#who knew i would be writing legacies meta

[thecatsaesthetics]

Hello! Hope you're doing well. A while back you said you could write a whole thing about Alysanne being weirdly sinister about her children, especially her daughters and Baelon. I completely forgot that she did not want him to remarry after Alyssa's death which was super odd. I'd love to hear more of your thoughts on those things. If you want to that is.

I think Alysanne is an incredibly interesting character, I wouldn't call her sinister because that implies she is doing harm intentionally and I don't view her that way. Alysanne is both villain and victim, and I would classify her more as a tragic character then a sinister one.

I think Alysanne fits with the tragedy that is to be born a Targaryen woman. She is groomed from birth to be her brother's counter part, she is deemed "special" as a dragon rider, she watches as her brother-husband claims that their blood line is "exceptional" and then watches as her family becomes victims to the very common diseases and deaths that happen in Westeros. Her mother dies in childbirth, her son dies an infant, her daughter dies of plague, two of her daughters die in child birth, her son dies in battle, etc.

I think in terms of Baelon, she favored him. He was "hers" whereas Aemon was for Jaehaerys. She is the one who insisted upon a marriage between Baelon and Alyssa, despite Aemon being the son and heir (and thus being in need of a sister-wife counterpart). Baelon and Alyssa relationship mirrors that of Jaehaerys and Alysanne. You can read this meta on Alyssa, which I love because this fandom has really tried to act like Alyssa and Baelon are this "perfect" Targaryen couple but if you read the text closely you can see a bunch of issues that fans ignore.

In terms of Baelon post Alyssa, I don't think Alysanne's actions are sinister but rather her protecting herself. If she truly saw herself in Baelon and Alyssa then Baelon remarrying would be a threat to her own place in this Targaryen legacy. If Alyssa can be replaced, so could she if Jaehaerys needed. Again her marriage to Jaehaerys is what defines her, she was married as a child and groomed to be his wife.

Viserra is a threat in her mind, when really Viserra's actions scream of a child in need of help. First of all, the fact that Alysanne claims that Viserra wants to be Queen because she seems to want to marriage to her brother is very telling. Baelon was not heir at this time, and even if they knew Aemon would have no more children, it still doesn't seem likely that Baelon would have succeeded. Aemon as King could have easily declared his grandson his heir if he didn't want Rhaenys.

So how could Viserra know she would become Queen if she married Baelon? She would be a second wife to a second son. It's more likely that Viserra didn't want to be sent away from family, after watching what happened to her sisters Daella and Saera. So Alysanne's claim is more reflective upon herself, and her own desire to be Queen. And the idea of someone, even her own daughter, taking that from her is hurtful. So she chooses to send Viserra into a marriage where she would likely never seen her family again, to an aging lord (who likely had sons already). It's a punishment for attempting to take what Alysanne has been told is hers, her specialness.

It's just so fucking sad, and I don't necessarily think that Alysanne wanted to be a villain and in many ways she was a victim but she caused lasting trauma on her daughters. Similar to her sister Rhaena, who is both victim and villain, it's the lasting legacy of Targaryen women. They are the counterparts to their brother-husbands and thus also are complicit in their crimes. Alysanne really highlights this, Alysanne ends up alone on Dragonstone. After being denied the right to attempt to see her only living daughter, after being denied her granddaughters birth right, after losing her last daughter to a mysterious end. She is alone, and it seems she dies alone, for all the maesters do to push the idea that Jaehaerys had this great love for her he doesn't even seem to be there when she dies. Nor do we get any indication that he mourned her death. Alysanne is alone, abandoned in a sense. A haunting reminder that Targaryen women might be placed as a "counterpart" to their husband but can never escape or be allowed the same level of power.

[asterlark]

the thing that gets me so much about the storytelling in knives out is that it's a story within a story within a story- or i guess more accurately, it's a story about multiple stories being told and acted in and against each other. ransom/hugh/supreme scumbag wrote the story of harlan's murder and of pinning the crime on marta; meanwhile, harlan wrote the story of what marla would do in the aftermath of his death and the ensuing investigation.

problem for mr. hugh is, marta is not a flat character or a pawn in his game he can manipulate to his will to ensure he gets away scot free (and, to a lesser extent, despite harlan's insistence and marta's best efforts, marta cannot carry out his lie for long during the high-pressure investigation. even when it's in her own best interest to lie, marta cannot and will not be manipulated into telling a false story). marta is a smart and caring human being who has agency in her narrative- and since she is the heroine, the narrative wants her to win, so she has allies like blanc on her side. blanc mostly doesn't interfere with the stories being told, he observes them and then, as he says, strolls leisurely along the real story- the truth's- axis and eventually comes to its inevitable conclusion. this is when he will step in and act upon the narrative, but only to reveal the truth and to ensure the hero gets the rewards they deserve.

on top of all that, it really gets me how there's a very meta framing device of the primary murder victim in this mystery being a famous murder mystery author, and much of the plot revolving around his efforts to author what his loved ones' lives will be like after his death... and the way hugh's murder plot is like something right out of a harlan mystery novel (to the point that harlan, before he realizes he's about to die, makes a point to write down the method of murder as an ingenious way to kill someone)....... and all that isn't even considering all the stories the family members tell themselves and others about their relationship to harlan, how they view the family legacy, etc.

marta is the heroine precisely because she is not trying to tell a false story for her own gain (as the family accuses her of doing after the reading of the will)- she is simply concerned with carrying out her late friend's wishes and doing right by him. she is probably the only person who really knew harlan, the full truth of him, and was his friend without any selfish agenda. she is a good person, a person who would never try to claim another's story as her own, which is exactly why harlan trusted her with his life, his home, and his legacy. he couldn't have known what would happen, but he knew she would do her best to honor his memory after he was gone. ultimately though, no matter who else tried to write or edit it (including harlan), this is marta's story and hers alone to live and change and discover.

this has been a long post already so i'll end it here but suffice it to say that over four years post-release, i'm still so fascinated by the ways these characters actively try to either rewrite the story playing out in front of them, or reveal the truth at the heart of things (as blanc would say, the hole inside of the donut's hole). this movie just makes my storytelling and puzzle-loving nerd heart go BRRRRR

[bookcub]

Book Review: Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Thank you to Orbit for providing an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for a review.

As a long time fan of Sarah Rees Brennan, I was highly anticipating her adult release, Long Live Evil. Between the premise and my past lover of her novels, I was excited. And while I did primarily have fun, literally laughing out loud at some points, it was unable to surpass my love for In Other Lands or The Lynburn Legacy.

I really liked Rae as a main character, I love unreliable narrators and morally grey protagonists. The premise of being dropped into your favorite novel, as one of the villains? Wonderful. The meta commentary was great, although somewhat repetitive compared to In Other Lands, which I would say handled it with more nuance. Something I noticed that didn’t bother me but may bother other readers is that Rae was very similar (especially in tone) to Kami and Elliot, protagonists of some of her previous works. Doesn’t bother me because I love those characters but I think it is worth mentioning.

My biggest critique is where oh, where is the character sheet? I am so hoping the published version will have one because I was very lost in the beginning with all the characters. Luckily, I follow the author on social media and knew she had been posting character portraits with brief descriptions so that helped me with the major characters, but the amount of side characters was overwhelming. Get a character sheet!!

The first chapter is a bit of a drag and an info dump and preachy but it picks up from there, action packed and more nuanced.. I also think the second half is a lot stronger, once I was oriented in the story, I was more engaged with the story and the flow really picked up. I did find myself laughing out loud at many moments but there were still a few too many memes for me. I really like Sarah Rees Brennan’s writing style, but I realize her sense of humor isn’t for everyone

The characters were really a highlight for me and even though this isn’t a 5 star read, I am invested enough to pick up the next book. Recommended to those who like meta fiction and character-driven stories.

[cishetseymourkrelborn]

As I am going through my Hamilton phase now for some reason, I've been having a lot of thoughts about it that I'll try to concisely gather here. It's faced criticism for romanticizing the founding fathers and portraying them as more sympathetic than they really were (i.e. Hamilton married into a slave owning family and wasn't actually super pro-immigrant), which I think is fair, but I would also respond to that point by arguing that with the themes of legacy and looking ahead to the future where people who never knew you will be telling your story and you'll have no control over how they do it, it makes sense on a meta level why the characters come off as more sympathetic than they did in real life.

They seem to be semi-subconsciously aware of the audience and purposefully trying to present themselves sympathetically because of that, with the fourth wall breaks and stuff like Hamilton not wanting to refer to the play Macbeth by name even though he in universe is not in a theatre which kind of suggests to me that he knows on some level that he is in a theatre out of universe (the rule about not naming the play Macbeth only applies in theatres) and Burr directly introducing characters to the audience and trying to sell himself as a good person to us/do damage control/lamenting his fate to us in The World Was Wide Enough. And then of course Eliza's gasp at the end is her becoming fully consciously aware of the audience.

I do not know to what extent Lin Manuel Miranda intended for the characters to be semisubconsciously aware of the fact that they are in a play and that they have an audience or if he intended this at all, but with death of the author I think that I can gather sufficient evidence to support this interpretation as a viable one. Still, I have gotten really attached to this concept/interpretation to the point that I've been considering trying to do a rewrite of Hamilton where I take it much further than it's taken in canon if I ever get the time. My ideas are pretty out there and I recognize that, but I think there's some good potential with them.

Imagine if there was a framing device where the characters were temporarily brought out of their afterlives after their deaths (mostly Heaven but there could also be a joke where it's implied that King George didn't come from there) to an extradimensional plane/stage, created by a historian/history writer in some kind of deal with the devil that he struck where he got to bring all of the relevant players in the period of American history that Hamilton covers (some like Benjamin Franklin are obviously missing from Hamilton and thus wouldn't be in this iteration either but let's just ignore that) into this extradimensional plane so that he could get the story of what happened over that period of history directly from them. Hamilton in particular is one of his main specialty areas, so he wants it to especially be centered around him.

