#this is muddled up I really need to clear up the timelines

[maggot-monger]

creepy gabriel appreciation* time let's go. i think a lot about zachariah and gabriel being similar to each other but i don't really have any posts about it, so. gach communication style comparison post.

("appreciation" is NOT a word mean sarcastically. i love these characters so much and i am very sympathetic to both of them)

zachariah and gabriel both have a penchant for show-don't-tell (or show-first-then-explain) lesson-teaching. they both try to convey their messages by coming up with little scenarios to throw their targets/victims into to try to convince them of something. zachariah plonked sam and dean into an office au to try to persuade them of the immutability of their identities as hunters; gabriel threw them into a time loop to try to persuade sam that he can't change dean's deal. zachariah put dean into endverse to try to get him to say yes to michael; gabriel put sam and dean into a series of tv shows to get them both to stop fighting their status as true vessels. they both love to fuck with reality; they're both creative; they both seem to believe in the power of demonstration (in addition to explanation) as a persuasion tool.

but. i contend that gabriel's scenarios are a lot meaner than zachariah's.

in it's a terrible life, zachariah gives sam and dean a scary situation, but it's a situation they're equipped to handle, and that they have fun with. they don't remember who they used to be, so they're stressing about what to do going forward, not about the context. in the end, zachariah makes it clear that dean is going to visit 2014 specifically to learn a lesson, that there is a specific three-day timeline — it will not go on indefinitely. these are both brutal situations, they would both be horrifying to live through, but they have clear messages, and, for what they are, they aren't really harsher than they need to be. zachariah is creative, but he doesn't seem to be having more fun than is professionally appropriate; he isn't dragging it out; he's choosing painful teaching methods that allow him to play around more than is probably necessary but he doesn't seem to be dragging it out just for the love of the game. he's doing scare-tactic PSAs that have to fit into 30 second advertising slots, basically. (i acknowledge that zachariah also does physical torture but that's a different sort of thing and not what i am talking about rn)

gabriel does not show the same courtesies that zachariah does. gabriel does not provide context, nor does he provide any kind of identity-warping or memory-fuckery to soften the blow. with gabriel, you just experience whatever horrors he sees fit to inflict, and you get to stumble around trying to figure out what the message is — if there even is one — until you learn it or he gets tired of messing with you. he doesn't stick to timelines; his "lessons" go for as long as they go — for all sam knew, the mystery spot situation was over months and months before it was actually over. gabriel's messages, once he communicates them, are also a lot harder to make sense of than zachariah's: the lesson from mystery spot, "play your role," is pretty clear, but it's muddled by how annoyed gabriel seems to be about that being his message, and how conflicted gabriel himself obviously is about playing his own role. the lesson from mystery spot, that sam needs to learn to let dean go, is also pretty clear eventually, but it’s confusing because it’s ostensibly delivered by a pagan god who has no obvious reason to care one way or another about how well sam copes with his brother’s inevitable death (it gets a little clearer in retrospect, but it’s still bizarre). and then on top of all that, gabriel seems to be having a lot more fun with his tricks than zachariah is with his scenarios, delighting in his own cleverness and seeming to find it funny when his target/victims get rattled. it comes across as a game, whereas zachariah’s work comes across as a job. 

and that’s because gabriel is doing everything he’s doing he wants to, whereas zachariah really is doing it because it is his job. zachariah has a prime directive and he has a timeline — and he’s also an angel still hooked into heaven. he’s a cog in the machine; he’s doing what he’s supposed to do; he can enjoy his work but it is to be enjoyed in the service of the greater Plan. gabriel though…gabriel isn’t hooked in anymore. gabriel is, at face value, free. he still is affected by what heaven does, but he’s not one of its agents anymore, so he can do what he wants: no preset goals, no restrictions. and he wants to do is to be cruel in a way that mirrors but is way more indulgent than how most angels are cruel, and he wants to teach heaven’s lessons despite not being on the metaphorical payroll anymore, and he doesn’t want to be to-the-point it about it. (i wonder how much of the lack of clarity of gabriel’s lessons comes from his own uncertainty about what is right and his own experiences of lessons being ambiguous, vs just because he’s having fun being mean.) 

the other thing that makes gabriel scary in this comparison is that gabriel’s involvement is a lot more emotional than zachariah’s. zachariah gets annoyed, but for a long time he stays professional. gabriel, though, tends to flip from having fun to being obviously very angry. he’s much more personally invested, and he’s a lot more emotionally expressive — and because of this and the internal conflict underlying his lessons, he comes across as a lot more volatile. i would much much rather be subjected to one of zachariah’s lessons than one of gabriel’s, partly because it would probably be clearer and wouldn’t last as long, but mostly because i would understand how to interact with him. i would know what he wanted, and i would know he would be pretty sensible about my questions and concerns, because he’s a guy doing his prestigious job. gabriel though…gabriel is an entity with astonishing reality-warping powers who doesn’t make it clear what he wants, who seems to take pleasure in playing cruel pranks, and who is very invested and upset about things i would have no context for at all, in ways he seems conflicted with himself about, and so i therefore would have no way of knowing how to avoid upsetting him more. 

and i think that’s really interesting! that even an angel who isn’t strictly an angel anymore can’t really help but do heaven’s work for it. gabriel is a guy with a skillset that was very valuable at the place he used to work, but he hated the working conditions so he quit, and then wasn’t sure what to do so just kept using those skills but more, and then was mad about it that he couldn’t come up with anything different to do. still defined by his old job because he was a great fit for it, even though he wants to distance himself from that job. it’s probably even dangerous for gabriel to involve himself with sam and dean repeatedly and so pointedly, because he’s supposed to be in hiding and they’re pretty prominently on heaven’s radar — but he can’t help himself, and so he takes it out on them. he’s a great example of angels being capable of enjoying things, but not being great at figuring out how to want things that they haven’t been told to want. it fits in nicely with raphael’s statement in 5.03 “whatever we want, we get” — but what raphael wants is to do what raphael is supposed to want, to follow the plan, because that will lead to paradise. 

#this is part one in what might or might not end up being a three-post creepy gabriel series #we'll see if i can be bothered to write the ones on anna&humanity and lucifer&consent though #spn thots #gabriel #zachariah #meta #long post

[jacquesthepigeon]

Hey it's me the not-anon Mary sue(in case folks care I don't post anon)

To agress your response first(trying to clarify my point)

Marinette doesn't face consequences, she gets punished.(I ended up using a mega-kuma example latwr too)

A made up example: Say Marinette is nervous about talking to Luka so she uses the snake to reset time repeatedly, checking each of his responses until she finds the right words to get the response she wants.

What the show would not do is have Luka discover her use and get mad that she was manipulating hom, not allowing him a response to her 'true' self's first thoughts.

What it would do is have Su-Han who had never appeared before show up, explain he had tracked her use of the snake and how her use of the snake at this exact moment had caused a celestial conjunction that released a demon which has possessed Adrien and all her friends.

Like one of these things is interesting, narrative, and connected. The other is just abuse.

As for the Fu/Queen thing:

I misspoke about his Identity. I meant location.

The timeline is: Love Eater shows up, Mari confronts it sans Cat Noir. Her Lucky charm is: goto Fu.

On the way to Fu she sees Adrien and Kagami cozey and is distracted. Instead of her usual routine of sneak somewhere and detransform then go see Fu she just heads right to him. Thus giving him away. (Yes Mayura was following her but I feel it is safe to think a Marinette with her head in the game would slip Mayura just as part of her usual care)

Then she reaches for the Bee and think of Chloé. This also fits Ladybug's MO of having people help their family. It lines up perfectly, but then she instead grabs the dragon and we see her literally yoink Kagami away from Adrien by yo-yo (which was admittedly funny)

None of this is calling Mari a bad person, just a person. It's totally fair storytelling. It just gets bottled up with happy Fu and Always Evil Chloé instead of being addressed.

As for the Guardianship. Two points:

1)Consequences need to be contemporary in a narrative. The Narrative hit the end of the sentence with the end of the season finalé. further complications 'later' don't always track back.

2)The Good/Bad of the changeover is muddled anyway. You could argue she would have lost several episodes of S4 without being the Guardian. I don't really want to dissect that, it just isn't a good barometer.

The mega-Kuma is an example of punishment vs consequences.

Consequences would have been Marianne blaming Ladybug(justified or not) or having to admit to Chloé that even though siding with Hawkmoth was wrong, she had made mistakes too in not addressing Chloé clear misunderstanding better(as a hero)

Punishment is Hawkmoth gaining new powers, none of which were forseeable/clear products of her choices.

The discussion is interesting and all but can y’all make throwaway accounts and talk directly to each other?

[chillin-at-partys-bar]

Are you happy with how your favorite canon muse was portrayed in canon?

How far do go with divergencies when it comes to your canon muse?

Questions for Mun

Are you happy with how your favorite canon muse was portrayed in canon?

Okay. So I have my two faves. Shanks: Yes- I think he's great. The only notes is I need more of him please and thank you.

Jessie - Can y'all let this woman breathe for a second? I find the big problem here is that they needed to make villains for a show that weren't too scary, but were also a little bit of a threat. They also needed characters to be a part of all the weird things in the pokemon world. So what they got was Team Rocket where they just unloaded all their baggage and called it character development.

What that leads to is a muddled mess of history and characters with truly traumatic pasts that are played as jokes and then we're supposed to laugh at them. Like wtf? Jessie grew up in poverty and had all her dreams crushed and like, from her perspective Santa stole her doll. Her only doll. He was going to fix it but all of that was traumatizing for a kid who ate snow in the shape of other foods.

I hate how she, and James, are treated as jokes and when they need someone to betray someone they just go to Jessie to do it and that feels wrong. She wouldn't betray James, she's got one friend and he's it.

I can go on a very long rant about how Jessie deserves better but no one here's prepared for that.

... Unless you are.

How far do go with divergencies when it comes to your canon muse?

I tend to diverge just enough to flesh out their pasts. Aside from what I mentioned with Jessie I tend to be okay with how they're handled, and I think it's fine writing them along with the plot of the story. I don't really like changing things unless I see a desperate need to do so.

I do fix Jessie's timeline though in her past. It's a mess. Shanks' past I change a little bit and I'm not entirely sold on having Uta on the ship. I play Shanks as him remembering how hard it was being a child on a pirate ship, and that's why he doesn't let Luffy sail with them. A pirate ship is terrifying, and it screwed his entire life over by making him a wanted man before he knew what it meant to be wanted. So I have trouble buying that he'd raise a child on his ship. Especially with how reckless and rough they are - like going after the gomu gomu no mi despite the clear danger.

Guess I do diverge a lil bit.

#shiapolux #{answered} #((SHIA!!! HIIIIIII)) #((I MISS YOUUUU)) #{mun talks}

[initiumseries]

I agree that the timeline really muddled the development of relationships esp yenna and geralt bc their relationship kind of came out of nowhere? (from what i can remember) though imo they have good chemistry

also with yenna's obsession w having a child.. she was abused and helpless so i get why she chose to undergo the witch initiation process or whatever that was, bc it was her first taste of power and she got drunk on it. but doesn't her wanting a child despite it make sense? she's never satisfied she wants to have it all + she has absolutely no family.. i think they're setting her up to be ciri's mother figure now btw

but i get that its exhausting to see motherhood be the focal point of a female character's arc like give us smt fresh

So here's the thing, all those things you said: "she was abused and helpless so i get why she chose to undergo the witch initiation process or whatever that was, bc it was her first taste of power and she got drunk on it. but doesn't her wanting a child despite it make sense? she's never satisfied she wants to have it all + she has absolutely no family". That DOES make sense, that was not what they executed. Characters like her need clarity. And because we aren't seeing ANYTHING in order, it's impossible to track character motivations or relationships. Yennifer's motivations need to be CRYSTAL clear. Not left up to interpretation and head canon. If she wanted it all, then regret it, then we need to SEE that. We just see her blaming everyone else for her choices, which is strange because like I said, she didn't HAVE to make that choice. She knew what the consequences were ahead of time, it wasn't a surprise. On top of that, if she was power hungry, why does she suddenly now want a child? Is that an issue of, all this time has passed, she's experienced so much, and now all she wants to do is pass that on, and she can't? Then SAY that. Instead she's just the sullen barren witch and that's BORING. And like I said before, I'm no longer interested in Female Character 1 SL: she's barren and obsessed with not being able to have a child. Been there, done that, any new iteration of that is lazy and boring. What if, Yennefer just wanted a protege? And she couldn't find anyone even remotely worth her time until Ciri? THAT would be far more interesting to watch, a snarky, sarcastic, egotistical Yennifer who is quickly dismissive of incoming witches or whatever because she doesn't see them as good enough for her. Cool. I'd be more interested in that than Barren Woman Who Has Regrets #6,432. That's just me though. I don't remember her and geralt having any chemistry to speak of, and I think that's what added to my frustration. If the plot isn't linear, and we're walking into these already pre-established, off camera relationships, the chemistry MUST be UNDENIABLE, for me to look past it. Otherwise it's ANOTHER thing that pisses me off as a viewer. The show was just...it felt like amateur hour with a high budget and that's really annoying to watch, personally.

[pokeverse-amethyst]

“Okay, so, I have looked into the whole situation with the professors in Paldea, and ... there are some theories I am having.”

(This is gonna get crackpot-y. Be warned. Also, from Azure’s POV as a listener to multiversal ripples. But that is not nearly as important as the utter crackpottery that my brain is spitting out.)

“First, it is absolutely mindblowing how both Turo and Sada obsessed over the Paradoxes. I mean, fair game. Obsession with particular phenomena amongst Pokémon is kind of the norm with the professors. Though, on the other hand, I have not seen it spiral as hardcore as with these two. They styled themselves (or maybe just their AI replicas?) to vibe with the whole past / future aesthetic, they completely forgot about their son during this whole ordeal, and we still don’t know their ultimate fates. In one case.”

(Mun’s note: This will be from the point of view of Pokémon Violet, as this is the version I have played.)

“Let’s consider Sada for a hot minute. In this version, she was the one to abandon her son practically days after birth. Which, woof. That is a gut punch and a half. We still don’t know what happened to her, but I have my theories. Most of them centering around either still being holed up in an unknown part of Paldea, or. Or. She is as dead as the original Turo. Hard to tell. Or we have a GLADoS situation, which I will expand upon in a moment.”

“The entire incident of Research Station 4 is still a bit muddled. We know that the Time Machine spat out a Paradox mon, we know it went wild and attacked. Professor Turo was mortally wounded in that incident, and only his AI replica remains. In the same time frame, Arven’s Mabosstiff gets seriously injured. My suspicion is that the wound was this persistent because of the sheer radiation of the Tera Crystals, which have been shown to be able to distort time - as in being the complete inside of the Time Machine - but also aspects of a Pokémon, like an underlying typing. Much like a prism bending light from bundled to a spectrum.”

“But this is where things get ... murky. The AI, from what I have observed, is not entirely slaved to the Time Machine at all times. It acts independently, until such time as the Time Machine detects a threat to itself. Now. I want to make perfectly clear that obsession with the Paradoxes and worry about Arven are not necessarily contradictory. BUT. In my mind, one scenario makes far more sense than others. And it is troubling.”

“Since Sada abandoned Arven at birth... she might never have formed that bond with him. Or never had it to begin with. That happens too. Anyway. Maybe she is the core of the Paradise Protection Protocol. It makes a bit too much sense in my mind, and it is uncomfortable. Look at it like this. The obsession of Turo, who stayed - albeit in a limited capacity, let’s not kid ourselves - was tempered by the knowledge that Arven would need protection. Again, admittedly, this was done very sloppily, if we consider that anything not registered to Turo’s ID was simply locked out of being activated - which by the by was the first time I saw that happening anywhere, this is wild. But Sada? She likely hardly cared about that, if my theory is correct. This was about the Time Machine. This was about keeping this gate open, come what may.”

