#I know it’s implied that Arthur was born early

[sexyemopeepaw]

John when he finds out that Arthur used to be a baby

#malevolent podcast #john malevolent #arthur malevolent #I know it’s implied that Arthur was born early #but i think it’s so much funnier to think of John just going #WHAT YOU USED TO BE TINY #I THOUGHT U WERE ALWAYS THIS BIG #YOU WERE A BABY????? #that’s kinda weird…

[rdr2gifs]

''the morning light, when it comes to me, it was there but I could not see''

Arthur’s life was profoundly shaped by his self-hatred, lack of self-worth and disbelief in the existence of kindness in a seemingly dark and cruel world.

I strongly disagree with the statement that Arthur only became a ‘’better’’ man after being diagnosed with tb. His struggle with his true/inner self is apparent as early as chapter one. ‘’You are not who you think you are, sir… which is lucky’’

He has lived a rough life, raised by criminals and surrounded by violence ever since he was born. It was installed in him early that his value lied within being a violent enforcer and he has lived this life since, knowing nothing else. As a highly aware person, Arthur's actions weight heavy on his soul. He accepts that his actions have consequences. He knows that a person who has caused so much suffering is not meant to have happiness in life. His way of life has caused him to believe that he is not worthy of love or redemption. He doesn’t want to believe that a person like him could be capable of any good. (a thing to note here is that imo, Arthur’s actions near his death weren’t attempts at redemption but rather a strong desire to do right and possibly be his true self.) This is why he keeps living as he does as it’s the only thing he’s ever known, it’s the thing that brings him profit, praise from the person he looks up to and he is already damned so he might as well continue living this life anyway.

The internal problem Arthur faces is that this violent, cruel way of life doesn’t align with what I’d call his true self/ideals. He is torn between the harsh reality he has known and an unconscious yearning for righteousness/love. To be able to carry on with his actions he must enforce certain ideals within himself, such as: I am bad, ugly, nasty, ignorant, mean etc. He also decides to see the dark side of reality, telling himself that the world is a grim dark place and this is just as things were meant to be. This is why he feels so uncomfortable being complimented for his good deeds, because a bad rotten person like him should not be able to do good. It breaks the image he has built for himself and he doesn’t want that happening. This can be seen a lot during the ‘’Money Lending and Other Sins’’ missions where he is unusually mean (even for his standards) to each of the debtors. Imo, he acts this way because he must truly convince himself of being a terrible man to be able to carry out a job which revolts him so badly. In the last debt collecting mission with J. John Weathers, it can be seen in his face/expressions how much he is struggling to put on a tough, uncaring, heartless act. He needs to maintain a ruthless persona to survive in the world he knows. He must convince himself of his own cruelty.

''Forgive me, but that's the problem. You don't know you.''

Contrary to Arthur’s beliefs, he is a naturally kind-hearted person who is unconsciously drawn towards kindness. And yes, even before he was diagnosed with tb. This can be seen in the people he respects the most and, in his willingness to help strangers (notice how he often does unnecessary acts of service for total strangers such as: carrying their things, holding out hands etc. even though they had already troubled him). Despite the life he has lived, Arthur does not enjoy violence, he does not enjoy hurting people. He doesn’t want to dominate over others. He thinks mostly about others and not about himself. This fact alone is very telling of his character.

He writes about Charles, a man who he truly respects: ‘’He’s a better man than me. He does not need to think to be good. It comes naturally to him, like right is deep within as opposed to this conflict between GOOD↔EVIL that rages within me.’’ A man who is not struggling with his inner self would not have written this. To me this clearly implies an inner desire to be a better man. He writes about his mentors: ‘’I love Dutch like a father, but in many ways, I love Hosea even more. He’s kind and fair and like a human being. Dutch is something else.’’ Clearly showing a preference for Hosea who is of a more gentle nature and shows genuine kindness. Unsurprisingly, these are the people who see through his dumb/though act and encourage him to drop it.

When he comes across Brother Dorkins for the first time, he writes: ‘’(he)was one of those innocent people who make you feel better about human beings and about yourself a little. Must be odd to see all that goodness in the world. Place always seemed dark and brutal to me.’’ Expressing how he does not see goodness in the world, implying lack of good examples/kindness/good experiences in his life. Yet, the monk leaves an impression and imo, this encounter (seeing genuine goodness) disrupts Arthur’s perception of what the world truly is. ‘’Just as evil begat evil your whole life long, so good may begat good’’ (what strengthens my belief in this, is the following, symbolic scene of Arthur realising the consequences of his actions right after picking up a crucifix. He was aware of them before sure, but is unable to truly ignore them now having seen it right in front of his eyes). If only Arthur was presented with more examples of goodness in his life.

''You have it in you... I can tell!''

His desire to do as much good as possible after realising he won’t live long is instant. This would not be the mindset of someone who did not already possess kindness in his heart. ‘’Know glory and forget about shame.’’ Arthur’s shame and self-loathing caused by his previous actions were what was holding him back from allowing kindness into his life. Knowing that he has limited time left has not made him into someone he wasn’t before. The diagnosis was a catalyst, allowing him to embrace that love/goodness truly does exist and accelerate the process of chipping away from the persona he has made for himself. This was a newfound understanding for him as in the past he was rejecting any notion of kindess. In himself and perhaps the whole existence of it. ‘’You keep hidden all that matters, even from yourself.’’

After being diagnosed, he writes: ‘’What kind of a man have I been? What kind of a man am I? What world is this we live in? A land of fury or a place of love? Am I being prepared for eternal damnation? Am I past any kind of saving? Is that all fairytales? Man ain’t got much good in him. I ain’t got no good in me… I don’t think and yet I see goodness. I see it. If not in me, in good folk. In Abigail and her love for Jack. In that silly monk. In Downes, I guess. Begging not for himself but for the poor, even though he was near starving himself. Maybe I don’t want salvation. Part of me has always longed for death.’’ This entry perfectly shows how deep Arthur’s self-loathing goes and just how much it has damaged him. As his journal allows a look into his true feelings, he truly does not see a single good thing about himself. He knew for a long time that the way he lives is detestable but he could not let go of it. Not because he didn’t want to, but because it’s all that he has ever known. He didn’t believe in anything else. This sudden acceptance of goodness has allowed him to see clearly, which was obscured from him before, and for the first time, enabled him to act free of past regrets for what is right.

⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪ ⊹ ࣪

Arthur’s redemption is not about becoming a good man. It is about finding the strength to change and recognise your true self despite a lifetime of self-loathing and breaking free from destructive beliefs of the past.

In Arthurian legends a stag is a symbol of the unending quest of spiritual knowledge/enligtenment

#this is my own personal interpretation of arthur's redemption #i could expand so much more on this #the orange quotes are by blind man cassidy #please don’t even interact if you think arthur was just a killer incapable of goodness before he was diagnosed #the ironic thing is that so many people could see behind arthur’s front but he was blind to it #arthur morgan #red dead redemption 2 #rdr2 #this analysis is based purely on high-honor choices #i don't care if your arthur shoots up entire towns this analysis does not take individual open-world gameplay decisions into account #i did almost cry thinking about this #text post

[dunjays]

Ayda Aguefort Timeline/Age Speculation

(warning this is long i have many thoughts)

ok ever since i found out about ayda's reincarnation and her relative age ive been curious about how long she would be alive for (in prep for writing a fic about what notes she'd write to her next self after meeting fig), and so here's my thoughts on that, starting with what we know:

ayda is relatively over 300 years old total

current ayda is 17 years old, and knew herself to be ~175 years old total

ayda knows of 3 previous lifetimes, all of whom lived in leviathan at one point

garthy obrien raised current ayda

a previous ayda raised garthy obrien

in various sources, dnd and general, phoenixes can live to 500-1000 before immolation. by this logic/dnd standards half-phoenixes can at minimum live a little longer than humans, and at maximum probably halfway between the two so 300-600 range.

what we can speculate:

considering past lives timelines, half phoenixes here are probably not living in that higher 300-600 range each incarnation, probably much closer to a typical human lifetime range unless they're dying unexpectedly early (which tbf is possible considering leviathan, but ayda is a badass genius wizard holed up in a library so unlikely that's happening a lot).

speculated in various sources and implied in fantasy high that half phoenixes while born without memories of the past are born with some kind of prior intelligence/maturity (like the intellect of a 6-11 year old). this would make sense for how ayda was able to raise herself in the past despite having no guardian (read notes, get around, survive, etc which wouldn't be possible if she popped out a lone infant).

all 3 previous lifetimes left notes and did work building compass points, meaning likely all at least got into teen years to be leaving in depth notes and historical impact. on average over 150 years this would make each previous ayda be about 50 years old, but this seems unlikely considering some known stuff about 4th most recent version detailed below.

arthur is ~500 years old, and confirmed that ayda told him to not contact her 300 years ago, meaning ayda was likely at least a teenager/young adult by the time of making this decision. it's unclear if this was ayda's first incarnation or not, it was likely one of the earlier ones although possibly not considering this version already had an established note-taking system and plans for informing future versions (but it is implied all the aydas leave notes so again speculation). this ayda promised to leave notes for future versions, therefore it's likely they are not the same version (the 4th most recent ayda) who destroyed the previous ~125 years worth of notes. we have at least 5 confirmed versions of ayda altogether (averaging 60 years each over 300 years), possibly more.

garthy obrien is a half orc aasimar. half orcs live to roughly 75 years, human-based aasimar to no more than 160. this means the celestial blood adds roughly 60 years to a human's lifetime, so if we add that to half orc we can estimate garthy will live to 135. half orcs reach adulthood at 14, aasimar at ~18. garthy was raised when very young through to at least adulthood, and is likely at most presently in their 40s (they describe jack brakkow as distinctly older, who's in his 50s), though more likely closer to 30s considering their more youthful appearance and vibes (but again the angel blood could be a factor). so im saying 35 for splitting of difference purposes. they raised ayda her whole life, so that's at least 17, meaning previous incarnation died when garthy was ~18 (sad).

based on all this it's highly likely the most recent reincarnation prior to current ayda raised garthy obrien, and we can assume was at least an adult when doing so and lived until garthy was an adult so likely died at the earliest at ~36-40.

4th most recent ayda destroyed ~125+ years worth of notes in an effort to start over, likely did this at at least teen age (let's say ~18) and did not start taking notes again until decades later, thus starting the 150 years until current ayda. its assumed that by the time they began note taking in leviathan they were already fairly old/reflecting on past decisions/etc, likely at least 50 (considering 18ish when burning the notes and the following 'decades-later regret'). also this takes off a chunk of that previous mystery 125+ notes, meaning 4th current ayda probably reborn around 75 years after cutting off arthur contact, possibly sooner.

we dont know really anything about the 3rd most recent ayda aside from them liking the library and getting zero bitches

theories/concrete thoughts:

even with 2nd ayda dying at the earliest at 40 and 4th ayda dying at 50 (10 of which factor into the 150 years at leviathan) at the earliest (mind you these numbers are a stretch) the max age you get ayda being is 100, which is a normal human lifespan

casual possibility in all of this is ayda is roughly 300, and with 5 version on average lives to be about 60 years old. this is simple but seems unlikely considering phoenixes live much longer and so her lifetime should be longer than a human's.

it's possible the odd age timeline/low age is in part because when she's reborn she might not be born as an infant. if she comes back as essentially 5-10 already, that is potentially a good chunk of time that is chopped off at the end, making her lifespan average closer to 70 or 80. still lower than anticipated but more reasonable.

it's possible that some versions of ayda have died prematurely or self-immolated for whatever reason. though they've all seemingly lived past childhood, they live on a pirate island with frequent dangers and strife, it's totally possible that anything bad could've happened to them. i think its less likely that they just died really early because 1: ayda seemingly has always come back with access to these notes which implies some level of safety, to have been reborn in the same space as these notes and be able to process them and grow/learn while also being still that young implies some safety/protection. also ayda is a genius and a very good wizard like her father and could likely survive most typical challenges that come her way. also she has very few relationships and very few goals besides collecting knowledge and spells so likely didn't have many enemies either. to me self-immolation feels more likely as ayda clearly struggles with a lot of insecurity and loneliness and likely depression/mental illness and mentioned as much in reference to losing fig, altho i think this prolly only happened with 3rd or 4th most recent ayda. but still, premature death is possible too (something ayda referenced as a possibility as well upon returning to leviathan).

ayda being perhaps way more than 300 is possible and makes some of the timeline make a bit more sense. you could have a much older 4th most recent ayda who dies briefly into her time in leviathan, leaving two aydas in the next 150 years living well into their 70s (or perhaps one dying earlier and one living longer). you could also even speculate that there are 4 rather than 5 aydas, the 4th most current being the same one who left her father and burned the notes (this seems unlikely tho considering the promises, the desire to restart and impulsive note burning decision) but that would make that version at most around 150 before reincarnation.

also possible half-phoenixes just have shorter lifespans. maybe the tradeoff to being immortal means their human bodies aren't strong enough to handle that power/process as easily and weaken sooner/don't last as long. hence average of closer to 60s

in conclusion/TLDR:

fig is most likely outliving ayda or they're around the same age. ayda is at least living to 60, and at the very most 150 (which is a bit stretch). most likely ayda will live to an average human lifespan of around 80, and fig could potentially die at a similar time but tieflings tend to live longer on average, also at most to 150. there's a possibility for a fig-raising-ayda akin to garthy future, but it's unlikely, at least not for long. [and if fig is a full pit fiend/archdevil ofc she could end up immortal but that might be after material plane death]

#i love this autistic bird with my whole heart #ayda aguefort #ayda and fig #fig x ayda #figueroth faeth #figayda #d20 #dimension 20 #brennan lee mulligan #dnd #dungeons and dragons #fantasy high sophomore year #fantasy high #fantasy high sophomore year spoilers #fantasy high spoilers #d20 fantasy high #fhsy #d20 fhsy #arthur aguefort

[honeyspawn]

Some ideas about Paul's family:

Option 1: Jon Matteson Fmily Tree - full-transparency, the Jon Matteson family tree has never really been my personal favorite, or at the very least, the idea of Paul specifically having a big chaotic extended family has never felt very "Paul" to me. Paul has always struck me as such a solitary entity in Hatchetfield, or at least until Emma shows up. That being said, I won't deny that the idea is fun. That being said, I think if we're gonna go with the whole Paul is Richie's uncle thing, I don't think he's literally the brother of one of Richie's parents. I think "uncle" in this case is used in the general way a kid refers to an adult relative, and he's more of a distant cousin. I don't really know how to explain it, but I simply cannot picture Paul with siblings. Overall though, to me, I think I prefer the idea of Gary and Boy Jerry being Richie's uncles, and Paul is just kinda separate.

