#trant in several universes

[serxi]

[sullustangin]

How did Marcus Trant find out who Theron's parents were in your universe? I have ideas that range from the quick and easy to hilarity but was curious about yours.

Oh, good question! Thanks for asking!

This is just my interpretation, but I think Trant figured out Theron's full parentage by the Epilogue of the novel Annihilation. Remember that Marcus Trant is head of SIS, and as I like to say in my fic, it's not just because he's cute and does the paperwork.

Basically, Theron skipped the final debriefing to go talk to Teff'ith, and Trant was just there like "ah. ha. ha. Said he couldn't make it." Jace read this as uncomfortable, but maybe not for the obvious reason of shirking a meeting with the Supreme Commander and the Grand Master of the Jedi Order.

Theron conveyed to Trant that he was not attending. As Jace himself observed, Theron could have been there if Trant had ordered him to. Trant did not order him to. I think that was a deliberate choice, because both Trant and Theron want to avoid an awkward family reunion.

As to how Trant individually found out about Satele and Jace, it got long so it's under the cut:

As Trant pointed out to Jace, when asked about Theron, that Shan is a commonish name on Coruscant; in a world of trillions, there are millions of Shans. However, when Jace pressed him, Marcus Trant explicitly said he knew that Satele is Theron's mom. That's on page 85 of Annihilation. "Only a handful of people know. Obviously, this is something we want to keep under wraps." At that time, Trant didn't know Jace is the father...but Jace's interest probably sparked something here.

But how did he know about Satele? My headcanon runs with the idea that when Master Ngani Zho abandoned Theron, there was a big, urgent flurry to get the boy somewhere with someone. He's 13, going on 14. He couldn't stay at a Jedi temple, and he didn't have any relatives listed. If Zho was gone they were supposed to contact Satele...and she was out of contact trying to find Tython. When Theron did end up at Coronet City Military Academy (my headcanon again), he gave the name Theron Shan as an act of defiance, not fully aware that Shan is a common name. He previously went by Theron Zho because that was the name of his father. From the Academy, Theron was recruited by alumnus Marcus Trant to SIS.

Trant figured out Satele as Theron's biological mother, and based on what he says to Jace in Annihilation, he's not the only one that knows; Satele had shown enough interest in Theron's well-being over the years, but never to actually talk to him directly. That's implied in several areas of canon. I interpret that as her not wanting to give Theron mixed signals. She didn't want to meet him or else he might get the impression that she'd take him home with her one day -- which couldn't happen. People around her and around the boy can see that, but the worlds never touch. They know, but they don't share it with other people.

As to how Trant figured out that Jace was the father, Jace's interest in Theron and Theron's relationship with Satele probably tripped Trant's radar. Also, Jace and Satele had been friends since the two of them escaped Korriban together; surely there was some sort of "huh, what about them?" over the course of the last 40 years, Jedi or not. Trant was married to Garza, who eventually headed up SpecForce, and Jace was once Havoc Squad Commander before his current gig; Trant and Jace probably knew each other, even just socially, prior to Theron joining SIS. With all of this swirling, just as Jace looked over his files and did some math about his time on Alderaan.... so did Trant. Given that both Satele and Jace were unusually concerned about this one SIS agent, and given that Trant already knew Satele was Theron's mom, Trant put the rest of the pieces together.

Also, this doesn't eliminate the simplest option of all: Theron told Trant. Trant already knew half the story with Satele. Why not the other? Theron knew that Trant would figure it out eventually. So let's save some steps and get it over with.

By the time the final debriefing in Annihilation rolled around, Trant had seen Theron's reaction to Zho resurfacing a few years before; Trant was well-aware that Theron had emotional issues and called him out on it a few times in the comic Lost Suns and in the novel. That said, Theron might be an internal mess but he was Trant's best agent; Trant did not want to hurt his own best asset. Having mom and dad and son in one room? Trant took this one for the SIS team; this needed to be done personally and privately, not at an official debrief. So he let Theron off the hook.

Later, in my headcanon, I can see Jace telling Trant and then Trant wearily telling him, "I know. Next problem?"

Thanks again for asking!

[tocitynews]

Four People Were Charged In Connection To An 18-year-old University Of South Florida Student's Fentanyl-Related Death, Unaware That It Was Fentanyl –Tampa Florida reporting

In a news conference Thursday, U.S Attorney Roger Handberg announced charges of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in death and additional counts of distributing fentanyl (over 40 grams) for ▶︎  Darius Gustafson, 20, Marquise Trant, 35, David Chudhabuddhi, 37, and Miguel Cintron, 36. ◀︎

The suspects are alleged to be part of a "sophisticated" drug ring, with Cintron working as their leader.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, law enforcement recovered firearms, several rounds of ammunition, more than seven kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of black tar heroin, one kilogram of heroin, 1,200 of pressed pills containing fentanyl and over $200k in cash during the search.

Law enforcement began their investigation after the student was found dead in his dorm room in February. It was determined he died of an accidental fentanyl overdose.

Investigators allege the 18-year-old student believed he was buying Percocet pills from Gustafson, but they actually contained fentanyl. There were no other lethal drugs in the student’s system.

[fatehbaz]

Imagine traveling back hundreds of years and finding your way up a salmon-spawning river in British Columbia to a small village. You walk into the trees and find yourself in a patch of forest dramatically different from the conifer growth around it. Small fruit and nut trees form the canopy, and there are clusters of berry bushes and cleared paths. The forest floor hosts tended herbs used for food and medicine. One child carefully peels moss from the bark of a pruned crab apple tree; another clears the ground next to a salmonberry bush.

Welcome to a temperate forest garden.

A new study shows that once-managed gardens like this are still distinct from -- and more biodiverse than -- the surrounding forest, even 150 years after Indigenous people were displaced by colonial settlers and the gardens abandoned. More diverse ecosystems are generally thought to be more resilient to environmental change and resistant to the incursion of alien species.

Chelsey Armstrong, a paleoecologist and paleobotanist at Simon Fraser University (SFU) in British Columbia, studied four sites: Dałk Gyilakyaw and Kitselas Canyon, both in Ts’msyen traditional territory in northwestern British Columbia, as well as Shxwpópélem and Say-mah-mit, both of the Coast Salish people of southwestern British Columbia. Each site hosted several villages that were occupied for thousands of years, up until the late 1800s. [...]

The garden plants they studied also had seeds that were about twice as large on average -- a trait typically associated with plants that bear larger fruits, which hints that people were purposely selecting for higher production.

The gardens contained 10 culturally significant species not normally found together, two of which fall completely outside their natural geographic range and were likely transplanted.

“Crab apple is a coastal species that likes its feet wet in the intertidal, and we’re finding it far inland in these sites, so people were moving them, in some cases, big distances,” says Armstrong.

“Hazelnut is doing the opposite, coming from the east and being moved toward the coast,” she adds. “We know that hazelnut doesn’t grow anywhere else in the area except for these village sites.”

Both species have enormous cultural importance to the Ts’msyen and Coast Salish people. Hazelnut packs a lot of calories into an easily picked nut that can be stored for up to five years. Crab apples, known locally as moolks, feature in origin stories of the areas, and were a high-status food stored over the winter months to supplement a fish-heavy diet.

“It’s amazing to think that the decisions that were made 150 years ago around stewardship and management persist today,” says Andrew Trant, an ecologist at the University of Waterloo in Ontario who was not involved with this study. The work shows that “what we do today has the potential to be persistent six generations from today.”

Armstrong says the work highlights how biodiversity and food provision can both be enriched at the same time, in contrast to colonial farming practices in which ecosystems are often stripped down to monocultures in an attempt to boost food production. “There’s a growing body of evidence from everywhere from the Amazon to the Pacific Northwest that in these sites that were continuously occupied for thousands and thousands of years, the effect is actually one of higher diversity,” Trant says.

The study details tie in with Indigenous knowledge, says Armstrong, who has been working with Indigenous partners and colleagues from the four First Nations on whose traditional territory the village sites are located: the Kitsumkalum, Kitselas, Sts’ailes, and Tsleil-Waututh. [...]

Oral histories also suggest that the job of tending forest gardens fell largely to children. Elder Betty Lou Dundas of Hartley Bay remembers pruning crab apple trees and clearing the ground around their bases to raise the trees’ productivity.

Willie Charlie, former chief of Sts’ailes, a Coast Salish First Nation, says no knowledge is ever truly lost from his community -- even after the assaults of colonialism and the residential school system.

“My grandfather said all of our teaching are still there on the land, so if somebody has a good mind and a good heart and the right intention, they can go out there and those messages are going to come to them,” says Charlie.

-------

Headline, images, captions, and text published by: Jessa Gamble. “Ancient Gardens Persist in British Columbia’s Forests.” Hakai Magazine. 9 June 2021.

[junawer]

When the Paledriver says to Harry: “Maybe you’ve been down the *Motorway South*?”, a point one cannot come back from, where instead of writing, it erases memory. When the thought itself says “to reach the end of the Motorway South is to be *unborn*“ and when Tiago calls his own desired destination “the state of the world before reality began”. 

When Steban says: “Many infra-materialists believe that pale is actually a manifestation of nostalgia and historical inertia... Those same theorists have hypothesied that revolution may in fact create a *counter-force* that prevents the pale from expanding.” When the Deserter claims that it only took a second to have a lapse of faith, “for reaction to take hold”, a “petty-bourgeois terror” that is in all men. When infra-materialists posit that political thought is capable of influencing and manifesting material reality and when it’s implied the revolutionaries were up against the pale anomaly as the cause of their failure.

