#so the question is how does he even deal with all these internal and external changes

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

I know that we’re all waiting and excited for Euron Greyjoy to serve the Eldritch apocalypse in TWOW, but frankly I’m more interested in what Jon and Bran will be up to. Bran is probably spending the majority of the book under the tutelage of Bloodraven (and potentially breaking from it). He’s probably going to unlock, or rather expand, new powers and there could be elements of greenseer magic that we probably haven’t seen yet.

Then we have Jon who, post-resurrection, will have magic crashing into him like a dump track: old god magic, R’hllor magic, and all that other weird stuff he can do. All the powers he’s been suppressing in ADWD will come spilling out and I’d imagine part of TWOW will be Jon trying to adjust to this magic as he’s going through all this rage and resentment (brought on by learning the truth of his parentage and dealing with the betrayal at castle black). I expect TWOW to have Jon in a really dark place and there’s the chance that magic will spill out as he (understandably) lashes out; whether he’s using magic knowingly or unknowingly, who knows. There’s even potential for Jon to get a magic mentor in the form of Melisandre; though it’s unclear how long Mel will hang around at the Wall because she needs to get back to Stannis so that the Shireen-bonfire can happen.

And - this is pure speculation on my part - TWOW seems to be the one book where magic is dialed up to 1000; I’m envisioning magic in this book to be a constantly pulsating element that as some point bursts into a huge explosion. With the Others coming and whatever Euron’s doing (and potentially Dany and her dragons), magic should have a heightened presence which makes me think that Jon and Bran are going to be experiencing some upscaling in terms of raw power. As magic becomes more and more prominent, Jon and Bran will do bigger more impressive things. I really cannot wait to see what they pull off in this book.

#jon snow #bran stark #asoiaf #random speculations #part of my thinking with jon is that he has spent so much time ignoring his powers that he - and the reader #has no accurate measure of how powerful he really is #so when the magic comes #crashing in on him it won’t be bit by bit #instead it will be a massive explosion that knocks him completely off his feet and sends him into a new dimension #I’m thinking it will even be much more than he can realistically handle given that he’s spent four book denying his special snowflake status #so the question is how does he even deal with all these internal and external changes #I think for a good chunk of twow he’ll be pissed because it’s not something he particularly cares for #but how he can’t ignore what’s happening anymore #he’ll be like those overpowered anime protagonists who wear power blockers and something happens to destroy these blockers #and so the conflict becomes: how do we stop this guy from bringing on the end of the world? #that’s gonna be Jon in TWOW I think #just an overpowered anime protagonist with grotesque body scars lol #and then bran’s there #being a weird omniscient tree god….

[shorthaltsjester]

if i ever have to see another thought piece on the description of the white picket fence outside of fjord and jester’s place in mighty nein reunited indicating jester’s unhappiness in the relationship i will burn the world to the ground.

a) heteronormativity doesn’t exist in exandria !

b) fjord isn’t your Typical Male Love Interest Guy. if i ever have to read someone say that shit again i’m gonna (correctly) assume they haven’t paid attention at all to campaign 2 and any of fjord’s character arc.

c) perhaps, jester lavorre, woman who was raised on the ideology of romance novels and sexuality as exchange, might just find it uh… not a terrible thing that the white picket fence is falling apart outside since… fjord explicitly does Not feel like those romance novels to her, instead he feels comfortable. the way that a brightly painted but rarely used house might, especially when the couple in question spends most of their time adventuring together… which is an essential part of jester’s motivations throughout the campaign.

d) the reason fjord and jester seem unhappy in the reunion might be because, well, uh, whereas everyone else was getting a “vacation”, jester and fjord’s life together (specifically the fact that Fjord Loves Jester Enough To Risk The World (Momentarily) To Save Her) was the inciting action for an apocalyptic demigod being released - they Were unhappy. who wouldn’t be given those circumstances. jester nearly died, and fjord felt like the god that once saved him had now abandoned him, i am so truly sorry that their romance was not satisfactory for your vision of atypical romance (which, by the way, is literally reinforcing the restrictive romantic tropes you think you’re criticizing, so good job i guess). i would be much, much more concerned if jester and fjord Weren’t clearly dismayed.

e) both fjord and jester are individuals whose entire lives and character are defined by the expectation (both external and internal) that they behave and emote a certain way. that they’re in a relationship with someone who they feel that they can show that they are frustrated with or disagree on the layout of their house with or have different ideas on how to deal with the looming threat of a demigod is incredible. jester and fjord are emblematic of a relationship in which the characters Aren’t meant to be, but they Want to be together and they want to understand and support the other person so they work at it. we wouldn’t have conversations like “you seem disheartened..” “i am very disheartened! you almost died!” if they didn’t take the time and care to communicate with one another.

f) if you want a honeymoon era joyful queer romance, yasha and beau are right there! they are explicitly horny and in love and bright about it! if queerness is your measure of “trope breaking” i am very sorry to tell you that queer people partake in white picket fences, and i’d actually argue that in terms of Lifestyle Metaphor, beauyasha are more adherent to the whitepicket fence, nuclear familyism. this isn’t a detriment to them, just, very literally, beau works a 9-5 where she comes back to her housewife who gardens and cooks dinner and their future includes explicit reference to children. comparatively, fjord wants to address some issues in his past, jester is an artist, and both of them are interested in adventure for the foreseeable future.

g) if you truly think that a single part of laura’s description of the part-time abode of fjord and jester overrides every interaction and choice that both laura and travis make towards fjord and jester caring for each other in a deep and meaningful way that goes beyond the weird fandom constructed Man/Woman characters being portrayed by a married couple i truly, Truly have no idea why you even watch the many hours of content that cr is when you could… play/write your own shit.

#usually i would simply block and ignore but! i got one of those weird twitter recommended tweet notifs #and there were far too many likes #also like. ppl talk about that home as if it is where fjord and jester are living their everyday life #they are on the ship most of the time. of course it’s downtrodden and illlooked after. they are adventuring. they’re writing their own story #fjord #fjord stone #jester lavorre #fjord + jester #fjorester #critical role #cr2 #mighty nein #cr meta #kinda #i’m not tagging this discourse because it’s stupid and against my principles if u don’t like this block me :) #the mighty nein

[straycalamities]

so for some Reasons, the same reasons zombinoslayer is on indefinite hiatus, i have a question on like. Say there is a Truffula Flu-oriented plot, story. Y'know a narrative. Coming up, but the way it's being made is basically prose-based, how would you prefer to see that formatted onto a tumblr askblog/archive thing?

it does deal with two characters and two characters only (so far?)

rp-style is out of the question because of editing reblogs being killed

but...i have a few thoughts, but i'm not sure which one people would like to read and digest the most

for more clarity on what i mean with terms/styles: click under the readmore

when i say "prose-style" i mean it's written like a novel. it's 3rd-person limited and past tense.

The sun was baring down hard on Mikey's back as he trudged down the sidewalk. He drug his feet, pose hunched. Why did he have to run out of eggs on the hottest day of the year?

when i say "script-style" i mean that it's written how you would read the script for a show or a play. this is how i treated zombinoslayer's big scenes. it'd have progressive images for each action/dialogue, wherever i deemed an image needed/important

Mikey: [The sun is bright and harsh. He is walking down the sidewalk. He looks exhausted.] Why did I have to run out of eggs on the hottest day of the year?!

and when i say comic, well, that's obvious. i'd do my best to translate everything as well as i can into something that is heavily image and dialogue based that has comic frames and such.

pros and cons of all these being:

prose pros (lol): it keeps all of the character's inner feelings, struggles, and thoughts and even some motives out and easier to see, which with these scenes and with how these characters are, might be important or even very enlightening for people i also don't have to draw as much because i would only be illustrating significant parts and to make the posts look more appealing/interesting. thus updates would happen more frequently. easier to plug into a translator if english isn't your first language the images would be illustrations i'd actually put effort into since there would be so few of them

prose cons: it'll be a lot more reading overall less left to interpretation, i guess? less pretty pictures? it takes a lot more cerebral energy in some cases to take in prose and turn it around in your mind i just get that for some people, they don't like walls of text. like i, for one, have gotten very bad at reading so i get it

script pros: more pictures to look at then prose-style scenes move by more quickly and smoothly, everything focuses more on actions and interactions so maybe things are easier to digest than prose-style still translator-friendly updates still more frequent than comic-style, but less frequent than prose-style most likely full-color images. may or may not have a bg in every image (just think zombino-slayer style? but i might not render every time either like i did there because that was..phew..that took a lot out of me)

script cons: more images to draw for me the format might be wonky to some none of those inner thoughts/monologues, a lot of depth and inner feelings/struggles/references made in the characters heads are left out. it all focuses on the external with hints to the internal left to expression, body language, and dialogue and the reader's own bias/experience

comic pros: ALL THE PICTURES YOU COULD WANT! everything's images! if you're most comfy with reading comics or manga already, you'd dig this (obviously) the least reading and it's all together in one image (well multiple) very easy to soar through and take everything in since the focus is on images and dialogue Only (maybe narrative notes or thought boxes when really important) easiest to share i'd think? and easiest to get a feel for what's going on in a scene without having to study and/or think too hard about it

comic cons: oh my god all that drawing...updates would be slow as molasses tbqh.. unless i decided to do manga-style aka B&W or limited grayscale/monochrome. even then though again, everything internal would be left to the hints you'd get from the external i could give with imagery, panel-shape, dialogue, and such not translator-friendly (i know there's the google image translator, but i'd be handwriting the text (i just like how it looks best) and it's not always friendly to handwriting)

--

as far as specifics for each style, we'd work that out once one is picked

other notes: i do think i'm a pretty strong prose-writer, but i also think i'm a pretty strong comicsmith. so i don't think it's really up to what i'd, personally, be able to pull off best with the skills i own :3 (and i mean script-style is the most simple of the three. and i've already done it. it'd be almost identical to zombinoslayer. and it'd be most similar to Camp Entre's rp-style i think? even though Camp Entre was much more dialogue-based than anything else

i know i haven't uploaded too much of either, especially my writing, but trust...i'm pretty good at it. at least that's what people tell me.

