appears when she speaks english. Hermine is the eldest of nine siblings (yes nine)  a pair of twins, and two set of triplets. The twins are twelve at this time, the elder set of triplets are five, and the younger ones are only six months. She's the daughter of a wealthy politician in Japan's cabinet as her father, and her mother who passed in childbirth with those triplets.

    As for her father, around the time the twins were six years old, he began to neglect the children. Which incidentally snowballed into him having an affair. Hermine never had the best relationship with him as a child. Something always seemed . . . off about him. Something she never liked.

    Hermine's mother, Jericho Theriot, knew she would most likely not make it during delivery around the first month of her pregnancy. So she revised her will to give all of her assets, and her portion of their joint account to Hermine, even though she wasn't an adult. With that money, Hermine moved herself and her siblings out of their father's home and into a penthouse without his notice. Then I guess he suddenly remembered he had kids and has been looking for them ever since. Mind you she did all this right after the triplets were born, so they've been gone for six months. So basically take almost every bad thing about cannon Endeavor and give it to Hermine’s father who’s name is Othello Hanayama. ( I Just realized that that’s a Baki character.)

Wanting to have a flow of income, around the same time Jericho was redoing her assets and will Hermine became quite a popular painter. But similar to Banksy she keeps her identity secret, and goes by the alias Q. She primarily does tribute artworks, honoring not just pro heroes but other well recognized figures. (Honestly the hardest part of making this was creating a new artstyle to make said paintings.) This happened when she sent a tribute painting to All Might whom she is a big fan of. (You think Izuku and Katsuki love that man, you haven't seen nothing.)

Now about her quirk, Facilier. Facilier was named by her uncle, Usher Theriot, her mother's older brother. (If you're wondering why they don't stay with their uncle that'll be revealed later for suspense reasons.) When it first appeared Hermine could only make small objects like cards explode, similar to Gambit from Marvel. But the cards she exploded were Usher's tarot cards that once belonged to his grandmother. And since he is what one would call a Disney adult, he named her quirk Facilier just because of the correlation.

Up until she was about ten years old, Usher was and still is the lead scientist that studies and monitors Hermine's quirk. Because there's never been anything like it. Facilier in simple terms is magic, it can do almost anything, in a similar sense to Doctor Strange and Wanda. Because of this, Usher has made it a private passion project of his. A powerful quirk like this should be shared as little as possible.

As for the radiation, Hermine's radiation affects everyone, and it is cancerous. Prolonged exposure to her pure presence is enough to kill anyone. The only people who are completely immune are animals (Not including humans with animal mutation quirks), and her biological family members like her parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. But it doesn't go for everyone she might share say 2% of her DNA with. Only family members she shares a great-great-great grandparent with have complete immunity. If they are descended from a sibling or cousin of said grandparent then they are not safe from her presence. People that are more resistant are people whose quirks give their bodies a natural defense like armor, or a substance that preserves their bodies. Like how Mitsuki Bakugou's quirk preserves her skin making her look younger, as well as Katsuki. Same thing goes for people with immense muscle mass like All Might and Endeavor, they're more resistant.

The resistance rules however only apply to the radiation emitted from her body. If any of them are hit with the type from her eyes, its an instant kill, and no amount of chemotherapy will cure it. Since My Hero takes places in the future, I'm writing in that they have access to a cure for cancer of any kind. Except for her's there's no curing what she'll do to you. Because her eyes are so dangerous it can't be filtered like her body can. As shown in the image she wears clothing made with a special material that filters her quirk, the effect is her clothes glowing as an indication the filtration is effective. As a result she wears the blindfold to completely block out her eyes.

For one, she has heterochromia, her right eye is blue and her left eye is red. Each eye has a different level of potency, but has to be covered, or Hermine needs to have her eyes closed when around normal people. Because her eyes are so dangerous, even when her quirk is inactive, for much of her childhood, Hermine had to walk around with her eyes closed when in public. Which led to bullying in school because kids are vicious. This was mainly becuase Usher initially had difficulty creating a material that could completely block the radiation from her eyes. The clothing to filter her body was easy, he was able to make it when she was five, but it wasn't until she was about ten years old that he finally perfected the blindfold. So she had to walk around like Brock for five years.

Anyway, when in combat, uncovering an eye will change the color of her radiation and quirk. It also allows her to summon these sprites she calls "JuJus", yes after Mama Odie's snake from the princess and the frog. The JuJus are vicious when her quirk is red, like they will try (and sometimes succeed) to eat the enemy and make things explode. When her quirk is blue, they will protect Hermine's allies or any people in the area that can't fend for themselves. They can only be destroyed by a specific frequency that can only be produced by a device her uncle made to see if there was a weakness to these things.

Each color gives her more proficient control of a certain aspect of her quirk in each form, the blue allows her to much more successfully alter a person's personality and perception of reality. She can make you colorblind, reverse your neural controls, and even craft memories you never had. Whereas in 25% she could only do so to one person, at 60%, she can do it to five. In red she can teleport bigger objects and much more easily change the physical properties of other objects (and people). She makes cards explode when at 25%, at 65% she can make bigger things explode, and make the explosion bigger. Her manipulating physical objects is just mainly her turning stuff in to other things, like turning a car into a flammable liquid becuase of the gas and sparks inside of it.

Now 100%. Damn.

At 100% the color of everything around her except for skin color, inverts. Think Satoru Gojo's Hollow Purple, her quirk becomes purple, and long story short, everything goes to shit.

