#they've also both got mother issues

[sideartblog999]

Faith tries to fill the hole that the fight with Buffy has left in her with someone who might end up being a bit too familiar for comfort.

Got kinda obsessed with the idea that huh depending on how you read Amy Madison's various character traits she'd kinda got a lot in common with Faith, they’re both in love with the closest thing they have to a best friend, and neither of them are even close to being their best friend’s best friend (their best friends are in fact besties with each other). And both of their best friends are the idealised version of themselves, so wouldn’t it be weird if they hooked up out of some self recognises self and tried to get something out of it. Also I wanted to get all my oneshot wips finished since I just never seem to so here's the first of them.

[radiocrypt-id]

The bad kids haven't really looked too closely at the Rat Grinders (meta wise I know it's a commentary on different play styles and how shitty xp farming is and how op players/parties can become by doing the bare minimum if they put in the time while everyone else plays the damn game) but I find the split perspective problems absolutely fascinating. I can't wait for the Bad Kids to look at the Rat Grinders with envy and anger that the Rat Grinders got to live a normal highschool life without all this insane danger and experience being a teenager without it being the end of the world for them. Right now they just hate the Rat Grinders energy and are matching it back (which is a very high school thing to do. To have beef with a whole other group of kids and not even know why but you'll die on this hill because they started shit first)

Because to the Rat Grinders, from a purely outside perspective, the Bad Kids are fucking monarchs of the school, right? They skipped classes, ran around town, fought people, got arrested, hung out with a big devil? Every new staff member came at their recommendation? One of them has both her dads working at the school?? The destroyed school property, got teachers killed, straight murdered the coach? These fucking kids run around and are apparently scott-free? because the principal liked their chaos enough to let it go and help them avoid the police? To the Rat Grinders, the Bad Kids are untouchable. They're exempt from the law. They're liars, cheats and need to be humbled. It's unfair. From everyone elses perspective, it really does look like the Bad Kids have been given crazy favourtism.

Meanwhile, all of the Bad Kids have died at least once. They've been irreparably changed and are in a constant state of fight or flight. They assume everything is dangerous and anyone might be an enemy because for two goddamn years that was the exact case! They couldn't trust any adult first year! Literally anyone could have been infected with Kalina second year! who knows what happened with the Night Yord but I fucking bet they had issues with Yorbies pretending to be helpful just to kill them! Everyone, for two years, has been out to get them! They can't even sleep! And now they have to grind so hard or they fail. Adaine has a seemingly full time job after school basically every day because she literally can't afford to live? Fabian has taken on the most physically strenuous classes and sport one dude could and has dreams of also being a social legend because he's fucking lonely in that big house and he just wants to fill it. If anyone in the party fails or dies Riz is shit out of luck and wont ever get into a university? He so desperately wants his friends with him so he's working over time and ignoring his limits to make up for his party members not caring about the future. Fig is going through the strangest arc I've ever seen in my life? she's hard avoidant and taking three classes, so a 250% work load, because she's desperate to fill her time so she can't think about all the other work she has to do that if she ignores too long could crush her under the debt of her band from her label, or how alone she feels without her girlfriend around. Gorgug is so desperate to prove himself that he's doing four years of school work in one, trying to play catch up and also prove himself at the same time, he's taking it all so seriously but also is so fucking tired. And Kristen. Mother fucking Kristen "hey girlie" applebees. Expected to dedicate her life to a god with no direction, with the weight of failure being her gods death, while also being in school and also at your friends insistence needing to run for student body president and getting your priorities so mixed up and being completely left behind by her peers who didn't have to rework their entire world view and understanding of life in the span of a few months every few months.

The Bad Kids are in a terrible place. They're suffering. I want them to just say it out loud, to stop pretending they have it handled and are fine. I want Riz and Adaine to yell at the party to get their shit together. I want Fabian to tell someone how alone and abandoned her feels. I want Kristen to scream at Cassandra that she agrees, that it's not fair, she's just a kid, how could she be enough all on her own with no help? It sucks a god can only rely on a child, for both the god and child! They're both suffering from this arrangement! Neither is happy! I want Gorgug to beat the shit out of Porter with his inventions and rage at the same time, to make the best shit and use it in the most stunning way anyone has ever seen. I want Fig to finally get some freaking help, to have her teachers and parents reach out in a meaningful way and stop telling her to figure it out alone because clearly the pressure is too much for her to handle and she's drowning. I want someone, anyone, to look at the Bad Kids and tell them to stop. To help them. But I know it wont be that easy. I know it'll be the Rat Grinders yelling at how unfair it is the Bad kids get everything while they're on the sidelines that'll get under the Bad Kids skin and they'll yell about how awesome they are and that they didn't ask for any of this shit to happen to them and to fuck off. I know it's gonna get so much worse before it gets better. I know they'll figure it out and that it'll be a painful road there.

[girl-named-matty]

𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘶𝘯𝘵

Name: Callan Gaunt Pronouns: He/Him Age: 18 - HCU Gender: Male Birthday: December 31st, 1874 Zodiac Sign: Capricorn Birthplace: Undisclosed area, England. House: Slytherin Patronus: Goliath bird eating spider (im so sorry) Animagus: N/A Wand: Blackthorn wood, Dragon Heartstring core, 13", springy Blood Status: Pureblood Languages: English Ethnicity: Irish & English

𝘈𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦

Race: Caucasian Eyes: Dark brown, almost black Hair: Short black hair Skin: Pretty pale Height: 6'3" Distinguishing Features: He has a scar across his left cheek.

𝘗𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺

Positive Traits: A very loyal friend, fun & outgoing, will never back down from a fight. Negative Traits: Sometimes takes sarcasm too far, is still figuring out the whole affection thing, aggressive if prompted. Strengths: Will stand up for someone if needed, no matter who. Weaknesses: Will NEVER back down from a fight, that's the issue lol.

𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘧𝘰 / 𝘚𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴

Boggart: His father Mirror of Erised: Being far away from his family & no longer having the Gaunt name Hobbies: Reading, Dueling, Pottery Amortentia: Cedar & fresh linen, Future Occupation: Healer Favorite Spell: Incendio Least Favorite Spell: Crucio

Best subject: Defense Against the Dark Arts Favorite subject: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Favorite Professor: Professor Sharp Worst subject: Divination Least favorite subject: Divination Least favorite professor: Professor Binns (he's boring) Quidditch Position: Beater

𝘍𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺

Father's Name: Caelan Gaunt Age: 46 Status: Alive Blood Status: Pureblood House: Slytherin Personality: He doesn't have one, he's just mean.

Mother's Name: Alessia Gaunt Age: 45 Status: Alive Blood Status: Pureblood House: Slytherin Personality: She was a caring mother when Callan was younger but once he got old enough she kinda stopped caring.

Siblings: Hugo, Constance, & Elowen Gaunt

𝘙𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘴

Love Interest: Valentine Black (@savingsallow) House: Slytherin and Slytherin

♡︎ Theodore Lupin - Theodore is Callan's best friend. They met in first year after Callan saw Theodore getting bullied by some 3rd year kids. He stood up for him and they've been friends ever since. Callan is definitely the more outgoing of the two, but he's always looking out for Theo since he knows Theo isn't all too confident in himself. And regardless if his family doesn't approve of their friendship, Theo is still one of the most special people to Cal.

♡︎ Alejandro Salvatori - Ale and Cal are roommates (wow). They're really good friends, lowkey in love with each other, both like the same girl but also kind of each other??? It's complicated y'all, don't ask. Ale is just his pookie. But they are roommates, on the quidditch team together, and do a lot together. Him, Cal, and Val are lowkey in a weird love triangle, LOL.

