#they both cared about those they orphaned etc etc

[lumanossity]

do you think dazai worked with kunikida because kunikida reminded him of odasaku. they arent super different ethically

[superectojazzmage]

Just back from Alien Romulus and hoooo boy oh boy. Review/analysis.

Easily the best Alien movie since the first two, which isn't saying much, yeah, but it is legit a really cool and well-made movie, competing with Late Night With The Devil, Longlegs, and Cuckoo for title of my favorite horror movie this year.

In a lot of ways it's about harvesting the few good ideas from the post-2 movies that were squandered and doing them right, plus getting the series back to it's healthier roots, kinda the movie equivalent of someone doing physical therapy to get back in the saddle after an injury. This means it's not quite brand new ground like some may hope for and I've heard some people feel it gets a little derivative at points because of it. I can kinda agree and certainly understand that criticism, but I feel it does what it's aiming for really well and sets things up for future works to go in even crazier directions. Furthermore, it takes a lot of time to try and weld together the disparate post-2 movies in a way that brings the series back to a little coherency.

The atmosphere is really intense and cool, swinging between lovecraftian dread and build-up and high-energy chaos. The aesthetics and special effects are gorgeous, taking full advantage of the progress that technology has made since 2 plus really digging in to the used cassette future vibe of the older films. The characters are likable and actually intelligent (or at least understandable) in behavior like in the first two movies, so you care about what's happening to them instead of just waiting for them to get munched. The action and kills were really cool and creative, the cinematography in general was off-kilter in an awesome way - there's a definite attempt to make the movie feel claustrophobic and intimate. Fede Alvarez did a fantastic job in general, I'd love to see him do more with the series.

It REALLY cranks up the series' psychosexual, freudian, and sexual assault subtext, arguably to a point where it's just plain text. So if you're sensitive to stuff like that or if this is your first go at Alien, be warned for that.

More specific notes go under the header for spoilers. Highly recommend you go in as blind as you can.

Andy and Rain were wonderful leads, their dynamic was fantastic and Calie Spaeny and David Jonsson both turned in great performances. I direly hope they join the first two films' casts as "major" characters for the series going forward.

The effects to make Daniel Betts look like Ian Holms were quite possibly the one and only time the special effects failed. It looks very wonky, which is sad because Betts does a really good job copying Holms' mannerisms for Ash while still making Rook feel like a distinct character.

In addition to the usual themes of sexual unease, genetics, and parenthood, this movie adds in some really interesting themes of familial legacy, the rise of new generations, foundations, etc.. Andy and Rain are like Romulus and Remus of myth, orphaned and left to fend for themselves but growing into founders of a new age - both in-story with their carrying the XX121 substance and evidence of Weyland-Yutani's misdeeds to Yvaga and out-of-story with them being the protagonists of a new era for Alien. Likewise, the Offspring is the first example of an entirely new species, neither human nor alien but taking from the lineages of both through Kay and Big Chap, a Romulus-like founder of it's breed that will later bear fruit in Resurrection with the Ripley clone and Newborn.

I'm really not kidding when I say above that the psychosexual undercurrents are taken to the extreme here. This movie basically sees the ways the original film subtly pin-pricked at those themes, says "fuck that", and deliberately rubs it in your face in a way designed to make sure you can't ignore it. It wants you to be grossed out and to squirm in your chair and it knows exactly how to make it happen.

Alvarez noted in the lead-up to release that he took a lot of influence from Isolation and you can definitely see that in how he depicts the Xenomorphs and the general aura of the film. He further described it as a kind of halfway point between the first and second movies and you can also see that; it has the Lovecraft-style tension and horror of the first, balanced with the energy and action of the second, and it does a really good job finding a middle ground between Ridley Scott and James Cameron's styles while also doing it's own dance.

I mentioned way back at the start how the movie basically harvests the good ideas from 3, Resurrection, Prometheus, and Covenant and gives them the room they deserve while dumping the bad. It does that in both terms of themes/style and continuity/lore. Concepts that those movies bungled like xeno-human hybridism, the black goo, genetic engineering as a focus, and so on are done here more creatively and competently. Themes that those films tried and failed to tackle are handled with significantly more grace. It has the atmosphere and characterization of 3 but none of it's baggage and needlessly depressive tone. It has the body horror and weirdness of Resurrection without taking it to the zany, embarrassing areas that movie went. The effects and creativity of Prometheus and Covenant without any of their awful writing and clumsy messages. Alvarez takes on kind of an Al Ewing-esque "repairman" writing style here.

The Xenomorphs are absolutely deranged in behavior compared to most portrayals, attacking like either cruel sadists or raging chimps and rarely bothering to take hosts. I'm not sure if such a reading was intended, but I got the vibe that the idea is Xenos raised without a queen or hive grow to be basically sociopathic like how real world predatory animals grown without parental figures become feral and dysfunctional. Which would also explain a lot about how the Xeno in the original movie, Big Chap, acts there.

The Offspring's design is fucking wicked and I love it.

One of my few major criticisms is that Big Chap died off-screen instead of getting more to do. What was the point of having him be alive at the start if he wasn't gonna be used beyond a backstory point to set up the main story?

All in all, a very impressive effort and a great return to form for the series that I recommend highly.

[captainuranium543]

Ft headcanons nobody wanted part 2

-natsu will occasionally get genuinely jealous over his friends owning appliances for heating. Why should they need those things when they have him, if they just call him over her do a way better job then any of those stupid gadgets. He finds out gray owns a hair dryer and immediately becomes a jealous ex girlfriend. He confronts Lucy in her apartment one night acting so serious he she doesn't even get mad that he broke in, then just goes "care to explain this?" And puts a lighter on the table.

- Wendy is very very quiet. Creepily so. Not elaborating but I think you can imagine the kinds of situations this leads to.

- Mira's eyes glow in the dark and it creeps everyone the fuck out

- erza has the worst hoarding problem. Her dorm room is entirely piled floor to ceiling with boxes of meticulously organized random items she refuses to throw out for some reason

young Mira: "alright this is ridiculous why do you even have this"

Young erza: "say what you want but when you need 746 packets of Mcnolias sweet and sour sauce and find your supply baron I'll be laughing"

- levy is one of the few members of the guild who actively sought it out to join. Before fairy tail she was an orphan and a student studying magic. She left to join fairy tail to learn more about magic in general from real world experience.

- laki will sometimes build creepily realistic wooden statues of her guild mates and leave them around in inconspicuous places so when you find them they scare the shit out of you. Sometimes she hides them too well and it takes years to discover them.

- Lucy has actually written several unpublished novels and the only other person who's ever seen them is levy. Lucy thinks their crap but levy carefully annotates every single one.

- laxus used to occasionally be forced to go on jobs with erza and Mira when they were young both to help and to make sure they didn't kill each other and he hated it.

- I think I might have said this before but I firmly believe levy, Lucy, freed and jellal later on all form a book club because they love reading, the problem is they all have vastly different tastes in book so they can never decide what to read each week and usually just end up playing Scrabble and talking shit about their various teammates

"please guys trust me this one's good"

"I am NOT reading Colleen Hoover Lucy and that's final"

- this one's based on city hero but I personally believe erza and Erik find a shocking common ground over motorcycles. Erza likes vehicles in general and Erik took up bike racing as a hobby, since discovering this is the longest they've been able to be in the same room together without someone throwing a punch.

- Wendy visits lamia scale regularly still to hang out with chelia. she usually brings romeo and they all go out to do whatever dumb kid stuff they want. (Tbh I just like her having friends her own age)

-lucy sometimes randomly lets her rich girl's heritage show in random conversation and it's always jarring. You'll be having a normal chill convo with her and then she'll look you dead in the eyes and ask you what colour your personal carriage was growing up.