Mind you all this is only when her quirk is active, she isn't a walking nuke at home with her siblings. Her hair is naturally black on the right side, and white on the left. Because of her radiation, she needed some accommodations when going to UA, as in custom made uniforms, and gym attire. As well as a team of specialized personnel to clean up her radiation whenever she changes in the locker rooms. She changes after the rest of the girls for this purpose.

    Alright, enough of that, let me briefly explain her siblings quirks. Her siblings basically have quirks that are bits and pieces of Hermine's. Their names are Henriette and Helios, they're the thirteen year old twins. The five year old triplets are the girls Hydrope, and Hyacinthe, and the boy, Hilare. As for the baby boy triplets their names are Bastien, Broussard, and Boudreaux. They all have the same hair skin color, Helios has vitiligo. Helios, Broussard, and Hydrope have white hair, Helios’ is in dreadlocks, while Hydrope has a small afro, Henriette has a white afro with blonde streaks in it. Similar to Fuyumi. Hyacinthe, Bastien, and Boudreaux have small blonde afros. Hermine is the only one with heterochromia, Henriette, Bastien, and the five year old Triplets, have blue eyes. While Helios, Broussard, and Boudreaux have red eyes. I’m sorry if it’s a lot to remember, they’re a big family.

Helios has a teleportaion quirk, called Five, which just like Hermine's quirk, it has no limitation. So long as he can picture the place and know its general location he can go there with a snap of his fingers. Which is great since he has a photographic memory. He's also able to teleport objects. Just like how Hermine has blue mist coming out of her hands so does he. Helios can make the mist into a ball and chuck it at whatever object he wants to teleport. He can make portals too the same way if he wanted to transports things to save energy.

    Henriette's quirk is called Marionette, like the name she's able to take control of person, so long as she's in possession of a part of the person. Hair, a nail, blood, spit, doesn't matter. She's able to best utilize it through a voodoo doll. It's not just movements she can control, she can also control bodily functions, like breathing. And heartbeats. And eyesight.

    Now to the trips, the five year olds. Hydrope's quirk is called Empathy she's able to enforce her own emotions onto others. Since she is only five, there isn't much to how many people she can do this to, or whether she can enforce emotions that aren't her own. But since as I said before, the younger siblings quirks are just parts of Hermine's Facilier, there is a likelihood it's more than what it is now.

    Next is Hyacinthe, her quirk is called Baku. If you know what a Baku is, then you know what this does. Hyacinthe is able to enter people's dreams and control them. Not just that, no, I'm telling y'all right now, excuse my French, but this shit is borderline magic. Hyacinthe is able to bring objects and people out of said dreams. Did you dream about the Batmobile at all, well she can pull that shit out. On one occasion, Henriette was dreaming about Chris Hemsworth, and he was in their living room the next morning. Imagine the heart attack Hermine had when Thor was in their living room at 7 am on a Sunday.

    Lastly there's Hilare, his quirk is Table, after the Periodic Table because he is able to change the makeup of an object to the atomic level. Yes, Hermine can too. He can change water into straight up Hydrogen, or ice, fuse together elements and objects, and even keep unstable elements active for much longer than scientifically possible. If you didn't know there are certain elements that only exist in a lab because they are too unstable to be found in nature. And when they breakdown they turn into other elements. Basically Hilare sees that and says "Nuh uh, you're here to stay." When he's done it returns to its natural state. Imagine how dangerous this'll be when he learns how to change oxygen. Because it's part of Hermine's quirk there is the high likelihood that he'll one day be able to do this to people.

Comment if you have any questions about story changes, Hermine and her family, or if you want more details about the crossover. Thanks for reading, this is my first fan fiction, I hope you enjoy my work.

Masterlist - Next Chapter>>>

[swallowtail-ageha]

Malenia for the ask meme!

Responding to this ask late because i have just come home fjvididksk but its here!!

Favourite thing about them i am so insane about the whole bodily autonomy rights surrounding her. You never had a choice in what you were born as you want to desperately run away from it but your body never belonged to you from day one and in the end you fall to your origins and hurt yourself badly. I also like the whole kindred of rot thing bcs its deeply sad like. They are both victims of it malenia who never wanted to host the rot and to whom the kindreds represent her falling to her worst impulses while the kindreds actively do something that malenia hates not out of malice but because they were born from that. *chefs kiss*

Least favorite thing about them uuuugh i feel like the promised consort battle of aeonia stuff has really cheapened her and the whole conflict and i think her whisper being "miquella awaits thee o promised consort" just sucks

Favorite line My flesh was dull gold...and my blood, rotted.Corpse after corpse, left in my wake...As I awaited... his return.

Its just so *froths at the mouth* it embodies perfectly her feelings about the scarlet rot and the shame that came from actually blooming for the sake of miquella and grappling with the fact that because of it she killed several hundreds of people and i am *aaaagh*

brOTP while i have started to headcanon their dynamic as being incestuous in the last few months, i think her and miquella's story also really works well as just a normal if tragic sibling relationship. I also see well a malenia and godwyn dynamic where well. Ok he wasnt the number one mother and father figure at once but i think he did rly care about her and in my headcanons he did a lot of legwork to include her in activities that she normally wouldn't be able to do by making them more accessible to her disability

OTP Malmiq lol. Its funny because i at first didn't even ship them, but dlc enabled me to ship it out of spite. I just. Really love the whole we are incestuous children of an incestous god angle of it and the fact that they influenced each other's lives and goals and personalities so much

