#they're all super gross. the one i had is my only option. unless...

[restless-soulz]

HOW THE HOUSEWARDENS ACT W/ A BABY (not their own, they're all still underage)

RIDDLE:

-man this guy is so bad with babies, but damn it if he isn't efficient

-he'll make sure that the physical needs are taken care of, but that's not entirely what a baby needs.

-but a baby can't tell you what exactly it needs so it'll just be stressful for both of them until he figures it out

-it might be a while

-doesn't do super well with physical affection (giving)

-he probably won't burn down the house to make a bottle for the baby but he will stress about the temperature and it'll go cold before he's satisfied and it'll repeat the process ad infinitum

LEONA:

-pls the baby he knew was cheka, and he was easy he's got this (NOT)

-lion man just wants to sleep and does not appreciate being woken up for feedings or changings or anything else

-doesn't care about bottle temp, milk is milk

-won't show but is a little stressed about having claws vs incredibly fragile baby skin

-genuinely confused to as why not all babies are not like Cheka

-after a while he'll get down the baby language and be so fast at it, just to maximize his sleep

-hey if it works it works

AZUL:

-another one not really fit for children

-would try to foist off the child to the leeches, and then realize that unfortunately he is the much better option (because morays eat their young)

-he will do his best tho and he will do an almost perfect job

-he just...overestimates human baby milestones

-it's ok, it can go one of two ways. either the parent is delighted by fast progress or Azul feels embarrassed

-like riddle, doesn't super love the whole physical contact thing

-also secretly i'd think he'd be great to talk to for anything involved in being recognized outside of your children or a body dysmorphia kind of depression cause same

KALIM:

-mans has 40 siblings or something

-i trust him, but he can be a little...cloud heavy

-he will make sure that baby is cuddled, and fed, and played, but sleeping is not his thing. adorable, but babies are AWAKE around him

-plus he's had servants that take care of the gross parts so he's clueless about how messy babies usually are

-jamil would lose his mind having two people to take care of, one infinitely more dependent than the other

-as much as i love him, don't give him a baby

VIL:

-he wouldn't try very hard

-babies are hard and he's not planning to babysit very long, he has more important things to do, but in the meantime

-this baby will be TAKEN CARE OF

-he bought a lot of...well...everything and all the excess goes to the parents.

-the cutest outfits you've ever seen

-detests changing and other gross parts but will do it

-does not like the not sleeping part, but he will admit they are very cute

IDIA:

-you're playing with fire here

-the only baby he's ever been around was Ortho, and that...ended terribly

-panicking every single second, and rapidly googling every time the baby breathes a little weird

-builds an automated bottle warmer and baby rockers so he has minimal contact with the baby as possible

-until Ortho says that skin to skin or physical contact is best for optimal health

-he'll whine and cry but do it, for a super short amount of time

-made an automatic changing station so he never does the gross parts

MALLEUS:

-adores children. they do not adore him.

-he can scare them a bit being all dark colors and rbf

-but he does theoretically know how to take care of a human baby

-i don't think silver should count since he's more of a changling

-will not put the baby down unless absolutely necessary (my kind of guy)

-the baby lives in a singular too big shirt or the most regal ensemble you've ever seen. no in between

-doesn't bother with changing since he can just magic it away

-also buys everything for the baby and keeps half for when he hopes to be asked to babysit again

[ablednt]

1) Is there any media you think did explicitly plural characters well? 2) Is there any media you think handled CSA well (I think you mentioned Persona 5 once but I can’t find that post). 3) How do you think the “into the mindscape” plot can work well (either headspace or metaphorical, and how do you make it clear if it’s the latter?)

1) in terms of like, explicitly stated in a "this character is a system I'm writing about a system this is a plural system"....no I cannot think of any unless we count indie OCs from unpublished works but I don't really in this case. The closest to being explicitly plural I can think of is I'm actually quite fond of how systemhood is portrayed in Omori (it's technically not explicitly stated but the call the inworld headspace for a reason yk?). I just think that for the most part we aren't really in a place yet where most plural creators are A) aware of their plurality and B) safe to canonize it rather than providing subtext and hints.