- Natsu is genuinely a really good cook he just has a terrible taste so nobody wants to eat his food. For reference he only ever cooks his food because he enjoys doing it to him it tastes fine either way.

- if you had asked the fairy tail guild who the scariest guild member was in early season 1 the answers would have been erza, guildarts, laxus etc all the usual suspects. Once season 2 starts however the answer is unanimous. It's juvia. Juvia is fucking terrifying when she gets mad. You don't realize how scary water can be until it's filling your lungs and as your vision blurs until all you can see is her merciless stare.

- Mira and freed can drink blood for demon reasons. gray can too after getting devil slayer but he thinks its gross. Surprisingly so can gajeel because of the high iron content.

- gray the type of guy who's bed has only the smallest thinnest blanket on his bed and usually it's on the ground cuz he gets too hot

- meanwhile erza is the type of girl to have so many pillows, blankets and plushies on her bed you wonder how she fucking sleeps in it. Mf has a NEST.

- Lucy isn't even surprised anymore when she finds people in her house, she doesn't know how they keep getting in and honestly she doesn't care anymore she's to tired to deal with it.

- freed plays a lot of really fucking weird instruments. Idk it just seems like something he would do.

- bixlow can speak most languages and it's always really surprising when he randomly says smth like "oh yea I can speak ancient nirvid no prob" like that's totally normal

- if laxus and freed ever did get together (in my heart it's cannon) evergreen and bixlow would be their biggest haters. Yea they love them and they're happy for them but also EW. GROSS. GET A ROOM.

[athanasius-symposium-of-writings]

NSFT Alphabet: Infernal Sin!Fool's Gold

-you have a big storm coming for you meme here-

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

He is not a gentle nor kind lover. He is the Lord of the Seven Hells, King of the 72 demons of Goetia, the Lord of Infernal Sin; and if you want a gentle lover then look to Orphan of Goetia, NOT HIM. Aftercare is handled by the Beholder of His Heart (Norton), the love is for the human to give to you and to express when he takes care of you. Loving you, checking on you, giving you the post-sex intimacy you need.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Everything, he is obsessed with you. Obsessed with all that he has claimed on many days and nights

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Hot and glowing cum, he likes to be dirty with it when with you. Making you open your mouth and keep it there before drinking it, making you wear your clothes with his cum still in or on you, cumming on your hair or clothes-- He a nasty mf

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

There are times he possesses the Orphan of Goetia to fuck you in a mortal shell, to feel the difference between skin on skin versus skin on rock. 

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?)

He has fucked a 1000 upon a 1000 of mortals, and few can claim to be his favorite. You are one of them <3

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Again, full nelson

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? Are they humorous? etc.)

Serious, very mean playful

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? Does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Literal rocks so no hair

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? The romantic aspect)

There is nothing romantic about this, he fucks to indulge and to mark you as his. This is for him, he just so happens to like you enjoying it too

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Why? He has you, he has his counterpart, he has that worshiper, and he could have another mortal or demon. So he doesn’t need to masturbate when he can grab someone to play with

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Dacryphilia, Bukkake, Forniphilia, Humiliation, Impact Play, Degradation, basically get ready for kink town with him

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

He will do it anywhere he damn pleases, sorry you do not get much say in that

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Literally the king of sin, he can be read to go at random moments or because he is bored

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs)

Gentle and do not ask him to be submissive

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

He likes doing both giving and receiving but he likes making you cock warm his cock with your mouth

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Fast and rough, slow but deep when he is teasing and edging you

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Quickies are fun to keep you ready for him later

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? Do they take risks? etc.)

A lot of risks with him

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? How long do they last?)

A lot. Pray, seriously 

T = Toys (do they own toys? Do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

No, only he can touch you

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Painfully unfair

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

He can be vocal, will growl, talkative as he reminds you who is fucking you and how you feel amazing

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

He sometimes invites that mystic dancer to peg you so he can watch you both

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

12in uwu

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

High sex drive, pray you can handle him

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterward)

He does not sleep because he does not need to sleep lol

[eternal-echoes]

The poll

I don't think it's just that; I think more and more people are realizing that every child deserves a mother and a father and legalizing gay marriage deliberately deprives a kid of one of them. Orphans and children of single parents always long for their missing parents.

While there are unfortunate circumstances like death of a parent or divorcing an abusive spouse that makes it inevitable, ultimately since children are made through the biological union of a man and woman, their spiritual relationship with them should be preserved.

Since we're not just a material being, we're also of both body and soul. Not Cartesian dualism but Hylomorphism where the union of body and soul makes one nature.

The only two ways a gay couple can have a baby is either through surrogacy and/or adoption. Along with its ethical concerns with buying a baby, a gay couple taking a newly born baby from his/her mother is depriving that child with the much needed bonding time with the mother (i.e. breastfeeding, cuddling, etc). It's illegal to sell a puppy within 8 weeks of birth because it would be too cruel to separate it from its mother,* then how much more devastating would it be when it comes to a human child? And a child's need for a mother doesn't stop when he/she no longer needs to be breastfed, the mother is essential for the child's emotional maturity as well.

Here is a video of Ryan T. Anderson back in 2014. I'll highlight some important points but the whole video is really good.

Marriage exists to unite a man and a woman as husband and wife to then be equipped to be mother and father to any children that that union produces. It's based on the biological fact that men and women are distinct and complementary, it's based on the anthropological truth that reproduction requires a man and a woman, it's based on the social reality that children deserve a mother and a father. ... Marriage is the institution that different cultures and societies, across time and place, developed to maximize the likelihood that that man commits to that woman, and then the two of them take responsibility to raise that child. Part of this is based on the reality: there's no such thing as parenting in the abstract; there's mothering and there's fathering. Men and women bring different gifts to the parenting enterprise. Rutgers sociologist professor David Popenoe writes, "The burden of social science evidence supports the idea that gender differentiating parenting is important for human development and the contribution of fathers to childrearing is unique and irreplaceable." He then concludes, "we should disavow the notion that mommies can make good daddies, just as we should disavow the popular notion that daddies can make good mommies. The two sexes are different to the core and each is necessary, culturally and biologically for the optimal development of a human being." ... The impact of marriage. So why does marriage matter for public policy? Perhaps there's no better way to analyze this than looking to our own president, President Barrack Obama: "We know the statistics that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime, nine times more likely to drop out of schools, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. They're more likely to have behavioral problems or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundation of our community are weaker because of it." ... President Obama sums it up very well: what we've seen in the past 50 years since the War on Poverty began, is that the family has collapsed. At one point in America virtually every child was given the gift of a married mother and father, those numbers right now: it's more than 50% of Hispanics children are born outside of wedlock, more than 70% of African Americans are born outside of wedlock. And the consequences for those children are really serious. The State's interest in marriage is not that it cares about my love life, or your love life, or anyone's love life just for the sake of romance. The State's interest in marriage is ensuring that those kids have fathers who are involved in their lives. ... If the biggest social problem we face right now in the United States is absentee dads, how will we insist that fathers are essential when the law redefines marriage to make fathers optional? ... Think about the social consequences if that's the direction the slippery slope in which marriage redefinition would go. For every additional sexual partner I have, and for the shorter lived those relationships are, the greater the chances that I create children with multiple women, without commitment with either to those mothers or to those kids. It increases the likelihood of creating fragmented families and then big government will step in to pick up the pieces with a host of welfare programs that truly drain the economic prospects of all of our states. ... So for all those reasons this is why the State and all states have an interest in preserving the definition of marriage as a union, permanent and exclusive of a man and a woman.