♡︎ Ominis Gaunt - Ominis is Callan's cousin and they were born around the same time so they grew up together. Not only that but they share a lot of the same morals, so they can often be seen hanging out together in order to get away from the rest of their family. So they are pretty close, to put it simply.

♡︎ Sebastian Sallow - They get in trouble together, that's pretty much it most of the time.

♡︎ The HCU pals - He loves all of them with his whole heart 💕

𝘘𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺

Callan was born on December 31st, 1984 to Caelan and Alessia Gaunt. He is the 2nd oldest of four children. During his childhood, Alessia was caring for the first few years of his life, but once he began to get older, she started caring less and less. As far as she was concerned, her relationship with her children was to just bring them into this world, teach them her values and views, and keep them trapped in them. She truly only ever cared about herself and her power in her relationship with her husband. Callan also had a strained relationship with his father. When his cousin, Ominis, was tortured by his own family at a young age, Callan heard about this and strongly disagreed, pained to see his favorite cousin get hurt.

Caelan quickly got upset at the boy and told him it was a fitting punishment for Ominis' disobedience. Once Callan disagreed, Caelan slashed his son on the face with a razor, giving him a scar he'd carry on his face forever. And that was the beginning of Cal's crumbling relationship with his father and family in general.

Cal spends most of his time at Hogwarts, planning to stay away from his family and to get far away from them one day. This also includes getting his girlfriend, Val, away from her family as well. All he wants to do is live in peace and happiness away from those who seek to hurt him and his loved ones.

[mossy-green-aka-ferrythem]

I like. Have not played a single Hoyo game so it is quite shocking to see people take deeper looks into the games and their themes to uncover just how DEEPLY racist Hoyoverse is.

When I say racist I mean like. Painting this fantasy, ideal, "aesthetic" world that only wears the face of multiculturalism, while explicitly making it so all the heroes and good characters are white, while making the enemy characters typically with a darker shade of skin. Like just. In fucking Genshin. Look at the Hilichurls. They've literally got pitch black skin and masks, and despite having their own culture, are constantly and consistently treated nothing more as "pests". Like just. I swear to god there are so many "Hilichurl" like examples of weaving weird racism into video game enemies in the wider media sphere, but I digress.

What really gets me is like. I saw some shit from fucking Honkai or whatever where there is an entire character who was born black, but bleached her skin out of shame. Like. What. Also this is all second hand, so forgive me for getting details wrong, but doesn't she just. Keep hating herself for her skin color and her heritage? Also the way her mother is drawn is just like. Somehow both a racist and transphobic caricature rolled into one. Like they illustrated her in a way that doesn't feel done in good taste. It fees like they want to evoke a sense of confusion and maybe disdain. Perhaps they wish for you to sympathize with the girl who bleached her own skin (???) and like. What the fuck is this writing HOW DO PEOPLE JUST NOT GIVE A FUCK ABOUT THIS??????

Also. There is of course ZZZ. The issue here is more what people have already mentioned and something I don't feel like fully relaying. Which is the sort of heavy emphasis and inspiration from Hip-Hop and Rap culture, but without any black characters actually in the setting. Ben Bigger is like. Legit the blackest character there, problem is that he ISN'T HUMAN. Like it shows that they would sooner create an anthropomorphic bear, a fantasy character, than a black character that actually displays their culture in a proud way. Not really my place to say all of this, since others have said it much better than I ever could. Last thing I would say is that the Black edits of the characters (especially Ellen Joe), make the character designs leagues better.

To cap off this messily organized tumblr post and rant, it brings me to my biggest issue: erasure. The fact that when you search up Tighnari, you only get that dogshit anime boy, hell, the issue even still persists somewhat when you specify for Al-Tighnari. I am not well read on who Tighnari is, but even skimming past a description of that man is truly breathtaking. He sounds like a very well traveled, very wise man who likely had a sizable impact on the world. Thing is. When you search up Tighnari you don't see this man anywhere. When you bring up Tighnari, it is unlikely people actually recognize who the man himself was. Instead you have this character, who's skin is as white as a sheet, actively acting like a shroud being thrown over an old cultural icon. His design has been criticized endlessly for how little it lines up, but that's not the point. The point being is that Tighnari in Genshin has uprooted knowledge of the original in the public eye. This is but one example, and doesn't even BEGIN to touch upon the absolute shitshow that is Natlan. However, people have already exhaustively described what is wrong with it so I digress there. Oh and I said I would close this out but like. Fucking Star Rail or whatever has a character with Dark Skin who has "shacklebreaker" as one of their main skills and like. This is some J.K. Rowling type racism. Like what. What the fuck?

Look what's really important here is that I am just so fucking taken aback by learning the extent of it. I always bore a minor grudge against Genshin, but the clarification, and the knowledge of how deep this shit goes... just makes me realize this. There is no longer any confusion about how this got so popular, because racism is excusable in general fandom spaces. Racism isn't considered a dealbreaker to many people, and that is the root of the issue I believe. How general online fandom communities and people as consumers are just so unbothered by racism that they will just not criticize it, pass it off as normal, and will actively engage in racist tendencies, rather than making any effort to better themselves and to be more tasteful in what they choose to support financially, and what they choose to consume.

[connoisseursdecomfort]

The thin line between Waku Waku and danger - what awaits Anya after ch.94?

[Manga spoiler alert]

Anya. The baby of the story. The star of the show. The leader of the Twiyor ship (she even created the slogan "Chichi to haha icha icha".) The telepath. The gremlin. The peanut. The heh.

In SxF, we saw how she forged the Forgers, how she fortified her friendship with Becky and Damian, as well as Emile and Ewen, and how she improved academically. It all started because she found it to be waku waku to have Twilight to be her father.

Same reason for choosing Yor to be her mother:

Of course, I love her for doing that. But there is no denying that she's drawn to danger. She likes it to be exciting. She wants to be the hero. And we all do. We, like Anya, like things to be waku waku.

It is good for the audience. But is it good for Anya?

Not really. Slowly but surely, Endo is revealing to us how it would affect Anya.

She thinks it is waku waku to have a spy and an assassin as parents because she is obsessed with Spy Wars. It is totally understandable for people to be want to imitate the cool characters on TV, and it is mentioned once again in Ch.94.

But it's something more than that. Loid being the top spy and Yor being the top assassin gives us a feeling that no matter what they will save her, and more importantly, they will be able to save her.

In the first chapter, her desire to make the spy work more waku waku has got her into trouble. Twilight rescues her, all ends well. In Chapter 7 she gets into trouble again, and Yor rescues her.

We have a sense of security that the Forger parents will do anything to get their baby back. And while that's VERY true (that's not up for debate - sorry), it also gives Anya the sense of security that she could maybe play with fire a bit more. So in Short Mission 1 we see her deliberately holding onto the bad guy's clothes, trying to get Yor to help. And Yor saves her and kicks the bad guy's ass.

Nonetheless, I should specify that Anya doesn't only want waku waku only for the sake of it although she does gloat over her successes. She understands that she needs to be careful, both in the doggy crisis arc and the cruise arc. But she still runs towards danger because she wants to help.

We already know she would do anything to keep the family together because of her love for her parents and also her abandonment issue especially when it comes to Operation Strix. That includes running towards a building that is going to explode in the doggy crisis arc and heading to the front deck where Yor is fighting with other assassins in the cruise arc. She has a good reason wanting to get involved, and she always succeeds too.

But that isn't all. She actually sees how her parents work towards their goals tirelessly.

That, of course, has something to do with what Endo chooses to focus on when it comes to the jobs of spies and assassins. He doesn't actually focus on the waku waku part that much (which has been one of the most common complaints). Literally in the first chapter, Endo has already shown us what the nature of spy work is - It can be freaking boring.

