#if you don’t feel like L is bi i will direct you to canon

[sailorblossoms]

So I have more thoughts about labels. Yeah yeah, no one cares, I’m talking to myself here, please save your tomatoes and bricks. (Writing down my thoughts helps me stop overthinking things, like “I did something with this so now my brain will let me be free,” I treat this like a diary etc etc) (I’ve always been A Blogger haha). My disclaimer is always that Simon not labelling and not knowing himself is important and cool (I approach my own identity like that, I’m not super big on labels). 

When I first read these books last year, I did it as a casual reader. I looked at fanarts and some discussions between books (which I read pretty quickly). It actually made me think Simon Snow being bisexual was canon! so I was pretty shocked when I first read the scene discussing bisexuality. It almost made me feel like I was reading a direct answer to what turned out to be headcanon and... it wasn’t a yes. (so freaking popular that it apparently still has strength in certain parts of the fandom? as someone who grew up believing I was straight, and picked bisexuality as my first step into embracing my queerness – I now know I’m also somewhere in the acespec and honestly? Simon helped me accept that – Simon’s reactions alone would be enough for me to never want to call him bi again haha his gut reaction was “hell no, what are you talking about??”). Nowadays I’ll insist Simon Snow is a gay man who struggles but who slowly comes to terms with it (it’s a small part, but we can’t ignore that Simon found himself wondering “am I legally allowed to kiss Baz in this state?” that’s heavy stuff) and that the writing in these books is very acespec friendly. 

Reading My Rosebud Boy (an AU where the author tries to make them feel like the same people) makes me more confident that I’m not just seeing shit in the main trilogy. Simon in his early thirties explicitly says “yeah I’m gay, I used to have an issue with that (in his teenage years, when he dates girls, and maybe early 20s) but I’m cool with it now” (only dating men as an adult). I think we can find that sentiment in the trilogy. In Simon’s questions about women (“mayhaps I was never attracted to women in the first place” he says, while staring at the distant boobs, after not noticing boobs that were on his face or literally never in his life) (Baz having “a problem” with boobs while Simon doesn’t is not about Baz being gay while Simon isn’t. It’s about Baz, living in fear that Simon doesn’t want him anymore after spending his entire adolescence believing he’s straight, worrying that Simon would be into the boobs, and on that deeper level, that Simon would leave him. Note that every mild ass comment Simon makes about a girl being “cute” puts a focus on Baz's reaction. It’s more about Baz’s insecurities! And what we have is writing choices that make it so the timing of boobs being almost on Simon’s arms has Simon looking sick and green – a hell of a choice to not do it on purpose – Simon not even looking, Simon focusing only on the food, Simon thinking “maybe not for me and I don’t know what I am, but if a lady wants to show off her tits, why would I object?” While considering he might only be into Baz) (maybe his thoughts are also big tit solidarity. Ha.)  

I think the popularity of bisexual Simon could start with a misunderstanding of his feelings for Agatha. I have written lots of posts on why the “inanimate objects” comment about her is overcompensation and deliberately silly (inanimate objects don’t have feelings, don’t have wants and desires, don’t have choices) and equating the way he sees she’s pretty to the way Baz, a gay man can see it, etc etc. Him saying “I always wanted her” and then proceeding to make comments that indicates he wants to be like her, not that he desires her, but people interpreting the latter because well, boy and girl. Which takes me to the other reason I think this took off: media tropes and general assumptions. But media tropes and assumptions outside of the books. Like reading “maybe I’m half gay” and your mind instantly goes to “ah shit, here we go again” because how many of us have seen bisexuality described that way? Like it’s mathematical? A perfect 50/50 every single time? How many of us have been frustrated at reading sexuality struggles in media that has you like “this would be so much easier for y’all if you consider bisexuality is a thing that exists, that it’s fluid and can vary from bisexual to bisexual” etc etc. I’d bet this played into the reviewers I’ve seen writing off CO as bi erasure. But I don’t think this is on the books. It’s not what they were going for. I think this is on the reader. 

I include his comments about other girls here. “She’s cute” “she’s beautiful” so are kittens and flowers. I understand that someone horny can use “cute” when they’re attracted, but within the parameters of these specific books, I think it’s a stretch to see it that way. Attraction in these books can be measured in: repetition, hyper-fixation (on details no one else notice) and derailed thoughts (they go insane over it!). Shepard says Penny is cute! But note that he doesn’t says it and moves on. Oh no, Shepard has a whole fucking meltdown because Penny is cute. You would never think about Penny’s knees if it wasn’t for Shepard. It drives him insane that Penny is cute. He can’t cope! Cute, cute, cute. Repetition. Cute knees. Hyper-fixation. Derailed thoughts. Simon doesn’t linger on those comments. Baz also calls girls beautiful and gorgeous. Neither of them lingers on that. For Simon, All Horny Roads lead to Baz (even in my rosebud boy! yes I can write that post goddammit). I also think there might be some projecting in the sense that a reader can see the how horny he can be around Baz and project that into him, even when he just said “cute” and moved on immediately.

It also picks my attention that a common bullshit regarding bi erasure in media (looking at you, old trashy... guilty pleasure manga) is having the MC being all “I’m not gay!! I'm only about [male love interest]’s dick and that’s that” and maybe even putting on his clown shoes to insist he’s totally straight and totally only likes women. Or this would come in the character being asked questions about men in general or just called gay (so... much to unpack in those stories... I used to blog about old manga. Fun times). Simon doesn’t consider men in general (already telling). He considers women when he’s like “yeah... maybe not for me... i don’t know” and upon getting close to see the answer is maybe a nope, he goes to a place that gives him security: being a certified Baz-fucker. And the biggest thing that doesn’t play into those tropes or ideas or assumptions? Simon never thought he was straight. The mere suggestion irritates him. 

I wrote some posts about that, but I’m too lazy to search for it. It’s clearly lazy saturday (I also wrote too many fucking posts so linking starts to feel like work haha) The summary: Simon never thought about his sexuality at all, the repression of his desires and his crazy magic (can't get worked up without danger of going off) make it unlikely he’s ever even masturbated (using other outlets like practicing with his sword/jumping Baz to fight to work off some steam haha), his rejection of bisexuality (because he does reject it! Especially notable because it would have been “the easy” answer for him, the maybe more comfortable, and yet it inspires nothing but discomfort! and when he opens himself more to consider it, he’s still leaning more to the negative, he still always goes back to “gay” and never once to consider “bisexuality” — and putting 2 and 2 together, about Simon having a knee-jerk rejection of his relationship with Agatha being understood as sexual attraction, or him being seen as a woman-fucker. It’s Baz insisting that Simon must have liked/being attracted to her what frustrates and bothers Simon and pushes him enough to process in real time that the answer is no. It’s wild to me to read him saying “what I liked about her is that she awoke absolutely nothing in me,” which he demonstrates with his thoughts, and then still seeing the argument that he ever had a single horny feeling for her). 

I think that something that also complicates it is the negative idea that being bisexual is not good enough. Not gay enough. Not straight enough. We belong nowhere. Our validity is questioned every single fucking minute. The idea that bisexual Simon is contested because “that’s not good enough.” But I don’t think that’s it here. I don’t think that’s the intent of the books, or the people who have been seeing Agatha and Simon as lesbian and gay so far into the closet they don’t even know they’re there from day one (or mine!) 

I respect the author always replying “I don’t think Simon knows!” when directly asked if he’s bisexual, because it honors his struggles and journeys, but I also think the answer is on the page. I think Simon’s journey there is both about not feeling pressured to define himself, that he’s allowed to live and love without picking an exact word or a flag to fly at pride, and also about becoming comfortable being gay. He goes from “I’m not even remotely ready to think whether I’m gay” to “if we’re not safe to be gay in ikea, where would we be?”/"gets off with gay PSA with Baz” to “I’m totally gay for all intents and purposes” – there’s a progression. There’s growth and acceptance. And it’s always around the word “gay” (not as an umbrella term) and never anything else: not straight, not bi. Not even when it’s offered as a reasonable alternative. 

#sorry fellas im not proofreading this post #too damn long #i doubt anyone would read it all anyway #simon snow #baz pitch #agatha wellbelove #snowbaz #unlabeled simon rights!

[katyspersonal]

🅱️loodborne creativity tips

- Don’t take for granted a word from a youtube loredigger that barely scratches the lore surface, he is probs wrong anyway. People who care usually lurk on hellsites like this one.

- Don’t feel pushed into accepting a most popular interpretation of a character, or most popular theory, or most popular ship. Try to sit and reflect and understand what you want. Trust me it’ll pay off.

- That’s me if I had a coin every time someone whitewashes Henryk:

(you get the point. check the face datas: ( x ))

- The more you neglect the ‘but it is a videogame logic’ and ‘creators maybe were lazy’ and instead use what you are given - the more interesting ideas open!

- Don’t rely on localisation team and instead always consult direct retranslation ( x ), you really don’t wanna trust people who created ‘Even the Doll, should it please you’ or made Kos (or some say Kosm) sound as though she is connected to the concept of ‘cosmos’ when that’s L + not true, or said that Emilia was Amelia or missed god knows how many nuances. HIRE FANS FDJHDSsdfsd

- There IS a timeline, Miyazaki is just a sick sadist even if he swears he is a masochist! Communication with other fans is a key.

- Don’t be scared to interpret Eileen as not black (only one of her like 5 VAs is black, nor VAs bind the character), or to interpret Maria as bi/pan/straight/aro (canon says jackshit about her orientation) or to interpret Yurie/Julie as not asian (not only her name is Julie, but also her data suggest a blonde gal) or whatever. Trust me normal fans at worst just won’t care is all. Ones side-eyeing you are aggressors that think most common interpretation = obligation and you don’t NEED approval of people like this. Just don’t insult the more accepted versions because if you call them “token diversity character!!!!! >:(” I will evict you from this plane of reality.