“But until such time as we find out what happened to Sada in this strand of the timeline, this is standing on somewhat shaky legs. On just conjecture from my part. And still, I can’t shake the feeling that Arven really hit the shittiest of shit bingo of parents. Or that Paldea very narrowly escaped the obsession of two people ready to tear the continent a new one just for Pokémon that existed or are yet to exist in a distant, distant time. We have seen it before with Lusamine and her obsession with Nihilego... but this here? This feels like an entirely new level. And it makes me queasy.”

#Multiverse Frequencies: Azure Silverline #Dash Chatter #Crackpot Theories #Crackpottery: Scarlet/Violet #Spoiler Potential I guess #I just had to crank this one out because it was bugging me so much #You are free to reblog this in case you want to tack on or heatedly debate this version #Though I really think it has some merit #And this is my HC for now which is a bit grim admittedly

[youre-only-gay-once]

📚

At this point I'm actually considering writing some of this

My mental Season 16

Basically, heaven is... not old heaven. But it's still heaven. It's like heaven jail for holding people. That's the updated heaven. And pretty much everything is an illusion. That's where God sent Sam and Dean. (God now being Jack. But Chuck wasn't actually God, God just kind of possesses people when he needs to and now he's possessing Jack so Jack isn't actually God. And God is controlling Amara now so he's really powered up) Cas is still in the Empty because God's still God and didn't get him out, the ''Cas helped'' was just a cover. Charlie's (actual Charlie, not apocalypse Charlie) in heaven ('cause season 10 unfortunately) and she pulls an Ash and hacks heaven. She has a radar set up to see who pops in and sees Dean and starts working on a way to get through to other heavens. By the time Sam pops up she's just about got it figured out. She hops into their heavens (even though Dean thinks Sam and Bobby are there in 15x20 they're actually illusions. Sam saw basically the same thing in his heaven.) and gets them. That leads them to find out that it's not changed that much and God is still very much controlling everything. (Heavenwise these guys are pretty dependent on hackers) So they have to get out of there (the impala stops working once they realize that stuff's not right. because it was just an illusion. all the illusions start messing up. god did change heaven but like most updated products it just made it worse ) Charlie rigs up a portal that spits everybody (they picked up some people from other heavens including Bobby and Eileen) out. And they land in whatever year would be long enough ahead to be accurate (2050?? I need to get a timeline down). It's... very polluted and grey. And they just sort of look at it (you know they spent a few years up there so it's changed even since Sam put on his wig and died)

That's the first episode in my brain so it kind of just ends there and goes to the next one.

#this is the first brain episode so it's the most detailed one #this sounds like Dark Side of the Moon but it's not the same #do I know how the season end? no #I guess I figure it out eventually #they have to get jack back though #and get back to 2020 #and get cas #so time travel and empty invasion! #this is muddled up I really need to clear up the timelines #I've got a lot of characters brought back though #if I actually wrote it I'd probably bring back more #resurrecting characters. fixing plotlines. the daydreaming business #you know in like a month I might actually get this down on typing screen and work on it #ask #ender-baggins #fics #mutuals tag 💖 #ask games

[blurrycow]

Ive begun to add onto an old TUA fic I started a long long long time ago- I’m posting the first chapter here. I’ll try to post chapters once a week but I have a super tight schedule and it will probably be more like once a month. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that!!

tagging: @jbd302020, @conchshell, @sharkneto, @stupidcanofpeaches, @assaily (luv you guys! Haven’t tagged some of you before so idk how you feel abt this but if you’re ok w it… hi!)

Summary: Five’s family from another timeline come to tell him that the third apocalypse is coming- and there’s nothing he can do to stop it. (All chapter titles are songs and together should form a playlist)

rating: idk? Teens and up?? Nothing too mature, maybe some blood later/gory descriptions

Trigger Warnings: cursing, blood, panic attacks (not yet but we’ll get there)

Chapter one

Call it what you want

Call It What You Want, Foster the People

The coffee is cooling, the smell of the beans wafting off in waves. Five is staring into it like it can heal his soul. It can’t. It’ll take a lot more than caffeine to do that.

Griddy’s is barely full. Agnes is at the counter, drawing something on a sketch pad. Or maybe writing? Five can’t tell. His brain is muddled. It is three am, after all.

Dolores’s voice, however, comes through clear. You should get some sleep, darling.

“I can’t,” says Five groggily. “I still have so much to do.” He doesn’t know what he’s saying. The apocalypses have been averted. His siblings are safe, for now. Who even knows what other trouble they’ll get into next. He rolls his eyes. Agnes peers at him curiously. It’s not every day you see a kid mumbling to himself at three am. Or maybe it is, for Agnes. Who knows. Like he said. His brain is muddled, like a clear lake sprinkled with mud.

He takes a sip of his coffee, tense. At least some people know how to make it right. He reminds himself to leave a tip for the waitress later.

A zigzag of red crosses his vision, a bright flash. It’s sudden- a change in the earth, a slight in a breath. There aren’t any people, and then there are. Agnes has vanished. So have the other people in the diner, to be replaced with seven shadowed figures, all different heights. Five’s heart pounds. The rapid beat sounds way too loud. It’s eerily quiet.

Stay calm, Dolores says, turning from reassuring to commanding in an instant. Well, she’s still reassuring, but she’s not trying to coddle him, which is nice, and focus on the figures who probably want to kill you, Five. He can see the people behind him in the reflection of his teaspoon, so he focuses on that. Deja vu clouds his mind. This reminds him of an all too familiar scene in this very same diner, not even a month ago.

Depending on whether these guys mean business or just want to chat, Five will have to plan his response carefully. He weighs the options. Should he snark them to death or just jump right into the killing?

“Ah, you’ve found me,” he says with a sarcastic smile, turning around ever so slightly, just enough to see them all, and not enough to expose himself to a vulnerable position- stabbed in the stomach, or worse. “Care for a cup of coffee?”

“Not really,” the largest person (thing?) says, from the shadowy corner they’re nestled in. “Not much for the bitter taste, I’m afraid.”

Ah, so that’s how it’s going to be. Five isn’t feeling good enough to snark. In fact, he’s kind of worn out. He takes another lazy sip of his coffee. Think, think.

What do they want? ponders Dolores curiously.

Five decides to just jump right into the questions. “Who are you, and why are you here? I don’t have the time or the patience to do this tonight.” Maybe not the wisest idea to announce his inner feelings, but his brain is sluggish. When has he last slept? It’s been almost a week of restlessly pacing the corners of the academy, checking in on his siblings every night, trying to do things to occupy himself so that he doesn’t go completely crazy in the tornado that is his mind.

“We need you to come with us,” says the man in the middle. He’s tall and lean, with brown hair combed messily to the side and pale skin, eyes hidden behind sunglasses. He looks familiar, although Five doesn’t know how.

He looks like Klaus, Dolores muses. Five decides that she’s right. Even if the man looks nothing like Klaus, he has a similar vibe. His mind is moving about as fast as honey right now. Fuck, he needs sleep, although he’d never admit it to Dolores.

Slowly, he starts to slide out of his chair. He can blink back to the academy.

“I’ve no time for negotiation,” the shortest figure barks, and Five stops in his tracks because that’s his voice. “You’re coming with us now. I don’t care if you want to go bawling to your family first, but you’re coming with us.”

All of a sudden Five doesn’t even care if this person is him. He doesn’t bawl. Least of all to his family.

Sometimes you want to, Five, Dolores says. He can feel the sympathy rolling off her in waves.

Hush, he tells her, and then growls to the short person, who has eyes like a possum, “who are you, thinking you can boss me around like that? Do you know who I am?”

“You’re me,” they say calmly, eyes flashing sharp, cutting blue. “But softer.”

“Soft? I’m not soft,” Five protests. “I’ve been through two apocalypses. I’ve killed millions.”

The boy stares him straight in the eye. “And I shot my sister in the head when she posed a threat to save the world. You would never do that. Soft.”

Five can’t think of a response. He just growls again. He is not soft.

But you wouldn’t shoot your sister, either, even if the world was at stake, says Dolores.

That’s different.

Is it? Even though you killed so many, you did it for-

Five does something he’s never done before. He blocks her out. Dolores’s voice fades to nothing, a whispering shadow in his mind.

“I can tell you’re tired,” says the small figure tauntingly (he thinks it’s just a sliver of him. Maybe from another timeline).

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Five declares, standing his ground, hand moving almost magnetically to the steak knife lying conveniently on the bar (so shiny, so stabbable).

One of the figures- an unrecognizable woman with a sheath of purple hair and skin the color of almost-blue marble- steps forward and opens her mouth.

“I heard a rumor that you told us-“

As quick as a flash, Five blinks to her side, steak knife in his hand, pressing it to the jagged scar at her throat. His heart pounds. So my theory is correct. No one other than Allison would start a sentence like that.

But how well do you know Allison?

You did run away.

Yes, but he’s gotten to know her since then. After they’d gotten back, Allison had introduced him to Claire, had told him about her career and showed him affection and love, however reluctant he responded. He loves his sister, even if he has a strange way of showing it.

“Five, back off,” says the largest figure from its nook in the shadows. If this is Allison, this must be Luther. He’s even larger than Five’s version. Waist up, he’s a green-gray ape, tubes connecting to a metal red collar, head comically small in comparison to his hulking body.

Five snarls at him, and Luther backs away, eyes to the ground. Coward. Luther always was one of the gentlest of the Hargreeves, though Five still hadn’t forgiven him for throwing him off the stairs.

“Let go of Rumor,” snaps an irritable, familiar voice. It’s a blond man in a prison bodysuit, a skull graphic positioned underneath his breastbone. He’s wearing his underwear outside his clothes. Five thinks it’s ridiculous and impractical. And then he wonders if the man’s wearing underwear underneath his clothes, and then he stops wondering.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” he says, childishly.

“You could have blinked by now,” the other Five says. “So what’s stopping you?”

“Many factors, that you were too dumb to notice,” Five responds.

“Let’s cooperate,” says the man who is Klaus but is not Klaus. While he talks, he gestures his hands wildly, as though he can’t set them down for a second. Hello and goodbye flash into Five’s line of sight. His teeth are pointed, like a vampire’s. “We should start with a polite introduction. I’m Klaus Hargreeves. The woman you’re holding a knife to is named Allison. Luther is the big guy over there, and Five is the smallest but also the oldest-“

“Seniority outmatches size,” little Five says smugly.

“As I was saying,” continues not-Klaus, “Diego’s the cheerful man with the bad sense of fashion, and Vanya is the girl with the violin. Did I miss anyone?”

Other-Diego glowers at his description.

“Nope,” says Vanya, who does not look like Vanya. She’s too lean, too slight, her fashion is wrong, her hair is too short, her smile too wan. Five’s head hurts as his brain bends yet again, attempting to accommodate this new information, that he has another family, and they’re from another timeline, and they’re here. It’s not so hard to believe, he supposes, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less appalling.

“State your purpose,” he barks, gathering his thoughts and pushing them into the black void in his mind he saves for after dark, when he can properly mull over his choices and his thoughts and sort them into neat little filed rows, so they won’t fly out of nowhere like papers in the wind, into his eyes and blinding him from his duty. He steps away from Other Allison and walks back over to the bar to pick up his coffee. No one stops him.

The Other Five rolls his possum eyes and smiles grimly. “Gather your family, Hargreeves. We’re here to help you stop the apocalypse. For the third time.”

#five hargreeves #writing #fics #my fics #the umbrella academy #tua #number five #comic Hargreeves #The umbrella academy comics

[twdsunshine]

Broken: Pt. 2

Summary:  Mechanic!Daryl AU.  Tabitha Dean has returned to her hometown for the first time in years, fleeing a life that isn’t quite what she thought it would be.  When her car breaks down, the mechanic who comes to her rescue is none other than Daryl Dixon, the shy, strange boy that she remembers from her school days.  But a lot has changed since then, and, when Tabby’s life catches up with her, she finds herself in need of someone to fix her broken parts.  Is Daryl up to the job?

Pairing:  Daryl Dixon x OFC

Warnings:  Language, mentions of alcohol abuse and drug use

Word Count:  3,104

Check out my bio for a link to my Masterlist!

*****

“Sorry to hear about yer mom.”

The ride to Tabby’s father’s cabin had been mostly spent in silence, Daryl’s concentration on the road as he navigated his truck through town.  The traffic had picked up a little in the past hour as people made their way home from work, and every so often he’d raise a hand in greeting to someone he recognised as they passed by.  It wasn’t until he turned off onto the quieter back roads that snaked beneath the dense canopies of the forest that he finally spoke.  

Tabby had been staring out of her window, lost for a moment in memories, and she started a little at the gruff rasp of his voice, her brows knitting together in a frown as she nodded, dropping her gaze to her hands, where they rested in her lap.  “Thank you.”

“That why yer here?”

“Part of the reason.  The house is in kind of a state.  Somebody’s gotta go through it all.”

“What’s the other part?”  He shot her a curious glance, his teeth gnawing at his bottom lip as if he wasn’t sure if it was okay for him to ask, but, in truth, Tabby found that she didn’t mind.  She huffed a sigh, letting her head fall back against the headrest as she contemplated just how detailed an answer to give.

“Honestly, I just… I needed a break from my life,” she told him eventually.  It didn’t seem to go far enough in summing up the multitude of reasons why she’d jumped at the chance to get away, but she figured that he really didn’t need to hear about her problems.  Knowing the Dixon family as they’d been when she was growing up, she was sure he had enough of his own.  “I was half tempted to just get a company in to clear out the house.  It’s all trash anyway.  But… I don’t know.  The timing of it…  It just made sense for me to get the hell out of dodge for a while.”

He scoffed, and she snapped her head round to glare at him.  “M’sorry.  Just weird to hear, s’all.  Usually this is the place people are tryn'a get away from.”  She couldn’t argue with that, and she found herself humming in agreement as he went on.  “I mean, ya got out.  S’not easy to do.  Why in the hell would ya come back?”

Tabby couldn’t help but wonder if he knew, somehow, just how long it had been since she’d paid her hometown a visit.  She tried to count back in her head over the years, calculating just when the last time was that she’d swung by, although her timeline was getting more muddled the harder she tried to think about it.  “I guess I feel a little guilty,” she admitted.  “I hadn’t seen Mom in… a long time.  Hadn’t spoken much either.”

“S’understandable.”

“Maybe, but it still doesn’t feel good, now that she’s gone.”  She ran a hand through her hair, disturbing the sunglasses that were still perched on top of her head and slipping them over her eyes as she felt herself starting to succumb to the emotions that she’d been successfully suppressing since she’d arrived.  

“She still drinkin’?”

“Oh yeah.  Never could get her to give it up.”

“Like my ol’ man.”

“Pretty much.”  She shook her head.  “Still, it caught up with her in the end.  I don’t know.  Do you ever wonder if you reach an age at some point where you can look at your parents and go, like, yeah, I get it?  I understand why you are the way you are.  I get why you’re so monumentally fucked up.  I always thought I would, and I still just… I don’t get her, y’know?  I never really got her, and now she’s gone, and I never will.”

A solitary tear escaped, unbidden, and trailed down Tabby’s cheek, and she swiped it away before Daryl could see, though, when she caught his eye in the rearview mirror, she knew that he’d noticed.  “They’re just human, s’all.  Not much else to get, s’far as I can tell.”

“That make you feel any better about your dad?”

“Mmm.”  He considered that for a moment, head cocked to one side as he took a sharp left turn onto a dirt track that cut off from the road.  “Not really.”  The track opened into a small clearing, at the back of which sat the ramshackle cabin that had been her dad’s favourite place in the world.  She had to admit, even after all this time, it still didn’t feel right being there without him.  Pulling up in front of the porch steps, Daryl put his truck in park, drumming his fingers against the wheel.  “My dad was a mean drunk, y'know that.  Hell, whole town knows that, right?  Ol’ man Dixon, people remember him as a good fer nothin’ redneck bastard.”  He hesitated, glancing over at Tabby to see that she had turned her whole body towards him as he spoke, her bottom lip trembling just the tiniest amount as she fought to hold it together.  “But yer mom, Tab…  I mean, she was a good person.  Right up ‘til she lost yer pop, an’ then… I guess no one could really blame her for takin’ it hard.  Whole town took it hard.”