#truffula flu #yeah ill tag it #polls #share this around if you want #i want a wide opinion

[yeetlegay]

Not for nothing, the representation of Porsche’s bisexuality means a lot to me as a bi person who didn’t figure out my identity until my early 20s. The journey that he goes through in the first half of the show, from a presumed straight man to a bisexual man in love with another man, is written and acted with so much empathy and grace. Porsche’s feelings about his identity and presentation of self are allowed to be confused, hesitant, and complicated without him being homophobic or misogynistic. The result is a more subtle arc of self-discovery, but such an important one. Porsche may not have deep-rooted internal prejudices but he still exists within oppressive structures that shape all our lives whether we want them to or not. Even though he doesn’t deny or dislike his feelings for Kinn, he does quietly struggle sometimes with the discomfort of being queer in a world that sees queer as “other.”

I think part of why this hits so hard is Apo himself. Now I don’t really follow the actors very closely and I try hard to separate the art from the artist, so I don’t want to place too much weight on this. But I do think Apo really brings a particular level of empathy and nuance to Porsche’s identity that deserves appreciation. Apo has spoken a number of times about how much he struggled with homophobic treatment in the Thai film/TV industry through the course of his career. He was often asked invasive questions about his sexuality, made fun of for the way he dresses and presents himself, and demeaned for being feminine or not masculine enough. It seems to have been a key factor in his decision to leave the industry (and even Thailand) entirely.

To be clear, he’s never made any public statement about his sexuality or gender identity, and it’s no one’s business to presume or ask about how he identifies. The problem was that, regardless of how he actually identified, homophobia had a big impact on him personally and professionally. Homophobia (along with all other forms of hate and violence) doesn’t hurt just queer people—it hurts everyone, because it confines and regulates people’s lives/bodies, and punishes deviations, big and small, from the norm.

Apo has some pretty incredible gender vibes to be honest. Something about his mannerisms, his face, his fashion choices, his presentation, just strikes keen envy in my nonbinary bisexual heart lol. And he brings that nuance into Porsche’s character so beautifully. Porsche gets to be tender as he is tough, someone who cares for his loved ones and shows affection without being demeaned for it. He’s allowed to be this strong, tall, muscular guy without it being prescriptive of his internal feelings and personality and how he presents in his voice and mannerisms. No one (least of all him) is policing his body and gender in the way queer people, particularly queer men, so often deal with. He gets to just be.

The freedom in that, for me at least, feels like a revelation. I feel loved when I watch Porsche, because his journey as a bisexual man isn’t rooted in his own repression or external prejudice. Even when he identified as straight, he didn’t behave or present in a way that was engineered to convey heterosexuality or even masculinity. He was already comfortable in his skin, and figuring out his sexuality was more of an internal journey than one centered on his body and how the world perceives it.

Obviously there’s nothing wrong with identity crises/questions/discoveries that do involve repression or homophobia (mine certainly does, thanks Catholic school 🙃). But I think it’s really neat that Porsche’s arc doesn’t, because it brings up questions that often get buried under the avalanche of homophobic/misogynistic/transphobic shit that unfortunately we so often have to wade through to come to our own queer identities. And that’s why I mentioned Apo’s experience, because I really think that as someone who’s had such a hard time in the industry in the past—precisely because he does step outside rigid gender norms—he really gets how homophobia shapes a person’s understanding of their own body. And consciously or unconsciously, he created in Porsche a character who could be free, for fucking once, of that heavy weight around his neck.

So basically, I hope he knows how much that means to a lot of people, not just me. And I hope that playing Porsche has given him some amount of comfort or healing or validation. He gave homophobia and misogyny a massive middle finger through this character, and I hope that and his continued outspokenness about his experience make everyone think twice before policing people’s gender and bodies.

#kinnporsche #why don’t queue stay #apo nattawin #it also strikes me as especially ironic that one of the early discourse vultures we had to bat away from the fandom was bitching #about Porsche and Kinn not being ‘visibly queer enough’ bc they’re ‘masculine’ and ‘straight-presenting’ and Porsche fucks women #just the absolute worst most garbage take (from a queer person!) policing the fuck out of queer men and their bodies right out the gate #while Porsche to me has a veritable OCEAN worth of nuance #and actively bucks against cishet normative ideas about masculinity and queer men #imagine being that fucking focused on prescribing what queerness SHOULD look like instead of seeing what queerness CAN and DOES look like #anyway I fucking love Porsche I love his bisexuality and I fucking love his gender #and I fucking love Apo for giving him to us

[comfortless]

omg your könig posts just heal me. how do you think he’d deal w/ someone who just gets sad a lot?

He’s just awful!

König has braved an eternal winter his whole life. He knows what depression feels like, knows how sadness and badness can creep in even during your happiest moments. Considers that he’s already met the demiurge and is punished with an everlasting purgatory.

And König also knows loneliness intimately. He never had an arm around him those nights he spent curled in his bed sobbing far away from where any eyes could see. His “comfort” came in the form of demands from both internally and externally; his father’s voice always rung out far above the rest. Be stronger. More of a man.

With you, a part of him breaks.

Because despite knowing these things down to the marrow, helping with them has never been a skill of his. He can kill a man in seconds, ram through a door with practiced posture in less than a minute, but helping you when you’re sad is entirely foreign to him.

It’s hell entirely, because you’re sad so often. He does what a good lover should: fetches you gifts and food, holds you tight, buries you in nothing but words he deems sweet enough (even if they’re a bit crude).

And often you don’t want any of it.

You shutdown when he hovers and badgers, always pleading with you to explain what’s wrong. You’re curling into yourself, facing away when he tries his best to pull you in. Sometimes it’s an aggressive sort of love — forcing you into his lap and holding your face while you cry your little heart out, dragging you out of the house to sit in the sun while you babble about your woes (or even lack of, really, he just wants something to go off of), and an abundance of unsolicited advice as to what may help your mental state (as though he himself has not ghosted every poor therapist he's ever had). The gifts only increase and your every need is taken care of as though you were physically ill.

He’s aware enough to know that he’s being a total nuisance, too. He expects you to lash out, tell him to stop his pestering and coddling. And König would even enjoy your anger, because it’s something other than being sad and withdrawn. All of this only stems from what he felt he may have needed when he was a pitiful, lonely boy.

So, he holds you close, pampers you like the finest treasure, speaks softer and chooses his words a little better. There are no threats of hours of unhinged sex now, but he’s still a pervert: offers to lick you to take your mind off of whatever is going on. It’s a good distraction, he’s certain, because a wank in the barracks usually does aid him when you’re apart and that sadness creeps its way in.

And more often than not, he’ll question if it’s he who caused all of this. He’s not a good man, never pretends to be. He’s brutish and socially stunted in ways only seen in feral people or beasts in myth. König won’t ask for reassurance directly, very rarely wants you to see him seeming so vulnerable and small, but it’s evident how this growing aching reflects your own. The confessions of love come tenfold, not just for you, but because he needs to hear you say them too.

[liesmyth]

something that i think is so interesting in nona the ninth is that we really see that the nine houses have varying levels of loyalty to/cooperation with the emperor. the most clear example is of course everything going on with the sixth house, but also when aiglamene says that the last time the emperor's intelligence sent someone to the ninth house they 'dropped [them] off eleven hours from the prison with ten hours' worth of air'. that being said, what do you think are the other houses' actual relationship with/feelings towards emperor?

Ohh yes I love those worldbuilding details we get in Nona! Some thoughts—sorry, this got long.

How (I think) the Empire is structured

From what little we know of the political structure in the Empire, I get the vibe that the Houses are mostly left to themselves, govern themselves autonomously, and make alliances with each other, without a solid formal structure in place above them. Many major political events happen without anyone even considering that the Emperor should be consulted on them: Harrow was worried about the Ninth becoming a vassal of the Fifth or Third if they should apply for relief; the Fifth have a lot of influence over the Fourth and “dynastic ambition”; the Ninth were left free to completely isolate themselves for eighteen years.

The Empire appears to be pretty decentralised on matters of internal governance, which I think fits with John's whole deal. He isn't very hands-on, he historically has spent decades a universe away from the Houses, and he doesn't care about the details. IMO, there's a marked difference between intra-Houses governance and the "Imperial" agenda.

1—Internally, the Emperor is very much the ultimate authority… IF ONLY he bothered to yield it, which he doesn’t. Partly because John is just Like That, and partly because he operates on a completely different timescale. But he does have the authority: when he decides to summon the House heirs, they come; when many of them die, there's no noticeable political fallout: he leaves for the Mithraeum, expecting to be away for at least five years with no communication, and that's not seen as an issue. He obviously doesn’t have to explain himself to anyone, and his authority is not even in question.

There's a mention in GtN of "Imperial law" that forbids necromancers from marrying out of House, but IMO 'Imperial' refers to the fact that it applies to every House, not that John came up with it. The Houses are so jealous of their own resources that they don't want their necromancers to affiliate with others; I think this is a law that suits the Houses first and foremost, and John couldn’t care less. In general, I think House leaders are very happy that the Emperor is so hands-off on internal matters, and this has been the case for most (if not all) of their recorded history.