After the characters freak out about the fact that they've been randomly summoned from the afterlife, they quickly turn to being concerned about their legacies and start to bombard the historian with questions about what the people in his time think of them. He tells them that answering their questions before they've told him their story would bias how they tell the story, and thus he won't tell them until after they're done telling it. He's going to write a book based on what they tell them, he says, so they can directly influence how they'll be remembered going forward by how they tell their story to him. This is what primarily gets them interested in this exercise of telling him their story, although of course there would be immense variation in how the different characters respond to this situation and how their responses evolve over time with added information.

They realize that Philip, Hercules, Lafayette, and Peggy didn't get summoned with the rest of them because they were off doing something that is beyond the comprehension of mortals on a different plane of existence at the time that the summoning ritual took place (in my head when the other characters explain what they're off doing the descriptions are replaced with eldritch-esque sounds that the historian can't comprehend), and thus Laurens, Madison, Jefferson, and Maria respectively volunteer to play both themselves and them in this musical about their story. Insert jokes about Laurens playing his lover's son and calling him daddy here.

The musical proceeds in a similar way to canon, except the element I described earlier of them trying to sell themselves as sympathetic to an audience they're semisubconsciously aware of is ramped up to 11, because they are obviously consciously aware of the historian. Characters who like each other like Hamilton and Laurens hype each other up as good people who deserve to be remembered fondly, while characters who don't like each other like Hamilton and Jefferson trash each other and each other's attempts to sell themselves as sympathetic to the historian. For example, during the first Cabinet Battle, something that could happen is Madison stage whispering to Jefferson that Hamilton married into a slave owning family in life after Hamilton roasts him for having owned slaves, Jefferson triumphantly pointing that out, and Hamilton trying to defend himself.

For some additional concepts I have for this, Hamilton and Burr reconciled their differences at some point in the centuries they've been in Heaven and became friends again, but the fighting they do over Burr trying to sell himself as sympathetic while describing why he killed him reignites their rivalry and causes them to hate each other again. Hamilton was willing to forgive him for the whole murder thing until he tried to say that he (Burr) couldn't let him (Hamilton) make an orphan out of his grown adult daughter while Hamilton in contrast had small children at the time, at which point he started to reconsider that forgiveness. Hamilton, Laurens, Angelica and Eliza (and Martha Laurens but she wasn't one of the people who was summoned, so she would just be mentioned to also be a part of the relationship) have all at some point formed a polyamorous relationship in Heaven where the only two that aren't dating are Angelica and Eliza, obviously, because they're sisters.

When they're done with the production/telling their story, they all stand for a moment contemplating everything before Eliza goes over to the historian and asks him to answer their questions about their legacies and what people in his time think of them, now that they've fulfilled their end of the bargain. He responds something like "See for yourself" and gestures towards the audience, and the characters all see it for the first time. They realize that they've been performing for us, the audience, this entire time and not just the historian. There was never a book, the point was always this play. After the play, during the time when the actors interact with the audience, they stay in character and ask them questions about what they think of them and what they thought of their performance. Maybe there's some jokes like Hamilton and Jefferson still trashing each other and asking people some variant on "You liked me better than him, right?" Anyway I think all of this would be cool and I might write it at some point.

[unabashedly-so]

💙💜🩷 SDV Bachelor HC 🩷💜💙

How much has each bachelor explored their bisexuality?

Content warning: compulsive heteronormativity, loss of family, grief, risky sexual behavior mention, drinking mention. SFW.

✨The Bachelors✨

Elliott

look me in the eye and just try to tell me this man doesn't already know. i dare you i fuckin' dare you i WANT YOU TO

that line on the 10 heart boat scene about not knowing he could feel that way about another man is bullshit and that is a piece of canon I toss into the sea.

now please understand the majority of this is colored by my very vivid hc of Elliott's upbringing and young adult life, but you're literally reading a hc post that is labeled hc so you bought the ticket now board the train. choo choo mfs.

the low hanging fruit is that this is a man that canonically spends hours on hair care, dresses like that, talks like that, etc. etc.. Yes, you can be cishet etc. and do that, sure.

and don't get me wrong, it's valid that Elliott could just Be Like That. (I love and respect the hell out of that incorrect opinion)

but this man is penny-romance novel cover coded. just. think about that. think about this active CHOICE he is making.

ffs he lives on a BEACH and dresses in a THREE-PIECE SUIT with his PERFECTLY COIFFED hair that he has to spend HOURS on because that's what happens when you LIVE. ON. A. BEACH.

i am going to have an aneurysm about this man's life choices rn

he's arguably pretty self-secure*, which tracks because you don't get to be his age and not have some better understanding of yourself. As others have pointed out, there's no real ""growth"" in Elliott's arc because boy came whole because HE BEEN KNEW HE BEEN THROUGH THIS ALREADY. He's secure in his identity because he's worked it out already! He's moved on! focusing on his career and legacy now that he knows who is he and who he's not!!

*dont make me drag out the receipts his part is already long enough just trust me ok

now meet Elliott in his early 20's and wow, buddy, you are trying way too hard I promise you things are gonna be okay sweetheart

speaking of his early 20's, it's hc to me that he did, uhhhh, so much exploring. of everything. and everyone in the English and Theater department during university.

King Slut, long may he reign. 🙏

just. someone who's not as self-secure and self-aware would not be able to own the aesthetic PLUS the temperament we see with Elliott, who really only gets flustered with the intimate interpersonal stuff because he's a romantic and it's meaningful. He's confident in who he is and the kind of person he wants to be, and you don't get to that point in life without having done a lot of experimenting and soul-searching.

I could write a whole fucking meta on this boy, but for today: 9/10 he knows it, owns it, enjoys it, but he's got more interesting things going on in his opinion than to make one of his core personality traits just Gay/Queer/Bi/Pan, etc. He has an AESTHETIC and BI BY YOBA he's sticking to it.

also he can walk in heels better than you.

Harvey

Hmm, he's actually hard to get a read on for me. There's a few others in the fandom who might have a better take than me, but here's what I can offer.

first let's grant him that he's older. With age comes wisdom, experience, etc. the older bachelor/ettes are just going to be at an advantage vs the younger ones.

also... like 8 years in college. I cannot be swayed away from this as a crucial part of his journey.

twinkle TWINK-le little snack.

it just feels like one of those things he felt happening in high school and might have gotten bullied for it because everyone Knew but he couldn't/wouldn't just own it.

but then in college he finally realized that owning it would give him the power, so he did. kind of. very quietly.

he probably had a boyfriend or two in undergrad. They were definitely the kind to hold hands from the coffee shop to the library. you know the ones, we've all seen 'em. <3

and isn't he just so lucky that he can get butterflies from girls too?

a blessing and a burden for this man with anxiety because, oh no, now everyone's cute.

by the time he gets to Pelican town, his last relationship kind of ended on a sour note, so he's a little discouraged from pursuing romantic relationships, hence why he's a bit guarded and shy and nervous.

he gets a 8/10, he's just quiet about it because who's business is it but his own? also, like, he's literally the doctor for everyone. He's gotta keep some confidentiality in this small town.

Sebastian

while he doesn't show it, I'd say Sebastian is actually quite comfortable with being bi.

I mean like as comfortable as he can be around people in general.

He doesn't bring it up, and doesn't really let anyone know either, but again that's just kind of his MO, regardless of gender.

now when he's Together with someone, well that's a different story. we stan possessive Sebastian in this house 🫡

he probably wouldn't bring it up with the gang unless someone else brought it up first. 🤷‍♀️

would probably give some semi-defensive response of "yeah, what of it??" to his friends, but a low hearts farmer might get a coldly aggro "why are you asking? That's none of your business."

he and Maru Know about each other but keep those conversations private. hashtag just sibling things ig

has definitely kissed guys at concerts before. Lots of people can also provide a feeling of anonymity, letting him get lost in the crowd and not have to worry so much. 10/10

Shane

closeted sportsballer. As a former Closeted Sportsballer, I can see this going two ways.

First option: you DO NOT explore that unless you want things to get real weird REAL FAST.

Like, I'm not even talking locker room nonsense, let's be mature here. Even if you do not like your teammates, you WILL still share a Sports Bond with them built on a shared passion, a common goal, and lots of comiseration.

So if you're already on iffy social standing, which I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say Shane might have had... you're gonna have a bad time.

Then after his gridball career ended, it may have already been baked in that that was Dangerous. OR he could have just been so far down the path of self-loathing that he stopped looking at people romantically.

OR OR--part of his self-loathing actually opened him up to exploring his sexuality......

......which is a very nice way of saying he took part in a lot of risky sexual encounters. 😮‍💨 (with all genders! One night stands do not discriminate!)

so if there were any feelings involved, it was... not good or conducive to self-understanding. Probably made things worse.

cue the drinking! the depression! all the risky behaviors!

ALTERNATIVELY... Option two: he does explore Feelings For Dudes and it could have played into his sportsball exit. 🤔

Hi. Let me just reiterate personal experience here: LEAVING A TEAM CAN REALLY FUCK YOU UP depending on your life outside the sport. Sports teams are a social support group, like, I really hate the phrase "like family"... but literally structurally so similar. If you already don't have a strong family life outside of the sport (like Shane has admitted to, let's fuckin goooooo), AND being on a team is an overall positive thing in your life??

Leaving your team (willingly or unwillingly) takes away that social support. And not just the social/emotional support, but the structure to your life, the routine, the feeling of belonging, the PURPOSE!!!

gee, wonder what kind of feelings those can bring about in a person. like a sad chicken man.

are we seeing a trend here???????

Ok this definitely got more into a sportsball psychological study, but what I'm saying is my money's on gridball heavily influencing his trajectory but since he DIDN'T have the family or social supports outside of it, he crashed and burned afterwards. Contrast with Alex below who DID have social supports and--

focus, bisexuality.

Personally, I like the idea that Shane's been with dudes, but it's never been anything emotionally healthy (except maybe one pre-gridball-exodus which could have prompted the leave......🤔👀) or fulfilling.

5/10, would be 6 but he got -1 because it was driven by self-loathing. >:(

somebody come show him some mlm love!!!