Aside from that, finlenia. Like holy shit i am not normal about it. Imagine just being so loyal to/in love with your military leader you not only accept part of her curse but are also willing to drag her unconsious body for the whole continent in the middle of a civil war just to save her life. Fucking cinematic. Fucking beautiful

nOTP i dont even have anything against the ship per se because i find it really interesting dynamics wise but malenia/radahn has been ruined for me thanks to all the fucking violent rape porn revenge fanart of it

Random headcanon i think that she developed a very marked gallows humour. Like... since her childhood she expected to either die or turn fully into a vessel of rot so after a while she's like "oh well until i fix it i will just Joke About My Missing Limbs" which was very jarring to people who were personally meeting her for the first time

Unpopular opinion idk how unpopular it is but i think her devotion to miquella was. Unhealthy. I do think he loved her wholeheartedly (and didnt charm her opposed to what some people on some website say), and i don't even blame her for being so codependent with him (girl was neglected BADLY), tho

Song i associate with them least a song and more of an ost, but Divine Service from the Lies of P soundtrack! Its very melancholic and full of longing and nostalgy, which just

Favorite picture of them the one in the shaded castle! It is a pretty basic portrait, but the area building up to it is fantastic and elevates it in my mind

[rxtualistic]

halloween plots round one.

we both work at a horror house and i swear what happens here is not normal. you have noticed the groups always leaving missing one or two members too, right?

i was about to viciously murder you and your boyfriend but what the fuck? did he just leave you to die??? that's a huge red flag. let's kill him together.

silent hill only we used to live here when it was a normal town and now we have seen all our loved ones get murdered and are trying our best to survive in a world full of monsters. alternatively, one muse lives there, the other muse is a family member of the original game characters looking for them and instead finds muse a.

"innocent" girl meeting a serial killer and manipulating him into doing whatever she wants.

witches. witches. witches. in every version.

charmed inspired plots where we play sisters and their significant others. give me the angst of one of them falling for a demon. the heartbreak of forbidden love between a witch and their guide!!! the breaking the rules. the sibling dynamics. the fights!!!

witches that are evil and conspire to bring chaos into people's lives.

witch and werewolf falling in love. think penny dreadful.

witch and witchhunter falling in love. bonus points if we set it in the past and the witch is just trying to help the people but they are scared of her and so hire the best witchhunter in the realm. the only problem is that something evil is actually after the town and so they have to join forces. the angst the drama the guilt on both sides as they reluctantly start falling for their sworn enemy!

plot based on hotel california. maybe they are witches that lure people in to sacrifice them. maybe it's a cult that worships an old god that demands blood. maybe they are vampires that need victims. maybe they are just cursed to always remain inside the hotel!!

a modern telling of frankestein in which muse a grows obsessed with death and bringing people from it and so when muse b (whom they have been obsessed with since always) dies, they steal the corpse and start working on resurrecting them. alternatively, muse a and b work together to bring muse c back. or muse b finds what muse a is doing and joins them.

bluebeard but maybe instead of a man it's a woman and she kills men. or maybe instead of brothers the wife has sisters and they team up to kill him and make it look like he disappeared so she can live a lavish life.

anything on here.

[haleigh-sloth]

Family Matters

I have been meaning to rant about the focus BNHA puts on families and how they’re so important to the start of a person’s life and development. It’s the way that BNHA puts such a heavy emphasis on family, and the impact it has on you, and how everything could easily go seriously, seriously wrong if your family dynamic is not developed properly or handled with care.

One of the recurring focuses in BNHA is family, and it’s mostly explored through the LOV trio than anyone else. It shows how some broken families can be mended, repaired, and reunited, and how others simply cannot. Both of these are explored through Shigaraki, Touya, and Toga.

Shigaraki reflecting on his family before the war shows us that he never did let go of the attachment he had to them. Not that he would, since they are his family. But he was never able to grieve in any normal way whatsoever:

And as a result, there are a lot of unaddressed feelings that he hasn’t been able to move on from. Which is shown to us when he manifests them in his conscience in the AFO void/dreamscape thing. And through this attempt to give himself closure by reliving the final moments he had with his family, he decides that enough is enough, that he doesn’t want to be rejected for who he is anymore:

This shows that, hey, maybe he’s done dwelling on these feelings? Now he can move forward with his plan of destruction without anything holding him back. Except, it turns out that he isn’t done dwelling:

Even 16 years after they’re long dead, his family is still grabbing him all over his body, pulling him back, keeping him from moving on. Never having gotten that acceptance he needed in his home has resulted in him practically begging for it from the current world they’re in. Even after he’s seemingly rejected the idea of ever being accepted, he’s still there, asking for this acceptance:

So now we’re at a point where, only when he’s given what his family wasn’t able to give him (understanding and acceptance), will he be able to break that hold AFO has on him and move forward to his salvation. Saving Shigaraki isn’t just about breaking the possession, and it’s not about making him forget his family. It’s about making him realize that his dream of destroying everything is not going to bring him any relief, and that there is hope for him to feel good again if he’s given what he needs, given what he never got when he was little Tenko.

Now Touya. Touya reflecting on his family after the war shows us the way he grew up, and the emotional harm inflicted on him before he “died”. But the more telling parts of Touya’s reflection are when he’s brought to tears (of blood) thinking about his family living on without him, for the second time:

But those chapters are split between his and his parents’ POV. We know that Touya loved his family, pretty much up until he left. And, we know that he still does love all of them except Endeavor. For whom Touya’s love grew into a deep hatred and pain that Touya doesn’t want to continue living with.