Also an article supporting some of Ryan T. Anderson's points:

It’s worse to be raised by a single mother, even if you’re not poor.

The reason for this is that fathers tend to be the disciplinarian in the family. They provide the moral framework in his children's lives.

Reminder that even though the Catholic Church does not support gay marriage, it doesn't mean that she hates gay people. There is a ministry called Courage International where people with same-sex attractions are encourage to live chaste and holy lives.

*Original wording taken from here.

[guacemolyarts]

please please tell me how u perceive ellabs 😭😭😭 from a shipping standpoint😭😭 also i love ur art so much

Abby has always been number one. From being Jerrys daughter, to becoming the WLFs top Scar killer, to leading her entire friend group into a murder plot with her, etc. Abby has always been the one to take the lead and do whatever she wants by her own command because she has never not gotten what she’s wanted. When that attitude got the best of her in the end (her friends turning on her, realizing what they had participated in was fucked up, etc.) she became prideful and cowardly. Lev was able to reinvent that attitude with her by giving her a purpose to protect and love someone more than herself. Lev let her have a break for once, gave her a chance to have her guard down, and not always have to feel stoic. She stood up to the only person who could crumble her *just* a bit (Isaac) and Ellie, who unknowingly had been leading her down a death trap. Even when figuring that out, Abby never backed down, Abby still got the upper hand, Abby still had what Ellie wanted- someone to care about her and her life.

Now Ellie on the other hand? Ellie has NEVER had it easy. Grew up an orphan, was a bit of a loner without Riley, was regarded as a “sad kid” by Winston, the only adult who ever really gave her the time of day. This girl has been searching for love and support her entire life. Despite her bratty attitude and hotheaded tendencies, no matter what, shes always a softie. And when she gets fixated on anything, it becomes her purpose and the force that pushes through whatever situation shes in- on a lighter note, Savage Starlight quotes, on a darker note, Abby. Ellie finds strength in just *doing*. She doesn’t need to force anyone to abide by her order (unless you wanna argue Nora, but even then, what a sloppy attempt at getting her way). She steam rolls any situation she thinks is gonna get her to her goal (jumping off the bridge into the water with Joel, the entirety of Seattle Day 2 and 3, becoming a deadbeat).

And together? You get two women who come from remarkably different upbringing’s and backgrounds, who in the end, crave to care for and to be cared about. Abby who has the explicit need to put herself in any dangerous position, knowing she can get out of it unscathed, with the entire goal of making sure what she cares about makes it through safely. Ellie, who has only ever fought through survival, to not have to do it anymore. Who can just feel protected and at peace. Abby, who is meticulous in her planning and execution, Ellie, rough around the edges and will figure it out when she gets there.

Despite how opposite they are in those regards, they are similar in their unifying need to find inner peace and strive to do their best. Both of them are incredibly strong people- and together, in any dynamic and in any situation they must get through together, I perceive Abby to be the one who is more level-headed, less inclined to blindly walk into Ellies fire, and to take the reigns in any struggle they get themselves in. To guide Ellie down the smarter, albeit longer path, and for Ellie to complain and annoy her to every end because she thinks being safer is worse than being in a rush. Ellie, the tough, agile little moth who learned everything on her own and by Joels hand, who can cut through 7 men at a time and is quick on her fight or flight. Abby, the trained in combat ex-soldier who can wipe out any path she needs to get through just by one intimidating scowl.

This is an interpretation based on canon, i could talk in circled about them for hours. So heres a little tidbit of what i perceive them as as individuals but how those traits work together.

[lostinforestbound]

Could I ask for your headcanons for Rolan learning that his partner was abused by their family in childhood? Especially if the said partner never liked talking about their past, and it might have caused some misunderstandings (of them being not open enough, them not wanting Rolan Lia and Cal to meet their family, etc etc). But I imagine the pain they survived would ring a bell for Rolan specifically and he'd be really supportive in the end 🤔

You know, it's actually similar to my Tav's story, Pyxis! His family are not great people so he doesn't talk about them! I used him as inspiration for this post.

Rolan Discovering About His Partner's Abusive Family

TW: Mentions of abuse but nothing graphic

At first, it isn’t something he actively thinks about too much. His partner never brought it up, and he hasn’t thought about asking, at least not yet.

Once things settle down, he does start to wonder about it. Why have they never brought it up before? Were they an orphan like he was? He could understand, but he swears they’ve mentioned them in passing.

So he finally asks about it, and he’s never heard them be so…vague. They dodged the question as first before settling on “oh, they’re around, not sure where at this point”.

He then asks if he could meet them at some point, since he’s their partner (and probably wants to marry them and get their blessing, not that he needs one, but out of respect for them) and is shocked by their instant no.

When he tries to press for why, they immediately shut it down and change the topic, and he’s hurt. Do they think he’s inadequate? Are they embarrassed by him? He’s sure he can impress them, since he’s the Master of Ramazith’s Tower and all.

He tries again with the topic, saying that he’s more than ready to show off if needed. He’s the perfect candidate as a partner: he can protect them, he has power, he shares knowledge, and has and enough wealth to take care of them for the rest of their lives.

He’s dejected when he’s shut down again, and he truly thinks they’re embarrassed by him. He knows he can be snippy with people, but was it so bad that he’s not good enough to meet their family?

Eventually they have a small argument about it. There’s no blow up that would hurt them both, but they’re both upset with each other. Rolan won’t drop the topic, and they refuse to acknowledge they’re avoiding it altogether.

Finally, they reveal their family are not great people, awful even. They abused them, and it ruined their perspective on the world for so long until they got out and cut all contact. The guilt instantly starts eating Rolan alive. He had no idea it was this terrible.

He instantly apologizes for prying, that he didn’t mean to make them relive memories and make them think they couldn’t talk to him about this. They apologize as well for avoiding the topic and trying to dodge the issue instead of addressing it.

Rolan praises them for being strong and getting out when they could. He understands the feeling more than they thought. He went through abuse in the orphanage before Cal and Lia’s mother found him. Besides, who needs those people? They have him, Cal, and Lia now.

They agree with him, knowing that their real family is right in the tower. They couldn’t ask for anything more, and they enjoy the deep sense of love and belonging. They still have scars, but now they work through it together.

[frozenartscapes]

Everyone’s talking about that P.O.W. line from the most recent chapter so I’m going to throw in my own (maybe crazy) theory:

It’s not about Anya’s parents. It’s about Yor’s.

Ok, hear me out: based on everyone’s ages, I would guess this takes place either just before the adults in the main story were born, or were very little. This flashback storyline seems to be taking place near the start of the war, however we shouldn’t assume that the rumoured experimentation wasn’t happening before the war started, either. So what if this experimentation wasn’t about getting a telepath, but rather a super soldier?

We know Yor lived in East Neilsberg but I don’t believe it’s been explicitly stated that her family is from there. Her mother was likely “from the South” due to her using a customary ingredient from that area in a recipe but that doesn’t necessarily mean she’s from Southern Ostania. She could have come from the southern border region in Ostania/Westalis. On top of that, if either one or both parents weren’t from Ostania, it may explain why she has (supposedly) no other extended family within Ostania who could have helped her raise Yuri. No aunts or uncles, grandparents, cousins… Not even family friends or third cousins once removed. Have they all died due to the war/sickness/etc. or do they just not live in the country?

So, what if either both parents or at least just her mother were taken in as prisoners of war (either from being soldiers for Westalis or maybe even civilians from a border town swept away in the chaos). The experiments were to try and gain a Winter Soldier-esque weapon of war, and then preferably more of them to create an army. The experiments were extreme and killed most of the test subjects but Yor’s mother survived. And what if it was because she was pregnant?