Same with the assassins' work.

One could even argue that Endo is deconstructing the images of spies and assassins in popular culture. While it is still waku waku for us and for Anya to see them working as spies and assassins, most of the time it is just a job for Loid and Yor. That means we AND Anya also see how tired they are after they've finished their jobs.

But why? If their jobs are ruthless and even thankless, why did they do it? The answers have been given in the cruise arc and ch.62. And for Anya who has been with them for quite some time now, she is inspired by their goals.

Anya wants to do good. Just like her papa and mama. And I think this is probably a good time to revisit the bus arc, particularly this moment:

Other children are thinking how their parents would come and save them. When Anya thinks about her parents, what would she think about?

Is it her parents' goal(s) - to make the world a better place?

Or is it the fact that she has always been the one actively doing something in order to save people, just like how she saves her parents and keeps her family together?

Even in the movie trailer, we see Anya desperately trying to help despite being all tied up.

The bus arc is also when the adults starts to scold her for being reckless.

It is not really the first time they've seen her being reckless. In the doggy crisis arc, Anya is told not to wander off.

Twice.

And even the childcare lady told her the same thing in the cruise arc:

But before it can be brushed off as kids having a tendency to wander off. But it is becoming more and more clear to the Forger parents that it seems to be something even more serious.

Endo is definitely dropping hints here, no?

It reminds me of what Loid told Bond:

This applies to everyone in the Forger family. Yor in the cruise arc. Loid in the mole arc. And Anya in the bus arc.

Anya has learned so many things in the process. Her grades have improved. She has learnt to read the clock. She has to try to write something that is readable so she can eat the gifts from Damian. But it seems she hasn't learned the most important thing yet.

PS Meanwhile, Bond went from not knowing how to play in the dog park

to suggesting an alternative game to Anya in Ch.94

Bond is best boi \o/

[triassictriserratops]

checking in to say I’m such a sucker for Katniss and Peeta discussing their mommy issues once they’re together again. I once saw a post pointing out that they’re the only ones in the series with that kind of trauma and it made so much sense to me why they easily bonded with each other. Just imagine them finally being able to discuss how unsafe they felt even before the games and realize that they have someone in their family who understands that problem and doesn’t make it feel that way. Katniss and Peeta have always been tender with each other but I fear it only gets worse the more they share and get close

we joke a lot about how THG is what Katniss would write about her experiences in the games and war. (Explaining her, frankly, INSANE odes to Peeta's eyelashes.) but also? we're sleeping on the idea that Katniss writes a book absolutely trashing Peeta's mom. It's gonna be a fucking BESTSELLER. I actually have an advanced reader copy, here, lemme show you:

(Note, i spent like 4 hours making this absolutely garbage fucking cover, please validate me. My feelings gland needs this.) I also have this idea that while Katniss does come to understand her mother better by the end of the book - a relationship, a GOOD relationship, with the two of them - it's just going to take time. In that time, maybe Peeta helps to bridge the gap. He does weekly check-ins with Katniss' mom. Telling her how Katniss is doing but also answering her questions about how HE'S doing. And he realizes how...nice it is for a mom to want to know how his day was or be proud of his accomplishments. It's not a replacement for what he should have had, but it's nicer than what he ever got. His relationship with his family is gone. That's it. There will never be any hope of it ever getting better. But Katniss DOES have her mom and he wants to help them. And, from the conversations and tears they've shared about this, he knows she wants it too. So he starts by suggesting that Katniss' mom go through her own therapy to be able to come to terms with her grief and the consequences of what that grief did to her relationships with her living family. He puts her in touch with Dr. Aurelius who gives him a referral to someone in 4 that works in grief and family counseling. And it's not easy. Not by any means. Not for anyone. But in time, years, decades - the bonds of family are strengthened. They're never perfect, you can't fix the past, of course. But the pains are acknowledged on both sides. Their new relationship is hard-earned and exactly what they both need of each other. 15 years down the line, Mrs. Everdeen gets to push the hair out of her daughters eyes while she delivers her first grandbaby. She gets to watch her baby look in awe, and wonderment at her own baby. She gets to watch her family grow a little bigger and a little stronger. Later, when Peeta makes sure both Katniss and baby are safe and sleeping, he goes over to Mrs. Everdeen and hugs her tightly. "Thanks for being here for us, Ma."

[aroaceleovaldez]

Do you have any headcanons in regard to Cassius as a Grace sibling? Like Thalia's (and Jason's) reaction specifically?

Also just Nero's stepchildren, do you have any relationships between them that you particularly enjoy thinking about?

YES!!!! I have SO many thoughts about this. first and foremost, Cassius as a Grace sibling:

His age theoretically matches up with him being extremely young (about 1!) when Beryl died (cause Thalia says Beryl died about three years prior to TTC, at which point Cassius would be 4). Which relatively fits with what we know of the other Tri kids. It also potentially implies that the Tri intentionally killed Beryl and made it look like an accident, which is potentially very interesting particularly relating to Thalia and Jason's relationship with their mother and just Beryl's character in general.

Also interesting - Cassius would have been born after Thalia was turned into a tree!

I've mentioned before my theories about him being a child of Zeus or Jupiter, given his name being one letter off from an epithet of Zeus and his description comparisons to Jason (which could also lean into Cas as a Grace sibling!). I personally like to think he's somewhat symbolic of Zeus' childhood - being raised apart from his siblings/his siblings being taken from him before he was even born, perhaps his descriptions of being associated with having juiceboxes being associations to Zeus as Kronos' cupbearer, etc etc.

I think Thalia and Jason would be HORRIFIED about how Cassius ended up in the Tri's hands. Also just Cassius' situation in general. They both have very complicated relationships to their mother and the idea that they had yet ANOTHER long lost sibling? Who similarly up until that point had led a tragic life like the two of them and they had no idea and were thus unable to help him all this time? The DREAD!!!!

Once they find out about him I imagine they would, of course, become FIERCELY protective of him. They've both lived such brutal lives and this poor kid has already been through so much and they are going to do their darnedest to ensure this kid never has to deal with anything else like any of that ever again.

I also imagine they'd probably similarly worry over the rest of the Tri kids a bit, when it sets in that they've all lived lives like that. They're both a little sensitive to the concept of kids being taken from their families and molded into this idol of a child soldier due to Jason's experience so finding like twelve kids going through that (and one of them is their FULL BROTHER) is like a personal nightmare for them.

As for the Tri kids in general - yes!!! I have some general thoughts about the Tri kids [here] and designs [here] but some specific ones:

Lucius and the Artemis kids are bffs, for obvious reasons (Apollo and Artemis). I imagine they're both left to their own devices and encouraged to be a bit feral (Nero fostering analogies to the more wild and destructive aspects of Apollo and Artemis) so they've got a lot of issues, but they're sort of each other's rocks.

Besides Lucius, I like to think the Artemis kid's other closest sibling is the Poseidon kid (Cause moon and tides :D). He's pretty much the only other one who can get her to mellow out/calm down.

The Aphrodite and Hephaestus kids are also bffs. Intense solidarity between those two.

The Hera kid wants absolutely NOTHING to do with Cassius. I hc Nero generally tried to get the kids to replicate dynamics between the Olympians and have a few of them form little duos and such, so the Hera kid and Cassius get nudged together a lot. Cassius doesn't mind cause he's everybody's friend but Hera kid HAAAAATES it. She doesn't necessarily hate Cassius but she doesn't want to be forced into a duo.

Most of the rest of my thoughts for the Tri kids is just them being encouraged to replicate dynamics between the Olympians or the Olympians themselves and what effect that has on them.