3) (2 got too long to put in the middle) I honestly just like basically every iteration of this trope and especially how much plural coding goes into it. Most of the people making it do seem to be plural in that they cannot imagine a mind in which there is only one person or one version of a person, it really speaks to the theory side of plurality, an exploration of what it means for the human brain. The only times I think it's executed badly is when it's deliberately plural and made by singlets because then we get stuff like the abomination that is total drama islands "literally a brain with gross bits all over the place" headspace." I like them when they're metaphorical and don't rely too much on coherence one just because it's fun and the trope doesn't take itself all too seriously generally and also because our headspace tends to have a slightly incoherent, dream-like quality so it feels more accurate that way.

2) Yes but to a point. The bar is absolutely in the floor when it comes to representation of CSA victims and survivors so I always feel like I'm praising media for the bare minimum and I've never truly felt fully seen by any portrayal and my opinion on that hasn't changed but...! I do have a slightly better outlook on some medias than I did the last time I was talking about this. (Mild spoilers for persona 5 and major spoilers for revolutionary girl utena, discussion of CSA and violence)

Persona 5 was I think, perhaps the best in terms of showing the character moving on to having a full life and character arc unconnected to their trauma without shelving it unrealistically. Ann gets closure within the first proper arc of her story and is able to get justice, and when she initially refuses to kill her abuser I was expecting this to be some stupid "I heal by forgiveness" bullshit but her reasoning of "Actually I want him to suffer worse than death instead of giving him an out lol" was iconic. After that she remains traumatized but there's a lot more to her character than just that which is sadly quite rare and I actually surprisingly ADORED seeing her go to therapy in p5 royal and being able to officially just talk about her feelings and how terrible everything was.

HOWEVER persona 5 loses all of what would have been really powerful for two reasons. One is that they sexualize the hell out of Ann for comedic relief (especially by putting her in situations where she must act sexual when she does not actually want to) and kind of just for no reason, which turns out being super disparaging after such powerful build up. But more importantly because one of the romance options for the main character who is her classmate is with one of his teachers (who I have super complex feelings about because most people hate the character for this but I don't I think she had a lot of potential and it's really fucking sus that they made their only sex worker character be available for romancing a whole child who is also her student, I feel like as a character she was done just as dirty by this option as the other characters were) so it's like... what is it only abuse and disgusting if it's a blatantly creepy man? Is it a case of "boys want to be sexually abused so it's fine" or what? What message are we supposed to be taking from this?

On another note the media that grew on me a LOT since I was last discussing this was Revolutionary Girl Utena, which remains incredibly relevant despite having a certain 90s crust on it/aff. Before whilst I was fond of the ideas it was presenting I felt betrayed that we never saw a follow up on Anthy's freedom, she just, quietly leaves without much else in terms of closure and by the time any other installments of the story exist it's either a reboot entirely or another timeline in a timeloop and that's not bad but after so much pain it felt lacking.

But it really grew on me as I started to look at the purpose of this story differently. Initially I felt like it was just an exploration of what experiencing CSA is like without any other underlining message, it was accurate to my experiences, sure, but it made me feel hopeless like there wasn't a point to it other than to sit with that pain.

But what I realized more recently is that RGU is a love-letter for the meaning you can find within trauma. The message of RGU isn't "if you've gone through abuse there's a better tomorrow for you," it doesn't deny that either but it's left very uncertain on that point.

But instead it does something that I haven't really seen from other depictions of CSA victims in that it lets its characters be Messy. Like so fucking messy without demonizing them for it? It says, boldly, and unapologetically, that you deserved to be loved even if you lash out due to abuse, even if you don't fit into the role of an "acceptable" abuse victim.

It says, "here's two abuse victims who love each other so much that when Anthy stabs Utena through the back to kill her, all Utena can think to do is reach for her hand, not even the thought of having been betrayed present." It says "even if you never get closure, even if you were to completely disappear right now, even if nothing good lasts from this, right now matters, and the relationships you have with fellow survivors matter."