Touya loves his family, his family that is very much alive. And his family loves him too. But Touya rejected the idea of returning to them 10 years ago, which only resulted in the state that he is in now: burns spreading, emotionally isolated from other people, still living in a state of constant anger, and now being somewhat forced to cooperate under someone he didn’t agree to work for.

Touya being estranged from his siblings for so long only contributed to his spiraling. Unlike Shigaraki, whose family will never be able to give him what he needed as a child, Touya’s family is alive and CAN give him what he needed, and still needs now.

Then we have Toga. We finally saw her reflect on her family and how it brought her to where she is now:

Unlike Touya’s and Shigaraki’s families, Toga’s family rejected her entire existence. There was rejection and ostracization in both the Todoroki and Shimura families, but there was also unconditional love present in both of those homes. But Toga?

It doesn’t look like there was any, at any point.

We don’t know what Toga’s relationships with her (assumed) siblings were like, but we knew about her parents giving up on her at the ripe old age of 3. Which tells us that before their kid could even really form a personality or an identity of any kind, they stopped viewing Himiko as their child and instead as a burden.

Just like with Tenko and Touya, it took a tragic event for Toga to end up separated from her family, just reinforcing that Toga DID spend the vast majority of her life with her family. In fact, Toga’s separation from her family is fairly new. Sure, she adjusted quickly, but we now know that she never fully moved on from it. If she had fully moved on, their words wouldn’t be echoing for her:

I think it’s safe to say that Toga going back to her family is just not in the cards. Her separation from them is still fresh, it didn’t even take a full two years for them to get rid of her stuff, and on top of that–they had given up on her before she could even fully form her own thoughts. The physical separation is new, but the emotional separation had been there for a long time.

So looking at these three families, we have two different endgames set up.

For Shigaraki it’s obvious. His family is gone. They are physically separated by life and death, and nothing will ever change that. For Toga, her family is physically there, alive. But the emotional separation is too deep, and has existed for all but 3 years of Toga’s lifetime. While it is physically possible for them to be reunited, emotionally, it isn’t.

And then we have Touya. Touya has what Shigaraki doesn’t. A living family. Touya has what Toga doesn’t. A family who wants him back, a mother who wants to mend her mistakes, a brother who wants to know him for the first time, siblings who want to make up for lost time.

BNHA doesn’t undermine the importance of family. It shows that certain circumstances truly can separate and break a family for good (Shigaraki and Toga). But it also shows that families can persevere through even the most trying times, even when things seem hopeless and like they’ll never be whole or complete again (Touya).

That’s why it makes the most sense for Touya’s ending to be to return home. Touya has what Shigaraki and Toga don’t have, but do/did want. A living family, a family that wants him back. And the best ending for Shigaraki and Toga is to find the acceptance they needed from their families, in the people around them (heroes and villains alike) since it will never be found in their families.

[nexstage]

So, I've read Aaron Ehasz’s ideas for Azula’s redemption arc if there was a possibility for one but sadly there wasn't, and I like it, partially though. Why? Because there is only one tiny, backfiring and nagging problem with it: Zuko as Iroh 2.0 for Azula.

Like, ok, if there were another season of Avatar for Azula to be redeemed, I would love to see her trying to fix her relationship with Zuko and understand his POV while he does the same for her even with all the angsty fights, and a lot of trauma to recover from.

What I don't think it's a good idea is to have Zuko in the position of a second Iroh to help Azula recover and make amends with the people she has hurt. And I have a good explanation for this.

Number 1: Zuko is not emotionally ready

Look, he might have redeemed himself but the job of helping his sister whom he has a deeply complex and chaotic relationship is beyond his league. Heck, it was bad and irresponsible enough from the writers to free Iroh from any responsibility and put Zuko on the throne even though he has spent the majority of his time chasing Aang and then surviving in the Earth Kingdom which neglected his studies about politics and militia of the Fire Nation.

And don't make me start with the emotional baggage and other stuff he really needs to work on. There is a lot he still must take care of himself before having such a responsibility as the “redemption path” for Azula.

Besides, for him to be ready what Zuko needs is some time for himself to figure out who he is and what he wants. What's his purpose or the choices he has? The same goes for Azula. They need time and space for each other to find themselves after being abused and pitted against one another by Ozai for years. Because having your identity based on being superior to your sibling to not be punished or reach an unrealistic expectation is not healthy at all.

Number 2: Redemption arc or Plot Device arc?

In one of the ATLA posts I've made on Tumblr, I talked about how Azula’s framing in the show didn't let her be a relatable character or be genuinely complex because the ATLA crew wanted her to be just a standard cool villain; therefore, her tragic backstory and complexities were just accessories that could enhance others’ arca but not hers. Well, I think that post can be applied here because what would Azula’s redemption be if given the chance to be made for a new season? A proper way to deepen Azula’s character or just a way to put Zuko on a higher pedestal than the one he has?

I think the second option is the most plausible. Of course, it is speculation but with the show's framing of her character, her treatment by the hands of the comics, and how people have described her as irredeemable, evil, and sadistic while ignoring the environment, factors, and people that have made her this way, I doubt this redemption arc had been made for her character only and not to enlighten someone else.

And with how Ehasz has described it, my doubts have increased too: “At the deepest moment in her own abyss, she would have found: Zuko”, “Zuko -patient, forgiving, and unconditionally loving”. Yep, this seems more like an attempt to turn Zuko into Iroh 2.0 and Azula into Zuko 2.0, and her redemption arc into Zuko’s redemption arc 2.0.