- Try to write your Adeline as if Maria didn’t exist. And try to write your Edgar as if Micolash was instead a stereotypical super ultra crazy 12 year old anime girl. And try to write your Henryk as if Gascoigne never knew him nor cared. TLDR; make sure characters are still interesting and written even if their popular ships are not possible.

- If you love Dark Souls a lot and want to connect the verse with Bloodborne, there are actually many incentives, not just Chester seemingly being a Hunter and ‘Deep Sea’ theme! Like go for it, the ‘well AKTUALLLLLY’ territorial redditors don’t know shit.

- If you check ‘Gehrman the first hunter’ tag know it is often lore inaccurate hate anyways and you risk just getting upset. However do post good stuff under this tag if you have something good to say about the character. We’ll weed em out eventually lets go lore accurate fans lets go

- It is absolutely ok to have "generic” design on Laurence or Adeline or Rom or whatever! Obscure characters we never seen as humans are a hassle to draw the fanart of, so more or less popular designs just speed up communication through fanart.

- If you want extra lore, check translations of latin lyrics and/or internal filenames! Did you know Ebrietas’ lyrics both refer to Mensis ritual and have ‘fair maiden why do you cry’ in it, or that Amygdala is ‘evil god’ but One Reborn is ‘failed evil god’?

- Don’t ever do the ‘but nobody cares about this character so...’. EVER. Post that character. POST them. Post ideas about them. Talk about that character. Huge chunk of Bloodborne cast is neglected. It’s been seven years and still no coherent stuff with Henriett, Gratia, Forgotten Madman, Yahar’gul Hunters, Dores, Research Hall ladies that kick your ass before you enter it etc etc. Trust me supply creates demand. Post that obscure character. (Please post them dsfghgfds ;-;)

- Shipping Adella and Arianna is the same as shipping Alfred and Annalise. No ship-shame here but if you adore one and hate another, think about why you do. Overall avoid the biases that boil down to ‘the wrong thing is only wrong if it is hetero’.

#bloodborne #/hs #text

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube

[olympiansally]

No I don’t take constructive criticism

Might do one for the straights latter if I feel charitable

#if you don’t feel like L is bi i will direct you to canon #because he is #I wanted matt do be the idiot bi because of how he died but then there was matsuda so #misa is an idiot because she doesn’t know she’s a lesbian #naomi is a genius DESPITE not knowing she’s a lesbian #rem only functions BECAUSE she is a lesbian #or are you gonna tell me that rem’ motivation is something other than gay love for misa? #i guess i will do the straights latter #death note #dn #yagami light #mello (death note) #mihael keehl #ryuk #ryuk (death note) #l lawliet #matt (death note) #mail jeevas #touta matsuda #naomi misora #rem #rem (death note) #misa amane

[meear]

HOW is reibert still not canon (long post oops)

1. there was literally no reason for reiner to look this salty. is this how y’all look when you tease a friend about their crush???

2. we KNOW yumihisu is the one ship confirmed canon af and this whole arc they’ve been trying to protect the other what’s not clicking

3. BRUH

4. you can’t possibly think Reiner was being subtle in any way. it’s him. he’s talking about himself because he is the CEO of projecting onto others and we know that

5. projecting onto Annie again

how many times did Bertholdt rush to save Reiner from a life-or-death situation. hint : a lot

the fact that reiner both consciously and unconsciously called for him haha anyway

6. you’re all aware by now but if Ymir doesn’t like men and she’s always with Historia it doesn’t take a genius to understand how she and Reiner parallel each other

7. this line exists but go off I guess

(the look he gives her though)

he’s literally only thinking of Bertholdt. funny how he later worries about not being able to protect him against the titans when they had already lost Eren huh

8. by the way, right after Reiner says that about Ymir, Bertholdt worries about him dissociating again. 

it’s interesting how Bertholdt immediately associates Reiner’s crush on Krista with Reiner not being himself and Reiner knows it perfectly. it literally can’t be more obvious, otherwise it doesn’t make sense for Reiner to say “I’m a warrior, so I’m not interested in Krista because she’s cute”. how out of the blue is that??? people still think Reiner is bi. he isn’t.

Bertholdt really isn’t amused by Reiner’s bullshit and honestly same

9. remember the rushing in to save Reiner thing ? and how “if you lose you die, if you win you live” is a motto in this series?

mikasa swears to win for Eren’s sake

historia literally tells ymir they’re going to live for each other

“he has his own reason why he can’t lose” lmao so... Reiner is his reason to win?to live????? just say you’re in love and go

10. remember how RB’s mission would have succeeded if only Ymir hadn’t suddenly stopped everything to go back for Historia? how that gave the survey corps the time they needed, and how RB basically helped the SC??

Bertholdt stopped for Reiner and gave the SC the time they needed to get away from the explosion. if he hadn’t done that, he definitely would’ve killed them all

Bertholdt is a hypocrite lmao

11. nothing to see here just dudes and gals crying for their bros and pals

12. we know Bertholdt is a much more capable warrior than Reiner and that he mastered the colossal titan immediately. there is no way Reiner would’ve been able to fight Mikasa like Bertholdt did. Isayama said that Bertholdt “could do anything physically”. sure, Reiner ranked above Bertholdt and Annie during training, but when you look at their childhood, i think both of them could’ve surpassed Reiner if they had been 100% serious. this is just my interpretation though, it’s also possible that Bertholdt’s lack of initiative and Annie’s unability to work with others hurt their grade. i think hand-to-hand combat (Reiner’s weakness) wasn’t graded either 

at the very least Isayama’s literally saying that Bertholdt would let Reiner win if they fought

wild how reibert keeps on paralleling characters with confirmed romantic feelings

(Ymir slacked off on purpose too)

+ Bertholdt waiting for Reiner as they race

13. Ymir and Bertholdt are two tall dark-haired shifters who are both really tired of their smaller blonde partner retreating into their fake persona out of a desire to be liked what is n o t c l i c k i n g this is so specific

14. reiner’s main reason for thinking Bertholdt likes Annie is that he stares at her and I mean sure

look I’m not putting every instance of RB doing exactly that because sometimes it’s just because the other happens to be talking lmao but these?? no explanation

bruh you can HEAR the stare

this one is especially glaring since Annie is also in the picture so why didn’t he just draw Bertholdt looking at her??? guess we’ll never know

Reiner has NO excuse for staring at Bertholdt here I’m sorry literally everyone is looking at Sasha and Connie teasing Annie. Bertholdt isn’t doing anything

15. Bertholdt’s development after accepting Reiner’s possible death and deciding to end it all is SO similar to Mikasa after Eren’s death in Trost. they’re both moving in this trance-like state before repeating that the world is cruel, but it’s really interesting because the events are in reverse order for Bertholdt. so it’s more like a mirror. i’ve tried to represent it lmao i hope it’s readable

there’s the same onomatopoeia for the heartbeat, and Bertholdt and Mikasa were making similar expressions. even if isayama’s drawings weren’t as good in the first chapters, you can see that Mikasa has that same blank, wide stare when approaching Eren (it’s chapter 9)

both seem to become another person as they move, though Bertholdt is much calmer than Mikasa (which makes sense if their “normal” personality has switched I guess since Bertholdt is usually the nervous one). He sees everything around him perfectly, but Mikasa runs out of gas because she wasn’t paying attention to anything anymore

see it’s funny because Mikasa literally loves Eren

only difference is after falling, Mikasa says the world is beautiful as well, which makes the omission in Bertholdt’s case (as he rises) obvious 

anyway might as well put those too I guess, though i wouldn’t consider them direct parallels but we’ve made it this far lmao

it reminded me of Historia after losing Ymir and Reiner after coming back alone :

(btw the music when Historia cradles Ymir in her arms after she fought as a titan is also called Her heart still beating on Youtube, but I don’t know where that comes from because the actual title is AOTs2M他3... probably just a fan name, but that’s a cool coincidence)

16. this post i made the other day still not over it

17. if reibert not canon then why literal actual canon????

#no but seriously bertholdt and mikasa literally both embraced reiner and eren's body as they realised their heart was still beating #the fuck more do you want #reibert #yumihisu #eremika

[dutchforstrangers]

Digimon Astrology Journey - 'Head first' buddies: Koushiro & Taichi

So I’m back with some headcanon Digimon Astrology and I’m diving into it head first! Something fierce leader Taichi would do, however he needs his loyal ‘brains’ there with him and that will be Koushiro. Where Koushiro is a thinker, analytical in every way due to his pragmatic Sun and Rising, Taichi is one of action due to his Moon and Rising (and Mars!). However don’t underestimate them, they have some serious airy energy going on, making them vocal, diplomatic and charming in their own individual ways.

These boys are so different, yet work together very well. They just have a hard time… talking to others or each other about… the complicated, personal specific stuff feelings. Must be the stars, right?

It’s been a while, but you can read back all things Astrology (basics, background, etc.) in previous posts Part 1 | Part 2. Furthermore, exploring Taichi and Koushiro’s birth charts is part 2 of this series, you can read the exploration of Sora and Mimi’s birth charts here.

The important stuff

Koushiro Izumi, August 26th 1989 (around 05.30AM)

Sun: Virgo (earth-mutable)

Moon: Gemini (air-mutable)

Rising: Virgo (earth-mutable)

Taichi Yagami, October 15th 1988 (around 5PM)

Sun: Libra (air-cardinal)

Moon: Sagittarius (fire-mutable)

Rising: Aries (fire-cardinal)

Warning: IT’S VERY LONG! I’m sorry in advance…

A little disclaimer before I start rambling: These are headcanons! Their given birthdays are not canon at all, but just me having fun combining my love for Digimon and my love for Astrology. It can be highly self-indulging, but maybe you can find some truth in it as well! If you want to know how I calculated their birthdays, read my previous posts as stated above. I use these birthdays in my own fanfiction, but feel free to use them as well. Some credit in the form of a reblog, like or mention of these posts and/or my Tumblr would be highly appreciated! See something you want to discuss? I love to learn and talk! As said these are my headcanons, but I’m not afraid to change my mind or to defend what I have if necessary.