I also find the exploration of CSA within the story to be suitably complex and find I actually quite like so many of the girls at Ohtori being victims of Akio (and Touga) because it gives each character a lot more room to be messy in their own way without feeling like it's making a statement on all survivors/victims.

Kozue says, "when you live in an impure world you need to become unpure to get what you want." She embraces her trauma, she glorifies it, and this isn't really portrayed as problematic so much as being like "this is a child and she is incredibly broken and trying her goddamn best to keep it together, but she doesn't know what she wants and she doesn't know what to do other than to go along with everything that makes her feel in control"

Nanami on the other hand tries desperately to regain her sense of grace and dignity all the while reality is crumbling around her and she slowly realizes that the only foundation she has (her abuser) is only making her more unstable. By the end of it she's so goddamn weary she can't even find it in her to lash out at anyone anymore, she wants out and so she starts to withdraw.

Wakaba's trauma is a lot more ambiguous. On the surface, what she's going through is kind of the most normal in the show and she seems well adjusted and healthy... until you realize that she's still being groomed by the overall culture of the school which is something that ALSO basically never gets addressed both in media and irl how like. You can be groomed without ever having an abuser, how we are all victims of pedophilia culture and it causes us to be complicit in others abuse. She falls apart because she's balancing her desire to not get hurt with her desire to have a place within society, she flirts with grown men to fit in, to feel like she's more mature and more confident than she actually is.

And of course in the center we have Anthy and Utena.

Anthy is an exploration of the way that victims are demonized and the roles that they inevitably play to survive. To say that all of her submissiveness and kindness and long-suffering is a front she's putting up and she's actually conceited and toxic and hurtful is a misinterpretation of the entire point of the show. She's an embodiment of everything that this world hates- a child who has realistic emotions and needs that inconvenience others.

Every "evil" act she commits is something she does for Akio because she's never had a choice other than serving his interests. She may be more powerful than him, she may have every physical ability to leave but... she doesn't realize that because she's been made to feel inferior to him for so goddamn long and she's a 14 year old child so of course she's going to feel restricted and like she has no choice but to appeal to her abuser (yes she's immortal but I think anyone who got the takeaway that she's somehow an adult is seriously misinterpreting the entire point of "no one actually ages at this school time simply isn't passing.") She plays into the part of the perfect abuse victim because she wants and needs to feel loved, she needs to feel valuable, and when she doesn't uphold this image when she has problems when she's not okay that's when she's being stabbed with million of swords to receive all of humanity's hatred and that's like. SUCH a strong way to express what it FEELS like to be a survivor in a society where abuse victims are only supported superficially.

And then Utena's is an exploration of what grooming feels like itself. Using the main, viewpoint, character to explore what it's like to be groomed is actually pretty rare I feel like but they executed it perfectly. It's so realistically done with the decent into Akio being this abusive villain so gradual that a lot of viewers who aren't familiar with sexual abuse and grooming will watch it and be like "damn that was weird I didn't get that at all lol" because they didn't really have the time to process what they were watching just like Utena barely had time to process what was happening to her.

He seems like a good guy, he seems kind to Anthy and she seems to trust him. He welcomes Utena into his home, he just wants her to feel loved and safe, right? When she experiences transphobia at school he comes to her aid, he admires her for her gender-nonconformity after all.

But then suddenly she starts to feel afraid of him and she doesn't understand why, she starts getting intrusive thoughts about the two of them together romantically, and she knows that's wrong but she isn't thinking about her age in the equation because why would she? She's mature, she doesn't have parents, she's old enough to fight to the death to protect her best friend so she ought to be old enough for an adult relationship right? That's a non issue to her, because she's too young to realize how young she is, but she still inherently knows it's wrong.

And she tries to voice this, she tries so goddamn hard. She says "aren't you kind of a pervert?" and he responds with (very paraphrased) "I am but you're just as deviant as I am, your being nonbinary is the same as my being a pedophile."