She gave birth to a beautiful little girl, and then thanks to what the bastards had done to her and her motherly instincts being turned up to eleven, she breaks out with her child before they could determine if the experiments had any effect on the baby. Yor’s parents then escape to a quiet corner in the southeast of Ostania, believing it to be too risky to try to get back to Westalis. They raise their little girl with kindness and love, trying as hard as they could to give her a life free from the horrors they faced themselves. Eventually, they have a second child and all seems well. Both of their children are bright and happy and strong… Perhaps a little too strong in the case of the daughter. Even their son is more resilient than most kids. But their abilities aren’t the things that would make them the weapons those researchers wanted: it was who they were as people. And Yor is such a compassionate, innocent little girl despite her ability to bend inch-thick metal at the age of seven. And Yuri is so passionate and loving despite his ability to bounce back so quickly from broken bones.

But then they’re discovered. The parents do what they must to protect their children, and it works…but they don’t come home that night. Or the next night. Or the next.

Yor realizes what must have happened - that her parents had died while they were out running errands - and it left her in charge of the household. (And to go deeper: because their parents were trying to hide from the Ostanian government, they didn’t carry accurate identification so in the event something like this happened, officials wouldn’t be led back to their children. This is why no one discovered that there were two now-orphaned young children living alone and either forced them into a relative’s custody or an orphanage.)

And from there, we get to what we do know: Yor struggled to take care of Yuri until she was discovered by Garden. Her natural strength came in handy (but I also maintain that Shopkeeper also looks for specific personalities as well, so Yor’s unwavering bravery and her deep capacity for empathy and kindness also were key) and she was trained up to be on of the best assassins in Ostania. Garden would have done a great job in ensuring her super strength remained hidden by training her to control it better. It also would have provided the necessary cover and support to keep her and Yuri from falling into suspicion from the government.

Due to their desire to protect their children, Yor’s parents never talked about what happened to them. As far as she and Yuri are concerned, they were born in Ostania and are citizens of Ostania. (And technically that is the case for them both, although Yor’s birth certificate was forged since the scientists in the lab didn’t care enough about a baby that may not even live for very long to create one.) How they find any of this out, I’m not sure, but it opens up some interesting plot beats.

Yor would find out her strength really is unnatural, and that she’s technically a human test subject (but that would also further deepen her connection with Anya, and maybe would mean Anya would be more willing to open up to Yor if she hasn’t already). Yuri would discover that the country he’s been sacrificing so much for has not only tortured and experimented on his parents (and sister) but also is the reason they were orphaned (and all the hardships that came with that). Maybe there’s a chance then that one or both parents actually survived, and are just waiting for another conflict to be trotted out as the weapons that they are. Or there are relatives in Westalis who are more than thrilled to be reunited with their lost family.

(And this would work logically for the type of experiments these shady labs were doing: during wartime and the build up to it they would focus on things that would put them ahead of their enemy from a weapons standpoint. Focusing on boosting their armies’ capacities would be the priority at the start of the war. But toward the end, and then going into the Cold War, they would shift to intelligence-based research. Anya’s telepathy and Bond’s future sight would be more beneficial in a war of intelligence than an actual war, hence the shift toward that around the time that Anya was born. And I know Code: White isn’t technically canon but there’s a particular character in that movie that further suggests that Ostania was trying very hard to turn people into weapons.)

So yeah, that’s my theory (this became a much longer post than I first thought it would be).

[soupthatistohot]

BSD 110: An Absurdist Analysis

The fate of Aya Kōda

Since my post analyzing BSD 109 in accordance with Asagiri's absurdist storytelling got so much love, I've decided to continue analyzing the chapters thru an absurdist lens when I deem it relevant, and making predictions accordingly. I think that not only is it an effective way of reading BSD, it gives us readers a bit more hope that things will turn out okay when the plot is... like it is right now (lol).

I recommend checking out my BSD 109 post if you haven't already this since I explain the philosophy of the absurd in depth there :)

BSD 110 spoilers below!! Obviously! Also TW for discussion of suicide.

So. I really don't think the ten year-old girl is going to die.

On top of Aya being "the last hope" (more on that later), suicide is one of those things that absurdists really frown upon.

Aya's plan as I understand it right now is to add her weight to the table in order to pull the sword from Bram's body, this is why she jumps. If this works, the sword will be dislodged and she, the sword and the table would fall to the ground, which is very far below -- she would likely die upon impact.

Absurdists really don't like suicide as a solution to hopeless situations, most absurdist storytellers have their characters commit suicide because they have "given up". It's submission, giving into the meaninglessness of our reality rather than rebelling against and embracing the absurd.

We see this with Oda in Dark Era, his suicide mission is framed as him giving up on life because the orphans were killed. Of course, it also served as catalyst for Dazai's character development, compelling him to escape a situation that would have likely ended up in his own eventual suicide. All this to say that even though Asagiri chose to make Oda go on a suicide mission, the overall narrative purpose still lent itself to absurdism through Dazai's decision to defect. It needed to happen for the story to move forward as it has (and as we know from BEAST, there literally cannot be a universe in which both Oda and Dazai are alive).

So, if Aya dies now, what message does this send? It's almost certain that the world will literally end if she does, meaning that everyone's efforts up until this point have all been for naught, which, as I explained in my BSD 109 post, is the opposite of the entire point of BSD as an absurdist text. Aya is really the "last hope" right now, with all our other main characters pretty much screwed or just not present.

"Nothing is impossible for a warrior of justice. We beat the bad guys and save the world, no matter what happens."

What Aya says right here is something I'd liken to the Dazai quote I brought up with my BSD 109 analysis: "The ones who actually make the world turn are those who scream within the storm of uncertainty and run with flowing blood." Both communicate the idea that there's never an acceptable point in time to give up (suicide), that there's always something more that you can do, even when things seem bleak. Those who "make the world turn" are one in the same with Aya's concept of "warriors of justice."

Aya may not succeed exactly the way we expect her to, but she absolutely is not dying like this. On top of the absurdist storytelling reasons, she's just a child. Of course, we know Asagiri isn't above killing kids, but Aya is a bit different than the other children we've met in BSD. Her character has been built up and developed, she has a fleshed-out backstory, and we've spent a lot of time with her. To kill off a little girl we've come to care about a lot would just be cruel, plus her death wouldn't really serve a narrative purpose right now.

So, what could happen?

One prediction is that Aya adding her weight to the table does dislodge the sword and she falls, but she is saved by another character. We know Kenji and Tecchou are out there right now, we haven't seen Yosano or Kyouka in ages, etc. etc.. Basically, there are definitely people out there that could come to her rescue.

But there's an option I like a lot better: Aya's ability manifests.

Aya Kōda was a 20th century Japanese novelist and essayist, and the namesake for the Aya we know in BSD. As far as we know, all the characters who are named after real-life authors possess an ability inspired by the life/work of said author. Aya doesn't have an ability yet, so logic follows that she will develop one by the end of the series.

I'm not sure where I read this, so take it with a grain of salt, but I believe that in BSD the character's abilities manifest because of trauma. Not only does Aya live in a somewhat emotionally abusive household, but she's literally been thrust into the middle of a conflict in which the world could literally end and has decided to jump off of a tall building to try to save the world -- I'd say that's pretty traumatizing!

I'm not familiar with the irl Aya Kōda's works enough to speculate about what her ability would actually do, but there's a decent chance that because of the current situation, her special ability will manifest in order to prevent her from dying and/or dislodge the sword from Bram. This would also fit absurdist storytelling very well, she's literally doing jumping off a building as a complete last ditch effort, it's a crazy plan that probably won't work -- but her other option is to just accept death, and that's not acceptable. If she were to manifest her ability in this moment, it would reinforce the idea that rebelling against the absurd has value, that even when things seem at their worst there's always something you can do.