When Harry discovers the 2 mm hole in the world, the pale origin point, the “black grain, hanging in the air”, possibly only one of several in Revachol. When the Phasmid explains that the pale is “a nervous shadow cast into the world by you, eating away at reality”, having begun with the arrival of the human mind. When it says that humans have the ability to “wipe us all out”, akin to the oxygen holocaust, and when Harry exhales thoughts instead of air in return - there not being trees that eat thoughts, but pale that does. When the Phasmid implies that all of reality has become more and more bound to human consciousness: “Everything your eyes touch goes back there -- behind the nerve mirror. What if you blink? Are we still here? What if you misplace us all one day -- or just forget?” And when Noid says “Consciousness is new to the universe. We all have our ways to ease the shock.”

When Trant says about Harry’s amnesia: “So at first he dipped his toes into it. Prepared. That's where he would have gotten the idea -- yes. Practice. And then he used alcohol to 'get there', so to speak...” and theorizes “What if this is an absolutely normal reaction to the world we're living in? What if this is *not* a significant anomaly at all, something to be explained, approached as a defect? Look at the sensory input here… Look at the ruins, the neon, listen to the radio, the multitudes. The people. Live here for forty years... As a police detective, he's like a magnetic reader on the world-tape -- to borrow a known metaphor. Harry's been pushed *flat against it*. Total input.”

The pale is a transition state from reality/matter/existence into nothingness. The travel through pale to arrive at other isolas has its risks: depending on pale exposure people often lose and/or gain memories and personality traits, they can change and even become unrecognizable to those that know them (e.g. the Paledriver recounting her own experience and the entroponetic crosstalk in Walder in the moralist quest about a returned husband appearing like a stranger to his wife).

It’s repeatedly said that Harry wants/wanted “warm primordial blackness”, “that sweet oblivion”. Harry “travelled” towards that nothingness with the help of alcohol. He also had previous instances of blackouts, as Judith recounts, though none as bad as the one the story starts with. Whether he wanted to blackout or actually die with his extreme bender, what he achieved was retrograde amnesia, or “acute encephalopathy” as Joyce Messier puts it. Harry came out alive but amnesiac and changed. He reached the point of memory-erasure, something that exists within the pale as well, at the end of the Motorway South.

Pre-Martinaise Harry already had thoughts and theories about the pale, like its inception as a 2 mm hole in reality erupting and metastasizing inside the world, and of the Motorway South: “You've had this thought before while aimlessly wandering the streets of Jamrock. A lost piece of the man you were. A dark hope.” It was a goal of his to reach this point and then he ironically fails to remember it. Perhaps he did reach that point of “unbirth” and was reborn, never to regain parts of or be the old Harry again.

The story is riddled with people having “fried” minds, over-radiated, over-exposed, amnesiac, influenced by neurodegeneratives etc.: Harry, Joyce, the Paledriver, Tiago, Roy, the Deserter - though Harry seems to be an outlier with his cause being ambiguous, a choice or combination between alcohol, heartbreak, the pale anomaly, or poverty/capitalism. Failing consciousness, in one way or another. The symptoms often seem alike to trauma, brain fog, cognitive disabilities, delirium, dissociation, dementia etc. Elysium itself with its division into reality, pale, and nothingness deals with various states of the mind, like consciousness, subconsciousness, and unconsciousness.

Harry is an addict, not just to substances like alcohol and drugs, but also to his suicidal ideations and wish for nonexistence. The pale, being associated with the past, memories, sub-/unconsciousness, is also a drug. The Paledriver and Joyce, both frequently traveling through it, are said to be addicted and always desiring to return to it. I do also wonder whether Harry might also be addicted to that memory-erasing oblivion that he chased and finally managed to achieve, just like frequent pale-travelers are to whatever state of mind (oblivion, delirium, nostalgia etc.) the pale is giving them.

As origin points of the pale erupt within the world, so did Harry’s memory-erasing moment of nothingness. The pale is death for the universe and humans too are capable of annihilating the entire world, like the Phasmid prophesied. And the pale is human-made after all. Of course it is. And of course it emerges within reality, if Harry can, with alcohol, reach something akin to the Motorway South within his mind inside the world/outside the pale, something that can be sought out both in the pale and found within oneself. That “black grain, hanging in the air”, the pale origin point, may as well exist in every human mind.

[thisweekingundamwing]

This Week in Gundam Wing (Aug 29 - Sept 11, 2021)

That’s right folks!  Because of the long weekend last weekend, you all get a two-for-one this round-up!  Lots of excellent stuff from the fandom the last two weeks, so take a look and show your fellow fans some love!

--Mod LAM

Fanfiction

Dirty Computer (CH 11/?) by @doctormegalomania​ 

Pairings: Heero x Duo, Wufei x OFC

Characters: 5 pilots

Rating: MATURE

Tags / Warnings: minor violence, espionage, unreliable narrator, post-war, reference to past injury, implied/referenced self-harm

Summary:  Years after the war, nothing is what anyone hoped for. Peace reigns supreme.

Man Lion Thing Dude (CH 14-16/?) by @anaranesindanarie​

Pairings: Trowa x Duo, Triton Bloom x Duo

Characters: full cast, original Trowa Barton, OCs

Rating: EXPLICIT

Tags / Warnings: graphic depictions of violence, whump, blood, alternate universe, supernatural, were-creatures, family problems, arranged marriage, mentions of torture, smut, magic

Summary:  Duo Maxwell is estranged from the last of his remaining family who are demanding that he return home for an important announcement. Meanwhile, Duo has been having strange encounters with 'wild' animals, all of whom seem to be hunting him.

The Life of the Immortal Jellyfish (CH 15-16/35) by @lemontrash​

Pairings: Duo x Wufei

Characters: 5 pilots + Relena, Hilde, Noin, Une

Rating: MATURE

Tags / Warnings: post-canon, post-Endless Waltz, UST, roommates, Preventers, slow burn, insomnia, friendship

Summary: Is it chance that lands Duo and Wufei in the same university dorm room? They’re not stupid enough to believe that but too tired to fight it. Duo’s dragged himself back from the brink of going too far and remains teetering on the edge while Wufei’s doggedly trying to prove himself to the ‘good guys’ in the aftermath of the Eve Wars. Sleep and normalcy eludes them both. As they become increasingly aware how damaged they are, they start to edge towards friendship, or something more, but all too soon the peace seems jeopardised by a new and manipulative threat.

Prompt Fic by @gemstonecircles​ for @bryony-rebb​ 

Pairings: Wufei x Sally

Characters: Wufei and Sally

Rating: PG

Tags / Warnings: flashbacks, future fic, tropical diseases, best partners evar

Summary:  “I’d come for you”, he said. “No matter what, when you need me, I will be there.”

Prompt Fic by @gemstonecircles​ for @boxofhatebrains​

Pairings: Duo x Quatre

Characters: Duo and Quatre

Rating: PG

Tags / Warnings:  music, friendships, concerts, foul language, complicated relationships with faith, cherry-picking manga

Summary: “You free Saturday night?”

Prompt Fic by @gemstonecircles​ for @heartensoul​

Pairings: Duo x Relena, Heero x Trowa

Characters: Heero, Duo, Trowa, Relena

Rating: MATURE

Tags / Warnings: REO Speedwagon, future fic, receptions, reunions, getting together, smoking, shotgun kisses, first kisses, cherry-picking manga, FT what FT, look at my life look at my choices

Summary:  The reception, at least, was a welcome reprieve from most of the events that she’d been forced to attend in the last half-dozen years.

Prompt Fic by @gemstonecircles​ for @noirangetrois​

Pairings: Duo x Relena

Characters: Duo and Relena

Rating: Teen and Up

Tags / Warnings: stargazing, criminal trespass, future fic, FT what FT, discussion of panic attacks and mentioned ptsd

Summary:  “Well, guess we’re here until the solar storm clears,” Relena sighed...

Prompt Fic by @gemstonecircles for @seitou

Pairings: Heero x Trowa

Characters: Heero, Trowa, Relena

Rating: MATURE

Tags / Warnings:  1+R friendship, dates, home cooking, future fic, beers, fade-to-black sex, sweet dumb men in love, everyone ships it

Summary:  “I have good MREs that I was saving for a special occasion.”

Katahimikan by @ktsskb / katopiyoon AO3

Pairings: Duo x Quatre

Characters: Duo and Quatre

Rating: General

Tags / Warnings: post-Blind Target, Pre-Endless Waltz, non-confessions, pre-relationship

Summary:  “I’m just taking a little rest,” Quatre smiles. He lets himself get slightly more comfortable, loosening his posture.

Orgel by @ktsskb / katopiyoon AO3

Pairings: Duo x Quatre

Characters: Duo and Quatre

Rating: General

Tags / Warnings:  alternate universe, fantasy elements, established relationship, injured character

Summary:  Duo comes home late with a gift.

