#why is he so concerned about headcanons. my brother you control the canon ???

[yoinkschief]

Every time I finally start feeling some sort of blissful about the Eddsworld fandom and how cool it is Hargreaves starts hating on the fandom again

[kiwibirbkat]

The Golden Two AU!

When Luz is about 4, while Manny and Camila are taking a nap, she wanders away. She goes into the shack near her house and *gasp!* The portal is there while Eda does Eda things. So Luz goes through the portal.

Cut to Hunter and Belos. Belos is somewhat panicking because, Holy shit, they don't usually pop out this early. I headcanon that Grimwalkers usually pop out at ages 10-12 because like, still an easy age to manipulate, but a lot easier to deal with than someone younger. However, Hunter (always the odd one out) popped out at the ripe old age of 5. Belos doesn't have a single fucking clue on how to deal with small children, so he's just... Sending Hunter out with whatever coven scout pisses him off because apparently this weak ass 5 year old is too small to start training and will be until he's like. At least 8.

So Hunter is out and sees Luz. And he's super excited to see someone around his age, because all the people in the Emperor's Coven are oldddddd. And they're fast friends until Hunter sees Luz's ears and he's like.

Hunter: Woahhhh, youw eaws awe wound!

Luz: Yah

Hunter: Do you wanna meet my uncle? I wanna sow him youw cool eaws

Luz: Oki

So he takes her to Belos who's like. Why is another random child here- Holy shit that's a human!!!! So Belos is then like. Well. Hunter seems to like her. And he'll probably be easier to deal with if he has a friend. And it's not like it's uncommon for me to train the magicless. It might be different because she's a human, but that's all the more reason to keep her! Plus, two Golden Guards? Both of which, now that I think about it, will probably be more obedient if they've had training from a younger age... This will work out well, I think. Probably. Maybe.

So he keeps both of them!

(He tells Luz that she was born from a literal half witch, that she's half human, half witch, (which is why she has no magic and her ears are round) but that her mom died in child birth and her dad followed soon after as an unprotected human in the Boiling Isles. He says that Hunter's family, always so kind, adopted her before being killed by the evil wild magic!)

At first, he's harsher on Hunter, because Come on, Luz is human, not evil like these demons! but because she's younger and understands less, she's more rebellious than Hunter. So the abuse is now on both of them. And anyways, some humans are just evil like those creatures! If she's in the Boiling Isles, it's probably fate anyway! Not trickery like it was with that wretched witch who mind controlled his brother- he's getting off track.

So Luz grows up in the same tiring, abusive, and unhealthy environment as Hunter, but with one change from Hunter's treatment in main canon. Belos realizes that if he punishes one Golden Guard for the others mistakes, it has much more effect on both. Of course, if one does really well, he gives them validation like a loving uncle, even if the other one does badly. And of course he still punishes them individually for minor mistakes! But for worse mistakes? He forces them to watch as he hurts their sibling for their mistakes. (He does still hurt them afterwards, because while most of the time he's faking with not having control over the curse, when he gets really angry, he does actually lose some control.)

This leads Luz and Hunter to both have incredible self hatred, because instead of just thinking that they deserve the punishment they get, they also have to watch someone else suffer for their stupid mistakes. One of the only people they actually care about, no less. So they're even more under Belos' control then Hunter in the actual series with the combined guilt, fear, and concern for their sibling keeping them in line.

Hunter is basically just... Hunter in canon but more compassionate towards Luz. That and being even more brainwashed by Belos, somehow.

Luz is kinda herself in the show? Like, she still copes with humor and all that, but her jokes are a lot darker. She joins Hunter in the PTSD squad. She's terrified of upsetting authority and terrified of failing. She hates herself even more than she does in show, so now she will freak out horribly whenever someone (other than Hunter) is concerned for her because she doesn't deserve this, it's her fault this happened, she's a parasite

[iobsessoverfictionalmen]

Hi, can you make headcanons about yandere elijah mikaelson x fem human reader

Thank you for the ask! I can absolutely do that; headcanon requests for the characters I write for are always open! I hope you enjoy these headcanons. AN: This ask and my response to it deals with yandere content, canon typical violence, and behaviours. This means it will have dark elements. I do not condone yandere behaviours in real life. 

First off, I headcanon Elijah as being a worshipful, protective yandere. He would never hurt or compel his darling.

The first Mikaelson you meet is Klaus.

You met him when he saved you from a rogue vampire. You weren't sure why he saved you. Was it because he felt merciful? Or did he just want to destroy the rogue vampire and you happened to be there?

Either way, you thanked him and to your surprise, he froze. Because of his history of manipulating and being manipulated, he had no idea how to respond to genuine emotions.

The next day, you made a quiet inquiry (read: you bugged Marcel) and found out that Klaus loves to paint but that he was running low on a particular colour.

Elijhah's obsession with you begins when he sees you standing on the other side of the front door with your thank-you gift for Klaus.

After learning the story of how you two met from his brother, Elijah finds ways to 'accidentally' run into you when you are in New Orleans.

The third time this happens, he invites you to the Mikaelson's home. It takes some time but you eventually agree to visit him. Elijah controls his expression, giving no hint of the happiness he is feeling inside as it wouldn't be proper to act this way now he reminds himself and he departs after placing a gentle kiss on your hand. He is a gentleman after all.

When Elijah returns home, you're all he can talk about.

Rebekah grows tired of Elijah talking about you the fifth time and leaves.

Consumed by jealousy and wondering what makes you so special she decides to track you down. She reassures herself that she's simply doing this to protect her older brother.

When she does track you down, she demands that you explain what happened the night that you met Klaus. You do so (more than a little scared - there's an Original vampire standing opposite you) and Rebekah feels herself calming down. Like Klaus, she can smell no dishonesty or deception.

From that point on, she and Klaus do absolutely everything they can to keep you and Elijah together. It's been eons since they've seen their brother remotely happy and now he is happy. They don't care that you're human.

When you visit the siblings, you have a fantastic time but you are curious and a little concerned as to how they know so much about your passions and about you in general.

Between Elijah, Klaus, and Rebekah you are the most protected and spoilt being in New Orleans. You don't even have to say that you want or need something. If your eyes linger on anything for more than half a second, it's yours. Thanks to Elijah and Rebekah, your wardrobe is filled with stylish clothing and accessories that suit you perfectly.

Being Elijah's darling does come with quite a few risks and you have had the conversation many times about being turned into a vampire.

Elijah wants you to spend eternity by his side and it would be an added bonus if you had more tools at your disposal when it came to protecting yourself.

Elijah destroys any vampire or supernatural being that has the slightest connection to his father. With some persuasion, he teaches you some self-defence moves.

Despite his best efforts (and they are considerable), Mikael finds out about you. He journeys to New Orleans in an attempt to use you as bait to draw Elijah out. The first vampire is astounded when he sees his three children united, standing shoulder to shoulder to protect you from him.

But you're not unobservant. You've heard the whispers about Mikael and how he's relentlessly pursued his children across centuries and continents.

And so, you do a bit of tracking of your own. You find a coven of witches and convince them to cast a protection spell. The spell activates when Mikael is processing the fact that his children are working together and protecting a human. The spell casts him out of New Orleans.

That night, Elijah cradles you close. He murmurs words of praise about your bravery and determination. Immediately after, he warns you of the dangers of magic. How it always demands payment and how the balance must be maintained at all costs.

He tells you the story of how and why he, his siblings, and his father became the Original vampires.

[mangosaurus]

@sleepyjuniper GRRRRR okay without doing a full cross comparison, here are my largely unedited thoughts:

a traditional love triangle pits two opposing parties (persons A and C) against each other which compete for the object of their affection (person B)

this 1) creates a mutual rivalry between persons A and C, and 2) renders person B a passive player

more often than not, the rivalry between persons A and C begins when person B takes interest in A or C, sparking jealousy in the opposing party (if person B likes person A, then C will become jealous)

the traditional love triangle is resolved when either person A or C bests the other by proving themselves the "better" choice, winning over person B; any power which person B holds afterwards is derived from their connection to their "endgame" love interest

so in a traditional love triangle, persons A and C would be kenji and darius, while person B would be brooklynn; after kenji and brooklynn got together, darius would become jealous, and his relationship with kenji would suffer as a result. the brothers would fight until brooklynn succumbs to her "true" feelings and leaves kenji for darius. brooklynn's life with darius would permit her the girlboss status she always deserved (🙄), and kenji would probably suffer some kind of cosmic retribution from the universe for chasing brooklynn away/being a generally shitty boyfriend, idk

this is ... so far from the case for camp cretaceous & chaos theory, though

first off: darius is fully supportive of kenji and brooklynn's relationship. he doesn't even catch feelings for her until after they break up. you can headcanon that he had some semblance of a crush on her beforehand, which is perfectly fine, but canon states otherwise

second off: kenji doesn't push brooklynn away; brooklynn pushes kenji away. their relationship doesn't fail because he's controlling or dismissive of her—on the contrary, brooklynn was the one who neglected him. kenji is probably the textbook perfect boyfriend: he takes her out on nice dates, he compliments her, and he's presumably supportive of her career. the problem is when brooklynn gets too deep into her investigative work, and even then kenji seemed to have tolerated that until it reached a breaking point (i believe the line was "i can't keep doing this anymore")

third off: kenji and darius's relationship becomes strained not because kenji suspected darius of having feelings for brooklynn—it became strained because darius seemingly failed brooklynn. if anything, their mutual love for brooklynn relieves some of the tension between them, as it's in the aftermath of darius's confession that kenji is able to look at darius as his brother again ("we're brothers, right?"). although kenji does ask darius if brooklynn loved him back, the question that weighs heaviest in the air is why darius wasn't there for her. kenji isn't concerned about being the one brooklynn loved; he's concerned about brooklynn being loved the way she deserves

fourth off, and i think most importantly: brooklynn isn't robbed of her autonomy in this situation. darius never looked to push his feelings onto her ("i wasn't even going to tell her"), and brooklynn remains a sovereign character outside the love subplot. not only has she always been a girlboss™ (huge oversimplification of her character, but it's what i'll use for lack of better term), but she also continues to be one. her character is the least we know about right now, which is exactly what pushes the mystery—the primary plot—forward, and thus our protagonists into season 2. brooklynn is the one pulling the strings right now on both a metaphorical and metatextual level, and that remains true regardless of whether she ends up with darius or not. her autonomy and intrigue as a character does not hinge upon the outcome of the love triangle; she is as active a player in the story as darius, kenji, and the rest of the cast are

currently thinking about how chaos theory turns the traditional love triangle on its head and i'm actually half tempted to write a post about it but i just know that if i do it's gonna turn into an entire essay and frankly i'm not about that life right now

[pinketine]

My life is a fucking joke

So in honour of Apollo making good on my bold claim, here it is! The edited version of the ramble I made in my Jornoth pit on Empiressona! (Under the cut)

TW: Unhealthy relationships

As CEO of Jornoth, I find their dynamic to have the potential to be very interesting, as they have both been implied to have a lot of baggage in their pasts. (Shrub's call out on Xornoth and Joey's throwaway sentence about his empire only being found if you're lost, but I can talk about headcanons another day.) And how it manifests in violent ways, mostly to those around them.

From Joey's I think it's the way he attaches himself to things for me, especially family dynamics. Examples of this are how he acts like a father figure to the Tiger Blood Prince (or an actual father since he mentioned having raised him from a young age), him calling Sausage his brother and of course, him calling Xornoth his boyfriend and husband.

It's obvious Joey is obsessed with Xornoth, to a concerning level, being disturbingly jealous of people he thinks they're "flirting" (read: corrupting their lands) with, going as far as to say he might kill Katherine over it. All of this, for someone who pretty much has never reciprocated their feelings.

And I think he's subconsciously aware of it, clinging onto any "kindness" they give him as proof that they love him, such as when they gave him warped corruption for his water temple. It might also be why he's so easily jealous, it could be hidden insecurities at work!

The only reason he wouldn't tear this world apart for them is because he wants it all to himself. Blood of innocent animals has been spilled just so that he can summon them. Hell, Joey killed a parrot, something that seemed to upset him slightly and is even more disturbing when you realise he mentioned being part parrot once, all for them. That seems to be his only motivation now, Xornoth Xornoth Xornoth! And I get that the original appeal was them being able to give him what he wanted, power over all the other kingdoms but that barely seems to matter anymore! It's just them.

He literally kidnapped Gem and Scott, who, if X Life is canon, were once his friends on the coven! And even if they weren't, Gem was still his first ally and Joey used to want to build a statue of him and his other allies in one of his temples!! And now here he is, perfectly callous towards them, all for that demon!

He loves passionately, obsessively and loudly. He can't stop himself from professing his love constantly to those around him, and his love sometimes turns violent to those who try to get him to realise how awful this all is.

He loves them like it's a religion, decorating his temples with their corruption, sacrificing everything he can for them. It's terrifying.

But what about Xornoth?

Some say that the opposite of love is hate, but I personally think that's it's disinterest. Love and hate are both passionate, all consuming emotions. But with disinterest? Nothing is there.

They don't seem to care for Joey. Sausage was their champion, after all. They seem to avoid him at times. But Joey is definitely.. special.. for them. Let me put it this way:

Xornoth has an amazing pawn in Joey, and I think they know that.

That's why, in my humble opinion, they have yet to outright reject him.

They've avoided answering his questions, and left the wedding. But it's never been an outright no. They know how he feels and yet keeps doing things for him, telling him that he doesn't need the corruption, he's already with them, (and giving him more regardless later on), kidnapping Shrub for him (that may have had ulterior motives, but it all seemed to be very much for him. Dungeon in his place and all.), arriving when Joey voices wanting to summon him.

It all gives Joey the false hope that they love him back, and it keeps him obedient and willing to do anything for them.

They needed little to no mind control for him, he was perfectly wrapped around their finger.

So we have disinterest versus obsession! Fun!

What is also fun is how their colours work

They both have the colour red in common, a nice thread tying them together for once. But I see red as more Xornoth's colour, the invasive violent colour of the overworld. Meanwhile I imagine Joey to be gold, like his precious totems, ironically a healing colour against corruption. Together they make a red and gold/orange duo, the exact opposite to the Flower Husb@nds' green and blue.

And well yeah, they kind of are their opposites. Both are messy but in different ways. Jornoth's messy is violent and destructive to everyone involved.

I just think that when it eventually breaks apart, the fallout isn't going to be pretty.

Anyways that's my thoughts on canon Jornoth!

[absolutepokemontrash]

MC is Half Demon and Blah Blah Blah-

Time for the Group Retreat!

