#this is equal part story and headcanon on that one but there's also this pattern that eva throws her whole body into destruction. ykwim. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

landboundstar · 8 months

Text

Trade Secrets Part 5

Back to Giovanni Zatara as narrator. Still pre - Crime Alley in my AU made up of my mishmash Gotham City, assembled from all the stories I love.

Little bit more centered on Thomas, Martha, and Giovanni this chapter, but will build some more on my takes on Harvey, Selina, Bruce, and Zatanna as we go. Still a lot more building on these ships and headcanon backstories.

Trade Secrets

Part 5

I sat down on the foot of the bed, looking as she let the dress fall from her hands onto the bedspread.

"Thank you for indulging me, Gio." Martha smoothed the skirt of the dress I had bought for Zatanna out. "I always see the adorable clothes in the girl's section. Unfortunately, I don't have a reason to shop there. It's one of the few downsides of only having a boy. Seeing the clothes Alfred and you buy for Rachel and Zatanna lets me enjoy that vicariously."

Martha smiled, patting me on the arm. "I know you miss your Sindella, and I wish I could have met her. But, I've been seeing Zatanna grow up, and you are raising a wonderful daughter."

"Yes, well nothing has caught on fire or been turned into a bunny in the last three weeks." I told her, not even trying to hide the tears in my eyes.

She was right. I missed Sindella, and I did wonder what she would think of how I was raising our daughter. But, I loved our daughter and honestly enjoyed seeing her delight in the colorful dresses and tops as much as I enjoyed Martha's request to see the outfits as well.

I stood up, and walked over to the window. Zatanna was playing in the garden with Rachel and Selina and the three girls appeared to be drawing a complicated game of hopscotch on the path. Things seemed to have been normal between Zatanna with both Bruce and Harvey, which I had been worried about after the cat incident. But, I was also not surprised that Zatanna had chosen hopscotch over the movie that the boys had chosen to watch.

"I have to admit, this plaid dress is my favorite."

Martha unfolded the next dress that I had bought, admiring the blue and green tartan.

"Yes, it is quite fetching." Alfred mentioned from the doorway. "Although, I have to admit that I think that dress will look cuter on Zatanna than it did the last time I saw that particular pattern."

I coughed, not successfully smothering a laugh. Martha shook her head with her own chuckle, so I knew that Martha had heard the story about the Scot in Alfred's MI6 unit who had indeed worn a kilt in the same pattern as I had picked out. While the kilted soldier had been quite a striking figure, I had to find it equally unlikely that Zatanna would not be far cuter in her plaid dress than the grizzled veteran.

"Well, I am sure your colleague had other skills." Martha told Alfred.

"Oh, that he did. Since you are going out with Thomas later, would you like me to have the children come have supper before you get ready to leave?"

"That probably would be a good idea. Honestly, I think I want to have supper before I leave rather than survive on champagne and canapes for the evening."

"A family dinner sounds excellent then."

"Join us, Gio."

I smiled, "Of course."

Walking back over to the window, I looked out and saw Selina pick a flower and give it to Zatanna.

Zatanna tucked it behind her ear, and kissed Selina on the cheek.

I had not realized Martha had joined me at the window, until I heard her say, "Awww. The girls are being sweet."

"They are."

Heading downstairs with me, Martha turned. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. Harvey is definitely a fan. He still has that trick coin you pulled out from behind his dad's ear."

I laughed, a little startled. "The one Selina took from him?"

"That's the one. He treats it like a good luck charm."

I knew just how quickly luck could turn, but decided to keep that opinion to myself.

"Alfred just told me about an early dinner." Thomas kissed his wife on the cheek. "That sounds fantastic. The girls are getting cleaned up, and Alfred is getting both boys."

I looked towards the living room, where the boys sat as the screen went blank, making a Bela Lugosi Dracula parody disappear. As soon as the image was gone, Bruce's fingers uncurled from Harvey's grip.

I pulled Thomas aside.

"Is that going to be a problem?"

Thomas did not even pretend to misunderstand me. "Not for me. It was a surprise, but never a problem.I've seen weirder things than my son wanting to hold hands with both boys and girls. Funny how having a friend who can cast magic puts that into perspective. And whoever he likes, I like the boy my son is growing into."

"What about for Harvey?"

"Mr. Dent has very definite opinions about what type of a man he wants his son to grow into. And I am worried without a way out, it is going to break something in Harvey. He's a good kid, but he'll never be what his father wants."

I put my hand on Thomas' shoulder. "Isn't it good he has a good friend then? How did you raise such a good kid anyhow?"

Thomas smiled. "I'm going to borrow one of your lines, Gio. Trade secret."

#batman #au fic #zatanna #harvey dent #selina kyle #bruce wayne #Living wayne parents #Still building the ship.

3 notes · View notes

nebulousfishgills · 1 year

Note

fanfic writer asks!

💥🎁👓

🎬🧪💌

Ooo thanks!

💥 - What's one canon thing you wish you could change?

I mean, so many things, but the one that's been absolutely plaguing me lately is in Twilight... give the wives more emphasis and more to do holy shit I will not stand idly by while Athenodora and Sulpicia are regulated to set pieces who spend their days getting high.

🎁 - Have a piece from a WIP you want to share?

Lemme pull out my pride and joy climax chapter for my Diplopia sequel:

"[Emily] returned to her place in front of the dais with the pads of her fingers pressed together in front of her. As she spoke, she paced around the floor like a lawyer to a jury delivering their long-winded litigation."

👓 - What helps you focus when you write?

Many things, depending on the chapter. The right mindset, having music from one of my character playlists or an ambiance in the background, and in some cases having what I want to write already planned out somewhat in my head.

🎬 - If a movie or show were based on your fic, which fic would you choose and who would you fancast?

I think most realistically His Tenebris Moenibus (aka the original Stranger Things fic) would be the best idea since inserting Emily (my fancast for her is Olivia Cooke) I don't think would be huge feat. Also I'd love to see what the fandom landscape would be if she was a part of the story, namely her AO3 stats. Fucked up people in Fucked Up Love with each other is an appealing trope and I know there'd be many fics of her with Eddie or Robin (I can explain this headcanon if you're curious), and I know there'd be people who want her to step on them. So.

🧪 - Do you research for your fics?

Depends on what you would qualify as research. I google things occasionally for probably every fic (my top favorites are the chemical formula for progesterone and trying to understand Italian seasonal weather patterns), but I think the only fic I've done super extensive research for is Diplopia, and that's because I wanted more information on some of these characters before I started to write (I'm serious, I had only watched the movies when I first wrote it and they gave me almost nothing to work with). I have the wiki bookmarked and I just yesterday managed to order the Official Illustrated Guide from Thriftbooks so I had more of a "physical copy" of the information.

💌 - Is there a favorite trope you like to write?

Corruption Arcs/Fallen Heroes. The Redemption Arc's fucked up younger sibling, it has the same general meaning to me (humans are equally capable of great good and great evil if given the chance, no matter what) but with a darker twist. I just like putting characters in a blender and screwing them over, it's a trope I used in my very first "fanfics" and I still use it today. The best flavor is doing it out of love, rather than the villain going good for the hero, the hero turns cloaks to be with their evil paramour on the dark side because, frankly, it's more fun that way. No idea what that says about me as a person, but there ya go.

#fishgills speaks #fishgills ask box #writing #writer ask game #ask game #emoji ask game #emoji writer ask game #fic writers #my inbox is open

3 notes · View notes

write-a-circle · 2 years

Note

France x america x englang, write whatever you want

frusuk domestic headcanons

pairing: france/england/america

content. fluff, romance

first request on this blog! i’ll go with domestic headcanons for this one, and sorry if it's not up to your expectations, i'm more used to writing reader inserts

A polygamous relationship, but a hella chaotic one. There doesn’t go a day where there isn’t a childish quarrel between two of them, maybe even three if the other one’s in the mood

Argument pairs include the two classics of France-England and England-America

If they live in a house, then France will obviously not let the other two set a single step inside the kitchen. America could be the exception sometimes, but England? Hell no, that British cooking is not getting into his kitchen for as long as he lives.

“Our kitchen, France.” “Please, since were you a communist?”

Of course, breakfasts are exempt from this rule, as an English breakfast is tolerable in France’s dictionary, and France is not an early riser so it would usually be England who prepares breakfast.

France ain’t complaining though, he gets to see England looking cute in an apron and avoid food poisoning.

America just eats everything his lovers prepare. Like, literally anything would do. France’s amazing, delicious, superb and delightful cooking? In his stomach, no questions asked. England’s yee-ass meals? Good food, he’s full, gonna wash the dishes now.

They have matching mugs. They do not know how it got in, probably gifts from friends, but they are now an important part of the household. Drinks are always divided in the mugs, and America refuses to get his coffee from anything other than his mug.

As mentioned earlier, France is not an early riser. He likes to take his time in the morning to ensure the day is relaxing and enjoyable, from the start to finish. This pisses England off because it’s nine in the morning, why the hell is he still in the bathroom!? The food’s getting cold!

The Frenchman’s bedroom is very aesthetic, right down to the curtains and cupboards, incorporating warm and light shades of gold, cream and brown.

Ornate mirrors, gold patterning, velvet and silken sheets - seriously, the guy even has a chandelier in his bedroom. He’s just that extra.

It would probably smell like the various perfumes he keeps in there and his own natural scent.

America’s room has a bookshelf filled to the brim with comic books, particularly the superhero genre. He’s very proud of the fact that he’s got so many original editions of comics.

However, France does not dare to look at America’s room as it is also filled with so much technology, from computers to monitors to tablets and mouse and speakers and good god, what is that mass amount of black worms tangled up together?!

America does not how to do cable management.

England’s bedroom is very neat, tidy and minimalistic. There aren’t many decors, documents are stacked neatly on one side of the desk, and his smart devices which are equally well-kept - macbook polished and charger tied in a neat circle. he also has a collection of books he’s kept throughout the centuries.

He prefers to only use them when necessary (even with his smartphone), opting to spend his time doing something else like reading or playing with his magical friends (or reading to them, it’s a good idea).

It saddens England to know that America’s in the room next door while he reads stories to his magical friends, as England usually read him bedtime stories every night before their separation.

Speaking of which, you can find the fairytale creatures all over the house, whether it be lounging on the couch or in the bathroom s̶t̶e̶a̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ applying France’s beauty products.

Sometimes, America has nightmares. They can range from reliving his trauma to nonsensical ones (his hamburger turning against him and chasing him). He wakes up in cold sweat and immediately thinks of coming over to one of his lovers’ rooms for the night, but swallows the urge to because of his insecurities - even if the relationship has been on for a while now, he doesn’t want to be seen as vulnerable.

Whenever they go out, France would stop the other two at the door and turn them back because good lord what are those outfits!? Not to worry though, he’s got them covered in the fashion department, and if they still don’t have suitable clothes they can always borrow from his wardrobe! Be quiet England, they’ll be fashionable late to the appointment, literally.

America’s health also gets better through a series of adjustments, discourse and explosive arguments (mainly the latter two) about the sheer amount of crap that’s in the hamburgers and milkshakes that he inhales daily. Even England is horrified.

The only time of day when England and France truly seem to be at peace (other than about America’s diet) is when they partake in daily afternoon tea parties. Sharing treats and the other kind of tea on the countries is very relaxing for the two of them, and lately America’s joining the tea culture with them, too. If only he’d contain his excitement and stop breaking teacups, though…

19 notes · View notes

lifeofkaze · 2 years

Text

September List

Exactly one year ago, I wrote the first of my monthly motivation lists, hoping to get a bit of a system into my steadily growing WIP list and up my productivity. Now, twelve lists later, I can happily report that I have not only finished one major project with When Stars Ignite but can actually see the finish line of the second, equally as big project, A Search for Balance. I have also pretty much mapped out most of the rest of the big ones yet to come, several mini-series planned and more than doubled the amount of shorts, challenges and other projects on my masterlist in the last twelve months. Looks like the lists are working, right? Maybe, they are actually working a little bit too well. I have felt increasingly tired lately, the creative part of my brain is harder and harder to activate but never quiet enough for me to actually rest. This September will bring many personal changes for me - after two years of being a stay-at-home-mum, my kid transitions into daycare this month, and after he's settled in, I will return to work, something I'm incredibly looking forward to. But participating more in the 'real' life also means that the time I have to spend on here will be reduced, or at least, its pattern will change, which - for this month of transition and creative recovery, in any case - will be reflected in this month's to-do list. Take care, everyone 💛

This month I need to:

This month I *need* to do nothing at all. Whatever I will do on the creative front I will do because it inspires me, and if it doesn't, well, I just won't do it. I might drum out 100k words or none at all. Both of them are legit, and both of them are fine.