Fanart

Doodle Prompts (1x3x5) by @seitou

Heero x Relena (elf AU) by @lokineko 

OZ Military Ball (13x11) by @keiko1183

Zechs and Duo Hairbraiding by @keiko1183

Several by @gundayum

Wedding Bells (3x4)

Snuggles (1x2) 

Trowa’s a Pathetic Clown

Duo as the Little Mermaid 

King of the Hill (Heero, Relena and Bobby/Mariemaia, and Trowa)

Kinbaku WIP (3x5) by @2pcbart

Relena as John Cena by @farshootingstar

Quatre learning to knit by @farshootingstar

On the Wing by @theboringbluecrayon

Snuggles (3x4) by @circusoftrash

GW Crack by @circusoftrash

Heero EW Redraw by @mei-jimenez-art

Relena FT Redraw by @mei-jimenez-art

GW Kiddo Doodles by @lemontrash

Jellyfish Fic Art (2x5) by @sparkchemy for @lemontrash

Summer (1xR) by @alphaikaros

Zechs and Relena by @alphaikaros

Belated MerMay Relena by @serenestorm

Sexy Trowas (Part I, Part II, Part III) by @serenestorm 

Summer Duo by @owlinpajamas

Relena and Heero by @darksharinganz

Other Fanwork

Gunpla and Cosplay

Duo Maxwell Cosplay (Part I and Part II) by @itsjesskage​

HGAC Wing Zero by @macks-mechas​

Headcanons and Discussion

The Accidental (?) Seduction of Trowa Barton (3x4) by @a-river-of-stars

GoL Thoughts with @kittykatz​

Dorothy and Treize, Cathy and Trowa

Treize and Zechs

Treize, Dorothy, Heero, and Epyon

Lieutenant Trant Clark

Other Fun Stuff

GW Sims 4 Portraits by @eslanes​

Power Stances, with Zechs and Treize by @the-reanimated-bhg​

Quick: look pensive with gloves by @the-reanimated-bhg​​

@incorrectgundamwingquotes​ still making us laugh (example)

Memes and Macros

This is my boyfriend’s boyfriend (Rx1x2 and Hx1x2) by @portrayalmuse​

Dad Jokes Zechs (Part I and Part II) by @bonmotfic

Heero’s Romance Novel by @the-reanimated-bhg​

Coffee Puns with Cathy by @the-reanimated-bhg​

Requesting Leave with HR by @the-reanimated-bhg​

Zechs, the master of pick-up lines by @the-reanimated-bhg​

Spaghetti Westerns by @the-reanimated-bhg

Calendar Events

@gwcocktailfriday​ is back with this week’s prompt!  Be sure to post your responses on Friday (September 17) between 3-5PM EST!

@gundamzine has opened up the mailing list, so be sure to register to get your FREE PDF on October 1!  In the mean time, be sure to follow the account so that you can learn about the stellar 2021 Zine Crew members. Also consider donating to the team’s chosen charity, World Literacy Foundation (donations are optional, but encouraged).  In the meantime, check out some of the previews, with more to follow.

September is National Prostate Awareness Month and @expewrites​ and @boxofhatebrains​ are hosting a GW Prostate Health Event at @prostatehealth-gundamwing​ beginning September 1.  More info is available on the Event AO3 Page but in brief, options are to (1) create something or (2) donate to your prostate health organization of choice.

Sign-ups are officially open for the 2021 Holiday Gift Exchange with @thisweekingundamevents​!  Sign-ups close September 30, and participants will get their assignments in October, followed by the creation period November-December and finally posting in early January 2022.

@/ficwip (Twitter) is hosting a “Rise of the Dead Fandoms” event. Contributor sign-ups end on September 30, so be sure to register soon! Creation period runs September-October; posting will be in November. More info at their FAQ.

The @weedgrandpacookbook is an homage to the fanon of Mike Howard as the Gundam Wing’s chillest Weed Grandpa. Check out the Zine Calendar and  FAQ for more info and be sure to complete the interest check before September 30.

Spooky prompt idea generation for the GW Hallows Event will kick off mid-September, and posting period will happen in October.  Stay tuned to @thisweekingundamevents!

Keep an eye on @gwoc-october​​ while you’re at it for news on the GW Original Character (OC) October Event.  You can expect a prompt calendar to go live in September with posting in October…but you can also just use the month to showcase works with your original GW characters!

[foolsgoldt]

                                   𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑬𝑻.

repost,  don’t reblog !

basics !

FULL NAME.   joffrey baratheon . PRONUNCIATION.   joff-ree baratheon . NICKNAME.   joff .    joffrey-called-baratheon ,  the young usurper ,  joffrey the illborn . GENDER.   cis-male . HEIGHT.   5′4″ - 5′8″  ( canon ) .    6′3″  ( grown ) .    the lannisters are known to be tall . AGE.   12 - 20+  ( verse dependent ) . ZODIAC.   scorpio . SPOKEN LANGUAGES.   common tongue  ( canon ) .    english .   also ,  french  /  german  [ all but forgotten ]  ( modern ) .

physical characteristics !

HAIR COLOR.   blond ,  curly .    very reminiscent of cersei’s hair  ;  typically worn long ,  extending past his shoulders  ( canon ) .    medium-length ,  usually falling around his jawline  ( modern ) . EYE COLOR.   lannister green .    darker than those of his family members . SKIN TONE.    fair ,  pale .    quick to blush when he becomes angered or otherwise flustered . BODY TYPE.  tall ,  slim . ACCENT.   received pronunciation  ( canon ) .   southern english  /  received pronunciation .   cockney when he’s being that guy  ( modern . ) VOICE.    jeering ,  whiny .    prone to straining when he becomes flustered . DOMINANT HAND.  right .    ambidextrous abilities following the direwolf attack . POSTURE.   slouched ,  disinterested .    only presents a straight  /  regal posture when the situation demands for it . SCARS.   severely scarred right forearm ,  due to a direwolf attack  ( canon )  /  dog attack  ( modern ) . TATTOOS.   none  ( canon ) .    veni ,  vidi ,  vici  tattoed on upper left arm .   small stag skull tattoed above his right knee  ( modern ) . BIRTHMARKS.   none . MOST NOTICEABLE FEATURE(S).   hair .   pouting lips .

childhood !

PLACE OF BIRTH.   king’s landing  ( canon ) .  HOMETOWN.    king’s landing  ( canon ) .  BIRTH WEIGHT.   average . BIRTH HEIGHT.    tall . MANNER OF BIRTH.   natural . FIRST WORDS.   dadda .   late talker . SIBLINGS.   myrcella baratheon  ( younger sister ) ,  tommen baratheon  ( younger brother ) .    several supposed half-siblings through robert baratheon  ( biologically unrelated ) . PARENTS.   cersei lannister  ( mother ) ,  robert baratheon  ( father ) .   jaime lannister  ( father ,  biological ) . PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.    cersei was extremely present throughout his entire childhood ,  and she went out of her way to make sure her children were always protected and provided for .    robert was very absent in joffrey’s life ,  and frequently met the boy’s endeavours to get his attention with wanton physical abuse .    joffrey also witnessed the unhealthy and cold relationship between his parents .    expect a longer post about this in the future .

adult life !

OCCUPATION.   joffrey is the reigning monarch of the seven kingdoms ,  as well as protector of the realm  ( canon ) .    joffrey is a university student pursuing vocal performance ; he inherited his father’s company upon his death ,  but it is his mother who tends to its functioning  ( modern ) . CURRENT RESIDENCE.   king’s landing  ( canon ) .   varies  ( modern ) . CLOSE FRIENDS.  none to speak of . RELATIONSHIP STATUS.   betrothed  /  married  ( canon ) .   single  /  committed  /  engaged  ( modern ) . FINANCIAL STATUS.  extremely wealthy ,  upperclass  ( canon  /  modern ) . DRIVER’S LICENSE.   yes  ( modern ) . CRIMINAL RECORD.   yes  ( modern ) .   juvenile record for arson and animal cruelty . VICES.   vicious anger .    cruelty .   deceit .    alcohol  ( modern  /  older verses ) .

sex and romance !

SEXUAL ORIENTATION.   heterosexual . ROMANTIC ORIENTATION.   aromantic. [ note : the following stats will apply only to those verses in which joffrey is of age ] PREFERRED EMOTIONAL ROLE.    submissive  |  dominant  |  switch   PREFERRED SEXUAL ROLE.    submissive  |  dominant  |  switch  |  sex repulsed LIBIDO.   low .    disinterested .    obtains pleasure through other vices  ( violence ) . TURN ON’S.    n/a . TURN OFF’S.    n/a . LOVE LANGUAGE.   in the rare instance that joffrey expresses loving behaviour  ( whether genuine or simply a ruse ) ,  it is often physical rather than emotional .    these physical gestures are often benign :  dancing ,  hair stroking / braiding ,  hand-holding . RELATIONSHIP TENDENCIES.    toxic .   although he is occasionally physically abusive  ( whether directly or by proxy ,  in the case of meryn trant ) ,  joffrey is most often emotionally abusive .   he can be sweet and doting when it suits him ;  however ,  at a drop of a hat he becomes volatile and manipulative .   joffrey either doesn’t care at all or he becomes obsessive .   there is no middle ground .

miscellaneous !

CHARACTER’S THEME SONG.   don’t mess with me –– temposhark  /  don’t get in my way –– zack hemsey . HOBBIES TO PASS TIME.   archery  /  crossbow + marksmanship .   hunting .   singing . MENTAL ILLNESSES.   conduct disorder  →  antisocial personality disorder  /  psychopathy  ( distempered ) .  PHYSICAL ILLNESSES.   none . LEFT OR RIGHT BRAINED.   right brained . FEARS.   betrayal .    although joffrey does absolutely nothing to earn or gain the loyalties of other ,  he is extremely mistrustful of those around him .   he fears that the world is against him ,  and this often leads to extreme reactions to ensure his own safety .   to joffrey ,  the best way to avoid betrayal is by exerting such extreme force and control over others that they have no opportunity to defy him .    /    in general ,  joffrey fears very little due to his antisocial personality disorder ;   because of this lack of fear / appreciation for potentially life-threatening consequences ,  he often engages in reckless behaviour .  SELF CONFIDENCE LEVEL.   oscillates very rapidly between extreme self-consciousness and overconfidence .   often overcompensates for his self-esteem issues . VULNERABILITIES.    easily angered and consequently brash  /  impulsive .    extremely mistrustful .

TAGGED BY:      @sqnsa   ( i owe you my life for this ) TAGGING:    @fifthbornforrester   @goldenngore   @igniscruor   @shewraht   @paetriarch   @wasntallbad   @rcsethcrn   @hiddensteel   @liondaughter   @marblecarved​   @lifeawoke​   +  whoever wants to !!!