He was right.  Tabby’s dad had been the town sheriff and was generally well-liked by the whole community.  Yes, he’d had to haul a few of them in to spend a night in the cells whenever they’d gotten a little too drunk and a little too rowdy, Daryl’s old man included, but most of them had watched him grow up or else had grown up with him.  He’d enjoyed a drink and a game of cards, liked hunting and muscle cars, and had time for pretty much everyone - a real people person, a trait which Tabby definitely hadn’t inherited.  When he’d been killed on duty by a drunk driver from the next town over, it seemed as if the whole place went into mourning.  Unfortunately for Tabby, her mom had never come out of it.  She’d lost herself in a maze of depression and drunkenness, and the then-teenage Tabitha had had to deal with her grief alone.  She supposed a part of her was still a little bitter about that.  

“Ya need a hand gettin’ yer bags inside?” Daryl asked now, breaking the sombre mood that had settled over them.

“No, I should be fine.”  She shot him a small smile, squaring her shoulders as she forced down the rest of the tears that had been threatening.  “Thanks, Daryl.  For the ride and for… listening, I guess.  It’s kinda nice to know that someone gets it.”

“Mmm.”  He cut the engine then, sliding from the truck at the same time as she did and jogging round to shift her seat forward and grab her supplies, despite her assurance that she could manage.  “Ya got everythin’ ya need?  Guess yer pretty stuck out here without yer car.”

“It’s not ideal,” she admitted, taking the bags from his hands and immediately feeling the flimsy plastic cutting into her fingers, “but it’s not like there’s anywhere I need to be, except clearing out the house.   I guess that can wait until I’m back on the road.”

“I can swing by an’ get ya in the mornin’ if ya wanna get started.”  The offer took her aback, unexpected as it was, and she immediately opened her mouth to turn him down, hating to put him out any more than she already had, but he was rubbing at the back of his neck, still talking, though he now seemed to be aiming his words at the toes of his boots.  “It’d have to be early ‘fore I start work.  An’ I could run ya back here when I’m done.  If ya want.”

“It’s kinda out of your way,” she pointed out, but he only shrugged.

“I don’t mind.”

She thought about it for a moment longer, contemplating the long hours trapped in the cabin alone as she waited for them to diagnose her car, order in the parts and get it fixed up and ready to go again.  It could be days, and her stomach churned with anxiety.  “I mean, if you’re sure…”

“I’ll stop by around seven,” he told her, tipping his chin at her as he rounded the truck and slid back behind the wheel.  He was pulling away before she had time to thank him again.

*****

After restocking her cupboards and refrigerator with the supplies she’d picked up in town, Tabby wandered into the living room and dropped herself down on the leather couch, sighing in contentment as the soft cushions swallowed her up.  There was a thick woollen throw folded over one of the arms, and she tugged it over her, nestling into its warmth.  It smelt of the log fire that she’d lit the previous night, and the chunky knit was satisfying to trace over with the pads of her fingers.  It was a small comfort in the turmoil that seemed to dominate her life.

The news of her mother’s death had come during a particularly bad week.  She had imagined that, by the time she got to her age, she would know where she was going, what she wanted out of life, and be somewhere on the path to achieving it and reaching her goals, but, as it was, she felt like everything was coming apart at the seams.  So, when she’d received the call from the hospital, she had barely hesitated before throwing some clothes in a holdall and hitting the road.  A small part of her had thought that perhaps she would find some direction in returning to the place where her life started out, but, as soon as she’d arrived, she’d sensed that was useless.  The town held no answers for her: just a quiet funeral, where she sat alone in the front pew and didn’t shed a single tear as the few townsfolk that attended patted her hand and told her how sorry they were for her loss; and her childhood home, bursting at the seams with clutter and empty bottles and the lingering scent of decay.

Honestly, she’d been close to doing what she’d said to Daryl - heading on out and letting a clearance firm go in and sort out the house.  It would be easier, for sure, in terms of the work and the emotional cost of sorting through the debris of her mother’s downward spiral.  But her car breaking down had put paid to that idea and, perhaps even more so, her conversation with the younger Dixon brother as he’d driven her home.  She really had been surprised that he seemed to remember so much about her, including the location of the cabin, which he’d seemed to know without any prompting on her part.  More than that though, he’d also seemed to know exactly what to say to quiet the voices in her head, the ones that had been plaguing her more and more since she’d watched her mother’s coffin being lowered into the earth.  Could she have been more patient?  Should she have tried harder with her?  Had she missed out on valuable time?  He hadn’t answered any of those questions, hadn’t really said much at all, but he’d made her feel less alone at a time when she really did have nothing left, and for that she was grateful.  For the first time, she felt like it might be worth her while to stick around.

*****

When seven A.M. rolled around, Tabby was perched on the front steps of the cabin, yawning as the early morning sun stung her eyes.  She’d slept badly, as usual, and her whole body felt heavy with lethargy, but she’d showered away the worst of it, tugging on a fraying pair of jean shorts and an old oversized tee in preparation for getting dusty and dirty as she worked to clear the house.  In truth, she was dreading the task, but she knew it had to be done, and a part of her hoped that it might bring her some sort of closure.  It would be the first time, she thought, that she’d achieved anything like it.

As the rumble of a vehicle approached, she pushed herself to her feet, shouldering her bag and thudding down the steps, arriving at the truck at the same time as Daryl rolled it to a stop.  He greeted her with a crooked smile as she climbed in.

“Mornin’.”  He was dressed in overalls once again, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, but his hands were clean, no traces of the grease that had stained his skin the day before.  There was a faint scent of coffee mingling with the smell of the cigarette between his lips, and he took a long drag before reaching an arm out of his open window to stub it out on the side of the door.  “Y’alright?”

“Yeah.”  She could feel his gaze on her as she buckled her seat belt and made herself comfortable, and she wondered if he was taking in the dark circles under her eyes, the strain that she knew was evident on her face; if he knew that, really, she wasn’t alright at all.  “Thanks for coming out here to pick me up.  You really didn’t have to.”

“Ain’t no trouble,” he assured her, and they were moving as he swung the truck around.  “M’sorry it’s so damn early.”

“Oh, that’s okay.  I’m usually up anyway.”

“Yer not sleepin’?”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Mmm.”  He had one elbow propped on the sill of the window, and he lifted his thumb to his mouth, gnawing at the nail.  It was a nervous habit that she still remembered from their school days.  “Ya look like shit.”

That punched a laugh from her, and she shook her head at his brutal honesty.  “Wow, see you’ve still got that ol’ Dixon charm working for you!”

“M’sorry.”  His cheeks were flushed pink, and she was still laughing, his embarrassment only increasing her amusement.  It felt good to laugh, easy in his company, and, when a low chuckle joined her giggles, she couldn’t help but sneak a glance at him, appreciating the smirk that twisted his lips.  He was attractive, she thought, when he wasn’t scowling and serious.  She wasn’t sure it was something she’d seen a lot of in the past.  

“It’s fine.  I appreciate the honesty.”

“I just meant… Y'alright stayin’ all the way out here on yer own?”

She shrugged.  “I like the quiet.”

“Ya don’t get scared?”

She considered that for a moment.  Sure, the forest looked a little spooky in the dark, the calls of the wildlife filling the air as they rustled through the undergrowth.  But was she scared by it?  “No, not really.”  She swallowed hard.  “The things I’m afraid of, they’re all back in the city.  I feel safe here.”

Daryl nodded as though he got it, and Tabby was sure that he did.  She knew that he’d spent many long hours in the woods, steering clear of his drunken father and his fierce temper and flying fists.  So, perhaps he found the same peace there that she did.  She wondered if he still escaped there when he felt life getting on top of him or if that compulsion had died along with his dad.  

“So,” she began as her thoughts turned to his family, a welcome distraction from her own, “is Merle still around?  What’s he doing these days?”  She hadn’t really known the older Dixon brother, though of course she’d known of him.  He’d been the town troublemaker for several years, ending up in and out of juvie more times than she could count.  Her dad had despaired of him, would spend too much time trying to figure out how to get through to the kid, how to straighten him out before he ended up in the gutter, but his efforts had never paid off.  The last she’d heard, he’d joined up and was causing havoc in the army, an odd choice for somebody with such an ingrained disdain for authority.

“Time, mostly,” he admitted, and Tabby felt her heart sink for the man beside her and for the boy that her dad had been so determined to help.  “S’been inside more than out.”

“The army didn’t work out for him?”

“Dishonourable discharge.”  At the arch of her eyebrow, he scoffed, though there was little humour in it.  “Punched his sergeant.  Got court-martialed an’ ended up doin’ sixteen months or so in lock-up.  Since then, s’mainly been drug offences, breakin’ an’ enterin’,” he went on.  “S’a fiend for crystal, my brother.  S’a bad crowd.”

“I’m sorry.”  She meant it.  Perhaps, she thought, that was how Daryl had managed to make her feel better the day before, about her entire situation.  It seemed like he was all alone too, and she knew the weight of that now, could feel it sitting like lead in her gut.  “You see him much?”

“I try an’ visit a few times a year.  S’a four hour drive each way, close enough, so I don’t get up there as much as I’d like.”

“That sucks.”

He hummed in response, and the cab fell quiet as he turned off of the main road into the maze of surrounding streets.  They weren’t far now from Tabby’s childhood home, and she could feel herself growing more tense the closer they got.  Her body was stiffening, her hands curling into fists in her lap, and she had to suck in a deep breath to try and force herself to relax.  It had had that effect on her for years now, was the reason why she hadn’t visited as often as she perhaps should, but the onslaught of memories was just too much.  She tried not to let it show as Daryl slowed to a stop at the curb.  “Place ain't changed.”

“Not from the outside,” she agreed, the words carrying a weight that she knew he sensed as she reluctantly pushed open her door.  “Thanks again for the ride.”

“Should be done around five.  That alright?”

“Yeah, thanks.”  She shot him a tight smile.  “I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.”

He nodded, and she let the door swing shut, stepping up onto the sidewalk as he pulled away.  She stood and watched his truck disappear from view before she turned and picked her way up the path, ready for the thankless task that lay ahead.

*****

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#the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #twd #twd fanfiction #daryl dixon #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon x ofc #daryl dixon x oc #broken

[0risha]

“LEMON GLOW."

✰ PAIRING ⤷ megumi x gn!reader

✰ SUMMARY ⤷ megumi's mind has finally become clearer.

✰ TAGS ⤷ fluff, junior high megumi, barely edited,

✰ A/N ⤷ “yesth, I should be working on requests right now but this came to me while listening to lemon glow by beach house... so forgive me?” don't ask why I added a header..... lmfaooo. Lowkey thinking of doing a part 2 to this in the current timeline... idk.

The color of Megumi's mind.

It’s murky, at first. Where unclarity suffocates his every crevice because he’s still trying to find his place in the world.

Although it clears up for a second whenever he comes in contact with his sister, Tsumiki, it returns as soon as the words of animosity cross between the two.

Even when he’s witnessing the fear of delinquents who call themselves tough because the only thing they can pry on are the weak, he still feels as though he needs something.

Fortunately, his plea is answered in due time.

Megumi figures that it's not God. Through the clamor of his life, he’d never believed in one. But every time he looks back on this gift –no matter how unexpected it was– he couldn’t help but mutter a prayer of thanks to who knows what.

You’re a new face. At first, muddled like the others. Face distorted with cloudy substance where your features should be, whirling past whenever you two come close.

When you two do finally come in contact, it’s at his home. The one he shares with Tsumiki and Satoru. But Satoru's rarely there.

He’s sick. A high fever of 106. His nose is stuffed to the point where he fears he won’t be able to breathe when the next cycle of inhale and exhale comes.

He hasn’t been able to get up from his futon ever since his alarm rang. His sister and Satoru long gone before then. He didn’t want to call, figuring that he could work through this himself.

When Megumi hears a voice, soft and timid, he shakes his head. Eyes blinking as he wonders if he’s finally lost it. But it comes again, closer this time.

“Fushiguro san?” A head peeks through his room door.

It's you, the new student. He recalls that you're quiet and rarely talk. Even then, somehow associating yourself in the popular crowd. Though, a part of him thinks it wasn't your doing.

When you hand him your name he doesn't recognize it. A thought in where he needs to pay more attention flits through his mind.

"You're here because...."

His voice comes out wired and scratchy, he's sure if it wasn't for his battered throat, it would've come out as harsh.

Your response is delayed. Almost as if you need twice as much the average time to process his words. "Oh, since I'm in your homeroom, I was sent to deliver your classwork and homework." You take out a stack of papers from your backpack and place it by the door.

He closes his eyes, expecting to hear retreating footsteps.

"Should I make you something?" you ask. For a second, Megumi has the urge to deny, he hates relying on other people, especially the too-good ones.

But as he surveys your almost pleading posture he accepts. "Okay."

With his affirmation, the air shifts. A smile takes its place on your face as you clamber up to him. "Do you want tea or sou—"

"Anything, just don't make a mess." He grunts, with half of your body over his –even with his clogged nose– he catches a faint scent of vanilla. He turns his head away from you to hide the flush in his cheeks, he's never actually been this close to someone as pretty as you before. Less alone cared for.

"Okay," you chirp. Not the slightest bit encompassed by his offish behavior.

When you leave, he curses himself for being so rude to you. But Megumi can't help it, his cold demeanor had been injected into his body since birth.

An hour passes by.. ten minutes, maybe? And Megumi starts to forget that you're even in his home; his fever finally hitting its pinnacle.

In his dream-like state, he doesn't hear you enter his room.

But, when you say his name meekly and place a cool palm on his forehead, he finally shifts.

"I made miso soup, it probably doesn't taste the best but I—"

"Thank you." He breathes out, turning towards your sitting figure to grab the bowl. He grunts in frustration as his body strains.

"I can feed you if that's alright?" Groggily, he blinks. His pride had been wounded too many times today but when he sees your expression, he again complies.

When you perk up, he has to turn his head away from your too-bright smile.

"Can you at least sit up?" you whisper, already reaching towards his head to hoist him up.

"Yeah," Megumi grunts, using all of his strength to finally rest his back on the wall.

"That's good." You state, blowing on a spoonful of soup before you reach to cup his jaw.

Megumi doesn't have the heart to move away, a part of him thinks that seeing a hurt expression on your face would be far worse than his now fever.

Slowly but surely, he widens his mouth to welcome the soup.

He keeps his eyes from making contact with yours as he tastes the warm liquid on his buds. Even though his sensory is barely there, it didn't taste good. At all.

"Is it good?" you inquiry. Your eyes sparkle with anticipation as you gaze at him.

"Yeah, it is." Your smile grows much wider than it was before at his positive commentary.

"Really?" You place another spoonful in his mouth, much eagerly than the last as you ramble about the ingredients you used. His brain can't perfectly piece your words together but your voice soothes him, nonetheless.

"What time is it?" Megumi asks when the soup is finally close to done.

If Tsumiki or Gojo were to come, he thinks, this moment of his would-be interrupted. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't want it to.

"By now, school's almost over." You shift, taking a cup of tea and placing it to his lips. Megumi wants to ask why you decided to skip school and take care of a stranger instead, but he decides against it.

"Do you want me to leave?" Your eyes shift to his. When he shakes his head, you breathe out a sigh.

Megumi hopes it's one of relief.

Hesitantly, his eyes fall on yours."Can you uh.. stay untill I fall asleep?" Your brows raise in surprise at his pleading tone.

"Of course." You decide, placing the tea cup on his room table.

Slowly, you shuffle closer to him and lean a little on his shoulder.

"What if you get sick?"

"You'll have to take care of me, just like I did." Megumi blinks as he processes your words. A warm, serene feel surrounds every stack of his vertebrae. It's an unfamiliar feeling, one that makes his heartbeat grow unsteady, but he welcomes it.

"Okay."

When Megumi wakes up, it's nighttime. A sliver of the moon from his window acts as a source of light for his room. He attempts to shift in his futon, only to be met with a warm body, yours.

