I am so obsessed with the Huntmaster. Most unusual for a deathmark. I don't know if we get a detailed description anywhere of how deathmarks used to be raised and trained - but they were certainly never considered honourable, except only in the most reluctant circumstances. Death-by-deathmark is a 'base assassination', fit only for the non-sentient or the disgraced, and since their work is a dirty secret they barely get any acknowledgement. Their entire existence is a taboo. According to the rules of their society, they're barely even necron; they don't even suffer the Anti-Life Insanity Disease in the same way other Destroyers do, they have their own variation.
We know that deathmarks don't take this lying down - Lysikor certainly doesn't, but he in many ways is the societal perception of deathmarks played straight. He's scheming and treacherous and nobody is surprised by this, he knows the role he is playing, and he'll exploit it every way he can. Not so much the Huntmaster. He's dangerous, he's expensive, and local necron nobles find his work disgusting - but he's loyal, too, and he is trusted, enough that Trazyn hangs out with him in his oubliette and entrusts the Empathic Obliterator to him. He seems to have been treated well ever since he came to Solemnace, being allowed to work at his own pace - sometimes against his own master's pace! - and everything about him suggests he enjoys being with Trazyn. That's not the usual deathmark treatment at all, they have something special going on here.
Now I've no doubt that a large part of this relates to how Trazyn treats his court, that is to say: with surprising courteousness. As a rule Trazyn values his retainers, and since Trazyn is so far beyond necron perceptions of normality, it makes sense he would be good to his deathmark too. But respect goes both ways, and I find myself headcanoning endlessly just what Trazyn did to earn the Huntmaster's endless loyalty, or what the Huntmaster must've gone through before his residence at Solemnace. He was already infamous when Trazyn secured his fealty. Was he actually admired in his old dynasty, or was he feared and hated like any other deathmark? Did he have that void cape before he came to Solemnace? Did Trazyn offer that price for him himself, or did he have to negotiated over? Was he known for his loyalty before, or is Trazyn the only master he's ever respected? Did they have a genuine friendship prior to biotransference, or did they start spiraling together in their mutual collectors' insanity after the Great Sleep? Some real food for thought there 🤔
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Everybody always talks about Alfred's parenting but what about Martha and Thomas? Got any headcanons about them being parents and their influence on Bruce's later life?
Part of that is the fact that their deaths probably effected him more then anything they had time to do in his life - early childhood is incredibly important, yes, but as long as the Waynes were good-to-decent, the foundation was solid enough that Bruce’s few remaining memories of them alive would skew rosy.
There is at least one canon where the trip to the theatre was an apology on Thomas’ part for losing his temper at Bruce for interrupting him in his office, which is also a solid bit of parenting on his part (caveat that some canon shows Thomas hitting Bruce for interrupting him, which is not solid parenting). But i think that method of apology - an action or physical sign of apology over just verbally apologizing is something that Bruce learned from his parents, and combined with his difficulties speaking about his feelings, doesnt always serve him as well as it should.
And i think Batman is actually the best indication of the Waynes affect on Bruce - that his reaction to unbearable tragedy is a promise that no one will have to suffer like he did, that he will make this into a kinder world if he has to shape it tjat way himself. I think he learned that from Thomas and Martha too.
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What are some of your fav ghoul headcannon? Or bits of "noncannon" lore?
aaaa thank you @alder-berry! I’m going to yell about ghouls now.
FEV Involvement
So for starters: low level FEV exposure is needed in order for humans to be able to ghoulify(along with some unknown genetic components), otherwise they’d just flat out die from radiation poisoning.
There’s so many prewar ghouls with military/corporate ties due to a modified strain of FEV being trialed as a vaccine for the new plague before project's focus was completely shifted over into weaponizing it.
The majority of wastelanders have had some form of low level FEV exposure. This plays into wastelanders generally having a higher level of radiation resistance compared to vault dwellers - they’re just more likely to have the genetic components involved in radiation resistance, and the prior exposure to FEV means they have the potential to adapt to various conditions and even develop minor mutations in response to extreme conditions.
Ghoulification
There’s no standard timeline for ghoulification and it’s highly dependent on the individual + the amount of radiation they’ve been exposed to, how long they were exposed for, and other factors like genetics. Some people ghoulify extremely quickly while others never get to a point where they’d be considered a ‘full’ ghoul.
The way that ghoulification presents is also highly variable and dependent on individual + radiation, exposure time, and other factors such as genetics. Some people can gain the radiation & disease resistance, healing from radiation, extended lifespan, potential mutations, etc without getting much of a typical ghoul-like appearance, while there’s others that are pretty much fully human but have scarring that makes them physically appear to be fully ghoulified.
Due to how much variation goes into it, there’s not really any one factor that indicates if someone’s ghoulifying. It’s not unheard of for people to survive radiation poisoning without ghoulifying because of wastelanders having increased radiation resistance, so recovering from radiation poisoning doesn’t automatically mean they’re going to become a ghoul.
The damage and scars that typically present when ghoulification starts are commonly mistaken for chemical or radiation burns, especially if the individual is ghoulifying at a slow rate.
People with very high radiation resistance that become ghouls are much more likely to get additional mutations.
It’s common for people that are in the earlier stages of ghoulifying to bleed and bruise for no clear reason. Radiation causes mass cell death and hemorrhage + would cause clotting issues due to low cell volume, and that’s something that would likely persist until the majority of a person’s cells are mutated.
Ferals
I’m going to link to another post rather than copy and paste everything since it’s a long post, but here’s my theory on how and why ghouls become feral.
Miscellaneous
Ghouls typically don’t have as much tactile sensation due to all of the nerve damage and scarring from their skin sloughing off. They also tend to have poor circulation and lower body temperatures(hence the disease resistance - yes, I’m implying that ghouls are immune to rabies and other diseases in the same manner that opossums are).
It’s very common for ghouls to have bone + dental issues due to a combination of damage from frequent vomiting from radiation poisoning, and from the way that radiaton pretty much leeches calcium and other minerals from bones and other tissues.
Ghouls can smell radiation. (Not a headcanon that I came up with, but one that I’m 100% running with- I interpreted it more as an extra 'sense' rather than a legitimate smell, but that's just me)
Ghouls age at an extremely slow rate like lobsters rather than just being frozen at the age they were when they ghoulified.
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I looove love love playing with the classic 'big tough guy rescues and protects small sort of pathetic nerd' type handsome prince story that Otasune has going on initially, but i also fucking ADORE playing with the inverse; Snake as a man needing saving despite how often he takes the role of hero in others eyes, Otacon seeing this man so battleworn and tired who has been denied any peace or a normal life and feeling such compassion and hurt burning in his heart for him that he makes a vow to stay by his side and protect him.
Scrawny beanpole of a man holding this clone soldier in his arms when nightmares come for him, trying to calm him down from memories of the hell's he's walked through; whispering softly to him, reminding him he's there, he's safe.
Helping bandage his wounds and massage his bruised muscles and caring for him when he grows tired and worn down; all with a look in his eye that suggests at rage bubbling silently over the fact the man he cares about has to endure this much.
I just really like when Hal is in that protective role of trying to be the stronger one for Dave, this sweet sweet man with a big heart taking a look at the man under all that lore and legend and thinking who is taking care of you? Who is keeping you safe at night? Are you all alone, why must you endure this alone?
I just. Clenching my fist. I fucking love when Otacon is strong in his own way, and protective in his own way; he might not be a supersoldier, he's just A Guy, but he cares and he see's the man behind the legend and decides to stick by him like his guardian angel and aaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaa
They are both everything to me
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