Part 1 Part 2 Lessons 1-5 Lessons 5-6 Lessons 10-12 Lessons 13-15 Part 3 Part 4

I’m quite hyped for this one, ladies, gents, and esteemed readers! For simplicity’s sake, since this is before M!MC and A!MC arrive, L!MC will go back to being referred to as just MC. Enjoy the Headcanons!

Since the previous Underground Tomb incident ended much less violently, Lucifer is now more worried than angry about MC’s rampant shennaniganery.

Like... his kid was poking holes in his totally foolproof “Your cow-uncle went to live on a farm in the human world” story. What if MC somehow got into the attic and got hurt?!

It didn’t help that they were still in this weird phase of their father/child relationship. On one hand, Lucifer obviously cares for his kid, and his kid likes him... but it’s also only been less than three months and we all know how emotionally constipated Lucifer is.

MC’s also getting REAL sus of all the secrets their dear old dad is keeping... doesn’t help that they STILL haven’t went up into the attic.

Anyhoo~ the announcement for the retreat was a barrel of laughs.

“I’m proposing, a group retreat!”

Everyone met Diavolo’s announcement with the exact same confused reaction. It’s like the entire assembly hall was doing the ‘Guy Blinking’ meme.

“A... group retreat?” Lucifer repeated slowly. “For what reason exactly, Lord Diavolo?”

The Crown Prince was giddy with excitement as he explained. “MC told me about their middle school overnight trip and it sounded like it would be quite fun!”

Simeon, Luke, MC, and Solomon were all seated next to each other in the ‘exchange student seats of less importance’. Luke leaned over and whispered a question to MC.

“Why are you so friendly with the crown prince?”

MC smirked and shrugged. “Lucifer had the Demon-Flu and couldn’t go meet with Lord Diavolo last week so I went for him. Lord Diavolo’s surprisingly bad at Connect Four but has really good luck in Snakes and Ladders.”

Luke’s jaw dropped in complete and utter shock and horror.

“We’re playing CandyLand and the Game of Life next time, want to come?” MC added.

“Play CandyLand... with him..?” Luke looked at Diavolo, who was still explaining his plan for the retreat, then looked back at MC. “I’ll only go to shield you from his corrupting influence.”

“Yeah... Corrupting...” MC had to hold back a laugh at the thought of Diavolo, who during MC’s visit lit up like a Christmas tree upon being called ‘Dia’ and believed that Mood Rings were the greatest human invention ever, being a corrupting influence.

“MC! Torture dungeon or no!?” MC was snapped out of their conversation by Mammon shouting at them from his seat.

“What?”

“Do ya think there’s a torture dungeon under the castle, or not?”

“I’m not sure,” MC turned to Diavolo. “Lord Diavolo, is there a torture dungeon under the Demon Lord’s Castle?”

There is in fact, no torture dungeon. Presumably...

Everyone packed up and headed out to the Demon Lord’s Castle!

The fabulous seven all broke several speed limits and traffic laws in order to be there early. Listen, they had to get there before Purgatory Hall, it was a matter of pride.

Besides, what’s the Royal guard going to do? Arrest six of the seven rulers of hell and a kid? Ha. No. Not when Diavolo controls their paychecks.

The rooming situation remained the same, Asmo, Simeon, and MC were roomed together, and MC got to watch Asmo get psychologically profiled by Simeon. It was truly a sight to behold.

MC was nice enough to assure Asmo that they really liked him and thought he was very sweet.

Asmo, not used to being complimented on his personality, almost started openly weeping.

So, the tour of the Demon Lord’s Castle began! Asmo got yelled at by his ex in the painting and the usual batch of idiots got sucked into the catacombs under the castle.

Lucifer wasn’t terribly sure how or if he should express his concern for MC being stuck in the labyrinth.

All these new fatherly feelings of worry are very very odd. He didn’t worry this much for Satan, mainly because Satan was usually the threat.

Even as a baby...

Lucifer found himself checking his DDD every few minutes to see if MC had texted or called from wherever the painting dragged them to, never mind that if they did text he’d hear the phone ding.

“Lucifer, don’t worry too much,” Diavolo patted Lucifer on the shoulder, a bright smile on his face. “Your brothers and MC will be perfectly fine! There’s nothing too dangerous in the catacombs that they wouldn’t be able to take care of.”

Resigning himself to the fact that MC was under the care of his last choices for babysitting, Lucifer put away his DDD. “I know they’ll be fine, but I’m not overly pleased with the situation.” He shot a glare at Helene in the portrait, who rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

“Lucifer worrying about someone, I’m truly, genuinely shocked.” Hearing Satan’s attempt at goading him, Lucifer, flawless demon that he is, resisted the urge to throw his DDD at his brother.

“Quiet, Satan.”

————

“WHY THE FUCK IS A SNAKE DOWN HERE?!”

“ITS HENRY 1.0!”

“YEAH THAT REALLY CLEARS STUFF UP, LEVI!”

MC and Levi continued their screaming match as the group ran for dear life from a giant snake.

Yeah... nothing the brothers couldn’t handle... sure, Lord Diavolo...

They made it out of the scary catacombs... don’t worry.

Lucifer did that parent-thing where he cleaned the catacomb dust off MC’s face with a napkin.

Yay! Parenting!

Failed pillow fight attempt #1 happened that evening. Because Mammon was obsessed with being the fun-uncle and saw his brothers encroaching on his place as favourite uncle.

MC doesn’t know how to break it to him that he’ll probably always be the favourite uncle and he doesn’t have to be such a dumbass to keep his spot.

Scavenger hunt went on as canon dictates.

Asmo had his diva tantrum and stormed off, but MC also wanted to win so they didn’t go after him.

Clearly expecting someone to go beg him to come back, Asmo was very annoyed when no one went after him.

“Um, helloooo? Anyone going to comfort me~?”

“Nope.”

“Well I don’t want your comfort anyway, SOLOMON.”

It was very close, L!MC insisted their loss came from sabotage. No evidence was found but just LOOK at Satan’s face.

Time for the Formal Dance~

If you’re wondering why Luke didn’t say anything when MC was suddenly poofed into their demon form, you’re assuming that Mammon wasn’t in on the “let’s prank the chihuahua” plan.

“Mammon..? Is MC behind you?”

“Nope! Why?”

MC was able to get to the other side of the ballroom with Luke none the wiser! Hell yeah, nothing like screwing with your friend!

So it’s canon that Lucifer is like, a solid 20/10, therefore MC is ADORABLE. What I’m saying is, some of the younger demons asked them to dance.

Asmo was also being MC’s hype man, which was very nice of him. Mammon also tried to give advice on how to be cool and suave. Beel was there for moral support.

“Alright kiddo, you need to be aloof and mysterious! People love aloof and mysterious, that’s why I’m so popular.”

“Don’t listen to him, MC. He flew into a wall as a kid and it killed all his brain cells. Just be proper but not snooty, sweet but not saccharine, friendly but not annoying,”

“Ask them if they want to share some of the hors d’oeuvres.” 

“Okay, first, aloof and mysterious are the last words I would ever use to describe you, Mammon. Second, Asmo I have no clue what you’re asking me to do. Third... Beel that’s the best advice I’ve received in recent memory.”

None of that mattered anyway because MC got swarmed with dance offers.

“Well,” MC smirked and held out their hand at the demon that was bold enough to ask them to dance first. “I admire the confidence.”

The demon’s smile brightened, then dropped completely when their gaze drifted behind MC. “I uh... on second thought... I’m gonna...”

MC’s potential dance partners all quickly scattered to the snack table. The half demon growled and turned around to see their father acting like he didn’t just scare away MC’s groupies.

“Father! What was that for?!” MC huffed, Lucifer rolled his eyes and grabbed MC’s wrist and began to pull them away from the dance floor.

“You’re too young to dance.���

“That’s crazy! They looked like they were my age.” MC protested, their wings fluttering in annoyance.

“Even if they looked to be your age, MC, they’re hundreds of years older.” Lucifer said calmly.

“What about that equivalent age stuff you told me about? Like how Luke is hundreds of years old but by angel/human standards he’s technically younger than me?”

“That doesn’t matter right now.” Lucifer lightly pushed MC towards the hallway that led back to their room.

“But I want to dance with someone!” MC felt their wings involuntarily fluff up.

Lucifer turned and smiled at his dear little brat, crouching slightly to get to their level. “Not on my watch.”

MC’s face was literally this: >:0

Lucifer is out here being the dad in every comedy that involves someone bringing home their partner to meet their parents.

MC was banished to their room, they spent their time angrily reading the manga they had packed.

When Levi escaped the party slightly later MC grilled him for details of what went on after they left.

“Nothing too interesting... except... um...”

“Spit it out, Levi!”

“...lrddiavlondlucferdnced”

“I can’t understand you, stop mumbling.”

“Lord Diavolo and Lucifer danced together...”

“...”

“...”

“I MISSED THAT?!”

So yes, MC’s desire to get a picture of Lucifer sleeping stems from VENGEANCE!

How DARE their father send MC up to their room and make them miss their OTP dancing together!?

So they call up their troupe of idiots and get ready to go be menaces to society.

MC also invites along Asmo because he seemed like he could use the adventure.

And because MC couldn’t plan the prank without Asmo noticing so it was better to just implicate him as well...

“Grrr...”

MC brightened and clapped their hands. “I know that growl!”

“It’s not my stomach, I packed snacks.” MC couldn’t see this, considering the room was pitch black (it must’ve been some kind of magic because demons have excellent night vision), but Beel waved a bag of chips in the air and got to eating.

“No, I’m not talking about your stomach, Beel.” MC skipped towards the source of the growling despite Mammon and Levi’s pleas for them to stop.

Ah! There he was!

“Cerberus!” MC cooed, the three headed dog stopped growling and barked happily. “Whose a good boy? Is it you?”

Cerberus let lose a bark that would probably make anyone crap their pants, but MC giggled and kept petting him. “Yeah! You’re the good boy! You like cuddles! Yes you do! Yes you do!”

A flash of light from a camera caused MC to drop their baby talk voice and stare angrily in the direction where the light came from.

“Whoever took that picture better delete it or I’m going to feed you to the dog.”

Cerberus growled in agreement. What a good boy.

“Well, as nice as this is...” Asmo huffed. “We’ve clearly been duped because this is not Lucifer and Diavolo’s room.”

“Oh well!” MC chirped and continued to pet the three headed dog. “Look at the doggy!”

“MC, you’re crazy. Dontcha ever forget that.” Mammon whimpered as Cerberus growled at him.

So yeah, they couldn’t get out of the room, so they ended up opening up the other door and falling into the catacombs like a bunch of lemmings.

Asmo charmed Henry, and they got out of the labyrinth no problem.

Yay! No consequences! Oh no- hi Lucifer.

Lucifer gave them all the mother of all lectures. Satan showed up with the rest of the gang and brought popcorn.

Belphie wasn’t there, okay? Satan needed to be a little shit for him.

Ah yes, the pillow fight... Mammon’s crusade to be the best uncle culminated in a massive pillow fight that ended with MC, Lucifer, and Diavolo standing over everyone’s unconscious bodies.

So they uh... won the pillow fight.

MC couldn’t sleep. They legitimately couldn’t. As exhausting as the pillow fight victory had been, everyone was snoring, and MC was bleary eyed and awake at one in the morning.

They eventually sat up and looked around, Asmo was passed out in a very unflattering position, Solomon was chanting god knows what in his sleep, Levi was half hanging off Simeon’s bed, Simeon and Luke were sleeping like angels (hehehehe-), Beel was in the middle of eating his pillow in his sleep, Mammon appeared to be dreaming about winning the lottery, and Satan was... suspiciously absent.

He was there a minute ago... weird.

Deciding that this wasn’t worth it and they should just go sleep somewhere else, MC got out of bed and avoided stepping on anyone as they vacated the room.

The Demon Lord’s Castle at night could rival the House of Lamentation in terms of overall creepiness. MC had gotten used to the spirits and curses that littered their home, but they had only been to the Demon Lord’s Castle once before, so they were extra careful not to accidentally touch anything. Their stomach rumbled and they frowned.

Damn, they had the midnight munchies... they needed a snack.

MC made their way to the kitchen and on there way, noticed a peculiar room through a half open door. Taking a few steps back to peek into it, they noticed... doors. A lot of doors. And ivy covered steps. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to any of the placements, and the room was... weirdly chilly.

“You can come in if you’d like, MC.”

Barbatos’ voice nearly caused MC to hit a high note that they hadn’t been able to hit since their voice began to change. They straightened out their wrinkled pyjamas and stepped inside.

The butler himself was walking down one of the flights of stairs.

“Um...” Quickly remembering their manners, MC straightened their posture and cleared their throat. “Good evening Barbatos.”

Barbatos smiled and inclined his head in turn. “Good evening to you as well, MC.”

“How did you know it was me outside? You were up there a second ago.” MC asked.

“It’s a part of my powers. I can see possible futures, and I foresaw you passing by my room and getting curious.” Barbatos explained.

“Oh,” MC said, half nodding and continuing to look around. A the sound of a door closing out of MC’s vision made them squeak and look around for the source of the noise. “What was that?!”

“It’s nothing to be worried about.” Barbatos raised his hands in a placating gesture. “These doors in my room are gateways to different timelines and some are gateways into the past of this particular timeline. That was another version of me passing by.”

“Does this... happen often?” MC knitted their eyebrows.

Barbatos hesitated before answering. “Not really. It’s quite rare. Lord Diavolo has expressly forbidden me from using my full powers freely.”

“Ah... makes sense...”

“Now, I believe you came down for snacks?”

MC blinked in surprise. “How did you- oh... the time magic...”

“Yes, the time magic. Now, would you prefer yogurt and fruit, or apples and peanut butter?”

“Yogurt and fruit please!”

I’m sure MC’s knowledge of how Barbie’s room works will totally not come into play later. I’m sure.

Solomon and MC graced the brunch table with their cooking. I think you can guess how it would have turned out if Barbatos hadn’t intervened.

Rest In Peace to Beel’s tastebuds.

Anyway, the rest of the retreat was all fun and good.

MC may or may not have slipped up and called Diavolo ‘Dia’ in front of Lucifer. It would’ve sparked a lecture if Dia’s puppy-like excitement wasn’t so damn adorable.

Lucifer’s got a heart... somewhere... it’s probably all shrivelled up and tiny, but I’m sure it’s there.

Everyone went back home, brought closer together through... pillow fights and surviving Solomon’s cooking I guess..?