Option 2: Generic Retirees - I've mentioned this in another post, but something about Paul having no relatives in Hatchetfield even though he's lived there his whole life there feels very "Paul" to me. I suppose you could conclude from this that his parents are dead, but seeing as he's only in his early 30s and that implies his parents probably died kind of young (probably somewhere in the 50s-70s range depending on how old they were when Paul was born and when they died), I like the idea instead that the explanation is the most boring one possible; they retired in Florida. Their names are Arthur and Martha Matthews, or something similarly generic. They are the most boring 60 year old couple imaginable. Arthur likes to garden. Martha likes bird watching. They have no other hobbies. They visit Paul a couple times a year. They are constantly trying to convince Paul to move to Florida. They are the Matthews family. They are boring.

Option 3: Crack Theory Time - This is insane, and I don't really believe this theory, but the idea came to me one day and I the thought wouldn't leave my head, so I need to share it. So the idea behind this is Paul is such a singular entity that it's almost enigmatic, or at least it would be if anyone cared that much. Paul never talks about his family to anyone. He never really thinks about his family, and he feels like he's been on his own for a long time. That's not to say he doesn't remember having a family. He had a mom. She was nice. It was a shame she passed away 15 years ago. And when he starts dating Emma and she asks about his family, that's all he has to say. "I had a mom. She was nice. It was a shame she passed away 15 years ago." He remembers having a mother, but he doesn't really remember anything that specific about her. He's not sure why. He never thinks too deeply about it. He's not sure he can properly recall her face unless he's looking at an old scrapbook. It's strange, though. As soon as he puts the scrapbook back on the shelf, it's like he forgets again. All that really sticks is he had a mom. She was nice. It's a shame she passed away 15 years ago. It's not like he didn't love her, of course he did, she was his mom. And she was a good mom too, he's sure of it. One thing he does remember though, is before she died, she had a long talk with him. He can't remember about what exactly, but he knows it was important. He's pretty sure she was saying goodbye. If you've watched nightmare time, you may have guessed where I'm going with this. I don't really know where this idea of mine that Miss Holloway is Paul's mom came from, it just kind of seemed like Paul being a mysteriously solo entity in Hatchetfield makes sense, and this seemed like an interesting explanation. It also would tie into the fact that Paul might have a slight latent resistance to the LiBs. In tgwdlm, Paul has a whole musical number where he resists the Hive while being infected, while the only other times anyone gets infected on stage, it's a matter of seconds. Paul is also one of the only adult characters who sees through Tickle-Me-Wiggly; even Emma thinks Tim would want a Wiggly "more than anything." Do I think this is all some insane foreshadowing? Absolutely not. This seems extremely unlikely to me, and a product of my own over-thinking, but it sure is fun to think about anyway. (Also, I've never seen anything about this online before, but if this is an existing fan theory, please let me know. The Miss Matthews theory, if you will)

Option 4: He Doesn't Have One - Paul does not have a family. He is just Paul. It's not important for Paul to have a family because they are not relevant, and therefore, they simply do not exist. This also seems very possible to me, and tbh feels appropriate, both for Paul, and for Hatchetfield. I mean heck, according to Curt Mega his shopper character in Black Friday is literally named "Shopper No. 4". Paul just straight up not having a family because he's Just A Guy™️ feels right.

Wow, this was a lot, actually. If you read this whole thing, thanks for letting me infodump, and I'd love to hear what you think.

#starkid #team starkid #tgwdlm #black friday #npmd #nightmare time spoilers #nightmare time 2 spoilers #nightmare time #nightmare time 2 #paul matthews #jon matteson family tree #richie lipschitz #miss holloway

[poledancingdinos]

You've Got Me Hooked - Post Epilogue Bonus Scene

Pairing: Captain Syverson x OFC (Riley McKenzie)

Word count: 2K

Warnings: Sex work, Stripper, OnlyFans, Light Angst, Family Drama

Catch up: Series Masterlist

Taglist:@amberangel112 @utterlyhopeful-fics @marantha​ @kebabgirl67 @littleone65 @omgkatinka @luclittlepond @marytudorbrandon @enchantedbytomandhenry @narnianaos @geralts-yenn @peaches1958 @foxyjwls007​ @identity2212 ​@summersong69 @liecastillo @islacharlotte @evansabove1981 @eskiix @lilacwineandthesinkingsunmain @tryingtoliveonmywishes @henryownsme

A/N: My friend convinced me to post this early because we both have no self-control.

If you want to be added or removed from my taglist, let me know! If your name is crossed out, I can’t tag you for some reason.

Masterlist

Riley

I’ve only been able to lightly dose for the past few hours, what with the nurses coming in to check on me or to make sure our baby boy is feeding properly and not losing weight for any reason. Then there’s the fact that we are in an unknown hospital six states away from our home. I doubt Sy will ever stop saying “I told you so” for that one but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity at the contract this firm is offering me.

I love running RD’s for Don because it also gives me the chance to pick up some freelance work now and then. I just wanted to get a feel for this company before signing on for a twelve month contract and I knew I wouldn’t want to travel once the baby was born. 

It’s hard to say exactly what it was that woke me up this time but what pulls my eyes open is the sound of a familiar voice out in the hall. The door is propped open, which Sy has been doing whenever he has to leave me alone in the room. It’s not really necessary since I have a call button for a nurse and it’s not like anyone but the other new mothers and fathers in the ward would hear me if I shouted for help but it makes him feel better so I don’t say any of those thoughts out loud.

“I need to call the office and let them know to expedite the paperwork. I’ll meet you downstairs in ten minutes?”

“Yeah, alright.”

A man in a suit speed walks past the door and down the hallway that leads to the elevator. The other man apparently wasn’t in as much of a hurry to leave the building because it takes a few more seconds before he appears in the doorframe.

Like his companion, he’s wearing a fancy designer suit. His sandy blonde hair is neatly stilled but one rebellious lock hangs down over his forehead as he reads over the papers in a manila folder.

He looks older than when I last saw him, although that’s to be expected when you let five years go by between visits. As I stare at his left profile I begin to wonder what his life has become. There’s no sign of a wedding ring and for him to be dressed as he is must mean that he has fulfilled his destiny and become a lawyer.

My thoughts are interrupted when the tiny human by my side wakes with an ear-splitting cry. Immediately, I reach out and take him in my arms, laying him on my chest. I rock him as I whisper what I hope are soothing words and it’s not long before he quiets down.

The next time I look out the door I find chocolate brown eyes staring back at me in shock. The young man opens his mouth as if to speak but no words leave his lips so he shuts it again. His Adam's apple bobs as he swallows and slowly, he walks through the door. He stops about two steps into the room, staying a safe distance from me and the infant cradled protectively in my arms.

“Is my baby sister really a mother?”

I bristle at his choice of words. “I pushed an eight pound Syverson baby out of my vagina, I’d say that qualifies me for the title.”

Arthur taps the manila folder on his open palm a few times then tucks it under his arm in favor of shoving his hands in his pockets.

“You have every right to be mad at me. I’m really sorry about what happened. I never had a chance to explain.”

I don’t think mad is the right word. Mad implies that I resent being cut off or that I blame him for it happening. He’d already been away from home for four years by the time I got kicked out after high school. It’s not like he could have done anything to help or to change our parents’ mind.

We led separate lives while he was in law school and I was perfectly fine with that. We saw each other once a year at Thanksgiving and that was enough. What hurt was that he told my parents about the porn. That’s what I was. Hurt.

“There’s nothing to explain. You told on me and you joined them in pretending I never existed. Thanks to you the McKenzie name remains unblemished.”

“Riley, please believe me… I told them about the OF because I thought it would make them give in and send you some money. I thought the threat of some bad press would force their hand but I was wrong. By the time I found out what they had done, you’d changed your number and you’d erased any trace of Riley McKenzie from social media. I didn’t know how to find you and I thought that meant you didn’t want to be found.”

No, I didn’t want to be found. I didn’t want to risk people from the strip club finding my real accounts so I deleted them all. I started from scratch as Razzy and even now, I haven’t really gone back.

“Ri? What’s wrong, why are you cryin’?”

Sy’s deep voice startles me out of my thoughts. He briefly stops in the doorway, studying the room then side steps Arthur to come stand by the bed. He places himself between me and the stranger invading his space like the loyal protector he is.

I can’t imagine what this must look like to him. First there’s a man in an important looking suit standing by the doorway of the room and then there’s me — crying as I clutch our son in my arms. Whatever he’s thinking, he immediately goes into Captain mode.

“What’s goin’ on?” he all but barks at my brother.

“Sy?” I wrap a hand around his bicep, partly to get his attention, partly in the hopes of holding him back if he decides to lash out before he gets the full story. He looks at me over his shoulder, keeping his body towards Arthur. “This is my brother. Arthur, this is my husband, Sy.”

Both men give a small nod of acknowledgment but the tension in the room stays high. I told Sy the full story of what happened between me and my parents and the role Arthur played in that. I guess I should say the role I thought he had played. Sy was understandably very angry. He might have also said he would break his nose if he ever happened to see him. At least we’ll be in hospital if something happens.

“How did he know we were here?”

“I didn’t,” my brother explains. “It’s a coincidence really. We’re waiting on a judge to grant the state custody of a newborn down the hall.”

That does absolutely nothing to alleviate the tension in Sy’s shoulders.

“Barely a few days old and you’re already tryin’ to tear a family apart?”

My brother stands up taller, not even flinching at the tone of my husband’s voice. It’s a not so subtle dig but Arthur doesn’t seem to realize that it was meant to be personal.

“She’s a druggie who told a judge in open court that if they took custody of her oldest child she would just make a new one. I don’t know about you but I’d rather give that kid a chance at adoption and a good life rather than leaving them with a mother who thinks of children like they’re a goldfish in a petstore.”

Damn. Credit where credit is due, Arthur has a lot of balls to stand up to Sy like that. He looks at his watch and mumbles a curse.

“Can I see you again once you get settled at home?” I’ve never seen Arthur like this. He looks deeply upset by the whole situation.

“We umm… we actually live near Atlanta. I was only here for work but our son seems to have had other ideas. He’s three weeks early.”

Arthur’s eyes go comedically wide. “Three weeks early and he was eight pounds?” Neither one of us was by any means a big baby. Even now he’s only around five foot ten himself which is considered tall in our family.

“Yeah, that’s all this guy’s fault.” I poke Sy in the arm and he gives me one of his signature smirks though his eyes are all soft, looking at me with nothing but fondness.

Arthur’s phone dings three times in quick succession, causing him to sigh. He ignores it for the moment, instead reaching inside his jacket and producing a business card. He walks up to Sy, extending his hand. It takes him a second but Sy eventually shakes it.

“I’m glad Riley has someone looking out for her. For the both of them.” Arthur sets his business card down on the table by the bed and directs his next words to me. “If I can ever help you, in any way, please call me,” he says, tapping his finger on the card for emphasis.

“I will,” I tell him honestly.

Sy follows Arthur to the door, shutting it behind him. The boy in my arms starts to wiggle and fuss again so I push my top aside to allow him to latch on to my breast. We’re going to have to name him eventually. We’ve discussed a few options but we haven’t settled on anything yet. None of the names we considered before his birth seem appropriate now that he’s here.

Sy sits on the edge of the bed beside me, putting his arm around my shoulders.

“Is there anything I need to know ‘bout what happened before I got here?”

“He said he was sorry about what happened with my parents. That he’d only meant to help.”

Sy caresses the back of our son’s hand going completely still when the little guy moves it away in favor of wrapping his whole fist around one of Sy’s fingers.

“It’s your call, Mama. All I’m gonna say is if this guy is half as bad as me, having a hot-shot Manhattan lawyer on speed dial might not be a bad idea.”

I burst out laughing, leaning my head on Sy’s chest. If this were a cartoon, Sy and I would both have little red beating hearts where our eyes are supposed to be. Baby Boy falls asleep right there on my chest and Sy takes him from me, gently trying to coax a burp out of him before putting him back down to sleep.

“What do you think of Parker?” Sy suggests, walking around the room in small circles as Baby Boy sleeps on his shoulder.

“I was thinking Maddox but I like yours better.” I get as comfortable as I can, feeling the alluring pull of sleep myself. 

“Parker Maddox Syverson,” he repeats, testing out the name. “Definitely gonna be a troublemaker.”

Sy kisses my forehead and I allow myself to close my eyes while Parker is placed in his crib with so much care I think my heart might burst from all the love I have for him and Sy.

“Even if he is,” my sentence is interrupted by a lengthy yawn, “he’ll be just fine as long as he has you as a dad.”

Sy pulls the chair closer, folding his forearms on the bed and laying his head over them. I begin to play with his hair, scratching slow circles over his scalp. I love his curls. He occasionally keeps his hair longer than he prefers just so I get to play with it. I hope Parker gets his Daddy’s curls. The motion feels peaceful and meditative, aided by the low appreciative rumble coming from my husband’s chest.

“I love you, Sy. Thank you for making this my life.”

He shifts just enough to reach my free hand, intertwining our fingers together. “Back atcha, Mama.”

#captain syverson #captain syverson fic #captain syverson fanfic #captain syverson fanfiction #captain syverson x ofc

[somthing-lavender]

Tristan's and Lancelot's ages don't make sense.

Both Lancelot and Tristan are stated (or at least heavily implied) to be 16.

The problem is, the Holy war ended 16 years ago.

And both Lancelot and Tristan were very much in their mother's womb a whole year and a half after the war

Assuming they were born born soon after this, and when it's stated the war was 16 years ago, they mean 16 years and 364 days, so we can round to 17 years...

17 years-1.5 years= They can only be 15.5 years old at most.

And thing is, if the Holy War was 17.5 years ago, the timeline works so much better.

Lancelot (April 29) and Tristan (May 2) were both born around late April early May, so 18 months earlier would be late October Early November.

At the end of the series it was harvest season, which most know is in fall (I could of sworn at some point some said "it's not even winter yet" but I can't find it. If someone did say it, extra proof it's fall).