[reactingtosomething]

Recasting Game of Thrones

The Setup: The three of you who read our Baby Driver reaction may remember that in response to our mixed (okay, mostly negative) feelings about Jon Hamm being romantically paired with a (good!) actress two decades his junior, we ended up recasting most of the movie just for kicks.

This is of course a time-honored Fun Thing to Do in pop culture fandom, and since we said we wanted to do it again and possibly even regularly, Kris thought the end of Game of Thrones’s seventh season was as good an occasion as any.

Over the next week or two we hope to post a handful of these. Partly as a demonstration for the sake of some of the folks he’s invited to pitch in, below is the first of two recasts from Kris.

So for my money, one of the simplest, biggest missed opportunities in Game of Thrones casting has been the whiteness of non-Westerosi characters. Yeah, we have Grey Worm and Missandei, and they’re great, and so was Khal Drogo. (Not great: it sure looks like most of the Dothraki right now aren’t actually played by extras of color.) But you know who else is originally from various places in Essos? Varys, the Spider. Syrio Forel, the former First Sword of Braavos. The master of the House of Black and White, formerly known as Jaqen H’ghar. Daario Naharis of the Second Sons. The Red Woman Melisandre, and her fellow R’hlloran priest, Thoros of Myr. All of these characters are played by actors of European descent. 

Now, I’m not saying that everyone in Essos should be non-white, or appear non-European, any more than I would say that everyone in Westeros should be white. (Also, I’ve enjoyed all of the performances mentioned above, especially Conleth Hill as Varys and Miltos Yerolemou as Syrio; the latter’s introduction remains my very favorite scene in the entire show.) But to the extent that Game of Thrones has seemed to want to simplistically suggest that everyone “native” to (north-of-Dorne) Westeros is white, then making more non-Westerosi characters people of color would have been an easy, intuitive way for the producers to demonstrate the wokeness they like to pat themselves on the back for pretty hard.

With that in mind, after the jump you’ll find my suggestions for a Game of Thrones lineup that assumes everyone I don’t recast is still played by the mostly white actors we already know and (maybe) love. This will not be the case for a longer recast I’ll post after some of the others have chimed in. But until then:

John Cho as Varys

I don’t actually have to explain this, do I? He’s John Cho. I could’ve named him for any of a dozen characters and it would probably make sense. I picked Varys because the pragmatic spymaster is one of my favorite supporting characters, or at least he is when he has things to do and say. If I needed a quietly dangerous, unsentimental advisor to deliver difficult truths occasionally leavened by dry wit, and I wasn’t too bothered by his suspicious knack for outliving several employers, I could do a lot worse than one played by John Cho.

Elodie Yung as Thoros of Myr

Yung is probably best known to you as Netflix-Marvel’s Elektra Natchios. If she’s best known to you as, like, Hathor from Gods of Egypt, get the fuck out of my sight and watch season 2 of Daredevil. As Thoros hails from one of the Free Cities of Essos, it seems to me he could just as easily be a she, or a they, and the hard-drinking Red Priest would let Yung unleash all of the Fun Elektra energy The Defenders squandered. 

Plus, Yung could do a lot of her own fighting, and in this alternate universe I would have her live through “Beyond the Wall” to continue kicking ass and taking names. (I mean, hopefully in this alternate universe something as stupid as “Beyond the Wall” wouldn’t have happened, but I’m trying not to be too greedy here.) Instead of killing Thoros, I’d give Beric Dondarrion the last stand he seemed to want, and let him take one of the lesser White Walkers down with him. That way we’d also get to avoid a deeply silly “Is Jon dead? Of course he’s not” beat, so everyone wins.

Sofia Boutella as Syrio Forel

(You’re welcome, Miri. Also sorry, Miri.)

You know Sofia Boutella as Gazelle, the blade-legged killer in Kingsman; Jaylah, the marooned martial arts and engineering savant in Star Trek Beyond; and possibly Delphine, the closest thing Atomic Blonde has to a “cinnamon roll” character. I always thought there might have been an element of condescension in Ned Stark’s allowing Arya to be trained by Syrio Forel. Like, “He calls himself a ‘water dancer,’ how intense can this be”, you know? That’s a reading that could be amplified if Syrio is a woman. Doubly so for Meryn Trant’s sneering dismissal. And it seems like Braavos is a pretty socially permissive place.

Again, Miltos Yerolemou’s Syrio Forel is a favorite of mine; I don’t know the guy’s training but he brought a unique quality of movement to those lesson and fight scenes, a grace beyond martial efficiency. Boutella, a trained dancer, could do the same.

Aldis Hodge as Daario Naharis

Aldis Hodge might be a little on the young side for a veteran mercenary captain, but not so young that I absolutely couldn’t buy it in the world of Game of Thrones. For a guy like Daario, a strong arm counts for a lot and you probably expect to die young anyway. Maybe you’ve seen Hodge do comedy (and crime) in Leverage, or drama (and action) in Underground. He also makes watches? He seems to be one of those infuriating people who’s good at everything he glances at and decides “Hey, I’ll give that a shot.” I haven’t disliked either Daario, but I love Hodge, and think he could bring a lot of life to a kinda boring character sketch.

Ruth Negga as Jaqen H’ghar

Jaqen H’ghar isn’t really a character I’m invested in -- partly because I'd been hoping from the first time he said “just so” in A Clash of Kings that he’d turn out to be Syrio Forel -- but Ruth Negga (of Agents of SHIELD, Loving, and currently AMC’s Preacher) definitely has the right smoldering charisma, and capacity for surprising hardness, to pull off the assassin/death priest who trains Arya to be the terrifying little sociopath a lot of us got tired of this season. Plus, the Faceless Men seemed like a super obvious opportunity for another gender-swap.

Gemma Chan as Melisandre

Chan is an actor whose work I wish I knew better; she’s very good in a pretty difficult part in the first season of Humans -- an android slowly (re)gaining full sentience, oscillating between warmth and distance, subservience and toughness -- and at some point I should get around to watching the second. She’s also been cast in Mary, Queen of Scots. 

Melisandre’s supposed to be from the “far East,” and doesn’t “exotic beauty” seem like exactly the kind of Problematic that this show would trip on in casting this character? All the way around I don’t really understand how Carice van Houten happened. I like her a lot, don’t get me wrong! And on some level, as an Asian American I’m relieved that we didn’t get this show’s take on the “exotic” trope here. Whatever her ethnicity, Melisandre’s a character who would be easy to mishandle. But even in the single performance I’ve seen, Chan demonstrates the range and the subtlety to get it right.

Hope you enjoyed this first installment of what I guess we’ll think of as “Reacting to Something Recasts...” I’m not sure which Reactor or Guest Reactor will send in their thoughts next, but I’m looking forward to it.

[gethealthy18-blog]

Vitex (Chasteberry) Herb Benefits & Uses for Women

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/vitex-chasteberry-herb-benefits-uses-for-women/

Vitex (Chasteberry) Herb Benefits & Uses for Women

Sometimes a plant holds a lot more than meets the eye (many times, actually). I’ve written before about the health benefits of herbs and spices, and today I’d like to cover an herb we don’t hear about every day but that every woman should know about. Ever heard of vitex?

Also called chaste tree or chasteberry, vitex is a large and graceful shrub with purple flowers similar to a lilac. Gardeners love it for its striking blooms and pleasant scent, but those who know about medicinal plants prize it for other reasons.

What Is the Vitex or Chaste Tree Plant?

The vitex plant or chaste berry tree (the Latin is Vitex agnus-castus L., if you want to get technical) is native to Asia and the Mediterranean. Cultures in China, Greece, and Italy used vitex long before its introduction to the United States. Now it’s commonly found in southern gardens because of its ability to withstand warmer temperatures.

In our case, it’s not the landscape we’re after, but the fruit of the chaste tree. This small brown berry (known as the chasteberry) is edible and has a peppery flavor.

Use of the chaste tree berry for medicinal purposes dates back over two thousand years. Many believed chasteberry could suppress libido (although there is no scientific evidence that it does.) The Greek physician Dioscorides prescribed it to soldiers’ wives so they could remain “chaste” while their husbands were away at battle. In the Middle Ages it is said that monks took it to help with the vow of chastity. This is also why chasteberry is known as monk’s pepper.

Vitex Benefits for Female Health

Basically, if you’re a woman, this herb can probably help! When it comes to easing symptoms of PMS — breast tenderness, cramps, cranky mood, and all — vitex is the queen of herbs.

Eases Symptoms of PMS and PCOS

Many clinical trials show chasteberry’s ability to ease PMS and menstrual-related difficulties. In one randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled study (translation: very credible), 178 women took vitex in capsule form for 3 full cycles. Compared to the control group, the women in the test group experienced 50% improvement/reduction in symptoms. These include mood swings, anger, irritability, headache, breast tenderness, and bloating.

This is good news for PMS and even PCOS sufferers, especially with the generally safe profile of this herb.

Supports Progesterone and Luteinizing Hormone

Luteinizing hormone (LH) is important to a healthy reproductive system and largely responsible for triggering ovulation in the body. Studies on chasteberry show the herb supports LH production, which in turn boosts progesterone and the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. This is valuable if it corrects a luteal phase defect, which may contribute to infertility and even miscarriages.

For these reasons, vitex is widely prescribed by doctors in Germany and other parts of Europe for endometriosis. (Doctors prescribing natural remedies? It can happen!)

Regulates Irregular Menstrual Cycles

As I mentioned, vitex is especially helpful for those with irregular cycles since it helps balance female hormones. This applies also to those coming off of hormonal birth control, as it can take years for the cycle to completely regulate on its own. I know it’s a controversial subject, but there are many reasons to consider the switch from hormonal birth control to more natural alternatives.