Everything charts and the why under read more!

Koushiro Izumi - August 26th 1989

Assigning the Virgo Sun to this boy was the first thing I did, because I myself am convinced Koushiro Izumi is the embodiment of a true Virgo. I could be wrong, as I did not study Astrology and am a simple hobbyist, but everything I read about Virgos always lead me back to this particular maroon headed anime dork for years now. Hence why I gave him the same Sun and Rising sign, because Koushiro is who he is. Anyway, let me try to convince you.

For starters, here are a few (or actually all the) things about Virgos in general, for both Sun and Rising. Virgos are bright, practical, pragmatic, orderly, respectful, critical, perfectionists, security driven, communicative, tidy, nervous, detail-oriented… Can I stop already? Okay, now pick one of the above and tell me it’s not fitting for Koushiro.

…

Hm, I know. It’s hard, isn’t it?

Maybe his tidiness is questionable depending on the situation… But the guy is orderly and the chaos only exists in times when his perfectionism takes over. The nervous part from the Virgo can be seen in shyness or even being obedient. All of that makes Koushiro a dedicated friend who would do anything in his power to make everything work for you. Danger is that he will efface himself, thinking he’s not worth as much as the others. This is what happens in Adventure episode 28 right after he solved the card riddle. On the top left corner either the Agumon or the Gomamon is right, but he doesn’t know which one and he apologizes, which is not necessary at all, with: “I’m sorry I couldn’t live up to your expectations,” which is such a Virgo Sun/Rising thing to say..! The Virgo dynamic is alive and kicking.

It’s even more alive and kicking in his other strong Virgo placements: Mercury and Mars. With Mercury in Virgo, Mercury is in it’s sign of its rulership, making it a strong placement. And precisely that planet is the planet of thoughts and knowledge! The combination of his Sun, Rising, Mercury and Mars in Virgo makes him be, engage, think and act like a true Virgo. Detail-oriented, thoughtful, respectful, orderly, practical and curious!

The hardest part for his birthday calculation was his Moon placement. The Moon is all about emotions, needs, wants, behavior, responds, et cetera. I first gave him a Capricorn Moon, but my boyfriend is such a Cap Moon and it didn’t fit the bill for Koushiro in my opinion. So I read and searched and eventually came to the conclusion it had to be an Air sign Moon, simply for the fact that our boy Koushiro is the bearer of the crest of Knowledge and Air signs can be seen as the intellectual ones of the Zodiac! Eventually I went for the Gemini Moon and I’m going to explain why exactly.

One could say Gemini is the bearer of Knowledge just as much as Koushiro is. Gemini LOVE to know things! They are naturally curious and are great communicators, when it comes to knowledge (pun warning if you’ve seen the reboot: they love to bring joy to their knowledge). Gemini tend to be a bit superficial when it comes to having and sharing knowledge and of course we know that’s not the case with our Koushiro here, due to his many Virgo placements, making him more observant and inward. What the Gemini Moon DOES to him is making this boy very talkative! He likes to spill what’s on his mind, he likes to share what he thinks, he likes to ramble and rant. It’s something we see him doing in Tri a lot, especially that one scene in Reunion part 3 (episode 3) where he keeps on rambling about all the strange events and he misses the first part of the conversation between the other DigiDestineds (about the news and Jyou’s ‘girlfriend’ poor guy no one believes him). Koushiro misses the conversation because a) his Gemini Moon likes to ramble and keep rambling, and b) because his Virgo placements can make him a bit unaware of his surroundings quite the time…

That’s not a bad thing per se, Koushiro is just very much focused on his work and d e t a i l s, which is a VERY Virgo-ish trait. But lets not forget that his priority is to help others with that knowledge and that the combination of his Virgo placements with his Gemini Moon makes him a great mentor. Brings me to his role throughout the entirety of Adventure 02: The Mentor. You’re welcome.

Another Gemini Moon thingy is rudeness. Now we know Koushiro is the most polite person out of ALL DD’s, always using honorifics, even saying Hikari-san instead of Hikari-chan, because Koushiro IS respect. But Koushiro is not afraid to tell you what’s at stake in times of ‘danger’, he’s not afraid to tell the truth. There are a few examples for that in Adventure, Adventure 02 and in Tri, but I’d like to refer to one of my favorite moments in whole Digimon Adventure history. Because Koushiro x rudeness brings me back to Diaboromon strikes back when he’s obviously so done with everyone, then Mimi enters the scene and he doesn’t even care. In the English dub she literally says “How rude”. Ooooohhh Koushiro, you little rude demon… It’s not the biggest proof it’s a simple one and my personal favorite.

All of the talkativeness and rudeness is something we mostly see Koushiro doing when he’s most comfortable. So we won’t see him being all talkative all the time -sharing more than just plain, superficial knowledge and instead more personal helpful knowledge- with everyone, but we do see him being talkative and speaking up to certain characters he’s most comfortable with. Now name one boy he’s very talkative to compared with literally all the other characters… You know what? Scroll down.

Last thing and then I’ll stop rambling about this beautiful and lovely nerd. His Venus, planet of values (and love…) is in Libra. What does that mean? Well, I’ve seen quite some fans type Koushiro as a bi-sexual, or something in that direction. Or even better a ‘disaster bi-sexual’. I already agreed on that, but when I saw this birth chart… IT’S (HEAD)CANON! Seriously, Libra is the zodiac sign of doubt, decision making (or actually no decision making, but I’ll get there with the next boy) and relationships and if you have your Venus placed in Libra you’re doomed to be a disaster when it comes to making decisions in your love life both romantically and platonically! Venus in Libra creates the desire for a good and loving relationships, but Koushiro’s Virgo Sun/Rising makes him more shy, his Virgo Mars makes him hold back. Once again, the Virgo Sun/Rising-Libra Venus dynamic lets him efface himself in relationships, thinking they have nothing to offer, but they have!! And so Koushiro gets left behind with his unresolved feelings… the boy has a hard time in love, let’s give him all a hug!

Taichi Yagami - October 15th 1988

The protagonist. Okay, let me compare this goggle headed protagonist to another goggle headed protagonist outside the Digimon franchise: Naruto. This is probably more interesting to people who have watched and know Naruto, so you can skip the part. To me Naruto is the classical protagonist type; bold, adventurous, playful, (a little) obnoxious at some times, hot headed… These are traits we easily assign to fire signs in the zodiac, especially Aries. So I would immediately give Naruto the Aries Sun placement. However, when we see Naruto grow up, his behavior and the way he speaks and leads grows up with him as well. That’s only natural. And based on those changes I wouldn’t necessarily give Naruto the Aries Sun placements, although the Aries placement or another fire placement is very likely to be present in his chart.

Now I could go even further, explain the development from child to adult through Jung’s theory about cognitive functions, but that’s incredibly complicated and a looooong stretch I won’t be making here today. In short, Jung’s development theory is interesting, because it shows how we first see the obvious traits in a child which are the traits the child engages (Rising sign) the world with before it develops the other functions showing the person’s true identity (Sun sign). So we could say we first see someone’s Rising sign more clearly before the Sun comes shining through. Like with Naruto. And the same could be for Taichi in the case of this headcanon.

To tackle his birth chart and big three, I’ll be starting with explaining his Rising Sign before his Sun sign. And the Rising sign I assigned him is Aries Rising.

Like I said above, Aries is bold, adventurous, playful and above all: courageous. Especially the Aries Rising placement which is more courageous than its Aries Sun counterpart. Aries are born leaders, can be extremely competitive, are somewhat restless and desperately need to move. In Taichi’s case with the above birth chart, that urge to move is magnified by his Aries Mars placement. The dynamic of his Aries Rising and Aries Mars makes Taichi a mover, an adventurer, and incredibly determined. This could be both positively, always wanting the best (especially for yourself, as Aries is a pretty selfish sign), and a tad negatively, always going and going and going. In the Adventure series this could be the reason why he makes Greymon dark-evolve, because he wants things too bad and too fast. Aries are hot headed and can grow impatient if things don’t go the way they want. And the Aries Rising and Mars dynamic makes Taichi a very physical guy. Mix that with the impatience and he is not afraid to pick fights and use his fists.

All of this can make Taichi a very stormy and reckless boy (boundaries? What’s that?), but also a fearless leader. The exuberance, the impatience and restlessness comes back in his Sagittarius Moon placement as well. This Sag Moon in combination with his strong Aries placements in Rising and Mars makes Taichi a sportive, physical, optimistic and forward leader that is incredibly courageous and adventurous, which could make him a bit ‘superficial’ as a protagonist. But the Sag Moon also deepens and strengthens his leader skills.

Sagittarius is a sign pictured by a centaur with an arrow and bow. The centaur’s horse legs make the Sag want to move and be free, but the arrow aims in a clear direction and aiming takes knowledge and focus. Sagittarius thus is an adventurous fella, but also a philosopher. Taichi’s Sag Moon placement makes him a pro in seeing the bigger picture and connecting dots next to his never ending energy. He will make sure we’re going in the right direction by overlooking the whole situation. So we absolutely shouldn’t forget Taichi is a true strategist! He sees, understands what’s at stake in a situation, connects the dots, comes with a strategy and like a true leader knows his team and can place everyone in his right spot to get through the toughest of situations (once again referring to Taichi asking Koushiro to pick the cards in Adventure episode 28). Speaking about a great leader, gosh, Taichi, you’re truly amazing! <3

However, it’s his Aries Rising and Mars that often make him act before he thinks, preferably alone (Taichi is a teamplayer, but the selfish and reckless Aries in him makes him act alone. And the sum of teamplayer + acting alone = self-sacrifice mode… which happens ALL THE DAMN TIME). Or actually makes him act while thinking without doing a short reflection beforehand. Seriously, I’m convinced that this reflection in advance could have saved him a lot of trouble throughout Digimon Adventure. Let’s blame it on (t)his (headcanon) birth chart…

Also, all of the above vouches for Taichi having an amazing intellect, but the guys needs to be challenged… Hence why he’s always staring out of the window during classes in Tri, daydreaming away to where the adventure is. He feels trapped, needs to be outside and should use his intelligence for things he finds important (like saving the digital world, soccer and saving friends and the world). The daydreaming could also be his Libra Mercury who can make Taichi lose his focus and could make him lazy. Luckily Taichi has a very active Aries Mars in opposite aspect from his Libra Mercury that neutralizes that lazy and dreamy Libra Mercury.