Also Bartra's birthday (November 11) is close enough that Elizabeth felt the need to give him a gift in advance (or she already had it and decided to give it to him while she can). Margaret said his birthday isn't in a while, but a months early (let's say it's mid October) is still a bit early for a birthday gift.

So take the roughly 1.5 year (maybe add a month) between Lancelot's/Tristan's birth from the end of the series, and add the almost exactly 16 years to 4kota and you get roughly 17.5 years.

(Fun fact, 4kota starts on April 14 as it's the day before Percival [April 15] birthday. Meaning that Lancelot and Tristan are still 15 y.o in 4kota for 15 and 18 in story days)

That make more sense than the alternative of Elizabeth and Elaine got knocked up no more than 3 months after the end of 7ds to have a kid less than a year later.

The only other logical explanations I can think of are

Lancelot and Tristan are actually 15, but Meliodas rounds to the 1000th when talking about his age, and Thisits is probably the reincarnation of a 100+ y.o demon. 15 and 16 may be the same to them.

Arthur is actually counting the death of the Supreme Deity as the end of the Holy war, as she did try to restart it. If it happened 6 months or more after the end of the series, it could work.

#this has been bothering me for awhile. #Tristan liones #Elizabeth Liones #tristan lioness #Lancelot #4koa #4kota #four knights of the apocalypse #mokushiroku no yon kishi #mokushiroku no yonkishi #4 knights of the apocalypse #nnt #7 deadly sins #Elaine #Nabaka can't do math #and or forgot about the 18 month timeskip #and or forgot it takes 9-10 months for a fetus to grow

[remade-c18r0]

If you don't mind would you be willing to share some of your Arthur and Figaro analysis... (NO pressure if not I'm just curious)

Hi, Anon. I would love to.

So the first thing you need to know in this case is that Figaro is Arthur's mother. This has a lot of implications, but we need to start with the obvious: Figaro helped raise Arthur. This is mentioned a lot and implied even more, but it's brought up as early as Main Story 1 and Figaro's character episodes. Hell, the first hint you get of them having a relationship is MS1 8.7 where Arthur uses an honorific for Figaro when she only uses one for Oz previous. You know, her other mom? Her savior?

(MHYK-EN / HB)

At this point what the reader knows of Figaro is that she's a friendly Southern wizard who is hiding something, and now the Central prince knows her for some reason? Enough to give her an honorific, which she does only for Master Oz? (And later Lords Snow and White, who also helped raise her. She only gives honorifics to Northfam and Master Sage.) I wonder why!

Of course, this answer isn't to prove they know each other. Of course they know each other. You just need to look at... I mean... anything. Just in the Main Story sequence: MS1 14.1-2. Central Prelude. Anni1 Ch23. Anni2 Ch7. MS2 5.5-6. There's more, but I bring this up because the story actually seems to go out of its way to minimize Figaro's role in raising Arthur while subtly bringing up the fact that they're way more similar than they look.

I want to bring up something similarly subtle before diving down deep into this - Arthur’s design obviously is reminiscent of Oz’s. Three* layers on top, brooch, golden cords, necktie, vest, loafers, etc. But if you’d look a little closer, you’d notice she’s wearing a very fluffy and fancy jacket. But you don’t really realize that it’s a jacket unless you look, because she’s wearing it over her shoulders. Like, you know, Figaro.

(This actually carries over into her Vollgaku/April Fool’s 2020 design in that her school blazer is blatantly over her shoulders instead of on like a proper jacket. Her suspenders are also plaid, which Figaro’s shirt is, which might just be a coincidence but it’s a cute one!

While Figaro doesn’t wear her jacket over her shoulders in Vollgaku [at least in this chibi], she is still the school nurse, and why else would a turbonerd stuco pres wear her jacket like this? Anyway.)

She wears her jacket like her mom! That’s cute! It’s also more than cute when you dive down deeper.

Figaro is a tragic figure, placed into a role too large for her at a young age and then left alone by the very same people, picked up by people who taught her (a twisted view of) what love is, drawn to the moon in her loneliness and fear of being abandoned, or of being left alone again, even while she puts all of her expectations of love on one single person who then breaks her heart when they can’t give her what she wants. Also she’s going to die.

Arthur is a tragic figure, placed into a role too large for her at a young age and then left alone by the very same people, picked up by people who taught her (a twisted view of) what love is, drawn to the moon in her loneliness and fear of being abandoned, or of being left alone again, even while she puts all of her expectations of love on one single person who then breaks her heart when they can’t give her what she wants. Also she’s going to die.

Let’s get into it.

Figaro was born and raised a God in a Northern village long-gone by way of an avalanche of unknown origin. This has obviously affected her in a lot of ways, not least in the way she doesn’t know how to interact with weaker wizards or humans despite loving them very much and wanting to take care of them. She was taken up by the twins after an unspecified amount of time in a seaside village, and the twins tried to teach her out of the distant sense of love recieved by a god from their worshippers and into. um. unhealthy codependence. According to White, this didn’t work (Complicated Parental Love). I think it kind of did, but hey! At an unspecified time, Figaro attempted to follow the Moon’s Road in the sea to .. somewhere, and almost died for it. She also seeks out eternal love despite saying she doesn’t believe in it anymore, and she seeks it out in people, trying to find the one person that will allow her to stay with them forever, but obviously with caveats. The named ones so far have been Oz, Faust, and Mitile, though given how threatened she was by Mitile potentially being born, Tiletta was likely also one. This clearly isn’t just romantic love. Don’t think it is. It’s any type of love, because Figaro is a crushingly lonely person. She just wants love and to be loved. That’s it. And then the other person she puts this expectation onto loves someone else “more”, and she leaves. Except Oz.

Arthur was born and raised a prince in Central Country until her birth mother got fed up with rumors and words of spite and abandoned her in the Northern wilderness where she almost died. This gave Arthur crazy abandonment issues (see Central Rhapsody, or her as an existence) even as she was taken in by the person she considers her savior; the one who loved her when nobody else did. Of course, being raised by Oz was fraught at the beginning (Anni2 Ch7), but Arthur grew into adoring them and the rest of Northfam. But being raised by Northfam has its pitfalls, given Arthur puts every aspect of her relationship with Oz into their hands to decide what they are when Oz doesn’t understand enough about love to even call Figaro his friend, much less understand what a family is and that they’ve adopted this beautiful little girl who loves them more than anything. Arthur also is extremely reckless because she thinks if she gets in danger Master Oz will always be there to protect her, because he always was for 9 years. Not even to mention her bonus abandonment issues developed by Oz not coming back to get her when Central took her back at age 13. Sprinkle in the brief flashback scene we get from Arthur reminiscing about the moon shining on her as she froze to death in the snowy fields of the North, reaching out to moonbeams in the same story (B’s Log [Feb 2021]), and the small moments we get in moon-based logstos where she admits she sometimes can’t help but think the moon is beautiful (01001 Power Up! Night of the Harvest Moon Campaign) her tie to the moon isn’t purely coincidental.

Also they’re both going to die, and neither are telling Oz, who is extremely important to both of them.

Figaro doesn’t want to be pitied by Oz, though she’s just projecting how she felt when Tiletta told her she was dying. Which is interesting, because Figaro of all people knows Oz has never pitied anyone in their life. But it’s because she’s afraid of their status quo changing - Oz has been one of the only constants in her life, and even though she’d leave the North for hundreds of years at a time, she always returned to Oz and his castle in the North whether for him, for the summer, for Arthur, what have you. She doesn’t want to lose her equal and closest friend (大親友) in the world, and is afraid of him thinking differently of her, because he’s the only person she’s ever been able to come back to no matter what.

Arthur, well... she hasn’t said exactly why she isn’t telling Oz yet, but if we analyze her actions in Anni2, it’s partially that she is terrified of Oz stopping loving her (due to his inability to communicate). Because Oz’s “Don’t die before me” was always intercut with “So I can eat you”, Arthur, who tends to believe the best in Oz and thinks she understands him very well, can’t help but assume otherwise? “Master Oz will surely save me if I do something dangerous! But if I’m nothing to you, please say so!” Because she thinks it will help him, even while acknowledging if he does love her, it would be enough to be an Achilles’ Heel - his one weakness that Mithra and the rest of Sanbaka can exploit to get to him. “You don’t have to love me if you don’t, but I want (need) you to so much that if my death would help you, I’d gladly die.” Especially given that Oz still doesn’t answer her in Anni2, it’s an easy jump to her thinking in MS2 (chronologically right after) that her death would be fine if it benefits Oz and that she’s still terrified of being thrown away.

Additional Note: Connected to Arthur not understanding how much Oz loves her, and connected to how Figaro does not understand that people love her..... Well. It's right there on the tin. Neither of them understand the real extent of people's feelings for them or the distance they hold from others, neither of them understand how others view them, and thus they're both amazingly insecure in those relationships (as seen above with Arthur in Anni2, but also Sanrio Collab and Central Ballad, and South Etude for Figaro, or her Affection Story, or really anything she's in?). This is their main point of contention in all of their relationships and as people who so desperately want to be loved, they end up hanging back and misunderstanding how much other people actually love them, whether it be Oz, Cain, Mitile, Rutile, or anyone else.

Speaking of Oz, he wasn’t always the best parent. This is crucial, actually, and another thing Anni2 tells us directly: Without Figaro, Arthur would not still be alive. Of course, this can go all the way back 2000 years ago, where Figaro taught Oz what love was by helping them learn how to be human, because it’s been stated Oz got attached to Figaro over the twins, and without this Oz wouldn’t understand love at all and so the story could not have occured. Or it can be simply just within the last 14 years: When Oz picked up Arthur, they locked her in a room and fed her only mana stones. Figaro... told him to stop doing that, to the point where she offered to take care of Arthur in Oz’s stead if he wouldn’t treat her right. [And then, of course, was part of the push to have Arthur and Oz bond despite her jealousy over this.] (Anni2 Ch7) Figaro shows Oz how to take care of Arthur at various times, including Anni1 Ch 23 and Anni2 Ch14. Almost every time Arthur got seriously injured, Oz took Arthur to Figaro in the South or summoned Figaro to North (Arthur as a Child, Anni1 Ch 2, etc). Oz even does this in MS1 when Mithra and Owen are threatening both them and Arthur in the infamous balcony scene. The person Oz summons to protect them and the most important person in their life when Oz can barely use magic? Figaro. (MS1 14.1).

So obviously Figaro’s an essential person in Arthur’s life, and they mirror each other pretty well. But how else did Figaro influence Arthur growing up? Where are the rest of the parallels? Why is this all I think about? All excellent questions, and the answer is:

Politics!

Arthur and Figaro both have the same goal: Human-Wizard coexistence. Though their reasons for this differ, it doesn't actually matter, especially when their methods are the same.

Figaro is a weird Northerner. This much is obvious as early as her introduction, as she's a Southerner now, haha. But even before she was a Southerner, she was weird (Swamp of Pestilence). She never craved power or violence like the others, to the point of feeling disgusted and falling into a pit of self-loathing whenever she has to resort to it, according to the twins. Unlike every single other Northern wizard in the manor, she has never physically fought Oz, and given Oz listens to most whatever she says, I'm sure that extends to verbally as well. Thus it's not odd for her to have gone from World Domination right to the Revolutionary Army for world peace, because she does things for other people and has no sense of self, but she doesn't like violence and only resorts to it when necessary to achieve her goals. As I've stated, she doesn't choose violence, violence chooses her. She prefers to use manipulation and political machinations and pull the strings from behind the curtain to have things happen over direct violence or threatening people. (Do I even need to link a source for this? She's the healer-tactician. It's everywhere that she's the planner.)(If you need one, Kind Wizard?).

Arthur is much the same, but with a lot less violence in her background. She's far too intense for a typical Central wizard, being more Northern than Central by the games' own logic, something that is finally being pointed out in MS2 Ch9! Raw offensive magic is her specialty, as she was taught magic by Oz, and she has a competitive streak a mile wide, and delights in danger. But, of course, she's still Central, and she's still a prince, so she isn't a violent person. As has been mentioned since the very first chapter of MS2, Arthur, who would much prefer to be wild and free as a wizard in the North with Northfam, is using her position as Central prince to try to shape the world as she sees fit. She says this straight out to Cain in 1.10, and it's further lampshaded in Ch6 with her conversation with Vincent and Figaro. She will use whatever means she has at her disposal outside of violence to have her way.

Figaro is doing this... Well, it's easy to assume it's just because she hates violence and doesn't want anyone to get hurt anymore because of this, but I had a breakthrough while typing this comparing this to how she always has something to leave behind, like creating Assistroids to cure loneliness in Pararoid, and perhaps being a school nurse in Vollgaku, in that it's something she wants and is trying to give to others, and thus that it's born of her own desire to connect with people she feels like she can't because of the distance she's held her entire life. Given that Arthur's reason is because she was abandoned as a child for being a wizard and doesn't want any other child to 'die' the way she did, by being abandoned by someone she loved, and at least partially so her birth family will look at her again, I take back what I said earlier about their reasons being different, because they actually seem to be exactly the same.

Of course, none of this even touches on how jealous Figaro is of Arthur to have "all" of Oz's love (See any time someone Figaro gets attached to gets someone else), or how that's an unknown amount exacerbated by Arthur looking just like Alec, the one who "took away" Faust's attention from Figaro (even though Faust always prioritized Alec.. not getting into that) and now has also taken Oz's in the form of this little girl who looks and acts so much like him. But Figaro truly and honestly loves Arthur very much, no matter how jealous she is of her. And I'll throw in that bit where Figaro talks about how Arthur introduced her to the old Sage and they all chatted together often, along with being someone Arthur feels she can confide things in that she can't tell Oz (A Reliable Wizard, among other bits).

Even in wanting to be loved by one person above all else, Figaro and Arthur are similar. And that one person, at the end of all things, is Oz. But they're still important to each other beyond that, and they still greatly value each other, no matter how complicated that relationship is, as parts of their lives, as Arthur adores her other mother, and Figaro adores her chlid.

#mhyk #mine #i feel like i forgot stuff but theres so much to say i dont doubt that i did #this is everythgin.... for NOW..........

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

What do you think were the Violetta kids favorite shows growing up?

OH THIS IS MY LEAUGE, growing up in 00s Europe, we just got so much kids shows from all around the world, both new ones and re-runs from the 80s and 90s (also, of course, we got shows from our own countries).