Number 3: Showing off Zuko’s questionable traits

“Zuko -patient, forgiving, and unconditionally loving”, honestly, I don't know if Ehasz knows Zuko’s character at all and his dynamic with Azula from A to Z.

First, patient? Sure, Zuko has matured and it's normal to relapse in moments of stress but since when he is patient? He wanted to enter a storm in The Storm episode despite how dangerous it was and even fought one of his crew members when he scolded him for his recklessness. He attacked Aang for not training hard enough and not taking Ozai seriously even when Zuko didn't tell the Gaang about his father’s plans to burn the whole Earth Kingdom sooner. And let's not talk about how his character was handled in the comics.

Forgiving? This one is a bit difficult. I could just put that Zuko criticized Aang’s air nomads' beliefs about forgiveness and how forgiving the man that killed Katara’s mother was the same as doing nothing but I also take into account that Zuko said to Aang that he was right about violence not being the answer Katara needed to heal.

Forgiveness and Zuko are very complicated. Zuko has all the right to not forgive Ozai for all the pain he put him through or Azula for the animosity between them, but it would be interesting if he forgave her to have a new chance at siblinghood or just to have his own chance at healing.

However, it's a hard question to answer if he is forgiving. Let's not forget that Zuko, as the Blue Spirit, attacked the man that humiliated Iroh when they became EK refugees. But there is also the fact that even after Azula attacked Iroh in The Chase, Zuko didn't tell him “Uncle, we have to find Azula so we can avenge you”, instead he said, “I know what you're going to say: she's my sister and I should be trying to get along with her”. Now, according to this phrase, Zuko thinks Iroh has a better way to deal with Azula that doesn't involve violence even if he knows that if he doesn't improve his firebending, his chances against her will be slim. And because Iroh is the most amicable of the older fire brothers, Zuko trusts his judgment and experience about siblinghood.

Last but not least, unconditionally loving. That is very complicated to answer too because the only source of supposedly unconditional love was Ursa before she disappeared and then Iroh took her place but both favored Zuko over Azula for different reasons which isn't the best example for an impressionable child about how unconditional love is or should be.

Look, I’m not saying that Zuko cannot be any of those things but it takes time and effort, and perhaps that’s why Azula’s redemption is important for Ehasz because it would give Zuko the chance to show forgiveness, patience, and unconditional love when it should be about Azula and how she becomes a healthier and better person instead of being the plot device to show off Zuko’s traits.

Number 4: If not Zuko, then who?

Azula has been failed by the adults of her family in so many ways. Ozai abused her by turning her into a soldier and weapon; Ursa favored Zuko over her because he was easier to deal with and Ursa couldn’t find a common ground between them to understand her daughter; Iroh barely cared about her and then told Zuko to fight her two times even when the second one he had said earlier than if he fought Ozai it would feed the cycle of violence. Hypocrisy at its best, uh?

While Ursa is still hiding, I think the best option is Iroh as crazy as it is. Despite the bad blood between them, Azula and Iroh have a lot in common: they are the cunning, successful, and powerful prodigies of their fathers. Both were favored by Ozai and Azulon respectively. Both were affected negatively by the war: Azula’s whole childhood was robbed by Ozai when he started to mold her into a weapon, and Iroh lost Lu Ten which broke his will to fight in the Ba Sing Se Siege. Both create their own firebending moves and are excellent fighters.

It would be great to see how Iroh’s opinion of Azula gradually changes from negative to sorrowful and positive after understanding that she was also a victim of Ozai’s machinations and that her talents were twisted and abused for his gain and not the crazy girl that needed to be taken down like some kind of final boss from a video game or rabid animal.

It would also be fun a comradeship and respect between two jaded prodigies of the FN royal family. He could tell Azula about his adventures in the Spirit World and what he learned from the other nations, his adventures in the Earth Kingdom with Zuko as refugees which could be emphasized by Zuko explaining how terrible the war had affected the people.

About Ursa, if the comics didn't exist and the discovery of where she was and what she has been doing since her disappearance had been handled much better, I bet she would be distraught that one of her children had ended up in an asylum and her mental state is in such disarray. It would be the start for Ursa to reach out to Azula to make up for her shortcomings as a mother and have a common ground between them, to form a solid and healthy mother-daughter relationship.

And while Iroh and Ursa would be responsible to take care of her emotionally, she could meet other people in the Fire Nation to help her see the error of her ways and the wrongness of the war.

Her friends Mai and Tai Lee could be part of the team if they meet again and reconcile so Azula doesn't have to travel only with Iroh and Ursa but also with people her age. And the Gaang can be of help for her redemption too, though it will be much more difficult after what happened in the catacombs of Ba Sing Se.

All in all, those are the reason why Zuko as Iroh 2.0 for Azula’s redemption arc is a bad idea. I mean, he can be a part of her redemption arc, but if he is put on such a pedestal it would backfire for both of them. Better if she has a net of support and builds her own path post-war instead of being the copy-and-paste of Zuko’s redemption arc just to make him look better.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

So what headcanons did you have to change thanks to the Journal?

I'm still working through everything but off the top of my head:

We know now that Sasha has siblings, a few step siblings from her Mom's long time boyfriend (and maybe a half-sibling) (by the phrasing Anne had for both of them moving on quickly kinda makes me wonder if they weren't cheating on each other and the other found out or something) and very likely a step-sibling or two from her Dad's remarriage. So at the very least I'm keeping the headcanon that Sasha's Dad had a son with his new wife when she was 16 and he and Sash are pretty close. Idk if I'll come up with names for her other siblings tho' (likely leave that for everyone else in the fandom).