Anyway, these are just my thoughts! Please feel free to add anything you find relevant, especially if you're familiar with Aya's irl counterpart! See you next month ;)

Here's the BSD 110 translation I pulled the panels from.

[batglare101]

JusticeClan founders' origin (half of them)

It's about time I give you guys lore!! these are the backstories for Superstar, Batglare, Greenspark, and Aquashine. I didn't do the rest because I'm still figuring things out for them!

▾ Superstar's origin Superstar was born as Kal to Lara and Jorel. They lived among many other wild cats in a group they call The Kryptons. Not long after Kal's birth, their forested territory was invaded by reckless twolegs (humans) who ended up burning down their home, leading to the deaths of many cats. Lara and Jorel, both injured from the fire, ran away from the forest with Kal. Finding themselves too weak to care for their kit, they left Kal in a cornfield and left to find a place to lay themselves to rest. Shortly after, a twoleg couple found Kal and decided to adopt him, giving him the name Clark.

Clark grew up as a kittypet, unknowing of his wild origins. One day, he left the twoleg nest to venture out into the woods — the one where The Kryptons used to live in many moons ago. There he found evidence of his kin, along with the skeletons of his parents. Lara and Jorel had returned back to their camp when the forest fire subsided, deciding to die on Krypton grounds.

Jorel's spirit descended and showed himself to Clark. He tells him his destiny and that is to become leader of a clan — not to continue The Kryptons, but to start something new. He convinces Clark to leave his kittypet life behind for clan life, renaming him Superheart. At the time, twolegs were causing destruction to the forest, and it was then he met the rest of the founders where he was chosen to lead the newly-formed JusticeClan. Jorel guided Superheart, along with Mimicstalk who accompanied him, to the Moonshards (this version of Moonstone from the warriors books). Superheart was granted nine lives and was renamed Superstar. Despite clan status, Superstar continues to visit his twoleg parents.

Kal ⇀ Clark ⇀ Superheart ⇀ Superstar

▾ Batglare's origin Batglare was born as Bruce to Martha and Thomas. They were the pets of a wealthy twoleg family known as the Waynes. One day, when Bruce was 3 moons old, he and his parents snuck out of the mansion they lived in to explore the city. On their way back home, they were ambushed by a stray cat who ended up killing Thomas and Martha, leaving Bruce orphaned. Blinded with fear and grief, Bruce fled into the forest nearby and proceeded to live there for 4 days until Alfred, another pet of the wealthy twoleg family and a close friend to Bruce's parents, found him and took him back home. He raised Bruce and became his father.

The deaths of his parents made Bruce an advocate for justice. He yearned to help others who have gone through similar unfairness in life. Near his adolescence he left his home to be mentored by various notorious cats, introducing himself as "Vengeance" to those he met. The onslaught of training made him a skilled hunter and fighter, as well as in other fields such as swimming, herbalism, etc.

He meets Superstar (Superheart at the time) and while he was untrusting of him, he opened up with time and they became extremely close. Together they met the rest of the founders and formed JusticeClan. Bruce took on the name Batglare. He was the JusticeClan's deputy for a bit before shortly resigning from the role after realizing he can't always provide for the clan. He became an on-and-off member.

He spends most of his time in the wild but he occasionally comes back to the Wayne's mansion to be with Alfred and their housefolks.

Bruce ⇀ Vengeance ⇀ Batglare

▾ Greenspark's origin Greenspark was born as Hal to Martin and Jess, two loner cats who lived near an airport. Jess had passed away due to an unspecified event which lead young Hal to be closer to his father. Martin and his friends believed that the sky monsters (airplanes) would take them to a whole different place much farther away from their territory after seeing twolegs travel with them. One day, Martin snuck onto a fighter jet, and while Hal wanted to go with him, he was instructed to stay on ground.

When the sky monster took off, there was a malfunction that lead to it crashing down and exploding, with Martin being caught in it. Hal had witnessed everything and it haunted him for the rest of his life.

When he got older, he moved away from the sky monster place. He never felt comfortable living near sky monsters again after seeing what happened to his father. He remained alone for a while until he meets Greenlight (Alan Scott). They got to know each other and became friends. Greenlight introduced himself as the leader of the Green Lights Colony, a clan of cats who run on the power of will and bravery. He invites Hal to join him, to which he does, bearing the new name Greenspark. With the colony's influence, Greenspark became a strong cat. He became one of the colony's best warriors.

Later on, he meets Superstar and the rest of the founders and assisted them in making JusticeClan exist. He became one of them, but he knew being in two groups was a bad idea. Ultimately, he realizes his heart belonged to the Green Lights Colony. Despite it all he always makes sure to stay and hang out with his JusticeClan friends. It was hard, but nevertheless, he manages to balance his time with the Colony and JusticeClan.

Hal ⇀ Greenspark

▾ Aquashine's origin Aquashine was born as Arthur to Tom and an unknown she-cat. He grew up on the beach with his father and had no recollection of who his mother was. The only thing Tom said about her was that she was strong and regal, and had gone missing when Arthur was young. Tom raised Arthur alone, training him and preparing him for his future.

Moons went by. Arthur became aware of his oddity. He was bigger than an average cat, his fur had a weird silk-like texture, and his tail was thinned at it's tip like that of an alligator's. He asked Tom about why he was different and his father finally came clean. His mother was Atlanna, the then queen of the Atlantis Kingdom; a clan considered ancient, and with cats who formed traits to withstand their sea environment. Arthur was frustrated at Tom for keeping this a secret, but they ultimately made up.

A rogue going by the name of Black Manta suddenly appeared one day. He met Arthur and Tom, claiming that he was a member of the Atlantis Kingdom and had come to take Arthur back to their kingdom by the order of Atlanna. Tom knew the cat was lying and could sense malicious intent, thus confronting him about it. The situation escalated. Refusing to have harm be put in his son's way, Tom was severely injured after he intervened in the attempted murder of Arthur. In his final moments, he requested that if Arthur ever reunited with Atlanna, he'd tell her how much he loved her. Tom soon succumbed to blood loss.

Arthur lived alone on the beach since then, his heart full of hatred and grief for his late father. He got fed up, and he became hellbent on searching for the Atlantis Kingdom. During his search, he met Mera and Vulko. The two were Atlantis Kingdom cats who were on the search for the son of Atlanna, who was of course, Arthur. They told him that he was the answer to the current crisis of their kingdom, who was now run by Orm, Arthur's half-brother, after he had killed Atlanna. Arthur was heartbroken that his chances of meeting his mother were ripped away, and he wasn't able to fulfill his father's wish. Regardless, this made him determined to rule the kingdom and avenge Atlanna.

On the way to the Atlantis Kingdom territory, they stumbled across the newly-formed JusticeClan (Superstar, Batglare, Greenspark, Runningheart, Wonderstrike, and Mimicstalk) and they agreed to help with their mission. They worked together to take down Orm and his supporters. Arthur got into a battle with Orm and Black Manta, who turned out to be working for him the whole time. Despite the struggle, Arthur came out on top and manages to overthrow his half-brother, becoming king of the Atlantis cats.

Arthur was offered a place in JusticeClan by Superstar. He accepts, but warns him that he won't be able to be there for the clan due to the amount of duties he has now as king. Superstar took it well, suggesting he'd be called Aquashine, but it was his choice whether or not to change his name because of their clashing cultures. Regardless, Arthur took a liking to the name, and he is now King Aquashine of the Atlantis Kingdom.