[amelikos]

Looking at Crave's Chillaccino's reactions throughout the whole exchange between Amethio and Crave, it feels like Chillaccino was confused and thought the situation wasn't really natural since it kept looking back and forth between both of them. It also exchanged looks with Crave once Amethio left, as if to ask Crave if he was okay letting Amethio leave just like that, which makes me think this isn't usual behavior from Crave. And once Chillaccino heard a knock on the door, it immediately looked happy thinking Amethio had actually come back (which possibly indicates that Amethio and Chillaccino got along!).

Either way, Liko and Amethio's family situations keep contrasting each other. We've seen Liko and Diana share information and everything they've learned about the Explorers in HZ074. They weren't keeping secrets from each other, and they eventually got to meet Rystal who told them the truth about everything and shed light about their ancestry. Yet, Rystal also told them she wasn't going to tell Leyla anything about Lucius or Rakua to keep the tragedy from happening ever again. She thought it was the best thing to do in her situation, because sometimes you just want to hide certain things or shield someone you care about from certain truths that are better left unknown.. I think Crave is in a similar situation here. Maybe he knows something about the Rakurium, but we've seen that it's something that can be dangerous so it makes sense for him not to want Amethio to be further involved into this.

Crave not looking directly at Amethio also reminded me of Lucca who didn't meet up with Liko in HZ012. She initially wanted to take the pendant from Liko and she didn't want to let the overprotective side of her get in the way of Liko making her own choices, so Lucca left before she could see her. Similarly here, I think Crave wanted to avoid looking at Amethio, potentially because it would make him weak.. like, his resolve in not telling him would falter. Not that Amethio would understand his perspective though, because he sees it as rejection. Crave probably hopes to discourage Amethio from investigating further or slow him down in his quest for information, but I don't think Amethio will easily back down anyway.

I wonder if Amethio and Crave will have a honest talk eventually. Liko had to open up to her father about her desire to keep traveling and be honest with him. Roy had to face his grandfather and ask him for permission to go on a journey with Hogator (he was initially reluctant to ask his grandfather, but Liko encouraged him to take a step forward). Dot had to face her mother and be honest with her, and she had to ask for permission to keep traveling as well. So, I feel like Amethio's family should have a honest talk eventually because their issues stem from a lack of communication.

I am curious about Amethio's family.. Crave genuinely grew up to be a caring person who wants to improve the lives of both humans and Pokemon. He seems to be invested in research too (which is what led him to Friede!), similarly to Gibeon. It makes me wonder how Gibeon was as a father with him. I also wonder how much Crave knows about the Rakurium and his feelings about it. He's probably seen his father go off the deep end because of it. Friede also came to ask him about it in HZ054. And now, even Amethio wants to get closer to the Rakurium and know more about it. I don't think there is an easy answer to this. It's understandable that he'd want to withhold information (if he has any), but the truth is bound to be revealed eventually.

[panicloser]

School Zone Girls | Family Headcanons | Part 1

Yo so we never see the parents and usually not the siblings of the characters. Which suck but also it means I'm free to come up with whatever interpretations of them that I want *rubs hands together mischievously* >:)

Anyway I reread this manga recently so here's headcanons about what their family's are like, I hyperfocus wrote all these down in one night without editing them, some of these I came up with when I read it originally and some I came up with today, so yeah here's a bunch of food for the starving fandom

--------------------------------------------------

Rei Yokoe

-so it's confirmed that she has an older brother and it specifically says she's living with him. Plus lives in a small apartment and only calls out for him in this scenes which leads me to believe that she's only living with him

-i can just smell the mommy issues on her I don't know what to tell you.

-An obsessive attachment to a woman and has rejection sensitivity, sounds like mommy issue behaviour to me

-i think probably neglectful mother considering her want for attention from Kei and wanting to be around a person constantly

-i also just get the vibe that she only ever had one parent in the picture, so maybe her mom just got pregnant or whatever with no real relationship idk, either way no dad or anything

-her mom was never particularly attentive and was always quite flaky, went out a lot, did whatever she wanted to enjoy herself. gave her and her brother a lot of independence but not much attention. When they asked for things or showed her stuff she didn't really process it much most of the time

-But the few times she did give them attention she was overly affectionate and acted like nothing happened

-her mom also never really put pressure about doing good in school or anything obviously so that's why Rei doesn't have that at all

-once her older brother was legally an adult/able to live on his own she decided to fuck off and leave the two of them living there on their own. She pays them money to keep them sustained here and there maybe visits once in a blue moon but other than that she's not around

-she's a strange lady

-however Rei has a very good relationship with her brother because of all this.

-They argue at times of course but only in that lighthearted sibling way. They've always had the tendency to play fun games or do silly shit together

-i have a headcanon that her brother is just as weird and goofy as Rei but unlike her he's better at masking it in public or around people he's not close to

-Her brother unfortunately has to work a lot to sustain them both, leaving her alone often but he tries his best to not be like their mom and find time whenever he can to spend time with her

-I think Rei would try to talk about her mom's neglect like it's not a big deal but she's really torn about it on the inside and she doesn't hide it that well. Most of the time she just tries not to think about it.

-it would be fun to write a fic where her mom comes back to visit and Rei's in a weird mood about it which Kei notices.

Kei Suguira

-I think Kei hates doing school work and shit just as much as Rei but the difference is that her parents put pressure on her to be good at it

-i get the vibe that both her mom and dad would be serious people that put focus on having a successful career and the typical family and that kind of thing. They're social norm and rule followers y'know

-i don't think they would be as harsh as other parents and they certainly care very much about their kids and can say that but they try to nudge their kids in a certain direction. As long as Kei has doing her work she can have all the fun she wants outside of that

-both her parents are quite similar to each other and hold pretty stereotypical family roles

-Also I headcanon her parents are homophobic at least somewhat and have brought it up. Because Kei has to be getting her internalised homophobia from somewhere and it doesn't seem to be from her peers or her sister which leads me to guess her parents are

-speaking of her sister, we see her in the manga so I don't have to make up too much about her

-they argue way more than Rei and her sibling. Kei's sister making fun of her a lot is the reason Kei is so competitive and embarrassed easily. she's used to getting mad at her sister a lot so used to defending herself and being hotheaded

-her sister her teases her, she gets mad at her, but at the end of the day if the other really was going through something they would have each other's back. They've got a "only I can shit talk her!" type of dynamic

-I think Kei feels kind of nuetral about her parents, she loves them but doesn't feel close to them or like she could open up in a serious way

-her parents think Rei is really fucking weird and wonder if she's a bad influence but unless they found any major effects or about the gay shit I don't think they would make a big deal about it

Yatsude Negoro

-i think she has a pretty good relationship with her parents

-i feel like neither of them are particularly affectionate. Which certainly isn't from a lack of love, I think they both love their daughter very much they just don't show it in a stereotypical way

-the family love language is acts of service and giving each other advice

-her parents are quite similar to her so they all just kind of understand each other very well

-i think both of them are pretty career driven

-i think one of her parents is tends to be a bit nosey into her life which is where Yatsude gets it from and the other isn't and gives her a lot of space

-i could maybe see her parents being a same sex couple? But also maybe not? Idk either way I do kinda of imagine her having a dad that she has a good relationship with though. Maybe he's the one who's nosey.

-Yatsude says she doesn't have any siblings but she also says this line about little shits.