Of course, I can't confirm every show aired in latin america, so what I'm doing is simply to see which ones had latin spanish dubs (also, of course I bet they liked shows from their own countries as well, but I don't know as much of LA-produced kids shows from the 90s and 00s - i'm better with the european, north american and japanese ones. Oh, and australian).

Either way!!

Violetta - so, she grew up in Europe, and in different countries, so she must've had such a VARIETY of kids shows. And I think, her favorite is an underrated fave of myself from when I was a kid - the catalan cartoon Les Tres Bessones (The Triplets). I think she'd like how the triplets always got sent into different stories and fairy tales by the witch and thought it was creative. It's likely she watched it while she lived somewhere in Spain (I mean, she has lived in Madrid and Barcelona, it's possible she has lived somewhere else there too during her childhood), because I know the cartoon was the most popular there, so she likely watched it with the spanish dub. Or, she watched it in catalan, what do I know. Or in a completely other language since I know it aired in other countries (I mean... that's how I know about it, it aired in my country)

Francesca - Am I too "stereotypical" for saying her favorite kids show was Winx Club? But like, Winx took ALL OF EUROPE by storm and I know it was obviously the biggest in Italy. And Fran would definitely be the right age when it came out too, around 8-9 years old.

Camila - I was about to say Creepschool, but I was unsure if that even airied in spanish speaking countries. Turns out, it did! Escuela de espanto. I think she'd really enjoy it due to the spooky and "not normative" vibes it had going on. Also, side note, but more or less every country got just that instrumental intro, while us in Sweden got someone singing the intro, and it was a BANGER.

Ludmila - SAILOR MOON. Space? Astronomy terms? Planet names? Girls fighting in short skirts? Ludmila got her awakening for EVERYTHING from this /j Also it may have been her first exposure to a lesbian couple in media

Naty - The moomins, the 90s anime specifically obviously (that is the most non-nordic people's exposure to the moomins). I know for a FACT the moomins anime aired in both Spain and Latin America, too. And I think Naty found it to be very comforting and cozy. Also I feel like her favorite character would be Little My, and she would later randomly call Ludmila that, making Ludmila reply with "I AM NOT LITTLE!!"

Leon - I feel like he really liked Recess. I feel like he thought the kids in that show were cool and he wished the recess in his own school was as fun.

Broduey - Arthur, simply because the intro is a little in that "soft vibes" music that Broduey likes. Also I think he enjoyed the humor.

Andres - Pokemon and you cannot change my mind. Except he managed to convince himself Pokemons were real and got VERY dissappointed.

Maxi - George Shrinks. You know, that cartoon about a boy that was really shrunk in size and had to adapt his life due to this. Came out in the year 2000. Idk, it just feels like something Maxi would like, I have no real reason why.

Diego - Honestly, ATLA. I can't think of much else.

Federico - JOHNNY BRAVO. No explantation.

I had a harder time with the boys than the girls lmao. But this was fun!

Also, do ask me about the SL characters too, cause they are implied to being born in the early 00s like me so it's easier for me to spot kids shows - as this time, I had to keep in mind like "ok, they may have been too old for this".

#violetta

[bitsandbobsofwriting]

Merlin/Lancelot domestic life hc?

Aww🥺

Chaos. To put it simply. Everyone thinks Merlin is nuts and Lance is soft and gentle because they forget that Lancelot, despite being all about honour and honesty, was 10/10 ready to commit himself to a lifetime of identity fraud after 1 (one) cute twink stared at him with puppy eyes.

They spend so little time together during the day because of their jobs, so everyone is super confused at how they know EVERYTHING about what the other is doing?? Arthur will casually imply he hasn't seen Merlin in a few hours, and Lance, without missing a beat, will say "he's in the lower town shopping for Gaius." Everyone is baffled because... Lancelot has been with them the whole time?? Leon will quietly, to himself, wonder how long until the most recent border patrol gets back, and Merlin, without looking up from the paperwork he's filling in for Arthur, will mutter "they've just reached the city's outer wall, they'll be back in about a half candle mark, depending how long it takes them to untack." Lance is on that patrol, sure, but how did he know?? Merlin and Lance are talking constant shit in each other's heads, that's how. Gwaine once jokingly calls it a lovers' intuition and... Merlin and Lance are terrible at coming up with excuses so... yeah, sure, lovers' intuition it is.

According to google they're the same height, so cheek kisses/chin kisses/shoulder kisses, every single time they see each other no matter what. Even if they're both in a terrible hurry and just pass each other in the corridor. They're not big on general PDA, especially when they're around other people, but they do sort of gravitate to one another. When they're with the knights/Arthur/people from Camelot, Merlin always finds himself stood slightly behind Lance. When he first realised this he was like "oh my Gods I really was born to be a servant I see a Sir and I put myself behind him without even realising wtf." but then Lance is all "...no Merlin, you numpty, I put myself in front of you because you're a godamn wizard in the middle of the we-hate-wizards Kingdom." and Merlin tears up a bit. BUT when they're in the lower town or out in the forest, it's the other way round. Merlin doesn't have to worry so much because people are far less likely to notice if he has to do some magic to protect his hunky bf.

Just like they aren't really into PDA, I feel like pet names and endearments don't crop up very often either. Very VERY occasionally a "my love" will slip out but like... only if one of them has almost died or they haven't seen each other in a few days. Mostly it's just "Merls" and "Lance". When Merlin is feeling particularly teasing, he'll call Lancelot "Loverboy" and he goes fucking RED, and he’ll mutter something about being "technically older than you so YOU'RE the boy except you're not actually a boy because that would be... never mind. Shut up."

The others think the relationship is super sweet, and in the early days both of them got really blushy if anyone mentioned it, but later on it's only Lancelot. Merlin stops caring what people think really quickly (it's not that Lance cares, he's just easily flustered), because Lance is basically the only wholly good thing in his life, so unless anyone says something genuinely bad about him/the relationship, it doesn't bother him at all. To be honest, I feel like no one figured it out for like... six months?? And it's not because they hid it, it's just because they'd always been fairly affectionate anyway, and everyone else is stupid.

When they move in together, Merlin tries to demand he just moves into Lancelot's knight room to make things easier, but Lance insists that isn't fair on Merlin and they get a little house in the upper town instead. It's not posh or anything, it just needed to be close to the castle. Neither of them have many belongings anyway, so everything starts off really neat and tidy, but once the novelty of having their own space sets in, it fills up with shit so quickly. Lance is always buying Merlin books and silly shelf trinkets and Merlin is always buying Lance clothes and weapons. Of course they have a whole room dedicated to healing, because A) They both have quite dangerous jobs/destinies and are always hurt, and B) If for whatever reason the Physician's chambers are full (be it sickness, or an attack, etc), Merlin wants to be able to help. It's the ONLY room in the house that's tidy. As for cooking, I feel like they're both pretty good? Merlin is better at throwing something together from nothing, probably from patrols in the wilderness and life in Ealdor, but Lance is better at putting together a significant meal when they have proper ingredients.

Hunith ADORES Lance, and honestly that makes Merlin so ridiculously happy, UNTIL she starts sharing embarrassing childhood stories. But Lancelot more than makes up for it by telling the two of them the trouble he used to get into as a child.

People though that once the truth came out about the magic and everything is legalised and Merlin is promoted, things would get better/more tolerable. They do not. They pull more pranks, they team up against everyone else and it's chaos. Gwaine had pink hair for a week. Leon started speaking in a French accent. They stole every single one of Arthur's left shoes. BUT they are also one HELL of a power couple in court, always ready to team up to bully an arsehole councilman or stand up for things or scare people. They're not even really aware of it, but Gwen catches on really quickly and demands that Arthur start seating them together during council meetings (originally he had Merlin on one side, Gwen on the other, and Lancelot was further round the table somewhere in amongst the knights) because she knew if they (the non arseholes) wanted anything done, Merlin and Lancelot could push it through.

~

I hope this is enough for you anon!! I love this and I love YOU!!!

#bbc merlin #mercalot #merlin/lancelot #lancelot #sir lancelot #merlin #send requests #send asks #asks #requests #bbc merlin headcanon

[birdsareblooming]

Sonic may actually be lost royalty

I keep going down these rabbit holes I shouldn’t go down BUT! Although this theory is one that I don’t fully believe in (unlike the infinite/solaris theory and the chaos emerald theory) I still have a good argument that I want to talk about very bad.

I also tried to make this as short as possible but there’s a lot of ground to cover, but at least it’s not the infinite/solaris theory. But I have a TLDR at the end.

[Spoiler Warning for Sonic and the Black Knight]

let’s start with a ✨numbered list✨

1. Blaze the Cat

Blaze is the biggest caveat for this theory, but I think it’s best to start with her.

Now, firstly I need to clear up some things.

[Eggman: My world...]

[Eggman Nega: and my world...]

[Eggmen: are in a manner, inextricably linked!]

[Blaze: Like two Eggmans?]

Part of the Blaze’s world is that it’s a parallel universe. Parallel Eggmen, Parallel emeralds, Everything else that isn’t stated outright. Like how Tails and Marine are definitely counterparts. Seeming as Tails came from South Island and Marine came from southern island, Tails is definitely based on a kitsune and Marine, in theory, based on a tanuki. 

And, although not stated completely, Blaze and Sonic are universal counterparts.

[From Sonic Wiki: Blaze was designed as a charater who was equivalent yet and alternate version of Sonic’s character.]

Much like the Sol and Chaos emeralds, Sonic and Blaze are a mirror version of one another, although slightly different.

Alright, now that we have that out of the way:

Looking at the connections between the others, Sonic and Blaze seem, a bit too different.

The Sol and Chaos emeralds fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a similar story.  Tails and Marine fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a similar story. The Eggmen fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a similar story. 

Blaze and Sonic fulfill the same role, although their different appearance, and have a... completely different story. 

Blaze was born to a royal family, and set to protect the Sol Emeralds and the Jeweled Scepter as her birthright, and it’s somewhat hinted that her powers may also be a birthright. Sonic, on the other hand, has no known past, and seems to have just run into the Chaos Emeralds by accident. 

You could claim that Blaze does take on the role of both Sonic AND Knuckles, which is fair and stated on the wiki, however Knuckles is also never stated to be any kind of royalty, and certainly doesn’t have that kind of past, his past being one of the more tragically alone ones. 

And here’s something interesting.

Time has warped our vision of Blaze. We all know her as “Princess Blaze the Cat.” But from watching Sonic Rush, her opening game... she is never mentioned to be a princess until the very end.

[Burning Blaze: As princess, it is my duty to protect the Sol Emeralds...]

From what I remember, this is the FIRST mention of her royal status. 

From this game’s viewpoint, they reveal the mirror status of the dimensions. They then show both Blaze and Sonic having mirror super transformations using their emeralds, highly implying that Sonic and Blaze were mirror versions. (also this was implied already by just Blaze’s shoes.) and then it’s revealed that Blaze is royal, and a princess. 

So if she’s the mirror of Sonic, what does that mean for Sonic? Especially right after showing the two of them being, well, mirrors.

2. King Arthur

SATBK is much less transparent about the counterpart universe thing.

Now this is an alternate universe, set up by Secret Rings, and surprisingly not just a story Sonic told as an elaborate excuse.

They don’t hide obivous Sonic characters being put into roles, and their in these roles for a reason.

Blaze and Silver as Percival and Galahad, the knights who quested together for the holy grail. Knuckles as Gawain literally only because of “Gawain and the Green Knight” But I respect that so much. Jet as Lamorak because of Lamorak’s fiery temper and competitiveness.  Shadow as Lancelot because he’s the “closest knight to the king” stated in game (👀) Tails as a Blacksmith because that’s p much the medieval version of a mechanic. Amy as the Lady of the Lake because like. Fuck she’s the most powerful one there. (but seriously, in forces she’s shown to be the most level headed leader and strangest, especially in Sonic’s absence. As well as “sensing” that he was still alive and having a past in tarot.) And Merlina as Merlina because... well that’s a whole other theory.

(all my theories are being brought up in the post. like i know the first two were expamples of theories I fully belive in but damn this is like a avengeners, ok,)

But Sonic as King Arthur makes sense when it’s revealed. Although he wasn’t anyone’s counterpart in Secret Rings (because secrets rings was confused as hell) He is in this game, and as the ring leader of everyone following him in SATBK, it makes sense. 

Although something that was never brought up...EVER is the Knight’s backstories, which are EXTREMELY important not only in Arthurian legends, but for the knights in Sonic lore. All of the knight’s mentioned backstories are important to their character, in both contexts. Although their never brought up.

*DEEP BREATH* Alright. The similarities between Sonic Character/Knight backstories.

Shadow and Lancelot have pretty simmilar backstories when getting down to it. Shadow/Lancelot were both raised for greatness, but still outshined by Sonic/Arthur. Although remaining loyal to them, even if for Shadow it’s only in times of need. Shadow doesn’t want to admit he’s a supporting role to Sonic, although Sonic generations kinda throws that Idea out of the water when Shadow cheers Sonic on while watching from the sidelines, much like early Lancelot.

For Blaze and Percival, in multiple interpretations Percival is of noble birth. Upon meeting Sonic’s Gang/The Knights, Blaze/Percival get’s inspired by their heroics and eventually joins them.

“Lancelot and Percival prove morally superior to Gawain who follows the rules of courtliness to the letter rather than the spirit.“ Is an actual quote from Wikipedia. Although it is VERY hard to find a concrete backstory for Gawain other than “separated from his home”, I think this proves enough. As well as the Gawain and the Green Knight story (in which Gawain tries to slay the green knight and then he picks up his head and says “see you in a year” is pretty representative of Knuckles constantly breaking the master emerald in a comedic light.) 

Lamorak/Jet are known for challenging Arthur/Sonic to competitions. 

Galahad/Silver are searching for an object/person aided by Percival/Blaze

So now that we’re all good, do you see the similarities between part one.

Although everyone else has given backstory similarities, Sonic is given none, seeming as, as far as we know, Sonic HAS no backstory.

But isn’t it interesting that King Arthur’s backstory is being lost royalty? And the secret son of the king? Wack.

3. Sonic Fucking Underground

Now, most of you are probably unfamiliar with Sonic Underground. Good.

If you’re not, you watched it as a kid and you’re nostalgic, and let me tell you I watched the entire show recently and it’s not as good as you remember.