Arthur ⇀ Aquashine/King Aquashine

Feel free to ask questions! It helps me build on the lore surrounding my AU!

[ash-says]

Saviour Complex Fever:

Let's address the saviour Complex today and no I am not talking here only in the romantic sense but also in platonic, familial,etc ways.

Ohh my traumatized girlies you better get your attention piqued up here cause this can be a call out or triggering post.

Speaking in my corporate babe language I am going to adopt both top to bottom and bottom to top approach to make sure you understand the problem. So without circumventing much I am going in for the goal.

1) Top to bottom Approach:

Starting with the OG," I can fix them" attitude.

Calm down babe, you can't. How about first fixing your sleep schedule for the starters?

We usually see this attitude being discussed a lot in the romantic hemisphere but I profoundly believe it plays a pivotal role in other bonds we have with people and tend to bleed into our romantic life so on and so forth.

Example: Take a child who is five years old and the parents are irresponsible. The child learns early on not only to look after itself but also acts as a therapist to his parents if one of them has zero sense of emotional boundaries and tends to trauma dump on the child. The child will look for ways in which he/she can make things easier and happier for the parent. In a way try to fix the parent and take on the role of being an adult.

How does it affect the bonds you create as an adult?

You become the mom friend.

The mama duck of the group who is always making sure everyone is taken care of properly.

You go above and beyond your comfort to help your friends out.

Take responsibility for your immediate surroundings.

Always trying to be the best and act like a saviour.

Last but not the least, people violate your boundaries time and time again but you forgive them and treat them like a child despite them being functioning adults.

So your homework is to assess your friendships, familial relationships, romantic relationships and check whether you are babysitting a adult?

If yes, are you getting paid for it enough?

No, drop the role.

2) Bottom to Top Approach:

Even the saviour dreams of being saved at times.

One of the potent reasons we tend to pick on the saviour role is because deep down we want to be saved. Salvation is what we desire.

Someone to lean on. A rock solid support. To lower our guards and be present without a worry.

Then we are faced with the harsh realities and realise it's not as simple as we think it is.

Therefore, whenever we see someone in need our instinct activates and we automatically start babysitting. We fill the void by embodying the persona that we deeply crave in our life.

It's the Chiron in us. We take on the role of the wounded healer.

That's where you need to remind yourself you don't need an external person or support to protect you. Many times we are sold this idea that we are fixed by someone else.

It's your job to fix your own house. Not your neighbours.

Your body, your mental health is where your spirit lives. Others can aid you but at the end of the day you won't be trusting your house to a total stranger. It's you who takes control and dictates the course of it.

So kill this idea that someone out there is going to walk into your life and then everything will be rainbows and roses.

Fine, if you believe life is a Disney movie you can go ahead and kiss a couple of frogs to find your prince charming. Your life, your rules.

But don't be surprised if you catch a disease or two while kissing the frogs .

After all, I always say:

There are no fucking saviours in real life. You are your own saviour, darling.

And if you do want to be a mother badly there are plenty of orphaned kids out there you can spend some time with them rather than those ungrateful, therapy inducing, namesake adults.

[thatswhatsushesaid]

i think it is extremely weird that parts of this fandom have just definitively decided that the principle antagonist is an irredeemably evil monster because he has his minion burn down a brothel (where said antagonist was born and abused and watched his mother suffer and die) with people still inside it, then hires a bunch of sex workers to rape his rapist dad (who raped so many women that he lost track of who his victims were, and ended up approving of a marriage between said antagonist and his own half-sister as a result) to death

when the protagonist’s chosen means of killing the people who razed the only home he’s ever known and murdered his foster parents involves 1) choking a woman to death by forcing a table leg down her throat, 2) forcing that dead woman to bite off a man’s genitals, and 3) forcing that man to eat his own legs. this plus the protagonist’s multiple day-long murder-torture bender where he kills and tortures a bunch of other wen sect disciples in front of each other, and owns doing this because it was fun and would have been too boring to kill then quickly. like jiang cheng and lan wangji find wwx by following the trail of bodies he leaves in his wake ok, that’s pretty awful

if wei wuxian can do these things and and still be considered good, then that only makes it harder for me to understand why jin guangyao is denied goodness

fun fact: when i describe both of these characters to people who are totally canon-blind and know nothing about mdzs, cql, or any of the other adaptations, the initial response from most people isn’t “hmmm but what was the protagonist’s interiority while he was making that woman’s corpse eat that man’s junk? was he very sad about it? that will surely tell me whether his corpse desecration and autocannibalism is morally defensible or not.” most of the time what they say is “ray what the fuck are you reading, both of those guys sound like evil people, i don’t care what their motivations are! also get help”

it just seems weird!! that certain corners of this fandom have decided that goodness is not only a quality that wwx intrinsically possesses (something i don’t necessarily disagree with fwiw), but that he gets to be defined by this goodness above all else. wwx gets situated at the centre of all subsequent discourse as the moral lighthouse of the whole novel—even though he has done objectively heinous shit entirely to satisfy his own desire for vengeance. doing all of those things does not detract from his fundamental goodness, in their estimation. or if it does, it doesn’t detract enough to significantly impact his role for them as the goodness barometer in the novel.

and that’s fine with me actually! if this is where the bar for what it means to be good in this novel is set, then it should logically follow that jin guangyao’s heinous actions can similarly be ‘offset’ by paying the appropriate ‘goodness tax’ through his other canon actions (e.g., loving and remaining filial to his mother, saving and protecting lan xichen, saving nie mingjue, funding the rebuilding of the cloud recesses, caring for his orphaned nephew, etc). he has done yuckydisgusting things, yes, but so has wwx! and as we all know, wwx is not evil! so jgy isn’t evil either!

…but this isn’t what happens in these conversations, because jgy seems to begin all fandom discourse at a goodness deficit that is depressingly reflective of the goodness deficit he experiences in the novel post-canon. (or, honestly, at the beginning of his life as meng yao.) and unlike wwx whose character gets to be defined principally by his goodness in spite of his genuinely horrendous acts of violence, jin guangyao’s whole character becomes defined by his horrendous acts of violence in spite of his goodness, even though the text demonstrates clearly that their capacity for both good and evil is evenly matched.

tl;dr it would be nice if the goodness goalposts would stop moving around so much in these discussions. maybe we should just get rid of them entirely.

[crimson0lake]

BSD characters as parents! Pt5 (I'm somewhat still manage to keep doing these-)

Pt1 - Pt2 - Pt3 - Pt4 - Pt5 - Pt6 - Pt7 - Pt8

Masterlist

A.n: yeah, probably a lot of you wait for these ones till now, images from BSD manga

Characters: Fyodor and Nikolai please don't come for me in the comments if I accidentally mischaracterized them. I didn't watch past early parts S3 and I'm trying my best-

Warnings: mentioned gun, knife, and dead. Mentioned manipulation.

Fyodor:

Marriage or not? Both is possible. Like with the mafia members, Fyodor is also can consider to get in a physical relationship if needed or he wants to gain something. Adoption would still be a choice but we all know why Fyodor most likely take orphans..

Still if an abandoned child keep following him or they are somewhat interesting to him (via eye colour, their expressions, their actions, etc) he maybe could take the child with him.

If they are from a physical relationship, he probably question the mother in his mind: if he come to conclusion of that the mother is not good/abusive/in a bad state to look after the child, he is taking the child with him; if the mother is in good state and not abusive, he is leaving the child. Even then, he probably send plenty of money to mother to stay silent and take care of the child

He is pretty religious (as for what I see and read about him) so he probably raise his child like that.