-I'm guessing that means maybe she has a lot of younger cousins. I headcanon that at family gatherings she always tasked with being the babysitter which is why she's got those mother instincts with her friends

The Hinase Twins

-so they mentioned their mom 3 times in their flashback thing and theres also that picture of them with their awards where they're with I'm assuming the mom

-never mentioned a dad or anything else

-considering that and that their mom probably pushes both of them (or at least with Hiragi at first) to do well in school and extraciruclar activities and the extremely codependent relationship the twins had from a very young age leads me to headcanon that maybe their dad died when they were very young. Like a bit before even the oldest flashback we see of them

-its a very bold claim that's likely not true but it would explain their codependcy, Hiragi's early on sense of responsibility towards Tsubaki and Tsubaki's immediate willingness to lean on that. Maybe their mom prompted them to do well at school or other stuff because she was worried about their future because of that loss or it was a way of honouring him. Maybe their dad was a fairly responsible or serious person

-their dad could have dipped too? That would also explain these things.

-anyway as for their mom, I do think she has overall had a focus on them being very successful, way more than Kei's parents. But I do think she is a fairly affectionate person and is willing to help them do the best they can in anyway they need

-probably works a lot

-doesn't push either of them to makeup if they don't want to, advices them individually when she has the time which isn't often

-pressures them but like in a nice way. And then the rest of the time she's busy

-Hiragi thinks her mom's niceness is fake but does appreciate when she helps

-Tsubaki thinks her mom's niceness is genuine but doesn't appreciate when she helps

-both of them resent their mother for a lack of care and feel the strong need to constantly impress her. They both wish she was more loving but neither of them complain about it out loud. Instead both of them just seek alternate authority figures to lean on (Hiragi through Akutami & Tsubaki through Yatsude)

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Link to Part 2

[pianokantzart]

Hi Piano! I love your posts and your comics! I loved the idea of ​​making a Luigi's mansion film, I even posted some ideas, do you have ideas for a Luigi mansion film?

Thank you! I have touched upon the idea a bit, with @keakruiser adding some thoughts of their own. But I do have more...

Mario and Luigi start off the movie having money issues despite the booming business. Maybe they accidentally caused some sort of serious damage that they need to pay for? Maybe there's a family emergency? Or maybe they've been too generous with free plumbing repairs to the point that the bills are catching up with them. Either way, I want all the gold and cash that Luigi vacuums up to have some sort of serious significance.

Luigi tries to talk to his father and uncles about the plumbing business at Sunday dinner, but they all speak over him in favor of talking to Mario. Mario tries to nudge the conversation in Luigi's direction, but Luigi eventually gives up and goes to the kitchen to help his mother with dishes. There he has a little heart to heart with his mom, similar to this scrapped scene from the SMB Movie concept art, but with Luigi instead of Mario:

Please please please make The Dark Moon an element! Establish that it isn't just Mario's life on the line, but an entire world at risk of being swarmed by angry ghosts under King Boo's control.

And of course we need to have Polterpup! Let's say that "animals are the among the few spirits who don't need to be soothed by the dark moon," but unfortunately that matters very little to Luigi, who has an established fear of dogs. So we go into why! Maybe he got attacked by a dog as a young child and needed Mario to save him? This would feed into both Luigi's sense of helplessness, and guilt about being so frightened while his brother is so brave and selfless.

As Luigi gets more victories under his belt, and as Polterpup follows him around and helps out, they start to form a bond. Eventually we get a Puss In Boots 2 esque scene where Luigi has an anxiety attack after loosing radio contact with E. Gadd, before Polterpup floats over and helps calm him down enough to keep moving.

Have Luigi's semi-canon mechanical prowess come into play! At some point, midway through a particularly grueling fight, the poltergust gets damaged. Between running for his life, hiding in various locations, and knocking things over to buy himself time, Luigi steadily fixes the damage enough to pull through the fight.

Luigi and Elvin Gadd bond over being two (vaguely autistic-coded) weirdos. Luigi is surprised that Elvin Gadd doesn't mind trusting him with his equipment, that he doesn't get annoyed with his fear, and doesn't mind walking him through every tiny step. Meanwhile Elvin Gadd is like "Patient with you??? I love walking you through things step by step! You're one of the few people who'll actually listen to my ramblings! And yeah, you're clearly scared, but you've stayed! That's way more than most."

I imagine the people trapped in paintings are able to speak and move around, but King Boo can set their painting to a sort of "stagnant mode" if the captive gets too rowdy or mouthy. Mario's picture is mostly kept in stagnant mode for obvious reasons.

King Boo's confidence visibly wavers the further along Luigi gets. King Boo goes from "Why should I be worried? E. Gadd's a decrepit fool and his new 'apprentice' is a sniveling coward!" to "Okay so Luigi can use the poltergust... he's no match for my forces!" to "What is wrong with all of you!? Why can't you catch a simple plumber!?" to "I'm going to tear this man's soul apart with my teeth!"

Bowser was heavy metal, so I want King Boo to be operatic with a Gothic/Baroque ballroom aesthetic. Of course we've got to have orchestral version of the Luigi's Mansion theme, but I also want a cinematic revamp of the SMBW "Night At Boo's Opera" song.

You know how Luigi broke down laughing and sobbing when he finally saved Mario in the original Luigi's Mansion? That. I want that, with an extra dose of Mario hugging Luigi and reassuring him that he's alright.

[catras-breakup-song]

seeing your defending catradora/catradora antis dni post, do you have any arguments against the whole "they're sisters" thing?

i do, yes!

growing up together does not make your friendship a sibling bond/dynamic unless you choose for it to. i saw someone claim that it inherently does unrelated to catradora specifically, but like, surely that has to be a troll because there's no way. 💀 i guess that means lonnie, kyle, and rogelio are also catra & adora's siblings, like a family of 5? what about the other unnamed human-looking characters (i think one had short green hair and another with a dark purple mullet)?

shadow weaver was never their mother (figure). she was their caretaker, basically just the supervising adult in that segment of the fright zone. but like, even if she was, it doesn't take a genius to infer that she was disowned once they both got out of there.

if catra & adora are sisters, then glimmer & adora are too, and also bow is their brother, which crosses glimbow off the list as well. you can't ship anyone without it being incestuous, unfortunately (sarcastic). considering queen angella is a direct parallel to shadow weaver, and angella's last nurturing words to adora before kissing her forehead was that the best friend squad needed to take care of each other, and shadow weaver's last act was ensuring catra could take care of adora the rest of the way to the heart... well, i guess love can only be familial.

in S4 shadow weaver took glimmer under her wing and taught her the same lessons in sorcery that micah (her father) would have if he was around in her life, literally after he learned from her first, so by this logic, glimmer & adora share two adoptive mothers; especially when you take into account their "argument" (canonically it was fake for a setup, but there were some underlying issues & insecurities there) about being the "favorite" with regards to the "golden child" method shadow weaver uses against scapegoats.

i would suggest reading this great post by @witch-apologist, which is where some of the points above come from, and you could probably also search sisters/siblings on their blog since they've challenged antis about this topic before!

[morganski-19]

The Eddie and Tommy and Buck of it all.

Eddie felt so out of character in this episode and I think I've figured out why. I'm trying to keep this as objective as possible and look at this like a normal TV viewer (aka through the eyes of my mother).

The normal audiences wouldn't remember Tommy's past. The normal viewers need there to be a rise before the fall. There can't be an issue with a relationship if there is no relationship for them to root for.

Which is why Tommy was in so much of tonight's episode. It's why we saw him taking care of Buck, and trying to be supportive with the curse. Even if, in my mind, it didn't completely work out, because Tommy was still being really condescending to Buck in those scenes.

This brings me to the way Eddie was written this episode. Which, in my opinion, was slightly out of character.

Eddie doesn't believe in curses. This is a fact that we know, it's been made clear multiple other times. Eddie has always made fun of them for believing in curses. However, it was always playful ribbing, it never had the intent to hurt. He was almost willing to entertain them, even if it was very clear it was just for his own amusement, after making it clear that he thinks it's full of bullshit.