Okay, back to topic. Now you maybe think: But if Taichi is good in knowing where to go, being the fearless leader, also an intellect who has the knowledge to aim straight and shoot… then WHY is he so lost, down and in doubt in Tri and so unknowing of his future in Kizuna…??!! I have an answer to that. And that answer is his Libra Sun.

I know I know, this is a very VERY unpopular Sun sign to give this goggle leader, but please hear me out. For starters, Libra is the sign of diplomacy and if we believe the 02’s epilogue what’s Taichi’s job? Right, a diplomat. We also know he studies something like political sciences in Kizuna (which I think is AMAZING and vouches even more for Taichi’s intellect! Politics is a tough study…) and to make it in the political field you really do need diplomacy and charms.

Taichi is an absolute charmer, in my eyes at least. I mean, look at his 02 self! He’s such a smooth charmer in every way… The way he sends off Sora to Yamato while acting all cool and collected, phew, that requires some serious smoothness. And still we often see Taichi depicted as a down and broody boy besides his energetic and bold (sometimes indifferent…) character, especially after Tri. That too could be due to a Libra Sun placement.

Like Sagittarius is depicted by a centaur, Libra is depicted by scales and those scales are all about harmony, balance and justice. Libra is the opposite of Aries in the zodiac, but also about weighing opposites in the sigh itself. When we look at the Aries/Libra opposite placement: where Aries can be quite selfish, Libra as an opposite is the people’s pleaser. Where Aries is reckless and impatient, Libra is thoughtful and patient and one could say that an Aries acts where a Libra waits. Where Aries makes the impulsive decisions, Libra keeps deliberating leading into constant doubt and confusion. And how do we see Taichi in Tri? Ah yes, in doubt and confused.

A Libra Sun desperately wants to bring peace and harmony, driven by justice, in a diplomatic way. Libra Suns are deep thinkers which can make them very doubtful, making them spiraling down into a hole of overthinking and doubts. The Libra Sun-Sag Moon dynamic makes this all even more deep and almost philosophical in a way there will always be more and more questions, but never answers because Libra simply can’t make choices. All while being solution-oriented!

As Taichi grows up from a middle schooler to a high schooler, it’s that doubt coming from the Libra Sun that kicks Taichi hard. It conflicts with his carefree and bold Aries Rising nature and as that Libra Sun comes shining through, we see Taichi becoming more cautious and reserved compared to his younger self. The guy has a strong inner dialogue always looking for the best solutions to please everyone and bring harmony (I wanted to say ‘balance to the world’, yes to all the avatar the last airbender cameos) to the people and world(s in case of the digital world) around him he so desperately wants to protect. This is what we see happening in Tri, where he can’t choose what’s the right thing… Most of the time that inner dialogue is hidden behind his Aries Rising (and Aries Mars and Sag Moon).

So under that tough and courageous Aries Rising demeanor (remember that a Rising sign is all about engaging and how you come across to others) is a very soft, sweet, friendly and overall smart Libra Sun boy who has troubles expressing himself because the boy is in conflict with himself (which we see in the Dark Master’s arc in Adventure where he expresses his concerns towards his sister to Koushiro… it’s so hard for Taichi to let it all out, even when he needs it badly). It’s so sad, he’s such a complicated character, but that’s also one of the most beautiful things about Taichi. He’s layered af. He could be the best listener (Koushiro’s feels this, that’s why Koushiro can talk so open and freely to Taichi, because Taichi lets him thank you Libra Sun) if it weren’t for his strong fire placements opposite from his airy Sun sign. But give the boy time and space and he can show you his charms in a way no one else owns those charms.

So Taichi’s Libra Sun is hidden away most of the time due to his strong Aries placements. Usually his Rising and Sun sign being in opposite aspect from each other, should neutralize the placements, but Taichi’s Aries Mars placement makes the Aries Rising overrule the Libra Sun. Still, we shouldn’t forget Taichi is a softy with a big heart. He just needs the right people around him to get his charm on and Taichi definitely has some great people collected in his life who can help him think and make decisions.

A few things I want to point out before I stop rambling, because this analysis is already WAY too long.

Taichi’s midheaven in Capricorn in combination with his Libra Sun and Aries Rising makes him very ambitious on the intellectual side! Directly aiming for the UN and quickly climbing up the promotion ladder (and being successful like a true Cap, let’s not forget that).

His Mars was in transition from Pisces to Aries during his birth. Which means his Aries Mars is highly influenced by Pisces which could also explain why he spirals down as Pisces Mars has a lot of stormy energy on the emotional side (whereas Aries Mars has stormy energy on the physical side). When this emotional energy comes out negative, it can lead to mental health problems (!!! TRI DEPRESSED!TAICHI), especially when close friends and family (can you feel it coming? The whole Hikari-trauma is a thing) are involved.

His Libra Sun makes him in need of a group of friends and he loves being surrounded by them! Though he doesn’t like to admit that due to his Aries Rising. Taichi is such a conflicted boy…

An end note on these two boys: A heart to heart/hard friendship with a lot of mutual understanding and support <3

#DFS Digimon Astrology Journey #head-first buddies #Koushiro Izumi #Taichi Yagami #Digimon #Koushiro #Taichi #Izzy Izumi #Tai Kamiya #Izzy #Tai #Astrology #Reference post #Digimon adventure #Digimon tri #Digimon kizuna #Digimon adventure: 2020 #LONG POST. #Digimon headcanons

[lindwyrmrelinquished]

So....what are some of your headcanons for Ranbutler?

OHHHHHHHHHH BUDDY, YOU ARE OPENING YOURSELF TO A WHOLE NEW CAN'O'BEANS HERE

OKAY SO FIRST OF ALL-

(everything else under the cut because there is a L O T )

Butler's human form is predominant(which unfortunately means he does not have a tail :(), but he can make Ender noises/speak Galactic. He's got a bunch of stims and tics, and making the Ender noises is one of them! He often makes them to fill the silence, or in times of high emotion(positive or negative. just imagine a Butler bouncing on his toes while excited Ender chirps keep coming out of his mouth, or he's rambling about something and half of it is layered with Galactic). Following from that, Butler has something that Billiam calls the "monochrome form". If he's under high levels of stress, whatever dark tint of color is in his right side will start spiking into the left side, making his skin darker(and, if he has enough color in his skin from NOT FUCKING OVERWORKING HIMSELF, it can get dark enough to blend into shadows) and spreading from the little black scales on his neck and cheeks and hands(which are already claws, that's why he wears gloves), and if he's really stressed/pissed, little horns are gonna start poking out of his skull and he's gonna be completely gray/black, his teeth are already deadly but they're gonna get sharper and if you look him in the eyes he will s c r e a m and very likely tear you apart if Billiam isn't there to hold him back/calm him down.

Speaking of! Butler very much dislikes eye contact. It makes them extremely uncomfortable and the Ender part is gonna start screaming to attack attack attack and the pupil-slit thing is gonna happen. Unfortunately, he's frozen by the eye contact and cannot move of his own free will, it's all going to be instinct to either get away or attack, if he moves at all. And the moment the eye contact is broken, he starts to calm down and all the screaming in his head starts to dissipate, so he doesn't really get the chance to consciously act on the Ender side's instinct.

NEXT OF ALL, throwing canon out the window and saying BILLIAM AND BUTLER ARE FOUND-FAMILY. The way they acted in the episode is just that, an act. In reality, they actually Care each other Very Very Much and have adopted each other into their respective hybrid groups(i.e Endermen have their hauntings, Piglins have their sounders{that part's not canon to mc but i yoinked it from a fic}). Hubert jokes about how Billiam accidentally adopted Bu as his son, but both Bu and Bi deny this. Hubert also got Liaria and James in on the joke and now these two are being constantly triple-teamed.

ON THAT NOTE Liaria and James know about the Egg. It happened at the tail end of Bu's first masquerade when they started accusing Billiam of committing all the murders, and Bu kind of panicked and outed himself as the killer, he pulled out the knife and everything. Billiam admitted that he knew about this, and showed them the Egg as explanation. Now Liaria and James willingly give up their bought lives to the Egg on the regular(we might get into the lives thing later{it was also something i yoinked from a fic, and then I gave it more explanation}) to keep Billiam and his family alive, but they're not all that affected by it due to not even being near it half the time.