May Help Memory and Brain Function Post-Menopause

Chasteberry’s balancing action on the hormones also may make it useful for some women during menopause. A 2015 study published in Basic and Clinical Neuroscience found that giving rats vitex extract orally improved memory and learning. The thought is that vitex protects against “menopause-related cognitive decline” with fewer side effects (read: cancer risk) than other forms of estrogen replacement.

Less Certain Claims

Some herbalists suggest vitex to help with fertility and even through the first trimester to help prevent miscarriage. While larger studies need to be done in regard to fertility/pregnancy to know its true impact, smaller studies suggest a connection. It is difficult to know the true effect since some of these studies were small pilot studies or used other herbals along with the vitex.

It seems that the claim that vitex can restore missing periods (amenorrhea) are overblown based on current data. At most, the research indicates it may help luteal phase defect by evening out irregular periods.

Interestingly, although many cultures have used vitex to support lactation and boost milk supply, there is little scientific data to support this at this time. This study suggests scientists aren’t really sure if it hurts or helps, so more research is needed.

How Vitex Works

How exactly does a plant accomplish these things? Current scientific understanding suggests that vitex works by regulating and supporting the pituitary gland, which is considered the master gland for hormone production.

This article explains:

There are several different theories about how it works:

Binding dopamine receptors, which works to reduce secretion of prolactin by the pituitary gland, in turn inhibiting estrogen and progesterone.

Binding opioid receptors, which decreases the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone.

Vitex contains many estrogen-like compounds that have an impact on the menstrual cycle.

Since vitex works by correcting hormonal imbalances, it is not a fast-acting drug but a long-term remedy. In studies participants supplemented with vitex for as long as 3-5 months before measuring results.

How to Use Vitex

Vitex is available in capsule form or tincture form. It has a bitter taste, so often capsules or a tincture with other herbs is the best option. The most inexpensive option is to grow or order the dried berries and make a tincture at home. To make a tincture, the proportions from this recipe can be used with just vitex in place of the other herbs.

As I mentioned, vitex acts slowly, so it often takes several months to see its full effect. Since it supports the body’s own hormone cycle rather than providing any hormones itself, it works more slowly while the body adjusts to normal hormone production.

The University of Michigan Health website recommends 4 months of use for noticeable effects, with a daily dosage of 40 drops of tincture/concentrate or 1 capsule (powdered).

Caution/Side Effects of Vitex

Given its long historical use, vitex seems to be a very safe herb. I definitely recommend checking with a doctor before taking even natural supplements or herbs, especially when pregnant or nursing.

Mild and infrequent side effects reported include nausea, headache, stomach upset, and skin irritation. According to this article, women with a history of depression should avoid taking vitex.

Those using hormonal contraceptives should use caution when taking vitex due to its hormonal effects. There’s no evidence that vitex interferes birth control but it makes sense that there could be some interaction.

Finally, be aware that vitex may cause some changes in the menstrual cycle. This will stabilize over time, but if you chart your cycle for natural family planning purposes, expect to see some irregularities while your body adjusts.

It is not recommended for men, though maca is a great fertility-promoting herb for both men and women.

Have you tried vitex before? Will you now? Share below!

Sources:

Schellenberg R. Treatment for the premenstrual syndrome with agnus castus fruit extract: prospective, randomised, placebo controlled study. BMJ. 2001;322:134–7.

Blumenthal M. German Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices. Commission E. The complete German Commission E monographs: therapeutic guide to herbal medicines. Austin, Tex.: American Botanical Council, 1998.

Wuttke W, Jarry H, Christoffel V, Spengler B, Seidlová-wuttke D. Chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus)–pharmacology and clinical indications. Phytomedicine. 2003;10(4):348-57.

Dugoua JJ, Seely D, Perri D, Koren G, Mills E. Safety and efficacy of chastetree (Vitex agnus-castus) during pregnancy and lactation. Can J Clin Pharmacol. 2008;15(1):e74-9.

Westphal LM, Polan ML, Trant AS, Mooney SB. A nutritional supplement for improving fertility in women: a pilot study. J Reprod Med. 2004;49(4):289-93.

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/8314/vitex-chasteberry/

[sullustangin]

Darth Marr and Satele Shan:  Names and Priorities

I’ve reached the point in my Yavin fic that I’m starting to use Marr’s POV on occasion.  One of the things I’ve been chewing on (likely to the annoyance of others) has been the Marr-Satele-Theron dynamic during the Yavin 4 op.  It’s clear that Satele and Marr have put aside differences and have become friends (as much as a Force ghost and a self-exiled Jedi Master can be friends) by Chapter 12 of KotFE. 

I give credit to @swtorpadawan for posting about Satele on Yavin 4 a few months ago and being willing to have continued discourse about the post -- thank you.  In comments and reblogs, there’s been discussion about how to interpret Satele’s references to Theron during the op and her motivations for why she does this. 

This is a spin-off of that post, since I’ll be focusing more on the dynamic between Marr and the Shans instead of Theron and Satele. 

During the Yavin op, Theron is consistently referred to as Theron, not as Agent Shan or as Shan.  The issue of his last name is avoided.   A few people (including me) have the headcanon that ‘Shan’ is a common name in the galaxy, like Smith or Patel or Garcia would be on our world; two people named Shan does not a family connection make, necessarily.  It would explain why Theron doesn’t have a code name (though he jokingly? complains about it on first meeting). 

And yet, Satele avoids using the name in reference to Theron.  So does Marr.  And Theron doesn’t insist on being referred to by his last name, even though his peer, Lana Beniko, is referred to as ‘Beniko’ by Marr. (Satele never addresses Lana using her name.)

Why the dance? 

Honestly, when I try to reverse-engineer dev!logic, in terms of the game design for Yavin 4, I’d guess it was done to help the player differentiate between Grand Master Shan and Agent Shan.  And maybe that’s all it is: calling Theron “Theron” just keeps the player from getting confused, especially if the player isn’t a Jedi and doesn’t know Satele; and/or skipped the Forged Alliances quests and thus doesn’t know Theron.

Within the universe, however, what’s an explanation a player can come up with?

The Spies in Question

Theron’s name was broadcast across the galaxy as a wanted man for killing Colonel Darok.  He was to be apprehended on sight, but Theron was a spy; spy agencies to this day rarely let any images of their active duty agents be circulated, even if they do go rogue or defect to the other side.  Theron’s image in direct connection to his name and job as SIS agent would be on a need-to-know basis.  This has led me to headcanon that Director Trant was well-aware of Theron going off the grid; in fact, he aided and abetted it.

Lana, on the other hand, was a known member of the Sphere of Military Offense.  She commanded troops on Hoth.  She had a known face, and there was an Imperial bounty contract on her head, per Theron at Manaan.  If anything, Lana was in as much danger as Jakarro; someone could try to claim the bounty on her head, since the bounties weren’t lifted til the end of the Yavin op.

And yet, Theron’s name was the unspeakable one. 

Satele and Theron

As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I feel that the dynamic between Theron and Satele is not that of son and mother; both of them have gotten past that decision.  Rather, it’s more similar to a child who was given up for adoption looking for some sort of acknowledgement from his birth family -- it’s not love.  It’s not approval.  It’s.... complicated.  Acknowledgement of existence.  Acknowledgement that the decision had impact on Theron well beyond his first year of life.  Acknowledgement that Satele hurt Jace. 

I’ve interpreted Theron’s bristling at the use of the term “my agent” to be more directed at the possessiveness of the word, yet how far apart they still are, despite the biological connections.  Technically, Yavin 4 was the first time they worked on an op together.  This was their first professional collaboration.  They haven’t seen each other socially, they can’t talk about their issues/relationship/whatever.....and they have to save the galaxy together.

Giving up Theron doesn’t mean Satele felt nothing. She privately struggles with what she did and how it turned out -- still does, based on 6.2.   However, she, like Jace and Theron, believe in serving the cause at great personal cost.  Seeing Theron beat to hell after Rishi bothered her -- it would bother anyone with any sense of compassion (which she does have).  Theron got the beatdown he did because he was taken by the Revanites.  Revan attempted to convince Theron to join him on Yavin 4 by invoking the idea that they are flesh and blood -- family.

Pretty sure Revan wasn’t talking about the Malcom side.  Satele knew that.  Was there a sense of protectiveness for Theron because of what happened immediately before Yavin 4?  I think so, yes, but it’s not motherly.

Theron’s experience on Rishi probably made Satele hyperaware that if Theron was of interest to the Revanites, then the Empire would doubly interested in Theron if they knew that he was not only an heir of Revan, but that the Grand Master of the Jedi Order was his biological mother.   Referring to him as “my agent” may be Satele’s way to avoid using any part of his name on Yavin 4.

I’m willing to bet, regardless of any efforts to ignore or conceal Theron’s name, that Marr quickly figured out that the agent who managed to outfox Revan, resist torture, get Marr’s attention, and unravel an intergalactic conspiracy was something special to the Republic.  Odds were that this agent had acted against the Empire.

Marr would be interested.

The History of Darth Marr and Satele Shan

Prior to Yavin 4, Marr and Satele had most recently squabbled over Makeb in the Hutt Cartel expansion through their various operatives.  When Marr saw Satele on the Imp side Battle of Rishi, he bowed.  He respected her and she respected him.  I didn’t get any other impression from their interactions. They saw each other as equals, though on rival sides; that creates tension, since a fight between them would be a draw or mutually assured destruction.  It’s highly likely they fought against each other in the previous Galactic War (which I’ll talk about below). 