Since Marcy moved to Massachusetts and not Connecticut, the headcanon that Marcy and Luz were classmates is changed but they're about roughly a 2-hour drive away from each other so its likely that they might've met at a local tri-state anime con (and then found out they're actually also friends online), so Marcy and Luz being friends after her move is still here just changed slightly. (also Luz being able to fly via her Palisman to visit Marcy depends on the ending on Owl House)

Originally headcanon'd that Terri (whom its great to have confirmed in ink and not just through interviews that they go by they/them) finds a way to contact Amphibia and makes that as a wedding present for the Trio but with how the journal ended it seems like its a 23rd Birthday present for Anne, however I headcanon that they only managed to open it enough to get something through and not a person, Anne then suggests they have someone build a portal generator on the other side, like two-sides of a bridge. So the Trio quickly write letters (and attach pics) and Terri takes them with a copy of the blueprints into the portal with a device that shoots off flares periodically. Eventually someone finds it and takes it to the Plantars (the device was addressed to "The Plantars, Wartwood, Frog Valley") and Polly looked at the blueprints and gathered a team and built it. By the time it was finished and ready and working, Terri gave them a hint at a surprise as a wedding gift for when the Trio got back from their honeymoon.

It's annoying we don't know Lady Olivia and Grime's last name but we can probably assume that Yunan's last name is Longclaw. According to the journal she seems to be ashamed of her cowardly father, so the headcanon that her parents were normal (compared to her) is out, so I'll try and figure out what the dynamic between Yunan and her parents are since it's likely Olivia would want to meet them before getting married.

According to the journal, Marcy was already a gamer before she and Anne became friends at age 3, so while Bee didn't introduce her to video games, he likely shared his favorite ones when Marcy would come to visit.

That's what I have so far. I'm still working through things and coming up with new ideas for comics that'll incorporate new headcanons and the like.

[gugf]

Here's a bunch of my headcanons for the main trio. It's either funny or edgy, no in between. Hope you enjoy!

Duck:

- unironically considers himself "not like other birds"

- his family are literally a bunch of normal ducks living in a pond with whom he constantly quarrels

- has been scammed on every single existing fraud. yes before each of them he said "i know all their tricks! i'm completely sure they won't fool me again!"

- neurodivergent vibes are STRONG

- gay and homophobic

- ignorant as fuck but a proud individual

- curious but at the same time really really stubborn. If he doesn't want to believe in something he completely closes eyes on any evidence until something undeniable (probably traumatic) shatters his perception in the end. this and his arrogace makes him really easy to manipulate

- if Yellow is Red's inner child, and Roy is his inner adult, I'd like to think that Duck is more like "friend he always wanted to have"

- haptophobic, even if he doesn't know about this yet (yes, this hc is entirely based on his and Steak interactions in dhmis 5)

- thinks that Red is the only one who truly understands him, to all creatures prefers to spend time with him. (even if by design)

- surely loves Yellow in his own way. Often tries to teach him, but it's not quite working out. (Fuck, I only now realised that his usual attitude to Yellow could be him mimicking his own family relationships)

- has no clue about how violent the world can be to him... (well soon he'll know, soon he'll know...😢)

- doesn't really like Roy, because he is too touchy

Red:

- his attitude is basically could be described as an adult living in a world created by a child

- at this point doesn't really take Yellow and Duck somewhat seriously, it's more like older brother and his younger siblings dynamic

- depression and a mid life crisis (even if i headcanon him being like 20)

- "yes, guys, like, everyone had that thing that you are constantly being stared at by some weird dude who always ruins the weather and you with your imaginary friends boy and duck need to stay at home again, right guys?" ..."you're fired"

- self esteem problems

- he and that guy from Swim And Sleep Like A Shark could well be the same person. like, both have red hair, like horses and have very similar pattern of speech. btw birthday on the same date. also i like to think about him as being a sort of early prototype of Red's character

- somewhat likes being the smartest person in the whole Clayhill, even if it could be annoying sometimes

- the chillest one because knows for sure that he is not in danger

- gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss

- at this point if he sees Roy anywhere near his house, he'll move to the forest without any warning

Yellow:

- he is definitely the most innocent of the bunch, but this totally doesn't mean that he is incapable of violence

- everyone is so mean to me..... 😞🍑 (but they are)

- animal lover, but the pets he allowed to bring home are usually really small, and die after like, a week. Duck and Red say that "it got homesick so it ran back to the forest". even if it's a fish.

- i like to think that he is sorta idolizes Duck and thinks he is the smartest person in the entire world (he's not)

- spends most of his time with him, because they both are really naive and always get dragged in some traumatic adventure. but unlike Duck he has an age excuse

- has A LOT of scarfs and hats. Duck's hobby is weaving so this things need to go somewhere. to this day no one knows what Yellow does with all of that

- has no pride at all. give him a candy and he will immediately forgive you, even if you violently slaughtered his pet rat in front of his very eyes and laughed about this in his face

- literally has no mother. she never existed in the first place. also he is technically older than his dad, because Roy appeared the last of them all

- very easily excitable. shake keys in front of him, and he will be happy for the whole day

- "where's my dad?"