AND ON THAT NOTE, let's talk about Butler's relationship with the Egg! Bad. It's bad. Absolutely terrible, the two despise each other immensely. I like to say they're the closest thing to caliginous that a teenaged hybrid that lived off spite and an ancient crimson demon can be. The Egg's hurt Bu a lot, and honestly that's part of the reason his contempt and fear for it is so high. But that's also part of the reason why Billiam was pulled out of its influence despite living right above it. Because he cares for Bu, a literal child that's suffered severe mental and physical trauma at the hands(well, vines) of the Egg. Honestly? Billiam wouldn't be the way he is now if he didn't have to take trips to the Nether. Short explanation, too much time away from their home realm gets hybrids really really sick. So, about a few months or so after Bu arrived, he had to yeet back there for a week and just told Butler and Hubert to take care of the mansion. And you know what Hubert did, that bitch? He took advantage of both Billiam's absence and Butler's skill and pampered himself while throwing the entire load onto the child. And then like halfway through the week, he got the idea to introduce said child to the Egg, who before then has had no idea it ever existed aside from the crimson red aura around the mansion(it's a whole thing about Endermen and magic but again, another thing I might get into later). He hadn't even attended a party before then. So, yeah, Hubert just left him down in one of the old cells for three days. Didn't even check on him, that bitch. And then when Billiam game back, suffice to say he was PISSED. He may be a rich bastard who causes murders biweekly, but even he has standards, and hurting a damn 7-8 year old child that bad was not one of them. he can't be held responsible for child labor, bu followed him home by his own choice. again, another whole backstory thing

Bu's genderfluid! He usually switches between he/him and they/them, and the direction he nods is a little indicator of which one(up for gender, down for no), but sometimes he uses she/her. Adding on that, due to Weird Enderman Genetics, he can manipulate his hair to grow real fast and likes to experiment with it in the mornings for Maximum Gender Euphoria This means that one day his hair could be barely touching his neck, and the next it's all the way down to his waist. It's a fun little anomaly and sometimes Billiam likes to play with it when it gets longer :3 travelling on the lgbt train, Bu is also ace/aro! This doesn't have much impact story-wise(usually), but it's just a fun little tidbit :3 On other, more Ender notes, he has pretty much all the traits an Enderman does, even if he looks fully human aside from being 6 inches taller than Sir Billiam himself. With the eye-contact thing, I've got a headcanon that Endermen can kind of read minds to an extent if they look into another entity's eyes, but it gets loud and borderline painful if anything but another Enderman does the same. Meanwhile, Bu's about the perfect mix of an Enderman and a Human(later called Players and Villagers depending on their capabilities) to be able to take at least a few seconds of eye contact. He can also teleport! To about the same extent as Endermen, if not a little less. Unfortunately, spending too much time in the void between teleportations(i.e a few hours for him, though an hour in the void is a minute in reality. It's why teleporting happens in the blink of an eye to anyone but the user) has some adverse effects. Bu's either glitched, gotten some sort of void-sickness like a flu but worse, and/or lost large chunks of memory each of the separate times he stuck himself in there for too long. Pure-blooded Endermen have a longer tolerance, but even they can succumb to the void with enough time.

Bu's also hurt by water, and the first time Billiam really figured this out is when he dragged him to the roof because it was raining and for some reason, Bi really likes the rain. Bu, on the other hand, was hospitalized for a day once Billiam actually realized, "oh, he's burning" Unfortunately, Bu can still produce tears, so he's got some scars on his cheeks and hands from those, Luckily, though! Billiam got him some gloves and a facemask reminiscent of cc!Ranboo to hide those scars because bu's. really self-conscious about them :,D

But also he's got TOE BEANS,

[ahem] So Endermen are basically giant block-holding teleporting cats and no one can convince me very much otherwise. So on the one hand, they have giant hands shaped for holding blocks. On the other hand, T O E B E A N S

So Bu's got beans on the pads of his fingers and feet(which also end in claws with a black gradient because Peak Character Design <3). Billiam likes to hold his hands on the rare occasion he doesn't wear his gloves because mans likes to stim with those toe beans. Meanwhile Billiam himself has nicely-textured hands because of his Piglin hooves and Bu also likes to stim with them, so just. them holding each others hands for mutual stimmage

[ahem] anyway

Bu stims!! He flaps his hands and does thing really rapidly and harshly when he's really high-strung, which doesn't happen often, at least in front of people. Boy's got anxiety so he's had his fair share of panic attacks :,D he just knows how to disguise them so people don't see, but Billiam knows the signs at this point. But he also has a lot of vocal stims/tics, mainly lots of Enderman noises, some popping and a little screechy thing here and there. Sometimes he picks up a sound and then repeats it a whole bunch because it feels nice on the tongue :] there's also these poofs of particles that happen when he's happy, they look like mini purple fireworks and they're like an expulsion of magic, he can feel when they happen and it feels nice :]

(cw for self-harm in this paragraph and the followed copy-pasted convo)

[ahemhemhem] So y'know how Butler's an Ender-hybrid? His hands and feet reflect that(along with the ears, the eyes, the height, the abilities, but we're talking about about the hands here). Part of why he keeps those gloves on almost 24/7 is to dull his claws, which are not so much an intentional danger to others rather than an unintentional danger to himself. He's got tics and stims and is very neurodivergent and has anxiety(me projecting? noooo /hj), so he gets very nervous very easily. And one of his nervous habits rather than wringing his hands, fidgeting, and (if really bad)a heightened amount of tics, he tends to scratch at his arms. His claws can tear through the fabric easily, and more than one or two suits have been sent back to the tailors for repairs to the sleeves. However, having both padded sleeves and padded gloves nullifies that, so he always wears them special-made. If he didn't have that habit, he likely wouldn't have the gloves on as often as he does.

Friend Hey good headcanons 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀 Also ohhhh my god Billiam fussing over him and his gloves until he gets them to be the right amount of padded where Bu can still do things but also not hurt himself

Me gbfhdgbhgsfhbgsfdhdf He keeps examining them every time the tailors try but it doesn't feel right until That Specific Try so he just plops the gloves back on the counter and says "Do it again"

Friend They spend an entire day doing nothing but making gloves while Billiam & Hubert take turns watching Butler to make sure he stays safe

Me Absolutely Problem is Butler can feel eyes on him. And eyes make him nervous :,) so when he gets nervous. he starts to scratch at his arms again and anxiety is too much for him to ask them to stop watching him

Friend It ends up with them just having to hold his hands, looking at random things (they can go sit on the balcony or something so they have something pretty to look at)

Me That hold on actually that's adorable-

Friend Fhhdjdjdjsjsj they're friends your honor

Me Absolutely Even Hubert contributes to keeping him safe. And Hubert's afraid of even being near Butler

Friend And then we get bonding via the oh no Billiam is busy and Hubert has to take care of Bu for the next 3 hours

Me GHDSFGSHFGS THAT IS A GREAT IDEA Butler insists he can do everything himself, nothing's different about the routine, and then he has a mental breakdown when he tries to make food without anyone else in the kitchen- Cause usually Hubert's there, even if he's making something else. There's at least another presence, and that's the sort of thing that's calming for Bu. But Hubert's off setting up the table for lunch/dinner or something and Butler makes One minor slip-up and spirals from there until he's struggling even handling spice mixing The same thing happened with cookies one time, and both times Hubert found him borderline unable to function because he panicked too much and helped him out of it.

Friend Butler is just curled up in the kitchen, trying to have a quiet panic attack because he can't cause the others any more trouble than he already is, and Hubert is very quietly upset about helping him because he was doing so good at avoiding Bu but here he is again being the only thing that's letting this kid breathe

Me Absolutely

Friend Do you think Bu passes out on him? Like Hubert (probably reluctantly) gives Butler a hug cause those help, and Bu was just supposed to stay there until he felt better, but panic attacks are exhausting and he fell asleep at some point-

Me Oh my gods he would though, especially with the amount of sleep he gets He'd have to try so hard to even stay conscious, much less do things in the manner he usually does, and Hubert just quietly tells him that it's okay to sleep; he'll take care of everything. Hu never forgets that of course Bu's always in danger around him - he has fleeting thoughts and quite often knows how to act on them - but he stands up holding an exhausted child and takes him to his room so he can rest. Butler may want him to stay; Endermen usually want someone around when sleeping. It's the security of having someone watch for nightmares, but Hubert doesn't stay. He has to go back to the kitchen and finish that meal Bu was making. But if he's still asleep by the time Hu's done with everything, he might linger outside his door, listening in for anything bad.

(Okay the cw is over now, you may now go back to your regularly scheduled content :,D)

Also, one last thing: Billiam gives Butler a bunch of gold things(including the masquerade mask) because that's what Piglins do with their sounders, they cover them in gold to show they care. And after Bu finding out the reason why Billiam's been handing off a bunch of gold things to him he does not cry, because that would hurt his face, but he does feel quite a lot of things that make him want to because holy shit Billiam feels the same

Butler is Billiam's sounder and Billiam is Butler's haunting, they are family your honor

#mod note #mod post #ask #anon #tftsmp billiam #tftsmp butler #tftsmp hubert #this is a. R E A L L Y . long post #THANK GOD FOR POST CUTS HUH #good god there is SO MUCH content in here #i just copy-pasted all my rambles from my dms- #my friends must suffer and now you will too <3

[humble-althemist]

The Hargrove-Mayfield House

I’ve been working on drafting this floorplan for ages, but now that I’ve got quarantine amounts of free-time I’ve come back to it with extra focus and determination to get this thing right, so here you go!

reference photos with explanation will be below the cut, because there are some weird-ass bits to this house that I feel need explanation/clarification/general screaming, and that in some case are very variable depending on what canon you want to go with.

anyway! with the front of the house down there at the bottom, and keeping in mind this house is on a corner lot (streets on both sides that have exterior doors), here ya go!

(also just a heads-up that the exact proportions of everything was difficult to figure off based on a lot of these photos, and this house very much resisted attempts to be sketched out on graph paper, so while this is as close as I could get it without losing my mind, it’s definitely got some little issues here and there still.)