Megumi stills for a second as he observes your face. Throughout his whole day with you, he never got the chance to get a good look at it.

You're pretty just like he first thought. He thinks it's almost adorable how your nose twitches every time he moves around.

He's never been this interested in something or someone, this much. Maybe it's because of the involuntary care you gave him. The nice, white gleaming smiles too.

He's never experienced or accepted care from somebody else.

A ghost of a smile threatens to touch his lips as he realizes that his nose, chest and mind are no longer heavy but instead, clear.

Your soup must've worked.

#jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x you #megumi x gender neutral reader #megumi x reader #megumi x you #jujutsu kaisen fluff #jujutsu kaisen x gender neutral reader #jjkmag

[glitterytidalwavedragon]

Expanding into my other Fandoms (I’m gonna have to take a stance) Read the whole thing please.

One of my oldest and most beloved anime is Inuyasha. As of late I have been binged watching the hell out of it as I am getting my BFF into different anime shows. We are really close to entering the Yashahime part of the series, and she asked if I planned to write fanfiction involving the one character which made me even watch the show as a 10-year-old.

Sesshomaru

The first episode I ever watched involved this aloof, entitled dog fighting his brother over the sword in their father’s grave. Specifically, it was part 3 of that whole episode series were Kagome pulled out the sword. I at the time had 3 dogs of German Sheppard/wolf hybrid, they were MASSIVE dogs, fell in love with the big white fluff that was Sesshomaru’s demon form. I use to sneak staying up and watch the show faithfully to see the goodest boy as it was only on at 11pm EST on adult swim. Which meant it was bad and I was breaking the rules, I felt like a rebel.

Now I hesitated answering that question. She has no idea of what is in Yashahime, she is being careful not to spoil it so I told her I didn’t know. Recently, to find out what the feel is for Sesshomaru content, I looked into the tag on tumblr…

OH MY GOD.

Sesshomaru’s tag is FLOODED with hate. Like every four post, there is hate, distain, and attacking happening. As someone who watches Yashahime, I quickly knew why.

Sessrin.

Even now I sigh. And I sigh HARD. I am not for, nor am I against the Sessrin train. Same for the Sesskagu train. I think both sides need to look at things on a logical prospective. I plan to do just that. I know I will get hate from the either side and maybe some support as well. But if I am going to do anything in this fandom (as I like doing ships and reader inserts) it will come up.

So, like my Kaiba post, and my Sebastian Heel post, I will use my research skills as well as my COLLEGE DEGREE WHICH HAS BOTH ART AND MEDIEVAL HISTORY labelled on it to explain why this progression in the story is normal to anti-Sessrin fans and why this isn’t a crime by story standards nor should we look at it as a crime.

AS WELL

Explain to Sessrin fans why it is so weird for non-shippers to see it play out and why so much hate formed.

As I let out another sigh, we shall begin. Let’s start at an historical prospective. (Links at the bottom).

PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING! I’LL BE ABLE TO TELL!

~~

I will start with the information I can access right away.

While finding charts on the life-span of common folk in 1590’s Feudal Japan is rather difficult, Ancient.edu states that the average lifespan was about 50. To put this in perspective, the average lifespan of Europeans at the time was somewhere between 40-45 with the latter being rare. Since most of us reading are not from Japanese descent, I will through Europe in this first.

If we look at the same time frame of 1590, we are looking at most of Western Europe had now entered the age of Renaissance. According to sources from Learning Resources in association with the National Gallery of Art, marriage was not what TV drama’s from HBO or Hulu depicted. By today standards they would be a crime, as the average age for marriage of an adult female was age 14…

The reasoning behind the young marriage age had multiple factors. First being, females were considered an adult once they were menstruating. Birthing also proved to be fatal, and since the lifespan was at best 40 and 45 if they were lucky, there was really no room to wait. Also Europe at the time had became hugely focused on making sure blood lines were legitimate, meaning to ensure the girl was a virgin, the moment she was able to reproduced she was married off. Those they married were not young teenagers either. Most marriages, a man would be in their thirties, and had probably multiple wives as women died more than men when not counting the battle field.

To make matters worse for the Renaissance Lady, these marriages would leave many young males unable to marry and if their husband died in battle, well, unfortunately they were not seen as desirable. This was due to the idea of a ‘free woman’. Should the girl not have a father, brother or uncle to return to as they too died, a widow had her freedom. But that freedom came at a cost. She would be assumed to have slept around, and in many writings, such as the Canterbury Tales, where Geoffrey Chaucer writes about a Window on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land survived her five husbands and the men in her family. In short, she was made to be a slut and to be looked down upon as no man controlled her.

The point of talking about Europe is because that is something most of us Non-Asian or Japanese people consume and like to paint in large romantic brush strokes of knights and magic. Honestly, reading G.R.R.Martin Song of Ice and Fire, he uses this model as we see the Queen of Dragons, Danny start off at age thirteen shortly after she had her first menstruation.  

Now let’s look at Feudal Japan.

As stated before, the lifespan was around 50 years. In some populations, this was even shorter. Nagaoka, Hirata, Yokota and Matsu’ura’s on demographic data at the Yuigahama-minami area in Kamakura, Japan and found both male and female remains that suggested life expectancy to have ended around age 24-25. This was largely due to living conditions and public health. In areas like these, it would make the most sense to marry and repopulate quickly as the expectancy of life was half the national average at the time.

To my frustration, I could not find a clear marriage age for Japanese women at the time of the edo period. HOWEVER, where there is a will there is a way. I took a look at famous Lords or Daimyo’s of the time. The average age of marriage of their wives was between 12-14. Much younger than I expected, but it made sense considering this is a time where war ran the show and marriage was strictly about political gain. One of these Daimyo’s was Masamune Date, who was also 13, but then as he got older took concubines who became considerably younger than him as he became older. The goal was to have as many children as possible for hires and for political marriages to gain power.

Now lets look at Inuyasha the MANGA

Lets get the manga timeline proper here. The whole adventure took place in 11 months, a month shy of Kagome’s 16th birthday. Doing a few estimations, Rin would have travelled with Sesshomaru about 8-9 of those months. But before we get into the relationship, lets look at something the ANIME made a huge mistake with in the beginning and tried to fix as the story went on.

For some reason I could only fine gifs for the Early appearances of Sesshomaru so bear with me.

Early appearances in the manga

 ^ He was so fickle and a trickster then...

Now early apperances in the anime.

Later appearance in the manga

Laster appearance in the anime

Notice the issue here? 

Sesshomaru was CONSIDERABLY younger looking in the start of the manga. In the anime, he started off looking like an fully adult male. But as the anime went on, they tried to make Sesshomaru look younger with subtle changes to his jaw line, eye size, and his height. Yeah, his height had changed. They made him shorter.

While in the manga, we see this young-teen looking demon, slowly mature over 11 months to look like he is in his later teens and by series end, closer to being in his late teens or twenty. Yes, art changes over time, but the anime went a reverse route. I can only guess they spoke to the author of Inuyasha about her ships, as they did Drama CDs, and realized the mistake that was made in making him more mature than he was.

You can’t tell me he doesn’t look closer to his manga self in the final act, because he does.

Since we are on the topic of the anime, lets be clear. The anime timeline and manga timeline are very different. The story in the anime (in the English) suggests that OVER a year has past since Kagome started her journey. They try to fix this in the final act, but it was still so muddled as previous seasons are to be taken as cannon. This could have been due to an translation error in the early production when the anime no longer had anymore manga material to reference. But whatever the case, for English viewers the time the group spent together felt much longer.

So now we come to the heart of the issue.

Because of the mistakes of the anime, a lot of anti-sessrin see the relationship as father daughter. I’ll be honest, watching the anime and solely the anime as a teenager and as an adult (as the manga was on hold for a very long time due to author’s health. I was in college when it finished.), I too thought it was just a father-daughter relationship and Jaken the nanny who got punched all the time. In fact, the English took hard liberties with Kagura, as the English dubs often do with characters, and made it very clear her feelings for the demon lord and Sesshomaru very much recognized them (though he never responded). Even in her death scene, it felt as if he was saying good bye to a friend more than love interest. But who really knows, as there are things that point otherwise.  When another demon mock’s Kagura’s death, Sesshomaru gets super pissy.

The manga did also play with this fact when it came out in English, idk if the wording or message is different in the Japanese. Translation errors happen a lot even in todays releases, look at Kuroshitsuji.  So of course most anti-sessrin’s did not see this coming in Yashahime when Rin was named mother. In fact it felt like a betrayal as we were sure Sesshomaru had no romantic feelings.

Then there was the Kohaku/Rin mashup that was hinted left and right. The English anime, with its overly dramatic and blunt emotions made it appear one way. That in the end the two kids would probably be married. Then the anime as a whole made Sesshomaru older than intended. I can see why and understand how this became a problem.

On the other side of that coin.

If you followed the dub, seen ‘Swords of an Honorable Ruler’ and read the manga… Sesshomaru was not fatherly to Rin at all. In fact, Jaken picked up all of that leg work. Rin worried for Kohaku, but clearly loved Lord Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru cared about Kagura but he almost CRIED when he lost Rin.

We have to remember that Sesshomaru and Rin’s relationship must have been very hard for the demon. While we never see his mental process expect for a few rare times, we have to remember he hated humans. In the movie, he blamed a human for the early death of his father, Sesshomaru killed without mercy. It made sense that he wouldn’t be fatherly to Rin as her just being there should have caused countless inner conflicts. Hell, he even says his father’s weakness was humans, and look who picked up that trait.

Sesshomaru was designed to, someday, walk in his father’s footsteps. So sess/rin, not a surprise. Also when you see it in a historical perspective, Rin having kids around age 15-16, makes sense. In fact you could argue he waited too long for the time period.

We also need to look more at the manga when concerned with Yashahime. 8-9 months is all Rin travelled with him and he was like hold up, and left her at the village because he KNEW she needed to come to her own conclusion. That no matter what she picked he would live with and protect her. Unconditional love on his end. She cannon wise spent YEARS living with humans and MONTHS with Sesshomaru. Again, by manga standards of cannon.

Now I can already hear the screaming about age and what not. Some sources say Sesshomaru is over 900, by the rule of thumb, if we look at anime and movie releases, we have Sesshomaru being over 500 with no define age and Inuyasha around 270 years old being more pinpointed due to the movie. Just by going by ANIME CANNON. Kagome and Inuyasha, you have a 15 year old with a 270 year old man. If you say being pinned to the tree doesn’t count, then you have 220.

Also, here is something very interesting. In the episode where Inuyasha meets the unmother, he tells her, thinking it was his mom, she died when he was very small and we have flash backs later in the series of him being small running from demons. Demons clearly age much slower than humans, even half-demons. Inuyasha can be 270 but mentally and physically be 15, the same logic works for Sesshomaru, who in the manga is not much older than Inuyasha.

In the manga, there wasn’t any grooming, in the anime, there was a ton of mess-ups but no grooming.

Would this fly in todays world? HELL NO! NO, its gross, she’s a kid. Stop.

I know any fanfic I write will lean heavily on the side of father/daughter because that is what I grew up seeing on the screen. I can’t think of Rin as an adult because years of seeing her as a cheerful little girl. It’s like seeing G.O.T Arya about to have sex for the first time in season 8… I remember when she was a kid on the show. It was way to weird and I had to look away until it ended. But that’s my 2021 mentality.

But Inuyasha is not taking place in 2021. Feudal Japan is a whole other era with its own beliefs, morals and way of life. Those who understand this have nothing wrong with them. They just understand history.

Also, just to bang some nails in…

Anyone remember Bleach? Remember the MOST accepted couple was Ichigo and Rukia…. Rukia who was hundreds of years old and Ichigo who was 15… or Ichigo’s mom who was a teenager and his dad also hundreds of years old.

Most of this also boils down to Sesshomaru being a dude. As in reverse roles in animes its accepted and they don’t have the same historical context. Inuyasha is based off of historical context of Feudal Japan.

We need to stop spreading hate. We can’t accept some forms of literature because its European fantasy but bash other fantasy based literature for doing the same thing.

Sure, its weird for those who were use to seeing the father/daughter dynamic. Yes, there are extreme sessrin fans who post really questionable illegal content when they decide to leave Rin as an 8-year-old…

But this wasn’t ever meant to be perverted. The story was meant to make sense on a logical and historical base.

I hope everyone takes the time to read this. I love Inuyasha, I love Sesshomaru. I am just sick of seeing so many people fighting over what should be the revival of a beloved series. While yes, there is still room for sess/rin not being a thing, until it is stated otherwise, why hate each other? This fandom will only lose people by doing this. Calling people names or accusing them of illegal endorsement can hurt someone these days over social media.

Tumblr allows you to block tags. You don’t have to read anything or watch anything you don’t like. We gain nothing from attacking each other but can lose so much by doing so. Fanart, really good fan fiction, friends, ideas, sharing fond memories. Both sides have the right to feel as they feel, but no right in hurting each other.

A fandom is meant to bring people together. Not start a war…

Thank you.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.20402

http://www.italianrenaissanceresources.com/units/unit-2/essays/husbands-and-wives/#:~:text=Marriage%20not%20only%20reflected%20order,to%20ensure%20the%20bride's%20virginity.

https://www.ancient.eu/Canterbury_Tales/

https://www.ancient.eu/article/1424/daily-life-in-medieval-japan/#:~:text=Just%20as%20Japanese%20people%20today,in%20Western%20Europe%2C%20for%20example.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Date_Masamune

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megohime

#to the inuyasha fandom with love #to the inyasha fandom #inyasha fandom #sesshomaru fandom #rin fandom #sessrin #anti-sessrin #history #facts #logic #make love not war #fandoms are meant to bring people together #stop the hate #stop the fighting #no one is wrong #no one is right #let people do what they want #end the ship wars #please stop fighting #sesshoumaru x rin #anti sessrin #I know I am asking for trouble #yeah #Yeah I threw the bleach fandom under the bus #sorry Bleach #Sorry RukiaxIchigo shippers #read the whole thing #yes you #Inyasha #Sesshomaru

[pumpkinpaix]

HI! I'm new to the MDZS fandom and I fell in love with Suibian, but you don't see it that much. I seen somewhere that it would burn out a weaker core and I cried cause I wanted to see that, and as far as I know it doesn't happen anywhere. I'm wondering if you could tell me anything and everything you know about Suibian. I'm starving for anything about it

hi anon! ahahah, it’s always a dangerous thing to ask me about “anything and everything” on a topic because I usually have too many thoughts, most of which are unorganized. but! if you’re interested in that, then here we go!

First, re: your comment about Suibian burning out a weaker core: I am not aware of this theory (or is it something from an interview?? if someone knows, please say so!), but if it brings you joy, then it’s certainly an interesting one to consider! Unfortunately, I don’t have much more to say on it because I’m unfamiliar with it, but I do have quite a lot to say on some other Suibian concepts!

ask and ye shall receive (a very jumbled heap of thoughts as i spiral further and further out of control):

[all rough translations are mine, and thus all mistakes are mine. I am using the version of the novel that is available on luoxia because I can’t be bothered to go flipping through my print edition ahaha.]

the questions about Suibian that interest me the most are why it sealed, when it sealed, when Wei Wuxian began to wield it again, and what that might all mean. I’m going to be talking about novel, CQL, and audio drama canon all together, because I think looking at each canon alone and in combination can raise a lot of very different points!! (I have not watched the donghua or read the manhua yet, so forgive me, I have nothing to say about them. /o\)

So! the one piece of information that we’re given consistently throughout all three of the canons is that Suibian was sealed after Wei Wuxian’s death and that no one but Wei Wuxian himself (and Jiang Cheng, by proxy) could draw it from its sheathe. Thus, Wei Wuxian’s identity is revealed and the golden core swap comes to light. Wei Wuxian is surprised by this, and asks Lan Wangji, “Did it really seal itself?” (novel, chapter 63; CQL, ep 42; audio drama, S2E15).