And like. She's 14, she's the only openly queer person she's ever met, he's been supportive before now so like.... he's gotta be right, doesn't he? There's not argument that can be made to this when he's leaning over her to pin her down and she's dissociating too hard to think straight.

Watching her spiral deeper into depression as she faces more and more abuse feels intimate, like, at no point do her actions not make perfect sense from the perspective of a grooming victim and that's something that you really don't get from so many media. And is is empowering to see her pull herself out of this and to see him for what he is, the resulting sword fight, and the way she ignores him completely as she tries one last time to reach Anthy and convince her that she deserves better than this, that all means something even if her ending isn't a happy one.

The series is a comforting one for me when I'm already triggered because it speaks to the tired cynic in me that knows that on a societal level that things aren't getting better or safer, that I'm never going to get rid of these ptsd symptoms because I am inherently retraumatized by how widespread this kind of trauma is. In that respect I'm Anthy in her coffin and Utena is reaching for me, and telling me that my friendships, my relationships with equally traumatized people no matter how hard and messy still matters. And that's a message that I just haven't seen anywhere else that you can find some happiness within an abusive environment and that still means something, even if you can't find anything else.

It's definitely not perfect and it doesn't fix the fact that I have yet to see any media with explicitly explored CSA where the victim is able to have not just a happy ending but a full continuation of their life outside their trauma in which they can heal and find support and a kinder world, I don't have any comfort media that does that for me which sucks a LOT. But Utena does make me feel a little better when I start to feel really hopeless about everything.

[lalainajanes]

Hi! idk if you're still taking prompts but can you do one where klaus and caroline are coworker's who are always getting into heated screaming matches during team meetings and everyone who works with them is just used to it, but the new girl is like wtf??? and then later finds out that they're actually married and don't hate each other?? thanks!! your writing gives me life

Obviously I could not resist fluff day! For Step Two of @klarolineshippersclub 12KCXmas event!

With Friends Like These

The office is deserted – its 7 PM on a Friday – so Caroline’sstartled by the sound she hears coming from the hall. It’s a staccato series oftaps. Heels, eating up the distance quickly, and she rolls her chair back,grabbing her phone from the corner of the desk just in case someone’s bleeding.

She’s about to go and see what’s happening, when Kat barrelsin. Her eyes are wide with what Caroline suspects is glee, her hair a wildwindblown mass of curls. Her jackets only half buttoned and she tosses asideher purse, rushing towards Caroline. “You will not believe what I just heard!”

Caroline lets herself be shaken, taking another confusedlook at Kat’s dishevelment. “Did you run from the bar? Thought you were goingto try to seduce the new guy.”

Katherine looks offended. “Try? Please. Mason’s a sure bet.He’ll keep until next week.”

“Wow,” Caroline drawls. “Something came up that’s kept youfrom guaranteed sex? Must be big.”

Katherine lets go of her, tossing her hair over her shoulderand letting out an irritated huff. “Yeah, yeah, mock me. We don’t all get to scheduleregular freaky married sex.”

It takes a fair amount of willpower not to tear her eyesaway and Caroline lifts her chin stubbornly. Katherine might know far too many details about her and Klaus’ sex life butthat was only because Caroline gets a little over share-y when tequila’sinvolved in a girl’s night out. Klaus is shameless enough not to care, evenwhen Kat’s comments get overly pointed. If anything, he leans into it, lets hishands linger and does his best to make Caroline blush. Caroline is working onbuilding up the same aplomb in the face of Kat’s suggestive smirks and taunts.

“You seem to do just fine in the freaky sex department,” shesnipes back.

Katherine grins, slow and very pleased with herself. “Ireally do.”

Caroline groans, walking over to the couch that lines onewall of her office. “I do not want to have this conversation with you.”

Her dry spell is hours away from ending and she’s really looking forward to it.

