Clara Oswald, or, a ghost story
The Snowmen, Doctor Who // Interstellar (2014) // Snow and Dirty Rain, Richard Siken // Hide, Doctor Who // ‘As Strong As Death’ published in ‘Eight Ghosts: The English Heritage Book of New Ghost Stories,’ Jeanette Winterson // ghost I, Christina Marie Brown // Hide, Doctor Who // Danse Macabre, Steven King // Hide, Doctor Who // Landscapes with Fruit Rot and Millipede, Richard Siken // Death in Heaven, Doctor Who // Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places, Colin Dickey // Interstellar (2014) // Black Hole, boygenius // Unbidden, Rae Armantrout // “A Ghost Is a Memory.” On Bodies, Belief, and the Places Ghost Stories Live, Genna Rose Nethercott // Faces in the Crowd, Valeria Luiselli // Hell Bent, Doctor Who
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that tidbit in @kchzndrvh‘s post about nana transferring a lot bc of her family and therefore being incredibly lonely is kinda making me a little insane. bc in that situation kids typically either wall themselves off and stop trying to make connections OR present themselves in a way that invites interest and fosters connection (even if their presentation is dishonest or the connections are shallow). and the way that nana clearly went hard on the latter option—making herself appealing by centering others and making herself available to counsel or comfort them, then feeling worthless when she perceives that her help isn't needed (as seen in overture my best friend overture)—makes me SO sad. just. the image of this desperately lonely kid who got it in her head that to be loved she has to be needed, and to be needed she has to be useful. who chose to be useful by being kind and nurturing and offering her love one baked good at a time. kinda tragic kinda heartwarming (as many things about daiba nana are)
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Did your OC's parents love them unconditionally? If so then has this helped them feel confident as an adult? If not then how has this affected them? What were the conditions their family attached to their relationship? - for the OC you're most feeling
Oooooh, this is a very good choice! I could do this for basically anyone & it would yield an absolute chef's kiss result. I could write a fucking essay on The Royce Twins, & maybe I will one day, but honestly I have been thinking about Aldreda Farwynd lately bc more of her character is falling into place, so here we go!
On paper she is loved unconditionally, like, neither of her parents asked anything of her or were like "hey, I will like you more if you do x, y, z" but she very much assigned conditions to their love. And, given context clues, she wasn't wrong? I guess?
She's her mom's only living child, of course Lady Melusine loves Aldreda unconditionally! But she's a daughter and her inheritance (even after her half brothers died) feels contentious & there's cousins & uncles chomping at the bit to take Lonely Light. Aldreda is all she has as proof of affection (however fleeting) of a Marriage For Duty...but also her own failure in Not Having The Oldest Boy. She just wants the best for Aldreda, she would kill for her, but Aldreda just decided that because she's a girl she has to earn her mom's love by being willing to do the killing instead or by physically fighting the whole world to prove that they both are more than they're perceived as.
Her dad on the other hand...Lord Alfric isn't mad he only has his daughter left. Disappointed maybe? She wasn't what he wanted from any of his wives, but he has her & she looks like him & he likes her...but he's not really warm or close by any means. He'd never meaningfully say anything to imply conditions to his love or a lack of some kind of paternal affection...but the evidence is also kind of there. So she just...becomes all of the sons he lost & maybe then she'll get what her dead brothers recieve (only in death, bc they had unspoken conditions too). Maybe then he'll love her enough to make his brothers back off of her inheritance, & to unprompted, actually say "hey, I love you Aldreda."
She is...she's not not confident, but she's confident like a wrecking ball going through a wall. It's a little forced & very obviously over-the-top. Like, she had to craft it herself because it was only imparted by her mom (& even then it was a little You Have To Be This Way Because Pride). She overcompensates for her perceived inadequacies by Being The Best And Knowing She Is The Best, by having The Moat Loyal Raiders, by being larger than life & everything that House Farwynd is & should be. Because if she's Like That she's worthy of Lonely Light, she's worthy of her dad loving her, she's worthy of every shred of care her mom showed her (even though she didn't/doesn't deserve it). Being a destructive, mythic force who strikes at every opportunity to be The Best and have The Best is what she needs to be worthy, right?????
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