OK! so starting from the front, we’re all familiar with the view from the street, the long, thin porch along the front. but did y’all know the front of the house isn’t as flat as the porch makes it seem? 

this is supported by the inside of the house, where we have Billy’s room in that pushed-out bit, and the front door visible through his door, leading into a living room in the pushed-back bit. (if any of that makes sense.) not the best screenshot but you can at least kind of see the corner behind Billy’s door and how it’s clearly not level with the front door

now, I’m not gonna spend much time on Billy’s room because @gothyringwald​ has already done the work of the gods with that one (IN THREE PARTS, MY HERO), except to briefly say yes, there is a fireplace in here, it’s the back-end of a slightly bigger one in the front room. also, not that it’s at all important cause I won’t be using s3 screencaps for his room, but his room was very clearly not filmed in the same house for s3. the view out Billy’s door changes from the front door to a hallway from s2 to s3 (and there are no hallways in this house, as you’ll see), and the view out his front-facing window changes from porch to bushes. it drove me crazy the whole time so I just had to throw that out there.

anyway, for now I want to turn your attention towards Max’s room while we’re still in here because...

first of all, yes there is a door straight into Max’s room from Billy’s, and no, I have not included it on my layout. That’s because in the show they use a bookcase on both sides of the door to hide it, so you could canonically say that there is no door. to be fair, though, they use this inset shelf thing that looks like in actual fact it wouldn’t work if both of them had one. so, use the door if it suits you, use the bookshelves if they suit you. canon is putty in your hands.

also I wanna point out that in the very bottom right corner of this shot you can see the corner of some wall trim. that’s the edge of Billy’s closet. and yes, it does stick out from the wall like that. at a guess I’d say about half of that wall is closet, and half of it is pushed back by exactly the closet’s depth, giving us this corner look.

moving on to the view into Max’s room, we can see the tiny closet space that her room has. it doesn’t appear much wider than the door to it is wide, though it is deeper than it appears from this angle, probably by about a foot. we can also see her door to the living room from here.

moving into Max’s room...

in season 2 you can feel the camera operators doing their damn best to show as little of this room as possible because it’s so weird and got so many doors, but in s3 we do get a little bit of a better feel and the screenshots I got from there do seem consistent enough with real-estate photos and s2 that I’m like 99% sure they shot Max’s bedroom scenes in the same house as in s2.

so, firstly we have a shot of that inset bookcase I mentioned hiding the door to Billy’s room, and Max’s lil closet to the right. it takes a stupid about of staring at the bottom right corner, but you can just barely see the shadow of what must be the closet’s outer corner there.

panning left, we can see Max’s windows, prime for sneaking out to do nerd shit. in the show they put a lil firewood storage thing directly under her windows for extra sneaking out potential, but I can only put so many pictures in here before tumblr makes me split this thing into two posts so I’ll refrain from adding a cap of that.

note also that that’s Billy’s window closer to us, and Susan & Neil’s at the back of the house. Billy’s would seem ideal for climbing out of as well, but some asshole put his sound system and vanity right under that window so idk how he’d manage it if he did. I’d love to see the elaborate shifting-stuff-around/gymnastics that goes into Billy’s regular sneaking out, though, if anybody wants to get on that.

ok, back into Max’s room cause we’re not done with it yet. we’ve accounted for a door that may or may not be between hers and Billy’s room, one to a lil closet space, and the one into the living room, but this girl has two more fuckin doors in her room.

unfortunately these two doors are never photographed together, so I didn’t figure out that there are two on this last wall until literally this morning while editing this post, but hopefully I can take you along my thought process on why it has to be two different doors.

essentially the thought process is, (L) no wall at all between darkened/blocked-off door and corner, (R) at least a foot of flat wall to the left of door. going back to all of my screencaps with this knowledge makes a whole lot of stuff make more sense, but again I can’t put everything here. If there’s demand for more detailed screencaps and stuff maybe I’ll make a part 2, but for now I’m trying to be as succinct as possible. (lol)

so anyway, that door on the right clearly goes into the third bedroom of the house, because why the hell not have all the bedrooms connected, and that one Susan’s standing in front of in the screencap, I believe, leads to a bathroom. (to be clear, there are two doors in that screencap. one on the left that leads to the living room as mentioned before, and the one I’m talking about, behind her, which set designers have understandably tried to disguise as a closet.)

this is purely process of elimination, since the real estate photo I have of the bathroom does not show the door, does not have any windows, and doesn’t even remotely resemble the bathroom used in s3, but the only other bathroom space I was able to find in this house was off the dining room, which is definitely not big enough to hold a bath or shower. I may throw out all the reference photos of bathrooms I have if anyone is desperately curious, but for now in my head it’s just a general haze of ~a bathroom exists here~

anyway, from that right door let’s walk on into Neil and Susan’s tiny-ass bedroom.

this room is so comically small I’m amazed Billy didn’t get saddled with it, honestly, but if you want some headcanons about why he might not have, my go-to is that Neil /or Susan realized this bedroom was the best for any teen with a mind for mischief. while the windows are definitely not as ideal for climbing out of as Max and Billy’s are, if we take that door on the left we’re in the pantry (yes, the pantry. stay with me), and it’s a straight trip from there out the side door, and out to your smokin’ hot Camaro.

idk how sound that logic is, but it’s what I’ve got lol

But anyway, now we’ve reached the end of the house on one side, so I’m gonna take us back to the front living room and work our way back from there. here we’ve a quick glance at the other end of that fireplace, and another angle of how the front door and Billy’s door relate to each other:

the two parts of the living room are separated by this wide arch, and that further bit is where we see Billy’s weights and weight bench in s2. one could say that this is just normally where he keeps it, but my own personal hc is that they’re only there in s2 because the family just moved in, and that they later get moved to his room and the basement, leaving the living room more usable.

It’s hard to be 100% sure, but looking at these photos, particularly at the floor, I believe the second living room area is narrower (as shown in the floorplan sketch). It makes Max’s room make a little more sense size- and shape-wise, and it seems like all the pictures I have of this space confirm it.

anyway, the open door on the right of the second living room bit leads back into Max’s room, and through another arch we can see into the kitchen, and beyond that the dining room.

for some reason the only shots of the kitchen are taken from the back of the house looking forward, so try not to get dizzy as we spin around here.

as you can see we’re now pointed towards the living room, and on our left (towards the bedrooms) we see the doors to that pantry I mentioned earlier. I don’t have any photos of the inside of the pantry, alas. those would solve probably every question I have about the ground floor of this house. if you look closely they look like bi-fold doors to me, but they could just open inward.

we can also definitely tell that the wall on the left side of that arch is much shallower(?) than it is on the living room side, if that makes sense. essentially, these rooms on the left side of the house are getting narrower as they go on.

until the dining room! this room narrows a little on the right side, which you can see from exterior shots, but the pantry/bathroom weirdness in the middle of the house has definitely cleared out of the way to make room for dining here. we’ve also got two big-ass windows (comparatively), since going by the direction of the wood floors, the window on the left is not the same window as the one on the right.

and going by the existence of a window in that bathroom, we know this part of the house has three external-facing walls -- or however a professional would say that. (essentially, Susan and Neil’s bedroom can’t be overlapping the other side of the bathroom.)

we’ve been pretty low on storage space here so far, so that + the fact that the door in the corner looks nothing like a door to the outside + the fact that there’s a door to the outside literally on the other side of the room, gives me the conviction that this door is just into closet space. it could be a door to the basement, but we’ve seen the back of the house before and it doesn’t look like there’s enough space there for a whole other room full of staircase. observe:

not to mention Neil’s headlights are illuminating a perfectly good door to the basement right there, although idk shit about houses with basements. do they usually have two ways down if they’re built like this? I wouldn’t know, I live on a fault-line. we don’t do that shit here.

ANYWAY, that’s the house. somehow I feel like I’ve covered like way too much, and also not nearly enough, so do let me know if anything isn’t clear and I’ll try to fix it/do an additional post and link that. cause even if most of us are writing Billy living outside of Old Cherry Road/Cherry Lane at this point, this kind of shit is always handy to have around, at least imo?

#harringrove #billy hargrove #billy hargrove reference #stranger things reference #fanfic reference

[maglors-anion-gap]

celegorm/aredhel?

Hi! Thanks for the ask! [ask game link]

I would say Ship It!  It’s not one of my main ships but I’m a multishipper with a wide array of ships up my sleeve and celegorm/aredhel is one of them!

1. What made me ship it:

I think what really drew me to them, as with other ships, were the transformative works on tumblr and AO3.  The silm doesn’t always offer a ton of characterization, so I got more invested in them after seeing the work (both meta and headcanon) put into developing these two.  I love the fans here, we can piece together a narrative from literally two lines of dialogue!

2. My favorite things about the ship:

Firstly, there is in-text substantiation that they were close as friends.  I don’t necessarily think friendship is a mandatory first step before romance, or that characters need to have canon interactions for you to ship them. But I can’t deny the appeal of of the friends-to-lovers trope, especially when the two characters exude such ride-or-die energy.  

Second, I like complex characters.  I find Celegorm’s narrative descent to be interesting, he makes a good hero and a good villain.  I also like how headstrong Aredhel is!  I think they work well together, in the sense of “If you kill someone, I’ll help you hide the body.”

3. One unpopular opinion about the ship:

I don’t think this so much refers to this ship, specifically, but a fandom tendency in general.  

I headcanon celegorm and aredhel to be aromantic allosexual; I know others on here that feel the same.  And since I am bi, my general perspective on characters is that unless their sexuality is clearly stated in canon, headcanoning a character as bi is fair game.  

I see criticism directed at m/f ships (bi or straight, trans or cis), or aro or ace ships like they’re bad rep or something, and i’m like “bad rep for who? it’s not bad rep for bi and trans/nb ppl like me, or ace or aro ppl like my friends.”  One headcanon is not going to work for everyone just like I can’t wear a size nine shoe and my partner can’t wear my size fives.  Fandom is a sandbox, go ham, you can call artemis the patron of lesbians and the patron of asexuals and both can be true at once.  