Sam

baby boy. sweet baby boy.

the younger bachelor/ettes are at a bit of a disadvantage because they're in the time of their life where they would be exploring their sexualities in a conducive environment. Not to say the valley isn't but there's, uh, only 11 other singletons there and they all know each other sooooo...

that said, due to Kent's military career, it's likely Sam has had time living outside of Pelican Town, so may be a bit farther ahead than, say, Sebastian who's lived there his whole life.

speaking of Kent, it's canon that Daddy has been in and out of his life and tbf I don't remember exactly how Sam feels about that but

I'm JUST SAYIN'. baby boy gets a whiff of attention from some buff dude who wants to make him his baby girl?? melting.

you know the trope of how girls with absent fathers sometimes overcorrect for that and seek out male attention like crazy? well, who says boys are any different??

what I'm getting at is this: you're trying to tell me Sam has NEVER had a raging crush on Alex?????

I mean fr it was probably like. Alex told him "good choice" on his ice cream flavor once and it was all downhill from there.

plus I'm hoping he's got a solid enough friendship with Sebastian (and Abigail) that they could talk about these things without it getting weird.

also, singer/lead guitarist in a band?? come on, too easy.

anyway 5/10, once again a bit oblivious until he gets smacked in the face. Definitely a flavor of "haha no homo bro! :):) ...... unless...?? 👀"

Alex

closeted sportsballer, round 2 EXCEPT

he canonically admits he crushes real easy. so just statistically speaking, there's an equal likelihood that he's crushed on the male singletons of the valley, too. Which totally doesn't even take into consideration his gridballer time, which I'll get to in a second.

he also admits his crushes don't usually last very long. part of that probably has to do with a lot with attachment issues (seriously he should be more messed up than he is), but if gridball is just SDV American Football, there's probably a good deal of internalized homophobia Alex has had to either work through or not work through. hence why his not het crushes might not last long.

but confusing and conflicting as they may be, THEY'RE STILL THERE. just. probably presenting more like a "wow I'm really noticing this person a lot lately huh. I mean I guess they look pretty good and seem kind of cool..." he's completely and utterly oblivious to so much, his own feelings included.

so what I'm saying is there was a brief window of time where Alex unknowingly had a crush on Sam and, listen, under the right circumstances Sam/Alex (Smalex?) could have been canonized--don'T BOO ME, I'm RIGHT

as for gridball, compulsive heteronormativity is absolutely rampant so there's no way he could have felt comfortable exploring his interest in other gender(s). ESPECIALLY in his case where he's still kind of on the outside, trying to model himself to fit a certain kind of mold. Just, no chance, absolutely none.

and really, Idk, between him and Haley I'm starting to get real compulsive heteronormativity vibes now... not that they're mad about it, but they were kinda forced into those roles and, well, the shoes KIND OF fit I GUESS...

you might say it was ... they're kind of sh... shoeho--shoehorn--*shot*

Anyway, boy's represso. 2/10, if you called him bi he'd say wait why are you leaving , what did you want to tell me???

[good-beanswrites]

Fe Aspec Week Day 7: Free Day -- Legacy

This one took me forever to settle on something I liked -- I was toying around with some ideas about Lukas's epilogue text and the idea of legacy, as well as a bit of meta impact. A few scrapped drawings and 1k words later, I've got this 😂

As always, thank you so much for running this week!! 💜💚 I always have so much fun with the pieces, (it's been the only event week that I can regularly commit to because I always have a blast haha!) and seeing others' amazing work! It's been such a great time :D

Forsyth stepped back from his canvas. He wiped hair from his forehead, hoping he wasn’t smearing any paint there. He studied his work, then his model, then his work once more. He gave a decisive nod. 

“Well. I tried.”

Python choked back a laugh. “That’s not quite the confidence you want to hear from your portrait painter, you know.” He walked up to the canvas, but Forsyth was quick to angle it away from him. 

“Oh, hush, I wasn’t even painting you! I’ll have you know, it was rather difficult trying to paint something without having it in front of me.”

“What are you talkin’ about, Luke was sitting right there for hours!”

At his mention, Lukas perked up. He’d been lounging in front of Forsyth, his eyes lowered to sift through a pile of student writings. He’d been scribbling notes in the margins, absentmindedly angling his face this way and that when Forsyth requested.

“And I am incredibly grateful for his presence. However, I did not want to capture him looking like a sleep-deprived schoolteacher –”

“– but that’s exactly what he is –”

“– so I attempted to recreate my personal favorite expression of his.”

Lukas smiled. “Oh? And what would that be?” He placed the papers aside, giving Forsyth his full attention. Lukas nodded to the canvas, encouraging him to reveal it. 

“Well… you see… the point of this whole project…”

Forsyth searched for the right words. The point of the whole project actually struck him months ago, back at Rigel Castle. 

He and Python had sat for their own portraits, which would later be hung in the great hall to commemorate members of the Brotherhood. Forsyth could have cried seeing he and Python’s likenesses full of dignity and chivalry. The whole time, though, he couldn’t shake the feeling of injustice that boiled in his stomach: Lukas would get nothing. 

Sure, his name would appear in the records as the royal family’s right-hand advisor during and after war, but his image would disappear entirely. He left the Brotherhood to fulfill his dreams long before the kingdom was stable enough to commission a professional painter. With his brother furthering the bloodline and becoming the major focus of the household, Lukas was relieved of all marriage obligations – and opportunities for a couple’s portrait. Paintings alongside any future children were out of the question, as well. 

“It’s terribly unfair!” Forsyth had cried. “Are war and romance the only means to remember a man? Is he any less worthy because he will never marry?”

“You’re overthinking things, Fors.” Python had hardly spared him a glance. “Plenty of good people don’t get their paintings done.”

“And that is just as much an outrage!” 

He brought his concerns to Lukas, who seemed at peace with the situation, as Python was. The pair’s disinterest only caused Forsyth more urgency. After a bit of deliberation, he knew there was only one path forward. 

“I shall take this into my own hands.”

They would find out he meant this very literally. He showed up at Lukas’ schoolhouse with various brushes clutched in his hands, an apron thrown over his chest. He pulled up a nearby seat, propped up an easel, and got right to it. It became their routine: once classes dismissed for the day, Lukas would busy himself with reading through his school materials, and Forsyth would busy himself with work of his own.

He’d done his research beforehand, but had never actually painted anyone’s portrait. He looked again at the finished product.

“I was hoping to capture… er… the point of this work is to commemorate your independent situation… and thus… I remembered the days after you first told me, you were the happiest I’d ever seen you. The face is still a rare one, but after that night, I’ve seen that side of you more and more. I just thought…”

He gave an audible huff. Screw it. 

He turned the canvas around. 

“I am sorry. Perhaps I should have gone with a more dignified look, like the other knights’ portraits. I am aware that I have yet to accomplish a professional’s level of –”

“It’s perfect.” 

Forsyth blinked. 

Lukas stared at the canvas. He appeared to be working out his next words. Meanwhile, Python let out a long whistle. “Lookin’ good! Not too shabby, for your first masterpiece.”

“‘Not too shabby’ is an understatement.” Lukas stepped closer to the piece, his voice full of warmth. “Thank you, friend.”

In the painting, Lukas wasn’t sitting straight-backed and stiff; it was focused on his bust, leaning a bit in relaxed movement. He wore casual clothes, none of his usual professional garments. He smiled. His mouth was a little lopsided, a little odd, pinching his eyes a bit, showing some teeth, but not all – and it was a perfect replication. This was Lukas’s true smile, not the one he put up for others to view. 

Python gave him a poke. “So, now what? Where are we gonna do with it? We can’t just smuggle it into the royal gallery. And I don’t think Lukas is the kind of guy who wants to stare at it here in the school all the time.”

“Well, I… er….”

“I mean, we can certainly just go and hang it up somewhere around town, but I don’t think he’s looking for that, either.”

“I just thought he’d want it! For his legacy!” Forsyth huffed. His eyes shone with The kind of determination that the others knew not to overstep on. There was no stopping him now. “It’s important that he’s remembered through the ages! I think of all the heroes that inspired me – the way I gazed at their images in my fathers’ textbooks, gaining hope from their stories…”

“You’re hoping that Lukas ends up in some dusty textbook someday?”

“Indeed!” He beamed, not realizing that Python didn’t see it as a grand victory. “Just imagine: centuries from now, some harrowed scholar, crushed under familiar struggles. They get a hold of a secondhand book, and suddenly, bam!” He gestured to the painting. “They look upon his face and see that everything will be alright. They’ll think, ‘if Sir Lukas of Valentia can do it, and smile so purely at the end of it all, surely I can too!’”

He clenched his fists, caught up in his own excitement. His gaze was somewhere faraway, imagining this incredible future.  

Python scoffed. 

“It sounds like they’re just as much of a hopelessly sentimental dreamer as you are. They’ll probably think, ‘gods, now I need to study up on this guy too?”

“Python…”

“Or, if they’re like me, maybe they’ll think, ‘mmm, that is one fiiine –”

“Python!”

“Alright, alright. I think it’s a real nice gesture, Fors.”

Lukas had been quietly taking everything in for a while. Now he spoke. “I truly believe this is perfect. As you said – this is an expression only saved for rare occasions. It’s difficult for me to smile so genuinely. I… I never really see it myself.”

He placed a hand on Forsyth’s shoulder. “We can hope it reaches others someday, but regardless, I am grateful to have seen it right now. It inspires me about the future. I… I cannot thank you enough.”

[lostcauses-noregrets]

I came to the fandom after the manga was already concluded, but how does it feel for people like you who have been in the fandom for a long time to finish the shipping race with your ship ending up as the most plausible one for Levi. Like you must have gone through a lot during the process lol but at the end it must have felt good.

Oh wow.  Did we go through a lot?  Did we ever!  Following the manga realtime was a wild, wild ride, especially after Shiganshina. I’ve already written about the fandom’s reaction to the hell that was the Serum Bowl here. Things did calm down a bit after that, particularly once fans understood that Levi had chosen to save Erwin by allowing him to die, but it was still a turbulent ride. 

Despite Yams hinting that Erwin might appear in flashbacks, there was a real fear that Erwin and his legacy would be completely forgotten and written out of the story.  The fact that Hanji mentioned there would be a funeral for Erwin and the fallen soldiers, and then that funeral never happened and we were straight into the time skip and the Marley Arc, only heightened that fear.  I’m still salty about this tbh. 