The only thing I need to do is try and be more mindful of my time instead of brainless scrolling through TikTok, Tumblr and the likes. I will still be around, but I also want to try and detox my digital habits a little until they reach a healthier level.

WIP Progress: A Search for Balance

Estimated Goal: No estimated goal this month Reached Goal: 40/52 (+1)

This month I want to:

❌ Read a book ❌ Write a story from the Vault ❌ Script a story from the Vault ❌ Profile updates ❌ Timelines ❌ HPMA series Y1 ❌ Legacy series Y1 ❌ Map out Caro's series ❌ Caitlin's profile ❌ Dana's run-up stories to my Christmas series (0/2)

Publishing Schedule:

I'm adding this little section to my list to let you know that while the "Back to School"-Challenge by @cursebreakerfarrier runs for the first week of the month (which I will not be participating in), A Search for Balance goes on a one week break. Regular publishing schedule will continue on September 9th with bi-weekly posts until the Pre-Season finishes with C12 on September 30th.

I will take another publishing break during the whole month of October to edit and brush up on the second section of the story.

To not disappear from your feeds entirely (sorry if I got your hopes up there for a sec, haha), I will be posting the first two chapters of my Rockstar AU mini-series Before the Spark in this publishing break, the masterlist of which will go live on October 3rd, which I headcanon as Orion's birthday.

Until then, my lovely friends 💛

#september 2022 #september list #september motivation #is lacking lol #writing schedule #writblr

11 notes · View notes

solomonish · 3 years

Text

My Personal Simeon Fall AU Headcanons

These are within the same realm of this fic - and it is intended as a Simeon x MC universe! These HCs will focus on his time in the Devildom rather than why he fell, but maybe that information will come eventually...

*some things regarding this war I keep mentioning may not be entirely clear - still working on that! However, I’ll try not to put out too much contradicting information, hehe!

WARNING: some angst, brief mention/implication of torture. forcibly removed memories.

First Days

He came to the devildom in a blaze, much like the brothers did, hurtling down like a shooting star. At the core, encasing him as his wings charred to soot, was a brilliant light blue, rimmed by a dazzling white and platinum gold. At his impact site, parts of the dirt and stone have crystallized in the same colors. The site is still roped off for investigation.

He fell, acting as a white flag for both sides to signal the end of a war very few people knew was raging. The impact sent the last of his holy energy into the surrounding area, and demons near the sight complained of itching and general irritation for weeks after.

The only people at the site who looked into his eyes when he struggled to get up were you, Diavolo, Barbatos, Lucifer, and Solomon. A few curious Devildom citizens were scattered about, too, but Diavolo's authoritative vibe kept them too far to see anything.

Diavolo and Barbtos kept him in one room in the castle as he adjusted to the sudden demonic energy inside him and learned to contain his wrath. You were allowed to see him, but only if supervised by Barbatos or Diavolo in case Simeon tried to hurt you.

He was despondent most of the time, sitting curled up and stiff in the middle of the bed that looked untouched. He spent days without sleep, simmering with rage. You never found out if he bottled it up or if he destroyed the room but Barbatos put it back together before you appeared.

(You might not ever learn that some of the methods Diavolo and Barbatos used to bring his memories back were...extreme. They had no intentions of torture or pain, but they desperately wanted to get to them if they could. That’s where his anger was used up - as he screamed out in agony, either from the extraction method or the feeling of having lost everything yet not quite grasping what that meant.)

Satan suggested books and sent some of his personal collection that helped him gather himself when he was created. Diavolo and Barbatos tried to jog his memories, both for personal reasons and to get information on the Celestial realm, but that was exactly why they were gone. His memories had been magically extracted, but haste made him forget most everything instead of just sensitive information regarding the realm.

Eventually, he was free to roam the garden and some hallways, and when Diavolo and Barbatos concluded that regaining his memories was impossible, he was housed.

Power & Standing

He was a powerful angel, so he is a powerful demon, yet not quite as powerful as the brothers.

Simeon, for the majority of the war, was fighting on the side of the Celestial Realm, so he's generally disliked among the citizens of the Devildom. Our cast are all weary around him for multiple reasons - aside from Satan, Beel, Solomon, and MC (obviously).

He isn't an official member of any student council or governing body, nor does he really have a final say in anything, but he does frequently act as an advisor of sorts. He tends to work with Barbatos on that front, discussing in the background anything that might need discussed or worked on separate from the brothers.

Simeon is a wrath demon, though the change in his temper is hardly noticeable at first. He resembles Lucifer in how strict he is, mostly when he is in charge of something, and his anger that releases when he isn't listened to mimics Satan's.

If they are near each other and angry about the same thing, Satan and Simeon can actually feed off of the other's anger and boost their power. Satan does NOT need the boost, but you bet he brings chaos and destruction tenfold is he has it. For Simeon, though, it practically puts him on par with some of the brothers, if only for a short while.

Socially, he is generally ignored, and nobody runs away from him if he initiates conversation - but he doesn't. Simeon turns into a bit of a loner, a large chunk of his personality and memories gone and replaced with anger.

He's still learning how to deal with it.

His demon form consists of black deer-like antlers (not small but just small enough to avoid being entirely cumbersome) and long wings with bone-tipped feathers. His wings are almost always folded against his back and hanging low, the dangling feathers reminiscent of his angelic cloak with the golden charms. He does have a little black deer tail but doesn't like it being commented on.

(Don't worry about aerodynamics or which animal he represents, it's a magical universe its fine uwu)

General Information

He lives in modest home on the outskirts of the Devildom, somewhat close to the castle in case there's some type of emergency that needs to be taken care of but not so close he gets a super nice house and causes some social uproar. He has a small yard and a garden he tends to meticulously.

I imagine the house as a sort of townhouse (although not a for real townhouse because its it's own thing), two stories tall. The downstairs has a small living room, kitchen and bathroom while the entire upstairs is an open bedroom/office type deal. It gives off a gothic cottage type of vibe. No idea if this is helpful so maybe one day I'll build it in the sims.

He keeps his house tidy but has many bookshelves filled with equal parts books and knickknacks.

As stated before, he is a wrath demon, and because of his memories being almost entirely erased, he had a similar fall and adjustment period as Satan. Also, as a writer, he has an intrinsic appreciation for books. He and Satan get along the most out of all the brothers - the fact that Lucifer has mixed (mostly negative)(?) feelings about Simeon makes the deal sweeter for Satan.

Beel doesn’t dislike him, and while he doesn’t trust Simeon yet he’s willing to see if Simeon is on their side now considering none of his family got hurt. Solomon still trusts him though, but he does get a little downtrodden when he has memories that Simeon doesn’t.

When angry, Simeon smiles sweetly but his voice turns dead cold. Whereas Satan goes feral and seeks destruction like a bomb, Simeon feels more like a sniper rifle that needs careful aim and precision with just as devastating consequences. Shouting and immediate carnage are rare and only come after a severe transgression.

Otherwise, Simeon allows himself to be more playful than before. He doesn’t exactly have snide remarks, but he is an expert at stating the truth in a way that feels like a blade cutting through your confidence.

In true "flaunt what ya got without really making it seem purposeful" Simeon fashion, he wears button-down shirts that are almost entirely unbuttoned. They are always patterned and funky, and he wears them tucked into black pants. I'm thinking something like this (he also has patterns that are more "groovy" than vacation)

Will also occasionally sport a deep v like this

He still acts just as naive and confused if you bring up how exposed he is to him, so its best just to suffer in silence.

When making a pact with MC, he makes sure the mark covers a scar he left and doesn't remember from the war on your shoulder. It feels like a longer-lasting apology.

He still calls you "little lamb," but instead of smiling gently at you like a loving shepherd, his smiles look like a predator baring his fangs at his prey. In a sweet way. In a hot way.

What Does He Remember?

At first, nothing. Demonic instinct claws at him and he lashes out at everyone and everything.

He is still a nightmare with technology. Nobody knows if this is residual from how he was before, a result of his memories being taken, or just a trick.

Occasionally, he’ll remember an inside joke, but only halfway. You’ll say something you don’t realize is from before, and he’ll laugh, almost like an impulse. But then his laugh trails off and he gets contemplative, wondering what, exactly, was so funny about it.

The brightness of the Celestial Realm is hard to forget. The rainbow framing the palace and vast fields appear in dreams. He never remembers anything ‘important,’ but it’s enough to remind him that he was discarded.

The Celestial War hasn’t gone away, not in its entirety. There are certain things like battle strategies that he can’t for the life of him conjure up in his mind, but he remembers the bulk of it. It helps him realize why some of the brothers were/are so aloof towards him - nothing was ever as simple as he thought it once to be. Fighting a losing battle isn’t a choice you make when its for love - its simply the only path available.

(Apologies are so, so hard to dish out when you can’t remember most of your transgressions, though.)

He remembers Luke and will worry himself to inconsolable tears at night just thinking about him. Those thrown away don’t get the privilege of knowing what happens to their friends - and even if he did, Simeon wouldn't be so stupid as to put a target on Luke's back by proving that he was still important to him.

But he can only remember Luke's terrified, teary eyes when he realized Simeon was going to turn on the Celestial Realm in the middle of a war, and how he pleaded with Simeon not to. Luke asked what he would do all by himself, and Simeon hopes to his Father for only one thing - that he figured it out.

This is his sore spot. Nobody is allowed to be privy to these thoughts, not even you. But some days he comes to RAD looking worse for wear and you KNOW something is bothering him. He'll just never tell you what.

#obey me #obey me simeon #obey me shall we date #obey me swd #swd obey me #swd simeon #simeon x reader #simeon fall au #mine #simeon #simeon x mc

158 notes · View notes

silvysartfulness · 3 years

Note

Today seems like a good day to ask your opinion on adhd!Xue Yang. I've seen some takes that he might be autistic/adhd (to say that I, an autistic person myself, was freaking out with excitement while reading them would truly be an understatement), so I got curious what your thoughts on that matter would be?

Mandatory disclaimer; everyone has their own read when it comes to these fictional characters. This is just my own personal one. But as a neurodivergent person with experience with trauma, I pick up on and resonate with a lot of the patterns of his character. So.

Yes. Absolutely. Having hyperfocus-analyzed his behaviour and body language and general characteristics over and over to fully grasp his character for months now, I absolutely read him as exhibiting adhd-traits. It's not something I usually state outright in my metas or in my writing, but it is definitely part of how I think about his behaviour as I write him.

First off, the fidgeting. Twirling and tugging at his hair, especially when experiencing strong emotion (His revenge at Baixue, gazing softly at Xiao Xingchen over the fire, the final confrontation just before Xiao Xingchen kills himself.) The restlessness and bouncy body language and gesture. He is one of the most animated and expressive characters in the show, relishing in physical activity, fighting and grand gesturing.

Second, equally important – his outside the box way of thinking. He's described as brilliant in the book (a ”bizarre eccentric”) and despite being young, he's the only one who can backward engineer Yiling Laozu's research, and even expand upon it. Even Wei Wuxian compliments his skill when they meet in Yi City.

Though the translations botch it up completely, he speaks with a lot of puns and plays on words – lightning-fast associations and bending the rules of language. That's part of the jokes that make Xiao Xingchen say he ”laughs whenever he talks”. He's funny, in a very witty manner. That sort of quirky associations and playing with the rules is also very adhd-typical.

I could add reckless behaviour and lack of care for long-term consequences, but to dig a little deeper, for my personal headcanons, I also think of him as a Cluster B personality, especially with traits of anti-social and borderline behaviour caused/exacerbated by childhood trauma, and there's quite a lot of overlap with those adhd behaviours in that.

He was an orphan, with ”no parents and money”. That sort of neglect, lack of care and affection in childhood can by itself lead to insecure-avoidant or fearful-avoidant personalities in adult life – being mistrustful of others, having a hard time with attachment and emotional regulation (hiding one's own emotions and being unable to handle those of others). The Xue Yang of age seven is still trusting and hopeful, though – that's the disposition that ends up costing him everything. Even street-smart a-Qing is upset by that level of trust in strangers and how it played out when she hears the first part of his story. ”Why were you like this when you were young?!”