But Sonic Underground’s quality and history could be a post on it’s own, it doesn’t matter here. What matters is the plot:

[From Sonic Wiki: Sonic, Sonia, and Manic are the children of Queen Aleena, the rightful ruler of Mobius and are pursued relentlessly by Doctor Robotnik and his bumbling bounty hunters sidekicks, Sleet and Dingo. As infants, the siblings were separated and placed in hiding to fulfill a prophecy made by the Oracle of Delphius (a spoof of the Oracle of Delphi of Ancient Greece) that the triplets would grow up to find their estranged mother, overthrow Robotnik and take their places once more as Mobius' rightful rulers.]

FORGOTTEN ROYALTY YOU SAY.

Now, Sonic Underground is VERY SEPARATED from Sonic Lore, and nothing has ever taken from it besides Manic appearing in some comics, although from what I know he’s never mentioned to be Sonic’s brother. So This is the part I always take with a grain of salt, however;

4. In conclusion/TLDR

We have Two Instances of Sonic being lost Royalty (One in a separate reality and one in a separate continuity) We have Two Instances of Dimentional Counterparts of Sonic being Royalty (Blaze and King Arthur) We have zero given backstory for Sonic We have Three instances of Sonic, or a counterpart, being royalty

And from what I remember hearing, three’s a pattern.

#sonic the hedgehog #theory #sonic theory #royalty theory #sonic rush #sonic rush adventure #sonic and the black knight #satbk #sonic underground #sonic wiki #Not only is this a deep dive into sonic #but I accidentally did a meta abput the satbk round table and their simmilarites to the og knights

[fandom-puff]

TW SH ! could you do Weasley sister reader who self harms and the family confront her about it and comfort her 🥺

Hi anon! I did these as headcanons- hope you enjoy!! Also, I put the reader as being born somewhere between the twins and Ron :)

How the Weasleys would comfort weasley!reader during a difficult time (SH warning)

Warnings: mentions of self harm, mental health issues- nothing is in explicit detail, but it is implied.

It was the twins who first found out

They were about to prank you in the early morning, but your jumper which you had slept in had ridden up slightly, revealing your arms

They both looked at eachother and nodded, deciding the leave the prank for another day

They brought it up when Mrs Weasley asked you to degnome the garden and the twins (suspiciously) volunteered to help you out.

Once out of earshot of the kitchen, they stopped you.

“YN... how’re you feeling lately?”

“Er... I’m fine,” you tried to brush past them but they stopped you again.

“Don’t be mad,”

“But the other day, we were gonna chuck a load of frogspawn in your hair,”

“And we saw the cut on your arms,”

You gritted your teeth. There was no point in denying it. “Yeah,” you said, shuffling on the spot, head down. “‘M sorry,”

You’re instantly smushed between them in a hug sandwich. “Don’t be sorry, YN. Now we know, we can help,”

“H- have you told mum and dad?” You mumbled. They shook their heads and you gulped.

You both spent the next hour degnoming the garden and talking over what was making you feel so low. From Umbridge’s regime to your upcoming NEWTs, the rise of Voldemort and Percy’s abandoning of the family

Feeling considerably lighter, you walked back to the house and began washing the mud off your hands. Mrs Weasley came in to sort some washing out and Fred and George nodded at you encouragingly.

“M-mum?”

She could tell just from your voice that something was up, and she swept you and your big brothers up to the master bedroom where there would be more privacy

With the help of the twins you explained everything

You closed your eyes, expecting her to start crying or fretting, especially when you spoke about Percy (you had been rather close to your uptight brother), but you were soon enveloped in one of her big warm hugs as she rubbed your back and kissed your temple gently, murmuring that she was so proud of her strong, brave daughter.

Over your shoulder, she nodded at the twins and mouthed ‘thank you’ before beckoning them into the hug

She gently coaxed you to show her your cuts, to make sure they were clean and healing well, so that you wouldn’t get a nasty infection

When Arthur got back from work, molly explained the situation to him gently

He came to find you in the sitting room, and set a mug of your favourite hot drink next to you

You shuffle up so he can sit with you, and you rest your head on his shoulder, the way you used to do when you were younger

“Your mum told me... how you’re feeling,” he says. “If you’re ever feeling down, you’re very welcome to come and help me with my projects... Harry recently told me about a wonderful muggle shop called Ikea, and you havd to build the furniture yourself!”

Ron doesn’t quite get it, but he (with the help of Hermione and Harry) Make sure you’re feeling alright- he often tells you all mad stories about his antics to hopefully distract you, and will happily share food with you

Ginny catches on much easier than Ron, and often tells people to sod off on your behalf- she earned herself a detention when umbridge started having a go at you in the corridor for the most ridiculous reason

Bill and Charlie eventually find out (because Ron tells them via a letter while asking for some tips bc his oldest brothers just seem to understand everything) and they both often send you letters to check how you’re getting on

Your family makes sure you’re managing, and are always prepared to listen and talk through things.

The weasleys are firm believers of a problem shared is a problem halved.

Tag List: @obsessedwithrandomthings @haphazardhufflepuff @diksy1112 @zodiyack @axriel @hiddensapphic @samnblack @tinylumpiaa @in-slytherin-we-trust @thatoneasrastan @emmaloo21 @kyn-lyn54-blog @eleven-times-lively @summer-writes @sleepylunarwolf @holysantana @rai-strangebr @moonlover-tobefree @levylovegood @tsuukichan @brainlesspasta @lupins-sweater

#harry potter #harry potter headcanon #weasley family #weasley family x reader #weasley headcanons #mental health #fred and goerge weasley #molly weasley #arthur weasley #ron weasley #ginny weasley #weasley!reader

[xxpinkgalaxykidxx]

why merlin is really sad if you have a basic understanding of history

Please excuse any errors, I wrote this at 5am and did not proof read.

As I was lying in bed this morning, thinking about BBC Merlin, I came to a depressing conclusion. Merlin post series would go through ALOT of shit before we see him at the very end with the truck. (Keep in mind this is from an American; any british/welsh person should feel free to correct me)

First, let’s establish when the events of Merlin took place. If we go off of the dates of the legend of Arthur/when we know the Anglo Saxons started invading, it puts us between the years 491-539 CE. The show takes place over about 7-9 years, so lets put it at the very end of this time line because 1, the quasi-historical records but Arthur and Mordred’s death between 537-539, and we can imagine that Uther and Arthur’s grandfather dealt with the earlier Anglo Saxon invasions/peaceful immigration.

We also know that Avalon is based on a location in Somerset, England. For the location of the Battle of Camlann, the original legend has it either close to/or on Snowdon Mountain in Wales. This might put Camelot in Eastern Wales/Shropshire, (which was once part of Wales,) or Herefordshire. This makes sense because the original tales of Arthur are of Welsh origin and Merlin speaks an older form of Welsh when casting spells. Camelot could also be at Warwickshire castle, where the show was filmed. (It’s also the county where Shakespeare was born!) Either way, it doesn’t really matter, this part is more for fun. What you really should keep in mind is that the whole Camelot gang would have been indigenous Britons, a people we don’t know much about. The Pendragon family likely had Roman ancestors. I’m not sure what language they would have spoke, but my guesses or either Welsh or Common Brittonic. The pendragons religion is a little up in the air since both Christianity and Paganism were both accepted at this time, but given possible roman ancestors and Uther’s hate of magic, I’m gonna say Christian.

So now we have a time and 3 major locations set, let’s look at what would happen post series. Arthur is dead and in the Lake, so let’s assume Merlin spends his time going back and forth between Somerset and Wales/Shropshire/Herefordshire/Warwickshire. After Arthur’s death, the Saxons keep on coming in overwhelming waves until 560, they were finally the dominant group. They would outnumber the Britons about 4 to 1. It’s still debated what exactly happened to the Britons, but we know that some moved to Britainy in France, but most were assumed into the new Anglo Saxon culture. Merlin and Gwen would be in their early 50s, the knights a bit older, and Gaius would probably not be alive. From the records of this time imply, The Anglo Saxons did still allow Briton rulers to rule if they were subject to the Anglo Saxon’s rules, customs and language. Gwen might have even been forced into marrying an Anglo Saxon guy. Eventually as these Briton rulers died off, and eventually all of England became ruled by Germanic kings.

But Merlin would still be alive throughout all of this, wondering how this takeover was not Albion’s greatest time of need. He would have to see all his remaining friends die of war with the Anglo-Saxons or old age. He would lose his Briton-Romanic roots and have to accept the new Germanic culture. He would eventually learn to speak Old English and see the growth of Christianity in England. A lot of stuff would happen but I kind of don’t care for about 500 years. All you need to know is two things: Camelot would basically become a county with little power and be subject to the Houses of Wessex, Denmark, Wessex again, Denmark again, Wessex again, then a random guy named Harold shows up. Merlin would see all this and be like “hey I know who would be a good king right about now but hes lowkey dead so,”

So Merlin would live in Anglo Saxon england for 500 years until William the Conqueror shows up in 1066 and takes over England, and now England is ruled basically from France. Merlin would be like what the fuck Albion is being ruled by some rando, where’s Arthur this is a time of need. No Arthur. Some more bullshit happens after William’s son Henry I dies, (he named his daughter heir and all the men were like “wOmEn CaNt RuLe!!!”) After that, nothing that would pertain to Merlin till 1157. It’s possible Merlin could think Richard I was a reincarnation of Arthur or something like that, but Richard was highkey an idiot and didn’t do anything important besides let his brother John be in charge and John sucked so Merlin would realize Richard does not equal Arthur.

In 1274, Edward Longshanks was king and I don’t think Merlin would like him very much. He colonized Wales and famously was a jerk to Scotland. He idolized Arthur and the knights, which would probably piss off Merlin even further. He would wonder if this was Albion’s greatest hour of need and if Arthur would come. No Arthur.

1337, the Hundred Year’s War Starts. It goes well for England at first and Merlin would think, oh it's just another war. Nope. It goes on in bursts for 116 years, and with the intervention of Joan of Arc, the French win. Merlin would think, “Arthur this might be a good time to come back when we are losing a huge war!” But no Arthur. (I do think Merlin would be sympathetic to Joan of Arc though.)

1455 to 1487 is the War of the Roses. Merlin would have to watch England tear itself apart over the crown and would think, “This is gotta be it. Arthur is gonna be the one to come out of this and fix the country and bring back Camelot.” But he wouldn’t come. It’s possible he could think that Henry VII was a reincarnation of Arthur and would meet him, but it wouldn’t be him.

1553. Mary I becomes Queen of England and kills a lot of people, including Lady Jane Grey. She tries bringing back a religion that was just not working for a lot of people. Merlin would see this and think, “Arthur come back with your tolerance and fix this.” But no Arthur.

1649. The English Civil War Happens. They cut off Charles I’s head and Oliver Cromwell is instated as Lord Protector. Puritanism is the new religion. For Merlin this would be really not great for him. Magic would be even more hunted then before. He would definitely think this is it. Albion’s greatest hour of need! But Charles II becomes king, not Arthur. And Charles II would not be a reincarnation of Arthur, nor would William and Mary later.

Skip ahead to Napoleon’s conquest of Europe in the Early Nineteenth century. I’m not quite sure what Merlin would make of Napoleon, but he’d see the situation as a good time for Arthur to come back. But no Arthur.

Then both World Wars! England was in a lot of trouble both times and it would probably be the time that it would make most sense for Arthur to come back. But he doesn’t. And honestly that makes no fucking sense to me. Wouldn’t it be a great sequel to the show if Arthur came back in 1918, to pick up the mess of the first World War and help fight the second? Am I going crazy? Most likely yes.

Well, this has gone on wayyyy to long so I will end this analysis here. I know I left out alot, but I tried to cover the important stuff. The main takeaway is that Merlin would go through a WHOLE lot. He would change languages at least twice, watch everyone die, and magic wain in use from repeated witch hunts.

#bbc merlin #merlin emrys #arthur pendragon #arthurian mythology #anglo saxon #richard i #war of the roses #mary i of england #english civil war #oliver cromwell #Morgana Pendragon #gwen merlin #lancelot merlin #merthur #gwaine #morgwen #arwen #arthur x gwen #Arthur x merlin

[mariamermaid]

The witches wrath (2/3)

Tommy Shelby X fem witch reader

Summary: You meet Thomas when you were just a little girl travelling as a gypsy…

Words: 2.6k

Warnings: mentions of blood, death, violence

Halloween Masterlist

 “I love you, Y/N.” A sob escaped your lips again. “And I love you, Thomas Shelby and if you don´t come back, I´ll come and get you myself.”

Time was a funny thing, without time things were put out of perspective and eternal thinking turned to dust. As Tommy stepped back into his city, his home, he inhaled the scent deeply. Oh, how he missed the dirty ol´ city, but there was nothing he kept looking for more than you. The thought of being only minutes, hell only seconds away from you, send endorphins through his body and an exhilarating a thrill of anticipation. Things had changed, shops were closed, new ones opened, people died and people were born. It felt like ages since Tommy had wandered through the streets he knew so merely; he could tell them apart by the gravel on the ground. Finally, he turned the last corner and he braced for the sight of the small herb shop with the hand painted sign, but his smile just as the eagerness in his eyes, vanished. Your shop was gone.

Tommy furrowed his brows and with quick and hectic steps, he hurried to Shelby Company Limited. In the pit of his stomach, there was an unwell growling. On the way, he lit himself a cigarette and without knocking or ringing the bell, he entered through the backdoor. Arthur, who had gone to their home before, was sitting at the table in the kitchen. Polly, Ada and John gathered around and they all looked surprised and somehow anxious when Thomas practically stormed inside. “Where is she?”

“God fucking dammit!” Tommy let out another cursed as the horse just didn´t want it his way. He felt so out of place in his own home and even the animal in front of him, sensed his inner turmoil. When he managed to find his seat in the saddle, he pulled the reins closer. Polly, who had followed her nephew to the stables, sighed audible.

“Tommy, things changed and it wasn´t as easy as it might seem to you”, she explained with sadness in her voice. He was angry. Angry at her, angry at you and angry at him, but most importantly angry at war. If he hadn´t gone, things would be different, he knew it.

“She isn´t here, is she?” Tommy replied infuriated, starring down at Polly. Behind her eyes laid a dark filter, she knew what happened.

“She came back to see if you´d come home, but then she came less and less. She said she had a vision.” Tommy huffed, nonsense, it was all bullshit to him. But dear Thomas only looked at a fraction of the truth, intrigue and hatred grew its roots deeper than trees.