[sometimesrosy]

Roswell New Mexico ep 1.09 liveblog Songs About Texas

Listen I don’t care that I’ve never done a liveblog about this show before. I love it. I watched the original. I like this one better. Do not watch if you don’t want my buzzed cursing and spoilers and flailing. Because I curse and flail and spoil. it was an accidental liveblog because I was messaging a friend of mine who watches but was not caught up. So I didn’t want to spoil her until she said it was fine and then it became no holds barred. Do I edit it or let you see my terrible typing while I watch a show and drink a beer in the afternoon? 

Ahh. Get it unfiltered.

me--all right. i'm watching the roswell episode

buddy--We had a rather intense work meeting How’s the Rowell episode Roswell*

me-- just started. idk. did you see the last episode? omg i like all these character so well

Buddy--No I’m so behind

me--well then i can't tell you marias not as quirky. i liked the last maria a lot oh i like all these characters. the female sheriff? i like her too can we please have a maria/alex/michael love triangle? please? no wait not love triangle. ot3 polyamory please

buddy--Lol your commentary is awesome

me--michael is canon bi. it works. maria and alex can just be nonsexual partners and share micheale he's SO cute IF YOU HAD KEPT UP TO DATE I COULD GIVE YOU BETTER COMMENTARY

buddy--YOU CAN SPOIL ME

[buckle up I just go IN]

me--they're going to see a faith healer they're wondering if she's an alien. max and michael went to see if she did that, but liz and maria went to see  if she could heal maria's mom who is crazy. the female sheriff went to ALEX instead of his father who is trying to get her to out max.  she found a handprint death and thiks there's a conspiracy and she doesn't trust alex's dad who is blackmailing her to surveil alex. wait why is MARIA going with Michael to heal his broken hand that was smashed by Alex's dad because he cauthg them together. oh wait. liz is talking to max PERSONAL SPACE MUCH? michael is funny. "That feeling babe is naivetee" wait why does michael care about maria? oh she's a fake healer. oh. they just did an indigenous appropriation comment. wait grandma is like, 'they were asking about the sigil?" i love his show confession. i'm on my second beer. michael stole from the scamming healer. liz doesn't care

buddy--Ah feeling a little loose?

me--michael is funny casual let's say better than anxiety oh they just made a cut about healthcare. this show is awesome maria is singing alanis morisette!

buddy--Oh hey I don’t judge at allI can’t go that route or my family would start raising eyebrows

me--i'll probably have to watch again because i'm getting buzzed wait why is michael flirting with maria stop it michael if you're just teasing poor max is moping wait maria's making max sing with her i love max, michael, maria and liz together. oh now we have alex, the female sheriff, and liz's ex boyfriend. i like them too but he thinks the murderer is isobel but it's not i bet it's someone else.

buddy--No I can’t imagine it’s that simple 

me--i think there's another alien out there killing people and taking control of isobel which means she didn't kill rosa but whoever controlled her did I'm REALLY gonna need michael to stop flirting with maria because i used to ship maria and michael and he made me ship michael and alex. michael is both hot and funny at least we get some max and liz bonding. oh no there's a motel across the street!!!!!! girl sheriff just got told her ex bf max is an alien

this show is great

Oh god lol Is everyone in this town in love with max evans? says liz's ex bf what's his name?

buddy--Dude come on you know the answer to that I think Kyle 

me--lol kyle yes that's right uh oh needed to rewind the lol line and i rewound too far. atleast i get to see max and liz again wow how far did it rewind? I guess I'm pushing my kids "clean up your room at 4" back a little bit. wait we're back to alanis again? maybe my buzzed rewinding is making it so i don't need to watch again btw maria can sing wait michael TOTALLY checked out maria stop that! liz is falling in love wth max wait lol line coming up. in love wih max evans DId you just threaten to tattle to our parents Jenna? Manes or the Sheriff. now she's about to find out Max is an alien. wait. the female cop is Jenna. it skipped to the previous commerical l why would it do that? michael and maria flirting again. listen stop playing with my heart. WHICH ONE?Maria or Alex?  they're so cute Liz suggests the hotel. She jus tlooked at Max with love in her eyes If there's only one bed i will die Jenna freaking out about Alien Max wait here's the line. Kyle annoyed because everyone is in love wih Max evans.  Alex says, "angsty nerd isn't my type even though he is tall." Kyle says, "Is angsty COWBOY?"lol

buddy--Lol

me--btw remember kyle used to be a homophobe

buddy--Ohhh right

me--uh oh. Kyle has info too. Alex is investigating. Alex, Kyle and Jenna are a good team. Alex wants to take over project shepherd.

STOP!! THEY ONLY HAVE ONE ROOM AT THE MOTEL!!!!

buddy--LOL

me--Oh no lol

KING SIZE BED ITS THE JALAPENO ROOM REAL SPICY that is an actual quote from actual canon

buddy--LOL What?! 

me--LOL YES LITERALLY But the clerk found anothe rroom I think Wait wait before he found the room

"It's fine, I can sleep in the truck" max "ITS FINE WE"RE ADULTS" liz

LOL OMG THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED

buddy--LOL Oh the kiss of death 

me--lol but they're teasing he finds another room lol. i'm crying with laughter is it the beer or is it really funny? i have to pause and let myself laugh even though the other room is called The Alamo room. "Which one of you is into mass carnage? i love this show Lol rewind i need to see that again WF WTDF WTF i can't even curse without typos IT LITERALLY JUST DID THAT just cut to liz alone in a giant bed. halepenos. real spicy. she's tossing and turning i am pausing with liz tossing and turning because I DONT BELIEVE IT i know how to spell jalapenos. i'm not a good typist especially when watching tv

buddy--It’s okay lol

me--THey cut from Liz tossing and turning in the jalapeno room to max tossing and turning in the alamo room. THIS IS A FUCKING FANFIC neither of them could sleep. YOU COULDN"T GET COMFORTABLE BECAUSE YOU SHOULDA BEEN IN THE SAME BED YOU FOOLS

buddy--LOL CLASSIC

me--Max wants to be a healer, he tells liz. or thinks he should because he's seen people die in his job. She's the only one he's saved."Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown." quoting henry the iv. dorks. he just gave her his coat uh oh liz doesn't hate max anymore. she was mad at max becuase he lied to her, he broke her heart. shades of bellarke LISTEN YOU ASKED FOR THIS LIVEBLOG isn't there a writer for this show that used to be on the 100 is it the sisters?

buddy--YEA

me--mother fuckers

buddy--Oh lord almighty

me--i have to keep taking breaks because i can't handle it

buddy--Well I know what I’m watching when I get home

me--they are literally bellarke after coming back together. llz felt betrayed like clarke felt betrayed over madi if i press the wrong button it goes CRAZY on the rewind. it just went all the way back to the fake healer liz wanted to share a bed. she hated the alamo room this is SO fanfic romantic THis is so bellarke even how she walks away kyle and alex are bonding over aliens. but kyle doesn't believe they are terrorist threats. maria and michael are bonding over being shitfaced come on michael OH MY GOD HE KISED HER SHE KISSED HIM BACK OH DOWN THEY GO DAMMIT THIS WAS NOT IN MY PLANS OT3 or bust do NOT mess around with my maria and michael if you're not going there

Faith healer again. This time Max is there with the grandma. The grandaughter is scamming but the grandma knows something. Faith healer wants to see max striptease lol. grandma tells her to get in the car. Grandma calls him a loud white cop lol He shows her his tattoo. Grandma knew someone like him. Sh enever spoke until the day she died. "He has arrived so I may leave." She thinks Max is who she said.

Oh Maria and Michael. "Here's the deal. Never happend. Tell no one." He told Max and Liz or maybe not.STOP FLIRITNG YOU"RE KILLING ME

"I could never hate you" max says to Liz. And she doesn't believe his version of her."youre always muttering in spanish like it's some secret language no one understands but you. hello. we're in new mexico. we all speak spanish."He sees her faults. And he loves her Easily KILL ME NOW STOP WITH THE SUNFLARES WOW SHE REALLY YANKS HIM BACK TO KISS HER HOLY SHIT THAT"S ROMANTIC REWIND HE SEES HER. oh he takes her hands and tells her she thinks that being more perfect than her sister she's easier to love but he sees her fautls and he loves her easily" Is it so crazy that I believe in you too?" I just know. Oh god THAT IS . A FUCKING GOOD KISS. She has her hands all over him

buddy--Sorry a coworker was talking to me

me--rewind AGAIN ou have to catch up

buddy--I will

me--he says, "come on I'll drive you home" and starts walking away and she's like THE FUCK YOU WILL YOU AMAZING MOTHERFUCKER YOU"RE GOING TO KISS ME I"VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR TEN YEARS. I could literally keep rewinding that all day but I realize I need to know what comes next commercial break ends. omg they're still kissing Now they're breathing. Why he asks. "I ran out of reasons not to. Was it whorth the wait?" He says it was worth the wait SOMEONE'S WATCHIN GWHO THE FUCK IS THAT? WHO THE FUCK IS-- WAIT THATS ISOBELS HUSAND HE sees the eggs He sees isobel in the egg. 

kyle and liz. her cure works but the thinks isobel is the murderer. the husband tells the sheriff that isobel is in rehab. he's lying. Kyles father was killed by an alien too.