Klaus has been gone for ten days, dealing with inspectionsfor the new hotel the company is opening in London. Caroline’s team is busy puttingtogether room concepts so she hadn’t been able to justify taking the time awayto accompany him.

She likes phone sex as much as the next girl whose husbandhas a hot accent but it got old after a few days. She misses having a warm bodyto roll into at night; the way he wakes he scrapes his morning beard againsther shoulder when she grumbles about the alarm.

“Someone’s cranky!” Katherine sings. She circles Caroline’sdesk, helping herself to the bourbon that’s stashed in the lowest drawer. “Mynews might not help you.”

Oh joy.

Caroline slouches low, letting her legs flop ratherungracefully, “And yet, you rushed all the way back here to tell me about it?”

“It’s just too hilarious. I couldn’t not.”

Katherine’s sense of humor is a weird thing, an acquiredtaste, so Caroline braces herself. “Alright, hit me.”

“Uh uh. Let me set the scene.”

“And people say I’m dramatic.”

Kat ignores the complaint, lifting the bottle high. “There Iam, in the ladies room…”

“Taking off your panties so you could stuff them in Mason’spocket?”

“Please. Like you’ve never used that move.”

Caroline could honestly say she hadn’t (Klaus likes toremove her lingerie himself) but Katherine’s already continuing her tale. Sheperches on the edge of Caroline’s desk, wiggling in an effort to getcomfortable.

So it’s not going to be a short story. Caroline presses herlips together, holding in a sigh, glancing at the clock. She’s supposed to grabKlaus from the airport at eleven and she’d planned go home and change intosomething easier to remove beforehand. Hopefully Katherine can resist the urgeto embellish too extensively.

“I’m minding my own business, about to flush, when I hear afamiliar name.”

“Yours?”

“Nope, yours. Preceded and followed by some very colorfuldescriptors.” She pauses expectantly, eagerly watching for Caroline’s reaction.

Only to be disappointed when Caroline shrugs, emitting onlya dismissive, “Somehow I’ll survive.” The last time she’d really been overlyconcerned with other people liking her she’d owned pom poms.

Katherine, however, isn’t finished.

“Really? Even when I tell you that our little bathroomgossiper had very complimentary things to say about your hubs?”

Her hands curl into the couch’s cushions, a teeny flare ofjealousy flaring bright.

She’s an only child and she gets a little possessive, okay?Klaus is into it. He’s also no stranger to getting growly and shooting murdereyes and staking a claim and, since he’s got a bajillion siblings, he doesn’t evenhave the same justification for being bad at sharing.

Those incidents usually result in an immediate need forprivacy (or the reasonable facsimile found behind a locked office door or thebackseat of a car). The next day they’ll sleep in, there will be hickies on herthighs and scratches on his back, and they’ll eat dessert for breakfast.

Honestly, Caroline kind of loves that particular ritual,knows very well that Klaus does too.

“Not everyone thinks Klaus is awful,” Caroline points out.

“Because most people are dumb and lack my excellent taste.”

Caroline eyes the bottle, seriously considering chugging abit and just calling a cab when it’s time to collect Klaus. She really doesn’twant to be drunk for their reunion but, if Kat doesn’t hurry up and get to apoint, it might be her best option. “I love you so I’m going to ignore the factthat you kinda just called me dumb.”

Katherine scoffs, “You’re not dumb, just dickmatized.”

It’s probably a good thing she’s not drinking because shewould have choked. Caroline’s laugh sputters out, grows in volume, and she hasto cover her mouth when it becomes hard to control herself. Her eyes water alittle as she finally manages to stop giggling, “Yeah, I’m totally tellingKlaus that you said that. He’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Literally the only nice thing I’ll ever say about him isthat you’re far more bearable and less uptight than you used to be. I creditthe regular orgasms.”

She and Katherine had been hired at about the same time and,in the beginning, hadn’t gotten along overly well. Kat now headed The MikaelsonGroup’s marketing team, was a wizard at luring in celebs and influencers andmaking their hotels a coveted destination. Caroline had worked her way up torun a design team. It’s how she’d met Klaus (and they’d butted heads too in theearly days) coordinating with him and his architect minions.