But in this episode, it felt very cruel. Eddie was laughing with Tommy AT Buck. Not WITH Buck. Buck was in a vulnerable situation, he felt like was seriously in danger. And yes, while I think that Eddie would have definitely laughed in this situation, as soon as Buck said he was serious, he would have dropped it. He would have come about it in a much more considerate way. One that kept his stance that curses are nonsense, but also be there for Buck despite that.

Instead, we got Eddie and Tommy ganging up on Buck. I think this is the case for a few reasons. Like I said in the beginning of this post, the general public doesn't have a lot to root for with Buck and Tommy's relationship. They've had very little screen time together, and with all the other shit going on, they were a second thought to the viewers. They need something to move them to the forefront to make this upcoming storyline impactful.

Therefore, making his behavior in this episode seem normal. How do they do that, by making him act the same as Buck's best friend. A person that is a solid through Buck's life. Someone who the audience knows cares for Buck a lot. If they are both laughing, it doesn't sting as bad.

In doing this, however, they made both of them out to be the jerk. Buck was clearly stressed and upset, and they just brushed this off. Eddie even made a bet with him because he thought Buck was acting so crazy. It doesn't succeed in putting Tommy in a good light, it just drags Eddie into his bad one.

[yuurei20]

Hey Yuurei :) Question - What's Idia's relationship with his parents like? Has he said anything super concrete? I know he's complained about them, but he also complains about everyone haha

Hello hello! Thank you for this question!

(This blog pretends that Main Story elements not released on EN do not exist because spoilers are the worst, so this will just be EN-friendly information!)

You are very correct! Idia does not seem very thrilled whenever his parents come up in conversation, but he doesn't seem very thrilled about most things unless they are a particular interest of his, so it can be hard to gauge the degree to which he does or does not get along with his family.

He has a line in Book 6 of, "Classic Mom and Dad, always prioritizing efficiency over other people's feelings."

It would be very interesting to hear other examples of this presumably recurring problem: is this truly an issue that his parents struggle with, or is Idia an unreliable narrator?

Vil and Rook, for example, provide a different perspective:

In Book 7 Idia explains that his parents have told him not to come back home for a while ("That's the diplomatic way to say they're off-loading a nuisance") and Rook responds, "I can sense the deep affection your parents must hold for you."

Idia says he isn't so sure, citing how hard they came down on him post-book-6: "I don't think they've yelled at me that bad since I was eight."

Idia says he gets scolded by his parents pretty regularly, and they will take away his power cables to punish him.

Vil points out that his parents were supportive both of Ortho's enrollment at NRC and Idia's internship.

Idia seems intent on arguing that his family situation isn't as pleasant as it may seem, saying that this parents advised him not to go into the service industry because he would be a bad fit, but Vil observes, "And that's advice they gave to you personally, regardless of the current circumstances."

Ortho talks about how he, Idia, their father and mother would all go to parks, forests and rivers together when they were very young, but after Idia withdrew they stopped going out together as a family. Original-Ortho's death may have been something of a catalyst for Idia's strained relationship with his parents.

Idia may also have a complex about not being born into a normal family, saying that he "just wanted to be like everyone else." He may possibly blame his parents for that, as well (in addition to his ancestors, whom he says "screwed over their kids, their grandkids, and everyone," forever).

Idia says that he got a lot of video games, board games and more from his parents every year for his birthday so he could play in the comfort of his room, which made him super happy, so it seems his parents were supportive of his interests!

But he also talks about bringing an old jammer that he made as a child with him to NRC because if he hadn’t someone would have thrown it away, says he once got in trouble for taking apart a game console and again for turning a vacuum cleaner into a drone with a technomantic beam cannon.

As the majority of the issues we have heard about thus far have all been from Idia himself, and he does not seem to be an unbiased source of information, it will be interesting to see if maybe there is actually another side to these stories! 👀 Would love to revisit this topic in the future!

[stvlti]

"The Penguin (HBO TV series) is deeply misogynistic"

Note: I am writing this review after the 1×08 finale, so beware of spoilers

There was a clickbaity headline floating around earlier about John Turturro, the original actor for Carmine Falcone in The Batman (2022), not wanting to reprise his role in The Penguin (2024) because of the excessive violence against women in the show. But fans who watched the show pointed out that it isn't particularly misogynistic in its portrayal of violence: there's no gore, and the gang violence we see is pretty much equal opportunity genre-typical violence committed against male and female characters alike. What I feel like is misogynistic though is its ending.

Sure, the recurring female characters of the show were well crafted and three dimensional: Sofia Falcone Gigante, in spite of the violence she is shown to have suffered in the psychiatric care / prison system, is a force to be reckoned with for most of the series; Eve Karlo is not simply Oz's regular sexual companion who capitulates to his every whim but a partner in crime to a degree; the mother Francis Cobb, for better or for worse, sculpted Oz into the man he grew up to become with her lovebombing and manipulation.

The issue is that this is a series that follows a villain's rise to power. And while we always knew that Oz was never gonna have a redemption arc, that he was just going to get worse - or rather, the show was going to reveal to viewers more and more of just how deep and limitless his cruelty and cunning goes - the show had us sympathise with all 3 of these female characters only to ultimately sacrifice their autonomy and freedom to bring the storyline to a close with the Penguin on top. Because there's Oz winning and the women around him being taken out of the picture, and then there's Oz winning and the women being chained back down to positions of entrapment that they'd been in for most of their lives after they've tasted freedom. Sofia physically and geographically ends up right back where she is before this saga - incarcerated and institutionalised - but she's already getting the fairer end of the deal. At least she's attained a certain degree of enlightenment after her journey through the criminal underworld and her soul-searching with regards to her place in society and the path she wanted to take.

But Francis? We finally learn in the last 2 episodes that she's a tragic character all along, who was dealt a lose-lose situation with how to raise Oswald after that defining traumatic incident in their family, and she has had to live with the consequences of her choice for decades, secretly hating both herself and her son unbeknownst to Oswald. And just when she finally finds her release in having that confrontation where she lays all her cards on the table with Oz, she is incapacitated by her medical situation and, worse, kept close by Oz's side until the day she dies. She finds no closure, she finds no peace. She has no mouth but she must scream. Francis's ending is straight horror.

And Eve is stuck roleplaying the relationship with his mother that Oz has constructed in his head, knowing that the mother herself is trapped in the other room. This is sickening enough as it is, but this is also after she learns that the man she has found allyship with was the reason her deceased friends and found family never got justice for their brutal murders all along. After she finds solidarity with Sofia, another woman who lost her family to Oz, the show puts Eve right back in Oz's arms because oh, that's right, her material conditions as a sex worker means that she never really had a fair chance to make her choice in a place like Gotham.

But the thing is, out of all 3 women, Eve was the one that could've easily skipped town and escaped Oz's influence in the end. There was no reason for the narrative to bring her back to Oz's side other than to end on a twisted note of irony. This is why The Penguin (2024) is misogynistic. Not because of some imagined amount of physical violence against women portrayed on screen, but because the narrative ultimately punishes its female characters in order to illustrate Oz's villainy - something that we as viewers already understood from all his morally reprehensible actions throughout the series. Even in the finale, we're sufficiently reminded of his villainy in his actions towards Victor Aguilar. There was no need to tack on the last 5 mins and show us the unhappy endings that Francis and Eve are given.

(Another tangential thought I had as well is that those last 5-10 minutes of the finale create a very noticeable tonal shift from your regular tragic crime noir drama to an outright horror ending, which isn't necessarily contradictory to the genre, but it is very sudden and jarring.)