2— Externally, though! The Houses are absolutely united when it comes to their equivalent of foreign policy, which is mostly handled by the Cohort. Interstellar travel seems to be regulated through military channels, and I would bet that a sizeable portion of the internal economy of the Empire is centred on the Cohort. Note that the "contracts" with the "shepherded planets" are between each planet and John himself—he's A LOT more involved when it comes to military matters. Even on the Mithraeum in HtN he's looking at reports and briefing—and when he's around he always resides with the Cohort and definitely makes executive decisions.

I think it's pretty interesting that John is a near-mythical figure to the Houses but Cohort personnel actually interact with him on a regular basis. Like, I bet that leaders of the Houses have no idea what the Emperor actually looks like outside of religious imagery, but there's a twenty-something junior officer who brings him coffee every morning. I think it's fascinating—temporal power vs. spiritual power; he's a religious figure to most of the Empire, but to the extent to which he's "Emperor" of anything, in a concrete, mundane sense, it's the Cohort. And I think that Cohort higher-ups have a lot of sway over the Houses (veering into headcanon land but @theriverbeyond made the excellent point that Cohort command probably have Opinions about the leaders of each House and can influence the decision to some extent)

Each House's relationship with the Emperor

We don't know much about it so it's all speculation babey!

The Second: THE favoured child. The fandom focuses on the Fifth and Third being rich and influential, and they sure are, but that’s based on Gideon’s POV (as filtered through Harrow’s knowledge) which about who is currently on top of the House scheming game. I think the Second just don’t care about House scheming because they are THE Officer House; the Cohort is based in Trentham, and I’m sure there’s a disproportionate percentage of Second House members among their leadership. The leader of the Second is the top brass (Judith’s dad is the Fleet Admiral—that’s a five stars rank) and as of NtN, he has enough pull to antagonise a Lyctor over supply lines. The Second absolutely enjoy privileged access to the Emperor and have a lot of power from it. The Third: we don't know! I think they are one of the Houses who are really really happy that God is off playing star wars and they can do their thing. Also, I think there are many commercial ties between the Third and the Cohort (and by extension, imperial authority) because a lot of the wealth within the internal economy of the Houses absolutely comes from military contracts. The Fourth: Fidelity facing ahead. The bomb kids. They seem to be somewhat subordinated both to the Fifth (at least currently) and to the Second (who, again, lead the Cohort) and probably don't do much scheming of their own. The Fifth: like the Third, I think they are very happy the Emperor is off with the Cohort. I think they have a perfectly civil, friendly relationship with the concept of imperial authority. Like the Third, it's very likely that their economy goes to supplying the Cohort with resources instead of troops, and they get rich from it. The Sixth: this is INTERESTING! They held a vote and decided to secede, but we don't know if the choice was unanimous (I doubt it!) or if there have been reactions from the population of the House (because the decision iirc was made by the Oversight Committee). We know a lot about the Sixth's inner workings, more than any other House barring the Ninth, and they actually send a considerable percentage of their small population to the Cohort. Their entire reproductive strategy of "diversifying the gene pool" relies HEAVILY on sending many people off-House (= to the Cohort) and as far as we know those people are still there.

I doubt the break clause is widely known among the wider Sixth population, because the secession seems to have come as a surprise to the Cohort (or at least Ianthe, who has access to their intelligence). Do all, or any, of the Sixth's people within the Cohort know what happened, or do they think the installation was destroyed? Basically, I don't know if "okay, let's secede" was as simple of a situation as Camilla makes it seem—and she explained about it when talking to Nona, so I bet it isn't.

Another thing worth noting is that, as Cam says, they ultimately "left for a Lyctor". I think it makes a lot of sense for Former Contract Lawyer Cassiopeia (who I still believe came up with the lifetime contracts) to have founded her House with a stipulation in place that they could leave if they decided to—I think there might even be a chance she told John about it back when, though I doubt he ever knew that the Library installation could be packed up and moved. Basically: there are A LOT of implications and possible consequences to the secession, and IDK how it's going to turn out.

The Seventh: we know very little about them. Protesilaus was a duelling champion, so clearly they are plugged into the "social scene" of the Houses—that's all I got

The Eight: very into the worship of the Emperor as "God," but I think they're more into their own interpretation of what the religious precepts of the Houses ought to be than what the God-Emperor actually wants. (Which I think suits John just fine). See Silas having a portrait of the Emperor in his room but also being the only one to say "God was wrong" re: Lyctoral process. I think the Eight like the idea of the Emperor as a symbol of authority, both religious and political (the two are one and the same to them) but they're very happy that he's off warring in the stars so they don't have to actually listen to anything he has to say.

The Ninth: I think the Ninth like the Emperor just fine, but from far away. They worship and respect him through the lenses of their brand of religion, focused on the Tomb. They clearly aren't involved in the running of the space prison, and the whole House seem to have been a religious hermitage at the edge of the Empire before they shut the House to pilgrims. I think John tries not to think about the Ninth at all, because Alecto, and they are mutually very happy each doing their thing.

EDIT: I originally wrote "I think Aiglamene's line about kicking off Intelligence officers is not necessarily a reflection on their stance on the imperial government; simply a consequence of the fact that they were hushing up the death of an entire generation of Ninth children and didn't want the intelligence guys poking around" but I was wrong there—the Ninth kicking out the bureau guys precedes the child murders. That points to a bigger distrust for military / Cohort / imperial authority than I initially considered, but I don't think it changes much. They're fine sending people to the Cohort and praying to God, but want to be left alone to run themselves

(SORRY THIS GOT SO LONG :D)

#tlt thoughts #the nine houses #ejg #tlt meta #tlt #anonymous #ask

[viveela]

When it comes to Stan and Kyle, realistically/in canon how do you think they’d actually confess to each other?

Hmm...the way SP handles and adds to its overarching canon makes it hard for me to imagine it. But, if I just viewed Stan and Kyle's characters right now and thought only about how it'd go if they liked each other... Well, their dynamic is complicated and distant. There's also a lot about them to consider.

Kyle's a romantic, but he's had so many failed relationships. He also hates being ostracized. Rejection would terrify him as the possible outcome of his bond with Stan ending and others finding out and gossiping a out it would be an absolute nightmare for him. Then there's Stan's who's more bitter and very depressed. I think a lot is from his home situation but also Cartman's wake up call (saying he never stands up to Kyle). However he still is possessive and jealous about his best friend status with Kyle despite everything. He also has a weird perception of relationships now for sure especially due to the on and off one he currently has.

So with all that in mind...here's my take:

The two have developed feelings and it changes their dynamic once again.

Stan upon realizing this felt exhausted. There's too much already going on in his life and this is just adds to it. Exhausted he decides to just push the problem away and shut it all out. This causes him to be more unresponsive around Kyle.

Meanwhile, Kyle upon realizing his feelings gets conflicted. His romantic history isn't the greatest and rejection is scary. He's not sure if Stan's even like that. Sure his dog was gay and he's supportive, but does that truly mean anything about what Stan is specifically? He decides it'd be best to never act on this. But also Kyle now craves Stan's attention more than ever. He leans into his wants by behaving more clingy towards Stan, maybe even trying to asking odd questions here and there to gauge if maybe he would have a chance.

This goes on for a while and at first Stan was just sort of watching it happen. Not receptive but also not reacting. Eventually he can't handle this shift in Kyle and he starts trying to avoid him out of confusion and frustration. He doesn't want to deal with any of this right now.

Kyle notices this and it just makes his feelings jumble up. He's hurt, this isn't how Stan used to be around him. Usually it didn't take much to get his friend to go along with things. How can he deal with his unreciprocated crush like this? He grows more desperate and tries much more forcefully to get Stan to spend time with him, practically begging for his attention at this point.

This doesn't go on for too long before Stan gets highly aggravated and riled up. He's trying so hard to ignore everything happening externally and internally and this is making it impossible. Not to mention this switch up in their friendship happened out of nowhere. Where did this even come from? This boils within Stan before he finally snaps at Kyle one day, stopping him in his tracks from continuing further.

Now on the defensive Kyle snaps back and they're now arguing. Their entire relationship as a whole is being brought up and thrown back and forth at each other; both frantically pointing fingers and pent up frustrations spilling out. It doesn't take long before Stan breaks and goes from yelling to crying. His true state comes to light and he finally expresses how their distance has affected him and that it's really been messing with his head —especially now with the newfound feelings he's been having lately. Kyle's silent for a moment taking this all in before bombarding Stan with apologies for everything, feeling stupid.

The implications from Stan's words earlier aren't lost on him though and once things calm down, he then takes the chance to confess his own feelings as well while also admiting he misses being close to each other. Now they're both feeling like idiots and reconcile, deciding to be more open with each other and figure out how to move their relationship further from here.

#veespeaks #anon ask #south park #stan x kyle #style #stankyle #stanky #lowkey had me almost writing a fanfic lol #twas a bit tempting ngl...maybe one day #i had so many episodes I wanted to cite but I didn't want this to be like a 10 page essay #anyway hope this was a fun read! I never thought about this before tbh

[queenendless]

🩵Satoru Main Frame (Adult!Gojo x Fem!Reader)🩵

A/N: Yall. MANGA LEAKS. New episode tomorrow about ... ya know what. And I'm not okay. So more self-indulgent comforting cute stuff okay!?

Fluff, wholesome turned steamy confessions, make out time, and all with the best man there IS!

All credit to JJK and the image goes to Gege sensei ... even after the crap they just pulled .... sorry.

PLEASE DON'T STEAL OR COPY MY FAN WORK, LIKE AND REBLOGS/SHARES WILL DO!

I hope you all enjoy my attempt at consoling venting content during this time. Okay enjoy!

You may not be the strongest nor a sorcerer for that matter, but your use as a Window meant you were a member of Jujutsu Tech for as long as you were usable to them.

Meaning you not only got to see the first and second years who you've gotten closer to; all precious in their own crazy ways, but you also got to see their sensei. Whenever he was around, you mean.