Anyway, MC got home, unpacked their stuff, watched Kakegurui with Levi and Mammon, let Asmo paint their nails, made and ate dinner with Beel, continued their piano lessons with Lucifer, and received a 100% fake smile from Satan.

It was a nice day with their new family, MC curled up in their bed and prepared to go to sleep.

“Help me!”

MC lurched upwards in their bed, whipping their head from side to side, trying to find the source of the voice. Their room was completely empty, the perks of being half demon extended to being able to see in the dark. No new smells either, they were alone in the room.

Auditory hallucinations were common before falling asleep after being sleep deprived, creepy, but not too unusual.

“MC!”

Okay- that one couldn’t be ignored. It was common knowledge that the House of Lamentation was definitely haunted in some capacity, but the ghosts never really bothered the demons living inside, MC was partly convinced that some of the ghosts didn’t even notice that the demons were there. So it couldn’t have been a ghost calling their name.

“MC! I need help!”

The voice reverberated through their head, like it was trying to hit every part of their skull to make sure it was at least felt if MC couldn’t hear it. MC massaged their scalp and got out of bed.

The House of Lamentation at night truly lived up to its haunted reputation. Cold, clammy, dark, even by demon standards. No spooky old house was going to scare MC though, they walked down the hall with their head held high.

They walked closer to walls and furniture, knowing that the floor was less likely to creak in those areas. How did they know that? Mammon had told them it worked like a charm. Well, it’d work better for him if he stopped tripping over the furniture and alerting Lucifer.

MC was much more nimble and careful, stepping slowly and lightly around the hallways until they reached the door to the attic. They reached out to clasp their hand around the doorknob, then froze. It smelled like…

Oh no.

MC leapt away from the door like it was rigged to explode if they touched it and practically dove for cover into an alcove. The all too-recent smell of Lucifer’s fancy cologne and the increasing sound of someone coming down the stairs made them clamp their hand over their mouth and crouch down.

What was their father doing up there?

He had said the attic was full of old junk and there was no reason to go up there, so why exactly did he-

The door slammed open and Lucifer stomped down the hallway back towards his room, MC presumed. They were about to let out a sigh of relief when the footsteps paused. MC felt their heart drop right into their gut when they heard the footsteps coming back in their direction.

What were they going to say to him when he found them? ‘Sorry! This isn’t where the bathrooms are!’ The last thing MC wanted was to add to their father’s ever growing list of stresses. MC was totally responsible and grown-up, their father didn’t need to worry.

MC clamped their eyes shut and tried to slow their heart rate. Demons were beings of darkness and shadow, they could blend in quite easily. They took a deep breath, cleared their head, and felt the shadows of the hallway shift and cover them like a blanket.

Lucifer’s footsteps stopped, MC heard a tired sigh, then the footsteps started up again, this time in the direction of his room.

They allowed themselves a sigh of relief before relieving themselves of their hiding space and opening the door leading to the attic staircase.

If the rest of the House of Lamentation was considered clammy, cold, and foreboding, the attic staircase was that multiplied by a factor of twelve. MC felt themselves shudder involuntarily when they stepped closer to the staircase. Every primal part of their brain was telling them to turn around and walk away, but one tiny part was holding them back. They placed their foot on the first step, waiting for any kind of resistance, nothing other than the feeling of passing through invisible cobwebs.

“MC?”

Upon hearing their name, MC craned their neck to try and get a look at what could be waiting for them at the top of the stairs.

“Are you coming, or not?”

The cascade of warning sirens that began to blare in MC’s head went ignored as they continued to scale the staircase.

When they reached the final step, they were met with a long hallway, with a single door on the right side of the wall.

“H-hello?” MC tried to instill some force into their voice, but it still ended up quavering a little.

“Down here.” Someone knocked on the wall next to the door, almost causing MC to jump.

Oh. Oh no. MC stood straight in front of the door, and when they saw who was looking back at them they nearly passed out.

“Belphegor..?”

Belphegor’s eyes flashed as he gave MC a once over. His eyes narrowed when his gaze snapped to MC’s. The analytical expression melted into a lazy grin.

“That’s me,” he said softly. “Nice to finally meet you, MC.”

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

I do recall suggestions that they give the throne to *others*, to create a new Olympian- similar to how Hestia did Dionysus. (How does THAT apply?)

You're right! There was discussion in The Tower of Nero about replacing Apollo's spot on the Olympian Council, so the thrones can't be too connected to them.

Plus, they didn't even have those thrones until Hephaestus arrived (I have that in my timeline as after Ares & Athena's birth, but before the twins', so the Elder Olympians and Ares & Athena did not have thrones for a while.)

Hestia abdicating technically doesn't come from the myths, and was the assumption about why sometimes Hestia is the twelfth and why it's Dionysus other times, but since that's what happens in the RRverse, we're just gonna roll with it lmao

Anyway, the above does support the idea that the thrones themselves are not connected to the gods- so this leaves the question of why was Dionysus so concerned then?

I propose now: The thrones are manifestations of human culture. They are made up of the domain whatever god the throne is assigned too. So just like Dionysus says, if they thrones are destroyed, so is human culture and the gods will weaken alongside it, since the thrones are connected to human culture, and more specifically, their domain of human culture.

Which also leads to the question- if Zeus has such control over immortality, why hasn't he taken it from his brothers? Or any other he deems a threat?

Zeus has taken it from Poseidon once! But I personally headcanon that the Laomedon servitude did not completely drain him and Apollo of their immortality, since it is myth-canon that they are both still very much gods during this timeframe, and both use godly skills to get the job done (ie, Poseidon uses his super strength and Apollo his lyre).

With Apollo's time with Admetus, I think Apollo was drained a bit more of his immortality, but he still had it in him because, as Apollo himself tells us in The Hidden Oracle, he made Admetus's cows have twin calves, a clear indicator of godly power.

ToA is when Apollo was sucked dry. And honestly, during the first two times, I don't think Zeus has much interest in depriving Poseidon or Apollo of their power- or at least, not all of it.

If he is willing to do so at the point of ToA...then why hasn't he?

(the below thoughts are inspired by @tsarinatorment, mainly from authors notes/behind the scenes thoughts)

I think it's because, unlike Hades, Poseidon, and Apollo, Zeus has not gotten a power boost from his own belief. Zeus's belief stems from a paranoid need to be in power and to stay in power- that is not a very good cornerstone for self-belief.

Tsari once said something along the lines of "the tighter he holds on, the more power slips through his fingers" and I think that also applies here. The more he hunkers down and insists he's in the right, that he has all the power he deserves, the more it slips away.

And how about granting immortality? Beyond apollo- and dionysus- ascending on their own, the gods have been known to make *other gods*, seemingly independent of worship- and possibly, the self belief of the individuals they immortalize.

Granting immortality seems a little trickier to pin down. Apollo tells us in The Dark Prophecy;

It is no small thing to make someone a god. The general rule is that power trickles down, so any god can theoretically make a new god of lesser power than him or herself. But this requires sacrificing some of one’s own divinity, a small amount of what makes you you—so gods don’t grant such a favor often. When we do, we usually create only the most minor of gods, as I did with Parthenos and Hemithea: just the basic immortality package with few bells and whistles. (Although I threw in the extended warranty, because I’m a nice guy.)

This is an interesting concept, but also one I scratch my head over because a lot of mortals have been made immortal over the course of mythology, and also I just don't quite understood why a god's power would have anything to do with creating a new god. I think @fearlessinger once talked about this in the Discord but I don't quite remember what she said XD

Plus, Dionysus wasn't made a god- like you said, he became one himself. And Artemis's hunters! They have immortality (albeit with strings) but it's still immortality! But Artemis is no weaker than the other Olympians (I think Rick kinda shot himself in the foot here lmao).

putting on our clown hats to figure out What The Fuck Is Going On in the big wide world of the RRverse haha!

what are your thoughts on the olympians’ thrones? we know that they are connected to the power of the gods, and that kronos’ tactic was to destroy olympus/their thrones in order to weaken them (so when kronos destroyed the arm rest of ares’ throne, did that weaken him during the battle with typhon?)

but why should the destruction of their thrones weaken them? isn’t the source of their power, their divinity, well, themselves? and what of minor gods? or what about during the first titanomachy? sorry for the lengthy question but it’s all very confusing and im interested in hearing your take.

SO

THE OLYMPIAN THRONES

first let's see what Dionysus had to say about this in The Last Olympian

"Whichever! Now listen, the situation is graver than you imagine. If Olympus falls, not only will the gods fade, but everything that is connected to our legacy will also begin to unravel. The very fabric of your puny little civilization—"

"Yes, yes. Your entire society will dissolve. Perhaps not right away, but mark my words, the chaos of the Titans will mean the end of Western civilization. Art, law, wine tastings, music, video games, silk shirts, black velvet paintings—all the things that make life worth living will disappear!"

"—the other gods would never admit this, but we actually need you mortals to rescue Olympus. You see, we are manifestations of your culture. If you don't care enough to save Olympus yourselves—"

Let's look at the third part first! Dionysus tells us that the gods are manifestations of human culture. And as we know, in the RRverse, the gods have moved around with the flame of progression, where the most human power is allocated. This is why they are in the US in the RRverse, and why they tend to reflect a more American culture (ie, Zeus in a CEO suit, Poseidon as a fisherman, Ares is a biker, ect.)

So what I'm getting from Dionysus's explanation here, is that the gods and human culture are intrinsically intertwined with each other. You can't have one without the other and all that. If human culture fades, the gods weaken, and if the gods weaken, human culture fades.

Something interesting to note here is that Dionysus says that the gods will fade if their thrones are destroyed...interesting, considering Dionysus and Percy also discuss how Pan faded.

But Pan didn't fade because of a lack of human belief/culture - he faded because his domain was being destroyed. Helios and Selene faded because they lost faith in themselves.

I think Dionysus might be overexaggerating a bit here. I don't think the gods would have necessarily faded if their thrones were destroyed- just significantly weakened. And perhaps, weak enough that if they ever just decided to give up...they would fade.

(Which brings up an interesting notion of Dionysus fearing them fading, because maybe that implies he thinks not all of them have the willpower to push through that...food for thought)

Kronos destroying Ares's arm rest is curious, since after the defeat of Typhon, we see the Olympian gods and nothing is out of the ordinary, even with Ares. So I'm guessing the arm rest getting cut off didn't exactly affect Ares, but if a larger piece of the throne or even the throne itself was sliced up? We'd have a different story.

I believe the source of the gods' power comes from a variety of places- mortal belief, their thrones, and belief in themselves. We see the latter occurring with Apollo in The Tower of Nero especially, where he's able to bring himself back into immortality on his own willpower, and I think we even see this happening with Hades and Poseidon, leaving their respected realms to come to the aid of Olympus and leaving behind their grudge (Hades) and ego (Poseidon) for the greater good.

This brings up an interesting idea, then. The Olympians have three main sources of power. But are they even aware of the third?

Because think about it. People, in series and out, have automatically assumed Helios and Selene faded because of a lack of mortal belief. But, that is not what happened, for they were still majorly worshipped- instead, it was a lack of faith in themselves. They lost their sense of self.

So I think the "power ranking" of these sources go as follows;

Belief in self

Mortal belief

Thrones

Mortal belief is often talked about, especially in ToA where Nero tells us mortals gave him a prolonged life and eventually immortality. He does not have a throne like the Olympians, though he does have a fasces, where his immortality is stored.

Could it be that the Olympian's immortality is stored in their thrones? Maybe. But remember, Nero is a wannabe god. There has to be drawbacks to that, and I bet the fasces was one of them. He has to contain his immortality in something, while the Olympians do not, because they are immortal. Full stop.

Now minor gods...this is a bit trickier, but I think minor gods have a power scaling of their own. The Olympians are on another level for godly power- they are The Squad so to speak.

How powerful minor gods are I think depends on their domain, as well as mortal belief/their own belief.

Hecate, for example, is probably exceptionally powerful for a minor goddess because of her position as the goddess of magic, the Mist, and crossroads among other things (did you know she has some influence over prophecy? ;3 she and Apollo were two sides of the same coin when it came to prophecy).

Iris is probably not as powerful as Hecate is, because, uh, rainbows aren't exactly powerful when it comes to magic XD

As for the Elder Olympians' power during the Titanomachy...that's also interesting to think about. Imo, I think their power grew over the time of the war, since they didn't really have the opportunity to fine-tune anything what with being in Kronos's stomach and all lol

Zeus probably got more practice in when he was young, but probably not as much when he became cupbearer. And I also think the symbols of power of the Big Three help channel their power- which now has a funny image because here are the guys learning how to focus their power with training wheels while the girls are just fucking around and finding out.

Demeter probably strangled a few people with her plants. Hera probably unleased a hoard of peacocks on someone. Hestia no doubt set a few things on fire.

lmao, that's funny to think about.

Anyway, finally got around to this one!!! :D

[otakusheep15]

SFW Alphabet - Solomon

This is for my best friend/mother as she is the biggest Solomon simp I’ve ever seen lol. Also, this is gonna be angsty cause I love writing angsty Solomon

A = Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

He pretends to not like affection, but he’s a softie and we all know it. Really, all he needs is a hug and he’ll just melt on the spot. 

B = Best friend (What would they be like as a best friend? How would the friendship start?)

One word: chaos. You two as best friends cause untold destruction and cause Lucifer several migraines per day. Being besties with him also means being besties with Asmo, so be prepared for that as well.  

C = Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How would they cuddle?)

He loves cuddles. Maybe it’s just the fact that he hasn’t had much physical contact in who knows how long, but he loves any form of contact. His favorite ways to cuddle is him on his back with you either laying on top of him, or on the side of him with your head on his chest. 

D = Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How are they at cooking and cleaning?)

I can’t see him as the type to settle down, be he’d consider it depending on the person. And while he’s a terrible cook, he’s not half bad at cleaning and other household chores. 

E = Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

He’d be super blunt about it. Honestly, he’s scared to get with anyone to begin with since, ya know, immortality and all, so it’s been a while since he’s actually had to break it off. His main goal when breaking up with someone is to get them away from him, so he wants to make sure the way he breaks up with them will make them want to stay away. 

F = Fiance(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quick would they want to get married?)

Afraid of commitment. I imagine the last time he tried to commit to someone was before he became immortal, so having to watch them die made him vow to never get that close to anyone again. Then he met you, and all of that has been thrown out the window. He might try and rush things a bit, but he just wants as much time with you as possible. So, while he is afraid to commit, he’ll do it for you. 

G = Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

He’s bad at human interaction, so he might not know if he accidentally hurts you, but he’ll be quick to apologize once he realizes. Honestly, he’s better at being physically gentle since he can control that better than emotions.  

H = Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

Loves hugs. They’re one of his favorite things ever. He just finds such comfort in them, and they’re great for stress relief. His hugs are a bit on the aggressive side, but they’re still very enjoyable. 

I = I love you (How fast do they say the L-word?)

He’d say it on accident. And then he’d try to play it off to hide how embarrassed he is. It is pretty early on, but he does mean it with all his heart. Please say it back, he hasn’t heard it in a while. 

J = Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

He gets extremely jealous. Like, you spend so much time with the brothers and he can’t stand that. Of course, he would never admit it, but he would try everything he can think of to get you away from them. Once, he almost resorted to food poisoning out of sheer desperation. 

K = Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

His kisses differ depending on his mood, but they’re usually soft and full of passion. His favorite place to kiss you is your neck because it gets a nice reaction out of you. His favorite place to be kissed is the top of his head cause he’s secretly a big softy who wants to be babied.  

L = Little ones (How are they around children?)

He’s not the most fond of kids, but he’ll tolerate them. They’re are fun to tease though, especially Luke. 

M = Morning (How are mornings spent with them?)

he’s either waking you up at the crack of dawn to work on some new potion, or he’s sleeping in until past noon and refuses to get up. Regardless, you are not leaving his side. If he gets up, he’ll drag you up with him. If he wants to stay in, he’ll hold you there until he’s satisfied. 

N = Night (How are nights spent with them?)

He’ll usually be up late working on something or other, but he’s never up for too long. He jins you in bed when he’s done, and he’ll cuddle the crap out of you an an apology for keeping you waiting. He’s also fond of talking to you about random stuff that happened throughout the day until one or both of you fall asleep. 

O = Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything all at once or wait a while to reveal things slowly?)

This man is one of the most secretive people to ever exist. He wants to open up to you, honestly he does, but he just can’t. he’s so worried that all of his emotional baggage will drive you away, and he couldn’t stand losing another person he cares about. So, he keeps everything hidden. With time, he’ll start opening up if you push enough buttons. 

P = Patience (How easily angered are they?)

He’s really good at pretending he’s patient. On the outside he’s his same-old self, but on the inside he’s fuming. His patience tends to wear especially thin around the brothers (except Asmo). It’s a mixture of jealousy for how much time they spend with you, and anger that they refuse to make a pact with him. But he keeps it all under wraps. 

Q = Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

He does remember a good bit of information, but he sucks at remembering small details. For example, he may know what month your birthday is in, but he cannot remember the actual date. Or, he would remember your favorite movie genre, but not your favorite movie in said genre. He tries his best though. 

R = Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

He loves this one time where you tried to help him cook something. You were tired of dealing with the mess that is his cooking skills, and you wanted him to make something that wouldn’t kill you. Everything started out fine until you accidentally get some flour on him. It wasn’t much, but still. He just turns to you without saying anything before launching some flour right back at you. And then the casual baking session turns into an all-out food war. The kitchen is a mess and you two end up getting scolded by Simeon later, but it was totally worth it.  

S = Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

Oh he’s very protective. I mean, you’re a defenseless human surrounded by powerful demons who want to eat you, of course he’d be protective. He would never mean to over-bearing, but he can come off that way sometimes. He used to protect those he cared about before he became immortal, so the habit comes back with you now. He doesn’t need protecting for obvious reasons, so it’s all the more reason to focus on protecting you. 

T = Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, everyday tasks?)

Surprisingly, he prefers more lowkey dates. Maybe it’s because he rarely gets any alone time with you, but he loves just chilling out together practicing magic. if you did want to go out, he would take you somewhere in the Human World to get away from all the chaos of the Devildom. 

U = Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

Obviously, his cooking could kill a man, but we’re gonna move past that since it’s low hanging fruit. Besides that, he has a tendency to by pretty cunning and he’s always planning some kind of prank. He also has a tendency to get jealous of the brothers a lot, and that can make him salty when you guys can finally hang out. 

V = Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks?)

He used to be pretty concerned with his looks, but he’s gotten over it. He still tries to look decent since he is in the presence of some powerful demons, but it isn’t at the forefront of his mind. Although, since becoming besties with Asmo, his vanity has started picking up again.  

W = Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

Maybe yes, maybe no. He’s had to deal with loss several times over, so he could probably learn to deal with it like he did before, but you could be different. It really just depends on what kind of impact you have on him during your time together. 

X = Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

We all know that it’s basically canon that he and Asmo have hooked up before lol. But I also lowkey think he’s hooked up with both Barb and Satan. I have no real reason as to why I think this, but I do and I’m sticking to it. I don't even ship it that much, I just think he would do something like that. 

Y = Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, either in general or in a partner?)

He actually doesn’t like someone he knows he’d get attached to. He doesn't want to go through that pain again, so he wants to remain distant. Also, he doesn’t like someone who doesn’t understand or accept what he’s been through and what he’ll continue going through. He wants someone who understands and who he can talk to about it. 

Z = Zzz (What is a sleep habits of theirs?)

He gets very clingy in his sleep. If he’s sleeping with someone, they can expect to be trapped in his arms until he wakes up. And if you try to escape, he just hugs you even tighter. 

[yukipri]

One Piece Mermaid AU!

Featuring Luffy as a rubber mermaid who can’t swim, and Ace who carries her on his back as they pirate together.

＊Genderbend warning, fem!Luffy

Sliding in last minute for MerMay, bc idk about you, but I need something to mark that May has passed this year...

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PLEASE DO NOT REPOST, EDIT, TRANSLATE, OR OTHERWISE USE MY ART. To share, please reblog! Reblogs and comments greatly appreciated!!!

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Base headcanons for this AU beneath the cut! ↓ ↓ ↓

Luffy's a mermaid who was raised in Fuusha village, just like in canon. And, just like in canon, despite being a mermaid, she SUCKS at swimming, a fact that Shanks finds absolutely hilarious. She still wants to become a pirate, she still eats her devil fruit and becomes a rubber mer(?), she still gets kidnapped by Higuma (who sees her as an excellent way to rake in cash, given how valuable mermaids are on the slave market), and Shanks still gives her his hat.

As a devil fruit user, Luffy's already atrocious swimming skills are now at zero. She can still breathe under water, but will sink like a stone, her strength sapped by the sea, and if she loses consciousness she'll stop breathing too. Needless to say, she stays out of the water, and the villagers come to accept that sometimes, mermaids just live on land.

Garp still comes back, and is still furious at her wanting to become a pirate (and inwardly, extremely concerned that a bandit tried to catch and sell her), and still takes her to live at Dadan's where she meets Ace.

Ace has no idea what to think of the weird fish-brat who he's now told is gonna be his sibling, and resolutely ignores Luffy. He's inwardly slightly impressed as Luffy continues to follow him through the mountain every day, not even particularly hindered by lack of legs and using a mixture of crawling, squirming, hand-walking, and ricocheting forward with rubber arms to move.

Luffy still meets Sabo the same way as canon, and is still caught by Porchemy, who at first is thrilled because a mer brat! That'll bring in WAY more money than the spare change Ace stole! But in the end, he loses his temper at Luffy's stubbornness and still beats her to a pulp.

Ace and Sabo still rescue Luffy, and they still exchange sake cups and become brothers.

Yes, brothers.

Because at this point, neither Ace nor Sabo nor any of the bandits, nor anyone really on Dawn island save Makino and Garp actually know that Luffy's a girl. Not even Luffy.

The three brothers promise to each other that they'll all leave the island when they turn seventeen, setting out to sea to become pirates (Ace and Sabo are honestly a little concerned, given how often people try to sell Luffy, and how despite aquatic appearances Luffy's vulnerable af in water, but decide to wait and see. They have seven years together, Luffy ten until seventeen, who knows how much stronger their baby brother will get in that time).

Sabo "dies."

Ace and Luffy continue to train, and things don't change until Ace is seventeen, shortly before he sets out to sea.

He's let Luffy crawl into his blanket to sleep with him (partially cold-blooded, Lu gets cold easily when inactive), and Ace realizes that his lil brother's chest feels a bit lumpy.

Concerned, he makes Luffy have it checked out by the bandits, who are shocked to find developing...breasts?

That can't be right...right?

Dadan makes a call to Garp, who snorts and says of COURSE Luffy's a girl, didn't he say granddaughter?

No, he had not, he had only mentioned "grand child."

Everyone is shocked, but none more so than Ace, who really doesn't know what to do with this new information.

(Luffy's not quite sure what a "girl" is, and when she asks Ace, Ace honestly doesn't know how to define "girl" either, so she doesn't get what the big deal is)

Ace realizes he's troubled because he can't remember the number of times he's rescued Luffy from potential traffickers, and the number of times he's heard the lament, "Pity it's not female, it'd be worth quadruple," from the kidnappers before he beats them to a pulp.

He already had doubts about letting Luffy go out to sea alone, three years after he's left. But now knowing that Luffy's a girl, and one of the most sought-after species that traffickers target...he knows the world out there is much bigger than a teeny peaceful East Blue island, and Luffy may not get lucky every time, and may not be strong enough in just three years.

But at the same time, it's not like he can order her to stay here. There's no way Luffy'd listen; the sea calls to her, freedom calls to her, and Ace understands that more than anyone.

Sabo, Ace thinks, what would you do?

The night before he leaves, Ace tells Luffy that there's been a change of plans.

He's still leaving for sea. He's going to get stronger, and work his way towards becoming Pirate King.

BUT, three years later, Luffy will NOT leave Dawn Island alone.

Ace promises that he'll come back, a stronger pirate capable of looking out for his baby brother (because girl or not, they exchanged vows of brotherhood, and that's something that can't be changed).

He refuses to let Luffy be his captain, he's still got his pride, but maybe, maybe if Luffy becomes strong enough, he'll let her be co-Captain.

Luffy is thrilled, because she wanted to be pirates WITH Ace, and grudgingly accepts the compromise, and promises to train and wait for Ace's return.

Ace leaves Dawn island, and makes a name for himself on the Grand Line (he's PISSED when he finds out he's eaten a devil fruit, because now how's he supposed to rescue Lu from drowning when he can't swim himself???).

He even eventually makes it to Whitebeard, and eventually comes to admire the man. Whitebeard invites him to his crew, and Ace honestly replies that a large part of him wants to accept...but he can't. He promised his baby brother that they'll be pirates and co-captains together, and he can't join another pirate crew without Luffy agreeing too. Even so, and he knows it's selfish of him, he wants to call Whitebeard his father.

Whitebeard tells him that Ace is already his son, regardless of where his allegiances lie, and gives him his blessing to return to East Blue to fetch Luffy. Whitebeard laughs that he can't wait to meet the lil brat that Ace speaks so highly of, and for Ace to hurry up and come back to the New World so they can meet.

Ace plans on traveling light, his former crew all choosing to join the Whitebeard pirates except for his first mate, Deuce. Ace loves his crew, but they're also his crew, and knows that he wants to make their crew with Luffy. So he thinks he and Deuce will be a good starting point (You're just bringing me along bc you want someone who can swim on the crew, Deuce accuses).

As they're planning on leaving, Marco lets slip to fellow commander Thatch that he heard that Ace's "little brother" is actually a super cute girl.

The next morning, Thatch shows up too, insisting that he come along, because hey! He's been with the Whitebeards for ages and hasn't been to Paradise in a while, he wants some change! And won't it be nice to have someone as reliable as him along, just until they get back to the New World and reunite with the Whitebeards? Really he has no ulterior motives like wanting to check out Ace's supposedly hyper hot baby brother-sister!

Ace is suspicious, but Thatch is already on board and the other Whitebeards are already waving so he lets it go.

(Shortly after they leave, Thatch discovers a devil fruit. Deuce tells him to sell the damn thing, it'll taste like shit, but Thatch thinks boy wouldn't it be great to be able to woo Ace's hot brother with a really cool devil fruit power. So he eats it, and yeah it tastes like shit, but now he can control Darkness which is sorta badass?)

(Somewhere on the Whitebeard ships, Blackbeard is still waiting for someone to find the darkness devil fruit, and well, it doesn't happen)

Before Ace returns to Dawn Island, part of him still hopes that Luffy looks passably like a guy. Having been to Fishman island, having befriended Jinbe, he knows that while mermen can still be targeted, mermaids are exponentially more vulnerable. He's learned the kinds of clothing that can help conceal tails, and is hoping that there's a slim chance they might be able to be pirates without the world knowing that Lu's a mermaid.

His hopes are shot when Luffy rockets into his arms at the dock, and his face is immediately buried in enormous tits that definitely weren't there three years ago.

Despite Ace's growing concerns (and red face; why does he feel so hot??? It's not his devil fruit...), Ace lets Luffy give Deuce a beating (why me?!) to claim her position as Ace's Co-Captain of the newly established ASL pirates (because if we're pirates together, Sabo has to be with us too!).

Luffy's gotten a lot stronger, but is still utterly ignorant of the outside world and the dangers it holds (such as the drooling Thatch who immediately wins Luffy over with his cooking despite Ace's burning glares). She's reckless and falls into the ocean every damn day, and while Deuce dives in after her and they've discovered her useful ability to talk to fish to ask for help, it still gives Ace heart attacks.

They still pick up more crew members while in East Blue, including Roronoa Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji, a pervy cook who competes daily with Thatch for Luffy's affections through food (Luffy appreciates the food).

At Arlong Park, Luffy encounters fishmen for the first time in her life. Arlong mocks Luffy's choice of friends and family, and invites her to join his crew made of her own kind. Fishmen and mer are the superior race, and Luffy will make a fine wife, Arlong says.

Luffy breaks his nose off, and Nami joins their crew.

Luffy's chosen mode of transportation is on the back of one of her sturdier crew mates, usually Ace, but often Zoro too. She unfortunately hates all the long skirts/robes Ace suggested for her to hide her tail, and so Ace has decided that being as intimidating as possible while carrying his brother glued to his back is the only way to go.

Needless to say, news of the former Spade Pirates Captain + Whitebeard Commander Thatch (are they an extension of the Whitebeards??) establishing the new ASL pirates spreads fast. That, and rumors that there's a beautiful young mermaid on board who can't swim. And despite the strength of the crew and their attempts at vigilance, Luffy's still dumb and gullible, and is kidnapped (and rescued) a dozen times before they're even on the Grand Line.