But of course it wasn't just neglect that caused his trauma-shaped personality, it was utter and outright abuse by people who were not only adults, but powerful gentry. He was tricked, used and physically abused by no less than three people within a few hours (the man who received the letter who beat him and dragged him through town by the hair, the waiter who was angry at having his establishment destroyed who slapped him and kicked him out, and of course the cause of all of it – Chang Cian.)

And though getting beaten and kicked by these grown men would have been bad enough, he was then whipped across the face, run over and left disabled for life.

That sort of physical trauma – having all his left fingers crushed and one utterly destroyed – is severe enough to be life-threatening, especially in such a small child. Especially in such a small child who had no one to help him or look after him. It was never ”just a finger”. He could have died in that gutter, for doing nothing wrong but asking for the payment he had been promised from the start. Some sweets. Only that.

Xue Yang may not have died that day, but his innocence and trust in people certainly did.

Looking at the negative traits of anti-social and borderline personality disorder (as caused or exacerbated by trauma) you can check practically all of Xue Yang's personality boxes: routine manipulation, law-breaking, disregard for others, aggressive and often violent behaviour, lack of remorse. Disregard for one's own safety, impulsive behaviour, recklessness, whiplash mood changes - often in response to interpersonal stress, and fear of being rejected or abandoned.

Once you have a personality so completely shaped by trauma and the human psyche's maladaptive coping mechanisms, it's no longer a matter of simply ”making better choices” or ”changing for the better”. That's an idea hinging on the idea of behaviour as a conscious choice, rather than an integral, instinctive part of the self.

With the right support system, these personality disorders can be managed - and those suffering from them are still good people. Clamouring for punishment, or saying Xue Yang ”deserved to die”... That mindset prevalent in the fandom very much rubs me the wrong way, because while Xue Yang is a fictional character, his trauma responses are very, very real - and shared with very real people. That kind of hate is just heaping on more of the same cruelty that caused the problems in the first place. Condemnation and threats of punishment do very little to help adjust these kinds of personality disorders – it only reinforces the mistrust and aggressive behaviour. Encouragement, praise when getting things right, calm guidance and a safe, secure environment is the best way to make real, permanent change.

And it clearly made a real change for Xue Yang! In Yi City, once Xiao Xingchen gained his trust and showed him acceptance and affection, he did live peacefully with his little family for several years - still very much him, but loved and protected and happy. Maybe it would have been enough.

The point is, that despite/because of all these complexities, no matter the exact combination of labels, Xue Yang is a human being, with his own internal codes and understandings of how the world works. Deserving of understanding, and compassion.

And that's really the core of how I see him, and write him.

#asksilvy #xue yang meta #untamed artfulness #this is my take on his character #others' are just as valid #thank you ver much for this ask!#these are things i think about A LOT #Anonymous #silvymetastheuntamed

164 notes · View notes

dana-chan-the-control-brain · 3 years

Note

Hey, did you saw the film theory on Invader Zim on Membrane that Low-key makes sense

NO. IT. DOESN’T!

Okay, maybe this is my personal bias shining through, because I really don’t like Mattpatt sometimes... No. Okay, I have nothing against the guy personally. More frankly, I don’t like his fanbase or the way he structures his videos.

The way Mattpatt words and structures his videos acts like he’s the first person who thought of this idea, it’s the main contributor to why I stopped watching his videos a long time ago.

He speaks in a lot of rhetorics and strawman arguments rather than just saying what he wants to say. Like “If you don’t believe me... look no further then...” and that’s the one thing I ABSOLUTELY HATE on theory videos.

And some of Mattpatts own theories he doesn’t take seriously, but this is what you get when you base your INCOME off of youtube ad revenue and browse the reddit forums for new ideas. A completely monopolized way of theorizing. (and this is why there are several paragraphs in my current chapter of Tech Support of Zim’s Computer complaining about the concept of youtube entertainment in general.)

Sure, I don’t think Mattpatt will run out of theories... but I really hate the structure of his videos follows along strawman arguments, acting like he’s always arguing with an imaginary audience for entertainment value rather than just say what he wants to say.

That, and people will often cling to theories of someone with good editing software and a youtube channel then Their own opinions.

Something that I learned was incredibly dangerous to do. I learned my lesson with “That Guy with the Glasses dot com” and I don’t plan to act like I know something or am better than someone else cause I agree with someone who said something on youtube once.

I do watch Internet reviews and theory videos for entertainment, but that’s all they are to me. I don’t like to watch youtube videos to give me opinions on how I feel about things. And I seriously think a wide margin of his subscribers lack critical thinking skills at times, as well as a majority of the youtube audience, or from what I’ve seen in the comment section.

However, remember... These are just my thoughts on the matter... My thoughts are not law and I never claim them to be.

Like when I first joined the fandom and posed my GIR analysis questions... I even said:

“I don’t know if the fandom has talked about this in depth or not... I just got here... or if someone put it into this many words before but...”

Also... the thing that bothers me about his Invader Zim theory...

A lot of Mattpatt’s sources are just..... Wrong...

(for the next few minutes I will be talking about this video, feel free to watch or don’t)

Okay.. “Membrane is an Irken” this has been a popular fan theory since before I even entered the fandom and there are old fics about this. I have read Irken Membrane stories before.

It’s not personally my cup of tea, but it’s fun to think about.

But the straws Mattpatt grasps in his video.... Really upset me because there is some thought to the theory back in the day.. ... Like back in 2002??? but like.... NOW?!

Okay, I’ll pick apart this a little... bit by bit...

He says that Membrane takes a hard stance against anything paranormal.

Kinda... but no.. Membrane never outright denies the existence of aliens. (except in ETF... which he mainly says out of frustration...) This is what Membrane says about “there are no aliens” in the show:

Membrane just says that there are no “intelligent” aliens...None that are able to travel the massive distance to Earth, anyways... If aliens existed at all, (like the cryptoids Dib talks of) they would have traveled the distance to the planet and communicated with them by now.

However, this is a nitpick of a minor issue. One that a majority of the fandom tends to overlook when viewing Professor Membrane and Dib’s relationship in general.

And I do find it weird that he used this for evidence when he cut out the most important snippet from the full lecture he gives Dib here.... JUST to support his claim... as if he’s intentionally leaving that part out.... hmmmm

However, I can let this slide, because it’s a nitpick and really doesn’t change anything that Membrane is very dissuasive of Dib’s alien-hunting hobbies. (I have a theory as to why and I explain it here in my own way)

The point is, Membrane is dismissive of anything alien... maybe because he’s an Irken...okay, good, yes. fair.

A lot of Mattpatts claims from then on are pretty solid, and I won’t bunk them with “But in my headcanon/Fanfic verse...” Because what he is saying is all true.

Membrane denying the existence of aliens even after being taken to space jail doesn’t have much of an explanation and is played for comedy and there are many ways you can go with this, and I am not going to bring up my fanfics or my own headcanons to argue with him here.

Because there is no explanation, and he is going with the “Membrane is Irken” theory... So that’s very solid when he’s talking about Membrane denying the Hallucinations.

Mattpatt claimed that Membrane wore his face covering at all times and had been dressed this way since he was a child.

I will not deny this. This is true.

However, isn’t bringing up Membrane’s childhood kinda put a hole in your own argument?

MEMBRANE WAS A CHILD.

He had been shown to have childhood memories in the comics and the show.

Irkens don’t really have a “Childhood” per say, at least not in the way that humans do. They are a smeet, then elite, then Invader..

If he’s claiming that Membrane came to earth as an Irken SMEET....How, why, and when?

That kinda raises more questions than it answers.... What are you proving by bringing up Membrane’s baby pictures on Earth exactly? It kind of works against your own argument?

Saying that they’re Irken because they all have the same hair.... that’s just stupid... and he’s citing the Invader Zim wiki on this .... oh boy.

Yeah, Like before I watched the show I thought Dib and Disguised Zim were the same character or brothers...

But I don’t think character design here is a solid enough reason in this case... At least not when it comes to the hairstyles... That’s a stretch.

“Hmmm Membrane’s hair forms an M shape... What could the M stand for? Mirken?! SUSPICIOUS!” (this is just a joke)

Also... the lack of ears thing... He did say it would be hard for Membrane to hear if his headpiece was covering his ears, but not necessarily... The entire thing is a headset and he is the man of science, he can really do whatever the fuck he wants cause Science is like magic in a show like this. So if Membrane wears a headset that doesn’t obstruct his hearing at all, I can buy it... Also.. it’s equally possible his ears got blown off in a chem lab accident or he’s legally deaf and that headset acts as a hearing aide and HELPS him hear...

Actually, I always noticed how in Membrane’s original design from the show, the headset looked a lot like a hearing aid. Specifically one with a head clip, It’s one of the things I first noticed about his design in the show.

And it’s just something I always assumed because he’s a scientist who deals with explosions in his face on a daily basis... (in fact he experiences one in episode 2B) So on first viewing, I thought that his headset served as a hearing aid as well as prescription glasses and a communication device.

I’m just throwing out possibilities because the “lack of ears” is also kinda a stretch.

Mattpatt complaining about “lack of nose” however... Okay, yeah I’ll give him that one. It’s a character design choice that is a little odd for Professor Membrane, but it does fit with the Irken theory, since a majority of human characters, in fact, all have noses. So, Yes the “lack of nose” does fit more into the Irken theory.

However.... Florpus anime Membrane DOES have a nose...

Meant to be drawn in a more semi-realistic artsyle, you can clearly see the bridge of his nose here.

And he looks very similar to anime Dib... Sooooo... Shrug-city...

It’s likely that Membrane not having a nose in the show is simply a stylistic choice than anything else. Basically, the bridge of the nose is there... we just don’t see it.

Especially since Nightmare Membrane has a nose as well..

Membrane is like Home Improvement’s Wilson. We will never see his face, and that’s part of the gag. The man probably sleeps in his labcoat honestly...

I also find the voice pattern thing a bit of a stretch. Membrane and Zim are just eccentric characters who yell to emote or emphasize a point or emote stronger. And Membrane’s inflections are never the same as Zim’s.

Remember, no other Irken TALKS like Zim. Professor Membrane doesn’t really go around screaming: “I AM PROFESSOR MEMBRANE” either.....

If anything... it just kinda proves both characters have auditory processing issues or hearing problems more then anything.

And there is a lot of screaming on this show.... Screaming from Dib, screaming from Membrane, Screaming from GIR, screaming from Zim... Screaming is funny... and characters scream so much that the characters with their mouths wide open is somewhat a staple of the show.

This is more because of Johnen Vasquez’s voice direction...

Especially since no other Irken really talks like Zim..

Zim’s manor of Speach is strictly a Zim thing and not an Irken thing.

Professor Membrane’s manner of speech is simply a Membrane thing and not a human thing.

I will give Mattpatt that. That a lot of tech in the show looks similar to Membrane’s. I feel this is mostly a stylistic choice, but it really does fit in with the Irken theory.

Like that Zim just so happens to use the same operating system as Dib is played off as a joke. But it does add some small credence to the theory here... I need to point out when he does get it right... some pats on the back.

These are very good points and does follow through with what he’s trying to prove by the end of the day.

(even if Membrane was lying about the destruction of all mankind with the beans thing, but that’s a minor nitpick here)

But his entire paragraph comparing Membrane’s tech to Irken tech is a really good one. Props there.

This whole paragraph about there being only Tall or short irkens cause their society is height based and there are no “medium-sized” irkens....cause they were “dealt with”

Okay.

....

Sure Mattpatt. Let’s just entirely ignore the existence of the Frylord and this entire character even though you mentioned it in the synopsis at the start of your video... Showing that Taller irkens are in positions of power against the shorter, also... Zim is a tiny irken... there are many Irkens that stand taller then Zim.

Being tall in Irken society is a rarity, and Almighty Tallest Purple said that he and Red “became” the Tallest. How? We don’t know, but we do know at one point the current Tallest looked like this:

How do Irkens get that Tall? Body modifications? Maybe... it’s never explained, but considering the Frylord is super big and probably eats a lot of snacks might have something to do with it. We don’t know.

It’s safe to say that being Tall in their society is a rarity and Tallests are either born or made special from the cloning chamber from the get go.