Watching you mingling with his students from afar kept you on a fidgety edge. Toying with your hands and checking yourself over to make sure nothing looked off.

"Whatcha talkin' about~?" Gojo weaseled cheekily into your group talk with the two female students turned kouhai friends of yours.

"None of your noisy business." Maki tersely replied.

"Personal private space, creepy sensei!" Nobara snapped out.

You mouthed I'm sorry over the shoulder as the girls dragged you off the opposite way. Him gaping at you a bit at your concern before grinning coyly as he waved it off like it was no big deal made you a bashful smiling mess.

Exorcizing curses high enough in the air for you to see made you bashfully look away from his cheery expression above, to your internal elated heart but to your other two companions' ire.

"Going overboard as always," Megumi groaned.

"At least the area got evacuated." Yuji's trying optimism did not lessen Megumi's annoyance.

Even having lunch in the courtyard, seeing Gojo annoying Nanami-san passing by the outdoor roofed pathway nearby made your dopey smile have your two eating buddies look to you then to their sensei, piecing it all together.

"Ooohhh you have got it bad~!" Panda teased only to deflate. "But does it have to be Gojo-sensei?"

"Bonito Flakes." Inumaki shook his head, eyes pitying your choice.

You were internally panicking as swarms of butterflies frazzled your nerves, externally staying mute and red as you looked nowhere else but your lunch box set.

And yet, you couldn't help it.

Despite everyone's obvious distaste for the strongest sorcerer on their side for his crazy rule breaking irresponsible antics, that didn't deter you in the slightest.

Even as you finished your meal and excused yourself, hurriedly leaving, you seeked out that chaotic man purposely.

His voice.

His strength.

His spikey propped up snowy hair paired with that velvety black blindfold resting over those illuminating eyes you've only heard about and never seen with your eyes —!

"L/n~!" That familiar cheery voice breathed in your ear from behind. You yelped, jumping in fear, before swiftly turning around at that toothy smile. "Hi~!"

"Uh – I – I was just … just –!" Your stuttered rambles were cut off swiftly as he pointed a finger right in your face.

"Question! Answer truthfully, pretty please~!" His wide toothy grin had you sold.

"Um …. okay?"

"You were looking for dear old me, weren't you?" The smug confidence from his expression to his irresistible voice had you flushing and swelling up inside in anxious worry. You felt either lying or not would just amuse him.

Looking at your feet in burning bashfulness, you quietly spoke. " … Yes."

He hummed loudly, his smile widening, rubbing his chin in thought. "What about exactly?"

"Just … just to …" You felt darkness overtake you, looking up slowly, startled out of your own skin at how close his face leaned into your personal space.

"Yeeeeees~?" Gojo was enjoying this too much.

Shakily gasping, you breathed in and out deeply through your nose.

"When you're not too busy … I was wondering if you'd … want to … hang out?"

He held his chin, pondering, humming loud enough. "Hang out, huh? Well, while I'm flattered you think so highly of me and my presence … I can't help feeling suss … what brought this on all of a sudden? Especially since this is the first time you've spoken to me. When it's just us two … all alone … when I can be the most unpredictable one here and you are unprepared for what I could do~?"

His wiggling fingers and the low tone he spoke in had your brain screaming at you to tuck tail and bolt.

Yet you didn't want to move. You were stuck in place. Entranced by his everything.

"Like THIS~!"

A whoosh of the winds and the setting made you dizzy when the secured warm embodiment of the strongest kept you caged against his front. Blinking while getting your bearings to what happened, you saw the cloudy blue sky way up close. Your eyes peaked down.

Yep, you were way way high up. And Gojo alone kept you two floating still and not plummeting to oblivion. Exhilarating being on top of the world with the strongest there is and petrified of the extreme height. You trembled, clutching your hands at his jacketed lower back, when his enriching voice lulled down your nerves.

"You're not gonna fall."

"Gojo-san, what are you – ?!"

"Figured I'd get the point across on top of the world. Literally." His towering self-gazed down at you; blindfolded and all. "All those gazes you give me, seeing you smiling down below when I'm up this high, I could tell right away that you're not like everyone else. I mean, your admiration and affection has not gone unnoticed …" His chuckles set you in a blushing burning state as butterflies raked your nerves, leaving him chuckling deeper and longer.

That's why his deep frown unsettled you so much. "But I'm not the best choice to have feelings for."

Your heart began cracking.

"You know the spoken truths about me from the others. The idiotic, irresponsible playboy teacher that causes chaos wherever he goes. But you still view me as more than that, don't you?"

Your nod of agreement brought him to brush his nose against your forehead tenderly. "All I want is to not have anyone feel lonely anymore in this doomed system of ours … yet in this imbalanced world … it still finds ways to give me hope." His arms gave your waist a squeeze. "You have to be somewhat crazy to survive this sorcerer's life. Perhaps I'm just that crazy for thinking this all up on the spot."

You can feel the crazy emanating off of him.

"To think, a wild card such as myself holding your precious self in my arms right now … I revel in it~ I mean sure, you're not the strongest one here. That'd be me." You deflated at his light jab and smug pride. "But still, the sound of your voice soothes me deeply. I cherish how your smile lights up wherever you are. You still see the good in me despite all my flaws. Heh, you're something else, you know that?"

You yelped as he lifted you up with one arm, having your bum rest on his forearm, immediately hugging his neck in your wrapped arms. You gulped at how close your faces were now.

"I know earlier I said being with me isn't the best choice to make … but I … I don't want you to stay away either. I don't want us keeping such a distance apart. After all, you didn't intend on us just hanging out like coworkers or comrades even today … right?"

Your squeezing lips betrayed your true intentions loud and clear. "No …" The ends of his lips curled upwards as you took a deep breath, braving to see this through. "I like you Gojo-san … a lot. You … you truly do care about our comrades … your students … you want them to stand with you … help in your fight to bring about a better world … makes me want to support and help you in any possible way I can … I'm not the strongest … so supporting the strongest is the next best thing. Then there's your own enriching laughter, your enrapturing voice, your odd sense of humor …"

Listing it all off had him beaming proudly. "Most of all … deep down you do care … in your own Satoru way …" You giggled at that last one when his rattled groan startled you just as much as his embrace did, having your legs hugging his waistline, burying your face in his neck so as not to panic at how high up you were.

"Why you gotta be so cute~?!" He whined playfully. "So naive … so adorable … ugh why must you make me sway so~!?" He dramatically cried out to the heavens. You snorted at his performance when the cradling gesture of his hand running slowly through your hair comforted you much more than you thought. "Now I'm really tempted not to let you go." The deep possessive tone he took shivered you to the core.

Breathing in his scent that soothed your anxious quaking soul, you dove fully in. Past the point of no return. "Then don't."

He pushed your hair aside enough to kiss the bare skin there, your shuddering gasp leaving his lips curled into your flesh at his greedy claims. "I hope you're prepared for what you just signed up for." The howling winds hit you hard as you clutched onto him for dear life when his warp to solid earth only took a moment, back on school grounds with the main building in plain view in the distance. "Because I like you too … and I plan on keeping you sweetie all to myself."

You pulled back, looking down at him gave you a surge of control at having this giant looking up at you with such a charming face. "Gojo-san –"

"Just Gojo or Satoru is fine coming from you, Y/n~" He assured you with his blessing.

You shyly smiled. " … T … Toru too?"

Literal sparkles appeared, adorning his face as he laughed out loud, unrestrained and rambunctious, as he hugged you tighter. "Oh, you are quite the catch, indeed!" Your own laughter was soft compared to his but it only heightened his affections for you. "Yes, yes, Toru too … has quite the ring to it~ So, can we make it official then … Y/n? Will you let me take you out?"

Your hands held his face, gently brushing his cheeks, bringing a light blush to his own cheeks had you endearingly gleam. "Yes."

He kept one arm around your waist, so his other arm wrapped around your shoulders, brushing aside your hair, massaging your scalp, smiling broadly. "Can I kiss you?"

Your eager nod followed by your own face leaning in was all the prompting he needed as the hesitant smooch felt so freeing.

You felt yourself at peace. Your skin tingled at how sweet he tasted, how safe and warm you felt in his hug. Tepid pecks soon turned to lingering drawn out sucks as your sighs pleased him, even more so when his tongue lapped at your bottom lip before treading new ground in your cavern, leaving a mewling mess inside you against his hungry groans as your tongues danced.

Weaving your hands upwards just to run them through his stand upish do, you accidentally making his blindfold slide down, letting his hair fall free, revealing his Six Eyes. He didn't mind, if only to look upon you with his gaze out in the open. The vibrant blue pulsated with such vigor and drive it had aroused you beyond all reason.

Running your own hands through his hair, you pulled him deeper to keep him as close as possible, both of you sighing elatedly as the squelched sounds of kissing passion wafted through the air. The gleaming sun highlighting you two in your own little world made it all the more sacred.

"Thank you, Y/n~" He gasped, pulling free from your wet tasty mouth as his fingers brushed your clothed sides and neck, his hold on you lingering as his strength was unbound, mushing his lips to the corner of yours. You felt lightheaded at how smooth and rich your name sounded coming off his tongue. "For giving me the chance to ask you out."

You hummed contently, smiling. "You're welcome."

He chuckled. "Movie date. My place. Sound good?"

"Wow, so forward. And we just started dating and everything." Your sarcastic tone had him smugly smirking as he spun you two around, cherishing your laughter at his action.

"I can't help it. Just you and me … nestled together … binging and snacking to our hearts content …. now that's my kind of heaven. And I don't plan on letting you go anytime soon." The covetous manner he voiced in your ear before tugging in your lobe had your mind racing on what it could insure for you, to both your excitement and nervousness.

Your surprised squeal and his dark chuckles were the last sounds heard in the vicinity before Gojo warped you two away yet again.