[punkrogue]

I always feel so frustrated with how unimaginative Marvel is with Remy, the only interesting things he's had is New Sun and X-Factor. Idk if this is true, but I read there was some rumor that Remy was gonna be an alter ego of Sinister, which would've given the writers more to work with imo. I think why some writers like Rogue and Erik more since they're much easier to work with outside of shipping. Same with Kurt, whom I sometimes think Remy is a pale imitation of (Catholic, martial artist, looks demonic, ladies man, even his powers suit a thief more than Remy's). If Kurt and Rogue weren't siblings, I'd sooner ship Rogue with him than Remy. Also, since Remy can only charge non-living things, it just makes him look weak and limited compared to other characters. I don't say all this shit to be mean, but I do get frustrated with how little material he's given, and can understand why his character is constantly put on the back burner in various media compared to other X-Men characters.

Yeah I remember reading somewhere they'd thought about doing something like that with Remy and Sinister and I think instead went with New Sun? Something like that. Also considered having him be ANOTHER Secret Summers Brother and I'm glad we didn't go this route lol we need to stop the Summers-Grey family tree from taking over the whole X-verse while we can.

I'll say that I don't feel that Remy is a pale imitation of Kurt mainly because I feel Remy deals with a lotta things that Kurt really doesn't on a personal level (true parental abandonment like no margali in SIGHT kinda shit, street life, crime, child soldier gangland shit, the greys and blacks of morality etc). You see more of those things in his solos which can even get a bit of a noir vibe to them which is nice but people just rarely wanna put in the time and effort with Remy. They rarely get him so they knock him down into say, the TAS 90s Gambit mold and call it a day. Which is just ....... no one wants that. Not Gambit Haters, not Gambit Stans.

And I get what you're saying about his powers but I think if he could charge living matter constantly like he can as New Sun homie would be so comically OP. I think the real issue here is just again, fuckers don't know how to write him so they go for whatever's easiest. So it's all lame, dumb and boring. If they let him get funky with his powers a bit more it'd could be super cool.

The pro of Rogue and Magneto when made scene partners is that they do have much more solid pre-existing characterizations, vibes and "story packs". As a writer you can walk in and already there's a couple of things you can do which are kinda like Rogue or Magneto Classics. Remy not so much so he ends up being like, Rogue's loser sidekick which sucks.

I feel you tho on the shitshow that is comic Rogue-Kurt dynamics. I too can see the appeal and charm of them as a romantic ship just as much as I can see them working wonderfully as a sibling pair. My beef around them has been for years that we get this Big Reveal that Mystique is Kurt's Bio-Mom but after he has his initial freak out for a couple issues in Excalibur or Uncanny or w/e he was in at the time I forget I just remember Amanda is there this whole thing-- IT NEVER REALLY COMES UP AGAIN BETWEEN HIM AND ROGUE AND THEY JUST ACT LIKE NORMAL AND OCCASIONALLY MENTION THEY'RE SORT-OF RELATED IN A WAY THAT'S MORE OF A REMINDER TO THE AUDIENCE????? LIKE IT'S FUN TRIVIA INSTEAD OF A PLOT POINT OR IMPORTANT RELATIONSHIP????

their first serious non-combat interaction was basically Kurt telling her to drop dead when she comes to Xavier for help when she's 17 and he's 21. He finally cuts her some slack after she ALMOST DIES IN A SUICIDE BY VILLAIN ATTEMPT to save Wolverine's fiance which makes Wolverine go "yeah okay fine your not total dogshit ig" so NOW Kurt'll stop being a raging asshole to the mentally ill teen lol (I'm shit talking Kurt rn but this is genuinely part of why I love him). Then there's MAYBE a couple of scenes that are outside of Action Stuff before the X-Men "die" in the late 80s and we get Excalibur where the two of them interact, the biggest of them is him FLIRTING WITH HER.

Uncanny X-Men (1963) #192

Now-- it's Kurt so this isn't anything really all that crazy. He jokingly flirts with like 90% of the X-Men. It's just the kinda silly funny quirky guy he is. But when I'm trying to think of say, Rogue-Kurt moments POST the Mystique Reveal that really feel like People Connecting or them Actually Being Siblings I draw a blank. This flirting scene is more iconic and stand out than basically all of their 00s and on interactions because it feels like a natural and very emotional conflict they WOULD have. He goofs around like he always does, her feelings get hurt, he realizes what he's done and feels like an ass and wants to fix it. EMOTIONS HAPPENED HERE, CHARACTERIZATION AND CONFLICTED OCCURRED. THIS CONFLICT AND LATER RECONCILIATION WILL LEAD TO A BETTER FRIENDSHIP AS WE GO! THANKS CLAREMONT!

Even at her wedding he's basically just like "well I AM her brother (remember? did you see that watchmojo listicle? have you read my wiki recently) and I AM blue so I should ALSO be in the wedding."

There's really not a lot of content of them like, hanging out, post 2004 or so. Some of that is just them being in different books but a lot of it just no one putting in the time or effort. X-Treme X-Men (2001) was all about Rogue looking into shit related to Destiny's writings and grappling with some Family and Personal Grief at the start there. Kurt shoulda been around for at least the first arc. Not thunderbird that absolutely nothing of a dude. It was the perfect setting to work on this issue that the 6 degrees of Mystique™ has made. One of the only other encounters between them I can think of that's post-90s is this:

Rogue (2001) #4

And this interaction is set like VERY SOON after she joined the X-Men!!!! So it's not even a truly modern scene of them just vibing!!!!