(after a few times, Luffy's uncharacteristically quiet, and privately asks Ace if they can break up the crew. She's holding Ace back; she not only made him come back to her, but half their adventures just seem to be her crew rescuing her. She's strong enough to defeat enemies, but not save herself. Ace tells her to shut up, and never bring this up again; they're BROTHERS, and he's not going to leave her behind or make her abandon her dreams when she can't accomplish them alone, and that's his choice. Luffy doesn't bring it up again, but works harder than ever to become stronger and earn recognition as co-Captain when the world seems intent on thinking of her as Ace's pet.)

During one of these kidnappings, Luffy's successfully brought all the way to an auction house before her crew can rescue her. An auction house that unbeknownst to them, was under investigation by the Revolutionary Army.

Liberating slaves is an unfortunately common mission for them, and Sabo's doing final sweeps as Koala frees the last of them when he notices a tank stowed away in a corner. He's familiar with these tanks, used to showcase mermaids in the rare occasions one can be caught, and it looks empty but he's still drawn to it for some reason.

It's only when he gets closer that he notices a mermaid crumpled at the bottom of the enclosure. She's completely slumped over, and he's afraid she's already gone, even as something about her screams with familiarity.

He's cracked the tank and has reached in to pull her out, when the wall behind him explodes in flames, revealing a furious Ace who snarls at the strange man with his hands on his baby brother...

...and then Sabo's memories come back.

~~

Something like that???? For an initial HCs dump????

This AU has continued! A LOT! Check out the comics, illustrations, and text stories for this AU under the Mermaid AU section of my One Piece Masterpost!

As always, REBLOGS, tags, asks, and comments greatly appreciated!

Advance posts for this AU and more are on my Patreon! (Patreon(.)com/YukiPri)

[prince-of-elsinore]

Sam and Dean: psychological analysis and headcanons

In response to this anon ask from the 66 SPN Questions:

6. Do you have any psychological headcanons (or canon interpretations) of the characters?

Anon, this is probably not what you asked for. But I started writing, and kept finding more I wanted to say, until I thought--why not just say it all? And by all, I  don't actually mean all--this is by no means exhaustive. But it was a wonderful, self-indulgent opportunity to organize my thoughts on Sam and Dean's psychologies, and even find some new ideas as I was writing, and to put them out there so others can read and discuss. (Always happy to discuss any of this! Inbox is open.)

As a disclaimer, I know most of these thoughts are probably not original and may be retreads of many things fandom has been discussing for years. I'm not claiming to be breaking new ground here. Also, I sorta float backwards and forwards chronologically in my discussion--some parts pertain more to them when they're young, some to when they're older, and I don't always clarify which. Also, these are generalizations! I point out patterns I notice; that doesn't make them all hard and fast rules, because Sam and Dean are each human and complex!

Here's what you'll find below:

1. Core motivations 2. Happiness 3. Approval and secrets 4. Approval from authority figures 5. Need and attachment re: others 6. Sympathy and empathy 7. Walls—hiding vs. performing 8. Need and attachment re: each other 9. Ambitions and goals 10. Normality and monstrosity 11. Guilt and self-loathing 12. Autonomy and sacrifice 13. Personal identity 14. Concluding observation

1. Core motivations: Dean’s purpose is to protect Sam, obviously. Sam’s purpose, though a little less clear, is to save Dean. Sometimes it’s explicit, as in s3 and s9-10. But I think Sam also wants to save Dean, in general, from himself and from the life. It’s why he pushes against Dean’s obedience to their father. It’s why he tells him to get out and go to Lisa after he jumps in the Cage. At a certain point, I think Sam accepts he can’t “save” Dean without changing who he is, so he chooses to stick by him—because at least then he can make Dean happy.

2. Happiness: Dean’s happiness—or perhaps contentment is a better word—is knowing that Sam is safe and alive. Sam’s happiness is Dean being happy. In Sam’s world, things are good when Dean’s good. I think that, conversely, Dean wants Sam to be happy, and Sam wants Dean to be safe, but they both know and to an extent accept that those things are not within their control, so they focus on what they feel they can control.

3. Approval and secrets: They are each other’s north stars, guiding principles, in different ways. For Dean it’s “look out for Sammy,” for Sam it’s “what would my big brother think/do.” Dean doesn’t need Sam’s approval. Sure, he loves it when Sam admires him, but if he feels he needs to do something against Sam’s approval, he doubles down because approval from Sam is not the top priority. He’ll do what he thinks is right, especially to keep Sam safe, no matter what Sam thinks about it. Sam, on the other hand, does crave Dean’s approval and cares very much about his opinion. It doesn’t mean he won’t go against Dean (all the conflict of s1-5!), but it affects him differently. This leads to different kinds of secret-keeping: Sam goes behind Dean’s back to avoid his disapproval; Dean goes behind Sam’s back so that Sam doesn’t interfere with what he thinks needs to be done.

4. Approval from authority figures: Dean does crave approval from others—specifically, respected authority figures. The big one is obviously John. I think in a way it’s Mary, too, when she comes back. But it only applies as long as the person has his respect. Sam doesn’t crave approval from other authorities in the same way, perhaps because his primary authority figure growing up was Dean.

5. Need and attachment re: others: Sam is the only person Dean cannot live without, but he also makes outside connections of a friendly nature fairly easily. He’s the more socially outgoing brother who latches onto people like Gordon, gets friendly with Ash, and forges connections with Jo and Charlie, just to name a few (and Castiel at times—though their relationship is so inconsistent and often convenience-based I hesitate to include it in this category). Though Sam is Dean’s core need, I do think Dean thrives with other friendships. I’m not talking about found family, though I’m well aware of Dean’s tendency to call people “family” quite readily. Honestly, I think this is a manifestation of his craving for connection with others. Dean has an affectionate and playful nature, and let’s face it, Sam isn’t always super receptive to that—so naturally, Dean seeks out people who are. (I think this is also, in some cases, related to Dean’s craving for approval from others). Of course, none of those other relationships come close to the depth of his relationship with Sam, and when his relationship with Sam is at its best, I don’t think Dean really needs anything else to sustain him. But in reality, it can’t always be at its best.

Sam, on the other hand, doesn’t forge outside connections easily—but when he does, they tend to be deeper than Dean’s easy casual associations (even when Dean has real affection for someone, he tends to keep the tone of the relationship light). It’s pretty clear Sam was a loner kid, and I imagine it took him a while to find friends at Stanford, and even though he loved Jessica he still clearly kept many secrets. That’s the thing with Sam—he’s got walls. Dean’s got his own walls, but they’re different. Sam can seem emotionally open, but he protects his innermost self very carefully and rarely puts his emotions out there in a truly open way—even less than Dean does. I think this is a consistent personality trait for Sam, not one born of trauma (though perhaps exacerbated by it at times). In fact, it’s in later seasons that I see Sam finally, in rare moments, let down those walls, with Rowena and Jack. When he’s young, I think this was partially a coping mechanism he developed for hiding his desires/feelings, even from himself, because he was so unhappy with his life. It means that even though he’s an introspective guy, he’s not as self-aware as he thinks he is until he’s older and more mature. He’s very good at self-deception when he’s young, because as a thinker, he can convince himself of just about anything.

To circle back to attachment, what this means to me is that Sam, while he certainly appreciates close friendships and has a lot to offer those he cares about, doesn’t crave friends in the way that Dean does. I think he desires to be understood (this is a natural human need) but he’s much more comfortable with himself than Dean is, and is somewhat of a loner by nature. This means he’s also not (usually) going to be too affected by the status of his relationships with others. Dean is much more volatile and easily hurt by others (this is where Castiel is a great example).

6. Sympathy and empathy: On the surface, Sam appears to be the caring, sensitive brother, while Dean is brash and insensitive. This is a very incomplete picture, however. It mostly comes down to the difference between sympathy and empathy. Empathy is an involuntary response, whereas sympathy is something that a person chooses to express, though that doesn’t make it necessarily superficial—it also comes from an emotional place. Dean tends to be more empathetic, and Sam more sympathetic. Dean, despite his performative walls, is more easily affected on a visceral level by others’ emotions. He is more sensitive, more easily hurt or swayed to anger, and also more easily experiences empathy. This has nothing to do with what Dean thinks is right—it’s another involuntary emotion. He is sometimes moved to express this feeling, but he’s not generally concerned about appearing sympathetic. Sam, with his careful emotional walls, isn’t generally so viscerally affected by others, but he is kind. This is expressed as sympathy, because he cares about others’ feelings, and he wants to be good/morally right. On the one hand, it comes from an intellectual place—“it’s socially acceptable/morally right to express care for this person” (which Dean is less likely to care about)—and on the other, it is an emotional response—“I know what that feels like”—but a more regulated one than empathy, where one almost directly experiences another’s emotions.

7. Walls—hiding vs. performing: It’s interesting that both brothers have their own walls, which they construct as a form of self-preservation, but they have different levels of effectiveness in protecting themselves from outside influence. One difference might lie in what the walls were built in reaction to. Sam built his walls at a young age to separate himself from the outside world because, ironically, it was precisely what he desired, but was not allowed to have. He therefore consciously distanced himself from it, to dull the pain of not having it. The goal of those walls was to have something to hide behind, where he could remain generally unnoticed, so he could conceal his pain from outsiders and even from his family.

Dean took a little longer to build his walls—or at least to consciously do so. He already no doubt fashioned himself after his dad as a kid, and often put on a brave face—for Sam, for his father—when he was not feeling brave. He therefore became accustomed to performing at a young age, and performed many roles for both Sam’s and John’s benefit. He was unconsciously building walls with these performances, concealing his true feelings and desires. Later, I think this started to become more intentional, especially in relations with women/sex partners and especially after the Stanford split, as Dean realized how vulnerable to hurt his sensitive nature made him. It was much safer to perform all the time, and never let his real feelings show. For Dean, even more than Sam, I think he often lost sight of what those real feelings were behind the walls as he tried his best to be the performance he was putting on.

For a visual metaphor, I think of it this way: Sam is a boy at the center of a self-constructed labyrinth. He is almost always able to maintain control over how close people get (except when a few slip past his defenses, at which point he may be susceptible to manipulation). Despite all those elaborate passageways, though, there’s still Sam at the center. It’s lonely there, but he knows himself pretty well at least. Dean is a man in a mask who wants the mask to be his real face. He does everything he can to fuse himself and the mask together. They probably are fused at this point, so it would hurt to take the mask off. His memory of the face under the mask is hazy. He’s afraid, if he looks under the mask, he’ll hate what he sees. He’s lonely because no matter how close others get—and he lets them in close, can surround himself with people—none of them will ever see his true face. But he’s convinced himself it’s better this way, because if anyone saw his face, they’d hate it.

8. Need and attachment re: each other: Clearly, both brothers need each other. Sam’s need for Dean is different than Dean’s need for Sam, though. The way I see it, Dean’s need is one that requires reassurance. Perhaps it traces back to the concern about Sam instilled into him at a young age. I think it was strongly exacerbated by the Stanford split, when Dean realized his and Sam’s desires didn’t align. In Dean’s mind, Sam left once and can do it again—he’s always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Sam, on the other hand, has always been able to rely on Dean as a rock, a constant in his life—to the point that, in a way, he takes it for granted when he’s younger. Not in a spoilt, ungrateful way, but in that way that we, as children, might take our parents for granted—they’re always going to be there, right? That’s why, on the few occasions where suddenly, Sam isn’t sure of Dean’s devotion, the rug is ripped out from under him and he’s completely adrift and distraught—seasons 4 and 8 come to mind. Sam needs to be the center of Dean’s universe. When he fears that that’s shifted, that Dean hates him or has chosen someone else over him, it turns Sam’s whole world upside down. For Dean, the fear is that Sam will leave, but it’s a constant, background worry. For Sam, the fear is that Dean will hate him, but since he can usually count on Dean to be obsessed with him, it only comes up now and again. Only Dean can truly hurt Sam, while Dean is vulnerable to hurt from others—though, as always, the deepest hurt can only come from Sam.

9. Ambitions and goals: Sam is the one with greater needs and ambitions outside the scope of their relationship. For Dean, if he’s got Sam and he’s got hunting, he’s content. His greatest accomplishments are taking care of Sam and saving people, and that’s all he needs. I see Sam as craving other sources of fulfillment, though—academic/lore study for its own sake (the pursuit of knowledge), and a leadership/mentorship role. I thought it was very fitting that Sam finds these in late seasons, with leading hunters against the BMOL, then leading the apocalypse AU hunters, then mentoring/nurturing Jack. Dean has always had (and needed) a mentor/leadership/nurturing role with Sam, but Sam also thrives when he’s able to step into that role for others.

10. Normality and monstrosity: I’m just going to link to this post rather than repeat myself.

11. Guilt and self-loathing: This is something they both struggle with and at times, are defined by, but it manifests differently. I think their Hell traumas exemplify their different brands of guilt: for Dean, it’s perpetrator’s guilt. He knows he did something terrible and feels he can never atone for his past actions. For Sam, it’s victim’s/survivor’s guilt. He may not have done anything wrong, but there’s a certain amount of self-blame, especially for perceived weakness. This is another theme for Sam; one of the main faults he sees in himself is weakness—too weak to save Dean from Hell for instance—and as a result tries to shoulder things alone (killing Lilith, Hallucifer, etc). Sam has a need to fix things, to prove to others and himself that he is capable. Dean, I think, sees his main fault as neediness, but really, it’s a deeply buried sense of innate worthlessness. He was taught from a young age that his brother’s life—not his own—was of the utmost value. He internalized that his life was only worthwhile if he could save others, and has trouble with the idea that he, himself, has value beyond what he can do for others.

12. Autonomy and sacrifice: The above leads Dean to have a very constrained sense of his own autonomy. In general, he values duty/loyalty to others over autonomy (although when it comes to cosmic beings, he’s all about free will—see this post if you want more thoughts on that, and Sam’s autonomy). Often, his desire to control others comes from a place of frustration when Dean feels they are neglecting duty/being selfish. I think partially duty towards others is really a deeply ingrained value for him, but there may also be some buried jealousy at play, in that Dean wishes he could act with more freedom, put himself first every once in a while, but doesn’t know how to. Sam tends to value autonomy over duty (this doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in any sort of responsibility—he’s willing to sacrifice for the greater good, after all).  This means he also tends to respect others’ autonomy, though we all know he can get plenty unhinged where his brother’s safety is concerned. The theme of Sam and autonomy has been talked to death so I’ll stop there, but you can click the link above if you want more.