You, the admirer, just became the admired.

By the most selfish, gluttonous, overwhelming man there ever is.

But he's also yours now.

And honestly?

You wouldn't have it any other way.

#gojo satoru #jjk #jjk gojo #jujutsu kaisen #jjk fanfiction #jjk fanfic #gojo sensei #yuji itadori #megumi fushiguro #nobara kugisaki #toge inumaki #maki zenin #panda #kento nanami #gojo satoru x reader #gojo x reader #gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru x y/n #gojo satoru x female reader #jujutsu gojo #satoru gojō x reader #jujutsu kaisen satoru #jjk satoru #jjk first years #jjk second years #jujutsu kaisen au #jujutsu kaisen gojo #jjk au #jjk anime #sfw

[totally-not-a-tickle-blog]

Hi can I infodump about Roy and my interpretation w/ him when it comes to coping mechanism regards sexual abuse to you?

Click here to allow me 👇 (long text)

.

To be honest I don't think he'll leave the more ""stereotypical"" type of victim bubble since 1- He's not a big focus in the show and 2- It's quite complicated and I don't know if Sr Pelo and the team would go that deep, but I like to overanalyze things. With that being said:

It feels off for me when he's shown as easily affected whenever his uncle is mentioned. I personally don't see it as HIM.

It's vague and anyone can see it whatever they like, it's 100% fine, but Roy is just... stubborn and ignorant. Those are two of his biggest traits and it's impossible for it not to affect how he deals with that trauma; he already has to deal with arrogant parents (mostly mother), not being himself even if he wants to (what pretty much hurts his natural ego), so being aware that even ANOTHER member of your family took advantage of you in even worst ways is basically a shot straight to the head. He's fighting something already and he'll definitely be in denial with a second one, not to mention that if people actually began to act all "soft" after finding that out IT'D MAKE THINGS WORSE.

It's literally the same as going to someone who wants to be seen as superior and mock him by treating them like a baby. It'll just make him try harder and harder to be taken seriously, including trying to ignore the trauma more and more.

And to be honest, even if he told his parents he'd stay in denial. Carmen and Richard are questionable parents but they're not monsters like some people think they are, they'd offer help and ask him what they want and need to know, but it changes nothing on how they treated him before nor his personality will suddenly change. I also have a lot to talk about his relationship with his parents, but that's for another one if I feel like it.

Now coming back to the beginning, when I mention that he doesn't get triggered when his uncle is the topic, I see it like that because his mind couldn't properly see the uncle as an enemy. He knows that what happened is wrong and that he's an asshole, but I'm talking about something more personal. A poor example for the sensation itself: You eat in a restaurant, and weeks later you find out that the waiter spit in your food. Will you come back? No. Are you also full MAD at him? Also no. You got angry in the first moments, sometimes still do, but you didn't even saw anything wrong with your food back then. You recognized it, but your brain didn't.

Now, when it's the sexual abuse itself, it affects him way more mostly because it makes him feel stupid, paranoid and dare I say disgusted maybe. I admit, that part is mostly me projecting, but it still makes sense in a way. It's more of a internal change instead of an external one (are those the right words?), since the consequences isn't as obvious and explicit if you did recognized the scene as a trauma at the time. You may not be against physical touch, but you may struggle interacting nicely afraid that you'll mess up again. I hope I didn't messed up on that part, or any at all--

ALRIGHT, briefly, Roy don't want sympathy, but he needs empathy, just like his friends are doing. They know what Roy goes through and still won't let him do whatever he wants, don't try babysitting him nor desperately tries to search for help right away like that. He's focused on his parents and can't handle even more trauma right now, and if he does start to try helping himself it'll be when he's older and don't have as much ego as he does now.

Ty for reading and I am SO SO sorry if I said anything shitty, sexual abuse is a topic that I always had some sort of interest on (studying and talking about), so I tend to think about it a lot specially when a hyperfixation is included.

EDIT: Just wanted to add that Roy's anger issues are also a nice response to everything I just said (nice in a "it connects" way, not good), someone as low-tempered as himself wouldn't be able to handle with the pressure of "You need to vent" without "exploding", thinking that his abuse consequently made him weaker and less worth of respect; "That shit just makes everything worse, so it's easier if I just ignore it!"

#I have so many things about him that I wanna talk about but idk if anyone would care #spooky month #spooky month roy #sm roy #S/A #sexualabuse #infodump

[addictedtostorytelling]

Still loving the newest addition to the Happy Accidents series & your last chapter got me thinking about a potential scene I would love to hear from your perspective (or maybe you’ve already written it & I’ve just got to be patient…)

In the last chapter you mentioned Sara’s PTSD & Grissom was so sweet. Particularly this part “She knows why he is worried: Over the years, he has learned to associate nerviness in her with periods when her mental health is poor. She isn’t usually quick to startle, but during the times when her PTSD is bad—around anniversaries—she can be. She gets so in her own head that anything happening outside has the potential to shock.”

It got me thinking about how in this alternate universe, Sara would be about 6-7 months pregnant when the anniversary of her abduction came & I would love to read her thoughts on that & how Grissom helps her deal with it. Does it cause her to reflect on how different her life looks now than a year ago? Does she think about all the reasons she didn’t give up in the desert? Does she feel the baby kick & is brought out of her thoughts, grateful for how her life looks?

And if you’ve already written a scene like this…I’ll sit over here (im)patiently waiting.

hi, @chelsshearman!

good to hear from you again! i'm so glad to know you're enjoying the story so far.

i've taken a while to come up with an answer to your (very thoughtful) question, and though i can't show any prose from that part of the story just yet without revealing some major accidentsverse spoilers, i can offer you a more pared down answer after the "keep reading," if you're interested.

note: in order to avoid major accidentsverse spoilers, i purposefully use ambiguous language surrounding sara's pregnancy in this answer.

__

sara knows from experience: trauma doesn't adhere to a strict calendar.

sometimes exact anniversaries are bad, but other times the days and weeks surrounding are when the cptsd symptoms really hit.

november has historically been a crapshoot for her, any day—not just the exact anniversary of her father's murder—liable to be a bad one, the whole month something of a slog.

though she is hopeful: now that her wedding anniversary falls mid-month, maybe she'll have better associations going forward.

she is well-aware of this temporal idiosyncrasy in her brain, and so is her therapist, which is why he starts counseling with her in mid-april about what to anticipate come may, for what will be the first anniversary of her abduction by natalie davis.

admittedly, she is, at this point, distracted. not only is there a lot going on in her life pregnancy-wise, but things are busier than ever at work. by now, she is no longer in the field and has instead become the de facto "point person" for her teammates at the lab, which, contrary to what she had expected, has somehow upped her caseload. still, she tries her best to complete her therapy assignments with what few spare hours she has. is diligent about going in for sessions. practices all of the self-care techniques her therapist recommends. stays on top of taking her meds. makes sure to look after herself as well as she can.

—and especially because grissom is so obviously worried about her.

not only does he admit as much outright, sans prompting, but he also is so careful with her. he had already been wonderfully attentive, but now she hardly even has to think she might want something before he appears to offer it. she swears to god: the man is telepathic. also, far too sweet.

thankfully, as the calendar turns over into may, there are some fun, new pregnancy developments to help to take her mind off the impending anniversary: grissom is finally able to feel kicking. (for a long time, she had felt fetal movements internally, but they hadn't been detectable in any external way.) also, a first instance of fetal hiccups, which is just about the weirdest, coolest sensation she has ever experienced.

that said, about two weeks before the big anniversary™, she does start experiencing some "trauma residuals" from her abduction. she's not having flashbacks or nightmares or full-on panic attacks, per se; she just feels off. spacey. emotionally unbalanced. like everything in her head has just been shifted two inches to the left of where it should be.

she keeps expecting to have some kind of big breakdown at some point, but the catharsis doesn't ever come.

and, honestly, the lack of punctuation is what bothers her more than anything.

she confides in grissom: she's scared. she tried to get out ahead of her trauma by "doing all the right things," but she is still being affected, not in any obvious, dramatic way but enough so that her trauma is inarguably impacting her behavior. coworkers keep asking her if she’s okay. looking like they don’t fully believe her when she says she is. she can’t help but be concerned: what if the same thing happens a few years on from now? the last thing in the world she would ever want to do to her child(ren) is make them feel like mommy's sad or upset for no reason.

so she and grissom talk the issue through: they both agree that trauma is a fickle thing—particularly as trauma reactions can't always be pinned down to one day or easily predicted in terms of how they'll manifest. show great variance in intensity, duration, form, etc. also can't be totally prevented, even if one tries to account for them as much as possible. chances are, she will be dealing with after effects—from her childhood, from her abduction—for the rest of her life.

sara explains: logically, she knows all of these things. but she still doesn't want their child(ren) to suffer for having a traumatized parent. she has experience that way with her own mother. remembers how helpless she felt when she was little, watching her mother struggle; how much she internalized her mother's sadness and anger. though as an adult, she (mostly) knows better now, back then, she wondered if she caused or exacerbated her mother’s misery and questioned why she wasn't enough to make her mother happier.

here, grissom digs in: "and did your mother ever answer those questions for you?"

her silence tells him no.

grissom offers his postulate: the truth might have helped—not by making sara’s mother “magically better” but by allowing sara, even as a child, to contextualize the situation and understand her mother's mental health conditions existed independent of anything having to do with her. just hearing, in no uncertain terms, that her mother wasn’t sad for any reason having to do with her may have alleviated some of her misplaced guilt.

sara agrees: they should be honest with their child(ren) and explain things at a level they can understand.

but she still worries: it will be a long time yet before they can have those kinds of honest conversations. what will happen in the meanwhile? babies pick up on their caretakers' cues and moods, after all. she doesn’t want to do damage by exuding sadness or fear in their child(ren)’s presence.

grissom reassures her: in all the time they've been together, even during periods when her mental health has been at its poorest ("even in november"), he has always felt loved by and safe with her. he has not been oblivious to her sadness and fear. but he also has never felt that those reactions in her negated her affections. he suspects their child(ren) will feel the same.

still, she makes him promise: if she ever gets to the point where she can't be a good caretaker of their child(ren), he'll intervene. "that was part of the problem," she explains, "with my parents. no matter how miserable things got, no one said anything or did anything about it. no one asked for help. we all just sat there with it."

grissom agrees: they'll ask for help if they need it. offer help when they see it's needed, even if it hasn't been asked for. and neither one of them will give up.

the promise does make sara feel somewhat better.