Marr was born in 3702 BBY, Satele in 3699 BBY.  They’re about the same age, and they ascended almost equally quickly when the Sith returned in 3681 -- Satele is 18, Marr is 21.  I have spoken about how Satele and Jace (who seems to be somewhere between 16 and 20 in the trailer) were essentially just kids when the conflict started.  So was Marr.

The big difference, in terms of how their characters are constructed, is that we have the end product of Marr.  Period.  We don’t know what his name was before he took on the name ‘Darth Marr.’  We know nothing about his family, his relationships, his struggles.  As Marr said later to the player in KotFE, he wanted to be a symbol to the Empire.  Marr did not let himself be just a man.

Darth Marr is not the singular leader of the Sith.  Marr is the head of the Sphere of Defense of the Empire for decades, and as of the Battle of Corellia and the death of Darth Decimus, he also becomes the head of the Sphere of Military Strategy.  With 2 of Military Spheres in his grasp, Marr was the de facto leader of the armed forces of the Sith Empire.  The Sphere of Military Offense passed from Baras to Arho and then to Arkous after Ilum.  When Arkous is killed by the player’s character, there is no indication as to who was the next head; that Sphere is never spoken of again in-game.  We may assume Marr took hold of that.  Either way, he has become the de facto leader of the Sith Empire.  His voice, his robes and mask -- immediately recognizable to the whole galaxy.

The creators of content for SWTOR took the opposite approach to Satele. We can read about how her mother Tasiele was forced into exile when Satele was still a child.  We meet Satele at 18 in a SWTOR trailer during the first Sith incursion at Korriban.  We see her in comics fighting against the Empire.  We see her at the Battle of Alderaan against Malgus.  In Annihilation,we see bits and pieces of her falling in love with Jace Malcom and hoping she doesn’t get too attached... until a pair of permanent complications occur in 3667 BBY:   Jace was severely maimed in the Battle of Alderaan, and Satele got pregnant.  Jace’s injuries made him a much harder person than the soldier Satele met in 3681 BBY; he scared her with his hatred of the Empire. 

I’ll take a moment here to say that Satele wasn’t dumb or naive when she made the decision about Theron.  Satele was at least 32 years old, possibly 33 by the time Theron was born in 3666 BBY. She wasn’t a teen having a knee-jerk “oh noes, he’s evil” moment.  She had been in a constant state of war for 15 years when she got pregnant.   It’s in that context that Satele was concerned that Jace’s hatred could drag their child to the Dark Side... but also, Satele’s love for her child would make it impossible for her to serve the Republic without a second thought.  She couldn’t fight and die for the Republic if she was always preoccupied with coming home to her baby.

So she let Theron go.  She had other adventures.  She was at the Treaty of Coruscant.  Satele founded Tython.  She became the Grand Master of her order.

We don’t get any of that pathos or glory with Marr.   Marr IS.  Marr is the Empire. He is the best of them.  He has been, is, and will be. 

The odds are pretty good that Marr and Satele met each other in combat, directly or indirectly. The bow on Imp side Rishi is a big thing for me that points to that.  Also, look at their responsibilities during the last war.  Marr was responsible for not only defending Korriban and what would become the Imperial core, but also any gains the Sith made over time against the Republic.  That’s the job of the Sphere of Defense of the Empire; taking planets was somebody else’s rodeo, not Marr’s.  His job was to defend... something the Imperial people living on these planets would love him for.  He was their protector against brutish Republic troops and their systemic corruption. 

Satele was responsible for winning those territories back; we see her on counter-strikes against the Sith.  Satele is cast as the liberator of people imperiled by the spreading Sith Empire, not a conqueror taking new territory.  Marr probably had to defend against Satele at least once in their careers, possibly multiple times.  If she was absent from the front lines for any period of time, Marr would have noticed; he had to anticipate the next move of Republic counterstrikes as part of his job. 

And indeed, Satele was absent for an extended period.  How long Satele was absent from the battlefield due to her pregnancy, we don’t know. Satele did continue her battlefield duties for “months” after she found out.  The only information we have about post-partum Satele is that she stopped visiting Baby Theron at 6 months old, according to Lost Suns.  I don’t think she could just skip off at random while in command, so I think she probably was off the battlefield at least 10 months (last 4 months of her pregnancy, 6 months post-partum), possibly as long as 18 months, since Gnost-Dural reports she was assigned to duty with the Republic Navy at some point in 3665 BBY.  She did give birth on a random planet in a cave, so she didn’t exactly have the best medical care immediately.  Maybe there were complications. Maybe she did show early. We don’t know.

Regardless of the timeline, Marr would have been paying attention.  Marr would have noticed when Satele Shan stopped fighting for the Republic.  Where was she?  What was she doing?  Was this part of a greater plot by the Republic?  What were they planning?  And when Satele did return, he may well have wondered what she had been up to.  But no matter; she had returned.  Marr had to be ready.

There’s no obvious indication in the game as to when Marr figures out Satele and Theron are mother and son.  He makes no comment to indicate that he knew before Rishi.  Based on Marr’s dialogue in game on the Imperial side, he heavily suggests that he knows who Theron is by the time Iven, the former commandant of the Imperial Guard, is taken into custody and it’s time to interrogate him. Satele objects to Marr’s plans to torture Iven.  “And what do you think your agent has done in the Republic’s name?” is Marr’s response. 

The delivery of ‘your agent’ is indicative that Marr knows.

Theron himself stated at the end of the Imp side romance that if he was indeed recruited by the player to join the Empire, people would be suspicious that he’d be working for his mother.  That would have to include Darth Marr. 

Personally, I would guess that the after-action reports from Lana and Theron would have some clues for Marr.  However, once Theron had healed up from the Rishi events, Marr may well have taken one look at Theron standing next to Satele, and then had an epiphany so immense it gave him a headache that Lana felt across the compound.  There’s the answer.  That’s why she disappeared for almost two years, twenty-nine years ago. Theron Shan.

(According to Jace in Annihilation, Theron has some similar features to his mother. He doesn’t specify which ones.)

The Lie of Omission

A lie of omission is permitting an inaccuracy or a falsehood to continue to circulate without correction, even though the person knows the truth. (In contrast, a lie of commission is when you actively make something up or contribute to the lie -- you commit the act lying.)  Marr signals he knows who Theron is by the time Iven is retrieved from the Imperial Guard training facility on Yavin, but he never says the name Theron Shan out loud.   It’s simply “the agent” “your agent” or “Theron.”  But not Agent Shan.

The use of “Theron” in the Pubside story is most eyebrow-raising.  

Marr calls people by their titles. Marr always keeps professional distance.  Underlings are uniformly referred to by their titles.  Lana doesn’t like titles, so Marr doesn’t refer to her as Lord Beniko or Darth whatever;  it’s just Beniko.

Calling someone by their first name is highly irregular.  He does not refer to Satele as such until 6.2 (and that might be the Socratic Problem of Marr in the player’s memory rather than the real Marr).  It’s always Grand Master or Grand Master Shan. In a unique instance in the game, Marr calls Theron by his given name when he finds the Imperial Guard’s buildings in ruins during the Pubside story:  “But given the destruction Theron describes, it’s mostly likely a distress call.”  This is before the Pub operative annoys Marr by going to the Imperial Guard facility by themselves; it’s not said in anger or in irritation.  It’s said under ‘normal’ circumstances (if circumstances on Yavin are normal at all). 

But why?  Why not “Agent Shan”?  That would differentiate him from Grand Master Shan.  Just referring to the pair as Grand Master and Agent would work too; how many Grand Masters and SIS Agents are running around on Yavin 4?  Why is Marr avoiding attention to the man’s last name?

And why doesn’t Marr hop on this and use it to the Empire’s advantage?

Pragmatism and Prioritization

Marr is not a Jedi.  Marr doesn’t do things for the greater good.  He does things for the Sith Empire and for the people of the Sith Empire.  Offing Theron Shan?  Definitely on the agenda.  So is killing Satele, eventually.

But not now.  Not on Yavin 4.

Marr is probably the person closest to knowing what Revan is going to try to do in order to make the Emperor take physical form again so he can kill him.  It’s going to involve a lot of dead people.  That can easily happen; up until this tiny fragile cease fire between Marr and Satele, the Empire and the Republic have been engaged in a hot war. When they first make camp on Yavin, there is a real possibility they’ll frag each other regularly.  This is why players have to do daily quests, in theory -- to build good will between the factions. 

My partner is a military nerd and a Star Wars nerd.  He watched both version of the Battle of Rishi.  His conclusion:  based on the ships we see, Marr had more than twice the number of troops that Satele did (I put the numbers in my Yavin 4 fic).  The Imperial troops, at Marr’s word, probably could wipe out the Republic forces on Yavin 4, pack up, and head back to Dromund Kaas in time for tea.

But they won’t.  Marr wouldn’t permit it.

He knows how dangerous the Emperor is, and if he does let his troops kill the Pubs, they feed him. There also appears to be some sort of weird mystical thing going on with Revan’s bloodline.  Revan knew highly personal information about Theron (and Theron says so when the player opens the temple later on); somehow, Theron was able to use that connection to get Revan to give up Yavin 4 and secure an invite there at the end of the Rishi op.

Marr knows about this.  Marr doesn’t know what Revan would do if Marr did kill Theron or Satele, plus there’s the more predictable possibility that the Republic would respond to the death of Satele Shan thanks to the Jedi feeling it through the Force.  Chancellor Saresh would not let that opportunity pass by, even if it did feed the Emperor; we saw that at Ziost. 

Grand Master Shan is a public figure.  Her name and her power is obvious to everyone in the Yavin camp.  Theron, however, is everything his mother is not.  He is a spy.  His face is not known to the general public.  His work is secret, his exact abilities unknown.