13. Personal identity: One of Dean’s biggest struggles is with how much of his personal identity is received rather than self-determined. He is tasked with taking care of Sam and he is trained to be a hunter; these become the foundations of his identity. He says it himself: taking care of Sam is not just what he does but who he is. Then in season 3, his own subconscious mocks him for his lack of originality, styling himself and all he loves after his father, showing that this is a source of deep insecurity. This discomfort with himself contributes to his fear of being abandoned and left alone with himself. He doesn’t know who he is without Sam—or rather, is convinced he is nothing without Sam, which is why he fights so hard to keep him by his side. It also contributes to his general desire for friends, or better, family: people who won’t abandon him.

Later in the series, I think Dean has come to embrace his genuine self more. He’s nerdy and excitable and playful—and I don’t see this is as regression, but rather a healthy embracing of what makes him happy—not tastes inherited from his father. If it seems juvenile, it’s because it’s the first time in his life he’s allowed himself to express and explore these things. I think his relationship with hunting is also healthier; it’s no longer something he does because it’s the only thing that can give him worth. He does it because he believes it’s right and genuinely wants to help people. He has a more complete sense of self, and while it’s still totally tied up in Sam, he has gained some self-worth.

[I should note that basically everything I’ve written about Dean supports the headcanon that Dean has BPD—a headcanon I accepted after I realized this. For some more great writing on Dean and BPD, see this post by @venhedish.]

Sam has always known what he wanted for himself and rejected what was given to/allowed him. Wanting what he couldn’t have, from a young age, helped him develop an individual sense of self, not defined by others. I think it’s this difference in their sense of individual identity that leads some viewers to think that Dean loves Sam more than Sam loves Dean. He doesn’t, and losing Dean is just as huge a loss and a grief for Sam as losing Sam was for Dean. Dean is central to Sam’s life, and he can’t feel complete without him; however, his identity and every desire has never revolved as entirely around Dean as Dean’s has around him, so Sam has a foundational sense of self that even losing Dean can’t completely destroy. It’s what allows him to rebuild in grief and carry on (whereas I have no doubt Jensen’s right and Dean would waste away in the back of a pool hall without Sam). Dean’s central role in Sam’s life never disappears, though, and it is, in fact, what allows Sam to carry on; an effort to honor his brother’s memory, living in a way that would make him proud. There’s continuity in that for Sam; the craving for his brother’s approval and happiness never disappears. Seeking those things is what makes Sam happy, both in their domestic years together before Dean’s death and in the years after. They are both, after all, co-dependent!

14: Concluding observation: Sam and Dean have many similar issues, desires, and insecurities: the desire for a normal life, the fear of their own monstrosity, the desire for love and friendship, their need and love for each other, their desire for approval/to be admired, resentment at their childhood, the feeling of being impure and unworthy, the desire for freedom, issues with bodily autonomy. Sometimes these are seen as the purview of one brother or the other exclusively, but that’s almost never true when you consider canon as a whole. The difference is in how these things are internalized, sublimated, reflected, and expressed for each of them. It makes sense they would struggle with so many of the same things, because their lives are deeply intertwined and they are in the same boat most of the time.

[transguyedgeworth]

HALLO i hope all has gone well with bugs and such ur probably dealing w that as i type this but i have more headcanons >:) so! i hope these are helping deal with evil evil bugs

-maya still has a bunch of mias clothes she gave some to lana and some to pearl but sometimes she’ll wear a sweater or something that was mias

-phoenix doesn’t really like hospitals

- reminds him too much of bttt and falling

- yes i think capcom should have realized that falling off a damn bridge should give a man a good bit of upset and trauma capcom i am outside your door

- miles bottles up his feelings A LOT because there wasn’t any place for feelings in the von karma house. he’s trying to get better though

- he mostly bottles up his anger because he sees mvk in himself whenever he gets angry because mvk would be angry a lot

- fran also does the same but with any happiness or personal pride she may feel

- they both try to work on it, maya and phoenix are good influences on them

- miles has visited mvk in jail once. he won’t again

- franziska will never visit him

-miles likes to knit

-maya is sooo superstitious not like ohh if i break a mirror i’m dead but like Bigfoot Is Real and I Saw Him At Gourd Lake

-edgeworth and phoenix go often to a little coffee shop and always get a pot of tea

-sometimes phoenix brings flowers

-LMAO edgeworth asks what they are sometimes and unless they’re the two types of flowers phoenix knows he has No Idea

- the bathroom at wright and co is haunted

- maya attracts ghosts like nobodies business

-fran is afraid of spiders and maya is Violent towards spiders

- fran will shriek from the other room and maya will run in flip flop in hand, take one look around the room, and chuck her shoe at the spider. she never misses.

-maya LOVES that bakery they investigated in that one case i cannot remember the name of the one with the like. french dude? and tigre?

-pearls and maya make a scrap book for wright and co

-phoenix still draws (he was an art student and i am projecting onto him) sometimes but always drags edgeworth to art museums and talks about the art

-building on game night with the wrights they also have video game nights. phoenix is so bad and maya is still competitive but fran and edgeworth when paired against each other are Scary

-fran also sometimes lets her little brother win and gets dramatic about losing but it makes her happy to see edgeworth excited

- edgeworth has a journal bc someone once suggested it and he writes in it so often

- he also carries a certain picture of him larry and phoenix when they were kids and his signal samurai keychain in his inner pocket and fiddles with the keychain

-maya loves decorating the office for holidays

-the only thing phoenix can make well is soup and hot chocolate and he makes them at least twice a month when it’s cold

-edgeworth won’t admit it but he’d rather eat phoenixs almost burnt soup and melted bar hot chocolate than the stuff from the fanciest restaurants

- when edgeworth and phoenix propose they both propose at the same time and it’s so awkward but so so funny they both say yes of course but phoenix will tell that story to anyone who listens

ok that’s all for now! idk if i have any more (that’s a lie i have so many thoughts about them but idk how many of them are coherent) anyway i wish you best of luck with all the hubbub!!!

everything is going well thank you for the concern!! housing sent someone out to fix up the hole in my wall that they were coming through and the pest control guy just left and is now treating the outside of the building. these are absolutely helping me deal with the stress so thank you for sending them in! 

starting strong with the clothing thing, i love love LOVE your interpretation of the fey clan so much. it is canon in my brain now. capcom wishes they could think of this shit. also giving some to lana? precious, sentimental, amazing. lanamia nation rise up. thank you for my life. the detail about maya believing in cryptids and the bathroom being haunted? accurate and hilarious. and yes big agree that she still likes tres bien (i’m pretty sure that’s the name), she worked there briefly so of course she’d have a soft spot for it. i literally adore the idea of maya being hella Into Stuff, like cryptids and holiday decorations and winning at game night, and the scrapbook idea slayed me on sight. i am in tears.

LITERALLY WHY DOES CAPCOM IGNORE THAT PHOENIX HAS BEEN THROUGH SOME SHIT??? like what the hell. man almost died and then like two days later he’s like “lol i’m Completely Fine :)”. unrealistic. capcom let him be Affected by experiences please. 

kinda building off of that, AGAIN WITH THE WRIGHTWORTH STUFF MAKING ME TENDER??? i love them goin on little dates and being domestic... art museums and coffee shops and phoenix being Dumb about flower breeds and miles loving his cooking.... i am Soft i am Yearning. AND THE PROPOSAL THING!!!!! I HAD THIS SAME FUCKING IDEA GET OUT OF MY BRAIN!!!!! IT’S JUST SUCH A THEM THING TO DO...

and oooh edgeworth. good for you king, journaling and knitting and stimming and learning healthy ways to cope with your emotions. also the anger thing i totally get. like not to Overshare or anything but i used to have a lot of issues expressing my anger because when i did it reminded me too much of my dad so i feel that. 

the vk sibling stuff also spot-on tbh. good that they didn’t visit manfred except for miles’ one time. fuck that guy. let him rot. they are Learning and Growing together.... fran letting miles win at a game also perfect. she cares about her little brother even if she has trouble showing it sometimes. also love that her one weakness is spiders. that seems very fitting to me and i LOVE the image of maya just. chuckin a shoe across the room to defend her Wife from the eight-legged terror.

also you are free to send me incoherent thoughts if you want that’s the form most of my thoughts take anyway fjnfjsf i’d still love to hear them if you’re willing to share!

[bloodstainsontengensfloor]

This is based on a conversation with my friend about Sukuna’s dramatic ass ....

Thus... ✨Theatre Kid Sukuna was born✨

For real look how dramatic he is.

—————————————-

HeadCanons:

Modern/Mortal AU:

He is a male Rachel Berry.

He is a spoiled rich kid without a doubt and took a bunch of dance, acting, and voice classes

Always got the male lead, would through a tantrum if he didn’t or quit.

At first glance, you wouldn’t think he’s a theatre kid. He’s intimidating but no, this man loves attention and loves being dramatic. He was born to be on stage.

“I WAS BORN TO ENTERTAAAAAAIN”- Tina from Ruthless, that’s his anthem.

He does morning routines in the mirror to hype him up. “You are so hot. You are so talented.” And his jock brother Itadori will peek in and go “GOOD MORNING-“ “SHUT UP YUJI GOD.”

His playlist has two like heavy metal angsty songs for when he needs to be intimidating but for the most part it’s musicals (thank you friend for this)

The Mean Girls soundtrack? Yes. He listens to it religiously (thank you friend for this), and releates to Regina so much

World Burn? Yes. He does want to watch the world burn. He does got the gasoline. He wants to see everyone turn mean.

So like... Sukuna defiantly has the ability to mimic other people because of the fact that canonically he like... mentally tortures Itadori, so he knows how to get into people’s heads. It’s always so trippy seeing him play male lead roles that don’t match his actual personality at all, but whatever gets him the most attention.

He does that weird rib expansion thing all token straight tenor boys do (but is he a token STRAIGHT tenor boy? Up for debate)

I wouldn’t say he’s a tenor nor a bass, this boy worked his ass off to have all the range.

Any chance he has to take his shirt off for a musical or play? He’s down.

His extra arms are a costume piece he never returned because he thought he looked so cool (thank you friend)

He loves Les Mis, because everyone is miserable.

He loves Sweeney Todd because he relates to Sweeney. Duh.

He loves Jekyl and Hyde. He relates to Hyde.

Canon Universe: (this is a shitpost)

Somehow, maybe through a descendant of his who was able to communicate with him or something, Sukuna got hooked on musicals.

He does nothing in his domain all day but just pulls Lin Manuel Miranda’s

“What’s your name man? Sukuna Ryomen. My name is Sukuna Ryomen. And there’s a million people I haven’t killed, but just you wait... JUST YOU WAIT HAHAHAHAHHA”

Itadori was terrified the one time Sukuna took over control of his arms and forced him to listen to ‘Confrontaion’ from Jekyll and Hyde. Sukuna simply said “it’s not likely, but if you ever get close to killing me... we are doing this.” And then Itadori is just forced to learn Dr.Jekyll’s parts of the song.

Sukuna does one man shows in his domain because he’s so bored.

World burn is on mental repeat.

During a fight, he’ll quote a musical or play and when no one understands where it’s from he’ll go on a whole rant about it (Creds; my friend)

He forces Itadori to binge slime tutorials (bootlegs cough)

Whenever Itadori achieves a new finger, Sukuna pops in and just goes “FEED ME SEYMOUR. FEED ME ALL NIGHT LOOOOOOONG”

Itadori would just be randomly humming a broadway song and Someone would ask him where it’s from and be like “I didn’t take you for a theatre kid” and he just deadpans at them and goes “I’m not. Sukuna is.”

Again, it’s not that Itadori HATES musicals, he finds some of them nice, but the fact that Sukuna likes them concerns him.

Sukuna and Sweeney Todd is just. Yes. It’s a never ending thing.

One day Itadori gets curious and asks Gojo or something like “what’s Sukuna’s backstory? Why is he the way he is” and ofc Gojo and no one knows and Sukuna just pops in and starts singing “Every body... loves a winner. So nobody loved me... ITS GONNA HAPPEN HAPPEN SOMETIME MAYBE THIS TIME... MAYBE THIS TIME I’LL WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN”

Itadori having his breakdown after the Shibuya incident arc... he hears some weird guitar strumming in his head and is just like “DAMNIT NOT NOW-“ “I am what you want me to be, and I’m your worst fear you’ll find it in me... I’M ALLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVEEE”

When he first took over Itadori, way back in epsidoe 1 and such, he wanted to start belting “Alive” from Jekyl and Hyde. So. Badly.

And I have officially lost it. But theatre kid Sukuna lives rent free in my head :)

Don’t be shy, add on whatever you want 😭

[astrologista]

Kristoph Gavin Character Analysis I

Part 1 of... fucking infinity, I hate this bitch so much lmao.

Well, it's Halloween time and I just thought, why not. So let's answer this question.

What makes Kristoph Gavin a scary character/villain? A soft spoken gentleman with a deadly secret... the Devil, who lives in his hand, that crazy evil scar thing, his creepy music theme... damn, he’s a scary dude. But scariest of all? His psychology, as we all know. (This is mostly gonna be headcanons. but ya know what, I have a license (hands you a piece of paper that says ‘i can do what i want’))

Kristoph seems like a person who is very aloof, particularly when it comes to personal relationships. At first he kind of just seems like the typical anime glasses guy whose main emotion is like whooa he does the glare thing with his glasses sometimes. But... what is he really about?

You know, let me digress for a moment, what's really interesting to me about the AA characters is how much depth they have in their writing. Case in point, Adrian Andrews. There's a character who you assume is just going to be the typical "anime glasses girl" who is a career woman who don't need no man, and is very aloof, cool, and as she says, not concerned with irrelevant topics or things. Later you learn about the true depths to her personality. The fact that she is codependent, that she needs other people telling her what to do in order to survive. Just because she masks these emotions doesn't mean they don't exist. I felt that really gave a lot of depth to her character and added another dimension that stories in this genre don't often address as boldly or fully (especially when it comes to a female character). So the quality of the writing is always really top notch with only a few exceptions. Take this as context...

Now getting back to Kristoph Gavin. Typical anime glasses dude, right? But no, though. One of the reasons why he's so interesting to me is how his emotional understanding of personal relationships really works. Or seems to, anyway. Based on the endgame testimony and his crimes, Kristoph Gavin is extremely dangerous because, should you get involved with him in any way, he will never, ever let go of you, ever. Once you are entangled with him he wants you to stay entangled, not unlike an overbearing parent who refuses to let you go. It's partly that he thinks he knows what's best for you (that is, to stay completely loyal to him). And also partly... because he is pretty dependent on what other people think of him. So he needs to keep them around him closely.