The novel and audio drama both include a line from Wei Wuxian that emphasizes Wei Wuxian’s surprise, implying that sword-sealing is very uncommon:

万中无一的大好事竟然让我给撞上了

Something incredible that happens less than once per ten thousand times, and I actually encountered it.

the irony, of course, is that this incredible thing is what ended up blowing his cover. rip Wei Wuxian.

but what I think gets really interesting is comparing different points at which Suibian sealed itself and what that might imply in conjunction with other information. Jin Guangyao says “shortly after” his death, but CQL includes a scene in episode 19 that implies that Suibian actually sealed itself much earlier.

[ID: Gif from episode 19 of the untamed drama. Lan Wangji attempts to draw Suibian after he and Jiang Cheng storm the Nightless City and retrieve their swords. He cannot pull it from the sheathe. /end ID]

(in case anyone is curious, it’s about 30 minutes in. I spent the effort to make the gif, so I might as well give you the timestamp lol)

this scene takes place during the period of time when Wei Wuxian is in the Mass Graves (aka the Burial Mounds) after Wen Chao cast him down and left him for dead, right near the beginning of Sunshot. I’m fairly certain it’s not mentioned in either the novel or the audio drama, so this is a CQL-only detail. (please correct me if I’m wrong; I get my canons muddled all the time //hides face)

CQL basically does nothing narratively with this scene other than giving us some sad shots of Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng (honestly, valid ;A;) but!! if we decide to accept this scene as our jumping off point, we can get to some interpretations about Wei Wuxian using information from the other canons!

take this exchange from chapter 57 of the novel (immediately prior to the massacre at lotus cove):

江澄道：“还不是又为咱们的剑的事去温家了。一想到我的三毒现在说不定被哪只温狗握在手里，真是……”

他面露嫌恶之色，魏无羡道：“可惜咱们的剑还不够灵，要是能自动封剑，那就谁也别想用了。”

江澄道：“你再修炼个八十年，说不定可以。”

Jiang Cheng said, “He’s gone to the Wen sect regarding our swords again, hasn’t he. Whenever I think that my Sandu might even now be in some Wen-dog’s hands, ugh…”

His face filled with loathing, Wei Wuxian said, “What a pity our swords don’t have enough spirit. If they could seal themselves, then no one could even think about using them.”

Jiang Cheng said, “If you kept cultivating for another eighty years, maybe.”

from the novel, it seems clear that sword-sealing is something that only happens when a person’s cultivation level is exceptionally high. if this is true, and we go with the CQL timeline of Suibian sealing itself long before Wei Wuxian’s death, it means that Wei Wuxian’s cultivation level wasn’t just high, it was leagues above pretty much anyone else when he was still a teenager. (In fact, Suibian had most likely already sealed by the time this conversation takes place.)

If we don’t go with CQL’s timeline, however, I think we could make a very different argument. It’s a bit of a reach, but I think it’s a lot of fun, if you’re willing to come with me on this journey!

Jin Guangyao says Suibian sealed itself “shortly after” Wei Wuxian’s death, but we don’t really have external confirmation of that. For all we know, someone only bothered to test it sometime after his death, and Suibian had been sealed for some indefinite amount of time. All we can say for sure is that by some point shortly after Wei Wuxian’s death, Suibian was already sealed and resisted being drawn by anyone who tried it.

We’re told over and over that one can only wield a spiritual sword effectively if you have a golden core/the spiritual energy to match it. Wei Wuxian stops carrying/using Suibian because he knows that in his hands, it will act as nothing more than an ordinary sword. His method of cultivation is no longer suitable for the sword. Suibian is tied to both Wei Wuxian’s soul and his golden core.

If sword-sealing only happens when the cultivator’s level is unbelievably high, then I think we can make the argument here that by the time of his death, Wei Wuxian’s core was likewise unbelievably strong – but Wei Wuxian is no longer the one developing his core. Jiang Cheng is.

I know it’s a ridiculous reach. To be clear, I don’t think the text actually intends this or supports this in any meaningful way, but I do think that it gives us some very tasty potential!! If Suibian sealed itself sometime after the core transfer (which, honestly, we wouldn’t know – after all, who’s been trying to draw Wei Wuxian’s sword?), but just if, I think we can plausibly make the argument that Jiang Cheng’s cultivation is truly extraordinary.

:DDDDDDDD

It’s fun right?? It’s a fun concept!!! Even if it’s nonsense, even if it’s not that deep, even if this was an unintentional coincidence, I think it would be interesting to look at this as being some kind of measure of Jiang Cheng’s accomplishments. On the flip side, I also think it’s very important thematically that Jiang Cheng’s value as a person has nothing to do with his cultivation, that he is, in fact, always second-best, but that doesn’t make him any less worthwhile or deserving of love. Maybe I’m just projecting lmao. Of course, being extraordinary doesn’t preclude him from still lagging behind Wei Wuxian–Wei Wuxian might have just been more extraordinary ahahah. We can have both!!

Now for a totally different thing! Interestingly, this conversation about cultivation levels and sword-sealing (the one with Jiang Cheng) also happens in the audio drama, S2E12 (about 15 minutes in, since I just checked), but Wei Wuxian adds an additional comment:

(don’t have the transcription of the original chinese, I’m just going to translate it as I hear it)

“But maybe you don’t need to cultivate to a certain level to have your sword seal itself. What if there were some other way?”

these two versions of the conversation actually imply pretty different things, I think! this addition opens the possibility to the audience that sword-sealing is possible even without an extraordinary level of cultivation, and I think lends credence to the idea that Suibian is just an unusually loyal sword, regardless of Wei Wuxian’s cultivation level. Whether that’s something inherent to Suibian’s “personality”, or whether this says something about how Wei Wuxian inspires loyalty wherever he goes, or whether it just speaks to the strength of their bond remains to be seen.

(obviously, this could imply any number of other things as well, but I find this to be the interpretation that makes me happiest.)

If we go with “Suibian seals itself after Wei Wuxian’s death” in this canon, I think this emphasizes the loyalty aspect with a touch of grief.

If we combine this with CQL and have “Suibian has been loyal since he was a teenager”, that also emphasizes the loyalty aspect – just in a different way.

Of course, doing meta combining unique details from different canons is largely pointless in terms of crafting any real “analysis”, so I’m mostly saying all of this because I enjoy the process of building the supercanon in my head that brings me the most joy! To summarize the varied interpretations I’ve brought up in this post:

CQL-only: Suibian sealed itself when Wei Wuxian was a teenager, at latest, by the time he was thrown into the Mass Graves.

Novel-only: Sword-sealing is very rare and achievable only through extraordinarily high cultivation. Shortly after Wei Wuxian’s death, Suibian is discovered to have sealed itself, so Wei Wuxian’s core, by the time of his death, was extraordinarily powerful.

Audio drama-only: Sword-sealing is considered very rare and achievable only through extraordinarily high cultivation, but might also be accomplished by other methods. Shortly after Wei Wuxian’s death, Suibian is discovered to have sealed itself. If Wei Wuxian’s core is not wildly and improbably powerful, this implies that Suibian has become an exceptionally loyal sword by the time of his death.

CQL/novel: Wei Wuxian was already incredibly powerful by the time he was a teenager.

CQL/audio drama: Suibian has been exceptionally loyal to Wei Wuxian since at least his teenage years.

Novel and audio drama-only have a much wider range of when Suibian could have sealed itself, as mentioned, so there are further variances within those interpretations.

there’s a lot of potential here!! with my personal feelings regarding the story, I like novel-only with Suibian sealing post-core transfer, audio drama-only with Suibian sealing post-Wei Wuxian’s death, or CQL/audio drama with Suibian sealing as a teenager pretty much all equally. I think the CQL/novel interpretation gets too close to casting Wei Wuxian as a hyper-special and innately noble individual in a way that undercuts the strength of his character arc, but that’s my opinion. (As an aside, this is actually one of my major complaints about CQL in general, independent from what I’m talking about here. But that is a topic for another day ahahaha. To be clear, I still love CQL very much, despite my many frustrations!)

As for what I think is the most “likely” to be the “right” interpretation (whatever that’s worth), I would probably say the one that emphasizes Suibian’s loyalty with Suibian sealing post-death, because I think it’s the most thematically cohesive and has the textual support to back it. (I think it’s a valid interpretation even using novel-only text; it’s just slightly less explicit without the additional comment from Wei Wuxian.)

A final detail:

We don’t get anything from either CQL or the novel that explicitly addresses when/if Wei Wuxian is able to wield Suibian again, but the audio drama’s rendition of the “Yunmeng” extra very subtly indicates that by the time that extra takes place, Wei Wuxian has cultivated a golden core and is carrying his sword once more. You only get it at a couple of moments, but Suibian sometimes clinks when Wei Wuxian moves or when he bumps into something. The two instances I can remember specifically are when Lan Wangji tosses the ring onto him (the ring hits Suibian), and when he’s rowing the little boat onto the lotus pond and the motion makes a sound. It’s!!! Extremely good!!! It makes my heart very full!!!!!

ANYWAYS, if all of my scattered rambling didn’t fill the Suibian-shaped hole in your heart, I would also like to recommend @zeldacw‘s wonderful WangQingSuiChen series of comics, featuring anthropomorphized versions of Wangji guqin, Chenqing, Suibian, and Bichen. I believe the most recent comic is here, and there are links to the rest of the comics in the post. If you just want her general tag for the AU (which is more than just the comics), it’s here!

If you have interest in listening to the audio drama yourself, you can purchase it through the MissEvan app (Mao’er FM). There are buying instructions linked in this post! If you need English subtitles, @suibiansubs is the group that does them. :)

I really can’t recommend the audio drama enough, tbh, it’s really really dear to my heart, and the team clearly worked so hard and cared so deeply for the story they were trying to tell. Consider this my regularly scheduled plug for the audio drama ahaha.

As always, my meta is my meta and if you don’t vibe with it, that’s chill! I change my opinions constantly (I think I changed them like three times in the course of writing this ahahaha), and I know some of my older meta has been making the rounds and every time I see it I think about all the ways my views have shifted since I wrote it rip. For this post moreso than usual, I want to emphasize that pretty much all of the meta included in this is meant to explore intriguing what-if possibilities, not for serious literary analysis purposes. I am aware that a lot of this is reaching/overinterpreting into implications that probably aren’t there. I just think they’re fun to consider!

so this was a mess, but I hope you or someone out there enjoyed it anon!!

(ko-fi, if you’re so moved)

#mdzs #the untamed #the untamed meta #mdzs meta #suibian #mo dao zu shi #mine #mymeta #asks and replies #Anonymous #oh dear GOD i did it again #past me: why this will be easy! I already know what i'll talk about! probably this will take an hour #present me: *stares into the camera like i'm on the office* #this post is a MESS #running my mouth at 100mph with zero coherent structure? more likely than you think #cyan gets too deep in the weeds #:/ #meta #lmao idk if that matters #a window into my 24/7 stream of consciousness #filtered by tag: suibian #cries in a corner #im so tired whatever im punting this into the void #the structure in this is nonexistent and the language is weak please forgive me

[ingek73]

‘Royal revolutionary’ Duchess Kate’s exploitation of a murder victim was a ‘triumph’

April 05, 2021

By Kaiser

sarah everard kate

This was on everyone’s timeline over the holiday weekend and it’s just the WORST. Like, offensively bad, rage-inducing, and defying all logic. The Times of London decided to proclaim the Duchess of Cambridge “the real royal revolutionary,” because don’t you get it, Meghan was and is a feminist, a businesswoman, a self-made woman and she was torn to shreds, so now Kate wants to assume Meghan’s energy and pretend that she’s just like that, only white and therefore better. First, look at the artwork which accompanied the piece:

Absolutely offensive to actual revolutionaries, socialists, activists, advocates and basically EVERYONE. The actual article takes it to a bold new level though, suggesting that Kate’s exploitation of a murder victim (Sarah Everard) combined with her blatant Single-White-Femaling of a Black woman somehow makes Kate good, smart, keen and perfect in a sugary, gross, white supremacist way. These piece was written by Tony Allen Mills, who clearly hates women and is doing heavy drugs.

Kate’s maskless appearance at Sarah Everard’s memorial: For a moment it seemed as though the Duchess of Cambridge might become embroiled in yet another messy, polarising ruckus about pampered royals suiting themselves at the expense of the rest of us. She turned up at an unlawful gathering at Clapham Common in the middle of lockdown! She wasn’t wearing a mask! Her protection team seemed strangely unaware that earlier that Saturday morning last month, a senior police officer had warned that the vigil in south London for Sarah Everard, 33, who was abducted and murdered as she walked home at night, might be “attractive for terrorists”.

Kate was still keen to exploit: Yet somehow, the duchess still showed up, casually dressed with minimal security, with a bouquet of flowers she had picked from her palace garden. Later it was reported that she had sent a private letter of condolence to the family of the murdered woman. Hang on a minute, are we talking about the right duchess? A feminist campaigner, showing solidarity with vulnerable women, with seeming disregard for police advice and lockdown regulations?

This still doesn’t make any sense: There was an embarrassing muddle at Scotland Yard last week as senior commanders offered conflicting accounts of whether Britain’s future queen had attended the vigil legally, and whether the police had known of her attendance in advance. It emerged from an independent report into policing of the event that the senior officer in charge of the operation learnt that the duchess had been present only from a television news report after she had left. Yet Dame Cressida Dick, the Metropolitan Police commissioner, told the BBC that “the Met did know [about the visit], absolutely”. Palace sources have described Kate’s visit as private, but Dick said she was there “in the course of her duties; she’s working”.

Exploiting a murder victim is great PR for Kate: What emerged most clearly from Kate’s modestly controversial outing was not another disaster for the House of Windsor. It has turned into something of a triumph. “I think she’s played a blinder,” says Jennie Bond, a former BBC royal correspondent and author of several books on the Windsors. Unlike some of her royal relatives, Kate, 39, has barely put a foot wrong in her public embrace of worthy causes over the past few years. “She’s widely admired now as a public figure,” says Bond, “and I think she’s demonstrating that she’s very much in touch with the mood of the country.”

Penny Junor on Kate’s exploitation of Everard: Junor describes Kate’s visit to the vigil as a “wonderful gesture”. What might have turned into a made-for-tabloid tempest instead became the story of a young woman who lived in London before marrying a prince, and may have remembered what it was like to have to walk home alone at night. After the manufactured theatrics of the Sussexes’ interview with Oprah Winfrey, Junor adds, “Kate was making a very subtle point. You don’t need to make a song and dance about things. She showed up at Clapham quietly with absolutely no fanfare. I just thought it spoke volumes.”

Kate is a free spirit, you guys: The burden of royal expectation has crushed many a free spirit. The closer Kate gets to becoming Queen, the more she may be expected to conform; to be careful with her words, to avoid spontaneous excursions in the middle of a health crisis. Can she really carry on being Kate, the increasingly daring duchess? Or must she prepare to be Catherine, our smiling but silent queen? “I think what William and Kate have demonstrated is that you can have a much greater impact if you go large on a smaller number of causes,” says Bond, who like many royal watchers believes Kate will stick to non-controversial issues such as child development and mental health. She’s naturally engaged and comes across as genuine because she is genuinely interested in the topics she has espoused,” Bond adds. “I think she’ll be wise enough to stick to issues quite specific to her personality and knowledge.”

[From The Times of London]

I don’t understand the transparent attempt to obfuscate the issue of Kate’s attendance at the Everard memorial, and how Kate tried to pretend it was a private visit, when everything about it (including the sugary, offensive PR) shows that Kate was working, that she showed up maskless to a murder victim’s memorial with her security, having alerted Sky News of her presence, and then leaving the rest of the mourners to be brutalized by cops. She then leaked the information about a letter she sent to the family, which is gross and invasive, especially since AGAIN, it was clear that this is just about “work” for her. The work of repairing her battered image of a Karen who fake-cries white woman tears and tries to copy Meghan and assume Meghan’s experiences and persona as her own. As I’ve been saying, there’s something really wrong going on with Kate psychologically. It’s not *just* stupidity and laziness. She’s actively being creepy. Kate’s communications team is actively putting all of this out there, that Kate’s exploitation of the tragic murder of a young woman was “something of a triumph.” It’s offensively tone-deaf.