—though, of course, it doesn’t fully alleviate her cptsd symptoms.

may proves to be a hard month, not only because of the trauma but for other reasons, too.

[insert major accidentsverse spoilers here]

but it also is not without happy moments—sometimes impossibly happy, like the first time they see a footprint, clearly discernible for what it is, show through the skin of her belly—and, most importantly, never without love.

she reflects: one year ago, she was alone in a desert, sure she was going to die. now, she is never alone, and she has never been surer of what she has to live for. lying in bed with grissom, his hand over the footprint protruding slightly below her navel, she feels a kind of peace she could never have imagined she would feel, just one year on from that day. she knows: what happened to her will stay with her for the rest of her life—will sometimes rear up in unaccountable ways—but it won’t be what defines her. won’t be the main throughline in her story. she’s writing that one herself, here, now. and she loves where her story is headed.   

thanks for the question! please feel welcome to send another any time.

#answered #chelsshearman #accidentsverse #csiverse #my fic #**

[kuiperror]

TELL ME ABOUT THE CHIPMUNKS LORE. pretty please.

1st thank you for indulging me (even tho i asked lol) 2nd.maybe dont open this unless you want to get blasted with useless information + unimportant yet dearly held opinions + offtopic addendums + true sincerity. i tried to hold back guys im sorry. hold onto your hats im getting fucking crazy in here

firstly ill summarize and say that my "version" of the story of aatc [1] is basically just an idealized version of the "lore" the 1960s version gave us (i say "lore" in quotations bc there was. none lol).

now a lot of my ideas concerning the "lore" of story are interconnected to my opinions about the actual application of aatc media in real life . for instance, the story is set, vaguely, around the late 1950s - early to mid 1960s, like the irl "run" of the original chipmunks records. i personally believe that, as a real media franchise, aatc really has no reason to exist within our modern world with the technology we have today [2] so aatc as a fictional story is affected similarly. along with that, when the story is played out in the context of 1960s america it creates a richer thematical experience as the themes are compounded and expanded on. [3] a lot of the themes that i consider Essencial to the story deal with acceptance of differences and familial love and questioning of ones own humanity and sense of belonging, both within oneself and within the family unit and within larger society, and conservative 1960s suburban america is just a rlly good backdrop to place all of that. so basically i believe in the Contextuality of 1960s aatc and i love to allude to those contexts within the story.

another thing about my version is that i allow it to be inconsistent both with itself or with real life, just cuz it doesn't really have to be. for instance, this story has a floating timeline and i consider the chipmunk's ages to range from 8 - 10 years old— theodore is 8, alvin is 9, simon is 10. (simon is the oldest in the 1960s era idc who says what, i will die on this hill) however at the same time i think it would make the most sense for them to come from the same litter, which would make them all the same age. so i consider the chipmunks to be different ages while also considering they were born at the same time. i do have an in-world resolution for this discrepancy [4] but you get what im saying: my version of events is a little fictional story for me and me only so inconsistencies like that can be brushed over . mainly so i don't think too deeply about the logistics of things (cuz i tend to do that to avoid any possible criticism cuz i am Afraid of flaw) . like i'll catch myself being like "but how does the development of a real 8yo match theodore's behavior? 🤨" and i have to tell myself "bro.. this is a fictional cartoon world ur literally talking about a talking chipmunk its Not That Serious it doesn't have to be that realistic dude" so i just say its my own little play place and i get to do what i want :)

my version of the backstory of the chipmunks is not really all there in terms of external and internal consistency, but it mostly resembles the 1980s series' backstory where dave finds the chipmunks on his doorstep. (see [4] for entire story) i think that the months after dave took them in were honestly a p dark period for the family. i don't imagine dave had good support system and i think the mental struggle of suddenly caring for 3 incredibly strange children all the while fearing societal reactions to them (which restricted him from getting the help he needed) [5] definitely aged him. ithink hes like, early 30s when the chipmunks arrive, late 30s when the timeline "starts floating"... not as young as most (?) fans/iterations interpret him to be. i think that, before "the chipmunk song" was created, dave had raised the chipmunks for like.. 3-5ish years. what i'm saying is that dave definitely took in the chipmunks out of the kindness of his own heart and not cuz he wanted to capitalize on their singing prowess (aHEM looking at a certain movie 🤨)

also, i like to accentuate the animal-ness of the boys by taking real world information about chipmunks and applying it to them :) in general its a little bit of a pet peeve of mine when ppl just completely disregard the animal part of funny animal characters... esp with alvin and the chipmunks bc thats like. Their Whole Thing . they are chipmunks ? why do you just ignore that 😭

now i have talked a LOT about angsty stuff but i do want to make it clear that legit all this stuff is the subtext and background for interactions shown within the 1960s chipmunk media. the chipmunks are still happy kids who have fun and goof around and piss off david !! its just that they have fears and their own Issues like any real person.

so yeah! thats my chipmunk lore!! ^^ i have a whole document about my version so im definitely. fucking insane about the chipmunks. if any other aatc fans are reading this please be nice to me 😦 i feel as though i am very much a weirdo in my sandbox all alone soo dont h8 me plz :)

and just to send it off with some silly lore here are some random headcanons for each character that i have taken straight from my lore document ^^

alvin: would 100% be a leash kid . just sayin (as a former leash kid myself)

alvin: takes after david musically— when he writes his own music and makes up little songs to himself it sounds very similar to the songs dave writes. alvin doesn't recognize this but dave definitely does :,)

alvin: insecure about his height and constantly reassures himself that he will have a growth spurt when hes older

simon: loves loves LOVEs non-conventional and instrumental music! especially those set in different modes

simon: astronaut kid he loves space and wants to b an astronaut . born at just the right time B)

simon: knows better than to follow along with alvin's troublemaking + rebelliousness, occasionally tries to push back, but often is just like. fuck it we ball and goes along with it, especially if its fun ^^

theodore: LOVES the technical aspect of music + the recording process . he will tell you all about the science behind how vinyl records work unprompted.

theodore: doesnt like to sing solos as much as his brothers do bc of past childhood asthma at age 3 and also because he can not stop himself from giggling when hes singing hes just so happy :)! (THIS ONE IS CANON 💥💥💥 SOURCE: UP ON THE HOUSETOP CHRISTMAS W THE CHIPMUNKS VOL 1 ‼️)

theodore: although he is the most naive of the bunch, he is not dumb . hes just a little kid who likes being silly !

dave: before taking the chipmunks in in his early 30s he was the world's most regular guy . wrote hits for other people, continues to do that occasionally into the boys's careers

dave: literally has a song for everything . he will do everything to a beat .

dave: embroiders and cross-stitches to regulate his anger + knows how to sew really well since he has 2 make all of the boys' clothes. (CANON ⁉️😍) also it was his decision to color-code and embroider their initials onto everything they wear lmfao

FOOTNOTES (color coded for your convenience!)

[1] - in this post i refer to the media franchise as "aatc" (alvin and the chipmunks) and refer to the actual trio of characters as "the chipmunks" to avoid confusion. i just want it to be said that i personally dont like to call the media franchise "alvin & the chipmunks" on account of the whole "uuu if alvins a chipmunk why is it called alvin & the chipmunks" joke, i personally prefer to call the franchise just "the chipmunks" as it is shorter and includes the 1960s era as for most of it the franchise went by several different iterations (if we lived in a perfect world the franchise would still be called "david seville and the chipmunks" . just saying)

[2] - back in the early 60s, combining pitch-shifted vocals and character-acting was an innovative technique that took real time, effort, knowledge and skill to achieve. but nowadays not only is the concept no longer fresh but literally anyone can create their own "chipmunk" vocals in a matter of minutes. the story & characters (also nostalgia) are really the only thing keeping the aatc franchise going, esp since that's what more modern iterations of aatc focus on rather than the actual music.

[3] - in the media outside of their albums (the alvin show & the dell comics, specifically) there is always an underlying theme of comparison between david and the boys and the 1960s concept of a nuclear american family. its not exactly an "Intentional" theme, it more or less comes with the (irl) time-period the original aatc media was created in. the seville household is, inherently, a subversion of the ideal of the "perfect family" that households were compared against and strived to be, even at the expense of their own comfort, ideals, safety, etc. this subversion can be played into for drama and angst in a richer, more plausible way than it would be if the story were set in a more modern time period, u know? but yeah i believe that, as a fictional story, aatc shouldn't be divorced from the context of the attitudes and values of what mainstream society thought a family should be in the 1960s.