Not to mention, Membrane is Taller than the current Tallest are already...

and you said earlier in the video that Membrane would have gone to Earth as a child...

When he was no taller than a wrapped Christmas box of socks...

So why would Membrane take refuge on Earth at this point? Mattpatt says that Membrane was sent on a mission to Earth because the Tallest felt threatened by his rule...

BY MEMBRANE’S RULE?!?

HE’S THE SIZE OF A CHRISTMAS BOX OF SOCKS!

What do they have to be threatened by?

Because... Mattpatt DID bring up Membrane as a child earlier in the video... meaning Membrane came to earth when he was about the same size as Zim.

SO THEY HAD NOTHING TO BE WORRIED ABOUT AND HAD NO EVIDENCE TO BELIEVE MEMBRANE WOULD GROW TO BE TALL ORE EVEN VIEW HIM AS A THREAT

You bunked your own argument. Congradulations.

Membrane conquered the world through his inventions. In a way, sure. Membrane Labs does own a lot of stuff. But he doesn’t own everything. A majority of the Corporations that keep the population stupid usually don’t have anything to do with Membrane Labs and aren’t affiliated at all.

But this does fit into the “Membrane is an Irken” theory so I will give him that one.

However, Membrane being an evil corporate dictator is a hot take I never really appreciate at all and I can never get behind it.

It hits too close to home in the real world, and I always like to view Membrane as a self-made man and a World loving hippie at his core who just wants to make the world a better place, much like his son, but he actively does something about it. (which can also be why he encourages Dib with real science so much cause he knows Dib wants to save the Earth as much as he does)

Just calling Membrane a capitalist billionaire that doesn’t care about the little guy kinda seems disingenuous towards his character for me.

Especially when Membrane in “Ten Minutes to Doom” created a machine (foodio) that completely end world hunger... which was in BETA in the unreleased episode...

but by the time the movie rolls around... Foodio exists... past his BETA, meaning that he’s probably no expensive than a common household microwave and can materialize food from nothing:

Yeah. Membrane completely ended world hunger off-screen. thanks. (something no capitalist would ever do...)

Membrane also does appearances for charity (in the comics), and often takes funding for sponsorships when he is low on funds and he had to find a cure for pig mouth.

Sure “Membrane conquered the world” fits the Irken theory...

But I never appreciate that take on his character and that is admittedly, very personal bais.

I just wanted to say my peace a little bit here about how I 100% don’t vibe with the “Membrane capitalist/billionaire scum” especially since he ended world hunger...and invented a cure for the un-common cold.

Works for the theory, so good on Mattpatt for that one, but I personally don’t vibe with it.

Mattpatt compared Zim and Dib’s head shape as something to argue... Like because Dib has a similar head shape to Zim... that Dib has to be an alien... Okay... But If you look at the Invader Zim artbook (which I own)

The show has a very distinct look on how they draw characters’ heads. It’s a very distinct stylistic choice and there are pages upon pages in the artbook describing the style and how it looks in motion, and many revision notes to the Korean animators.

There are lots of pages on the artbook describing in detail the differences between the main characters’ heads, what to do, and what not to do.

It’s a difficult style to replicate, and Dib having a big head was mostly a joke from the showrunners to the showrunners, cause they kept drawing Dib’s head slightly bigger to make him look more appealing.

A majority of the audience doesn’t really notice because all the children in the show have big heads. All the kids are like 3-4 feet tall and have huge heads.

Also... Dib’s head is far more rounder then Zim’s in the comics and the Movie... comparing their head shape as an arguing point, when Dib’s head shape changed midway season 1 when the designs got slightly more streamlined is just... bad form..

Dib and Zim’s heads never really look the same from the early episodes as they do later on.

Comparing this character design similarity just because of the artstyle is really stupid.

This is the most infuriating thing about the video... because Mattpatt disproves his own argument with his own footage not a few seconds earlier.

He claims that Gaz sarcastically mentioning she has a squeedly spooch is a canon fact...... but ... hmm.. Mattpatt... can I rewind the footage of your video, please?

Where’s her squeedly spooch?

IS IT BEHIND HER CLEARLY HUMAN ORGANS?! I DON’T SEE IT?

And this isn’t just a stylistic choice... here’s a picture of another human’s organs for comparison.

Mattpatt literally disproved his own argument and ignored the fact that we saw an X-ray of Gaz’s organs in the very same episode...

Gaz doesn’t have a squeedly spooch and she literally was being sarcastic.

and the whole thing is disproved very easily.

Everything Mattpatt says in between those two points, about Dib being taken aboard an alien ship as a baby, and that there is no mother, and the Clone theory... That is all good stuff and this is what the theory video should have speculated and focused on, because there is some digging to be had here... I feel he focused a lot on the wrong points in his video...

And this is the most outrageous point he makes in his video. It’s the thing that pissed me off the most... and lead me to write this essay in the first place.

He claimed Eric Trueheart himself confirmed the clone theory and had story plans where Dib would discover his clone origins.

HE DID NOT!

IN FACT, Eric Trueheart himself published Volume One of the Invader Zim script book AND THIS IS WHAT HE SAID:

Eric neither confirmed nor denied the rumor.

But for Mattpatt to blatantly say that Eric said that Clone Dib was a planned thing by the screenwriters?!

He is BLATANTLY putting words into a Screenwriter’s mouth! Something that you should NEVER do.

Because it is 100% a lie.

He had no source for this claim. He probably just read the same rumor on the wiki and has no source.

This is the reason why I don’t trust videos like Mattpatt. The truth is often stretched for entertainment value, or information is just made up to prove “they were right” about whatever the topic of the day was. He doesn’t even bother to cite the source he got “Eric Trueheart’s word of mouth” from... because it was wrong.

Sorry if this whole thing is more hostile than it intended to be... But Mattpatt was looking at the ENTIRELY wrong evidence for this show....

Irken Membrane is a fun theory... but Mattpatt picked the entirely wrong topics and points of discussion, even to the point of hiding the truth and straight-up lying to his audience about his sources.

It’s kinda like saying “Birds eat ghost peppers because they’re part dragon and dragons can handle spicy food”

While, yeah, Birds are descended from dinos, it’s kinda missing the full story there and it’s not the reason why birds can eat spicy food.

Irken Membrane is a fun fan theory... do what you want with it. I am not here to dissuade Irken Membrane headcanons...

I’m just here to encourage critical thinking, and perhaps NOT put words into content creators' mouths when there is no credible source for it just because it benefits your argument.

#Invader Zim #Film Theory #Mattpatt #danachan's rants #lol sorry i went off but he really needed to cite his sources more on this one

268 notes · View notes

kiame-sama · 4 years

Note

So ever since you suggested it the Monster version of the bunny story has been stuck in my head. So do you think you could do something with that during this October even if it is a headcanon? It's been stuck in my head ever since you suggested it off handedly. Also it can be whatever you want I would put the dice Emoji but I don't feel like looking for it.

Okay, quick summary of Bunny + Monster idea; Yandere!Chrollo=Drider Yandere!Illumi=Naga Yandere!Hisoka=Harpy Reader=Bunny-Girl (like a Neko, but a bunny Neko) Kind of like a Monster Musume world.

- Odds are, your misadventures began with the feeling of being hunted while you walked home, making your flight instincts kick in. Ducking into a nearby abandoned building was a bad idea, however, as you almost immediately became entangled in golden spider silk. Naturally, you struggle your little bunny heart out and just wind up more entangled before going into a state of shock, as it is rather easy to scare the living daylights out of a bunny.

- Chrollo is going to be the first to attempt to interact with you as you are stuck in his web, but that small attempt will be cut short by an irritated Hisoka who claimed you were his since he had been hunting you for a while. Illumi is next to show up and inform the two that he has been hunting you for days, so you are technically his prey.

- It goes from just prey to a mate as the three become obsessed and rather yandere for you, only hesitantly agreeing to share you. Suddenly you are this very small bunny in a very big world with three very deadly mates who have no intention of leaving or letting you leave them. You also get a rather intense introduction to the Phantom Troupe and the Zoldyck’s, so there will be little resting for your poor bunny heart.

- You are a prey animal surrounded by predators, it will take a while for you to become adjusted and accustomed to the omni-present feeling of being watched/hunted.

- Illumi has a habit of winding his coils around you and holding you still while you both sleep, he will unconsciously tighten these coils so do ensure to tell him if he starts squeezing you too tightly. He is a naga, so part snake, but he has both the constrictor and venom behaviors where typical snakes are either one or the other. Mild dose of his poison is paralytic and he enjoys using it on you whenever it is his turn. He will also wind his tail into a nest made of his coils for you to ensure you remain safe. (Your little heart almost stopped when you met his parents, terrified out of your mind and all instincts telling you to run as fast as possible away. Kikyo finds it adorable.)

- Hisoka has fairly typical bird behavioral patterns. He will construct a nest to make himself comfortable (This can be with blankets, clothes, or even twigs depending on what he has available to him). He is a Harpy, so part bird of prey and wings where his arms/hands would be, with sharp as hell talons on his bird feet. He has a habit of laying on top of you and spreading his wings to cover the both of you like a built in blanket, especially if he has constructed a nest for the two of you to sleep in. Luckily, birds of prey tend to not interact with others all that often, so you don’t have to worry about any unfortunate meetings with equally terrifying family/friends (other than Illumi and Chrollo, of course).

- Chrollo is very similar, yet also very different from his spider counterpart instincts. He is a Drider, so a centaur with a spider body instead of a horse. Typically, only the females eat their mates, so you have little to worry about from him in terms of safety. He is *Extra* so of course his spider silk is gold and nen-infused instead of the typical silk spiders spin (Male and female driders can make webs). He is venomous as well, but small doses of his venom act like an aphrodisiac so he often uses that for your mutual benefit. He will spin webs to sleep in wherever he goes, so be prepared to be cocooned on said web when you two finally wind up sleeping. The Troupe fear and respect Chrollo, so don’t worry about danger from them, but a good portion of them are also predators so that might upset your prey instincts. (Phinks=Naga, Uvogin=Werewolf, Shizuku=Banshee, Machi= Fairy, Feitan=Vampire, Franklin=Elemental, Shalnark=siren, Nobunaga=Nokken , Pakunoda=Kelpie , Kortopi=Poltergeist, Bonolenov=Shade).

- You are bun-bun. Never forget this. Loud noises are no fun for you, thunder-storms are horrific, primary response to anything is to run like hell, easily go into shock, your ears display your mood so you have a tough time hiding it. You have the innate prey sense of when a predator is watching you or is nearby, so you will often thump your foot on the ground (Bunny code for ‘DANGER’ to alert others) when you are around either of the three or their family/friends. Your kind can live alone, but it is easier for you to be with at least one other creature to allow you any time to relax. Bunnies are VERY good at multiplying, so do take proper and extensive precautions.

#yandere adult trio x reader #Yandere monster adult trio #adult trio hxh #monster hxh #Headcanon #adult trio x reader #monster requests #October

473 notes · View notes

beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

Text

Trickster: an Ethari theory

I've had yea many Ethari headcanons, and I hope I live to have yea many more. Most of them are probably wrong, or incomplete at best. But boy are they fun.

I love to wonder what Ethari will really be like in canon when we get to know him for more than 3 minutes, but whoever he really is on his own, he will have an effect on Runaan , Rayla, and everyone who loves him, because they love him.

The first headcanon I can remember having for "Tinker" was that he could be like Leonardo da Vinci: a genius, creative, surrounded by beautiful ideas given shape by his hands, but also capable of creating deadly weapons, enchantments, and devices with equal beauty, and perhaps not really seeing where the line between them was. It was fun, but Ethari has ended up far softer than my headcanon, and I love and support him in his softness!

After a nice string of Ethari headcanons, this year I've started poking at the Trickster archetype and seeing if it applies to him. And I think it absolutely does!

Tricksters often seem like Chaos. But they're not. They're just Difference. "Chaos" is subjective. Like the "divergent" in "neurodivergent." Who says? Divergent from what, exactly? Perspective matters, and Tricksters have a very broad take on things which allows them to think outside any box people might try to invite them into.