Kristoph's biggest fear was his lying being exposed for what it was. That Phoenix was really the honest, straightforward attorney, and not him. Kristoph would do anything to perpetuate his own false reality. He kept it going for seven years. His absolute worst fear of all was losing his reputation. Being seen for what he truly was in front of others. He could never accept that. That fear drove all of his murders. Fundamentally, he sees himself as benevolent... when nothing could be further from the truth of how he was hurting everyone who had the misfortune of crossing his path.

Kristoph has a need to perpetuate this false identity of himself above all else. A very adjacent second goal to that is to keep all of his personal associates very close and under his control in order to keep the first goal intact.

Reject him and he will stalk you until you are dead. By his hand, or otherwise. Slight him, and he will get you at the first opportunity, case in point, Zak Gramarye. (He only had to get a quick glance at the guy and his fate was sealed. Turnabout Trump is a chilling case.) Replace him, and he will tear your life and livelihood up into little itty bitty pieces. He will then continue to stalk you aggressively for seven years while pretending he is your best friend. Case in point, Phoenix Wright.

Create false evidence for him and you become a loose end. So does your daughter. Like I said, just don't get involved with him. If he feels threatened, Kristoph Gavin will not hesitate to end you. It's definitely an obsession. I mean the first word that comes to people's minds when it comes to Kristoph usually isn't "obsessed", because he gives off the aura of being calm and uninterested. But he is, he's obsessed. You have to be obsessed to do what he did. This shit consumed his every waking hour, and that's what he won't admit. That he was so sick, he completely lost the plot. Phoenix was already living in his head rent free the day he ordered the forgery. And even though Phoenix wasn't physically present at the Misham trial and was only watching everything by video camera, you can bet Kristoph was seeing Phoenix. Hallucinating him, images of him. Probably multiple images of him. That's how obsessive. Imagine letting something or someone control you to that extent. Imagine thinking that you're so important, that Phoenix taking Zak Gramarye's case at all was meant to be a slight against you personally. (It's funny because Phoenix mentions not even knowing Kristoph at all until after the disbarment. So Kristoph's own logic in thinking that Phoenix was just out to shame him absolutely doesn't track. Ob-sessed, dude.)  

It's actually pretty astonishing that someone like Apollo made it out alive. On a side note, I really think Kristoph enjoyed having someone to mentor. He sought someone like Apollo out. Someone naive and new to the field for him to indoctrinate. And maybe I have a post about that later, cuz that's a whole 'nother barrel of monkeys right there. (It kind of involves Apollo’s naivete (also, daddy issues, hello.) being a huge reason why he would gravitate towards having a mentor known for having a “caring” personality. And I think Apollo genuinely liked that about him, which makes the end result so much more awful for Apollo to deal with because to him, that was real.)

But now think of Klavier, right. Being forced to grow up with that. To live with that your entire life. To have a familial relationship that is that smothering, that suffocating, that strangling. That controlling, to criticize every single thing that you do or say right down to the way you say it. And remember... He's never letting you go. I would go on a world tour as a rock star, too. Anything to be anywhere he isn't. This is horror movie tier stuff. (now im imagining a horror movie trailer for aa4 focusing on gavins stuff... eep!)

And Kristoph Gavin markets himself as someone who simply doesn't care. He's the coolest defense in the west and he doesn't care for what you may think about it. Except... he does care. It totally consumes him. Your perception, your opinion, is everything to him. He has shitty self esteem, deep down, because he knows Phoenix is better than him. And tries to mask it with narcissism as the two duke it out. Appearances are everything, evidence is everything. What people think is true is the only thing that matters, truth doesn't. And it makes sense that his closest contacts and associates are the targets for his constant narcissistic abuse and gaslighting. Their opinions matter even more than the common crowd - of course, Kristoph hates them. Which makes it even worse for him when the jury decides unanimously that Vera is innocent (and by implication, he is therefore guilty). The jury verdict was kind of like the ultimate confirmation that guess what, the evidence doesn't matter. The common and boorish masses have passed judgement, no matter how "mindless, emotional and irrational" they are, even they can see behind his crappy little facade. Even a blind woman like Lamiroir can see that insecurity; even a common person can understand it just by looking at the facts. That's what absolutely wrecks him... that his “poker face” couldn’t hold a candle to Phoenix’s. And he loses the “hand” again (because of his “hand”... get it??).

The identity that he needs to maintain is part of how he sees himself in his mind. As Phoenix's protector, not as his stalker. As Klavier's benevolent big brother, not as his abuser. As Apollo's teacher and mentor, not as someone guiding him into ruin. He lives in a false reality.

Try to bring this up in any way, shape, or form and he will write it off. You're just imagining things...

Because at some level, Mr. Black Psyche Locks himself doesn't even realize. (I feel like that might just be basically canonical fact, based on Pearl’s explanation of how black psyche locks are supposed to work.) That’s pretty freaking terrifying.

At the end of the day this is a big part of the reason I think his character is just so interesting. In a very messed up way, Kristoph is one degree away from being such a good person. He could've been obsessively protective of Klavier - the way a big brother is supposed to be - instead of abusive, could've actually been very caring of Phoenix instead of manipulative. Terrible people can have good traits, just as good people can have awful traits. His attention to detail and understanding of psychology (like getting Vera those gifts she would like so much) could've been used for genuine good. He could've been someone who cares deeply about other people because he does care deeply about other people. But only in terms of their relation to himself, what do they think of him, how are they useful to him.

Maybe this is why I kind of like his character. Intelligent, semi-neurotic protective characters are just my ish. But, no, he has to have a narcissistic bent that skews everything into complete abuse. That’s what makes him awful... that he’s devoid of a moral compass or true compassion for other human beings.

So in closing, fuck off, Kristoph Gavin.

Postscript, he's also such a good foil for Phoenix for this reason. Kristoph does everything for himself. Phoenix does everything for Trucy, because he's a dad and he understands the weight of what it means to really care for someone. Kristoph couldn’t understand motives like that. And Phoenix can't help it if he's an order of magnitude smarter and more mature than Kristoph is. He was just born like that. Classy as fuck. You know what, Kristoph Gavin is like the dollar store version of Phoenix Wright as an attorney. Has many of the same functions but actually doesn't have a leg to stand on and will fail you when you need it. And is revealed to just be a cheap knockoff of the real thing.

[cry-stars]

Hershel Layton and LayClaire for the meme?

Thank you so much! I’m sorry, this is super long.

Hershel Layton: 

How I feel about this character: 

I love Layton! I really love how, even though he’s a Sherlock Holmes-style genius and puzzle-solver, he has none of the arrogance that usually shows up in those kinds of characters. He’s gentle and kind, and always tries his best to protect others. He just has this calming effect on everything around him, somehow. I love how he shows mercy and kindness even to people that are rude to him or who have hurt him. He’s a true gentleman and really inspires me to be like him, honestly.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: 

I don’t actively ship him with anyone, but I have some fondness for both Layclaire and Layemmy, the latter mostly because of my friends who like the ship!

My non-romantic OTP for this character: 

Layton and all of his students/children, but especially Clive, haha… the two of them are very similar in a lot of ways, and I really love the idea of Layton deciding to extend mercy to Clive and helping him become a better person, and along the way, learning that maybe Clive also has some ways to help him as well.

My unpopular opinion about this character: 

Um… I don’t think he’s an awful dad. I think he’s pretty good, if a bit distant. He’s always kind and thoughtful, and always concerned for Flora’s safety (and I assume Alfendi and Katrielle too; I still haven’t finished Kat’s game). Layton’s main problem is that he doesn’t plan on being a dad, but when someone is in need of a guardian or caretaker, he just can’t say no and jumps to helping them, perhaps without being emotionally prepared. His first instinct is to help. Like, for Flora, Layton just wanted to solve an inheritance dispute, but finds a girl at the top of the tower who has no parents, likes him, and wants to go to London with him. How could he say, “sorry, I’m not ready to be your dad?” and leave her behind? 

Layton just needs to learn when to ask for help himself; he has parents and friends that could be a support system if he asked them. I think that he really tries his best, though, and there’s no way that he would ever be abusive or neglectful. I think he really should listen to Flora, of course; I love Flora to bits and I think the way he leaves her behind is awful. I just think that people need to think about Layton’s past, and how he’s trying his best to fill a position that he may never have been ready to take. It’s a grey area, for sure.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon:

I wish Layton got more closure regarding all of the horrible things that happened to him. His long-lost brother vanishes, seemingly dead. His biological dad goes to jail. His best friend returns from the dead, and they never even get a conversation together. Claire dies twice, and while they got a final goodbye, he learned that she was alive and watched her die again all in the space of one day. So many awful things happen to him so quickly, and he never gets the chance to process them.

my OTP:

Layton/therapy

my cross over ship:

Not romantic, but I love his interactions with Phoenix and Maya so much. I want to see them go on another adventure together (this time with Flora! And maybe Trucy or Pearl from AA).

a headcanon fact:

I’ve thought for a long time that Layton has PTSD, but ordinarily manages to hide it quite well. This is why he’s so reticent and doesn’t show his emotions very much, for fear of losing control, and also why he tries so hard to be helpful and understanding to others who share similar traumatic backgrounds to him (for example, why he takes Flora in, why he wants to help Clive, and why he so quickly takes Luke in as an apprentice). It started after Randall’s death, became worse after Claire’s first death, and was re-triggered for a third time after Claire’s second death and Luke’s move overseas. Layton was trying to help Clive after this by visiting him, but seeing the similarities between Clive’s PTSD and and his own, and seeing Flora and Clive’s concern for him, he was finally convinced to go and get help for his own trauma.

 Layclaire:

when I started shipping it if I did:

I’ve always shipped them casually because I enjoyed the story of PL3 so much.

my thoughts:

Layclaire is one of those complicated ones for me, where I like it in canon and don’t have a problem with it, but I don’t get butterflies thinking about them like I do for my OTPs. Recently though, I got a little more invested in shipping them after reading an old post about the parallels between Layclaire and Clive’s parents. (Of course it was Clive related… :P) Basically, I don’t ship them hard, but I appreciate how they work together in the story and how they make PL3’s story meaningful.

What makes me happy about them:

I love how Claire was such a wonderful new part of Layton’s life! After playing the prequels, we know how tumultuous his early life was, and after losing Randall and having to leave Stansbury, I imagine that Hershel felt pretty lost. Claire’s bright-eyed idealism and motivation might have inspired Hershel, and likewise, Hershel’s quieter nature might have been grounding to Claire.

What makes me sad about them:

Claire’s dead…

Also, I wish we got to know Claire a little better! Maybe if we got to play as young Hershel in a similar way to playing as teen!him in Miracle Mask? I’d like to get to know Claire in the same way that we got to know teen Randall; it might make her loss more meaningful. (I know Clark and Brenda didn’t exist yet, but it would’ve been fun to see them too during a flashback!)

things done in fanfic that annoys me:

I haven’t read a lot of Layclaire fanfics, honestly, so I’m not sure. I don’t know if this is the case in any, but I’d be a bit annoyed if Claire was the “manic pixie dream girl” to a depressed Layton and cured his depression, or something. At the same time, I do think she would have helped him a lot, so I might not be too picky with this. 

things I look for in fanfic:

I love fanfics that build on Claire’s character, or give her more of a backstory! Take Two, which is an AU in which Claire survives the explosion and she and Layton adopt Clive, gives Claire a lot of good backstory; she was an adopted child herself, for example. It also lets her grapple with feelings of guilt over having caused the explosion. People often let Layton feel darker emotions in fanfics, but I don’t often see Claire being allowed to have that range of emotion (although again, I admit that I haven’t read a lot of Layclaire-centric stories, just ones that have Layclaire as a part of a bigger plot). Basically, I’d like to see Claire grow as a character, and see her be allowed to feel darker emotions like Layton is allowed to.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: 

I’m not sure… Maybe Emmy for Layton? And Claire could become bros for life with Dimitri.

My happily ever after for them:

In a canon-like universe, I’m okay with Claire dying, to be honest (although I feel bad saying that) but I wish that she and Layton had a bit more time together. Maybe if they had a week where they could talk through everything they never got the chance to? In a universe where Claire never died, I’d like to see her as a part of Layton’s other adventures, becoming Flora’s mom and being a mentor to Luke.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Layton’s the little spoon, I think, but Claire lets him be the big spoon sometimes.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

They love to ramble to each other about their projects. They’ll make a pot of tea, and sit down, and talk through what they’re excited about and what they’re having troubles with, and give each other advice. Even though they’re in separate fields of study, they always give each other new ideas. I think that they might have been planning an interdisciplinary project together on Azran technology before the explosion.

[fadinglight123]

even more clone headcanons bc why the hell not

Part 1             Part 2             Part 3

Welp, I told myself I wouldn’t be doing another one of these until I finished more of the stuff I’ve been writing and drawing but I also told myself I wouldn’t spiral too deep into clone wars or star wars stuff in general, and yet. Here we are. I’ve lost control of my life. First things first, @so-yeah-imma-witch and @slamberr asked to be tagged in any of these posts. If anyone else would like to be added to the list, drop a reply or send me a message, I’m happy to oblige. This time y’all mostly get my take on various clones’ personalities, bc I said so. Time for me to reveal my Torrent Company bias. Enjoy? 

in fandom, Fives always seems to have this personality as a smooth-talking, trouble-making flirt and like. That’s valid but also in my mind he’s just. Not like that

*

he’s not quite as nerdy or earnest as Echo can get sometimes but he’s definitely an enormous dork

*

he’ll goof around and prank his brothers during downtime when there’s minimal risk to their lives, and he’ll crack jokes to keep things light once in a while while in the field, but otherwise he’s pretty serious

*

He’s an incredibly competent soldier and is very confident and in control while he’s in that role, and he even manages to be pretty put together off the battlefield most of the time. But put him in any other role and he’s just...kind of useless?