“I, too, am a big fan,” Caroline admits. “Though, honestly,you should really give cuddling a try. Totally relaxing.”

“Ew, pass.”

It’s an argument they’ve had before.

“Anyway,” Katherine says, so loudly that Carolineinstinctively glances towards the door. “Back to my story. Greta Martin thinksyou should stop being a total bitch to Klaus in meetings. Oh, and she’s alsoplanning on banging him.”

Caroline sits up, now outraged. “I am not…”

Katherine cuts her off, “You have been a little snippy thisweek.”

Only because Klaus has been baiting her.

“That’s just how we are. He pokes, I prod. He’s annoyinglysmug, all ‘oh, aren’t I the cleverest?’ and I like to knock him down.”

“Verbal foreplay is your thing,” Katherine says, adding aknowing nod.

She throws her hands up, collapsing back again. “Exactly! Mymarriage is freaking great and if that…”

Again, she doesn’t get to work up to a proper rant. Superannoying.

“That’s the best part!” Katherine crows. “She has no ideayou and Klaus are married! Talk about dumb people.”

Well, that’s mollifying. Slightly. Caroline will just haveto make things clear. Plans begin to form. She discards the racier ones (unlessGreta proves to be unwilling to take a hint). She twists her wedding bandabsently, “How has she not noted the rings?”

“Forget the rings. How she hasn’t noted Klaus’ doofybesotted face whenever you walk into a room is the bigger issue. Maybe sheneeds glasses?”

Maybe Caroline will get her assistant to shoot Greta anemail detailing the company’s excellent insurance coverage on Monday.

She hears the bottle clink and she shakes off her mentallists, shooting Katherine a glare. “You know, it would have been easy for youto clear up her misconceptions in that bathroom.”

Kat’s brows rise and she shoots Caroline a look like she’ssaid something totally insane. “And deprive myself of prime workplace drama?Please. You know how bored I get on Wednesdays when I have to sit in those dumblegal meetings.”

Caroline’s displeasure must read on her face because Kattosses her a bright smile, leaning forward and offering the bottle. Her toneturns placating, “Oh, relax, Cupcake. It’s harmless. You’ll probably forget allabout this little snafu over the weekend.”

Caroline’s does have big plans.

“Maybe,” she allows grudgingly. She stands, straighteningher pencil skirt. “Speaking of, I should go home and make myself pretty.”

“You’re going to do that gross airport make out thing, aren’tyou?”

Caroline smiles, not trying to hide the slightly mockingedge to it. “Usually, yeah. But Elijah’s not a guy who tolerates a scene.”

She relishes the freezing of Katherine’s body, the wideningof her dark eyes. Her hand flexes, looking for the bottle that had recentlybeen clutched there.

Caroline withholds it, setting it down and out of reach.

She’s not entirely sure what had gone down at the Christmasparty last year (Katherine was way better at keeping secrets no matter how muchliquor was applied) but she knows Kat’s red lip had been rubbed off and Elijah’svest had been buttoned incorrectly when she and Klaus had met the odd couple atthe elevator bank.

Kat had twitched a little at the mention of Elijah’s nameever since.

She adopts her sweetest expression, “Maybe the legalmeetings will be more exciting when Elijah’s leading them in person, hmm?”

Katherine’s mouth opens. Closes. She wiggles her toes to gether heels back in place before hopping off the desk. “I need to…”

She doesn’t finish her sentence, stalking out of the office.Caroline watches her go, both satisfied and bursting with curiosity. A speechlessKatherine Pierce? Caroline never thought she’d see the day.

She makes a mental note to tell Klaus, to wheedle until heagrees to pump Elijah for info. She didn’t often get bored at work, not whenshe could just pop into Klaus’ office and poke around in his projects. But hehad another trip on his calendar next month.

She won’t turn down a little in office entertainment whilehe’s gone.