One of the things to remember about the Marley Arc is that it ran for 16 chapters and 11 months passed before we saw the Paradis cast again, apart from two blurry panels of Levi in chapter 93. 

There was a lot of anxiety about what was happening in the interim and how Levi would appear when he returned, particularly after the alarming subproduct of Titan science panel in 93.  Personally I was holding out for Levi to return with long hair and Erwin Smith Flame of Hope Tattooed across his chest. (@seitsen-sarvi kindly obliged.)  Isayama himself played on Levi’s absence by drawing pictures on his blog of Levi promoting a hot spring in his home town because he had nothing better to do. 

Once the Paradis cast returned, an even bigger fear was that Levi would forget his vow to Erwin, and speculation was rife about Levi choosing a new liege.  Those theories were blown out of the water in chapter 112 when Levi finally reiterated his vow to Erwin and we had the first of (several) flashbacks to the crate scene. 

Once it was clear that Levi hadn’t forgotten his vow and that his prime goal was still to kill Zeke, some fans felt that his character had stagnated, that he had become petty, vindictive and driven by revenge, that he needed to “get over” his hatred for Zeke, and that he should grow up and move on.  This particular argument used to drive me up the wall and I remember writing some meta pointing out that Levi wasn’t a teenage shounen protag on a voyage of discovery, he entered the manga as a fully formed character, and a grown ass man, and had remained consistent ever since. 

As the denouement of the manga approached, and we had another heartbreaking crate flashback in chapter 136, there was some quite acrimonious debate about whether Levi had sworn his vow to Erwin, or to all the Survey Corps’ fallen soldiers.  Most of this debate focused on points of translation that mostly went right over my head.  Have a look at @tsuki-no-ura's blog where you’ll find a detailed analysis of the translations and many very patient responses to fans.  My take on this particular point was that Levi swore his vow to Erwin, but he swore it on behalf of all the fallen soldiers. 

Another endless point of discourse was whether Levi should live or die.  Some Eruri fans desperately wanted him to die so he could be reunited with Erwin, while other fans were understandably outraged by this suggestion.  Personally I was really torn on this point. Ideally I wanted Levi to survive until the very end of the manga when he would die in a blaze of glory while killing Zeke, and then be reunited with Erwin in the afterlife. I never really thought there was the slightest chance of that happening, so when Hanji got *exactly* the ending that I wished for Levi, I was astonished to say the least.  But I also knew that having done it once, Isayama was unlikely to give the same ending to Levi. 

Ultimately, I think most Eruri shippers were very happy with Levi’s ending; he never forgot Erwin, he remained true to his vow, he killed Zeke, helped to save Humanity (as much as it could be saved), and was rewarded with a final vision of his fallen comrades saluting his sacrifice.  It was beautiful. 

The fact that Levi didn’t join the diplomatic mission to Paradis to negotiate with the Yeagerists, was just the icing on the cake. I love that last image of him living his best life with Gabi, Falco, and the Onyankopon, far away from Pardis and the Yeagerists. 

So yeah, that’s a very, very long winded way of saying, yes, as an Eruri shipper, Levi’s ending did feel good to me.  HOWEVER, I have to add that I’ve never seen shipping as a race to be won or lost. As far as I’m concerned the whole joy of shipping is that you can make your blorbos do whatever the hell you want, regardless of canon.  It really saddens me when some fans seem to spend more time shitting on ships they dislike, rather than creating content for ships that they do like. But at the same time, it also frustrates me when people try to debunk the actual canon story lines.  If you don’t like canon, that’s fine, just ignore it, shipping is all about transformative works after all.

I’m going to give the last word to Isayama, who I think is a lot smarter and more knowing than we sometimes give him credit for.  I know a lot of shippers of all stripes gave a wry smile when they saw this beautiful final panel of Levi with Petra, Hanji and Erwin all front and centre.  

Though I couldn’t help noticing that Erwin is the only one still waiting for their partner in the after life…

[thistlecatfics]

oooh this ask game is so fun - any of 7, 8, or 29 please? ❤️

7. a fic that says fuck canon

Family Legacy (1.6k, T)

Three generations of trans/nonbinary/gender questioning Tonks-Lupins.

This fic is more of a "canon defiant" fic than a "fuck canon" fic, but I think with jkr escalating her level of transphobic awfulness to new, extraordinary heights nothing says "fuck canon" than writing all of her canon couples as actually queer and trans and integrating queer history and queer joy and queer grief into the universe she created.

Ted Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks, and Teddy Tonks-Lupin are all trans dykes. It's just a fact.

8. a fic that embraces canon

Cygnus's Failure (Sirius & Cygnus, 3k, T)

In December 1981, Cygnus tries, and fails, to get his nephew out of Azkaban.

I write a lot of canon-compliant fic, but I think this is the only fic of mine that really tries to solve a problem of canon: Sirius's lack of trial. I think it's somewhat realistic that the Ministry would want a scapegoat for Voldemort and have someone to put in prison and blame the whole thing on in November 1981. I don't think it's unrealistic that Sirius does not have his say in court. BUT I do think it's unrealistic that the entire Black family would allow their sole remaining male descendent to go to Azkaban when we know most wealthy purebloods were able to talk their way out of Azkaban (including pre-attack on the Longbottoms Bellatrix!)

So, rather than Sirius going to Azkaban without a trial solely because he's abandoned by everyone, what if he goes to Azkaban partly because he's an insanely stubborn man who is overwhelmed with guilt and who refuses any connection with his blood family and who thinks his only chance to see a certain werewolf is if he remains in prison...

This fic was inspired by two pieces of meta (the first proposing that the Longbottoms were attacked well after 1981 and the second on the Black family response to Sirius being imprisoned). Note that this fic takes place before the attack on the Longbottoms.

29. a fic to know more about me

Duty (Sirius/Regulus, 2k, M)

Regulus knew what a duty was.

I started writing this fic because my emotions were just a total stormy mess while taking the train down to visit my parents, and I needed to displace them somewhere else. I didn't think I would actually be able to turn it into something publishable but then it seamlessly became a Regulus character study fic with just a couple rounds of editing. I think the canon compliance of it helps disguise the way it's frighteningly close to a self-insert fic.

thank you for the lovely ask <3

[esther-dot]

'Why are Aria stans so obsessed with her becoming QITN and write increasingly deranged metas about that happening?'

So, ok, as someone that watched this shit unfold in realtime back in 2019 let me jump in. Aria fans are now fixated on QITN being her endgame because it was Sansa's endgame. Her stans are like toddlers. You know when a toddler hates apples but then sees a fellow toddler at the playground eating apples so now they want an apple too? Yeah, this is literally what is happening. Trust me if Sansa never became QITN and instead become Lady of the Vale or something Aria stans would want that for her endgame too. I'm sorry but Aria was a literal book fan and show fan fave and there would be weekly viral tweets with tens of thousands of likes praising how BaDaSs she was for 8 years and her fans think that GRRM told D and D Aria became QITN in this triumphant moment and they were like '.....Nah, we're going to give that to Sansa who half the fanbase spent close to a decade hating on....thanks for the input tho George.' Like, really? Really?

This is how I know all those endgames came from Martin. Fan fave Jon gets exiled North and White Soccer Mom Feminist icon KhAlEesI goes dark, carpet bombs a city, and gets killed by another fan fave and people think this shit came from D and D? It killllls me how half the fanbase is still committed to this fiction that D and D just totally pulled those endings out of their ass. It makes no sense.

D and D knew all they had to do to stick the landing on GOT for it to be hailed as one of the best shows ever on television was to give Jon and/or Dani some triumphant coronation after defeating the Evil Queen Cersei and that shit would have been praised by every normie that watched GOT for a decade and their legacies as good, or at least competent, showrunners would have been secured. But they had to stick with those endgames to make GOT still seem like an adaptation of Martin's vision. I would have loved to be in on the meeting where Martin told D and D 'So, yeah it's King Bran, Dani goes dark and Jon kills her, Jon then goes back beyond the wall, and Aria goes off columbusing into the new world....btw, I'm not finishing the last two books so even I don't know how to get to those endpoints. Have fun!!' D and D knew they were fucked in that moment lmao.

(about this ask)

Lmaoooo. Can you imagine? So funny.

Someone said shortly after GoT ended that D&D should have just taken the story in their own direction because their interpretation of the characters and the plot points were so misaligned by the end that even if you accept the endgames as Martin's (which I do), you just can't wrap your mind around them in GoT-verse. And I think if they had, they would not have had Jon or Dany on the throne, so the possibility amuses me. They probably would have had Cersei kill them and stay queen or something😂 I think they're personally too into shock value to have ever been down for a HEA for anyone except a Lannister!

Everyone I knew who watched GoT loved Arya (I did too!), but I have seen comments about her being underappreciated by the fandom which baffled me. I guess it's because her endgame wasn't in political power, so the theory is she didn't get what Martin intended for her because D&D were doing fanservice, but that makes no sense. Sansa was hated, Bran had no fanbase to speak of, Dany would have ended up on top if that was the only factor. Oh well. I think most people reject part, if not most, of the endgame, so I guess I can't act shocked. Jon's ending hurts me a lot, so his is where I allow myself to dabble in a little delusion. My poor boy.

[vonkarma2]

Writing Crow Armitage meta IKR I’m contributing to the problem. God as my witness I will write meta about Kaleela or someone next. But I do think it’s interesting. So with Crow something I think is interesting about his character is two seemingly  very contradictory aspects, which is his excessive humility vs his egotism like ok. He is simeltaneously convinced he can’t do anything and needs external guidance and has a low opinion of himself relative to humanity (and to the people he ranks below ie basically just Dashwood he probably does think he’s better than Hollyhock lmao) + that his own thoughts and feelings don’t matter. But at the same time. He views himself as carrying out an important purpose as part of an important legacy and is condescending to others who don’t share his views, most especially to werewolves of course but also often unintentionally to humans as well. Both above and beneath everyone else.