Sure, the last name is common enough....

But Theron and Satele have never worked together before.  They’ve never operated in such close proximity before.  Yavin 4 would be the first time all the pieces could fall into place to someone observant.  Marr is many things, but one of the things he really gets annoyed about in regard to the Sith is their arrogance.  They get such fat heads that they can’t see obvious danger or they overlook aliens and non-Force Sensitives to their own detriment. 

Marr isn’t arrogant.

He doesn’t think he’s the only one who can see a family similarity or sense some connection between them.  Saying someone’s name is a powerful thing; we get upset when someone screws up our name.  It’s how our attention is attracted.  Shared last names of interesting people attract attention.  Attention leads to distraction away from the primary goal of stopping Revan and the Emperor.

That’s something Marr doesn’t want to deal with right now.  Revan and Emperor now.  The Shans later.  He avoids referring to Theron as “Shan” so as to reduce any chance that some young Sith will attempt to make their bones killing Theron, since that would spell doom for the Empire, whether through Revan’s anger or the Republic’s revenge.  It would also help empower the Sith Emperor to retake physical form, which is the last thing Marr wants him to do. 

Exposing the Grand Master as having a secret son would remove an ally from the field for Marr; Marr doesn’t want to destroy his assets before he’s used them to their full ability.  There’s no point in burning Satele Shan on Yavin 4 before Revan is dealt with. 

...And Marr respects her.  It’s a cheap way to win against a rival he knows to be his equal.

Marr wants to end Revan and the Emperor now, in that order, to defend the people of the Empire.  He’ll worry about the Shans later.  Marr will let Theron’s last name be overlooked and unmentioned, if only because it makes his job as Defender of the Empire less complicated for a few months.

**

Thanks again to @swtorpadawan​ and also @inyri​ @shabre-legacy​ @theniveanlegacy​ for discussing the original post about Satele and Theron and making me think about this.  

Headcanon Postface:

This last bit is purely my headcanon ideas about Marr, so you can leave here if you so desire. I’m placing them here rather than making a separate post and having to link back to this one. 

As I’ve described previously, we have the finished product of Darth Marr, with none of the personal insight that was provided for Satele Shan.  Who’s under the mask?  Nobody knows, really.  His first comic book adventure takes place in 3678, when he’s about 24 years old.  There’s nothing about his life beforehand that would let the player wonder how his past life affected his current decisions.  Marr ultimately would do the best he could for the Empire, regardless, but knowing if he ever hesitated, ever had second thought, had a regret -- that would make him mortal. 

And Marr is an icon, not a man, in the grander SWTOR universe, per the writers. That’s the point driven home to the player.  So that leaves it to fan fic to take off the mask or not. 

In “The Planter of Trees and Other Tales from Yavin 4,” Marr comes to this conclusion about the Shans’ relationship after observing two Shan chins.  He then alludes to understanding Satele’s decision to conceal Theron’s existence.

After Marr had gained his seat on the Dark Council (late 3680s, early 3670s), a lot of Sith families wanted him to add to their prestige. The man needed a legacy; he needed heirs.  Marr had already set himself on his path, however; he understood that it was better to be an icon.  If Marr was a normal man, he would be weakened by family connections, love, protectiveness, concern for his personal future.  Instead, Marr’s devotion to the Empire was unmatched and pure.  In the public’s eye, he was the great defender. He was the perfect Sith.

Marr never did have a public wife or a political marriage. His private life -- better secured than Imperial state secrets -- produced a  daughter that did not inherit her talents from her Force-Using parent.  Marr had been relieved that his daughter was not like him.  It meant she would never be pressured to come into public life. It meant she was free of the burden of his legacy. 

Lately, I’ve considered that, regardless of having access to the Force or not, a child of Marr was always in danger of becoming a pawn.  She was something Marr’s enemies could use against him, if they ever found out about her; being Force-Null simply meant that others could not detect her as easily. That may have also have been a concern of Satele in regard to Theron, especially as she rose through the ranks of the Jedi Order.  As soon as Marr could let his daughter fly away from Dromund Kaas, he did.  She was free. 

She died shortly before the Sack of Coruscant.  Marr did not go to her. The Empire had to matter more.  That doesn’t mean he didn’t love her.  He just never could prioritize her over the Empire. 

In my fic universe, Marr understands Satele’s choices.  He can keep his mouth shut.  For now. 

Theron is far more dangerous to the rival faction than Marr’s daughter ever was, however; he is an active player in the war, while she... just got caught in the middle, in the end....

Revan and Emperor now.  Shans later.

**

[sullustangin]

Fearful Avoidant Attachment and the Single Spy

Caveat:  I’m not a counselor of any sort, and I’m applying labels to fictional characters.  Don’t take this too seriously.

This post has been kicking around in different forms in my prompt document for awhile.  I will start posting my Yavin fic this weekend.  A major element of this fic will be the dynamic between Theron and the playable character/love interest.  Their interactions will be informed by how I view his attachments. I’ve put some of this into the fic series already.

“Attachment” in the Star Wars universe is the idea, according to George Lucas, that Jedi should love everyone but not get attached.  “Attached” in this context is possession, greed, being willing to do things for individuals rather than the greater good, and ultimately the fear of loss.  Attachment is a negative concept in Jedi philosophy.

However, I would argue that while this philosophy is in the back of Theron’s head, Jedi attachment concepts are not what makes Theron’s personal life messy.  It’s the personal context surrounding that teaching and his life events that shape this.  So let’s look at real life attachment theory. 

In its most basic form, attachment theory is the idea that children need to develop a positive relationship with a caregiver to turn out ok. If the child is neglected, then they will have problems forming healthy attachments to others.   There’s a lot of caveats to this theory.  Some put the threshold of ‘must have positive relationship by x age’ to age 2 or age 5.  Others state that this is problematic, because if a child loses their caregiver and passes into the hands of a less affectionate or downright abusive caregiver, then their positive attachment formation by age x doesn’t count for much.

There are several different types of attachment that a person can have.  A secure attachment is what most healthy relationships are rooted in. People feel safe and secure within themselves and within the relationship. Jedi can be attached in this fashion, even if they don’t call it this; the Jedi have orderly boundaries and a clear understanding of what their associations entail. They have care systems for younglings and padawans, which were like pre-modern apprenticeships.   They are secure within themselves as Jedi and in their relationships outside the order.  They are at peace.

An insecure attachment has a flaw in it; something is wrong in how the person relates to themselves and others in relationships, platonic, romantic or otherwise.  One type is dismissive or avoidant; the attachments are actively avoided, so the person is often isolated and rejects others and their friendly overtures.  Another type is anxious or preoccupied; people tend to get very clingy or possessive with anyone they latch onto, which can cause the relationship to self-destruct (hi, Anakin).

Then there is fearful avoidant attachment, the label I think fits Theron Shan, our favorite high-quality spy and absolute emotional disaster.  In theory, Theron tries to avoid deep emotional attachments because he’s scared of being left behind or not having those attachments reciprocated. At the same time, he desperately wants those attachments and relationships, but the potential of failure makes him avoid or even sabotage the relationship.  That results in an on-going war between Theron and his feelings. To quote Psychalive, “the person [he wants] to go to for safety is the same person [he is] frightened to be close to. As a result, [he has] no organized strategy for getting [his] needs met by others.”

Why does Theron have attachment issues?

Some accuse Satele Shan or Jace Malcom of being “bad parents.”  There’s a problem with this premise: although there is a biological relationship, neither Satele nor Jace had a parent-child relationship with Theron. Jace didn’t even know Theron existed until the child was 26, so he couldn’t act in any capacity.  Satele gave Theron up to be raised by someone else; she opted out of the role of mother and did not talk to him as mother-and-son until Theron was 26.  There isn’t an abusive or neglectful relationship here because there isn’t a relationship, period.  Much like romantic relationships, it’s better to have no relationship than a bad one. Jace and Satele didn’t raise Theron.  They were strangers to him until he was an adult.  They were never his caretakers.  Who did Theron have attachments to?

Theron was raised by a Jedi named Ngani Zho, who had been Satele Shan’s master when she was a padawan. After Satele gave birth in a cave on some planet, Zho took the child and raised him as his own son.  This was irregular, honestly.  Jedi younglings that express some sort of control over the Force are typically put into a creche at the Jedi Temple; we’ve seen this in the Star Wars prequel films.  Guss Tuno references this in SWTOR, as he was chagrinned to be in class with a bunch of five-year-olds in bathrobes.  Theron was raised by Zho directly and they were constantly traveling, based upon comments we read in The Lost Suns comic and in the novel Annihilation. Theron never entered the creche because he never manifested signs he was Force-sensitive – not even a little like Guss.

Zho traveled with Theron until the boy was an adolescent. Then, Theron was told by Zho to travel to the Jedi Temple at Haashimut to receive more training; he could do no more for him.  The trip through a desert nearly killed the boy.  When Theron had recovered, it fell to Master Till’in to tell him he would not be a Jedi.  Ever.  

Instead of telling Theron or notifying Satele about the boy’s lack of Force aptitude, Zho sent him onward and then disappeared.  There is no indication that Zho told anyone where he was going or why.  When Theron met Zho again at age 23, the Master’s mind was scrambled and confused; he couldn’t give any answers to Theron about anything.  Was there a mission he had been set on?  Or did he just wander off on his own?

For storytelling purposes, it’s convenient to pair Zho’s departure with the aftermath of the Treaty of Coruscant.  In the year Theron turned 13 (3653 BBY), the Great Galactic War ended with the Treaty of Coruscant, wherein the Sith Empire enforced demands on the Republic.  The Sith won. Zho leaving could be tied to this (through a mission or quixotic urge), but the source material isn’t clear on the timing.  