To me, they're NOT siblings. Not in the way Kurt is with Amanda who's his ACTUAL adoptive sister or even in the way that Rogue is with Bobby, Sam or Scott who she just has Massive Broship Energies with and it's entirely because their 6 Degrees of Mystique™ is tenuous at best for how much it would really matter to them. Kurt HAS a family! He HAS siblings! Mystique abandoned/lost him and never looked for him or intended to tell him about their connection until forced to. He was raised by Margali and sees HER FAMILY as HIS family and they think the same! Like that's a standard ass adoptive family vibe.

Rogue is found by Mystique and Irene and raised by them in near isolation ON ANOTHER CONTINENT and is never informed about Kurt even in a past "i had a baby and lost him" tense kinda way or Graydon either. To her knowledge growing up she HAS NO SIBLINGS OF ANY KIND. She meets and fights against and then beside Kurt with no idea there's literally anything connecting them but that they're both mutants and x-men for like, YEARS even IN canon. Their whole relationship is rocky as shit for a WHILE there and then she gets YEETED SECRETLY TO AUSTRALIA AND HE THINKS SHE DIED. And let's be clear-- sure he's upset about her "death" too but he is MUCH more upset over the "deaths" of Logan, Ororo and Peter who he ACTUALLY NAMES WHILE TALKING ABOUT THIS GRIEF. Because you know... THESE RELATIONSHIPS ACTUALLY HAD FUCKING SCREENTIME.

Excalibur (1988) #1

He's not a monster, he does give a shit about her, but realistically over the years VERY little time has been put into building ANY relationship between Rogue and Kurt of ANY kind and it's frustrating when they really wanna act like they've got one. They don't. And it pisses me off because realistically Rogue/Kurt is less fucked up than Amanda/Kurt and guess which one is canon. Because of the 6 Degrees of Mystique™ people don't really ship them even tho there's an even more Yikes Kurt ship that's canon and Does Not Seem To Fucking Die, there's been no real development of ANY kind of relationship between him and Rogue, they've lived their ENTIRE lives not knowing each other or not really being more than coworkers and Kurt has NO INTEREST in truly claiming Mystique as his mother which is valid-- she fucking sucks.

I think Rogue/Kurt has legs and it's aggravating to me because I also really like Rogue & Kurt siblingship! I grew up watching Evolution! The sibling vibes and friendship that grow naturally up between them even BEFORE the Mystique Reveal in that show are just CHEF'S KISS. But in comics they IMPLY a familial connection that really.... doesn't mean much... and then they don't show these two deciding it to make it mean something or organically falling into a good sibling relationship... so they cut off the dynamic at the knees. You'll be shit on if you try to go off script and explore a more romantic angle because "ew they're rElAtEd" (ignoring all the previously stated flaws in that argument), there's nothing in canon that helps you figure out how friendly they even truly are so good luck building something canon compliant and they just generally don't seem to even give a shit about this dynamic at all so without dipping into other adaptations/AUs it can be hard to find something to even SAY about them.

Like I'd love to see Rogue and Kurt engage like, finding out what the Mystique Reveal means to them and how they see each other. I'd love to see them becoming friends and then family. I'd love to see them making that CHOICE. Because really in this context it's a CHOICE. She's not his adoptive sister, Amanda is. She's not his bio sister either in 616, that idea got shot down early on. She's a girl his bio mom who is a stranger to him raised an ocean away while he was raised in a loving home with siblings he adores. They met when she was a villain, he vehemently disliked her until she almost died saving someone's life then he tried to at least be civil and friendly. He finds out Mystique is his bio mother and asks Rogue about her but at the end of the day feels no real connection to Mystique or her life. His mother is Margali. The circus was his family. He cares about Mystique, Irene and Rogue because he's a decent human being but like, not in the same amount or extent as his adoptive family.

You can't have a scene of him flirting, even jokingly, with her in the 80s then think a 1993 mom reveal some how totally erases that vibe. Especially when you then put like no effort into exploring that GOLDMINE OF A PLOT THREAD. They've got so few non-combat just hanging out and engaging in character development interactions in 616 canon I can count them on my hands. At this point you could spin a wheel and decide to give them any relationship dynamic and it could genuinely work because there's no real content of them in comics to use contest it.

Like at her wedding they bring up that he's her brother again. That shouldn't be something we have a "turn to the camera and remind the audience" moment about. That should be as "well duh" to me as Bobby being her best man or Scott and Alex being brothers. It's not. It's just not. Their connection is just a factoid at this point and I hate it. You can't close off all these other potential dynamics for them (romantic/enemies/rivals/shitty roommates/etc whatever) by making them connected via Mystique, having an line every like, 10 years that reminds us they're "siblings" (are they tho? are they really? is that how this works?) and kinda vaguely imply they don't hate each other which is really just riding on the fact that pretty much ALL the X-Men like Kurt and we the audience like both of them and then GIVE US NOTHING WITH THAT STATED DYNAMIC!

MORE TIME AND EFFORT WAS PUT INTO MAKING NATE GREY SEE MADYLENE PRYOR AS HIS MOTHER OVER JEAN THAN HAS EVER BEEN PUT INTO MAKING ROGUE AND KURT FEEL LIKE THEY'RE EVEN FRIENDS LET ALONE SIBLINGS AND I'M VERY MAD ABOUT IT!!!! EITHER GIVE ME WHAT I WANT OR CUT THE REINS AT LET ME DO WHATEVER!!!

fsdkjghksdl so i just get VERY heated about this it's a pet peeve of mine.