 I think the layers are like as a child he thought he needed to do something important to help his family. He wasn‘t malicious or anything, but he did have a very high opinion of himself at the time. Thought it was cool that he was nobility, thought he was deserving of praise for his own abilities. And I think he does still carry this to some extent to this day, even though it has been greatly complicated. I think his faith in his own control over transformation + over any dangerous situation he gets into in general can be traced back not just to his success in battle over the years, but also to this time, when he was like 15 and had the overconfidence of a high school boy lmfao. Just genuinely sincerely thought he knew better than everyone else, and had a very high opinion of both his knowledge and his ability. What a fucking loser.

Now as an adult he wants his agency taken away, as we’ve stated before, because he can’t trust himself, because if he does he’ll know he’s made a huge mistake. He is at least generally aware, even if he’s not sure why, that the initial decision to leave his family was wrong. And honestly on some level he probably *does* know specifically that what he’s doing is wrong, because of the regret he would have felt as a teenager the first time he got sent to fucking murder someone with his bare hands. He was canonically very distressed by this, he didn’t actually want to hurt anyone, they had to do a lot of heavy lifting to convince him it was justified both before and after the fact. So it’s the regret from that and the recognition of the initial decision to take the aconite in the first place as where it kind of all went wrong that he started his classic strategy of compensating for internal doubt by quadrupling down on what other people are telling him.

So that’s where you see the start of ignoring his own thoughts and beliefs and actively playing into the ideology as a way to cope with the reality of his situation. The ideology says he’s beneath humans, he’s an extension of the Equipoise’s will, he has to take orders from the Prime Gardener because he’s the one who knows what’s best to protect humanity. So of course he does, he genuinely believes in all of this, starts thinking that not only his own beliefs but also straight up his life is not valuable except with regards to being a tool of lycanthropy.

But that’s not all that other people are telling him, right. Part of the manipulation is kind of stroking his ego a little, or more so, like, exaggerating his importance. The outside world is full of heretics full of killers you’re the only thing standing between humanity and the total violence most werewolves are either actively perpetuating or want to. This idea of his own importance contributes to his conviction, right, because it adds a sense of urgency and necessity, and it also associates that with being above other werewolves. 

The commitment to all of this where the contradiction comes in, right. Because he is so completely devoted to the ideology as a way to cover up his own doubts, he can’t let other people question it or go against it either, so in a way it is like he is believing his judgment to be above questioning whereas theirs is not. He is above questioning because he’s replaced his own thoughts with other peoples’, and he sure as hell isn’t going to question them. He becomes like very condescending and very adamant about the points of view others have given him.

So it’s like both sides of the coin. He’s so convinced he’s right about everything because he knows he’s horribly wrong. 

Tangent that’s only semi-related: Another thing with him that’s kind of funny is that because he has not successfully repressed every single thought and desire he has, he becomes very adherent to the letter and not the spirit of the law, right, which you can see in the main story with taking Lennox with him on one of his missions just because he wanted to impress him, thus putting him directly in danger. He doesn’t see a problem with this because the Sanctum can’t take issue with it as long as they never find out, so he isn’t violating any orders :). This makes him a massive fucking hypocrite and an even worse person, but it’s also very funny. Do not take my word for this last paragraph though because I’m not 100% sure on all the details here. The spirit of what Im saying is correct he is a hypocritical bitch for sure

[the-bar-sinister]

#me fighting to get other teen titans animated series fans to be interested in Jericho lmao#I wish I knew how to write good meta because. like. I know he barely shows up but#he’s the son of the big bad#who is a guy who textually has a complex around fatherhood and legacy#you could pull so many good fic ideas out of that#reblog

I hope you don't mind me replying to this, but I really wanted to because I have been in a similar situation.

When I came back to fandom a few years ago after around a decade long absence the whole culture and way people talked about fandom meta and about characters had changed. I really struggled to jump into the new normal of fandom headcanons and chatter.

What I have learned is that there is basically no longer any need to express a complete or fleshed out thought. You can basically just share any idea or thought as it comes to you as an incomplete snippet and if people like it, they will grab a hold of it.

Headcanon lists based around a single concept are very accepted.

If you have a thought about a character you can just post about it as a 'headcanon' without justifying it or explaining why it works for you.

Maybe in this specific case a list of headcanons of thoughts you've had about the relationship of this character and his father would make someone sit up and go "hey that would make a great fic!""

It is not any other fan's job to appreciate a character that you like and find compelling and interesting.

Sometimes a canon fails to make a character compelling and interesting for the majority of a fandom of that work. Often this kind of character was poorly served by the writing.

If there's a character that you find compelling and interesting, and the fandom does not agree and does not feel compelled to make fanworks about them, there are two things you can do.

You can create the fan works that you want to see.

or

You can create and share your meta about the character in a way that convinces other fans that that character is compelling and interesting to create works about.

What you cannot do is compel other fans to create works about characters that they are simply uninterested in.

note: this post was specifically inspired by discussions on the lack of nuanced portrayals of woman characters in fanfiction, and the perceived dominance of slash ships to the exclusion of women, but it applies universally.

[nicolasnelson]

Sebastian’s Backstory (Analysis)

From 2x09 I think we can piece together some of Sebastian’s backstory. So here is my very long analysis/recap on what we know about Sebastian’s backstory and what parts I think are the truth and what parts are lies.

CHILDHOOD (1570s-1580s)

At 8 years old, Sebastian’s parents sold him to merchant ship. This suggests he grew up in a poor family and probably didn’t have much of a childhood to begin with.

Sebastian continuously ran away from the ship, but the crew always found him. He was either really bad at running away, or the crew had a few supernatural members on board who could track him. Werewolves or vampires could do it by scent. Witches could do it by using an object he owned.

They punished him, likely with some form of torture, perhaps magical in nature. This happened repeatedly over the years, likely at every port they visited.

When Sebastian was 17, he was turned into a vampire. This was after 9 years of being enslaved to this merchant ship. It’s quite possible he found a way to convince someone to turn him into a vampire so he could fight back.

Sebastian likely slaughtered his entire crew and took over the ship. He became a pirate and killed so much that he gained the nickname “Sebastian the Merciless.” His ship flew the pirate flag, black with a white skull and crossbones.

He added other vampires to his crew and they went searching for things to steal or people to attack (Alaric calls them marauding vampire pirates). He would have needed some non-vampires to man the ship during the day, probably a witch or two on board.

ROANOKE (1587-1590)

His ship came to the Colonies (America) and he stopped at Roanoke. It is likely he met Cassandra there since she was involved with the townspeople and subject to their rules.

In Roanoke, Sebastian continued to be a monster. He still fed on humans while he fell in love with Cassandra. She obviously saw some good in him because she protected him from the town leadership, even going so far as to summon a monster worse than him so the town wouldn’t discover him.

Cassandra desiccated him to save him from the monster she summoned, and he watched from a spectral state as she was torn apart by the monster. She left the token that could destroy the monster around his neck in his coffin.

Somehow his coffin was moved from Roanoke to Mystic Falls. It’s unclear why it was in the basement of the Salvatore school or how long it has been there.

Sebastian claims to have been in that coffin for 483 years. Judging by his backstory, I think he is lying. He was likely a vampire for at least a few years before he was desiccated. I find it unlikely he became a vampire, formed a vampire pirate crew, and fell in love with a witch all in the span of one year, especially considering how much longer it took to sail on the ocean in that time period. But it is still possible that he was indeed desiccated at 17. We can only guess whether he was telling the truth or not. (I did the math, and if Sebastian really was desiccated in Roanoke, he would have only been desiccated for a maximum of 440 years.)

AWAKENING (September 2028)

MG and Kaleb splashed some blood onto Sebastian’s coffin while they were moving the blood fountain. It was enough to allow Sebastian to reach out to someone “fragile minded.” He chose Lizzie for unknown reasons.

Continuously, he warns her he is dangerous while flirting with her. He is definitely saying the right things to get close to her, and when they go on their date, he asks for what he needs. I think it’s important to note that he asks her if she has a supply of human blood and does not ask her to give him any of her blood. She probably would have if he’d asked, but he does not want to harm her or accidentally kill her if he drinks too much.

MG interrupts and tells Lizzie she’s seeing things, thereby breaking Lizzie’s connection to Sebastian, so Sebastian reaches out to MG.

MG won’t help him, so Sebastian takes advantage of Wade. It’s important to note that he doesn’t kill Wade. The Sebastian of the past would have killed him without a thought, but Sebastian of the present lets him go once he has enough blood to restore himself.

Sebastian lurks around the school and tries to attack Kym in the woods, but MG and Kaleb stop him.

When the Croatoan is on the loose, Sebastian offers MG sensitive information about his past to help them defeat it. He could have let the Croatoan wipe everyone out, or withheld the information until many more were slaughtered, but he gave MG the information as soon as he remembered it. He specifically mentioned that he didn’t want Lizzie to be killed by the monster.

Vardemus meets with Sebastian and decides he should be enrolled in the school to keep him from attacking people on the streets. Since this is Clarke, he may have had other plans for Sebastian, but we can’t know what that might have been.

THE SALVATORE SCHOOL (October-December 2028)

Lizzie makes Sebastian a daylight ring so that he can go pick up Landon with her. Sebastian says he wants to drink human blood, and Lizzie tries to ditch him on the side of the road.

Sebastian kills Landon. I fully believe that someone has told him that Landon is a phoenix and will come back to life if he’s killed. He was likely curious to see how that worked and probably did it mostly to annoy Lizzie. Landon wasn’t threatening Lizzie when it happened, and Sebastian isn’t just going to snap someone’s neck for no reason (at least not now).

Sebastian is charged with changing out the flat tire, even though he’s never done that before. He somehow manages to do it, but now that we know he worked on a ship, that kind of handy work wouldn’t be too bad for him.

Lizzie is not accepting his advances, so he reminds her he’s dangerous and grabs her neck. His gamble succeeds and she’s into the idea of danger. Sebastian and Lizzie have sex on the hood of her car.

Sebastian admits that the world has been cruel to him and that he wants to stay at the Salvatore school.

Sebastian and Lizzie have a lot of sex back at the Salvatore school, and they make out in the hallways. It’s safe to say the whole school, minus the teachers, know that she and Sebastian are kind of a thing.