My enjoyment of Loki has brought all kinds of ideas to my dash with the arrival of the Loki show. I've got a copy of the Edda, and I highlighted the hell out of it a couple of years ago as I searched for the roots of Loki's origin story. (It's truly fascinating reading and the symbolic language hidden inside their poetry is dazzlingly amazing and I'm super using it sometime just so you know)

Loki is a Trickster, and he's far from alone in myth and legend. Anansi, Coyote, and Sun Wukong are some you may have heard of. Aaravos is another, of course. Tricksters can be called upon to lend aid and wisdom when the rules don't have an answer for some extraordinary circumstance which the Trickster's people find themselves in. But that's not because they are truly outside the rule of order. They are actually a part of it. They are the catch-all for when the everyday ordinary rules fail people, and something "unthinkable"--in the literal sense--might just hold the answer.

This post crossed my dash today, and something finally clicked in my head, and all of this coalesced from what felt like separate places. But they're not separate, not anymore! Serotonin, baby. It's basically upped my headcanon to a full-blown theory.

What caught my eye was an answer to why Ethari's clothing is so determinedly asymmetrical, compared to Runaan's specifically, but Moonshadows in general. It's because of this:

Long protective sleeves below patterns on shoulders. A high collar paired with a bright and noticeable swoop around the neck. Fine detailing and graceful taste. Asymmetrical tunic point on the left, below broad strappy leather. Knee high boots with stylish protective gaiters.

And let's not forget the curling horns! In some comics, Loki has a broken horn. So does Ethari.

Yes, there is a lot of similarity here, but I'm not focused so much on the visuals as the reason they were chosen. Feel free to consider other aspects of Ethari's personality and how they might be similar to certain parts of Loki's. I did! But I wouldn't be me if I didn't go deeper than that.

My favorite book in the universe (so far) is Lois McMaster Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, and one of the many reasons why is because of her pantheon. It holds five gods, represented by a hand: Father, Mother, Son, Daughter, and Bastard. The first four all have their roles and places. The Bastard--the thumb--inherits everything else. He is the god of all things that do not belong to any other gods, and that includes self-sacrificing vengeance and queerness. He is a Trickster, and his influence on Cazaril's life is far deeper than at first glance. Chaos has its place. It belongs, and so do the Tricksters who engender it. God, I love this book. Please read it if you haven't. Bujold's work is amazing.

If you've seen or read any version of MDZS/Untamed, you know that Wei WuXian is a trickster. Competent and badass in battle, but playful and teasing to the point where sometimes even he isn't sure what he truly wants, he can bring a massive amount of power and focus when he wants to. It's always a matter of "but is it important to me?"

I love WWX so much. The Trickster vibe is very apparent in his character, and in a way you just don't get in Western media. We see him on his own, and we see him with family and loved ones. And he's always feeling something so intensely! He's driven by his emotions, for good or ill. He vibes with chaos, and he will create it if it doesn't exist yet. But he will also create family from nothing, and that's something you don't see enough of! WWX is a Trickster with an emotional preference for joy.

In TDP, Ethari doesn't have a lot of lore yet. It's being Moonshadowed because spoilers for future seasons, and I respect that. The longer the wait for S4, the more ideas I will just amuse myself with in the meantime--and yeah, this is one of them, so what? :))) But we do know a little about him.

He loves music. He loves to read. He leaves his mark on things in swirly form. He works very hard, even through headaches, because what he's doing is that important to him, even though he would much rather be making jewelry. He loves taking the time to polish rough stones into brilliant jewels, and he adores big pretty flowers and had them at his wedding.

Ethari has a temper, but he also loves puns. The weapons he crafts are exquisite: "light, elegant, strong, and clever." And he knew darn well that Runaan was trying to flirt with him, but why return a sentiment he may or may not feel yet when he can play with the overly earnest assassin just a little bit first?

Okay, just... A "simple craftsman" deciding that it's going to be fun to toy for a bit with a broody assassin's feelings? Would you risk that? Ethari got balls the size of the moon, and a brain to match. When he has to make weaponry, he does not half-ass it. Ethari's stabby creations nearly have a life of their own. His creations are literally called "trick weapons." This elf is a lot, okay. And it's possible that he doesn't even know how "a lot" he is. Yet.

We're meeting Ethari after he's found something that is, in fact, genuinely important to him: Runaan, and Rayla, and Laindrin too. Ethari has found a relatively stable place to settle and find a role to adopt. I say adopt, though, because making weaponry for his loved ones is not what he grew up wanting to do. It's what he had to do to keep them safe, once he found a place to bestow his heart.

But in the show, Ethari has lost his family, one by one. First Lain and Tiadrin, ghosted. Then Runaan, supposedly fallen on his mission. Then Rayla, ghosted for abandoning Runaan. He and Rayla have reconnected now, but the rest of his family is still out of his reach. If Rayla has indeed told him, by S4, what she learned at the Moonhenge in TTM, then Ethari may parallel Rayla's journey to seek answers. But even if he doesn't know yet, and gets pulled into some other story arc first, we will be seeing Ethari without his family.

Remember the ATLA episode "Zuko Alone"? Consider: "Ethari Alone."

Ethari has chosen, for love, to fit himself into a box that wasn't of his own making. And now that box has broken. His family doesn't need him to be their craftsman anymore. Perhaps others will need him to be other things to them. Or perhaps he will know that his family does need him, but to be far more than just a maker of pretty swords. A rescuer, perhaps. A healer, a guide? An avenger?

A trickster. Capable of taking many shapes, because he understands them all. Ethari works with form and function. If he needs to transform himself, he will.

That's what Tricksters do. It's delightfully queer and delightfully neurodivergent. Ancient peoples accepted and revered the different among them and actively sought their help with things they themselves struggled with.

Tricksters are Difference. Sometimes that manifests as chaos, sometimes as genius. But if you do not love and appreciate your chaos, it will absolutely turn on you. Wei Wuxian did. Loki certainly has, many times. Perhaps Aaravos is doing so as well.

I cannot wait to see what Ethari does with his difference. I have something very specific that I hope he goes and breaks.

All this from a picture of Tom Hiddleston in his Avengers 1 Loki costume? Yeah. Because Ethari was designed to wear asymmetrical clothing, in a Moonshadow culture that prides itself on balance. Sure, there are some other Moonshadows who wear this or that asymmetrical item, and I do love to see it. But Ethari has the most asymmetrical lines of them all. The meta glee I feel knowing that Moonshadow elves are designed to hold many layers of meaning in their appearances--that the writers, creators, and character designers just flexed with them--is truly a delight.

Ethari is asymmetrical. The full and practical application of that is a glass casket, and I hope it becomes a gift that keeps on giving, because boy do I want to keep receiving it. But right now, I'm genuinely seeing evidence of the Trickster archetype in him. And I really hope it gets to come out and play.

#tdp #tdp theory #ethari #trickster #tdp speculation #yes this means a whole new category for ruthari opposites #order and chaos #ethari and order are both on runaan's list of likes #but ethari is higher so #loki #wwx #wei wuxian

41 notes · View notes

commander-hanji-zoe · 3 years

Text

Hanji x Female Reader

A while ago I had an anon request to write some fluff/smut for Hanji with a female reader and Nanaba with a female reader. I have written the Hanji piece and nearly finished the Nanaba piece! (at last).

Below is the free-form story/headcanons I have for Hanji with a female reader. I have written Hanji as female in this as the request referenced lack of wIw content in the fandom. I don’t make too many references to the reader as being a woman (although there are some to fulfil the prompt) this is to try and make the piece as inclusive as I can. Also there is some smut below so usual warnings and 18+ readers please!

Hanji is the first to wake, she usually is. Her sleep patterns are erratic, though she is predictable when it comes to the time she’ll wake up.

She is often first to see the sunrise, occasionally she stirs you gently and gives you time to wake up, your eyes adjusting to the lack of light while she makes tea.

You sit together by the window wrapped in a warm blanket, mugs in hand keeping you warm as you watch the sun rise together. The golden glow of morning the first warming of your face.

Sometimes while you’re busy watching the sun rise you can tell that she’s watching you, when you turn your thoughts are confirmed as she looks lovingly into your eyes and strokes your cheek.

Since meeting Hanji she has let go a little of her work, she still loves to experiment and takes her work incredibly seriously. But you’ve softened her in a way you weren’t sure was possible. Work is not always at the forefront of her mind, no, it’s usually you and what you’ll do when you’re together.

Hanji enjoys cooking together, mostly she likes to get silly with food, suddenly spreading some on your face or dollops of cream on your nose. It makes you both laugh and she always licks it clean afterwards which often leads to the bedroom. You’ll scold her for it as it can leave the dinner ruined and kitchen a mess, but it’s worth it to see the expression of joy on her face when she makes you climax. It’s worth it when as punishment you pull her trousers down, lay her over your lap and spank her causing her to squirm underneath you and let out cries of pleasure. Anything is worth it for Hanji and the moments you get to spend alone.

Sometimes when you’re getting undressed you feel Hanji’s presence behind you, she doesn’t say anything but leans against the doorframe and watches. So you take it slow, undoing the buttons of your shirt one by one, body turned slightly to the side so she can watch your silhouette. You like to strip off completely aside from your underwear and the open shirt, turning slowly so she can admire you from every angle, pulling your hair up into a ponytail as you pretend to ignore her, wondering just how long she can stand to watch you tease.

She loves the way that tight trousers look on you and hug your bum, the way your hips sway in time with your hair. She loves how soft your skin is and how it smells of roses, a few freckles in the summertime and hair blowing in the wind.

You like to share one another’s clothing, sometimes she’ll surprise you by putting on one of your favourite dresses and you will wear something that matches perfectly but without it being too obvious. Hanji occasionally will take a pair of your used panties from the washing basket and wear them the following day. You tell her you find it disgusting, though secretly it turns you on to know that both your intimate parts have touched the same cloth. Hanji says she wears them for luck, you’re not sure whether that’s true. What you do know is that one time you came home early and you found her in the living room, reclined on a chair, legs spread wide wearing your panties and bra. She was touching herself through the thin fabric and moaning your name, you were sure it was the hottest thing you’d ever seen or were likely to see.

You like to make jewellery for one another, small simple tokens of affection.

Her kisses are often quick but plentiful.

Her eyes watch you across whatever room you are in and her heart sings when you make love to her.

In time Hanji feels more like an angel, someone sent to protect you who is infinitely more beautiful than anyone you’ve ever met. You long for her touch when you’re apart and start to wonder how you ever lived without her in the first place.

Haji’s hands are often rough and calloused due to her work, you enjoy massaging them late at night with lightly scented cream. The hand massages work their way up her arms, her neck, her back. They often end up with slow, passionate sex where she nibbles on your earlobes, her hands cupping your breasts, a knee pushed gently between your thighs to push your legs open so she can apply pressure to your core.

You take baths together. You hear how Levi likes to joke about her hating cleaning herself, but since you that has changed, it isn’t her favourite activity but if you’re involved she’ll happily jump in a tub. She prefers to sit behind you and pull you into her chest.

Occasionally her hands wander down your body and between your legs, reaching that sweet spot which causes you to cry out with please.

She brushes your hair as you sit on the floor beside the bed, wrapped in the same blanket you use to keep yourselves warm soon those cool, early mornings.

Hanji likes to bring you flowers, but prefers to bring you living plants. She hates it when roses she buys you wither and die and wishes they could last forever.

So you become proper plant mums and end up with so many of them that your home feels alive and full of fresh air.

Before going beyond the walls Hanji will stay up all night with you, even when you beg her to sleep for her own good so she’s well rested, she’ll hesitate. She never says it but you know, you know that she’s afraid she won’t come back and it isn’t because she’s afraid to die, no, it’s because she’s afraid what will happen to you, afraid of how upset you’ll be and alone.

So she writes you love letters before she leaves full of the promises of tomorrow and just how much she loves you. She writes down lists of her favourite memories of the two of you together so that should anything happen to her, you will have this to carry with you. She writes everything she loves about you, describes you with such poetry it never fails to make you cry

In town you get a picture commissioned, a portrait that you hang in your home above the fireplace and dream of the day when you are rid of the titans and can perhaps start to think about adopting children.

In bed Hanji is quite experimental, but will never do anything you’re not comfortable with. As much as she enjoys the more adventures bedroom antics, trying new positions, new toys and the odd bit of roleplaying. She is equally happy to be lying naked in your arms as you slowly explore one another with your hands and mouth, and spend hours kissing, her hands tangled in your hair.

She likes it when you wear her glasses and think it makes you both wickedly hot and cute at the same time.