#royals #kate middleton #meghan markle #duchess of cambridge #sarah everard #celebitchy #blatant pr nonsense

[mamamittens]

Long Awaited LoZ Thoughts

I’d like to start this off by explaining my background. I have a BA in English with a minor in Humanities. I have lived all my life in the Bible Belt of America, so my PoV of this series is inevitably going to be, at least in part, from the perspective of a Western-centric, Christianity-influenced woman. I have grown up with a deep interest in folk tales and mythology though, and took several classes on ancient cultures, so my base knowledge of religion all over the world is broader than what you’d probably expect. I am not religious myself, I’m actually agnostic. And this is just an in-universe look at the very strange religion of Hyrule. So, to make things easier, let’s just put aside the obvious meta issues with this world. The wonky timeline, complex lore changes between said timelines, and the fact that the whole series has clearly grown wildly over the course of its development without an overarching plot. The game mechanics being game mechanics. All of it. This whole thing will just be me trying to make sense of the world without the ‘it’s just a game, bro’ crutch. I will be drawing on what I know from the many games I’ve played myself, so if I don’t mention a big piece of lore from a specific game, it’s because I didn’t play it. Go ahead and rule out the early games before Ocarina of Time, as that’s the first game in the series I can remember playing. I was legitimately too young to have ever played anything prior to that, having been born in 1996. Now let’s get started, shall we?

 So, obviously everyone knows that the LoZ world is said to begin with the three goddesses. Din, Nayru, and Farore came together to create the world and before they yote themselves out of the narrative as direct players, they created the Triforce. A powerful artifact capable of granting a wish and giving their respective bearers undefined power. This is directly from Ocarina of Time and we see their symbol, the Triforce, all over the many games with very few exceptions. Now, to be clear, having a polytheistic religion with three main gods is hardly new. Hinduism has three main gods after all (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva), and depending on your flavor of Christianity, you have the holy trinity (God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). There’s even the Celtic goddesses that come specifically in threes (collectively called The Morrigan; Eriu, Fodla, and Banba). This isn’t an exhaustive list of three divine beings, by the way, just know that three is a weird trend in western-centric stories, including religion. But what’s different about the three Hyrule Goddesses? Well, they’re weirdly small for big shot gods. Let me explain.

        So, the three Hindu gods I mentioned earlier each handle a specific aspect. Creation, destruction, and preservation, not necessarily in that order though (which god does what isn’t the point, so just roll with me here). These are very broad and powerful subjects. Christianity is much the same, even though it’s a monotheistic religion. God is literally an all-powerful, omniscient, omnipotent deity. Jesus is his son who gave his life to basically forgive all sin. And I’m not totally clear on the Holy Spirit, but these three are clearly Big Deals with Big Ideas behind them. A good rule of thumb for old religion is that the older the deity, the wider the scope of their job or what they represent. Which makes sense. If you had to personify the forces of the universe, you’d probably start with the sun instead of like… whatever god is responsible for the creation of rice specifically. The bigger and scarier the natural force, the bigger deal that god usually is, putting aside politics and cultural trends. Egypt is a good example of this, as their roster of gods tended to change a lot depending on who was Pharaoh at the time and wherever the city center was. Horus is the god of the sun, or at least one of them, and is generally considered king of the gods. Which makes perfect sense for a land largely made up of a desert.

But what are the three goddesses’ rulers of? Power, Wisdom, and Courage. Each with clear elemental associations and people that are obviously affiliated with them. Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, is clearly associated with water and likely has a close connection with the Zora. Din, Goddess of Power, is associated with fire and has clear connection with the Gerudo (unclear if the same goddess as the one present in the desert temple in Ocarina of Time). Farore, Goddess of Courage, is associated with all things green and of the earth, including the child-like race of Kokiri who perpetually inhabit the forest. Sure, these are broad topics, but not really… the first thing you’d think of for creators of the universe, are they? And it raises the question about the Hyrule people, who are said to be able to hear the gods due to their pointed ears… let’s put a pin in that and move on.

So, we know there are many gods in this universe, primarily because we meet them. For example, Zephos, God of Winds, in Wind Waker. But he’s clearly a fairly forgotten god, as he shares a shrine with Cylcos, God of Cyclones, which is about as bare as it can be. Just what appears to be a Tori gate with two stone monuments with the simple notes to summon them, almost completely out of the way. Which… I mean, I don’t know many gods with their extension number written on their monuments. That would kind of like going to church on Sunday and seeing “Hit me up if you need me, J-Boy 555-TAKE THE WHEEL” written on the podium. And remember, this is a world and game where the gods actively flooded the world and would therefore hold or have held enough power to directly interfere with Hyrule.

And Skyward Sword clearly has divine beings, one of which even flooded a whole area, though they’re subservient to Hylia. Who we will get back to later, I promise. The three dragons (again, that magic number), capable of divine power, though where that power comes from in unclear. The dragons are of a high status though, as evident by their servants and clear reference to high-class dress of their clothes. These dragons are revered, but clearly not worshipped, much like nobles in that regard. A curious note is the parallels to the three goddesses, and how the symbols are muddled and mixed for these dragons.

Lanayru clearly has the symbols associated with the Zora, and by extension Nayru, but is yellow. He also is saved by time travel used to grow a magic fruit, which Link often uses (time travel) in many games to advance the plot himself (and wouldn’t you know it, but mixing blue with yellow does produce green. Weird). Faron is the water dragon who flooded an area, and she is almost entirely blue (as well as unsettling to look at), surrounded by a species clearly related to the Zora though closer to octopi. But her name is Faron, which is weirdly close to Farore’s name, not Nayru. I mean, they are close to locations that resemble their names of course, but it’s still an interesting note. Finally, there’s Eldin, clearly bearing a symbol associated with the Gerudo without any strange mixes of symbols for the series. Oddly, he’s also the most open of the three dragons, especially considering the Gerudo’s traditional stance of being a ‘no-sausage’ club. Not terribly relevant, but I just thought it was interesting to point out. You can consider the Giants in Majora’s Mask on the same level as them, though their status is unclear (Since they’re summoned by a song and can stop the moon from falling, they probably straddle the line between mortal and divine).

Now, spirits also exist in this world, both as the ghostly variety and the more pseudo-divine. Not to be confused with actual divinity. Divine being can be spirits, but not all spirits are divine. In this context, spirits can be defined more as being of power capable of granting aid in return for something. Zephos can change the winds if called upon, but you don’t need to feed him, for example. But the spirits in Twilight Princess need aid before they can help you. And they’re also not very independent and are able to be fooled easily, which isn’t usually a god-like quality. While more physically present than the three goddesses, they’re also not strictly tangible, and seem to be extremely limited to their location. At best, these spirits could be classified as minor deities below the gods we see in Wind Waker. They also share the same abilities in keeping the realm of Twilight from falling over the land of Hyrule, as well as their weakness to parasites of undetermined origin. An interesting note is that they all seem to live in bodies of water. Let’s put a pin in that one too.

Someone that also counts as a spirit would be Fi and her counterpart, Ghirahim. Literally two halves of the same coin, these two are both very limited in power and function. They don’t represent anything on their own and are very dependent on others to achieve results. How or why they were made is unclear, but it is obvious that both were forged at some point, and clearly gained sentience. Even their personalities and allegiances are a bit odd. Fi for her sci-fi appearance and calculating personality in a fantasy land, and Ghirahim for his… well, everything. I don’t know why the root of all evil would make his weapon a full-tilt diva, let alone on purpose. Ghirahim always struck me as odd since his bombastic personality seemed to clash with his ultimate fate of just being a weapon for Demise.

Okay, so the Great Fairies are weird, okay?! Like, really weird. They act as spirits (I can’t think of any that aren’t restricted to a body of water in some form), but are very independent. They also don’t necessarily need anything from Link to offer assistance. Sometimes, just opening the fairy fountain is enough to gain items needed to progress. And there’s also the fact that fairies heal you upon ‘death’, though with a limited heart capacity. Sometimes they need you to do something though, like the Breath of the Wild fairies need rupees to function or items to upgrade equipment. They also usually look human, like Majora’s Mask Great Fairies are clearly just… giant women with color coded accessories. But like, they float. Where Great Faires come from, or even just regular fairies, is unclear. Until Wind Waker, Great Faires were adults. But when you finally meet the real Great Fairy in Wind Waker it’s… a child. With a doll that looks just like the ‘Great Fairies’ you’ve seen along the way. This sort of implies that Great Fairies age and die, though clearly with a different lifetime than most races in Hyrule (the child Great Fairy also only looks somewhat human compared to other Great Fairies, so make of that what you will). And it also implies that all the adult Great Fairies are dead (you’re welcome for that depressing thought), with the last one trapped in a hollow tree only accessible by the power of a God.

In Breath of the Wild, the Great Fairies are both diminished but more powerful. They literally are stuck in a giant flower with water in it, with few fairies around them, and require riches to get stronger. The connection to their new restrictions to this need for material wealth is unclear. It’s also interesting to note that their fountains are no longer places that appear to be man-made holy temples and they seem to be out of the way… well, for a given value of ‘out of the way’ (looking at you ninja village). These fairies can accomplish more tasks, but certainly won’t be doing it for free or with minimal effort. A far cry from their first appearances (no, I don’t consider using explosives a difficult task).

But Fairies are also companions with nebulous tasks, such as in Ocarina of Time, where Tatl follows Link until the end of the game. And Kokiri have their own fairy as a sign of whatever accounts for adulthood in their race. The Skull Kid in Majora’s Mask has two fairy friends who seemed to have been either lost or abandoned. Who or what gives them purpose and life is unclear, though the Great Deku Tree from Ocarina of Time can give commands, it doesn’t seem to be something he does normally? As a side note, it’s really not clear what, if anything he can actually do. Though the relative safety of the surrounding area is clearly tied with his wellbeing in all iterations, he doesn’t seem to directly influence it, or be capable of self-defense.

Now, onto the elephant in the room! Hylia! Who the hell is this?! A more recent entry to the series, her divine roll is unclear (though she clearly guards the Triforce in some capacity). It can be assumed that she’s somehow a goddess tied directly to the Hylian people, but when she appeared is up for debate. Timeline wise, it’s almost like knowledge of her was suppressed for some reason, giving rise to the Triforce mythos we all know and love without hide or hair of her seen. We know that she favored the original Link greatly, enough to shed her divinity to be reborn as a mortal and assist him. How or why is also unclear, though it wouldn’t be unfair to assume she loved him, as divine ladies holding an affair with a mortal isn’t uncommon in mythology (or even male gods doing the same, before anyone brings up Zeus). But she makes a resurgence in Breath of the Wild, with statues and everything, with the three goddesses left to only vague references in the background. Which is super weird, though not uncommon for places like Ancient Egypt. The fact that the ruling family was literally descendant from a goddess is what makes it weird though, since any monarchy worth their salt would milk that until the peasant folk revolted and made a new religion to justify killing a god.

Zelda in every incarnation is literally descendant from the original and still held at least a fraction of that divine power. So much so that a cornerstone of a powerful religious artifact inevitably ends up in her hands (or on the back of her right hand, as it were). But what is Hylia a Goddess of? We don’t know. It’s never said. Anywhere. And that’s super weird, even for a ubiquitous deity. Sure she’s a Goddess of Hyrule but… what does that mean? That can’t be all she is? Her reincarnation is literally locked in a generational struggle against the forces of darkness! What can she do as a Goddess? Well, she makes Link stronger in return for items, but that seems to be it. In Ocarina of Time, Zelda was capable of sending Link back to the past, but that was with a magic item. And we know Hylia isn’t the Goddess of Time, because Zelda references her in Majora’s Mask (sequel to Ocarina of Time, therefore implying that there are more gods unmentioned at that time), when Hylia should be mortal or at least fragmented (because Zelda exists at the time with powers and a Triforce piece). The Guardian of Time in Hyrule Warriors also fell in love with Link before splitting into Cia and Lana (and was unable to fuse back together again), so it’s unlikely that she’s the Goddess of Time Zelda was referring to, though that detail is interesting to note. No, I will not discuss if Hyrule Warriors is canon (either game), as this is already long enough as it is.

So, that brings us to Ganon, or in his original form, Demise. Which… what’s up with that? Who is this guy? He directly opposes the gods and just… gets away with it! Repeatedly! Sure, he loses most of the time, but still. It’s unclear where Demise came from, or even what he is, though judging by Ghirahim’s ‘Demon Lord’ title, it can be assumed that he is some type of demon himself. And that the many monsters we see are also considered demons, which makes sense with how they always work for Demise (or his many iterations) in some form or another. Considering how much it takes to simply seal him away, he can’t be just a demon though.

        Demise obviously pulled the same trick Hylia did, which directly sets him up as a counterpart to her, but what does it mean? Why would he do that? What is Demise that he can’t be beat with the power of a Goddess alone and needs not only a brave knight but a blade literally made to counter him? Within the context of religion, the best guess I can make is that he’s some form of a God of Darkness, possibly also Temptation, Greed, and Pigs Corruption. It fits within the narrative since power is often the strongest form of temptation and we know that demons capable of opposing the gods exist. The Horned Statue literally takes Hylia’s blessings in exchange for wealth, and was turned into a statue for it. What it stands to gain from any of it is unclear, but interestingly enough, Hylia doesn’t mind that it closely resembles her own statues. So, this raises the question… why isn’t Demise a forgotten statue somewhere along a dusty road? How did he curse(?) both a reborn goddess and a human in an eternal struggle for the fate of Hyrule?

        Being a god is about the only explanation for why he can do the things that he does. It explains why, in every incarnation, he ends up a rule (like Zelda). How he controls so many different species with ease. He corrupts the conflicted as easily as breathing. An interesting note is how Demise in his many forms usually ends up corrupting once good forces in some way, typically with parasites or evil spirits. And with this context, Hylia must be a Goddess of Light, and possibly some form of Will and Purity to oppose Demise’s power. It would also make her a good candidate for looking after the Triforce in that case. And yet we don’t know any of this for sure either, which is, again, very strange considering their presence from the very beginning. Literally.

Now, I want to mention the temples as a last point before wrapping this up, because it has bothered me since I was a wee little whipper snapper. For a place of worship, they sure are hard to navigate, even when they’re empty of monsters. And it’s not like Hyrule doesn’t get this, because the Temple of Time in Ocarina of Time is straight up a church. Just… without pews, so clearly not perfect, but it is possible for people to come in and… worship time, I guess. And no, not the Goddess of Time, because there’s no statue for that. I mean, I know it’s secretly hiding the Master Sword, but it is definitely a church otherwise. What a normal service looks like I can’t say for sure, but it’s definitely not like literally any other temples we see.

        Now, I know it’s a little hard to remember, but temples are usually places where one goes to worship the gods (or even just a god). And we know gods exist in a very real way in Hyrule! They still manage to name Zelda the same thing despite having seemingly buried their divine origins, so some knowledge of gods walking the mortal realm exists. But the temples/dungeons we see usually don’t have much in the way of religious iconography, with a few exceptions (interestingly it’s typically the desert area that actually has statues and could feasibly have had a real capacity for worship). You want to be a devout follower of a god anywhere else? Well, fuck you. Hope you brought a sword and a good pair of boots. If you’re allowed inside at all, since it’s usually the local leaders that are only allowed inside for some reason. And most games don’t seem to have very religious people, despite all the references to divinity. Not like we’d expect them to, at least. And I personally can’t blame them. If I tried to join a religion but found only a wall as an entrance, I’d be pretty disheartened too. Then I’d be pretty pissed to find out I needed not only a royal instrument handed down the monarchy, but their freaking lullaby to even get in to the place of worship. But we know they pray to the gods at least semi-often, since that’s one of the inciting incidences in Wind Waker. And they have offering to statues of Hylia.