*

He doesn’t have the patience for political hobknobbing unless he’s literally forced to do it and even then he needs coaching and assistance

*

really the only cause he’s any good at advocating for is individual rights for all his brothers. He’s among the most eloquent of the clones when it comes to the topic of clone citizenship and personhood (this is straight up canon tbh)

*

he’s also a very honest, loyal person, so deception in any form does not come easily to him; the intricacies of political doublespeak frustrate and elude him

*

if he were given the opportunity to work with Echo on something like this, they’d be pretty fuckin unstoppable tho; Fives handles the public speaking and inspirational speeches, Echo takes the lead on a lot of the small talk and private discussions with politicians, and they kick ass

*

Speaking of Echo, my boy is not nearly as boring or by-the-books as fanon will lead you to believe. He’s got an in-depth knowledge of regulations, but that also means he knows exactly how to bend them to get away with things

*

when he first started out he played things safe more often than not, but he was broken of that habit pretty quickly once he joined Torrent, especially by the time he’s completed ARC training

*

He’s not even less inclined to causing chaos than his twin, he’s just...quieter about it, and much sneakier as a result

*

like, 75% of the time, Fives won’t even try to pretend he wasn’t the one behind a prank (it’s part of the whole deception not coming naturally to him thing)

*

but Echo will trick you into walking into one of his pranks and then pretend to act concerned as if he had nothing to do with it; Hardcase has been blamed for several shenanigans that Fives knows Echo was behind but he’s been sworn to secrecy and would never snitch on his twin

*

of the two of them, Echo is actually more likely to crack jokes while out in the field, his sense of humor just tends more towards the dry and sardonic so it usually flies under the radar, while Fives...well. “Are your scopes...Jedi-issue, sir?”

*

Fives is, in general, the more high-string and anxious of the two, he’s just got a very effective confident, put-together veneer to hide the fact he’s a giant dork

*

Echo doesn’t bother to hide how dorky and nerdy he is and is, in some ways, more genuinely confident. He’s also usually more levelheaded and reserved than Fives, who is very emotive and passionate

*

also Fives just. Fails at flirting. like, most of the vod’e aren’t great at it but Fives never really bothers with it and usually doesn’t notice if someone is flirting with him

*

when it’s pointed out to him, he short-circuits and freaks out

*

in my head, Fives is just an aroace disaster whose one true love is Justice (also his brothers)

*

sometimes he’ll try and wingman for his brothers and pawn any admirers he gets off on them with...varying results

*

Echo thinks the entire thing is hilarious; he sets up betting circles over how long it’ll take Fives to realize he’s being flirted with. Once in a while he’ll take pity on his poor clueless brother and let him know what’s going on 

*

also, Fives doesn’t actually disobey orders that often; as an ARC trooper he’s got a degree of autonomy and independence most troopers don’t have but he’s still got a healthy respect for the chain of command

*

it’s only when the orders he’s given are obviously bad or morally wrong or will result in a lot of casualties when there’s a better way to do things that he will disobey direct orders. He’d do anything for his brothers and justice is very important to him

*

Kix, for all that he’s a bossy little shit and will kick your ass and tie you to a bed if it’s what it takes to get his brothers to follow medical advice, is a very soft boi

*

9 times out of 10 he’s very soft-spoken and gentle, especially with shinies; he’s got some of the best bedside manner of any of the 501st medics, since he does his best to make sure his patients are as comfortable as possible

*

it’s only when his brothers ignore him while he’s trying to take care of him and put their lives at further risk when they’re already injured, or when they’re being particularly stupid, that he loses his shit

*

Jesse has a unique talent for pissing him off; he tends to be a little reckless and impulsive. After Umbara, with the whole “almost getting executed via firing squad” thing, and especially after Fives died, his protective instincts go into overload when it comes to Jesse

* 

(the other clones were never going to execute Fives and Jesse at Umbara, btw; Tup, Kix, and the others immediately got into a huddle and agreed they weren’t gonna do it when they got tapped. Rex wasn’t in on it bc he needed plausible deniability, but he hoped/suspected)

*

Jesse, in spite of being in Torrent the longest (tied with Kix, who was one of his batchmates), is considered a younger brother by several. He tends to oscilate between the afore-mentioned recklessness and impulsiveness and second-guessing himself; he defers to his brothers’ judgement most of the time

*

Rex talked to him about recommending him for ARC training after Fives died, and he agreed as a way to honor Fives’s memory

*

That moment when he instantly jumped to Rex’s defense and tried to fight Wrecker in A Distant Echo? He and Fives were always among the most ready and willing to throw down over people insulting their brothers, and since Fives was gone, that responsibility fell to Jesse

*

he’s the type to fistfight anyone who tries to pick on the shinies or any member of his little posse; a very protective brother and very supportive of the shinies

*

in whatever afterlife clones go to, Fives was watching and looking so kriffing proud

*

I briefly mentioned Hardcase and Fives having the clone equivalent of ADHD last time. They’ve got two different types though. Hardcase is a classic case of hyperactive type ADHD (aka stereotypical ADHD) while Fives is more of a combined type, less hyperactive than Hardcase

*

Hardcase is the most blatantly chaotic member of Torrent; his brothers love him but sometimes they wish he’d chill for like 3 seconds

*

he’s out here to have a good time and to make his brothers smile; most of his shenanigans are meant to amuse and entertain his brothers. He really is a ray of sunshine who just wants to make his siblings happy

*

he’s actually really emotionally intuitive and good at knowing when a funny prank or some shenanigans will be appreciated and when he should be a little more serious and sincere to cheer others up

*

a common patient in the medbay since he maybe enjoys explosions a little too much, plus he’s an adrenaline junkie who likes to be in the middle of the fray so...yeah. He’s always got at least a few bruises, cuts, or burns under his armor, no matter how mild; it drives Kix absolutely crazy

*

most of his batchmates were declared unfit for duty and either sent for reconditioning or decommissioned by the Kaminoans; he’s never seen them again

*

he didn’t get a chance to really interact with the twins much before they were promoted to ARC troopers, and then they weren’t always stationed with the 501st, but in the time he did spend with the two of them, they got along famously. After Echo died, he and Fives bonded quite a bit

*

one of the prank wars they were responsible for starting became legendary; it was one of the very few times Rex actually yelled at them over their shenanigans

I’ve got more about Dogma, Tup, and more general clone stuff that I’m already starting to compile into a list for next time but this is pretty long already so I’m gonna end it here for now.

[mauserfrau]

Mau's Very Silly Headcanon Post

Since I have two pieces of fiction going live this weekend and they’re both going to be late due to butting into each other XD.

I did another one here and there’s going to be some overlap, but less bodily function stuff in this one (mostly spit) (also some vague references to medical trauma).

A lot of this is small potatoes because I didn’t want to spoil anything.  How Phaseleech actually works ends up being a plot point in what I have pending, so I actually can’t just come out and say what’s going on.  That said, I’m sure there are people here who want to know what’s on my mind, but who don’t want to sit through 50K words with half a dozen squick warnings.

That said: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mauser_Frau

Questions welcome, about this, anything else I think about Borderlands, what exactly is in Chapter 13 of Satellite, if it’s true the one flashback actually happened to Mom... 

Both

-Look, the only thing I did that’s appreciably off-canon is let them have emotions.  Maybe I drove into left field with what those emotions were, but that’s really all anybody’s got to do to fix this situation.  Go with the deity of your choice.  

-If I was headed for a Gearbox ending, it would be for the scrapped one, not the one we got.  See this and this other thing.

>>>I would still have written the twins as having something resembling a meaningful relationship regardless of whether that turned out romantic or not.  As things went and are, them as a couple was something I knew how to write and my mom shipped them (no, I’m not kidding).  

-I’m not going for a canon ending.  Mercy, did I find a thread I could snap and take the whole sweater out.  

-Both had blue siren markings when they were born; Troy’s turned red after they were separated.

--Which was a complicated mess-- they were upside-down verses each other and had several secondary adhesions, the most notable of which was Tyreen’s face to Troy’s thigh.

---Leda never 100% recovered from the emotional or physical trauma, but she put on a brave face for the last sevenish years of her life.  

---Troy’s tissue loss was severe and left him with a notable pit in his upper right side.

---Tyreen also has heavy scarring running from her right armpit to her right hip.  It’s not as complex, but it is very visible.  Missing a fair amount of intestine compared to the average human, but this has apparently never bothered her beyond the fact that visiting the toilet when you don’t eat is not fun.

-Semi-identical twins. Have 82.5% of their genes in common.  LSS, neither one is a parasite.  They’re two sperm plus one egg and they didn’t divide right.

--Ms. Phaseleech* didn’t know any better.  #oops  

--If you get them relaxed enough, they will indeed curl up together in their “fish” position.

-Tyreen is the one who would wail first if separated from her brother when they were very small, but they don’t like being apart even as adults.  

-Both very well-read, used to recite The Odyssey to congregants instead of scripture (‘cause they didn’t have any scripture). 

-Good to excellent hunters. Depends what they’re hunting and if they’re together.  Prefer to go barefoot if there’s no one else around.

-The circumstances surrounding Leda’s death are appreciably worse than fanon baseline to the point I don’t think I ought to leave them lying around in a Tumblr post.  

-Both have wavy hair if they don’t iron the daylights out of it.

-Prefer to be on the road and around people, even if a fair amount of those people are going to end up dinner.

-Get weirdly soft-hearted around kids, especially little boys with a similar complexion to their own.

-Do they have any concept that they’re horrible people? Yes, but it’s very academic and not something that motivates them.  You’d be way more likely to hear them frame themselves as hedonists, which also explains their worldview to a certain extent.  

~*~

Troy

-Skinnier than most other Troys.  You could put him in a room with every fandom Troy and sort them by muscle mass, you’d find him at the bottom end, partying like this was an accomplishment.  

-Has an X-linked connective tissue disorder which is more extensive than he lets on.  He really should not do about 90% of the stunts he does because of the vascular involvement.

-Made a categorical decision to treat the associated pain with a lot of cannabis and massage.  Has a distinct resin and honey body butter smell because of this.

--Also, if you get him off-hours, there’s going to be a fair amount of “but why are we here, man?” discussion.

-Has a kink in his upper back.  His spine tilts to his right.  Not super noticeable, but if you were on massage duty, you’d realize something felt out of place.  

-Used to get catastrophic nosebleeds, though these have lessened in frequency and severity over the years.  

-After a certain point, has a permanent latching socket port installed on his right side, allowing him to switch arms out as he likes.

--Because he has a selection of eccentric ones.  What? It’s a challenge to learn to use non-human aspects like claws or feathers or forty joints in a tentacle.  

--Still flounces around without one if nobody of consequence is watching and generally won’t sleep with one in.

-The insides of his ear gauges are messy and don’t even get him started on changing the jewelry on any, erm, other piercings he might have.  (Nipples and one off-center PA.  That was QUITE enough after what it took for his tattoos to cooperate.) 

-Will frame any illness or off-day as a migraine, which he does get.

-Had really bad teeth before his mouth mods.  After that, has none of his natural teeth remaining.  Primarily uses his exceptional bite radius to annoy others, show off, eat sandwiches in a disturbing fashion and do unspeakable things in bed.  They’re for show.  They’re not functional in any serious way.  

-Doesn’t have great control of said mouth mods in the heat of passion or if you get him laughing hard enough.  Hope you like spit!

-Still has rather heinous-looking feet, but he’s concerned about losing his calluses if he has them fixed.  You’d be more likely to see him open on an operating table than barefoot in public.  

-Always wants to be the little spoon.  You’re a tink? You’re a third his size? So what.  He wants to be the little spoon.  Just give in.

-Genuinely likes tea, especially flower-based tea.  Favorite foods include grits, polenta, tamales, campfire beefy rice, beef and broccoli layered onto somebody else’s leftover noodles, beef curry, beef sandwiches soaked in jus, steak tips on day-old fries and look just give him a sloppy plate of starch and dead cow if you need him to shut up.  

-Drinks vodka so cold and over-filtered it tastes like water, then follows it up with extra greasy, burnt-to-hell texas toast while talking about his mother.

-Lactose intolerant.  Please do not feed the rat child pizza. Or chipped beef on toast.  No, not even if he begs.  

~*~

Tyreen

-Abnormally acute senses, especially hearing/smell and including a form of intuition which targets where things she can leech exist nearby.  She’s only aware of any of this in the context of it being different from how Troy’s senses work.  She knows where to get food.  Don’t most people?

-Doesn’t perceive herself as 100% human.  The Leech is part of her and she likes herself.  Mama said she was perfect.  The details are whatever.  You got a problem here? Well, that’s easy to fix… 

-Would have been sorted as a tomboy growing up, but had no companions to do so.  As is, prefers the company of masculine individuals, loves showing people up in a boyish fashion and is absolutely going to tune you out if you start talking to her about the topic.  

-Reeks.  You might smell something “off” with her around in a meeting room, but get her sweaty or worked up and forget it.  It’s not even a human smell.  Petrichor and spray paint, menstrual blood and chlorine, dead leaves and solvent.  It’s chemical, it’s uncannily biological.  It’s really not OK.  She can’t smell it and Troy’s used to it.  

-Doesn’t shave.  Has fluffy armpits that don’t match her dye job and a rather spectacular bush that extends onto her upper thighs.  Does pluck here brows and the witch hairs on her chin, but otherwise, you know what, nah.

-Heavily tattooed, but this is limited to her torso.  The viewing of said tattoos, as well as her scars, is a ritual in her particular CoV.  

--Not that she cares about being naked.  A body is a body.  You people are so uptight.  

-Will reflexively guard her lower stomach before anything else and sometimes in error.  Do not call her on this.  You will piss her off.  

-Has an eye-shaped siren marking, but it’s on her left shoulder blade and she tends to forget it’s there.  More aware of the “pointer mark” underneath her navel.

-Poor tolerance for any drugs.

-Can only ingest salt, sucrose and 80 proof or better clear alcohol without retching.

--Which is to say she doesn’t eat “people food”.  

--Fatty or high-fiber foods tend to make her ill faster.  She could possibly keep tofu or chicken breast down for an hour or more, but it’s still not going to end well.  

--Can and does eat cinder toffee because it’s one of the few things she can chew and digest.  Konpeito is nice too, but sometimes the dye upsets her stomach.  

--Milk, maybe.  Human works better.

-Enjoys swimming or long baths.

-Ambidextrous.  Was either born that way or picked up doing certain things left-handed because that’s what her brother had to work with and she had to show him how to do stuff somehow.

-Good with a forearm-mounted crossbow.  Either hand is fine.

-Used to drool precipitously when she leeched something “good”.  Mostly has a handle on this by the time the CoV gets to be a thing.  Mostly.  

-Deeply immature love language which might include her actually asking to play with her prospective partner and a good bit of bullying.

-SHE IS NOT SHY ABOUT HER NEEDS AND KINKS.  THE HELL WITH YOU.  YOU’RE MAKING SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING.  HOW DARE YOU.  DO YOU WANT TO BE SKAG BAIT ON THE NEXT LIVESCREAM.  UGH. #nottsundereatall

~*~

* The Leech IDed herself as, erm, herself in some stuff I’m not sure I’ll ever post but ANYWAY.