The horse was tall and strong as it made its way through the city and then over the roads. It was almost fifteen minutes later when he reached the junction Polly told him about. The road split, but right in front him he saw the faint hint of a trail into the woods. He was warned, that it wouldn´t be easy to find your cabin, to which you had moved about a year ago, but he was determined. While the horse continued to surge ahead, he started wondering what he was expecting. Would you fall into his arms, relieved to find him alive? Would you recognize him? Or would he recognize you? Nonsense, Tommy would always know you. At least that´s what he told himself…

It was almost another twenty minutes later, the horse had to slow down since the thicket seemed to be unbreakable and Tommy left the saddle to guide his companion. Your cabin laid on a small glade, even though it was a foggy day. A small river with ice cold water ran down the trail and a wooden table with tools was build outside. The horse became unsettled as Thomas noticed the two Doberman hounds as well. They didn’t have a leash and as he stepped closer, they quickly started growling and barking echoed through the forest. No light was on inside the cabin, but then he watched as you came running out of the woods, alarmed by the dogs. A long dark robe hiding your figure and face, a shotgun in your grip and you aimed it right at Tommy. Slowly you stepped closer, Thomas was frozen in place. He didn´t yield or hold up his hands, he just starred at you. You came closer, he realized you were limping with your left foot and when you were close enough to recognize him, he saw the face underneath the cape. A scar from your eyebrow down to your eye, skin pale and you had lost weight. You lowered the shotgun, starring thunderstruck at the dark-haired man in front of you.

“Tommy?” The dogs had lowered their howling and watched now as their owner seemed to know the unknown man. But Thomas had realized that they would listen perfectly at your command and he was truly scared. The woman in front of him wasn´t you, she had changed. Your voice was almost a whisper, so raspy, he wondered when the last time was, when you had talked.

Both of you just starred at each other, time passing; seconds and even minutes. You didn´t know how to move, your muscles didn´t react.

The was a longing to jump into his arms and there was pain holding you back. “What happened?” Tommy asked into the silence. The two Dobermans, who had settled next to you, looked back and forth, their ears pointed up. “Come in, I´ll make some tea.” You answered reluctant and made a head gesture for him to follow you. The Dobermans were first to enter the cabin, then you. Tommy tied the horse up, you didn´t even wait for him. He sensed you feared him, or at least his arrival.

As he entered the cabin, his eyes wandered around. It was completely built out of wood; he was sure you had built it yourself and a small fire was crackling. A string hung from one end to the other, herbs drying in the air. A bed, a small kitchen isle and a table, which you used more for writing then eating. Papers were spread across it, and a single shelve was filled with books. He recognized some of the symbols on the books from the gypsy, other were foreign to him. You avoided his glance, but you still felt it. You hastily put away the papers and the books on the table, by the handwriting Thomas knew they were written by yourself. You clearly didn´t want him to get a closer look. Placing the kettle from the fire on the table and taking two cups, you poured in steaming hot tea. As you finally sat down at the table as well, you pulled down the cape from your face. Your hair had gotten long, but it was beautifully braided and he eyed the scar, wondering how much luck you had, that you hadn´t become blind.

“It started out small, incidents I didn´t pay much attention to really.” It was your voice talking, yet Tommy knew nothing about the woman sitting at the table with him. But you knew that he wanted answers, it was his right.

“Comments and remarks about me and the shop.” You paused, your glance on the mug in front of you. “But it became quickly worse. About six months after you had left, they started boycotting the shop. Spreading word that I sold poison, painting the glass panel and driving away customers.” You swallowed, he felt how hard the story felt against your chest. But he didn´t push you. “One night, I had closed the shop early, knowing nobody would care at this point. I was attacked in a back alley. Luckily, John found me, anyway I would´ve bled to death.” A sharp pain in his stomach dropped as the words settled in Thomas, the image of you bleeding on the dirty ground in a dark alley with no one caring, anger grew like a bushfire in him. His jaw was tensed and his high cheekbones stiff. “I slept for an entire week, dreaming only of you, Thomas Shelby. Buried in a tunnel system with Arthur and your dad, with no air to breath. With no one searching for your body. I couldn´t stay afterwards.”

 He didn´t know what to say; Thomas Shelby was speechless. For a long time, the two of you had sit at the table, time passing like leaves falling in autumn. Tommy opened his mouth, but you immediately shook your head. You knew what he would imply. “I´m not coming back with you. This town doesn´t want me and I don´t want it either.”

“What about our promise?”

“It didn´t change now, did it?” You asked instead and started tidying up the kitchen. “You´re back, I still love you.” His eyes shot up to you, he was angry.

“How can you just say that? Like it meant nothing!” The silence and the quiet that had settled before was gone, you spun around filled with hatred. Hatred that really just hid the fear in you. “They tried to kill me, purposely! I almost died and for what?!”

You never, not once, had yelled at him and he flinched in response, too numb suddenly to answer with any words. “Do you know what happens when I move back? With you? They´ll do the same with you, Tommy! With your family! The company!” Tears had started forming in your eyes, you felt so angry you were already shaking. Your two dogs, Apollo and Cerberus, cocked their ears, clearly interested in how the situation was involving. After their initial calmness when Tommy had entered your house, they now started growling at him again. Tommy on the other hand knew, that you wouldn´t release them on him, but what if the dogs decided on their own? They were loyal to you, only to you and as of right now, he was a risk in their eyes.

Suddenly he realized how the room had become warmer, hotter to be honest. He glanced to the fire, then back to you; was your anger awakening the fire? It couldn´t be! The cups in the cupboard had started clattering and he knew, that it was your power moving them. After all these years knowing you, he forgot that you were born into a witch´s family of gypsies. He had forgotten that there were things no one could explain and a terrible thought crossed his mind; what if the people were right to feel threatened by you?

 He left after that.

He continued with life in Birmingham.

But there wasn´t a day, hour or even second, where he didn´t think about you.

It was two weeks after Tommy had come back, two weeks after your first encounter when he saw you again. The nights were truly the worst; either his sleep was filled with nightmares of being buried alive and screams from war, or he laid awoke with nothing but pictures of you wandering through his mind.

It was an early Sunday morning, half of Birmingham was trying to sleep off their hangover, the other one was enjoying the luxury of sleeping in before the work week was starting again. Like so often, Thomas was awakened by a nightmare, he starred at the clock; 5.37 a.m. He sighed annoyed and brushed away the sleep in his eyes while sitting up on the bed. The sun wasn´t out yet, but it wasn´t fully dark out either. He was just about to lit himself a cigarette, when he heard something from downstairs. Who else was awake? Or was it an intruder perhaps?

He threw an old shirt over his bare chest, and started slipping down the stairs, careful to not make any noise. He realized voices coming from the kitchen and for a second, he held in listening.

“Give him this tea, it helps with the sleep.”

“I don´t think he actually sleeps, or eats for any matter.”

The second voice was Polly´s. The first one yours.

The two of you looked up startled when Tommy entered the kitchen, eyes widened and mouth opened. You wore a dark coat, thick and with a big hood and a pair of pants. “There´s nothing in this house that Thomas won´t get wind of”, you sighed and threw the bag, which previously laid on the table, over your shoulder. Polly watched carefully, her eyes wandering back and forth between the two of you. The smallest hint of a smile was on her thin lips, she was a gypsy and she wasn´t dumb.

“I need to head out before the sun starts rising, there´s a full moon coming Polly. I feel it waxing.” Polly let out a chuckled while Tommy observed from the side. The conversation between the two of you was so smooth and he envied Polly for it. “You know the waxing moon brings healing and growth.” You patted Polly lightly on the shoulder. “I know.”

Then you left the kitchen with swift steps and Polly, who had her back turned to her nephew, rolled her eyes at Tommy. “Go after her if you want to talk to her and don´t stand around.”

 He stepped outside with slippers on his bare feet and caught sight of you vanishing behind a corner. “Y/n.” He called out your name just before finally reaching you again. You didn´t turn to him and continued making your way out of the city. “Tommy.”

“Why didn´t you tell me?” “Tell you what?”

“That you´d come and visit.” “And how should I tell you that?” He sighed and grabbed your wrist to stop you from walking. “You have your ways, ravens or something.” You huffed.

“Yeah I´ll send a raven, maybe a dragon just to make sure you´ll get the message.”

“I missed your remarks.” Taken back by his honesty you stepped a little back to bring distance between the two of you.

“I missed you”, he continued quietly. Carefully, as if he was afraid, he raised his hand to caress your cheek. “Have I told you, that you´re still as beautiful as ever?” You swallowed the lump in your throat and grabbed his hand. “Tommy don´t.”

“What?” It was his time to play dumb.

“This won´t change anything.” “I know.”

And then he leaned forward and kissed you and everything felt in place again. It felt like in the old times, where you were young and stupid and so dearly in love with him, nothing mattered but him. For a few seconds, the world was okay and it didn´t feel lonely and cold around your heart.

“I´m sorry it has to be like this, I truly am”, you explained whispering when his lips left yours. He nodded. “Make sure you´ll get safely home, Apollo and Cerberus will watch out for you.”

You chuckled. “How do you know their names?”

“You always loved the Greek mythology.” He smiled as well. “And their names are on their bowls in your kitchen.”

 It wasn´t a raven he received a few days later, it was a pigeon. Tommy sat in the office of the Shelby Company, late at night, calculating numbers, when the grey pigeon picked against the window. A smile immediately grew on his face, he took the letter from the pigeon and gave the bird some water.  

“Dear Tommy,

I saw a wild horse this morning at sunrise, it was beautiful.

How are the nightmares? Does the tea help?

Be careful, there is a blood moon coming. Things tend to shift then.”

The letter was simple signed with your initials. But it was enough for now, it sparked something that had been in Thomas since he met you; hope.

---------------------

tags: @octaviareina @theamuz

#tommy shelby imagine #thomas shelby imagine #peaky blinder imagine #peaky blinder #tommy shelby fanfic #cilian murphy #mariamermaidimagine

[richmond-rex]

☠ and ♥ for margaret beaufort, ♥ elizabeth of york, ☾ and ★ henry vii, ★ margaret tudor

🌹 Hey there, thank you so much for your ask! Under the cut because it got long! ask me a headcanon 

Margaret Beaufort

☠ - angry/violent headcanon: This is the thing, though. I don’t think Margaret was an angry or violent person! She’s earned a reputation as a demanding and somewhat strict mistress but all of her household servants were fond of her. Fisher said that ‘of marvellous gentleness she was unto all folks, but specially unto her own, whom she trusted and loved right tenderly. Unkind she would be unto no creature, or forgetful of any kindness or service done to her before’. Likewise, sometime later, a former servant of hers, Henry Parker, referred to her as ‘my godly mistress the Lady Margaret’. There were always fun pastimes at her house though eventually she would pull out her bible lol There’s the time she was visiting one of the colleges she founded in Cambridge, Christ’s College, and a dean was beating one of his pupils and Margaret saw it from a window and shouted: lente, lente! (gently, gently!).

I’d say that one thing that made her blood boil, though, if there was any, was her sense of justice. Fisher commented that ‘it is not unknown how studiously she procured justice to be administered by a long season so long as she was suffered’. We saw her unwavering determination in trying to get her son’s lands back to him, but we also see this trait in the fact that she was authorised to settle disputes and administer justice on the king’s behalf in the midlands. Apparently, the jail in her house of Collyweston was occasionally in use (*eye emoji*). She also tried to make the king of France pay her the debt that was owed to her family since before she was born, and for that reason she travelled to France in 1502 when she was 57 years old! 

♥ - family headcanon: Maggie B loved a full house! Even before she was the king’s mother her house had always been full of people visiting, notably her half-siblings, the St Johns, and her half-brother, Sir John Welles. She sought the advancement of her nieces and nephews: one of her nephews, Sir Richard Pole, married Margaret of Clarence, for example, and her nieces Elizabeth and Eleanor St John were raised in her household. The king paid for the festivities of Elizabeth St John’s wedding. It seems Margaret was greatly interested in the future of children, including her royal grandchildren: she constantly brought them presents, and it seems she rewarded the queen’s midwives after each birth. We know that she paid for servants to go to Queen Margaret in Scotland so as to bring her news about her granddaughter. All-in-all she was the biggest gemini who liked being surrounded by company and knowing all that was going on with her family.

Elizabeth of York

♥ - family headcanon: We know Elizabeth was very close to her children, but she was also very close to her sisters (she paid them pensions even after they were married and even looked after their children, Katherine’s in particular) and that’s why I think Princess Katherine was named after her sister Katherine of York, rather than after Princess Catalina. Katherine of York was the chief mourner at Elizabeth’s funeral which implies she was with Elizabeth when she died and possibly with her sister during her niece’s birth. That she was attending the queen is also possible given that her husband was imprisoned at the time under suspicion of plotting with Edmund de la Pole. So, most likely Katherine of York was princess Katherine’s godmother, and we know that according to tradition the godparents were the ones to name the child during the baptism/christening. Elizabeth of York had known her sister Katherine all her life. In comparison, Elizabeth of York knew Princess Catalina for a total of two weeks at most. Also, compared to Katherine of York, it is unlikely that Catherine of Aragon attended the princess’s baptism at the Tower.

Henry VII

☾ - sleep headcanon: In my modern AU Henry VII goes to sleep very late and wakes up very early and is borderline insomniac lelel Ok, this is largely based on his reputation to be a workaholic but I’m not pulling this headcanon out of my arse: Henry VII was greatly relieved when they finally captured Perkin Warbeck because he had not been able to sleep very well (and was probably suffering from some sort of anxiety disorder). After Warbeck surrendered, Henry claimed that at last he had been ‘cured of those privy stitches which ... had long [been] about his heart and had sometimes broken his sleep’. 

★ - sad headcanon: Whyyy would you ask for a sad headcanon hhh almost all of Henry’s life was sad! That’s the thing about him, though, he is a tragic figure, especially because there was a moment in her life where he finally got to be the hero and then everything started slowly crumbling down. We know how miserable he was after the deaths of Prince Arthur and Elizabeth (and presumably, Jasper), but many people don’t realise that starting in 1499 Henry lost many friends and loyal supporters who had been following him since his days in exile. Cardinal Morton, arguably a father figure, died in 1499; Reginald Bray, a friend and the head of the king’s fiscal policies so far, died in 1503, not long after Elizabeth of York. Daubeney, which people have called to be the equivalent of what William Hastings was to Edward IV, Henry’s Lord Chamberlain, fell ill whilst travelling with the king and died shortly after in 1508. Richard Pole, the king’s cousin and who had also served as his chamberlain for some time, died in 1504 (if I’m not mistaken). In short, Henry VII progressively lost all of his friends at the same time when he was also losing many members of his family. Henry VII’s last years were nothing short of tragic; I think he had always been a lonely child, and then as he got to the end of his life he must have felt like that lonely child again.