[4] - essentially in my version of events, dave was given no information about the boys and he basically made up their ages. when david found them in his backyard, they were oversized chipmunks as large as your average cat. they all sort of acted like young human children, but they were a lot more... chipmunk than child. they could only babble— but the sounds were recognizable as human speech. dave was obviously freaked out and resolved to keep an eye on them whenever they were in his backyard. he really only resolved to take them in due to the fact that he could literally see them change throughout a single week. how i imagine the chipmunks' biology is that they are a mixture of human and chipmunk (not literally, mind you, more as a physiological, figurative thing) so they have the intelligence and development of a human while still doing certain things like undertaking hibernation, wanting to forage and stockpile and burrow, things like that. however their growth rate is incredibly fucked up, going from the actual size of a newborn baby chipmunk to the size of a human toddler within like, a year. with this rapid growth also comes more human-like intelligence. once they were actually living in his house, dave knew there was something human about them with these creatures so he couldn't just let them return to the wild, especially since they were becoming more and more dependent on him and more and more human-like as days passed... i definitely think there was a moment of pure clarity for dave where he realized like. wow, that's a child. these things are children. and they are relying on me to provide for them. they are absolutely attached to me by now. and i think i might actually be attached to them too. and thats when he decided to name them and truly care for them like any other human child. overtime the chipmunks slowed their growth rate and matched their developing rate with the same as an average human. the chipmunks don't remember much of their early childhood and nothing can really be disputed so davids word of what happened is gospel. And yeah thats their backstory basically. if you want more on dave's view point on the chipmunks and their fucked up growth process, you can read this post here :)

[5] - he overcame this, of course. he did not want the boys to think that he was ashamed of them. public school was a different story, however, and the boys were more-or-less in a state of homeschooling before the release of "the chipmunk song." knowing that most of their peers would actually look up to them rather than down upon them extremely reassured him.

#Dont look at me. #this is literally the most vulnerable i think i have ever been in my life. #please be kind i am obviously mentally ill 😭😭 #um im not tagging this one guys. sorry #i am VERY afraid. #i will be tagging personal however. because this is literally the most personal i could ever get. #personal

[clotpolesonly]

📖👀

Ronan accidentally dreams up a child version of Declan. it's completely unintentional, maybe manifesting some subconscious thing as the two of them struggle to mend their fractured relationship and Ronan tries to reconcile the parts of their childhood that he thought were true but is not realizing were not, etc etc. however it happens, they've now got a 6yo Declan clone on their hands.

and the series made clear that dreaming is not like most fantasy series magic systems. they go out of their way to establish that dream people are real people. so there's no getting rid of this kid, he's not an illusion or a spell that can be broken, he's real and he's here and he's permanent.

Declan hates everything about this. he doesn't like kids very much in general, but this kid in particular is........him. and it's a version of him that is young and stressed and sad and closed off but who isn't good at hiding it yet. a child who reminds him of all those emotions he refuses to admit he still has. he doesn't have any patience for his own emotions as an adult, he would have even less patience for them in this context.

it's Matthew who asks him "why are you so mean to yourself?"

nobody's ever really noticed that he's mean to himself as an adult -- all the shaming and berating happens inside his own head behind the blandly pleasant businesslike face, and he'd never admit to it if asked. now he's being forced to externalize all the internalized bullshit that comes with his eldest daughter syndrome and parentification.

"i'm not being mean, i'm just…………he needs to learn. life isn't fair and it'll be better for him if he understands that now. he's acting like a baby. he needs to grow up."

Matthew is so protective of this kid, right off the bat. both because that is his BROTHER, thank you very much, and he loves all his brothers, even the new spontaneously generated doppelganger ones, and also empathetically as another dream. he flat out refuses to allow Declan and Ronan to lie to bb!Declan about the situation like they did to him his entire life, even if explaining it in full to a 6yo proves challenging.

the first thing bb!Declan says after grasping you're a dream thing is "am i a secret?"

he doesn't quiiiite understand dreaming conceptually, it's complicated, but he does understand that dreams are things that no one talks about. dreams are dangerous. dreams get swept under the rug or sucked into that big vacuum bag to disappear forever or buried in the fields where no one will find them.

that might be the first moment that Ronan truly understands why Declan hates their dad.

Ronan's feelings on this clone are mixed. on the one hand, it's Declan, ew. on the other hand, Ronan actually does like kids, he's a SUCKER for kids. bb!Declan is alternately quiet/serious/well-behaved and visibly, obviously anxious/edgy/clingy. he starts out avoiding Ronan (once he understands that this is Ronan) because at 6yo he's lived with his brother's dreaming long enough to have developed a healthy wariness of the dangers of it, but grown up Ronan doesn't bring back dangerous things like he did as a kid, and it's not long before bb!Declan is firmly attached. grown up Ronan is fun and funny and more patient than grown up Declan is, by far.

(like with Mór, bb!Declan can always tell when his older self is getting tired of dealing with him, even when he's not angry. dad used to tell him that mommy wasn't mad at him, she just needed space. bb!Declan says this to Ronan, Declan goes white in the face, and this is how the younger Lynch brothers find out about Mór in this 'verse, cuz Aurora was never angry a day in her life, nor did she ever need space from her boys.)

(which would be worse for Declan? becoming his father or turning into his mother? both existentially horrifying concepts for him.)

the question remains of what to DO with this child. Declan tries desperately to think of some way to get rid of him, with Matthew getting increasingly angry that he would even consider that, while the Gangsey take turns babysitting.

Blue charges for her services cuz she knows Declan's good for it, lol. Gansey has absolutely no idea what to do with a child and falls back on dramatic retellings of Glendower, which bb!Declan eats up cuz they remind him of his dad's bedtime stories. Adam is trying really hard not to get too attached but bb!Declan is so inquisitive and asks him so many questions and LOVES that Adam gives him full unabridged answers and doesn't talk down to him. Ronan has decided that bb!Declan is fun, "when did you stop being fun, Decklo??" (he looks up to find that Declan has already fled the room -- seeing Ronan so openly fond of his younger self when he's long since given up on connecting with the normal version hurts way more than Declan is willing to admit to out loud.)

Declan is at wit's end. it's already been weeks, probably, and there's no solution in sight, and he's had people in his space non-stop the entire time, and taking care of an actual child is way more labor-intensive than looking after Matthew had been, and all this goes double if we have autistic flavored Declans 😂 they're both chronically overstimulated, their routines have been thoroughly disrupted, and their preferences and comfort foods and whatnot have changed over the years and no longer align.

it's a goddamn mess and at some point, Declan just leaves. he gets in the car and disappears for like 3 days without warning. it's very uncharacteristic of him, Matthew is freaking out, Blue's threatening (concernedly) to charge him double for the last minute babysitting, even Ronan is texting him. but he comes back eventually, slightly more settled. he cuts all the tags out of bb!Declan's shirts. he buys the brand of crackers he remembers liking at that age even though he doesn't like them anymore. he makes a conscious deliberate effort (so, so difficult) to remember that this is an innocent child, he is not at fault for experiencing emotions, he deserves to be treated gently."

it's better, for a few days. but his -- their -- birthday is coming up, Declan turning 20 and bb!Declan turning 7, and it hits Declan all at once that this truly isn't going away. that there's no way out of this, there's no magic fix, there's no escape. that he's going to be responsible for this child for another 11 years.

that's when Ronan finds Declan on the floor in his own closet, head between his knees, struggling to breathe because he can't DO this. keeping track of Ronan and Matthew until they reached majority was one thing, and he's been white-knuckling his way through it as best he can, but he cannot be responsible for raising any child, much less him-fucking-SELF. he was supposed to be free in another year when Matthew turned 18, he was supposed to go to college, he was supposed to have a life, he was supposed to finally get the chance to exist as his own person, and what now? what now?

and Ronan, witnessing this, has his own (surprising to everyone except maybe Adam) revelation. that he's not planning on college. he's not career-oriented. he's independently wealthy, he's settled and (more or less) stable, and he likes kids way more than Declan ever has. hell, he's already got one, weird feral little creature that she is.

before he even realizes it, Ronan is making the offer. he'll take bb!Declan. as long as Declan promises to have some kind of relationship with the kid and not just fuck off forever, Ronan will raise him at the Barns, claim him as some illegitimate half-brother they just found out about, dream up a paper trail for him. it's not perfect, but no solution was ever going to be in this situation, and really it should be his responsibility, shouldn't it? since he was the one to dream the kid in the first place?

he sort of expects Adam to run for the hills upon announcing this, especially because he made the decision without consulting him first, but Adam is more resigned than surprised. he'd seen this coming from a mile away. he's not overly thrilled at the idea of being a co-parent of two by the age of 18, but this is what he gets for falling in love with such a big-hearted Lynch, so.

it works, honestly. it's weird and it's messy and there's plenty of bumps in the road, but bb!Declan thrives at the Barns when there are no secrets to keep. when his guardian is present and makes no demands of him except chores. he comes out of his shell bit by bit, and he's happy, enthusiastic and curious and effusively loving, and Ronan fucking adores that kid, even if it is Declan in miniature.

and Declan himself gets to go to school, he gets to disentangle himself from the responsibility of his family enough that he can fucking breathe for the first time in his life, and he comes to terms (painfully, but necessarily) with the fact that this new version of him is going to get the childhood that he didn't. he's going to be loved and safeguarded and allowed to be a fucking kid.

weird as it is, there's healing in that.

.

send me a book emoji for the plot of a fic that i haven't written but daydream about!!

#and the answer is #Anonymous #sorry this took forever lmao #i have so many thoughts and feelings ok #Declan Lynch #kid!Declan #Ronan Lynch #TRC #fics by me #in a manner of speaking lol

[secondtolastrow]

Okay so, as we all know, aged up!Jon has no soul.

Or, well, he lost his personality and now mimics his dad to a somewhat creepy degree while also preaching very boring moderate liberal politics. Same difference.

The process of Jon’s aging up is, it’s worth noting, one in which he spends the vast majority of his teenage years either in solitary confinement in a fucking volcano with irregular visits from an evil version of his dad or homeless and on the run in a dystopian hellscape from an evil version of his dad. AKA, a major trauma. Not that that’s been discussed at any point.