I understand that the showrunner for The Penguin is a woman, Lauren LeFranc. She likely knows exactly how horrifying that ending is to the female, femme, and/or queer contingent of the audience. So the question remains: why?

Edit: I've had multiple people argue with me and say they disagree with my review - in that they don't think the show is misogynistic. Guys, I put the post's opening statement in quotation marks for a reason. I'm not saying that the show is "deeply" misogynistic. I'm quoting the assertion that it's misogynistic and arguing around it. Do I personally think the show is deeply misogynistic? Hell no! I literally listed out the ways the show gave us well rounded and three dimensional female characters. In case you need that spelled out for you: I do NOT think the show is misogynistic/anti-feminist in its entirety. I'm just saying that there's something misogynistic about its ending. Happy to be proven wrong with examples and explanations.

[arabian-bloodstream]

The Object of Your Ire, Take 2

OK, so I've been reading posts on HOTD this season but been quiet, but after this last episode, I had to come out of hiding, because, yeah, I just can't. I called this after season 1, and I think I'm pretty sure where we're headed now. I genuinely do not believe that Daemon is being written out of character, or that this is coming out of nowhere, or that this makes no sense, or that Daemyra are being destroyed. Truly, just be patient. I think we're gonna be good.

I wrote this on October 21, 2022: The Object of Your Ire

And, yeah, I was almost 99% right there, so I've got a pretty good read on the thought process they got going. So, here's my take.

First, let's assess the situation.

Viserys dies. The throne is usurped. Daemon wants to go to war. He has no problem crowning her because they are both fire and blood. However, like Viserys, Rhaenyra cautions temperance. Because of this, Daemon fears she is weak like his brother. Luke is killed and Rhaenyra is enraged, and Daemon thinks now she will be on the same page as him. They will go to war and wipe out the traitors. They will indeed burn together. Instead, due to the Jaehaerys "mistake," Rhaenyra is once more urging caution, and Daemon's not here for that. Rhaenyra finally calls him out on the fact that Viserys didn't trust him, and now she knows that she can't either, not in this very volatile climate.

Daemon is proud and stubborn, and just as he didn't believe that Viserys didn't trust him but it was rather a case of jealousy and his own ego at play cannot see that it truly was the fact that his own intemperate actions pushed Viserys, and now Rhaenyra to this point. So he storms off. Now, in Harrenhal, these visions he is having are bringing home his guilt, parallels to moments in his life with Rhaenyra that pertain to her as heir and him not.

1) The camera work when he "killed" young!Rhaenyra was identical to when Viserys had him on the floor in S1EP4 and Viserys told him he didn't want Rhaenyra he wanted the crown 2) Rhaenyra on the Iron Throne as he walked towards her paralleled when we first saw him and Rhaenyra in the first episode but it was Daemon on the throne 3) Young!Rhaenyra was wearing the same dress that Rhaenyra was wearing when she mentioned Aegon's prophecy to her, the same when he choked her

(Also, someone pointed out that in the actual scene in the 1st episode, Daemon and Rhaenyra spoke Valyrian to each other. In this haunting vision, only young!Rhaenyra is doing so. Daemon is speaking the Common Tongue. He does not want to engage in their "secret language" in this version of young!Rhaenyra because she is not the real Rhaenyra and he knows that.)

So, why? Why is he having these visions? And why did he have the vision of having sex with his mother? Because Daemon has deep-seated issues of guilt and ego, and mommy and daddy-issues. Because Daemon feels like he should have been the one on the throne. That HE was better than Viserys. That HE would have been a better king than Viserys. That he would have been the favored son. But remember… these aren't JUST Daemon's visions, he's also almost assuredly being slipped something from Alys Rivers to hallucinate things. So, there is that. Basically, we're having a deep character dive into Daemon to deal with his guilt over some of the fucked-up things he's done, his issues that are even too much for him, and Alys's woowooaaahh! is pushing that along its way.

Oh, and BTW, that woman in Daemon's hallucination wasn't ACTUALLY Alyssa Targaryen. So, people saying, oh noes, they've ruined Alyssa Targaryen, no, no, they have not. We haven't met the real Alyssa Targaryen. That was some fucked-up concoction of Daemon's deranged psyche, not the real woman. Not by a long shot. Daemon desperately misses his wife, but he messed that up, and can't admit that he messed up. He's not there yet. He can't admit that. He also can't admit that he would make a lousy king. Last we heard him say, he's still saying that he should be king, and Rhaenyra his queen, by his side. Ah, ah, ah, ah, but I think the reason for this arc is to deal with that once and for all….

And there's good news on that front.

I know I'm kinda all over the place here, and I apologize, but there's a crap-ton to unravel. Look, Daemon is a fucking mess. But the first two episodes set this up perfectly to get us where we are and lead us, I believe, to where I think we're going. I could be wrong, absolutely, but I really did nail the whole Daemon/Viserys/Rhaenyra lack of trust/heir messed up in the head thing. I really did. So, I'm kinda trusting my gut here.

So, first couple of episodes, Daemon is itching to do things his way. He can't as he's waiting for the queen's go-ahead, but she's off looking for proof of Luke's death. She finally comes back and gives him that go-ahead. YAY! He thinks, but then he makes a "mistake," and she tears into him, telling him some very hard truths that he is just not willing to hear. So he storms off on his dragon. That's our set-up.

Then the next three episodes have been at first, he's working on getting the army for her, but then it starts to become about well, she's not doing this how I would, and I would be better so I should be the king and she can be my queen, so it should be my army, yeah, yeah, that's the ticket. Except it hasn't been as black and white as that because:

He's having all of these visions that are wrecking him, reminding him of how he was not the chosen heir at one point, it was Rhaenyra. (Natch, just like in the real world, Aegon/Alicent were getting that same dose of reality.)

He's stomping all over the Riverlands trying to force people to do his bidding as he would if he were king. First he tells the young Tully heir to kill his grandfather (nope, won't do, the kid loves his grandsire), then he threatens to kill the Brackens (or Blackwoods, I forget which, LOL) with dragonfire (nope, they'd rather die), then he's all do war crimes, but not in my name (they do the war crimes, under the Targ flag). In other words, Daemon does everything wrong. He kinda shows that Viserys was right.

We have that lovely final shot of him, head bent as he leans against the fireplace that flows directly into from the opposite side --> Rhaenyra leaning against the fireplace, head bent. SOULMATES!

Then she has her little talk with Lord Alfred, sending him to Harrenhal to find out what are Daemon's intentions. And there are three very interesting things of note in this scene. 1) That she knows Daemon well enough to know that he might be considering raising a host in his name. Yeah, it's awful of Daemon to even be considering that, but the fact that Rhaenyra knows him THAT WELL, yeah, you go, Rhae-rhae!, 2) Lord Alfred immediately was all like: "His intentions? But, but, but… Prince Daemon would never!" Loved that. Because you know it did not come from a place of Daemon Targaryen is just known for being SUCH a loyal guy, but rather because they know he loves his wife. Uh huh! And 3) Rhaenyra's message: That she wants to finish their conversation. Love, love, love that. Girl is like, babe, we gonna hash this out!

Furthermore, we also had Jace (sweet, beautiful, perfect Jace, Iluvusomuch!) having Daemon's back when talking to the Freys, but straight up just expecting Daemon to be there for Rhaenyra because that's just what's been up for so long, and then he cut himself off because of their, erm, "marital spat, but still, yeah, he just, that's his expectation about Daemon when it comes to Rhaenyra, and that just made my heart go SQUEE!