        The temples suggest the bar to impress the gods is pretty high, and not in a ‘sacrifice your eldest child’ kind of way. To even get the chance to reach the inner chambers you better hope it’s been kept well and that you didn’t skip leg day recently. Something I didn’t really mention before is that usually, the less involved the gods are, the more independent the people are from worship. If you worry that your local deity will flood your fields, you’re probably leaving regular offerings at their nearby shrine or temple. But if you know that the gods don’t care about literally anything you do, why worship them at all? Why make statues, art, or temples? Why bother with any of it? The answer is you don’t. So these highly selective temples are pretty weird unless you go with the idea the gods are just really done with people and never want to talk to them unless absolutely necessary.

So, I’ve rambled for over twelve pages now. What’s the point? What does any of this mean? I’m honestly not sure, but I have a sinking feeling that there’s some serious shit going on in the Hyrule pantheon. Mortals have been mostly abandoned to their doom. Gods cast out and forgotten entirely. And somehow advanced civilizations keep forming and getting destroyed with only remnants left behind with zero explanation. Assuming the original gods are even alive at this point, which I’m not entirely certain of. Their death certainly explains how Demise/Ganon keeps getting stronger, looking less and less Hylian as time goes on, if he looks humanoid to begin with.

I wouldn’t even assume it’s entirely voluntary at this point either, as Ganon clearly doesn’t have the same motivations in every incarnation (see my previous post about Wind Waker). I’m rather excited about Breath of the Wild 2, as the implications of dehydrated husk Ganon is compelling. Particularly in light of the character development Link and Zelda have received in the first Breath of the Wild. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ganon/Demise turns out to be a fallen god trying to get back home (a nice parallel to Wind Waker, actually), cast out as a scape goat. Blamed for every form of corruption and greed that naturally follows in his wake. I think I said this before, but it is interesting that he is always reborn among the Gerudo, a race famously all females. Sometimes thieves, but nearly always in a position that would naturally crave power to take control of their lives compared to Hylians. Regardless of the consequences.

Is it true? I don’t know. Probably not, but the fact that I can draw these conclusions in three hours of writing is pretty neat. I have a lot of feelings about this franchise, having grown up with it, but I eagerly await what comes next. And I should probably go to bed. Make of all this what you will.

#Legend of Zelda #Botw #majora's mask #Wind Waker #hyrule warriors #link #zelda #hylia #ganon #demise #this series hurts my brain #or maybe it's the lack of sleep #if this makes sense to anyone i will be happy #but there are some series conspiracy vibes going on behind the scenes here #just like #everything #all of it #it's weird how mixed things are #and each game makes it worse somehow?!? #ngl i love it anyway

[orsuliya]

Dear General, just talk to your wife!

Let it be said: any male hero who interferes in his partner’s reproductive ability without her permission and/or knowledge is usually immediately cancelled in my eyes. That is certainly the case for any piece of media set in modern times. Fantasy/historical heroes get a bit of leeway depending on the cultural context, although not always. But the thing is, just as there are no blanket excuses, there are also no blanket condemnations. And you know what?

I do have to give Xiao Qi a get-out-of-immediate-cancellation card in this case! But not before examining his motivations and all mitigating circumstances. To be clear, I’m up to episode 37 at the moment.

So prepare yourself for Five Reasons Xiao Qi Is Very Much Not Cancelled (But He Certainly Deserves A Very Stern Talking To And Then Maybe A Hug).

To recap: Xiao Qi was told that Awu’s health is fragile and while she is able to get pregnant, any pregnancy is very risky and a considerable danger to her life. Upon hearing this he is visibly moved; three months later, when Awu comes back from the temple, there is a re-do wedding at the Yuzhang Manor, during which Xiao Qi announces that Wang Xuan is going to be the only woman in his life. At some point – either at the temple or after the wedding – Awu starts taking medicine prescribed by the Imperial Physician. The medicine, as Auntie Xu later discovers, is actually a tonic, which can be used to prevent conception. Eventually, though, after a year or two of continuous use, it will render a woman infertile for life. As of episode 37 (41 if I choose to trust the raws) Awu does not know what is going on.

And now onto the list!

1. The man is probably the most panicked he has ever been in his life and his mental state is not that great at the moment.

The first thing to remember is that this whole ‘let’s make Awu infertile’ decision is not taken in a void. It is not a case of an isolated event; the choice comes at an end of a veritable Trauma Conga Line. The exact timeline is very muddled, but in the last few months (up to a year) Awu has been: kidnapped, rescued, attacked by assasins, forced to deal with a rebelling city and then a siege, sent straight into a murderous conspiracy and then recruited to deal with a coup… and only then she was put in the very centre of a second coup courtesy of Daddy Wang. Which caused her to lose her child and her mother on the same day. And let’s not forget all the broken illusions about her family and her first love. That’s a lot to deal with and she is pure steel with a spine of titanium, there is no doubt as to that. But she is not the only one who’s had a really hard year.

From the kidnapping onwards Xiao Qi has been with Awu on this road; more often that not away from her physically, true, but from the moment he declared her his wife who will share his life and death…? He’s been in 100%. And being the strong, dependable, ride or die guy has taken its toll, one way or another.

It is quite noticeable that with every Big Damn Heroes moment he pulls off he gets more and more affected. The bridge rescue and its aftermath? Cool as a cucumber; the guilt and responsibility is certainly there, no fear though. Breaking of Huizhou siege? He’s proud as hell of her accomplishments, but he really came at the very last moment – she was getting ready to be killed rather than taken hostage. And there is this noticeable undertone of relief there. The Red Wedding? By then he is panicking. Hard. Which he readily admits, so it’s not pure conjecture. This man, who has never been afraid of attacking armies and not really afraid of death either, is scared as f***. Mind you, it’s not like he’s ever had anyone to be really scared for before; his soldiers are a different case altogether. And this time he was late, which makes for a really fertile soil for various ‘what-ifs’ during those two days when Awu is unconscious. He was late despite basically pulling off a miracle and risking entering the capital with only 10 000 troops.

And then and only then Daddy Wang pulls out all the stops. Two days of watching his unconscious wife is nothing compared to what happens then. First she runs into the middle of opposing forces, completely disregarding any danger to herself. For him (and her father, but that is beside the point)! I am sure that Song Huaien relayed her words to Xiao Qi once the dust settled. Then... Princess Jinmin dies and Awu starts bleeding.

After… After he claims responsibility for Princess Jinmin’s death. There is no doubt he is feeling doubly, triply responsible for the miscarriage. He can’t really help his wife. And he is grieving for their child. Not only for Awu’s sake, but for his own too.

It all culminates with the Imperial Physician telling Xiao Qi that there is another battle to be fought, one which Awu will probably enter with minimal hesitation and in which he is not going to be able to pull a Big Damn Heroes rescue. So in that moment he clutches at his heart… And – at least I think that’s the moment - takes a split-second decision: NOT AGAIN. Everything after that? He’s only holding to a chosen course.

2. He is feeling guilty as all hell and is overcompensating hard.

Xiao Qi is the epitome of a hyper-responsible hero. And not in the ‘Woe is me, everything is my fault!’ way that brooding heroes tend to veer to. No empty anguish or dramatic self-flagellation there! He is very matter of fact about both his responsibility and perceived guilt. Soldiers die under his command? He will honour their memory and take care of their families. Awu gets kidnapped by his personal enemy? He will admit his guilt without any excuses and offer recompense. Princess Jinmin becomes a victim of a stand-off that he did not even provoke? He will take the blame and then redeem himself by swearing an oath that he will not fail to protect Awu. And he takes his oaths very, very seriously, otherwise the Ma family would have a Really Big Problem.

All that responsibility comes from both his own character and the force of habit. Nobody ever worries about me, he says. To his soldiers he is the strong, infallible one and so he keeps this facade intact despite knowing it’s a load of bull.

So this hyper-responsible man has unwittingly sent his wife into danger, into battle (!) three times already (kidnapping, rebellion in Huizhou, Zilu’s coup) and was part of the reason she entered the fourth one. And while she has acquitted herself brilliantly every time, she paid a very steep price for saving him/the Empire. In his mind, he owes it to her and to Princess Jinmin for it to never ever happen again. And so he is not going to send her into the battle of childbirth for anything under the sun! The thing is, Awu is brave as hell and would enter it willingly in a blink of an eye. So he is arranging things so that she can never do that in the first place.

3. Xiao Qi is trying to spare Awu from mental and emotional anguish. It’s a pattern and one wildly spiraling out of control.

It’s really, really starting to show that Xiao Qi is used to being regarded as the infallible one, the one who must always find a solution and save as many people as he can. And while it is not a problem in Ningshuo, when he needs to tell Awu the truth about her father (and still he hesitates!), it tends to come through quite strongly in moments of stress and/or danger. Which is understandable, I think. In Ningshuo the stakes are not as high, everybody is safe and they are in the middle of Xiao Qi’s fortress, the very centre of his power. If there is any place he feels safe and at home, it’s right there. The capital is a wholly different kettle of fish; even on his first visit Xiao Qi is – quite reasonably – wary and on guard. For him the capital is behind enemy lines. So he reverts to his Infallible General mindset more and more: he keeps telling Awu things, but not all of them (money) and not always immediately (Hulans asking for a bride). Which is really stupid of him since Awu is in many areas just as smart - if not smarter - than him.

It’s not only the Infallible General mindset, though. In fact, that is the least of the problems there. By this point the panic is really setting in and so is the guilt. There is one more thing, though. Xiao Qi has this tendency towards self-deprecation. He does not wallow in it, but the undercurrent of his perceived social inferiority emerges from time to time, moreso in the capital. And it does factor in his behaviour; I sense that he has this need to keep deserving her. Coupled with devotion, it pushes him into a very touching, but also potentially dangerous single-mindedness.

Saving Daddy Wang by kneeling all night long clearly shows that Xiao Qi will stop at nothing to spare Awu’s heart, life and health. Personal pride? Enmity towards Daddy Wang? Political expedience? Disregarded completely. So what’s a year or two of lying if it means Awu lives? He’s set himself a Goal: protect Awu, just as he promised before Princess Jinmin’s grave. And it’s really been blinding him since.

Notice that he did not tell her about saving Daddy Wang either. She had to find out from His Imperial Spudness! True, it all worked out fine then, but whatever his reasons, he still did not tell her. And yes, I get that his reasons were really noble, but! But it is still a pattern, one that I hope she will break him out of rather sooner than later.

4. He is making a great sacrifice too; hear me out! And he does not leave himself an out.

This is the kind of argument that launches a flaming discussion, so please, be gentle. Anyway, we are not going to speak of whether any man has the right to make unilateral decisions about his wife’s body, that’s neither here nor there in this case, since it does not really enter into consideration in the drama itself.

What is clearly very important in the drama is the idea of family lines. The Wang and Xie families are all about this idea of legacy and bloodlines. Bloodlines are Important: propagating the bloodline is Wang Su’s main duty and both families fight over whose blood will sit on the throne. This clan mentality is clearly a Very Serious Business. Admittedly, Xiao Qi is an outsider to the clan-based society of upper classes. But even though his primary social group consists of his brothers-in-arms, he is very acutely attuned to the idea of family being the most important thing. It shows in many aspects of his life: in the care he gives to his soldiers’ families, in the consideration he gives Awu when she encounters another heartbreaking truth about her relatives and in the way he seems to take for granted that she will not stop caring for Daddy Wang no matter what. Also, he clearly likes kids, the mysterious shadow child gave us this much.

So it is not out of the realm of possibility that he would really like to have a child of his own. And why wouldn’t he? Awu may have trouble bearing him children, but there is nothing stopping him from taking a concubine or a dozen for this very purpose. Any other man in this drama would have (maybe except Zilu…?). And the society would not judge him, especially if the truth about Awu’s condition came out. It really is not a monogamistic society. Moreover, since Daddy Wang is not in the picture any more, nobody can even try to force Xiao Qi to keep to one bed (or poison his concubine…), not with his current position and power.

And what is the very first thing he does after Awu comes home? He declares – in public and with great pomp! - that Awu will be his only woman, thus staking his honor and reputation on all his children being hers. Which with the tonic in play means that there will be no children. It is a decision he takes very deliberately and in direct response to the previous events and the Wangs’ fall from grace. In fact, I wager this whole monogamy clause is a way not only to quell the rumours and stop any scheming families in their tracks, but also to keep things fair as much as it is even possible. Awu will not have children, well, neither will he.  

5. He is setting himself up and preemptively hogging all the guilt and blame.

The short yet very poignant exchange with Pang Gui in episode 37 makes it clear that Xiao Qi knows quite well he is going to be found out sooner or later. Sure, he would rather that Pang Gui kept mum about everything, but in reality he leaves it wholly up to his judgment. Which tells me that Xiao Qi is not willing to ‘kill’ for this secret. In fact, it might suit his plans if it were to come out… though not at the moment. Maybe after the requisite year or two, once Awu is no longer in any danger. Relying on what we know about his character, I think he is wholly prepared for the truth to eventually come out and then to take all the blame. And I mean ALL the blame. As in: Awu will have no reason to blame herself for her fragile health and thus inability to bear children, if it’s actually Xiao Qi’s fault. He will have gotten her infertile, so her actual ability to give birth safely will be immaterial. She will put all her anger on him and not on herself, and anger he can take, it’s her getting quiet that he can’t cope with. And to hell with what it does to their marriage, she will be alive. Is it stupid, stupid thinking? Sure. But quite probable when you’re dealing with a man this hyper-responsible and clearly unused to family dynamics.

And that’s that. Do I think he is being a single-minded fool? Sure. The man is not perfect after all! Does he need to talk to Awu? Of course, but I get where his unwillingness to do just that comes from. Is it going to bite him in the ass really, really hard? Oooooh, is it! But Xiao Qi is not cancelled and if Awu forgives him, then so should we all.

#this rant may be long and unneeded #but so very satisfying #XIAO QI IS VERY MUCH NOT CANCELLED #why? because I say so #feel free to disagree #the rebel princess #monarch industry #rebel princess meta

[curedigiqueen]

So while I was working on my… analysis I suppose, on why Digimon Adventure: does not work as a show, it occurred to me that despite claims that Taichi in Adventure: is inspired by V-Tamer Taichi, his partner is an Agumon whose final evolution is Omegamon, and why that doesn’t work. But I realized that it is a point that I could expand on, and so I have separated it out here. Consider it a preview.

The protagonists of Digimon V-Tamer are Yagami Taichi and his partner Zero, a Veedramon. The story is carried by these two alone. While others help and hinder them on their way, their mission is theirs, and the responsibility of defeating Daemon belongs to no one else. It is with that power that they reach their highest form, UlforceVeedramon Future Mode While Taichi is the main protagonist, Zero is just as much a protagonist. Their names, even reference binary. While there are other characters who impact the plot, the role of protagonist belongs to these two. 

This is echoed in the themes of Digimon Adventure:, the digivice in the title supposedly representing the bonds between human and digimon. And, while I don’t think it particularly succeeds, I can see clear attempts to be made to make the digimon partners their own characters, equals to their human partners. 

But yet, Digimon Adventure: uses Omegamon as Taichi and Agumon’s final evolution. And that is a bit of a problem. Digimon Partners are not interchangeable. Well, okay, the species are a bit arbitrary, all things considered, (after all, Zero’s rookie form is also Agumon) but the problem is what UlforceVeedramon represents vs. Omegamon. 

In Digimon Adventure, Omegamon is not Taichi’s power alone. Not by a long shot. Taichi is not the solo human protagonist of Digimon Adventure. Even in the first film, before Hikari was even meant to play a key role in the series, she shared the series debut. Regardless, the burden of defeating Apocalymon is not his alone to bear. And Agumon’s evolutions reflect that. WarGreymon is reached through borrowing Hikari’s power. Omegamon is literally formed by WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon (who was formed by borrowing Takeru’s power), but in reality is born from the power of hundreds of people reaching out from across the world. And perhaps even Taichi’s crest of Courage is not something that belongs to him alone. As Yamato puts it, “It’s everyone's Friendship”. Though Taichi best embodies courage, the courage he wields is not his alone. Even tri. which I usually avoid using as an example, has Omegamon Merciful Mode, which very explicitly draws from the other children’s partners. Adventure’s Taichi’s not strong because he himself is powerful. Really compared to Hikari he seems rather unimpressive on his own. He’s strong because he is able to easily act as a receiver to others powers, a trait that is fitting for a leader. Because that’s what sets Adventure Taichi apart from his peers, he’s a leader.