Theron’s life suddenly became very uncertain.  His entire life had been built up to becoming a Jedi.  To some extent, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong, Theron probably felt like he was a failure.  We know he tried to fix this; in The Lost Suns, he acknowledged pursuing access to the Force through the Matukai Force tradition – being an ascetic. In Annihilation, he recalled and took particular umbrage at the “arrogance” of the Jedi – those that made him feel like any other path was second (or third or less)-best. This diminished over time, but the revelation about his lack of Force Sensitivity probably left Theron feeling very insecure about himself and who he was as an adolescent/young teen.

In terms of his relationships, Zho was gone with no forwarding address.  The man Theron called his father was no longer reachable, and for another ten years, there would be no closure as to what happened to him.  Zho had actively endangered Theron by sending him through a desert to Haashimut.  Did he gamble that the boy’s Force Sensitivity would manifest in a life-threatening crisis or something?  Who knows? Theron never went into the Jedi creche, so he didn’t have close peers or friends beyond pen pals at best.  Theron had not spoken to his bio parents at all to this point, and he probably didn’t know many (if any) non-Force Sensitive kids.  With his expulsion from Jedi society, Theron’s entire relationship network was gone.

This is important to understand -- Theron had been raised to not have attachments that would lead to selfishness or fear of loss, but he was raised to be able to love and care for others.  He lived in a structure that fostered good psychological attachments (secure attachments) to the order and to his fellow sentients without possessiveness or jealousy. Theron knew his mother gave him up. He knew one day Zho would give his care over to another Master.  He knew one day, he would leave the Temple to go out into the galaxy.   Theron knew how the galaxy worked and his role in it...

..and then it was torn away from him.  No more masters, no more knowledge of what came next, no way to ever work with his mother as a Jedi.  His life to that point had been an illusion -- he was never able to access the Force, and Zho knew it.  This left Theron as insecurely attached, as nothing that he anticipated for his life would ever happen, and he knew nobody that would accompany him into this new life. 

External to all this, the Republic Theron was raised to serve was on the losing end of war.  How the galaxy worked, as far as Theron knew to that point, was going to change.  After Till’in told Theron the truth, all we know is that he spent some time in Haashimut before going elsewhere. We the viewer have no idea what happened to Theron from adolescence until he was 16, when he entered SIS per Annihilation.  This may be a canon math/timing error, or it could be reasonable; Theron might have been able to get permission to join a government organization at 16.  If Theron was in foster care or a ward of the state or something else, whoever was involved didn’t make an impact worthy of mention thus far in SWTOR canon.

Theron described Zho in The Lost Suns as “never reliable.”  That was a 23-year-old looking back.  Yet, he referred to him as his father in Annihilation three years later, and even eight years later in SWTOR: KotFE, he mentions that “Master Zho would be proud.”  This seems contradictory.  Additionally, in both The Lost Suns and Annihilation, SIS Director Marcus Trant expressed concern about Theron and his issues.  Theron was a workaholic.  Being a workaholic is actually a sign of having attachment issues; a person attaches themselves to work, not people   Theron expressed desires to run away, go on vacation, and do new stuff… but he never did these things – couldn’t get away from the job.

Attachment theory states that a child has difficulty with attachments if they are abused or somehow neglected by their caretaker. The desert march definitely strikes me as falling into one of those categories, but again, Zho’s logic isn’t readily offered up to the viewer, nor are many details about Theron’s life as a traveling youngling.  That all said, Zho’s traumatic departure probably caused attachment issues that had no other herald.

Why do the labels “fearful” and “avoidant” fit Theron?

Theron Shan as the player met him in Forged Alliance SWTOR was a professional.  Flirting was ignored, mildly acknowledged, or, rarely, fully reciprocated. There was no physical contact between Theron and his asset. This doesn’t seem off or irregular until his romance is compared to that of Lana Beniko. She didn’t have the same issues expressing affection for her asset on Imp side; she touched their face and gave them a hug by the time the spies went under deep cover after Rakata Prime. Even if the player did not romance Lana, Lana herself was keen to make a team and bust open the conspiracy; she wasn’t as willing to go it alone.  

Avoidant people tend to refrain from contact, and they like being independent.  They don’t do well in teams.  Sound familiar?  Fearful avoidants also have the concern that they will fail their partner or that their partner will fail them.  If the player was Imp side, Theron was a jerk well into the Rishi storyline.  Eventually, Theron did come around.  His dialogue and follow-up letter reflect the fact that he actually did want these connections and attachments.  He enjoyed the time he had with the player.  

This is particularly pronounced if Theron was romanced by the player on Rishi and Yavin; first physical contact occurred on Rishi with a kiss.  If the player was Pubside, the fade-to-black and his comments on Yavin indicate they had sex.  Those episodes of affection, paired with the Pub post-Yavin letter and dialogue, really emphasize the connection that was formed.  Interestingly, Theron did not get a fade-to-black with the Imperial player. One might argue that he knew they were going to leave him, and so he couldn’t –wouldn’t—get attached.

…. And then Ziost happened. Theron refused to ask for help. He didn’t want to depend on that attachment.  He was distant on Ziost, regardless of how far the relationship went, and if Pubside, he declined a drink afterwards.

Whatever transpired between Ziost and the Eternal Fleet Incident, it’s clear that a romanced Theron and the player never defined their relationship.  There were certain boundaries that never were crossed.  He’d “like to think” the player is dreaming of him, but he didn’t want to presume.  Even after Theron got into a romantic relationship on Odessen, he still struggled with his ability to be attached, as evidence by his letters and expressions of affection and concern throughout the KotFE/KotET expansions.  

One might argue that the traitor element of the Nathema Conspiracy was partially caused by Theron’s attachment issues: his independent streak, his inability to ask for help, his lack of faith in others to do the job right (not telling anyone the truth), his lack of faith in himself (his willingness to understand why the player might dump/exile him). If romanced, he gave one of his Holonet messages the subject line “I love you,” but even then, he did not clue the player into his self-made mission.  Certainly, the Nathema Conspiracy happens because of Theron’s desperate desire to save the galaxy and the player at any cost – including the relationship itself and his life.

For those who let Theron live, the attachment issues have faded as Theron has gotten engaged/married and/or reformed a relationship with his bio parents… or the writers have moved on from Lana and Theron as companions.  Regardless, we have to keep in mind that Theron is closing in on 40, and he has grown as a character since he first appeared in Star Wars media at age 23 (baby and adolescent only in flashbacks).  His issues with his relationships, the Jedi, the Republic, and his bio parents have changed over the course of 17 years.  In the last story patch, people who have romanced Theron received letters from both Theron and his mother about how good the player is for him, and it’s very satisfying to see how far he has come.

How does this label of ‘fearful avoidant’ manifest in your fanworks?

Since not everyone is into fic, I’ll drop this behind a cut. 

Basically, my version of Theron wants love but is terrified of all the feelings and closeness that come with it.  When people get close, he draws away, but still wants them to be close.  Theron has had good relationships, but if it gets too serious, he runs.  That’s the case for his last major relationship prior to my oc; his Mirialan girlfriend was drawing a tattoo to mark their relationship, and she wanted him to meet the parents. Theron noped out of there pretty hard by taking a long mission off Coruscant and sort of forgetting to tell her.  There are several times where he takes a big step with Eva (my oc)– disclosure, physical intimacy, caring for her or letting her care for him – and then he just doesn’t contact her for the next few days.  He dives into work to avoid her.  Toward the end of their initial relationship, that will turn into weeks and months.  He is freaked out when he does things with her that are intimate, sexual or not.  He has a lot of fear that he will be left again, so he leaves first. 

Theron also sets up a lot of rules and boundaries that the partner has to dance around to get in.  After 300,000 words, I just completed a slow burn with the Rishi kiss, because Theron wouldn’t get involved with Eva until after the op to expose the conspiracy was over.  There will be more rules once they get to Yavin.  

When I was doing research on this, I read a clinical study that found that people with avoidant attachment issues are particularly fastidious about safe sex.  They don’t want attachments to their lovers in the form of a disease or a child.  Anxious attachments tend to eschew this and take the risk so they can be bound to someone. This is part of why I gave Theron a male birth control implant, but there will also be reference to his back-up (condoms) and back-up back-up (PreP) to ensure there aren’t any adverse consequences for him.

Theron is often alone, but that doesn’t make him lonely by default.  In part, that might be due to his avoidance of attachments.  Dude can pick up people at a bar and get laid. Theron isn’t adverse to sex, just intimacy.  He can find someone to hook up, but that doesn’t mean there is anything beyond sex attached to it.  Theron can and does get dates, and he can have relationships ... but that doesn’t mean he can make a healthy connection to the other person.  I think his issues are more emotional/internal than they are caused by not getting enough physical contact or affection from others.  People want to love him.  People reach out to him to be friends or have a relationship.  He just doesn’t want it; he avoids it.  I imagine that this is partly the case with Jace and his SIS coworkers.

The last fearful avoidant feature I’ll give Theron in my series is the tendency to idealize relationships after they’re dead and over. When the relationship is no longer available, it is held up and made glorious, partially to enable the person not to pursue a different relationship; it’ll never be as good, so why try?  This also calls in the tendency for fearful avoidants to fear not only screwing up the relationship themselves, but that others won’t live up to their expectations. Theron is a mess after the Eternal Fleet incident and never moves on from Eva.  It’s reasonable when he thinks she’s alive, but for a good two years, he thinks she’s dead… and he can’t.  With anyone else.

Unlike the game, I eventually send Theron to a therapist to deal with the fearful avoidant attachment issues.  I figure if I’m going to give a fictional character a real-world label, I need to give him a real-world solution that might work.