Discussing it, in fact, would provide an easy jumping off point to give Jon his personality back. He hasn’t talked to people in nearly a decade or had the normal adolescent experiences of developing a moral code, much less those of an adolescent superhero. He needs to rediscover himself

Damian is, it just so happens, kind of in a similar place, and someone who we’ve seen push Jon’s growth in the past. (Damian’s place is, unfortunately, repeating yet again the question of how he feels about murder. Robin (2021) has kind of ignored that the arc leading up to it had Damian go full murder, but the truth is his feelings on the subject are currently pretty undefined. Also, he’s a teenager! Which is when you figure out how to be who you’re going to be!)

So, a Supersons pitch:

Jay challenges Jon to tell him who he is and what he stands for, small and big. Whether that’s by breaking up with him for being a non-person, gently prodding him, or anywhere in between, it sparks the realization that Jon is actually kinda fucked up.

Who does he go to? His best friend, of course.

Damian basically goes “You’re Jonathan Kent, you know who you are, fuck off.” (Jon, being able to speak Damian, finds this immensely comforting.) But it strikes a chord in him too, especially as Jon talks about how he feels like he knows how to be his parents more than himself. Who is Damian, after all, if not his parents’ son?

Enter the villain: shapeshifting alien invaders

Jon—having been dealing with immigration issues with Jay, and being an alien himself—goes for a plan of communication: what do they want and how can we talk them down. Damian is like “are you sure because I can totally just kill them. Which is probably safer”

Jon straight up doubts himself. We get an Ultraman flashback. Exactly what Jon doesn’t want to be.

He goes in, and tells them to do this peacefully or he’ll kill them. Smiley face emoji.

End round one: no one knows how they feel about murder and the threat of force, and no one is necessarily a good person or a healthy one. Also, Jon’s a space diplomat and Damian’s kind of his wet works guy

So he gets a reputation as “the guy from krypton”—and, ofc, eventually has to correct that he’s the guy from earth, thanks, and starts getting called in to deal with these disputes and bringing Damian along

While Jon is the one moving them externally, Damian pushes their internal conflicts—he challenges Jon, from his plans to his pet peeves to his white lies about being okay, and he sets Jon up to challenge him in return. Eventually, the major turning point is Jon being forced to choose whether or not to kill someone himself, and being unable to

He’s a coward who’d let Damian do it even when he can’t, he says, and Damian forces him to take the stand that he won’t let Damian do this, not just because he’s better than that but because it’s wrong

Idk I just think a Supersons book about teenagers with too much power and too much trauma going and hauling themselves out of a pit of good intentions and bad morality would be fun, and it would fix some of the stuff going on with them rn how about you

#damian wayne #jon kent #dc comics #supersons #original nonsense #robin v #superboy ii

[pacifymebby]

+ I like how the majority of the fandom seem to have completely forgotten the undisclosed health issue that Sam has, that put him on benefits and the at-risk list for COVID (I don't know what it is, but even if I knew where to look I wouldn't, until he talks about it himself). I don't know, but it's very likely that it factors in to his bruising vocal cords so easily, even with all the careful planning they do, AND him being on steroids for his voice, too, apparently? Sure, it's just him being irresponsible and in need of a different vocal coach 🙄

I don't think all those fans realise the pressure that he's under, both externally and internally. The label can't be very happy with their golden goose "misbehaving", he's got all this momentum going! Why does he have to go and be human instead of seizing it! I also think he is very hard on himself, himself. He's got ambition sure, but I think he takes on way too much responsibility - for his boys, for his family, for the whole freaking NEWCASTLE!.. That can't be healthy. And his body knows it. He should listen to it more. What a relief that he has a supportive and understanding fanbase that has his back and will never treat him like a Sims character, huh?..

Ahhhh anon I love you for this, like it's brutal but you're talking absolute truth here.

Like we shouldn't ask and don't have the right to question the health issue it's none of our business and it's his own private thing. Everyone has the right to privacy and legally within a normal job you have the right to not have your health issues told to everyone so we should uphold those same values in the fanbase.

I think that's it, Sam talks about mental health struggles, he sings about mental health struggles, we know he gets really anxious, we know he puts too much pressure on himself and none of that's conducive to good health for anyone but for someone who has a health condition too like, it does have an impact and blaming the individual for being "irresponsible" is just so so shitty.

Like I just really feel for him because he obviously has so so much to deal with, and he's obviously the kind of person who feels stuff quite intensely and takes a lot of things to heart and he must feel awful about having to rest and cancel shows, he probably gets so angry with himself (especially because of that general thing most working class British men have of feeling like they have to provide for everyone and be the strong healthy one) (like most men of a certain class will never admit they're sick idk) and I think it sucks when the people who are supposed to support you are getting shitty with you and accusing you of not caring about the fans and stuff, or of letting people down and fucking people over. It's just so, idk you're talking about a real person with real feelings that's already down. Stop kickin the lad when he's down.

But yeah thank you for sending this cause you've articulated it wonderfully haha.

#sam fender

[crossdressingdeath]

ask game time, questions for your boy: 13, 21, 43, 48 -@veilkeeper

(Tav asks!)

13. How does your Tav fight in a combat situation? Extremely flashily. Lots of unnecessary flourishes and dramatic movements. He puts on a show every time he fights, both because he loves to show off and because people tend to underestimate someone who fights like they're constantly waiting for applause. But Kyvir was an assassin long before he was a bard; he much prefers the bard side of things, but the assassin training holds true at the core of him. Under his flourishes and acrobatics, every blow is aimed to inflict maximum damage. Unless he's toying with his prey, which he often is! But even then he knows what he wants to do with his prey and his attacks under all the flashiness go exactly where he wants them to.

21. If you’re romancing anyone, who fell first and who fell harder? Oh, that's a tricky one. I think Kyvir falls harder with all three of his lovers (Gortash counts), just because he's so desperate for love and affection after so long without any that once he admits to himself that he has fallen for them it tends to hit him like a truck and not let up. In terms of timing... Astarion I'm not entirely clear on yet; I know that Kyvir first admits to himself (and Sceleritas) that he's in love with Astarion during the attempted murder incident after failing to kill Isobel, but I don't know whether that would be before Astarion falls for him or not. They might actually have fallen for each other at around the same time. Halsin definitely fell for Kyvir first; Kyvir was attracted to Halsin basically from the start, but it took a while for that to turn to romantic feelings. With Gortash Kyvir definitely fell first. He hated himself for it and spent a lot of time beating himself up internally (and occasionally externally) for being so weak and desperate that he'd betray his Father by falling for a Banite the moment they give him a shred of affection, but he just couldn't help it. Gortash never realized that Kyvir fell before he did, and Kyvir is very grateful for that.

43. What does your Tav smell like?  Pre-amnesia vanilla and rosewood, post-amnesia... well he is living in the woods, so pretty much whatever soap the group manages to scrounge up. In both cases also a hint of blood that most people don't notice unless they expect it to be there (unless he hasn't had the chance to wash since the last slaughter, in which case it's obviously much stronger, but he does make an effort to keep himself as clean as possible), and his fingers often smell faintly of rosin.

48. Where does your Tav feel most at home? When he first arrived in Baldur's Gate it was the Elfsong; he spent a great deal of time there scoping out prey, and once he started working as a bard he also played there a lot. Later obviously it was Gortash's place, where he spent huge amounts of time; initially for planning purposes, then for "planning purposes", then openly because he liked being around Gortash. During the course of the game, though, it's really just wherever the party makes camp. This is where his friends are, so of course it's home.

#bg3 #kyvir #ask games #asks #veilkeeper

[ewingstan]

FWIW, I think the lack of a supporting cast was a VERY common complaint with Pact while I was running. To the point where I think the whole reason Sy is so attached to the Lambs was to go in the exact other direction.

If that was the goal, then mission accomplished, because comparing Twig to Pact is what led me to make that post in the first place. I've found the relationship between Sy and each of the Lambs is the best part of Twig so far, and that's speaking as someone whose already gushed about the worldbuilding. I'm currently on 7.6, not even close to the halfway point, and the way his relationship with each of his teammates has evolved over time has already captivated me.

(spoilers below the cut)

And those relationships do help contextualize things about Sy in ways I thought were missing for Blake. I already mentioned how Gordon playing the straight man and questioning some of Sylvester's wilder plans helps get across just how wild they actually are. Helen’s whole deal gives us a baseline for monstrous little bioweapons that is useful for plotting Sy against. His relationship with Lillian humanizes him even while giving him a chance to be a puckish little bastard; his constant jumps between externally ridiculing her and internally praising her (to the point of giving her more credit than the rest of the team usually does) does a great job of showing how he genuinely admires people he thinks are excellent at what they do, despite all his contrary behavior. His obvious affection towards Mary coupled with his almost obsessive analysis of her behavior and manipulative attempts to keep her happy within the group do a lot to show how much he longs to be with people like him, and how desperate he is to keep the ones he already has around (which sets the stage well for his eventual anxiousness and unhinged behavior when the group cohesion starts teetering). And it works especially well when compared to how little he engineers his behavior around Jamie, impressing upon us how Sy sees him as a safe person to let down his walls to and confide in even before it becomes explicit in arc 6.

And while I’m not especially pleased about Jamie getting killed off pretty much immediately after coming out to Sy, you know what? It did really work for me as a genuine tragic element because of how invested I was in their friendship. I was mourning the fact that they never got a chance to patch up the awkwardness, that things were left in a horrible middle ground of anger and guilt that they never got to unpack together. Its one of the few times something going unexplored felt like a masterful choice, rather than a missed opportunity. Still not the best trope to fall into though.

#twig #wildbow #otherverse #pact #sylvester lambsbridge #leo says #leo answers #leo reads twig #yeah i'm aware that developments with Jamie are prolly gonna change soon #still wasn't thrilled about him getting super-hell'd