Note, that I didn’t really bring up the partners in regards to the discussion of Adventure, not that they aren’t important, but that they aren’t a driving factor. Digimon partners are something vastly different in Digimon Adventure. They are reflections of the children’s inner selves. For straightforward characters, like Taichi, his partner Agumon is very much like him, and for characters like Sora, Piyomon seems very different. This isn’t to say that the digimon are simply their partners, Tailmon went through quite a bit on her own. But nevertheless, Tailmon is the way she is, because Hikari is the way she is. 

Digimon Partners and their evolutions are not things that are just assigned, and given. They are things that arise from the circumstances. Omegamon is there because the themes and circumstances make Omegamon the most appropriate "Ultra”. This is true both in and out of universe, who can forget SkullGreymon? SkullGreymon isn’t wrong. It’s just not the evolution that fits Taichi and Agumon’s situation.

And here’s the thing. Digimon has done the whole focus on “Bonds with Partner’s” before. That’s Tamers. And in Tamers, the final evolution was born from a human and a digimon literally coming together as one. The final episodes all appear somewhat humanoid as a result, particularly notable from WarGrowmon to Gallentmon. Because that was what evolutions were needed narratively and thematically. Otherwise, we have Megidramon. And guess what, the Adventure timeline also has a movie in which the focus is on the bonds between human and friendship, and lo and behold. In Digimon Adventure Kizuna, Agumon (Bond of Courage) and Gabumon (Bond of Friendship) were born. Born from the bond between human and digimon. They even use the “looking like humans” idea from Tamers.

Interestingly, Kizuna came right before Digimon Adventure: started. 

Now, I am really advocating for the Bond forms to be used in Adventure:, those forms were something special to that timeline. But that’s just the thing. Many evolutions, whether unique digimon or not, are brought about by circumstances unique to that timeline. Look at 02’s usage of Armor levels, Frontier's Hybrids, and Xros Wars' Xros mechanic. It’s not new for later seasons to take these Digimon that have existed in these specific circumstances and use them generically later. It would, after all, be a shame to put all those good designs to waste. But at the very least, the evolutions of the main cast are carefully chosen, created if need be, to fit the show.

And that creates a problem for Adventure: as a reboot. It is pulling from the evolutionary lines of its predecessor, despite aiming for different themes and using an entirely different world and characters, and in the process the meaning behind the evolutions has been stripped out. While it has been able to throw in additional evolutions, most of those are well within the confines of precedent: Armors and Ultimate’s that are already related to these evolutionary lines. Adventure: is trying to be a show that, as a reboot of Adventure, it cannot be. Adventure: spends so much of its time screaming that it is not the original Adventure, while simultaneously dragging in call backs that it loses any sense of identity.

The enemies they fight are not Taichi’s responsibility alone. These kids have to have crests. Agumon must evolve into Omegamon.  Angemon still has to die, HolyAngemon and Angemon have to mean something. Tailmon has to be Adult, and has to have been evil. Hikari and Takeru have to give their brother’s power. Omegamon still has to appear. . They still go to summer camp, and Taichi still fights Parrotmon. 

Note, that this is far from Adventure:’s only problem, however I do think it illustrates a large problem that affects the way certain elements and characters are used in this show. Taichi is a solo protagonist, but his “Ultra” is still Omegamon born of Yamato, Takeru and HIkari’s influence. Mimi is now a bossy rich girl, but her crest is still Purity. Yamato is a loner who doesn’t overly concern himself with others, but he’s still Friendship, and still Takeru’s semi-estranged younger brother. 

When Adventure: manages to work a new angle into the old mold, it works well. Yamato’s focus on his friendship with Gabumon works well, and various side characters work alright. Resolving the conflict over Tailmon’s Ultimates by using both for separate things and bringing in Goddramon is a great idea. But more often than not, it doesn’t. Properly contextualizing what a holy digimon is is great, but Angemon’s death is awkward, and Pegususmon’s presence smooths over the issues of Tailmon being champion and keeping Angemon special in an awkward way, refusing to address what an Armor is. Because they are trying to write a story around a set of evolutions they are required to have while absolutely refusing to be Adventure where it matters. Leading to the awkward mesh of Adventure elements and characters, with themes and stories that they were never meant for. 

If Adventure: was meant to be about the bond between Taichi and Agumon, Omegamon was never going to work, including the concepts of crests, was going to muddle things at the very least, and including 7 whole other partner pairs who are going to require at least a few episodes of focus a piece was not going to work out. It’s not that we couldn’t have had more focus on Taichi and Agumon within a reboot and their bond, or that the idea of Taichi and Agumon (or any other pair), activating an evolution because they are in agreement on a concept isn’t a good idea. Just an understanding that this primary focus wasn’t going to work because Adventure in its very concept has a lot of characters that need some degree of focus. Savers with its heavier Masaru focus and use of shonen tropes, dials back the number of “main” characters to half that of Adventure, because it is built around its premise. That unless they were going to be bumped down to secondary, recurring characters, this was never going to work, because that’s not how Adventure’s concept was intended. To tell a new story, it needed to have dropped a few more of Adventure’s elements. But to do that would be to essentially admit that this isn’t Adventure at all. Adventure: needed to have evaluated what story it could tell with what elements it was required to include.

Anything goes in Digimon, and Adventure: seems to want to make the most of this, using armors, Hybrids and Xros Wars digimon with regularity. But you can’t build a cohesive narrative simply by plucking your favorite ingredients and sticking it in a pot. Some things just don’t go together. You can’t take the ingredients to make bread and make a salad. But in short, V-Tamer Taichi and Adventure Taichi aren’t interchangeable. They are two different characters because they are designed for two different stories, and their partners reflect this. Adventure: was doomed from the start if it didn’t realize this. 

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Alternate Cold War Elections

Democratic Presidential Nominees

1960: John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson

1964: John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson

1968: Lyndon B. Johnson/Hubert Humphrey

1972: Lyndon B. Johnson/Hubert Humphrey

1976: Hubert Humphrey/Fred Harris

1980: Ted Kennedy/Mo Udall

1984: Gary Hart/Jesse Jackson

1988: Gary Hart/Jesse Jackson

1992: Jesse Jackson/Al Gore

Republican Presidential Nominees

1960: Richard Nixon/Henry Cabot Lodge Jr

1964: Barry Goldwater/William E. Miller

1968: Nelson Rockefeller/Ronald Reagan

1972: Ronald Reagan/George Romney

1976: Ronald Reagan/Bob Dole

1980: Ronald Reagan/Bob Dole

1984: Bob Dole/George Bush

1988: Pat Robertson/Pat Buchanan

1992: Ted Stevens/Pat Saiki

1960 occurs as it did in our timeline, but 1964 sees Kennedy survive his assassination attempt and win re-election against segregationist and father of modern conservatism Barry Goldwater.

1968 sees Vice President Johnson as the front runner following the assassination of the president’s brother and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. Johnson still picks Hubert Humphrey as his running mate in this timeline as he did in our 1964, because Humphrey was a civil rights activist and father of modern liberalism (he’d be a progressive today, but in the 60s that was seen as a Republican term because of Teddy Roosevelt). Because Kennedy is still alive, Richard Nixon doesn’t stand a chance at securing renomination; he won in our 1968 because he positioned himself as less extreme than loser Goldwater, but in this timeline it would be a close race between moderate governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York and conservative governor Ronald Reagan of California. Rockefeller would probably pick Reagan as his VP to balance the ticket, east and west, liberal and conservative, while in our timeline the non-extremist but still conservative Nixon chose moderate governor Spiro Agnew of Massachusetts. Rockefeller/Reagan loses because Johnson’s messaging is clear (liberal), while Rockefeller’s is muddled (mixed ticket).

1972 sees Johnson and Humphrey narrowly win re-election because of their handling of the 1969-1970 recession and their promise to end the Vietnam War. Johnson died in 1973 in our timeline, so it’s possible he might bow out and let Humphrey get the nomination in 72, but I think he would be more likely to stay on as president and die in office. Ronald Reagan would be the front runner for the Republicans, and I see him likely winning the popular vote, with moderate governor George Romney of Massachusetts as his running mate. For a long time, Republicans tended to run on split tickets; liberal Eisenhower and conservative Nixon, conservative Nixon and moderate Agnew then moderate Ford, moderate Ford and conservative Dole, conservative Reagan and moderate Bush, years later we saw moderate McCain and conservative Palin, moderate Romney and conservative Ryan. That ship had sailed though, it’ll be noting but conservatives from here on out. But in this version of 72, Reagan plays it safe with moderate Romney (father of Mitt)

1976 sees president Humphrey run for re-election and lose in a landslide to Reagan who was so popular with Republicans that they would nominate him again despite losing. This is what they did to Nixon in our timeline, and it’s what the Democrats did to Adlai Stephenson in the 1950s. At first I thought Humphrey would run with former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter because he needed a moderate southerner to stand a chance, but Carter was not nationally known; he only won our 1976 because he positioned himself as a non-corrupt Washington outsider in the wake of Watergate. No Nixon in this timeline means no Watergate, so no need for Carter to run. Humphrey is super liberal, and he actually considered picking Oklahoma senator Fred Harris as his running mate in our 1968, so I’ll go with him instead. Harris supported Johnson’s Great Society (New Deal 2.0, War on Poverty), but didn’t support his war crimes in Vietnam. He ran himself in 72 and 76, losing both times, so I think he’s the perfect choice for Humphrey’s Vice. Reagan chooses fellow conservative Bob Dole as his VP this time because he figured Romney and the moderates were a liability last time; he goes full conservative (in for a penny in for a pound). I chose Dole because that’s who Gerald Ford picked in our 1976; moderate Ford originally had moderate Rockefeller as his VP, but replaced him with conservative Dole because he didn’t want to alienate conservative voters with a moderate/liberal Republican ticket against the moderate/liberal Democratic ticket of Carter and Mondale.

1980 would be much closer in this timeline than in ours. The economic policies that made Reagan king of the 80s make him royal fool of the 70s. The 1980 recession is seen as his fault instead of Carter’s, he pushes for wars against Iran after the revolution and the Soviets after they invade Afghanistan, which are unpopular so soon after Vietnam. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts, brother of the still alive former president John F. Kennedy, is the frontrunner for the Democrats, and he picks representative Mo Udall as his VP. Udall was super liberal and the frontrunner in our 1976, only losing because Carter had less baggage; he would have been the first sitting representative to be elected president since James A. Garfield in 1880. When Kennedy challenged Carter in the 1980 primaries, Udall was his main supporter, so it makes sense for her to unite in this version of 1980. I think Reagan would win because he has a slight incumbency advantage, but it’s nowhere near the landslide of his 84 re-election in our timeline. I expect he would be impeached by House Democrats over his dealings with Iran and the Mujahideen in Afghanistan; in this timeline there was no Watergate, so this would become the defining scandal of the 20th century. Reagan wouldn’t resign because he was too proud and figures he had enough support to survive impeachment; he’s probably right, becoming the second president to be impeached and acquired after Andrew Johnson in 1868. But this means he is reviled by both parties after leaving office, going down in history as a middling-to-bad president like Nixon or George W. Bush

Senator Gary Hart of Colorado was a frontrunner in both 84 (losing to the late VP Walter Mondale, liberal protege of Hubert Humphrey), and 88 (dropping out of the race because of reports of an extramarital affair). Without Mondale as a challenger, he would win the 84 nomination hands down. I have him pick Reverend Jesse Jackson as his running mate to mirror our Mondale’s choice of Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro would have been the first female VP, and Jackson would become the first black VP. After the economic collapse brought on by the scandal plagued Reagan administration, the Democrats were all but guaranteed to win back the White House as they did in our 76. Reagan’s VP Dole would be the front runner, and he would go back to the split ticket strategy, picking moderate CIA director George Bush as his running mate. Bush was the frontrunner in our 80 because he was the most experienced candidate with the highest qualifications, a foreign policy expert who lost to Reagan because he was REALLY boring. Regan picked him as VP to unite the party’s wings, so I can see Dole trying that here.

Side note: President Hart would have a very different relationship with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the UK (if the Conservative Party was still in power in this timeline; they won in part because Democrat Carter was a terrible president, making their UK analog Labour Party look bad). In our timeline, Obama chose Hart as Envoy to Northern Ireland (like an ambassador, but Northern Ireland isn’t an independent country), so this Hart would be integral in opposing Thatcher’s death squads, helping to ease tensions during the Troubles

1988 sees Hart/Jackson re-elected, though his affair might become an analog to Clinton’s Lewinski Scndal, leading to the Republican Revolution in the 80s instead of the 90s. Reagan would be redeemed in the eyes of conservatives, and the Democratic sex scandal would lead them to pick another far-right evangelical as their nominee, televangelist Pat Robertson, who came in third in the Republican primaries in our 88 against VP Bush and senator Dole. No Bush and no Dole means Robertson is the frontrunner, and I figure he’d pick equally conservative columnist Pat Buchanan as his VP; Buchanan challenged Bush from the right in the 92 primaries, winning nearly a quarter of the vote (for the record, most incumbents run unopposed). Robertson and Buchanan are both non-politicians, so think of them as Double Trump.

1992, VP Jesse Jackson would be the frontrunner for the Democrats, though challenged from the right by moderate governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas. I think Jackson would get the nomination, but I don’t know if he would win because of conservative opposition to the super liberal Hart administration; it would be like Al Gore’s race in the 2000, with everybody comparing him to the divisive Clinton. Jackson would stand a better chance than Gore though because he would make history as the first black presidential nominee, a proto-Obama. A Midwesterner, I figure he’d want to distance himself from westerner Hart by picking a southerner like Clinton, though Clinton would reject him because he wants the top spot, not the #2. He might then go for governor Douglas Wilder of Virginia, the first black governor since reconstruction, though having two black candidates on the same ticket would be a pipe dream in the 90s. He would probably end up with senator Al Gore, just like our Clinton; Gore chose not to run for president in 92 because his son had been hit by a car, which wouldn’t happen in this timeline because of the butterfly effect. Republicans in our timeline rallied behind senate majority leader Bob Dole; if he were VP under Reagan and the failed nominee in 84, they would probably gather around Ted Stevens of Alaska instead. Stevens was the Republican whip (#2) and frontrunner for majority leader in 1995 before narrowly losing to Dole, so he would probably be leader in this timeline, making him the presidential frontrunner in 96, though he was more moderate because he was personally pro-abortion and eventually pro-environmentalism (conservative Nixon created the EPA, so maybe Stevens would be similar). He might pick Patricia Saiki, former Republican representative from Hawaii, just to create a totally Pacific ticket as a gimmick, as well as nominating the first woman VP like Ferraro in our 84.

I have no clue who would win in this 92. If Jackson, he would run again in 96, but I have no idea who against. If Stevens, he would run again in 96 against Bill Clinton; Clinton was like Reagan, extremely ambitious, he would not stop until he took the White House.

I’m open to suggestions going forward from here. 1992 largely depends on whether or not Ross Perot runs as an independent and gains as much traction as he did in our timeline. Most third party candidates have either no national appeal or exclusively regional appeal, but Perot was a legitimate contender, qualifying for debates with Bush and Clinton and eventually winning nearly a fifth of the popular vote. It would also depend more on the Cold War; without Reagan in the 80s, US-Soviet relations would be very different, and there’s no guarantee that the USSR would collapse. The Berlin Wall would definitely fall, but I don’t know what 1991 would look like in this alternate Russia.

What do you guys think?

#alternate history #alternate reality #alternate universe #American history #politics #political #elections #20th century #1900s #Cold War #usa #us #United States #Kennedy #Johnson #Humphrey #Reagan #Hart #1960s #1970s #1980s #1990s #ah