Hanji likes to dominate you in the bedroom when the mood is right, she likes to tie you to the bed and nothing to you has ever felt more right or safer. When Hanji pushes you back up against a wall when kissing you there is always a moan that escapes your lips and a want, no a need for more. It’s never enough not even as she goes down on you, licking you in such a way like no one else has, knowing exactly what you want and where, she has the ability to bring you to life like no one else has.

She whispers in your ear which only serves to send shivers up your spine.

You go on double dates with Erwin & Levi, she and Levi will at some point end up squabbling over something like children. It never fails to make you and Erwin chuckle and as the others continue with their conversation, the two of you sit back and talk quietly as you enjoy your drink.

Hanji loves it when you eat breakfast in bed together, she knows you hate the crumbs and promises to clean it up every time, she very rarely does but you find you can never be mad at her. Those are the moments, when the sunlight peaks through the gaps in the curtains that you feel truly at peace and are able to forget about the danger that faces you.

Sometimes when she kisses you she passes sweets to you, putting them in her mouth a second before kissing you, using her tongue to slide the delicious treat past your lips. She is especially fond of sweets in the shape of cherries and that taste like them too.

Walking in the summer through orchards and the fruit farm is one of your favourite activities, there is something comforting and homely in picking your own fruit and veg. Hanji will happily play hide and seek with you, hiding in bushes or behind trees and if you don’t find her she’ll happily pounce and pin you to the ground, peppering you in kisses not caring if anyone walks past and sees you.

You know each other so well that no mask is required. You are best friends, sisters, lovers and you know that nothing can take that away from you.

#Hanji Zoe #Hange Zoe #Hanji x reader #Hanji x female reader #female Hanji #aot x reader #nsft #my writing #requests

83 notes · View notes

assortedmutts · 2 years

Note

the most important question of them all: [ 🩰 ] is there a type of fashion your muse prefers, or do they not pay attention to their appearance at all? also: [ 🐺 ] does your muse have trouble relying on others? why or why not? and: [ 🏳️‍🌈 ] how does your muse’s sexuality and gender identity impact their life? do you have any specific headcanons about it?

Send headcanons!

[ 🩰 ] is there a type of fashion your muse prefers, or do they not pay attention to their appearance at all?

Merc: already answered here! I’ve been meaning to do a look-book for him like the one I did for Saul for, like, ever... but alas, I am lazy (I mean, in my defense, I’ve also been sick and very low energy for a while now, so). It’s probably going to happen, one of these days.

Saul: though I think his look-book reflects the essence of his style rather well? Let’s have at it!

Saul comes from a wealthy family and a community (Upper East Side Jews, particularly) where appearances matter. A lot. Additionally, what with his father and grandfather preceding him as pillars/leaders of the community, suffice it to say both their shoes are just as hard to fill in terms of representability as they are in terms of responsibility.

To make a long story short: Saul enjoys looking sharp. Unless he is partaking in some sort of activity which explicitly requires a change of outfit - like jogging - you’ll rarely catch him without a suit. His admiration for his immediate ancestors and their own respective styles is reflected in his fondness of old fashioned suit cuts and patterns (or actual vintage suits worn by either his father or grandfather, albeit tailored to fit Saul’s narrow frame) and, according to him, there’s no such thing as being overdressed. He particularly enjoys 1920s style suits on account of their high waists, narrow lapels and short hems, which compliment his figure (or don’t make him seem as short and lean as some looser cuts) and allow him to show off his vast collection of fun, patterned, colorful socks. He also owns many more blue suits than he does any other color; although, with that said, his suit collection is immense and he does likely own at least one suit of any ‘major’ color.

In that same line, while Saul certainly enjoys dressing up and looking proper, he equally enjoys having fun with his wardrobe and giving his outfits something of a personal touch. Aside from the aforementioned socks, he often likes coupling his classic suits with shirts and pocket squares which are often more modern and bold in terms of colors and patterns, and the vast majority of his ties are skinny and also often sport fun, colorful patterns. Needless to say, his collection of accessories, be it pocket squares, ties, tie and lapel pins, cufflinks, belts, suspenders, glasses and shoes (different styles and colors of leather dress shoes, for the most part) is even larger than his suit collection and he is obsessed with mixing and matching them all. Definitely a stylish, well-dressed dork, if I had to sum his style up to one sentence.

For a more casual look (which is certainly a rare sight), he mostly sticks to Mod Polos (these, too, come in every shape and color, and often sport old fashioned patterns), still normally paired with slacks and a pair of leather shoes and, for sports, Saul will always, always, favor matching tracksuits. Just because he’s working out doesn’t mean he can’t still look his best.

[ 🐺 ] does your muse have trouble relying on others? why or why not?

Merc: What? the epitome of self-reliance and -isolation, having trouble relying on others? IDK what the hell you’re going on about. On a more serious note, though: yes, absolutely. Merc has trust issues out the wazoo and, in most cases, would genuinely rather die before putting his trust in others who have not proven ‘worthy’ of it - which is a very rare instance in and of itself. Even on the off chance that he does genuinely trust someone and actively wants to rely on them, it is much easier said than done.

In a nutshell: Merc’s style of attachment is disorganized/fearful-avoidant. While, on the one hand, he craves intimate relationships and a human connection (though, LMAO, good luck getting him to admit it), he is also profoundly afraid of and continuously rejects intimacy, believing its only possible outcome is either abandonment or hurt. As a result, he tends to avoid forming meaningful connections to the best of his ability and keeps people at arm’s length, as well as often sabotaging or walking away from any meaningful relationship he does manage forming despite his best efforts.

Sure, he trusts certain individuals to a certain extent: trusts certain service providers, like fellow mercenaries or other professionals tied to his field of work, with their particular jobs (especially ones he’s worked with in the past and, as such, have proved themselves ‘worthy’ of his trust); he trusts his mates and former colleagues from both vet and gay bars for a good time and possibly with stories of either war of sexual conquest that he wouldn’t have otherwise shared with anyone; and generally tends to lend some extent of trust to anyone who’s been through similar experiences as he has, be it combat, living on the streets or growing up in an abusive household. However, with all that said, it does not necessarily mean that Merc trusts them the way an ‘ordinary person’ would define trust. They’re trusted with certain tasks, certain aspects of his personality - but that does not, by any account, mean that they can be trusted with what Merc considers the darkest parts of either his personality or past, nor would he necessarily be able to bring himself to rely on them in his time of need.

At his core, Merc is convinced that he is unlovable - that anyone who grew to know his true self would not want anything to do with him - and as such, even when he is in a committed, loving relationship, be it with a romantic partner or a close friend, the chances of him ever leaning on the other person are slim to none.

Saul: is a bit more complicated in that regard. On the one hand, I want to say that, yes, Saul is absolutely capable of relying on others. His strong sense of community as well as his obligation towards his community necessitates it. It stands at the very core of who he is and is arguably the reason why Saul has very few issues with shouldering as much responsibility as he does - because, just as he is always there for his community and is proud to do so - he knows that he is also capable of blindly relying on them. And he has, in fact, relied on them in the past and still relies on them today. On the occasion that he should get hurt performing his duties - for instance, when raiding the headquarters of anti-Sem.itic/alt-ri.ght groups - Saul can certainly count on members of his community to come to his aid and care for him, Jess and the deli until Saul is able to stand on his own two feet again, so-to-speak. Opposite to Merc, Saul’s attachment style is secure, and he has no particular trouble putting his trust in others (so long as they are one of his own. Outsides; in other words, gentiles; need to work much harder to gain Saul’s trust).

With that said, though: it’s also safe to say that, as leader of his community - one which was virtually born into the role, with his father and grandfather preceding him - Saul does have something of a hard time relying on others out of sheer standing. As leader, his role is to remain strong, to be something of a role model to his community members; to uphold appearances for the sake of morale. Showing weakness means disappointing the community by undermining its sense of security, as well as weakening its status among its associates as well as enemies. It is very much the spirit with which both he and his father were brought up, in the shadow of the Holocaust and the trauma it caused Saul’s grandparents, personally, and their entire generation, generally: that they ought to look out for themselves, because no one else will; that they must stand strong and never show weakness, for it will be abused; that they must be ruthless in order to preserve themselves.

As such, when that transgenerational trauma will rear its head when Saul’s deli gets torched, he will easily devolve to paranoia and gradually withdraw his trust from associates as well as community members. No one can be trusted with ruthlessness other than himself; hence, no one can be trusted to defend the community other than himself.

[ 🏳️‍🌈 ] how does your muse’s sexuality and gender identity impact their life? do you have any specific headcanons about it?

Merc: though it may seem contradictory to how repressed and reserved Merc normally is, his identity as a homosexual man is one he is determined to represent with great pride. Indeed, he still represses this aspect of his identity while on-the-job, as he does any other aspect (save, perhaps, for the obedient soldier and avid thrill-seeker) but, in civilian life, it is one he occasionally even revel at exaggerating.

Merc only really started experiencing sexual and romantic interest in his early teens, which was around the time he was found by/joined his gang of street punks which, as a whole, was a time of great self discovery for Merc. He’d become very much detached from himself as a young child as a means of survival and slowly learned how to reconnect with (some aspects of) himself and (some of) his feelings through his friendship with the gang. Part of this journey naturally included an exploration of his sexuality and, as such, led to Merc developing a great deal of pride in his sexual identity. He has no problem displaying physical affection towards other men in public (though romantic affection is a whole other story) and often does so overtly and intentionally in order to draw attention to himself, in the hopes of stumbling across an unfortunate homophobe and confront them. Though he does not view his fondness of wearing makeup as a direct expression of his queerness, he does recognize that it can often be perceived as such and, as before, uses it to his advantage when in need of releasing some pent-up aggression and seeking to pick a fight.

His relationship with his gender is not necessarily complex, but suffice it to say it isn’t as healthy as his relationship with his sexuality, if one can even call it that. Though Merc has never struggled with his gender identity, he does have something of a toxic relationship with it on account of his size, the way he grew up and the experiences he went through - particularly his time with the punks and following military service. He naturally gets treated a certain way on account of his height and build - one which leaves no room for certain aspects of his personality which would not be considered traditionally masculine and, without going into a whole rant about the military, combat duty and its relationship with toxic masculinity, suffice it to say there has never been any room for tenderness in a soldier’s world.

Saul: is rather the complete opposite of Merc. While he, too, never struggled with his identity as a cis male, he’s also never had any trouble in expressing his more ‘vulnerable’, “““““less-than-masculine””””” sides. He simply feels very confident in and comfortable with his identity as a whole - his gender identity included - and has no trouble letting it show.

His sexual identity, however, is something Saul struggles to both understand and accept. Demisexuality is not a concept he’s familiar with (and hence would not know to define himself as such). On top of that, as accepting and varied as his community may well be, there are certain expectations of him as community leader - namely, to marry and start a family of his own. A man of his age and standing being single and childless is highly irregular (even if he can and does easily excuse it with his impossible workload). Regardless of his bisexuality which, in and of itself, would be frowned upon were it ever found out - Saul’s problems with forming intimate connections is not only misunderstood by him but, in effect, makes him feel ‘defective’. Surely, there can be no good reason for him not to be able to experience sexual or romantic attraction; surely, something must be horribly wrong with him. It is a great source of shame for Saul; so much so that, despite being no stranger to talk therapy, it is something he has never so much as considered mentioning to his therapist - or anybody else, for that matter.

#perdefinitio #( answered )#( answered: perdefinitio )#( about: the mercenary )#( about: saul shapiro )

2 notes · View notes

jayfrost-designs · 3 years

Photo

This is also from December of last year.

I've had a new idea in my head for Darkstripe for a while now, and after getting all those other ref sheets that I needed to do done, I decided to run with it. You may have noticed a change in the name of his father in his bio. Don't worry about that just yet. I'll get to it after talking about the design.

The reverse side of his design can be seen here.

On his wiki page, Darkstripe is described as a large, lean, sleek, and thin-furred tom. I misread the "thin-furred" part of his description as "thick-furred" when I started designing this, so he ended up with a rather thick pelt. Oops. My explanation/excuse for this is that the thin-furred description comes from his appearance as a Dark Forest cat, so as a living cat he had sleek, thick fur, but after dying he started going all patchy and ragged and his fur started to get pretty thin in places. So that's my half-baked excuse for that. I went pretty free-hand with this design, but he's mostly based on Turkish Vans, and is meant to be decent-sized and muscular, with a thick mediumish pelt. He has a smaller version of his mother's ear tufts and a decent amount of scars, since he was always pretty aggresive.