On another Jace note with regards to Daemon and the Riverlands, so ya got Daemon there failing spectacularly in his attempt to gain a host, while Jace--using tactics learned from his mother's school of politicking--got a big swath of Riverlands mileage they can use. So, Daemon's whole 'your way sucks, my way is better' isn't quite working which brings me back to eps 1-2 set-up, and what eps 3-5 have been doing for us.

Rhaenyra asked Daemon "Do you accept me as your queen and ruler?" We didn't get an answer. I believe--and I totes, totes could be wrong, but I believe that we are heading toward the moment when Daemon can answer Rhaenyra because he has exorcised enough of his demons that he can finally say yes. He can say yes because he realizes that his way isn't the way. That Viserys didn't trust him because of Daemon's actions, not because of jealousy on his brother's part. And that Rhaenyra following suit wasn't her lack of faith, but Daemon's lack of control. And that is his arc, gaining that realization, and that control, restoring her faith in him.

I think.

[symphonic-scream]

I have more of the Okujima Fake Dating thing

(summary; Makoto and Haru are uni roommates (and friends w/ benefits but that's not something they address) and to avoid her relatives finding her a partner, Haru lies and tells them she's gay (not a lie) and has a girlfriend she's serious with (mega lie))

Like. Makoto takes this job so seriously

She asks Haru for the guest list and photos so she can remember who is who and she studies, and by the time they arrive she's figured out which relatives to bow to, or shake hands, or offer a fist bump

Haru: you didn't have to do all that,

Makoto: any partner of yours should put in this much effort. Otherwise, they're not worthy of calling you theirs

The room booked for them has one bed, a real nice shower, and a jet tub. They go to bath houses together with their friends, so it's not as awkward as either assumed when they spend a night soaking in the tub together, jets turned on the lowest setting. It's even less awkward when they share the bed, since, well, they've done worse. And besides, Haru has learned over the last two years that she's hella touch starved and has abandonment issues, and Makoto? A very cuddly sleeper. It's, almost like they were designed to work well together (ehe)

Haru's relatives also adore Makoto. Both as a person, and for Haru. They all met Haru after her dad died, before she went off and made friends in uni. They met sad high school Haru. And she's so different from the lady in front of them, not hiding the little snort in her laughter as one of her cousins close to her age teaches Makoto a goofy dance, and she makes it look sillier with how stiff and awkward she is

Haru's cousins from her aunt are three boys. One is married with two kids, one is getting married, and one is her age. The middle and youngest get along with her best, the youngest being a musician, the middle a dancer, and the oldest a gym teacher, former athlete

She's got twin cousins from Uncle 1, her mom's twin. Both just younger than her. A boy, who's going to be an aerospace engineer, and a girl, who wants to be a lawyer. Overly smart little seniors

And uncle two? Two daughters. One older, one younger. The older one is married and about to have a son, and the younger one just started a business ethics degree

There are two more aunts. One, married no kids, the other? Single as hell

Haru's grandparents are there too, and they love Makoto so much. They missed out on so much of Haru's life cause they lost contact with their daughter after she married Kunikazu, and, they're just happy to see she found someone that's as respectful and loving as Makoto

Makoto: do you think your family would mind if I wore a suit?

Haru: nope. My aunt is gay, after all. Her wife will be wearing one too

Makoto: seriously? That's so cool!

Haru: mm! They're the mothers of the groom, so you'll see plenty of them this trip

Makoto: amazing,

Oldest cousin: hey, Haru? Can you watch these two for a moment? I have to go talk to my Mama

Haru: oh- Uhm, okay?

Makoto: here, hand me the little one. Hey, bud

Haru: *gay staring*

By the wedding itself they're fully together. Acting the exact same, but they acknowledge why they stare at each other so tenderly

They'd call the others, their friends from uni, from time to time

The opening of it would be Haru having to admit she fucked up to her bestie Ryuji, and Ann

All head in arms, asking either of them to help her out and Ryuji says he would but he's not exactly a gal, and Ann is spending the summer with her fiancee in Europe, checking out venues for a wedding

Ryuji: why don't you ask Makoto? She's single, and your roommate. It'd be way less awkward than asking anyone else

Haru, not willing to admit the "Friends with Benefits" thing: ...do I really have no other option??

Ann: there's Futaba-

Haru: ugh. I'll ask Mako-chan,

Makoto keeps panic calling Joker or Yusuke after things on the trip like: DOES THIS MEAN SHE LIKES ME??? DO I LIKE HARU?? SEND AN AMBULANCE SHE KISSED ME AND IT FELT REAL I THINK IM DYING

At one point Goro picks up and just growls at her to "woman up, go the hell to sleep, or die. Whichever I don't care stop calling my boyfriend at 2 am"

No weird jealousy plot either just. Them realizing on their own

Like. The way Haru asks, too

She comes home, finds Makoto cooking and humming, a box from the campus bakery on the table, and Haru knows her roommate picked up her favourites, probably just because she *noticed* how off she's been, and. She knows Ryuji is right. Makoto is the best choice to help her with this fuck up,

She walks up behind her, wraps her arms around her hips, grunts in a way that's nearly a whine, plants her head between those strong shoulder blades

"Hey, welcome home, Haru. How was your day? You had your advanced statistics class today, right?"

"Mm. Mako-chan, I, have to ask for your help."

"What's up? Oh, is it that time? I can get the hot water bottle, run out to get more pain meds for you-"

"I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend."

...

...

"Huh? Haru, what-"

"My cousin is getting married. And, I may have lied to my grandparents, about dating someone, so they wouldn't try to set me up with someone. And, they want to meet her. The tickets and hotel are paid for already, just, I don't want to have to tell them I lied,,"

"Well, I wasn't planning to go anywhere but visit my sister, so I'm free for it."

"What."

"Yeah, tell me the details after dinner? The ramen is nearly done."

Makoto is secretly having a mini panic attack inside

She texts Yusuke later like "I CANT SAY MUCH BUT GOD IM GAY"

And Yusuke just texts back a photo a counter on his wall that reads "Makoto says she's gay; 1026"

The wedding is in Okinawa, where the bride is from, so they have to bring bathing suits for the beach, and, Haru does ask Makoto to help her pick which one to bring

Makoto sits there, face red, hands digging into her knees as Haru makes comments about one of them maybe making her look more chubby, maybe she should stick to a one piece-

Makoto: you're gorgeous. Every part of you. If you like how it looks on you, screw what anyone says

Haru: ...but. do you like it?

(Reminder. They are "Just Friends")

Makoto coughs a bit, looks away: y-yeah. I like it,

Haru: ...LETS PRACTICE KISSING

Makoto: R-RIGHT

Makoto *was* wearing her bathing suit top and swim shorts. Haru did get a chance to admire her muscular thighs in the shorts. She's a sucker for how muscular her roommate is

Just. When they get home and have to tell all their friends they're dating now and

Morgana, Joker's little brother, age 16: YOU WERENT TOGETHER???

Just. Man. How they were just naturally domestic from the start, and how naturally being affectionate comes to both of them, but differently than with their other friends, and

Makoto: hey, since we're "dating", does that mean I have to tell you I've slept with Ann?

Haru: you WHAT

Makoto: it was over a year ago! And Shiho knew and agreed to it!

Haru: you SLEPT WITH ANN TOO?!

Makoto: TOO?!

and they both laugh, cause they've known this, it's a bit they do, and Haru nestles back under Makoto's chin, and they go back to snuggling. They're in Makoto's bed in their apartment. It's later the night Haru asked, and, okay yeah they maybe did *it* again, but. Things feel weirdly right between them as they lie there together, softly talking out the details of the plan

Like. There's a reason so many people already thought they were dating, and why it sells so perfectly to Haru's family

I'm attached to this already dear lord