Margaret Tudor

★ - sad headcanon: I headcanon Margaret as the biggest daddy’s girl hh and from what we got from her letters as soon as she went to Scotland, she was homesick, but above all missing her father! I think losing her mother must have been a terrible blow to her (from Elizabeth’s accounts it seems they were constantly together by the time of her mother’s death), and then she had to be separated from the one parent that was left to her. From her letters it seems she was also saddened by what she perceived as James’s lack of interest in her: she goes on to say something along the lines of the king doesn’t pay attention to me as he should, that is, she was used to seeing her father the king paying a great deal of attention to her mother the queen, and thought that was how marriage looked like. Many people think that Henry VIII sought in his successive marriages what his parents had but I think that Margaret (and Mary) also wanted to have a marriage similar to her parents’. 

Thanks for sending your ask! ❤️️🤍

#sanssremovyr #headcanon meme #margaret beaufort #elizabeth of york #henry vii #margaret tudor

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Okay okay okay okay, I know I’m asking a lot of stuff and probs annoying you. I’m currently reading about the character but what about her and Tim?? Like can I get a run down of everything about them. The good and bad?? Everytime I see things on here it’s either making Tim to be so bad (Anti-Tim ig) or Steph to be so bad and I’m sure they’re both at fault, yea?

No I’m happy to help.

Both Tim and Steph have made mistakes but not in an awful way and more in a ‘these are literal children dealing with serious situations while also trying to be in a relationship with one another’. 

The Steph being bad stuff entirely comes from the fact that she’s a female love interest to a boy who’s one half of a popular mlm ship, she’s made mistakes here and there but they’re human instances where she’s trying to do her best, fandoms often tend to erase or demonise female characters in any any fandom if they are involved in a ship. It’s a sexist habit that comes from reducing a female to only her romantic relationship and ignoring all her other connections and reeks of misogyny. There’s also some slut shaming as Steph was a teen pregnancy & a victim of sexual assault multiple times.

The anti Tim stuff is a bit more complicated, partly it’s a response to sexism where so many fans are sick of the misogyny directed at Steph that they go full throttle the other way or it comes from fans genuinely uncomfortable with Tim’s actions as this is comics and comics are usually written by sexist men which means Tim sometimes takes actions or says something that is not so great.

The important thing to remember about Tim and Steph is that they are each others best friends and they have been through so much together to the point where even if they were not dating they would still be one of the most important relationships the other had.

There is some worry that Tim and Steph feeds into each others complexes 

Tim and Steph both experienced neglect growing up in different ways which makes their attitude to love very different.

Tim's parents were never around most of the time which makes him sort of desperate for love, for validation and most of the time he seems to be of the sort that love is something he can earn if he just does the right thing or achieves the right goal which reflects on how he probably thought if he got good grades or made his parents proud they'd notice him more they'd spend time with him more.

Steph's childhood of neglect I guess you could say came from the sickness of her parents Arthur Brown was abusive to both his wife and daughter and Crystal's drug addiction making her barely able to raise Steph half the time. More often than not it was Steph taking care of the house hold and her mother than any adult looking out for Steph.

With the neglect Steph went through she knew that there was nothing /she/ herself could do to change it, she couldn't magically make her mother quit taking drugs or stop her father from committing crimes by winning an award or behaving well, heck most of her childhood was just trying to keep her and her mum alive so in contrast with Tim who is desperate to receive love Steph is desperate to give love. Because if she's giving love to this person that means they care about her too right? 

This comes across in how easy Steph is willing to poor love into people who are even remotely nice to her like the second Barbara or Bruce stop treating her like shit she's immediately like 'I would die for you'. The second her mother is sober enough to notice her Steph is there being like 'mom I love you I would protect you with my life'. Cass is slightly nice to her? She is now Steph's best friend.

Tim is desperate to receive unconditional affection while Steph is desperate to give unconditional affection which would explain why they are drawn to one another but enough about the meta and onto their actual history.

Steph became a vigilante originally to stop her fathers crimes, the entire point of Spoiler was an abuse victim taking agency back from her abuser and due to Tim being Robin and also investigating the same crimes the two would run into each other multiple times, there was an attraction between the two however neither truly pursued anything due to the fact that Tim was dating another girl and Steph was ‘seeing’ a guy (though the relationship was implied to be unhealthy as he was significantly older, Steph only being around 14 at the time, and showed little in Steph’s actual well being).

However despite the two already being in relationships the two developed keen banter together and quickly began to enjoy the others presence what arguably set then on the path towards a relationship however is when Tim very nearly died and Steph managed to save him at the last second, Tim was so relieved that he kissed Steph sparking a romantic interest from Steph and Tim beginning to realise he had feelings for her.

Steph would then continue fighting crime outside of her fathers crimes as Steph realised that as Spoiler she could help other abuse victims such as herself. Steph’s entire life can be described as falling through the cracks in the system no one caring about the abuse and unsafe situations that she grew up with and Steph’s early journey as Spoiler is her realising that even though no one had cared when she was abused and hurt she could be the person who would care for other people so no one would suffer the way she did. Steph aiming to fight crime meant that she and Tim ran into each other even more working multiple cases together until it eventually culminated into Tim admitting that he had feelings for Steph but due to his loyalty to Batman he could never tell her his secret identity however Steph told him that that was enough for her, the two ended their previous relationships and started dating.

This is actually where a lot of criticism over the relationship is from due to the obvious power imbalance Tim knows every detail of Steph’s life while controlling all information Steph has on him and only lets her interact with Robin. Tim has also been shown to be rather possessive of Steph controlling her interactions with other members of the superhero community and expressing alarm in her spending time with other heroes who are not him.

There is also the fact that for a large part every man Stephanie has ever interacted with have been abusive in some way, her home life was incredibly dangerous due to her mother and fathers friends all being criminals or victims and Steph had to deal with at least two instances of child predators growing up so to many readers it becomes increasingly obvious that Tim might very well be the first man Steph ever interacted with who treated her with human decency and that is why she fell in love with him.

After the relationship started Steph found out that she had become pregnant from her previous relationship and the reader discovers that Steph’s previous boyfriend on top of being awful to her was also using her for sex. Steph tells Tim about the pregnancy fully expecting him to break up with her however Tim states that he is going to be there to support Steph. The two grow even closer as Tim becomes someone for Steph to lean on wearing disguises to take Steph to birthing classes and helps Steph through the process of putting the baby up for adoption. Tim is even there when the child is born.

The incident made Tim and Steph even closer and afterwards the two continue dating and remain close, Steph quickly becomes what could be considered Tim’s safe place as he is able to leave any problems as Tim Drake or Robin away and simply enjoy being with her and during times where Tim is unable to visit Steph he is shown to be tense and disgruntled without the positive emotional outlet however after nearly over a year and a half of dating Steph begins to realise that the dynamic of the relationship is uneven as Tim has complete control and knowledge over her own life while she knows nothing about Tim’s life out of the mask. Steph begins to worry about merely being used and starts openly wishing that Tim would let her be more involved with his life outside of Robin.

Tim meanwhile is beginning his rebellious phase against Batman and Bruce takes actions to try and nip it in the bud as Dick’s rebellious phase ended with Dick leaving Batman for the Titans and Jason’s rebellious phase ended with Jason dead. Bruce attempts to control Tim by using Steph revealing Tim’s secret identity to Tim. After that point Bruce would continually manipulate Steph in a gambit to manipulate Tim and Tim expresses frustration at Bruce using Steph to get to him.

Bruce and Steph’s relationship is incredibly complicated in its own right as Steph has a childhood admiration of Batman as he was the only one who seemed to be able to stop her fathers abuse by putting him in prison. This childhood admiration causes Steph to follow and respect Bruce no matter how many times his actions hurt her. Bruce on the other hand has a lot of issues regarding Steph as Steph reminds him a lot of Jason and Bruce puts a lot of his unresolved issues regarding his dead son on her which as you might assume does not end well for Steph at all.

Outside of Bruce’s meddling however Steph and Tim grow increasingly close no longer having to worry about secret identities the two go on regular dates and are there for each other in every aspect of their lives. However Tim’s father finds out about Robin and forces him to quit and Steph who had been dating Tim ‘batman needs a Robin’ Drake for years was firmly of the belief that ‘Gotham needs a Robin’ at which point Steph herself becomes the fourth Robin though it is heavily implied that once again Bruce is manipulating Steph in order to manipulate Tim into coming back.

Then DC enters its dark ages where they kill off characters left and right and Steph is tortured, raped and killed in a Gotham wide gang war primarily for Bruce angst so that Bruce can go ‘oh god it’s Jason all over again I knew she was girl Jason I knew it’ mean while Tim has what can probably be best described as a mental break down over Steph’s death and the subsequent death of his father and multiple friends. This causes Tim to become cold, cynical and increasingly dark and pessimistic (he has depression).

However Steph comes back to Gotham two years later alive again and it is revealed that Leslie Thompkin’s essentially kidnapped Steph to Africa for two years and faked Steph’s death in order to try and save Steph from being a soldier in Batman’s crusade. Steph was Leslie’s ward for two years but realised that she could literally not stop fighting crime as in Africa Steph literally started dressing up as an African legend and started fighting crime there, eventually convincing Leslie that they needed to go back to Gotham the two returned and Tim was over the moon to see Steph alive kissing her on sight, however Tim realises that he essentially had a break down over Steph death for nothing and expresses resentment over Steph letting him believe that she was dead for two years. Steph who had spent the past to years recovering physically and mentally from the trauma of being tortured for days prior to Leslie faking Steph’s death and Steph essentially not having had a choice in Leslie’s plan to fake her death is just like ‘I don’t know what to tell you buddy’ 

Steph is still Tim’s emotional home, immediately relying on her for emotional support once again and the two are shown to still love each other however the two had changed a great deal over the time they were apart. Steph having had an adult finally care about her well being for the first time in her life grew much more positive into someone who believed in the inherent good in people and in hope while Tim had grown harsh and dark and cynical. The two even joke about how Steph has become an optimist while Tim had become a pessimist. Steph is like a beam of light for Tim who had become increasingly dark and Tim finds himself being both wary of it and drawn to it.

Then Bruce gets back to his old tricks of using Steph to manipulate Tim and gives Steph instructions to challenge Tim in order to improve Tim’s skills as a crime fighter. Steph on Bruce’s orders employs and assassin to fight Tim however the assassin goes to far and Steph is injured trying to protect Tim. Tim realising that Bruce is once again manipulating Steph to get to him as well as having an inherent fear of Steph dying again demands that Steph should not be a vigilante any longer never mind that Steph literally can not stop fighting crime which causes a rift between the two.

The superhero community then believe that Batman is dead and Tim leaves Gotham to prove that Bruce is alive while Tim is gone from Gotham Cass makes Steph the new Batgirl and Steph becomes incredibly close to Barbara and Damian and as Batgirl makes several friends within the masked community no longer having her interactions be controlled by Tim or Bruce. Steph starts coming into her own and building up her self confidence, when Tim returns he is once again upset that Steph is still fighting crime his fear of Steph dying still going strong and acts condescending towards Steph’s attempts to help him however Steph proves herself in sheer level of skill and prowess and Tim accepts her as a vigilante and the new Batgirl accepting that Steph will not die again. Tim then attempts to rekindle their romantic relationship however Steph realises that she had been too dependent on Tim’s love and wishes to improve herself as a person before she even thinks of entering a relationship again. The two remain close friends however Tim expresses attraction towards Steph multiple times (Tim is the horniest little fuck during this time in their lives and Steph is literally out their trying to live her life and better herself as a person and get a university degree it’s hilarious)

If Convergence is to believe the two would always eventually get back together in one way or another the two issues being about their romantic interest in each other and getting back together.

After the reboot happens when they meet again Tim immediately expresses romantic interest in Steph while Steph herself is wary of Tim as in this universe both her mother and her father are criminals who have tried to kill her and Steph has effectively been homeless living in public libraries or where ever she can. It is unknown when but Tim offers Steph a place to live at his apartment and a some point the two eventually enter a romantic relationship.

A lot of fans have criticised this as Steph is entirely financially dependent on Tim for food and shelter and once again Tim holds more power than Steph in the relationship. Also in the rebooted universe Tim is Steph’s only support system as her parents tried to kill her, her father murdered any civilians she was close to in order to hurt her and any connections Steph had before the reboot have had vast amounts of their history erased.

Steph has also been shown to be responsible for a lot of Tim’s mental health as she has to stop him from crossing lines or going off the deep end multiple times it is described as Tim having a tendency of walking a dark path when he is alone. 

Steph and Tim are both presented as each others support systems in current comics and when Tim wanted to leave Gotham in order to research the multiverse Steph went with him as the two rely on each other.

I don’t believe there is a good guy or bad guy in their relationship both Tim and Steph want what’s best for each other but sometimes these views don’t line up which causes conflict but at the end of the day they are two people that care about each other a great deal and whether they are in a relationship or not they will always be one of the most important people in each others lives.

The relationship is criticised by the fandom as fans either fetishise mlm relationships and are angry at Steph ‘getting in the way’ an unfortunate trend in all fandoms and on the other side many are tired of female characters being reduced to their romantic relationships.

TimSteph is a cute ship with a deep connection and a lot of history proving that they care about each other a great deal but sexism and misogyny are things that exist especially in fandom spaces and that creates a nightmare.

#asks #DC comics #stephanie brown #tim drake #dc #timsteph #boy these two have been through a lot #but yeah the ships fine people just hate woman and fetishise gay relationships

[uthseikoashx-inflamedme]

How can everyone find their true-love and still be in love after years in HP? (”magic-soulmates” theory and conservative society)

(I do apologize for the mistakes! I did my best and have been help by websites and things like that, but I’m afraid I’m still not a native speaker. I hope it’s not that bad though. Sorry again!) (when I started writing this I thought “it’s going to be short, I’m gonna explain things quickly”, and well, nope)

Isn’t it curious that a lot of character in Harry Potter meet his true love at school, marry to them, and love them until the very end?