I'm not entirely sure about his religious self and I don't like to make, accurate or not, points to the things I'm not sure, so onto next topic-

If the child is a girl: he would treat his daughter as like a princess, even teach them etiquettes. If it's a boy however: he would still treat them good: but more like a knight/strong prince I hope it explains except those two, he won't act different fully.

He loves his child, probably would have a smirk or at least have his lips sides curled upwards when his child near him. He isn't the best at showing emotions however so it can easily seem like he doesn't care about his child

Yet he would be slightly protective inside as well, making sure everything would go smoothly when his child is around. Also, he probably strict too, making rules for his child like bed time, forbidden rooms (his office, the places that he put the people who go against him or he captured, etc) yet he won't be too strict, in the end he knows what his child is doing and thinking by just looking them.

He would put the drawings his child made to in his desk's drawers, he sometimes would take them out, looking through them and take every detail once again

He is has his own fears even though he don't shows them. Losing his child is one of them, he would act like he don't care about losing them and that they are just tools he use for his plans. But those would not be true, his fears of losing his child locked deep inside his manipulative heart.

Nikolai is the first play friend of the child, Fyodor probably had to warn him to not to give his child a gun before he let Nikolai baby sit them but he still gave them a toy gun as a gift-

Nikolai is the kind of a uncle/brother to the child, who would teach them how to make things disappear and make illusions

But for the babysitter part, he is letting his child alone with Sigma. Nikolai isn't the best one not only to his child but any child. He don't want to visit versious of countries in a week to find his child and Nikolai.

Anyway- Sigma is the second friend of the child, who he likes to play. He himself didn't have a childhood, so seeing a child and experiencing things with them makes him feel less nervous about his lack of experience.

Fyodor most likely teach his child how to use manipulation but not too perfectly/fully so he would still be two steps ahead of his child.

He probably wants his child on his side. Not bad, not good. Just on his side. Yet he won't be disappointed or angry of his child goes to either of those sides. He would only mad if his child decides to go against him.

If his child decides to be on good: he is fine. At least he would make his child to be in somewhere and in a position that he can gain something, maybe information or power over that organisation or people.

If they are on the bad side: still, it's not the worst. He would make sure and help his child in secret to get them into the Por Mafia and in a position he can get information to use against the Mafia as well.

Only bad thing would happen if his child go against him: He would be very disappointed and mad inside. He won't look the fault in him but find the blame in his child. Even though he would see it coming if his child found what he did and doing, he is still disappointed in them

He would always fight against his child if the fight necessary, if not he won't even bother to fight.

In fights he would remind them who raised them, who taught the manipulation to them and keep making them fall into his manipulations, cause we all know this man probably raise his child between his manipulations in case he need to manipulate them.

He would make them lose their colleagues, fall in the despair before taking them next to him again. No, he won't let them keep fighting against him if he can't take any gain from that.

Overall he is strict, calm, and looks like he is not caring for his child. Which is not true, but he won't admit even himself. He won't show his love to his child that much, but he can't deny that he would do anything to stop the harm ever touching his child.

Nikolai:

Marriage or not? Both is possible as well for this man. Like in Fyodor's part, Nikolai can consider getting in a physical relationship with someone if he would gain something or for a mission. Or he would simply take a child he found abandoned and take his interest by their anything.

If it's from an physical relationship, he probably don't care. He loves the child and probably would take the child with him. If the mother cares for the baby as well? Sure thing, he can just, yoink a ring and boom! Now a family-

He probably doesn't care about the gender. Girl? She is learning how to do illusions. Boy? Still learning that.

His child probably at least has one desk of cards in their room since they are Nikolai's child.

Fyodor probably would let the child alive as he can use the child to keep Nikolai under control or keep manipulating him (I'm not sure if Fyodor's manipulating Nikolai or Nikolai's just crazy/acting like crazy in BSD.)

Pretty fun dad actually. He is calm and let's his child do anything almost. ALMOST. Cause he still won't let them get seriously harmed. I said seriously cause he probably won't get into his child's mess if they arent seriously injured. He probably things this would help them with going in life.

Random desk of cards everywhere in the house. His child would even find cards in their clothes and hair. They would at least once question where their dad find this much of cards..

He is his child's first friend. First play friend as well.

He probably leaves his child with Sigma as well. He won't leave them with Fyodor cause.. He don't want his child dead. I don't think he would even find other members of DOA's safe to leave his child with. Yeah he can be crazy (or act like crazy) but he is not completely crazy to risk his child.

Sigma is their first babysitter and probably first friend after their father (and mother if she is there). Tbh Sigma would question himself and be nervous around child at first few times till he get more comfortable. Still it's the same for him, it would make him feel at least more good to be with someone probably less experienced than him.

He wants his child in his side. But if they aren't? Not a big problem as well. At least it's away from the government's works or the people against DOA, he is good (cause you know, I read DOA arent good with government completely)

He is scared to lose his child, he would show it from time to time. So he wants them away from serious fights.

If his child is on good side: he is fine with that, he can still randomly visit and bring them small gifts or deserts. He would want them leave if they are working for government however. He don't want government to learn about his child and try to use them against him. I'm saying again: He won't risk his child's life.

If they are on bad side: sure thing. He probably been on the bad side before as well. Only he would make them not to get in big fights or at least call him if they get in a big mess.

If they are against DOA however, he would be shocked probably. Yeah, he knew his child would probably hate him when they learn about what he did and doing.. but he wouldn't expect them to turn against him.. he would be disappointed and mad.

He is mad that his child leave his side after all those years, it would still hurt to see his child in pain, laughing, crying, and simply living their Ife while he can't go and join them. He probably felt the pain if his child hit what he done to his face. He probably made the hero and good guy image in his child's eye from the childhood, so breaking that image would hurt

He would avoid the fighting sometimes, while other times he won't hold back. Still carefull to not to hurt his child seriously though.

Even if his child is against him, he won't want them to leave him completely.. He dont and didn't want that to happen..

Overall, he is fun and energetic father. Who would bring (teleport?) his child around the world with him and do the most of the things most parents won't let them do. Like eating ice cream in winter or getting in the sky casino (only with him till they are adults though).

[sheep-doll]

A bunch of thoughts about possible scenarios in dol.

A sort of continuation post from my Robin thoughts but let us go on a robbing spree with Robin. I don't care if we're stealing food for the orphans or money to pay our rent, let Robin be a thief.

Thieving with Robin can be something beneficial too; they could teach us how to pick locks, spot valuable targets, etc. that can help raise the Skulduggery and Love stats since those scenes help the both of you bond together. Hell, maybe throw in more crumbs of Wren in the process if both you and Robin find the smugglers' den during one of your nights out thieving and looking for ways to earn money.

-

Whitney actually bullying you on the rooftop. I'm surprised we don't have them beating the shit out of us or stealing our stuff there even at Low Love.

I'd find it interesting if we could also get parallels on the shopping and hair styling event from Whitney. The cutesy dates are only available at High Love with Whitney selected as a Love Interest, but if you have Low/No Love with Whitney, they instead ruin your clothes and cut your hair that would increase Pain, Stress and Trauma.

-

Let Kylar accidentally stab someone. Kylar already was ballsy enough to want to stab Whitney in that one(1) cafeteria scene, let this little yandere make erratic decisions that might actually hurt someone within the vicinity.

If you get kidnapped by Kylar and are trapped in the basement, let them have more flavour text that may or may not have them actually cutting you up a bit. Let them threaten you that if you don't love them, they'll start hurting Robin and the other orphans, let them still sound desperate and pathetic too.