Alaric tells Sebastian that he’ll have to pass some tests if he is to stay at the school. He has Landon administer the tests because he will come back to life if Sebastian kills him.

Sebastian makes an effort with the werewolves.

Sebastian recognizes that Alyssa set a trap for him by cutting herself on purpose. He has incredible self control. Literally every other vampire in the room has red eyes and fangs bared, but Sebastian is completely calm the whole time.

Sebastian helps calm down MG when MG’s ripper side takes over. He didn’t need to do this, but he obviously cares about MG enough to stop him from making a huge mistake. He knows about rippers and has likely seen some in his time.

Sebastian warns Landon that he should be worrying about MG and Alyssa instead of him.

Landon takes Sebastian to see the witches. Alyssa tries to get him to fail the tests again by using her magical orb to read his deepest feelings. It’s pretty clear that he’s hoping Alyssa will see how much he desires Lizzie and get embarrassed by his feelings. Instead she sees the truths he can’t even admit to himself yet. 1) The modern world is terrifying, 2) He’s afraid they won’t let him stay at the school, 3) He’s afraid they’ll find out about his past and throw him away “like trash off the side of a boat.” Alyssa’s word choice here makes me wonder if the feelings orb revealed anything about his piratey past. And then lastly, 4) He knows Lizzie is better than him and that he doesn’t deserve her.

Sebastian reacts badly, throwing Landon off of him, and then the witches use a spell on him. Lizzie stops them, and Sebastian looks genuinely terrified. He runs from them, embarrassed and wounded. I think what Alyssa said served as a big wakeup call to him. He has a past that he can’t escape, and he’s afraid that he will end up hurting Lizzie.

Sebastian works out his frustrations by practicing his sword work in the gym. Landon comes to talk to him. Sebastian opens up to him about his past on the merchant ship and how he was tortured.

Sebastian leaves campus and feeds on a girl jogging outside at night. Alaric has followed him and shoots him with a crossbow. I fully believe Sebastian knew Alaric was following him. He lured Alaric away from the campus to get him to stop him.

Alaric has discovered Sebastian is “Sebastian the Merciless,” a vampire pirate, but he’s still willing to give Sebastian a second chance. Sebastian could easily take this chance. He could act grateful and get the chance to stay at the school and sleep with Lizzie to his heart’s content. A true villain would accept that offer.

But Sebastian claims he’s controlling Lizzie and that he’s had sex with her all around the school. He says things that target Alaric’s anger. He’s goading him into attacking him. I fully believe Sebastian wanted to die to protect Lizzie. He felt that his past was too much to overcome and that she would be better off without him.

Alaric temporarily locks Sebastian up. Either Emma got a last minute flight or Alaric anticipated this happening and had her on standby. Emma helps to lock Sebastian in the prison world the twins made for Kai.

THE PRISON WORLD (February 17, 2018 - prison worlds run on a loop)

Sebastian encounters Alaric, Josie, and Lizzie in the prison world. He clearly knows that Alaric has sent multiple students to the prison world because he says “The miseducation of young minds.”

TL;DR - Sebastian has killed many people, but he is capable of love. He’s willing to sacrifice himself to protect Lizzie. Basically, there’s a lot more to Sebastian than we’re seeing.

[Updated 1/29/20]

[thequeenofsastiel]

Pete's Tattoo

I’ve been meaning to do some meta about Pete’s tattoo since the moment I saw it and just haven’t gotten around to it until now. Forgive me if someone else has already said what I’m about to.

I recognized Pete’s tattoo as a Shakespeare quote initially, though I didn’t have any context because all I knew was that it was a Shakespeare quote. I didn’t know from what. But the fact that it was intrigued me greatly. Why would Pete have that?

So I did some research. Again, apologies if this is well documented.

The quote is from a play called “All’s Well That Ends Well”. I did some research on interpretations of that quote and ended up reading the whole play, because I felt like many of the interpretations were somewhat lacking. And I’m glad I did read it, because honesty is a theme throughout the play, but in a subversive way.

The play is about a woman, Helena, who’s in love with a count, Bertram, who wants nothing to do with her, since she’s a commoner. However, the king is sick, and none of his physicians have been able to cure him. Helena is the daughter of a very talented deceased physician, and, with the help of Bertram’s mother(who essentially adopted her when she was younger, and is known only as the Countess), manages to obtain an audience with a king. He’s resistant to Helena's help, because he’s a classist, sexist shit, but she promises that should she fail to cure him, she’ll consent to the most excruciating death imaginable. But, should she succeed, he’ll grant her the hand of any man of her choosing. She succeeds, and picks Bertram, who’s an asshole to her and flees the country to Florence to participate in a war before consummating the marriage. Not that I blame him, really, because being forced into a marriage sucks. Though admittedly I rather dislike that the only complaint he levied against her was that she was low born. Before leaving, he gives her a letter which says he’ll only consent to be her husband if she can manage to get his family ring, which never leaves his hand, off of him, and becomes pregnant with his child, both of which are things she can’t do if she never sees him again, which is his plan. He writes “Till I have no wife I have nothing in France,” implying that he won’t return to France unless she annuls the marriage or dies. So she fakes her death and follows him to Florence, where he’s seducing every virgin he can find. She meets up with one that he’s trying to woo, Diana, who’s having none of his bullshit, and promises her and her mother a lot of gold if they’ll get the ring from Bertram, and somehow help Helena trick him into having sex with her and think it’s Diana. So Diana persuades Bertram to part with the ring, Helena rapes him(though how this is achieved is never explained), and becomes pregnant. Bertram returns to France, is pardoned by the king, but then there’s a very weird scene which involves a whole lot of deceit simply so Helena can have a dramatic reveal. Bertram randomly declares that he loves her now, and the play ends, somewhat abruptly.

There are a few references to honesty throughout the play. Helena’s father’s skill as a physician is described by the Countess as “almost as great as his honesty”. She then says that Helena’s “dispositions she inherits, which makes fair gifts fairer; for where an unclean mind carries virtuous qualities, there commendations go with pity—they are virtues and traitors too. In her they are the better for their simpleness. She derives her honesty and achieves her goodness.”

The next time honesty is mentioned is in the quote being discussed. The context of it is interesting. It’s in a conversation between Diana and her mother, in which they’re discussing the importance of virginity. The reason they’re doing that is because Bertram and his douchey friends keep promising to wed virgins so they can have sex with them. The full quote is “The honor of a maiden is her name, and no legacy is so rich as honesty.”

My basic interpretation of this quote is that the “name” being referred to is “maiden” AKA a virgin woman, and “no legacy is so rich as honesty” means that since your worth as an unmarried woman is tied to your virginity, calling yourself a maiden can’t be a lie. If it is, if you aren’t a virgin, it lowers the chances of you marrying someone wealthy, and thus your “legacy”, which I infer means children, won’t be rich.

Shortly after this conversation they meet Helena, disguised as a pilgrim, who wheedles information about Bertram out of them. They bring up the fact that Bertram was married against his will, and Helena badmouths herself, yet adds “All her deserving is a reserved honesty, and that I have not heard examined.” Given the conversation that just took place, I think the “honesty” being referred to may be virginity.

Then they see Bertram, and Diana talks shit about him, saying he isn’t honest. Twice.

Later, when Helena is apologizing to Diana for using her to get Bertram, Diana says “Let death and honesty go with your impositions. I am yours upon your will to suffer.”

Finally, towards the very end of the play, the king describes what Diana did for Helena as “honest aid”.

So honesty seems to have a few different meanings in this play. One, it refers to the actual definition of the word. Two, it refers to virginity. And three, as doing something which achieves ostensibly positive ends, regardless of if deceit is involved.

Which leads us to the title of the play itself. Helena says those words exactly twice during the play, both times in reference to everything she’s doing to get Bertram to finally agree to be her husband. All of this is basic utilitarian logic—the ends justify the means.

Which is why it makes perfect sense for Pete to want to have a quote from this play as a tattoo. In his conversation with Porsche, he justifies beating up a man at Kinn’s order by saying that there are no heroes or villains in reality, unlike what he thought as a child while playing with friends. Pete doesn’t want to be a villain. He doesn’t want to be evil. So he has to justify working for the mafia in his mind. I imagine that his grandmother likely has something to do with why he’s there in the first place—he wants to take care of her, just as Porsche came there initially to take care of Porchay.

But why specifically that quote? Why a quote whose original meaning is about how important it is for a woman to stay a virgin until marriage? What is it about that quote that does it so much for Pete?

We do have to keep in mind that English isn’t Pete’s first language. Hell, it’s mine and it still took me some time to parse the sentence because of the antiquated and poetic nature of it. So there’s the possibility that he didn’t understand the actual meaning of the line. And of course he might not even have read the play at all, simply saw the quote out of context and liked it. Which means that there are two ideas to consider.

If we operate under the assumption that he DIDN’T understand the original meaning of the quote for whatever reason, what is it about Pete that would make him like that quote so much that he’d get a tattoo of it(the only one we’ve seen on him thus far)? Given how obsessive the main family is about keeping their bodyguards on a tight leash, he probably got it before working for them. Perhaps before he even considered working for the mafia. When he still believed in the idea of heroes and villains. After all, heroes are usually shown as being honest. So maybe he valued honestly deeply, and wanted it to be what people remembered of him.

But what if he DID understand? If so, I think the timing of when we first saw it is actually crucial to understanding the meaning of it. The episode in which we see it is the same episode in which we see him start to enjoy being tortured and demeaned by Vegas. When his submissive and masochistic tendencies are revealed. Perhaps he was, on some level, always aware of his desires. And perhaps he hated them. It would make sense, given the way he was raised. So he read that quote, and got it as a tattoo to remind himself to never indulge in those desires, because if he did, he’d lose his worth.

What do y’all think?

[pearlcaddy]

I'm so grateful that we found each other over this delightful show and have spent the last year and a half spiraling together about the found family and the soulmatism and the fantastic music and the representation and the heartwarming good vibes and also those occasionally devastating vibes. To all the friends I’ve made in this fandom, and to all the creators who have made incredible fics, gifs, fanart, etc., I don’t have the words to capture how much joy and comfort you’ve brought me, or how much your hard work, generosity, and creativity have astounded and inspired me.