Just a quick list: Harry and Ginny, Ron and Hermione, Lily and James, Molly and Arthur, Frank and Alice, Neville and Hannah Abbot, James’ parents, Remus’ parents, the Malfoys, the Crouchs... It’s definitely a lot of people who are in love for ever (and I’m sure I’ve forgotten some couples, like Newt and Tina or Luna and Rolf, even if they didn’t meet at school?).

Plus, there are other characters which had a “true love”, and despite the fact they are not (anymore) together, they still love this same person - and they never have been able to move on. Minerva McGo fell for a muggle who died, Severus Snape was obsessed with Lily until his very end - literally -, Albus Dumbledore met Gellert Grindelwald at 17 (or 18) and loved him during decades despite everything his charismatic murderous ex-boyfriend accomplished (and Albus was probably Gellert’s true love), etc.

But in real life, most of the people don’t marry to their school crush and most importantly, don’t love them deeply and unconditionally during decades (or I think so at least). So, why isn’t it working the same in the wizarding world?

Well, it could be because JKR didn’t want to include divorce and wanted to present a (quite unrealistic) model of relationships (and Harry Potter was intially a book for kids, so ok); but couldn’t we find a real reason?

So here are several theories, to fix this... inconsistency?

Again, it’s theories, so there are probably questionable points and things like that. Feel free to say what you think of it!

1. Magic “soulmates”

This one is my favourite, and it’s probably - to my opinion! - the most believable, the most convincing, at least the one with the most potential. (it’s not perfect at all though)

Muggles and wizards/witches aren’t the same human beings. It’s a fact: there are diseases which affects only magic people (the Dragon pox?), magic people live way longer than muggles (Bathilda was older than Dumbledore, who was born in 1881 and died in 1997; Gellert, Elphias and Muriel were still alive in 1998...). Magic seems to have an impact on the body, on the constitution (*).

The assumption is: what if the magic through the body of every wizard or witch was able to... “recognize” or “match” with the perfect person? Because of something muggles don’t have, magic people are able to truly bind themselves with a... soulmate, something like that?

It might be plausible (maybe believable), I have several arguments.

Firstly, magic people are able to feel the surrounding magic - like forces, something immaterial but which has a strong influence. Albus is able to feel the marks of Riddle’s spells in the cave (and I’m strongly convinced that his magic and Gellert’s were... connected, that they were capable to feel and recognize each other magic, because both of them were bloody brilliant, but it’s not the subject). We can perhaps also talk about how Newt was able to detect the prints of magical creatures and Tina after they left the streets, in FBCOG. It shows that magic is everywhere, and it has a strong influence on the physical world.

Secondly, we have proofs that magic is far more complex than spells and things like that: Unbreakable Vows or Fidelius Charms imply magic contracts that we don’t understand, students can study things like Arithmancy or Divination, which are subtle arts... But the greatest example of it is certainly Lily’s protection. Magic is complex.

Thirdly, we can suppose that every witch or wizard has a very personal magic - a reflection, a part of their personality, of their soul (which exist in Harry Potter). Maybe souls are entirely a magic thing, after all (it’s quite sad for muggles though): I mean that each soul is perhaps the magic energy of a witch or a wizard, the source of their power (but again it’s not entirely the subject here). So each magic, each soul, is able to “scan” other’s soul - other’s magic - and find a perfect match: after all, magic is soul, and consequently, it’s the most intimate part of someone’s personality. And then, people fall in love (because magic and personality match).

I really do appreciate this theory, because I fairly like complex and mysterious magic systems and things like that in HP (that’s why Albus’ and Gellert’s interactions and relation can be utterly interesting btw). Plus, it actually explains why someone is truly in love with the same person for ages.

But, what about wizards or witches which fell in love with muggles - Remus’ dad, Queenie Goldstein, etc? If their partner isn’t a person with a magical soul and stuff, how can they be truly in love and all?

Yes, indeed, it exists; however, we can... fix that.

On one hand, maybe soul and magic are separated, souls have their own energy, and wizard’s or witch’s magic acts to tie the two souls despite the absence of magic through muggle’s bodies. Plus, muggles are affected by magic (we can cast spells on them, but most importantly they also feel subtle magic things, like Dudley with the Dementors (even if we can argue here that the chill we feel when there is a Dementor is something physical and not magic)).

On the order hand, in the muggle world, there is people which are truly in love without magic: so perhaps it is not a question of magic here, they are just... in love. (I hope I’m clear?)

2. Conservative society and appearances

Nevertheless, is it possible that those perfect couples... aren’t absolutely truly in love with each other? So, why didn’t just they broke up?

Perhaps the witchcraft society (can we name it like that?) is actually quite conservative, and not quite open-minded about divorces. Several things we learn in the books support this idea.

First of all, most of the married couples we know promised themselves to each other rather young (Lily and James, Molly and Arthur, Bill and Fleur, Alice and Frank...). I don’t know if it’s because I’m French and I live during the 21st century, but I don’t know a lot of people who chose to marrying before 25 (in fact, I know no one which is younger than 70 today). What if serious relationships in the wizarding world were truly accepted only after a marriage? Almost every person with children is married (the exceptions are Dean’s mother (but she’s a muggle), Bellatrix (she's married but not with the man she had a baby with (****), but it’s in HPCC and honestly, how could this happen), and... I think that’s all?). Marriage is maybe a big deal, an unforgettable and necessary stage in a wizard’s of witch’s life who wants to be recognized as a person in a relationship with legitimate kids.

(to be honest here, they could marry early just because of the war, the fear and all, like Molly said it in HBP (if I remember right); but people of Harry’s gen also married, and Molly complained because Bill is marrying (according her) to the wrong woman, too young, as the overprotective mother she is. We can keep that on mind though. Anyway, back to the point.)

Next, it appears that pure-blood families and traditions are still influential during HP books - racism and how it is not punished (like it’s ok to casually say “mudblood”? we never see people except outsiders or very brave people protest against it? there isn't any law who punishes it?), the representation of pure-blood in the Ministry, the capital owned by some of them (**), ect. And we all know how the purity of the blood is important in those families. What if marriage was initially organized and crucial in the upper classes (pure-blood families) to keep their blood pure, and because they rule the society, they imposed this social convention decades - maybe even centuries - ago? That’s why marriage could be that important. (***)

Finally, there might be so many couples which seem in love... just because they act like they truly were, they accepted they must love the people they were binded with, despite the passing years? Divorce might consequently not an option.

(Also, what if marriages contracts were actually a way to... “create” and assure the love between the two persons? It’s much sadder than the soulmates’ theory, because we can think that the love between two people is artificial, even if it exists originally. I do not like this idea)

This theory (marriage-creating-love excluded) doesn’t exclude the first one though, so why not?

3. Destiny and things like that

We know there are prophecies, destiny and things like that in HP - we know it for sure, with Trelawney’s predictions (even with Grindelwald now). What if there is actually a destiny for everyone, a personal path for everyone, which everyone follow, and which allows to meet a perfect person to be together with?

I don’t have elements to prove this point, and actually, I’m not quite convinced - but it’s possible. However, are really all the characters dominate by a destiny they have to fulfil? Like yeah, Harry is concerned by a prophecy, but 1) it could have been Neville, 2) there is not so many prophecies we know and it’s almost every time about Harry or Voldy.

Plus, it can be seen as... an absence of freedom, and without freedom, how can someone choose how to build himself, how to act ethically, etc? (I know some philosophers said destiny doesn’t exclude freedom and all) My point is that a world entirely conduct by a destiny/future already written (so which also determine true love’s people) is a bit out of HP system and narrative: Harry has to do choices to follow the path of the good, it’s crucial through the books and a lot of characters are determined by their ethic choices (Albus, Draco or Severus in particular?) (I’m trying my best to be understandable)

(all in all, I’m not fan of this theory)

4. There isn’t any “true love”, we only have this impression because of Harry’s pov: arguments and counter-arguments

Here are counter-arguments to the idea of “true love” in Harry Potter. Indeed, our analysis can be biased by Harry’s pov and by the people he chose to be friend with.

Many of true-love-couples are Harry’s friends (or persons he likes). We can think that he likes people with the same opinion on love and relationships; consequently, his friends and the surrounding adults marry because they all like this way of life.

What I want to say here, is that there is probably many persons who haven’t found their truelove, but we don’t met them, or we ignore them: what about Moody, what about Sirius, what about Peter, what about Kingsley, what about all the teenagers who aren’t with the love of their life before 20? We know countless characters, most of them didn’t seem to be together with their soulmate or something like that.

Plus, perhaps we think everybody can find their true love because we just see perfects couples and not messed up couples - because of Harry’s pov. (I swear I’m actually trying to be as clear as possible)

Nevertheless:

single persons can be aro/ace persons;

singles can choose to not be in a relationship, even if they found their perfect match: Moody, Sirius and all have a quite particular story and had suffered from losses, war, injuries - what if Moody lost the person he loved during the war? what if Sirius didn’t want to hurt the person he loved by his eventual death, when he was James’ and Lily’s Secret-Keeper? (it also work if his “true love” is Remus actually);

several persons could have chosen to ignore their feelings, for a reason or another. It could be because of a bad timing, like the war, as we already mentionned it; but also because of personnal reasons (family, denial...); or even social ones: all of the pure-blood don’t have the bravery of a young Andromeda Black on one hand, and the other hand, homosexual relationships don’t seem to be quite accepted in canon - the only two man that we know for sure were involved in a relationship, Albus and Gellert, kept it secret. (***)

actually, there are probably a lot of people who are in a relationship, but we don’t know it (who knows, for example, if Stan has a gf/bf?). Again, Harry’s pov isn’t an omniscient pov; and forgettable characters’ private life is generally not quite important throughout Harry’s epic adventures;

we still can’t deny there is way more married and happy couples (so people who are together with the same person a very long time) in the wizarding world than in the muggle world. Even if there are exceptions and if we know single persons, we still have the same problem: people are able to find their true love very young and stays with the same person the rest of their lives, pleased - even entirely blooming.

We can yet argue that nobody talk about a “soulmate bond” and something like that through HP stories. If there was actually a true-magic-allowed-love, witches and wizards should know it, right?

However, a magic link as complex, subtle, imperceptible, cryptic, primitive, puzzling as true-love-magic-bond could be far from easy to be analysed and understood by any enchanter of sorceress. It will be like... quantum mechanics or things like that. We might need brilliant people who work on it during their whole life and who are helped by complicate and modern instruments, impenetrable knowledge, etc. And we know that:

there is less magic people than muggles (seriously, I once tried to estimate how many wizards and witches lived in Great Britain and... so little), so there is consequently fewer people who have the abilities and the will to research things like "true-love-magic-link”;

a lot of muggles discoveries had been done during the 20th century, despite the war... however, wizards had to deal with muggle’s wars, wizardkind’s wars (hi Grindelwald and Voldemort), while maintaining the International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy, and it’s a lot. So perhaps nobody really had time to think about it.

Plus, it is possible that other countries in other continents had proved it, but European countries and US don’t care; also, perhaps it has been proved in the past - like 4000 years before our age - but then it has been forgotten.

Nonetheless, there is a serious counter-argument to the true-love-thanks-magic theory: love potions doesn’t exist. Amortentia creates a strong obsession but never creates love. Slughorn (and Dumbledore, if I remember well) explained love can’t be created with magic. Consequently, Slughorn seems to say that love between two persons in the wizarding world is created by... feelings, like in the muggle world. Plus, an important message of the books (and now in the movies with FB) is that muggles and wizardkind are equal, have to be considered as... identical, almost? Love is a strong power, and it's even stronger than magic - love's the real important thing to protect, etc. That's why a magic-soulmate theory might be debatable.

But if we suppose that attraction and true love between two people is based on magic/soul matching, a simple potion - and even a strong spell - has of course any effect on love and things like that: feelings and magic are far more subtle, personal, a spell or a potion can’t influence someone’s soul (or just Dark magic), etc.

I know yet that JKR wanted probably to say that love is more elevated than magic, she wanted to sublime humans’ emotions and things like that - or it’s what I understood when I read the books. So yes, the fact that love can’t be created by magic is a serious counter-argument: it goes against some of what seems to be author's ideas and characters explanations (Dumbledore's at the end of DH). It doesn’t throw away the theory in my opinion, but it questions it though.

Conclusion:

I can’t think about something which can actually answers to our initial question except what we already said. I want to believe that magic binds people together and helps them find the perfect match, because if I don’t believe it, relationships in Harry Potter make not much sense to me. (even if there are definitely debatable points) (and again it’s just my pov/opinion)

So there were the theories, etc!

Honestly, an inconstancy like that is not a that big deal, but I still do want to fix it. It’s in my mind since ages srly I can’t bear it anymore I need to talk about it. I’m glad it’s done.

Thanks for reading, and have a good day / evening / night / whatever!

* : ... magic seems to have an impact on the body, on the constitution: in fact, we know it for sure: Riddle’s appearance changed radically after he created Horcruxes. This point can also lead us to think that soul and magic are the same thing, or are at least strongly connected.

**: ... the representation of pure-blood in the Ministry, the money who owns some of them: if you’re interested, I developed a bit more this idea in the post:  Why are the Weasleys poor? (eng&fr) (theories about pure-blood families, inheritance, etc)  

***:  That’s why marriage could be that important.: for several reasons (that I want to expose but not in this post bc it’s already quite long), I do believe lgb+ relationships (or transidentity, or everyone which is not cishet basically) are not accepted, and same-gender marriage is certainly not allowed in the wizarding world during Harry’s years at Hogwarts. If we think now about the pressure on teens and young adults about marriage if they want to have kids, to be accepted as “a person in a serious relationship” or be seen as accomplished adults, we can understand why many lgbtqi+ people never came out. It could explain why we don’t see outed lgbtqi+ people or couples at Hogwarts, in the Order, or everywhere else. (yep, i’m trying to “explain” in the canon a lack of representation, even if we all know why there isn’t lgbtqi+ ppl - JKR just wrote it that way. (i do not support what she said and she did recently.)) (futhermore it could support the theory of the several uses/significations of the blood pact between Albus and Gellert, an alternative to an engagement ring they couldn’t have but wanted to have? idk)

****: 3rd august edit : I did a mistake and I was unclear, because I previously said Bellatrix wasn't married, as someone gently tell me! It's now corrected. (if you want details, it's on the comments!)

(again, sorry for the mistakes, thanks for reading!)

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