-

You know that tools shed in Alex's farm? That appeared once in a cutscene and was never brought up again. Let us have access to it some time, especially during the times where Remy raids the farm. Let us and Alex have a fight rather than stealth throwing rocks, let us whack them with a shovel or scare them into submission with the chainsaw!

[autistichalsin]

Do you have hcs of halsin's parents' and/or siblings' names? Or at least some hcs about them like their class or occupation/work or deities they believe or anything else?

Names: not yet, because I am not great at names, especially elven ones, and I headcanon Halsin with a big family (unusually large for elves, which becomes relevant later in the timeline I made for him and my Dark Urge, Kiaran) which means LOTS of people to name.

Class/occupation/etc: YES.

So my basic thoughts on Halsin's family, keeping in mind that John Corcoran (Halsin's writer) said that Halsin was the youngest son (which of course means little sisters are still possible):

His father (who we know from a comment Halsin made looks a lot like him) was a Bard. (Why? Partly because it's unexpected, partly because because that would be part of where Halsin gets his love of telling stories from). He worshipped Corellon.

His mother was a Ranger who semi-retired when she had his older siblings. There was quite a gap between Halsin's closest older sibling and Halsin, and when Halsin was born, she fully retired. As you might expect for a Ranger, she primarily worshipped Mielikki.

Halsin's oldest brother was a Cleric of Corellon. Halsin didn't get to see him very much, but they loved each other a lot.

His oldest sister was a healer (haven't decided yet if she was a Cleric or a Druid, though I'm leaning towards Cleric.) She settled into a different elven community when she married her wife. She helped encourage Halsin's interest in healing.

His next oldest siblings were twins, brother and sister. They were both Rangers, and he was the closest to them of any of his siblings. Halsin definitely spent a significant part of his childhood planning to become a Ranger so he could have adventures with them (even though his mom always said he'd decide on a Druid eventually, and was of course right.) They both worshipped Mielikki. The brother had a wolf companion, and the sister had a hawk.

Halsin's younger sisters never really had a chance to pick a patron deity- none of them made it to their teenage years. :( Halsin adored them and totally had a "mother hen" way of taking care of them because he was just so excited he finally got to be a big sibling. They loved the stories he'd tell them every night (which is another part of why he loves, in the post-canon timeline, telling his orphans stories so much- it reminds him of those days).

I'll come up with names for everyone eventually, it just requires a bit of a lore deep dive to find both a fitting name for them in Elvish AND to make sure I'm not giving them the Elven equivalent of "Jane Doe" as a name LOL

Thank you so much for this ask!!

[sexcromancy]

hii what is men love orphans in ali h world <3 and !! whats its application to louis in your opinion :)

^ first ever mention of men love orphans in the tags of this post. my own joke still makes me laugh tbh

men love orphans is a concept I developed to help me describe some of the dynamics I was witnessing in alibooks/hetromance, and then I started to see it everywhere. it also synthesized some other ideas I'd been working on for a long time. I'm going to give some context, pin down the explanation of the concept, and then apply it to LDPDL. okay let's go!

I first identified the idea of dadgender in the character of Joel thelastofus: someone who defines themselves completely by their relationship to a child, a dependent, someone to take care of. this idea was really compelling to me; it's obviously not new in tlou or my imagination but it connected well with my John theories and my general fascination with how men operate within and react to the patriarchy.¹

as I read more Ali novels and other hetromances, I began to notice a trend. many, many of the main women characters were orphans, or otherwise abandoned or unloved by parents/family. this is nothing new in literature - Harry Potter is the most obvious example, but there's plenty of writing about the allure of being an orphan, how it frees you from the family ties that might keep other heroes from their fate, etc. it's a very simple and straightforward tragic backstory. my whole goal with AHU is to interrogate the choices Ali makes in her books, and to respect those choices as legitimate, intentional, and deserving of analysis. so once I noticed this, I wanted to figure it out. off the top of my head: olive, bee, elsie, rue, and misery are all orphaned or have one dead parent and a difficult relationship with their surviving parent. family is rarely a significant plot point; it serves only as color and tragic backstory. now, of course, rey starwars is an orphan. rey is famously the original aliheroine, the first character she wrote fic about. one of the biggest reylo scenes in tlj is kylo negging her about being an orphan. ali does gradually distance her own orphans from rey,² but she is really only reinventing it. the loneliness, the isolation, the feeling of being unloved and unloveable, is a constant for all the girls. it is essential that these girls be "orphans" to the varying degrees that they are, in order to facilitate the fantasy.

and what is that fantasy? well, it depends who you ask. the fantasy is the attractive validation of looking after something small, weak, needy. taking care of someone. or, the fantasy is being taken care of, your hurt being acknowledged and treated seriously. the "who did this to you" trope is about protectiveness, yes, but it's also about someone seeing that you got hurt and that it matters! or, the fantasy is about daddy kink going both ways: a woman who needs a strong older man because she was abandoned by her father, but also a man who needs the affirmation of "fatherhood" to feel good about himself. dadgender!³

men love orphans is all of this, and in alibooks it manifests in some specific ways. as mentioned above, there's the literal orphanhood of some of the girls. there is also the control aspect, manifesting in the repeated fantasy of being locked up and treasured and used. another repeated fantasy is found family: that a woman would find not only an adopted father in her lover, but also a new cadre of loveable misfits to belong to as well. Eli has his coworkers and little sister, levi has a best friend and a goddaughter, Jack has useful colleagues and Adam and olive, and lowe, of course, has his literal wolfpack.

AS FOR LDPDL, I think that iwtv plays with men love orphans tropes in some fun and creative ways. when lestat is courting Louis, it's not because he's pathetic and vulnerable. it's actually sort of the opposite; he's attracted to his rage, initially, and his slippery sexy unforgettableness. lestat brings louis down on purpose, systematically taking away everything he loves, in order to draw him into vampirism. but i think the distinction is important; lestat doesn't want to actually take care of a needy man, he just wants to create circumstances where he will be needed. I say all that with the caveat that our version of their early relationship is canonically based on louis' recollection of the time. not that I think our gorgeous princess would ever lie to us, but, well, that is sort of the point of the show. all that being said, I think the turning Claudia scene (both versions) has strong men love orphans themes in multiple directions. Louis is experiencing a strong dadgender moment, needing Claudia to live in order to validate his own existence, but he is also using his own terror and despair to compell his daddy (lestat) into saving this sad and needy thing (Claudia). that goes all the way back around to this post and the idea that a husband-daddy can give you not just his own love and care, but also an entire family. rich text!!!

and loumand: I think that the show is always contrasting the two relationships and the way Louis falls headfirst into both, headed straight for the megalodon headless of consequences, etc. and I think he is partially repeating the patterns of above. in Paris he is more actively pathetic, and Armand does get off on that, but the thing that is so thrilling about loumand is they're sort of doing Tetris to each other. like, "yes, maitrê" scene. no one has painted me for centuries. the obvious constant back and forth seesaw of power and control in Dubai, and the occasional reminders that that seesaw is itself a fantasy to keep Louis mollified. anyway. what I'm saying is a) loumand crazy b) they're sort of doing nesting dolls men love orphans but it never ends c) with the slight variation that any external "family" is treated as an existential threat and terminator'd. 

ultimately, I think that any relationship with a power dynamic could have some amount of men love orphans going on in some direction. I definitely love to put the goggles on. I love that straight women (and anyone else) can make anything hot as a cope. great time to be alive if you love seeing what makes other people horny

footnotes

1. this has always been an interest of mine; I had a phase where I was obsessed with incels. brand new is one of my favorite bands. etc.

2. as discussed in this post, she becomes a better writer in real time as her books get further from her fic.

3. I made a men love orphans lbxd list if you'd like to see more, linked in this post