For his pattern, Darkstripe is described as a dark gray tabby tom with black stripes and yellow eyes. I completely changed his design from his old one and went for a smoke tabby look for him this time around. His black stripes don't stand out as much as on his old design since the rest of the pelt is darker now, but they're still there, and he's overall a very dark-looking cat, so Dark- fits him well as a prefix. I played around with his design a lot before I was happy with it, but I'm really happy with the end result. ^^ I came up with a fresh shade of yellow for his eyes as well. ^^

Now for the fun part. Since Tawnyspots is no longer listed as his father on the official family tree, I decided to come up with a new headcanon for who his father is. I considered a few cats from ThunderClan at first, but none of them seemed to fit. But then I had a really interesting idea for his father - and for the reason he's a smoke tabby. I'll explain everything below - starting with Willowpelt's story. Apologies in advance for the length. ^^

~-~-~

As a young cat, Willowpelt gets lonely sometimes. Her sister is busy training to be a medicine cat, and Redtail throws himself into his warrior duties so much that he doesn’t spend as much time with her as either of them would like. She doesn’t begrudge either of them their ambitions - she knows Redtail wants to be the best warrior he possibly can (and later has his eye on the deputyship), and Spottedleaf will make an amazing medicine cat. But she doesn’t share their ambitions. She’s always been a much more relaxed cat, content to do her duties as a warrior, but not pushing beyond that, preferring to spend her time racing through the forest on the wild excitement of the hunt, and spend lazy days sunning in the grass, rather than busying herself with constant patrols and duties.

So while her siblings are busy with their work, Willowpelt seeks out companionship elsewhere. She’d always been curious about twolegplace, hearing stories about how their last leader had left to live there, and decided to check it out one day. She doesn’t find Pinestar - but she does find some friendly kittypets who welcome the visit of a real wild Clan cat. She continued to visit occasionally over the moons, whenever she’s feeling particularly lonely. She’s never swayed by the thought of becoming a kittypet herself - she loves her Clan, and her freedom, too much - but she’s happy to visit her kittypet friends whenever she can.

She grows particularly close with a sleek, handsome smoke tom called Sparky. A few moons later, she finds herself expecting the tom’s kits. The two aren’t in love, and Sparky rejects Willowpelt’s offer to join ThunderClan and help raise the kits, but it’s all very amicable and the two remain on close terms. Willowpelt is perfectly happy to raise her kits alone. She later gives birth to a single tom, Darkkit, who looks remarkably like his father. The Clan gossips a little about who the father could possibly be (Willowpelt covers her tracks visiting Twolegplace better than Featherstorm had), but overall they’re just happy to have another kit after the nursery has been empty so long, since White-eye’s last litter.

Willowpelt plans to tell Darkkit about his parentage when he’s old enough, but the young tom grows bitter after moons of some of the stricter cats whispering about his unknown parentage, and the loneliness of being the only kit in the nursery. Willowpelt always assures him that there’s nothing wrong with him and is a fiercely loving mother, but her laidback attitude about borders and rules bothers him - other warriors take these things seriously, so shouldn’t she? A kernel of doubt begins to weed its way onto Darkkit’s mind - what if Willowpelt won’t tell anyone who his father is because his father doesn’t want him? What if it was because he isn’t good enough to be this mystery tom's son? Willowpelt longs to comfort her son that his father does care and does want to be part of his life, but she’s not sure he’s old enough to understand the truth about his father, so she waits.

With all this doubt and bitterness swirling inside him, it’s no surprise that upon becoming an apprentice, Darkpaw immediately attaches himself to the first cat who seems ready to take him seriously and see some potential in him - his new mentor Tigerclaw. To Darkpaw, Tigerclaw is everything a warrior should be. He has the strength of TigerClan, the courage of LionClan, and is the wisest, most loyal warrior in the entire Clan in the young tom’s eyes. He can’t believe his luck in snagging such a skilled and brave warrior as his mentor, and quickly learns to worship the ground Tigerclaw walks on. A secret part of his heart wonders whether Tigerclaw is his father. They both have dark tabby pelts and fur that grows darker at the points, and while Darkpaw isn’t nearly as tall and long-furred as the older tom, he’s still broader and taller than his mother, and could have inherited that from Tigerclaw. He works tirelessly to mold himself after Tigerclaw’s image and takes all of his training to heart - including his views on loyalty and cats from outside of the Clan.

Willowpelt had intended to tell Darkpaw about his father a moon or so into his training, but the longer he trained with Tigerclaw, the more disdainful he grew of cats outside of the warrior code, especially kittypets. She worries about how much the tom has changed, but he doesn’t seem willing to listen to her anymore, so there’s little she can do to curb Tigerclaw’s influence on her son. She resolved to continue hiding the truth of his father, as Darkpaw is probably happier not knowing the truth, and resolves to keep an eye on her son. It’s not all bad, she assures herself. Tigerclaw has taken the fatherless tom under his wing just as Thistleclaw had done for him, and he seems genuinely proud of his young apprentice - in his own stoic way - and is molding him into a strong warrior. As long as Darkpaw is happy, that’s what matters - right?

Though Darkpaw, then later Darkstripe definitely grows more scornful of others and more conceited over the moons, Willowpelt tries to stay optimistic. He’s a bit of a jerk, yes, but otherwise he seems like a perfectly loyal and happy warrior. But that illusion starts to chip away little by little after Tigerclaw’s exile as Darkstripe continues to show an unhealthy attachment to such a traitor, and then comes crashing down completely the day that Darkstripe tries to poison his own half sister. Unbeknownst to the rest of the Clan, Willowpelt sneaks out after Darkstripe as he’s departing the territory for his exile.

Rage and heartbreak bubble under her pelt in equal measures as she faces her eldest son. Something inside of her is wailing at the loss of the son that she’d loved, and her failure to protect him from becoming this, but the rest of her feels an icy calm. She faces Darkstripe, coldly informing him that if he’s fool enough to follow Tigerstar on his rampage against “impure” cats, then he’d better hand himself over as well for being impure. He’s the very thing that he’s always hated, the thing that he has been relentless in mocking Firestar for being - he’s half kittypet. Darkstripe flies into a rage, shrieking that it isn’t true, it can’t be true, that Willowpelt never loved him and is just lying to make him doubt himself. He tries to attack his mother, but she dances out of range, still glaring at him with icy calm while her heart continues to wail its pain inside of her. She tells him that she loved him with all of her heart, and that if he’d let go of his bitterness and his unhealthy devotion to an admitted traitor long enough he would’ve seen that, but that now it’s too late. She’ll always love him, but she will never forgive him for what he’s done to her daughter. She leaves him there on the border between ThunderClan and TigerClan. He hesitates, but only for a moment. Then he slips into TigerClan territory.

Unfortunately, Darkstripe’s reception at the TigerClan camp is chillier than expected. It was true that Tigerstar had once felt genuine pride and companionship for Darkstripe as his apprentice and as a fellow warrior. He’d always known that Darkstripe was a bit of a suck-up, but he was still strong and a powerful warrior in his own right, and Tigerstar had been proud of the efforts of his first run as a mentor. However, his opinion of Darkstripe had lessened after the tom refused to follow him into exile, and had dropped even more sharply after one of his Twolegplace allies had told him about a smoke kittypet who’d mentioned being friends with forest cats. Tigerstar had taken the chance to spy on the kittypet from a tree one day, only to be shocked at the sight of a cat nearly identical to Darkstripe.

After that, Tigerstar had put together the pieces and realized that Darkstripe was the son of a kittypet. He tells Darkstripe as much when he arrives in TigerClan, glaring down at the groveling tom with a sneer. That kittypet blood has tainted him with weakness, he claimed, weakness that had kept him from following Tigerstar into exile, that had made him fail again and again at Tigerstar’s commands as his spy, and that had made him fail at the simple task of killing one insignificant little kit. Darkstripe quivers before the tom, protesting that it couldn’t be true, though with Tigerstar’s account of the smoke kittypet, he’s starting to realize that it must be. He wails that he’d never known, that Willowpelt had hidden it from him, that she is the true traitor. He didn’t care who his father was, he whimpers - his loyalty was to Tigerstar, it had always been to Tigerstar, and it always would be.

Tigerstar watched the sniveling display with disdain. The tom was undoubtedly tainted by the weakness of his blood, but he’d always shown devotion to Tigerstar. Perhaps he could be given one last chance - but only one. He tells the tom that if he is ever to be anything but the sniveling son of a kittypet, he must prove himself willing to eradicate any disloyalty in the new Clan and pledge himself entirely loyal. He considers ordering the tom to hunt down his kittypet father and slay him, or to sneak into ThunderClan territory and kill his treacherous mother. But there are more pressing concerns facing his Clan right now, and he can’t have one of his warriors off on some lengthy mission to get one well-guarded cat alone when TigerClan is on the verge of conquering the other Clans. Such tests of his loyalty can come later. For now, perhaps a simpler task will do. He still needs someone to take care of those halfClan prisoners after all...

Of course, Darkstripe fails in that task too, and Tigerstar’s rage at yet another failure from his half-kittypet lackey is fearsome to behold. It is only the need for every fighting warrior available for the battle to come that keeps Tigerstar from punishing Darkstripe more severely. A worse fate may have awaited Darkstripe after the battle’s end, had Tigerstar not fallen under Scourge’s claws. And yet, Darkstripe continues his nearly obsessive devotion to the cat he still thinks of as his true father, even if he isn’t a father by blood, and he ends up dying in his quest to avenge the murderous tom. And yet, even a death in service to Tigerstar isn’t enough to truly raise him in the tom’s eyes, and he spends his seasons in the Dark Forest being overshadowed by a Tigerstar’s true sons, until the end of the Dark Battle leaves him to wander alone in the darkness forever.

~-~-~

Anyway, that’s my mini-essay on Darkstripe’s father and life story. XD Overall, I'm really happy with how his design turned out, and I had a lot of fun coming up with his parents' story and his story in regards to thinking of Tigerstar as his father. I also like how silhouette-wise, he looks a fair bit like Graystripe, but their patterns make them decently distinct from each other.

#Warriors #Warrior Cats #Erin Hunter #WC #Darkstripe #Darkpaw #Darkkit #ThunderClan #Rogue #ShadowClan #RiverClan #TigerClan #The Prophecies Begin #The Dark Forest #Dark Forest #Place of No Stars #Kittypet

29 notes · View notes

icannotreadcursive · 3 years

Text

Sometimes, people have different--very different--sets of headcanons and sets of ships etc for a given piece of media and cast of characters because they have basically different understandings of who those characters are.

A lot of times, that’s just because every fan as their own unique life experience to apply when engaging with and interpreting a work, so they see different things reflected back.

But when it comes to what I call Legacy Characters--characters that have had their story told and retold, adapted and readapted, reinvested and reset time and again; such as comic book characters--a huge part of who a fan understands a character to be is determined by what versions of that character they’re familiar with, what aspects of different versions have coalesced in their brain to form their sense of that character in general. Usually, the biggest influence there is which version of a character that fan encountered first.

I see both knock-down drag-out fights and casual disrespectful disparaging comments within some fandoms--especially big comics fandoms like Marvel--that on the surface of them are more of the typical dumb “my interpretation is the only right one and anyone who disagrees is wrong and Doesn’t Understand The Media” stuff, but that I am SO SURE mostly boils down to this issue of having very different but all equally legitimate senses of the characters from having familiarity with different appearances of the character, or in a different order.

For instance--using what I find to be the most glaring case as an example--the Marvel shipping wars amongst Steve/Bucky, Steve/Tony, Sam/Steve, Bucky/Natasha, and (increasingly) Sam/Bucky shippers. Sometimes the Pepper/Tony, Pepper/Natasha, and Bruce/Tony shippers join the fray.

These conflicts get so nasty. Even a lot of the more chill shippers, when prompted, have very ugly things to say about ships other than their own and the people who support them. Allegations of racism, misogyny, fetishization, and general toxicity run rampant and are often talked about as though they are the only possible reasons someone could ever have for shipping or not shipping a given pair.

I want to make it clear that I personally do ship or have shipped several of the above, including ones that mutually exclude each other. There’s a few I’m neutral on up there, and one that kinda squicks me--we’ll get to that later.