After years of feeling uninspired and creatively locked, JatP unleashed my creative spirit. It brought me back to writing with an urgency I haven’t felt in years, and it introduced me to hobbies I never would have expected I’d find. I’ll always be grateful to this nine-episode gem that woke me up and re-lit that spark. This show helped me through an incredibly rough two years, and I hope we'll all continue to draw inspiration from it when we feel able to.

The covid cancellation is really disappointing, but it just confirms what we already knew:

The show belongs to us, fully and completely. It’s our playground to do with what we wish. We’re the ones who help it live on: in fic, in art, in gifs, in vids, in meta.

The legacy of Julie, Luke, Alex, Reggie, Willie, and Flynn is now ours to carry on.

[nemetonisevilpassiton]

Where the Monsters Live - a teen wolf meta

 I haven't written a teen wolf meta in some time not because I think everything has been said but it's hard to open a conversation when no one is listening. But with the movie coming I think it's finally time for me to explain the Nightbreed thing.

Because I keep mentioning it and then never explain why.

There are inspirations I can prove [Event Horizon], there are those I know are absolutely true but there's not QUITE enough information [Legacy of Kain] and then there's Nightbreed.

Davis knows Clive Barker's work, I can prove that  easily - [a three part mega meta about Hellraiser and Peter] but then there's Nightbreed.

If Hellraiser is about want Nightbreed is about the outsider. It is considered one of the first queer movies [one of the others, Nightmare on Elm Street 2 is heavily referenced in season 2 with Jackson] and where Freddy is an analogue for Jesse's homosexuality [or bisexuality, depending on how you read it] but Nightbreed has no easily determined as gay content but if it got any more queer I'd be surprised.

Jodorowski [the guy who wanted to make the animated Dune movie] called it the "the first truly gay fantasy horror epic," and hyped the slash potential between patient and doctor but other critics said that was a vast understatement. Tyler Coates argues that it represents queerness and otherness ""Because normalcy is subjective and based solely on how the majority defines it, it's important to establish mini-societies and cultures with people like you"

Nightbreed is the narrative is one of a young man [Aaron Boone] who is manipulated by a male authority figure [Decker] into believing himself a monster and seeking a sanctuary becomes a literal monster. Or Clive Barker, a gay man writing in the UK in the 1980s [the same period Sandman was written to give you some context] who took the idea of "if you will make me the monster I will show you how monstrous I can be" with the idea of the monster as victim. Boone, who only wants to belong, becomes their saviour because he wants to save a single person, a human who takes his side.

Unfortunately before I can take this further with the narrative I have to explain the second narrative = the one of the movie. Barker wrote Cabal and all was good, then because of the popularity of Hellraiser he was approached by Morgan Creek who thought that Cabal [a novella] would be easier to adapt than Weaveworld. Burned by previous adaptations of his work [Rawhead Rex - as bad as you think it might be it's actually worse] Barker agreed as long as he could direct [as he did with Hellraiser] but he was tortured by studio execs who recut the movie behind his back. When the movie came out everyone knew that it was a pasted together mess where they took the core narrative of monsters as victims [whilst still being monsters] with over an hour cut from the finished cut.  But the movie still formed a huge cult following.

Years later a VHS copy of the original work print which is the longest cut which restored the original ending and was so popular at horror conventions that Scream Factory convinced Fox to restore the original work and released it as the "Cabal Cut" [So that's three different versions with different narratives so far, the Theatrical Cut, the Directors cut, and the Cabal Cut] and that convinced Clive Barker to get back involved and he released a fourth cut.

So which one of these has Davis seen? All of the above.

As a teenager I found so much comfort in the Theatrical Cut and my mother, knowing how much it meant to me, once taped an entirely new cut off the BBC, which is probably the only one I can say that Davis HASN'T seen and it might be the shortest cut.

So yeah

the story is about Boone, a young man who has been and out of psychiatric care all of his life, in the book he has heard of Midian there and incorporated it into his own personal mythology, in the film he dreams of it. Boone's troubles include impotence [actually important] but over the past few months he has been doing better, he's weaned himself off his meds, he's in a healthy relationship with Lori [I'm unsure if the character in Teen Wolf is named for her or Lori Stroud] when his doctor, Decker [played by David Cronenberg! that David Cronenberg] who convinces Boone that he has been killing people in his sleep and he has to turn him in after killing 17 people including woman and kids. He gives Boone what he says are valium and Boone, tripping balls, walks in front of a truck.

In the hospital he meets a man called Narcisse who mentions Midian, to get more information Boone manipulates Narcisse into giving him directions and Narcisse determined that Boone take him with him peels off his face [in the movie it's everything on his head but his face], whilst the hospital is working to fix this Decker shows up with the police and Boone flees. With the directions he goes to Midian, in the book this is a cemetary next to an abandoned gold town, but in the film it's just a random cemetary in the wilds. There he falls asleep and wakes up to two of the "breed" Kinski and Peloquin who want to eat him, telling Boone he's an "innocent" [and killed nobody] Peloquin [who gets the best lines] bites Boone and chases him to the gates of the cemetary where Boone is confronted by the police. Decker convinces the police Boone has a gun and they shoot him dead.

In the movie we see Boone's body reawakening but in the book it's left "he's dead"

The story is then taken up by Lori who disbelieving of Boone's status as a "babykiller" wants to go to the place where he died and drives out there, meeting a woman called Cheryl [who has the second best lines in the movie] and goes to the cemetary where she finds a weird creature and a woman begging her to bring her out of the sunlight. lori does this and the creature turns into a child who cannot understand that the light hurts her because she's too little, and forms a bond between the two, her mother Rachel, tries to help Lori but is shut down by Doug Bradley. Going back into the sunlight Decker goes after Lori because he thinks Boone survived the shooting and now knows his secret - that HE is the serial killer. Boone comes to save her but he isn't alive, he's "beyond death". Narcisse interferes and Decker escapes.

Decker goes to the local motel kills everyone and then to the police station telling the police chief, Eigermann, that Boone is alive and he did it. Boone has been thrown out of Midian for threatening its security and Lori takes him to the motel where "everyone's dead, Dave", overwhelmed by the blood Boone eats some of the bits. Eigermann shows up and arrests him getting a doctor to prove he is "walking around in my fucking cell dead" and that Decker was right and he has helpers under the cemetary. A few deputies go to the cemetary and find Ohnaka, a peaceful breed who looks human, they drag him into the light and start one of the most uncomfortable scenes in horror as he starts to turn to dust and turns to each of them in turn but in their horror they push him away until he dies. If you can watch that scene without thinking oh it's a gay lynching I'll be very surprised.

Eigermann realising the sun is his best weapon puts together a mob of rednecks with all the weaponry they can find and attacks the cemetary and the necropolis beneath it. Understanding the vast majority of the "monsters" are perfectly harmless and incapable of defending themselves plans are put in place for them to flee but ....

okay here's where most of the changes happen, there's what happens in the book, what happens in the theatrical cut and what happens in the cabal/directors cut

in the book after springing Boone from jail he realises he is empowered [physically and sexually] by his change and returns to Midian to put up enough of a defence to get everyone out, he fights with Decker and kills him, trying to remove Midian's founder, Baphomet, he is rebranded Cabal who will gather up the nightbreed and find them a new home, Lori realising that he is immortal stabs herself so he has to turn her to save her life and they go off into the sunset. This is basically how the director's cut/cabal cut ends except sometimes Narcisse is killed by Decker, sometimes not. In the book Ashberry and Eigermann put together a monster hunting squad leaving the story open.

in the theatrical cut Boone releases the feral uncontrollable nightbreed, the berserkers to help them fight and is seen as victorious, the tag-along priest, Ashberry, finds Baphomet whose blood turns him into a sort of nightbreed and he resurrects Decker to help him hunt them down.

so- yeah, not much difference.

Now some of you will have already realised that the story of a young man manipulated by the one male role model he has and bitten, transformed into a beast and forced to become saviour with the help of his plucky love interest is what teen wolf seems to be without any digging. But that core doesn't QUITE work even with a cursory reading, because Scott doesn't want to save the monsters, he never sees the werewolves as anything BUT monsters and Boone's easy everyman status doesn't work with Scott at all, although Scott is easily as manipulative. And I wonder if the change between them, Scott's inability to be the saviour Boone becomes, Scott's unwillingness to do what Boone is happy to do [kill to protect], Scott's inability to give up Allison where Boone constantly tries to drive Lori away to keep her safe puts up this dissonance.

Yet the parallels are very really obvious which is why Nightbreed [never a good movie, an important movie, but it features ACTING!, matte paintings instead of landscapes, wooden and wobbling set stages, the best director in it is one of the hammiest actors] keeps coming up. You can't NOT mention it because the parallels are so clear but they're also so wonky.

When I rewatched Hellraiser I was surprised that the Frank/Julia thread in Teen Wolf was so apparent, and so thorough between Peter and Lydia, how the corruption of the mental health facilities was so blatant in both. It was in your face, with Nightbreed it's like Teen Wolf was made from the memory of the film he watched years before but it's all so deliberate. Making Scott a saviour would have been easier than what we got, a character who has all of Boone's worst traits and none of his good. Scott's costuming echoes James Sunderland from Silent Hill but Derek is dressed, especially in season 1, just like Boone. Derek's early incompetence is not something Boone ever struggles with and Boone was bitten where Derek was born. Deaton = Decker is easy but Deaton's motives are never revealed, Decker wants a scapegoat to keep killing and will do anything he can to do that, but Deaton never stops manipulating Scott, both in ways that are positive and negative.

Gerard and Eigermann are probably besties.

The concept of Monster = Victim is unique to barker, no one did it before or after to the same extent, there are plenty of "man is the real monster" but that's not quite what happens, the nightbreed ARE monsters, they include cannibals and people who can turn into animals and smoke, Dracula would fit right in and they'd feed him happily, but they are also children, the disabled, the ones who could never pass as human. And Barker, in Nightbreed's most famous quote puts it succinctly and sums up Teen Wolf very well which is why I'm SO adamant that they're related.

Rachel: "To be smoke, to be a wolf, to live for ever: it's not so terrible. You call us monsters but when you dream, you dream of flying and changing and living forever, you envy us, and what you envy..."

Lori: "we destroy."

What is Teen Wolf if not that envy, and a character who is both a wolf and a destroyer, one who envies but cannot accept anything else, who did not seek to join the monsters, and hates that he has become that. And in the hands of a better writer we wouldn't have the same Nightbreed dilemma, where it almost manages to say what it wants to say and what it does it does by accident and can't be considered "good" as much as resonant.Outcasts found in Nightbreed, in Midian, a place to belong, a place where their sins, both real and imagined, would be forgiven, where they would not be judged.The same is true of the mythical "Hale pack", judging by fandom and just numbers, more people are fascinated by the Hale Pack under Derek Hale, whose journey is less like Boone's than even Scott's even if they are dressed the same, [usually this fits SO well, Scott's comparison to James Sunderland is blatant, Stiles' story matches that of Angela in Silent Hill 2 who he dresses like at the same time as Scott first appears in the green jacket, his abuse by his mother is the same as  hers, although the Sheriff is a much better parent than Angel's father whom it is heavily implied sexually abused his daughter]

I could write books about the two of them, and why Nightbreed was so influential both on this and media in the wider sense, even when all we had was the theatrical cut people were writing books and albums and making works about Midian, even before fandom found its home on the internet people cosplayed named members of the 'breed, the Peloquin, Rachel, Lylesburg etc. But I've already written 2,5k words and I've barely scratched the surface.

Maybe what Davis wanted to write, because it's meatier between the teeth as a writer, was what if Boone didn't want to save the 'breed. What if he worked with Decker to bring about their destruction - and he botched the landing - hard.

[aspoonofsugar]

Hi! I really enjoy reading your metas and started watching (well, binging) RWBY recently because of you, and I was wondering if it would be okay to ask for an Oscar Pine analysis? He ended up being one of my favourites, but getting into the fandom I was sort of sad to see there wasn't much meta/analysis to be found of his character and wondered if you had any thoughts to share?

Hello anon!

I am very happy you are enjoying RWBY thanks to my metas and I love Oscar too!

Personally, I think that his arc has still to enter its climax though, so this is why I have not been writing much about him myself. Let’s say that I am waiting for his foiling with Ruby (which is set up) to be properly explored.

As for now, I can share some thoughts on Oscar and also point you to @misstrashchan blog which is full of cool oscar’s meta :). @hamliet’s alchemy metas may interest you as well since she has predicted Oscar will be very important to the story because of his alchemical motif.

Anyway, here we go with some miscellanea thoughts on Oscar.

BASIC PREMISE AND THEMES

Oscar is bound to be very important to the story to the point that even if he appears later on, his existence is foreshadowed pretty early:

Blake: Well... i-it's about a man with two souls, each fighting for control over his body.

Blake’s line also summarizes Oscar’s main conflict in the series:

Oscar: I'm not upset that you left. I'm upset you came back. I started to feel like me. Not the same me I was before all of this, but… the me I always wanted to be.

Oscar is struggling to become his own person.

On one hand he doesn’t like who he is and wants to change:

Oscar: I always knew that I wanted to be more than a farmhand, but this? Who would ask for this?

On the other hand he is scared of becoming just one of Ozpin’s lives and to lose himself completely:

Oscar:  I'm just going to be another one of his lives, aren't I?

In short, he is scared of who he might become:

But our greatest fear will be realized If we fall and lose ourselves to fear We've become what we feared all our lives Who will you see? There in the darkness When no one is watching Who will you be? When you're afraid And everything changes Will you see a stranger? Feel proud or betrayed?

It is a struggle linked to self-identity which is a key topic in a coming of age story, like RWBY is.

Symbolically, him and Ozpin’s relationship calls back to a parent-child one in the sense that the child must learn from the parent, but in the end he must also claim his own agency.

We see it in Oscar’s story with him initially following Ozpin’s lead, but later on becoming the one in charge much more than Ozpin.

I would also like to highlight that a child-framed character struggling to become their own person and self-actualizing is a recurring motif in RWBY.

We see it with Penny:

Pietro: I lost you before. Are you asking me to go through that again? No. No. I want the chance to watch you live your life.

Penny: But dad… I am trying to.

She loves Pietro and understands that he wants to protect her, but still wants to make her own choices.

Then there is also Ruby, whose main trauma centered around her mother Summer Rose:

Ruby’s story is about learning how to make Summer’s legacy (symbolically tied to the silver eyes) her own. Ruby must overcome Summer both in the sense that she must face her grief and in the sense that she must fine the happy ending Summer couldn’t reach.

Finally, there is Cinder, who is the most tragic example:

Cinder’s relationship with Salem is an abusive parent-daughter one that is represented symbolically by Cinder’s Grimm hand.

It is important that all these characters are Oscar’s foils. When it comes to Ruby and Cinder it is still too soon to have any definitive thoughts on this foiling. However, when it comes to Penny, it is already clear that their foiling has to do with the theme of trust explored in the Atlas arc.

RUBY AND OSCAR

As stated above, it is too soon to properly analyze these two’s foiling.

However, we can already point out some recurring motifs/interpretative keys that might become important later on.

In general, I would say Oscar and Ruby are clearly meant to be complementary as this post by hamliet explains.

This complementarity also comes up structurally, I think.

First of all, both Ruby and Oscar end up embodying a theme in a specific arc.

Ruby embodies the idea that you must keep on fighting, even when winning is impossible.

Oscar embodies the lesson that you must trust, even if it is difficult.

Oscar learns from Ruby:

Ruby: Hey, Oscar? This isn't gonna be easy, but the fact that you're even trying says a lot about you. You're braver than you think.

And Ruby learns from Oscar:

Oscar:  No. What Salem wants is to turn us against each other. Just like this. Jaune has a point. We can work separately and still be united.

Secondly, they seem to have an internal/external motif going on.

This is firstly shown in the battle against Cordovin:

Oscar: Right, but her missile launcher doesn't lock in, it pops out! Without her shields, one well-placed shot could detonate the missiles while they're still in the launcher!

Jaune: The missile launcher springs out... but the raw dust gets locked in!

Basically, they make opposite uses of the same weakness. On one hand Oscar thinks to destroy the cannon from the outside. On the other hand Ruby evolves Oscar’s idea and destroys it from inside.

In the Atals arc, the opposite happens (metaphorically).

Just when Ruby is telling the world the truth about Salem, Oscar does same, but in Salem’s inner circle. It is the same basic idea applied externally and broadly and internally and in a focused way.

OSCAR AND OZMA

Let’s delve into allusions.

First of all, there is a theory about Oscar alluding to The Little Prince and I personally love it.

Apart from that, Oscar’s most clear allusion is linked to the series of books set in the land of Oz. Here is some info taken from the wiki:

Oscar alludes to the Tippetarius, from the novel The Marvelous Land of Oz. This allusion has had the following influences on the character and show:

-Both lived simple farmhand lives with their female guardians before leaving. -Both first encountered the Scarecrow/Qrow when they arrived at the largest city in the land, Mistral/Emerald City. -Both become central characters because of their relation to the Wizard and to Ozma. -Tip turns out to be Princess Ozma, the lost true ruler of the Land of Oz, while Oscar becomes the host for the spirit of Ozma, the ancient hero and ruler. -Tip, as Princess Ozma, takes over the land after the Wizard of Oz, while Oscar becomes Ozma's host after Ozpin, who alludes to the Wizard of Oz.

Moreover:

-Oscar is the first name of The Wizard of Oz, the character Ozpin alludes to, whose full name is Oscar Zoroaster Phadrig Isaac Norman Henkel Emmannuel Ambroise Diggs. -"Oscar Pine" somewhat sounds like "Ozpin", Ozma's previous incarnation.

Some thoughts on this.

Basically, Oscar and Ozpin’s respective allusions are intertwined. What is more, they have the name of the other’s allusion.

Oscar alludes to princess Ozma, but his name is the one of the Wizard.

Ozpin alludes to the Wizard, but his true name is Ozma.

This is pretty interesting on two levels.

On one hand the Wizard of Oz was actually a fraud. He was not a real Wizard, but a simple human that found himself in Oz and impersonated a powerful Wizard.

On the other hand Princess Ozma is the true ruler of Oz. She is directly linked to the fairy land and in some adaptations has some powers.

In RWBY Ozma is the character linked to magic and a fairy world, while Oscar is the normal human who finds himself in a conflict bigger than himself.

Still, Ozpin is the one hiding things to the protagonists and being less competent than he initially seems, while Oscar turns out to be resourceful and as time passes takes charge of him and Ozpin’s situation.

This fits with their respective allusions, but not with their names that mirror their origins instead. So, the message becomes clear. Ozpin has magic and more experience than Oscar, but time has tired him and he needs to relearn some basic things, like the ability to trust and to hope. Oscar, who is a normal boy can teach him those things again.

In a sense, Oscar and Ozpin are experiencing the same things, but are relating to them differently. This is well shown by both quoting The Girl That Fell Through The World:

Oscar:  I thought the idea of falling through Remnant into a new world was exciting. I never understood why she was so sad when she finally made it back home. But now it makes more sense.

Ozpin: She wasn't the same girl anymore.

Ozpin: I was recently reminded of an old fairy tale. A young girl flees the consequences of a choice, to a magical place. But, having never learned from her initial failure, she only succeeds in spreading it.

Oscar sees the girl’s journey as an experience that changes her and makes her wiser, but also somber because she loses her childishness.

Ozpin sees the girl’s journey as her running away and avoiding facing her choices.

This is very clearly how the two of them have been relating to their experiences in Mistral and Atlas.

Oscar feels he has entered a world different from his own and he is being slowly changed by it. He is growing, but also experiencing hardships and pain.

Oz feels he is running away from his mistakes and that he needs to fix them.

These opposite visions mirror two different generations. The new generations must learn and grow, while the old one must fix their mistakes.

These are just some random and disorganized thoughts. I am sure that in new seasosn there will be more to comment. Anyway, Oscar is clearly a key character in the story and a pretty complex one in his own right.

Thank you for the ask!