Every single one of them is a perfectly good ship. None of them are inherently fucked up in any way and I will not hear any argument to the contrary.

Do some supporters of these ships get overzealous and obnoxious? Yes, that’s kinda why we’re talking about it, but that’s not a problem with any of the ships themselves.

I’ve noticed some patterns around people being into particular ones of these ships and their personal histories with various Marvel media.

Steve/Tony: mostly comics fans at this point, either were into the comics before the MCU became a thing or the early days of the MCU got them into the comics and they’re now more into the comics than the films. Because there’s a LOT of material in the comics to support the ship! There’s so much! Including the fact that in one comics reality where Tony is a woman, she and Steve get married!

Now, there was a ton of this’ere Stony fic that got churned out in the early days of the MCU, a lot of it from fans getting into this world for the first time through the phase 1 movies, at which point other potential partners for these guys either hadn’t been introduced as characters yet, or hadn’t been fleshed out. A lot of film-main (as opposed to comics-main) Stony shippers moved away from the pairing as the MCU continued, Bucky became the counterpoint of Steve’s Character arc, Sam got brought in, Pepper and Bruce each got more screen time, and the dynamic between Steve and Tony in the films got increasingly adversarial in a way that’s less sexy more fucked up.

The battle cry against Stony from other factions, especially from the Steve/Bucky camp is usually “but they’re so toxic!” and, I mean, yeah--if your sense of these characters is primarily based on how they are in the MCU, they are. But in my experience, even if they’re working MCU events and settings, the Steve and Tony being imagined by Stony shippers aren’t really that Steve and Tony.

Steve/Bucky: look, Stucky is an MCU thing. Articles have been written and published about the fact that the dynamic between Steve and Bucky in the MCU follows the beats of an epic romance to a T. The basis for this ship is all there on screen--throw in a little bit of history nerd mojo and you’re in deep.

By my observation and estimation, most new or formerly-very-casual Marvel fans who came in via the films and remained film-mains, and who are inclined to not-strictly-heteronormative shipping at all went the Stucky route. Folks who initially shipped Stony then switched to Stucky are pretty common. People starting with Stucky and then switching to any other ship with Steve to the exclusion of Stucky? Very rare. And while for a lot of people Stucky is their OTP in the strictest sense, I do see a lot of Stucky shippers who are here for other ships as well, either in an alternate realities kinda way or an amicable exes/polyamory kinda way.

The only people I’ve seen who have a problem with Stucky as a ship (other than “my ship is a different ship, therefore this one is bad and wrong”) are comics-mains whose sense of Steve and Bucky is heavily informed by runs of the comics in which Bucky is significantly younger than Steve and kid sidekick type figure. For them, the dynamic between the general forms of these characters leans mentor/student or protector/charge, so the inclination is to read the MCU relationship as fraternal, because it being romantic is squicky based on their sense of the characters.

Sam/Steve: comics-mains, film-mains with significant comics familiarity, film-mains who just aren’t into Stucky for one reason or another, or film-mains who are just really into Anthony Mackey which is a perfectly valid reason to get behind a ship. People who know Falcon from the comics seem much more likely to be into this ship and also more invested in this ship. I’m not qualified to say much about support for this ship from the comics themselves because my personal familiarity with Marvel comics doesn’t include much of Sam Wilson at all, but I am absolutely qualified to say there’s support from the films, especially CA:WS.

The worst vitriol against this ship tends to come from overzealous Stucky OTP shippers who really need to remember that fandom is supposed to be fun, and flat out racists. That must be acknowledged and needs to be addressed. Fandom racism in general, and against Sam in particular is a thing and it can absolutely be a factor in shipping.

However it’s not inherently racist to just not ship Sam/Steve because you see them as bros, or because Stucky is your OTP, or because you ship Sam with someone else, or whatever. Worthwhile to take a minute to examine why you don’t ship it, if you don’t, and check that for racial bias in how you view and treat Sam as a character, especially if you’re white.

Sam/Steve and Stucky are the two ships I see coexist the most! A lot of people ship both of them separately and exclusive from one another, but a lot of people also go ether the OT3 or the “Steve and Sam were definitely a thing for while there but now they’re not” route.

Bucky/Natasha: comics-mains or film-mains with significant comics familiarity, particularly for the comics worlds in which Bucky and Natasha are a couple, which seems self explanatory as to why that correlates. Not a lot for it in the films, Nat and Buck don’t interact much in the films that we see, and they’re kinda trying to kill each other in much of what we do see. But, like I said, they’re a thing in some of the comics so there we have that.

This is the one that squicks me. Clearly it’s a super valid ship; depending on the canon it’s a canon ship. Frankly, they make sense together, canon or not--their individual backgrounds as spysassins and with brainwashing etc means they’d be able to understand one another in ways no one else around them really can. But my personal amalgamation of these characters from the films and what comics I’m familiar with has Bucky having been Natasha’s teacher when she was a kid in Red Room. So I cannot ship it, I can’t do it.

The fact that I personally am squeaked by it has absolutely no impact on the fact that it’s a good ship, and the fact that it’s a good ship cannot and does not negate the fact that it squicks me.

Bucky/Sam: okay, there’s not a lot of this out there yet, but what there is seems to mostly be coming from film-mains who either don’t ship or co-ship Stucky and/or Sam/Steve, and who really liked the dynamic between these two in Civil War, and I guarantee you we’re about to get so much more of this ship with Falcon and Winter Soldier premiering. I’ve already seen some hate directed at this ship from the same places Sam/Steve gets hate. I predict, though, that this one will also get co-shipped alongside Stucky by the less strictly OTP of those shippers and I’m curious to see what the dynamic ends up being between Bucky/Sam shippers and Sam/Steve shippers as this camp grows.

In conclusion, I guess, note that not shipping a ship doesn’t have to mean attacking that ship (and it shouldn’tI) and not liking a ship, even being deeply uncomfortable with a ship for your own reasons doesn’t mean that ship is bad. We’ve all got our own individual sets of experiences both in life and with the characters in our fandoms that can dramatically change how we see those characters and their relationships to one another. This gets especially complicated and diverse with Legacy Characters like those from sprawling long-running comics multiverses. Someone’s understanding and interpretation being different from yours does not make either of you wrong!

As long as no one is an asshole about it it, it’s actually really interesting and cool to compare interpretations and see how your understandings overlap and differ, to think about what bits of canon have been formative for you and what personal experience may have made you inclined to interpret certain things certain ways.

Fandom is supposed to be fun. Shipping is supposed to be fun. You can and should hype up and express love for your own ships without tearing down others.

#long post #meta #fandom etiquette #marvel #shipping #stucky #stony #sam/steve #bucky/nat #bucky/sam #squick is a useful word #don't be an asshole

20 notes · View notes

zuzuslastbraincell · 3 years

Note

10 headcanons for Azula

missed this one! here you go:

1. Prior to her bending coming in, I think she got on really well with Zuko actually. I very much think she followed him everywhere and was fascinated with him as Zuko demanded so much of her mother’s attention as a sickly kid that she would sit with her mother and sing while he wasn’t well, and often take the viewpoint of ‘hm what’s so interesting about him?’. I think Ursa encouraged them to be close and get along and their early years, the ones they can’t remember, were some of the best.

2. She likes theatre equally as much as Zuko. As a young child, she used to play act a lot with Zuko as a child, and loved to play the bold heroine in pretend plays he’d invent for her (Zuko would play every other character and/or narrate Azula’s heroic deeds).

3. After she started firebending early, the dynamic changed rapidly. Ozai finally began paying attention. Azula was put on a rigorous training regimen and was isolated somewhat from her brother (who started bending later) and her mother. This isolation & focus on firebending is where the abuse began.

4. I think Zuko got a lot more precious at the things he was good at - e.g. theatre, music, hand-to-hand combat, etc. and didn’t want Azula to ‘impede’ and show him up (because Zuko has a very obvious chip on his shoulder about his firebending). She was put off a lot of these ‘frivolous’ hobbies in part by her father’s discouragement and her mother trying to get her to stop teasing her brother (even if a lot of this teasing might have started as ‘look at what I can do!’ and ploys for attention). I think music and theatre are things she revisits later when she’s a lot older (I wrote a whole set of hcs about her joining the Ember Island Players which I still love) and has distance from it, but as a child her focus was largely on academic subjects, on firebending, and on ettiquette - being a ‘proper princess’ (Azula is very hung up on this, imo!).

5. I personally think ‘your mother thinks you’re a monster’ was partially seeded by Ozai, because Ursa wasn’t present enough (again, partially due to Ozai), that there was enough doubt in Azula’s mind from those fuzzy memories of her mother that she genuinely believed that. I also personally think that Ursa wasn’t sure how to handle Azula’s growing cruelty as Azula was isolated from her and began to mirror her father & his tutors, as she was very protective of her son and found it really difficult not to snap at Azula / control her patience around her own child when she said mean things she’d repeated from her father. I very much think Ursa was led to believe ‘Well, Azula is his favourite’, or ‘If Azula does well, then Zuko will be safe’ and other dangerous thought patterns that caused her to make poor decisions and prioritise short-term safety of her more obviously vulnerable child over long-term safety of them both.

6. After Ursa left was when things got very bad between Azula and Zuko. I think Ursa was a very flawed parent but she did try to encourage them to cooperate and try and reprimand Azula (arguably, poorly, but we only see a snippet of her disciplinary methods in Zuko Alone) for her behaviour. Without Ursa, I believe Ozai straight up encouraged her and rewarded her for antagonising and outperforming Zuko. And Azula learned very quickly the easiest way to outperform him was to undermine his confidence. I think this is the most toxic their relationship was.

7. I think she always knew, deep down, though, that her father’s love was very conditional, and that relied on her being at her absolute best at all times. She knew on some level she was disposable if she didn’t perform adequately (i.e. like Zuko). That said, I think she genuinely did love him? And wants to be loved by him, because he’s the only person who hadn’t abandoned her (until the finale), the only person whose approval she *knew* she could win (until the finale). And while she knows that her father can’t love her, on some level, it takes her a very long time to realise that it is Ozai at the root of her problems, that it is her father’s abusive parenting that has caused this, and to let go of him.

8. She never wanted to be Fire Lord! I think this is actually supported in text: “Fire Lord Azula? It seems appropriate” sounds like she has never contemplated the idea before. I think Azula very much saw herself as a subject and servant of the crown, but the most important and most successful one. I very much think Azula saw herself fitting in the mould of a hero rather than a monarch (I like the idea that she still retained something of those childish stories about bold heroines).

9. I think the best redemption arc involves her giving up the crown, her royal titles, all the elitism that she genuinely believes in, away from the court. I think while Azula wants to serve her country and will desire a ‘return to form’, I think ultimately the palace would probably be a toxic environment for her (and Zuko, but that’s another post), and while she might attempt to get back into politics, it’d end up encouraging the worst habits and she’d end up having to cut herself off from it and form a new life elsewhere. I like the idea of Azula actually realising those childish dreams of being a heroine during her redemption arc, but without the glory that entails, without the status and the songs and the myths. To take a bit from the western genre here, I like to imagine her a bit of a wandering warrior - but rather than having a strict sense of honour and a code, she’s still trying to figure out & rewrite her own code as she travels, and sometimes does dishonorable things on her journey. Eventually, I think she might settle down with a more stable profession, but I think she has a long wandering arc first. The future, for Azula, is far away from the Caldera.

10. I see-saw on whether I consider it part of my ‘canon’ or not but I absolutely adore the ‘Iroh was actually Azula’s father’ theory. I actually think this makes Iroh & Azula’s relationship worse rather than better - best case scenario Iroh is ignorant of it, but it’s quite possible, especially if his affair with Ursa is short-term fling they both pretend didn’t exist, his coldness towards Azula is in part because he’s willfully in denial about the possibility that she could be his. Which is evil!!! Anyway. I do like the idea that regardless, Iroh actually gets the fuck over himself at some point and does repair the relationship with Azula, to the extent that during a period in the middle of Azula’s wandering arc, she ends up crashing at his tea shop and living & working with him for a short period while she can’t find other work. Largely because I think them trying to patch things up is more interesting than the alternative, but I like to imagine it’s something Iroh realises he should do and is part of Iroh’s much longer and wider and still unfolding ‘redemption arc’ to some extent (which extends prior to the show but is still happening in s2 and s3).

#Anonymous #azula #abuse mention

27 notes · View notes