Alex and Michael oh no. after Maria. He's got maria's necklace in his boot now alex is jealous. YOU MOTHERFUCKERS. Alex says he needs a mechanic

Buddy--.The original Liz shiri appleby directed this episodeBtw

me--Wait no he's confronting Miechael. Alex tells him he loved him. LIke something cosmic and now he wants to start over. motherfucker

yeah i knew about shiri. she has apparently read some fanfiction so have the writers

Buddy--Yeah I’m 100 percent the show runner carina has lol percent sure*

me--alex wants to be friends with michael "Do you want to know who I am" or do you want to know what i am." Max is writing fiction and reading it to Isobel. In walks Liz. He kisses her again. Thanks her for solutions for Isobel. She thinks there's a fourth alien in roswell because she knows the murders were aliens but not isobel because isobel hasn't had a blackout since Rosa. I told you there was another murdering alien.

buddy--Ha!!

me--wow that was INTENSE. next week she tries her cure on isobel her husband knows she's an alien now though

buddy--Oh lord

me--I"m posting this whole thing online. Just so you know. you'll be kept anon.

buddy--That’s fine lol

#roswell nm #liveblog #it's almost 6 my kids really don't want me to make them clean their rooms dammit i might have to do it tomorrow #reprieve for them #they weren't going to remind me #spring break funtimes not as much fun when youre a mom

[margridarnauds]

001 olympe/solene please!!! (also i know i haven't answered in 8 years but please bear with me, i haven't forgotten i'm just very late)

Thank you! (Also it’s fine; I was just a little worried I’d finally scared you away!) The following thoughts might be slightly rambling, given my family’s doing our daily rewatch of Toho!1789 and Maniaque just came on, thus short circuiting my brain. 

when I started shipping it if I did: I seem to recall a conversation between you and @couldntgiveafox some ages ago where you were discussing alternative 1789s, and I believe I stumbled across it in my fall to 1789 Hell. I don’t think I really started actively SHIPPING it until I was writing Pour la Peine and the (still a WIP) Modern AU where they go to Disneyworld, since it showed off more how they would WORK as a couple. (Yes, really. In my defense, there’s something about Solène and Olympe working together to get Artois stranded on “It’s a Small World” that warms the cockles of my shipping heart.)

my thoughts: I think they have a lot of potential as a ship; I would REALLY love to have seen more of them in canon because I think that they’d have had a lot more potential than our canon ship. (Not that that’s SAYING much, but…) The two of them have two very different ways of dealing with things that really make them complement each other well. Like, Solène has a much more direct way of doing things; she probably had to shut down most of Ronan’s fights with the other kids in their village when they were younger, whereas Olympe…can handle herself, obviously, but she tends to prefer sidestepping it if she can and tends to prefer using the gun only as an absolute last resort. And Solène and Olympe both…fill in the gaps, with each other? Like, Olympe’s a woman who everyone sees as this simple little governess who can be walked over but has a spine of steel beneath those stays, whereas Solène is a woman who presents herself as being basically untouchable and unbreakable, but she has a lot of vulnerability beneath the surface. 

What makes me happy about them: Solène has this blunt, rough edge that really works well against almost everyone, but the second that Olympe enters the room? She melts. Even if she’s terrified of what exactly that means and trusting someone again. She’s basically the embodiment of “I’ve only had Olympe for a day and a half, but if anything happened to her, I’d kill everyone in this room and then myself.” And Peyrol. Even if he’s not in the room and had nothing to do with it, she’d still kill Peyrol for good measure. And for Olympe, she has someone who’s genuinely in love with HER and would be willing to bend over backwards for her. (It’s not that I dislike Antoinette or that I’m even particularly criticizing her, but I do think that she can be insensitive when it comes to Olympe’s crush right until the very end when she lets her go and that sometimes, she takes advantage of Olympe’s feelings without realizing it, causing Olympe to get into trouble. See: Je Suis un Dieu.) Like, Lazare and Solène would never ADMIT it, because fundamentally they have way too much between them, but they have more in common there than they’d ever admit. 

Finally: BLESS the Toho for giving me, like, five seconds of interaction between them. It might not have been much, but THEY TOUCHED HANDS. While watching Solène’s brother being brutally shot by his boyfriend, but hey, it’s not the WORST first date idea. And Solène’s CLINGING onto this girl she’s just met in that scene, after rushing herself in front of Peyrol’s line of fire to do it. 

What makes me sad about them: Obviously, the lack of interaction between them, even though, on the positive side, it means the show can’t ruin it for me. Solène is hard as a character to write, because all three Solènes are written so very differently from one another that it’s hard to get a grip on her, especially since it’s obvious that the French really didn’t…CARE about her, as a character, and that also means that trying to get their dynamic can be hard. Like, I still feel after all this time that I don’t have them down as well as I have L/R, which is something that I’m always trying to rectify. 

Also, from an in-universe perspective: I think…Solène is very like her brother, in the sense that she doesn’t see HERSELF as inherently inferior or incapable of love (the one thing no one has EVER accused the Mazurier Siblings of is a lack of confidence), but that so much has happened to her that she kind of takes it for granted that this isn’t going to end well. Our girl’s canonically lost her brother and father, she’s PROBABLY lost her mother (I mean, unless she’s just…living as a hermit somewhere since Ronan and Soléne ran away or left Papa Mazurier to become a famous adventuress, I think it’s a safe assumption), and it’s safe to assume she’s lost at least 2-3 siblings, if not more, and…as much as I’m against the idea of the Tragic Sex Worker, she’s also probably seen Things in her time on the streets. If nothing else, then sex work was very much a transitory job for many women, who would take it up in off seasons in-between other jobs (or marriage, for some women), so there are probably plenty of women who she knew and tried to get attached to who just…moved on. 

And I think that Marie Antoinette’s ghost is always kind of going to be there, in the background, even as Olympe moves on from the full force of her old feelings. And Olympe has her own issues when it comes to loss, not just with Ronan (who was a friend if nothing else) and her mother (if we’re going with the musical-canon where Charlotte du Puget’s been dead for awhile), but also with probably seeing Louis-Joseph die in front of her. 

things done in fanfic that annoys me: WHAT FANFIC? There’s so little of it available that it’s kind of impossible for me to find ANYTHING to really annoy me. The thing that annoys me when I’M writing them is that there’s this…odd tendency, with femslash, for things to be sanitized and clean and saccharine, as opposed to M/M and F/M ships. And, on one hand, I DESPISE that mentality, but on the other hand, I find that I’ve internalized some of that, even though realistically S/O have…so much that they could bicker over. If they wanted to. So I try to keep at least a realistic level of conflict in their relationship, without reaching R/O or even R/L levels. 

things I look for in fanfic: Existing is always a lovely thing. 

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Olympe/MA is always going to be a tragic crush for me; I’m not sure if it’d have worked in the long run as an actual RELATIONSHIP, but I’d be perfectly comfortable with Olympe being happy. Or accepting Artois’ offer, biding her time in London while slowly poisoning him so that she can retire in an obscene amount of wealth when the new king of France “tragically” dies only a few months into his new reign. 

Even though I’m pretty attached to Olympe being a lesbian and Lazare being gay and/or ace, I’m also not OPPOSED to them marrying each other as a matter of convenience post-canon, though…obviously. After the Takarazuka and Toho productions, there are going to be…issues with that one. (Lazare is incapable of being with someone when he hasn’t at least tried to kill their father.) Matthieu Carnot and Camille Lou in the original cast had HELLA chemistry with one another, and I’m not entirely willing to toss it all away.     

And for Solène…I’m not sure I’d go with ANYONE in the main cast. My main headcanon re: Solène and sexuality is that she’s bi, but the whole “Betrayal by her idiot of a brother” thing has really put her off the idea of being romantically involved with dudes for an extended period of time. Sexually? Sure, for the money involved. It’s her JOB, but she’s not going to go for anything that requires trust. Lucile is the obvious alternative, but I’m not sure how Lucile’s upper middle class upbringing would work with Solène and her profession, and the entire business with the engagement +…Lucile’s ultimate fate would work. (Also Lucile’s part in The Scene in the Toho version…it hasn’t put me off her as a CHARACTER, I still love her very much, but…it’s made me…less keen on her with Solène.) I also crackship her with Marie Antoinette. Marie Antoinette gets all the ladies in the main cast. 

My happily ever after for them: In the canon verse? They leave Paris, either getting out of the country or quietly running into the country, where they can live in peace without the Reign of Terror getting them. They establish a domestic life together, where both of them learn to trust again, even as Solène keeps her own funds Just in Case, because some things are a little harder to move past than others. Lt. du Puget knows, but he’s been too traumatized by his own experiences with the Bastille, as well as too grateful to the Mazuriers for all they’ve done to raise a fuss, and he becomes like a second father to Solène, with Françoise being a sister and partner in crime to her. Solène doesn’t lose track of her friends in Paris and visits them from time to time, even as she gets used to middle class life, and she never entirely loses her fire. They both die of old age, many, many years after the Revolution (because, as we all know, Olympe does not die at the end, and there has never been a time where she died at the end; it is her destiny to outlive the rest of the cast with her girlfriend.) And then, in the afterlife, Solène gets at least one slap in on her brother before they’re one big, happy family again. Because he does deserve it, tbh. 

Out of canon, I would honestly love to see a world where Solène/Olympe and Lazare/Ronan could have co-existed with each other as a family, albeit an insanely unorthodox one. I could see Olympe and Lazare having a marriage of convenience, with both of them having their own sections of the house that are just theirs, and with sex not even being a consideration. (Solène takes it more as a matter of course and the best possible option, even if she doesn’t LIKE Lazare; Ronan runs off and spends, like, a week crying somewhere before they can get him calmed down enough to explain.) Like, their wedding night is spent playing cards in bed until they can sneak out to their separate rooms, and at some point Ronan’s in-between them, drooling on Lazare’s shoulder while Solène glares daggers because if he hurts her girlfriend or her brother, she will not HESITATE to destroy him. Everyone knows that they’re gay AF and that a former under-governess to the royal family is sleeping with a former sex worker, mainly because Artois never shuts up about it (because if he can’t have Lazare under his thumb and he can’t murder the hypotenuse, he’s at least going to do his best to make his life miserable), but, does it matter? No. What are they going to do, not invite Lazare or Olympe to one of their salons? The horror, the horror. One year, for her New Year’s present, Ronan gives Solène a pair of earplugs so she doesn’t have to hear some of the ungodly sounds that come from his and Lazare’s side of the house. Everyone’s happy. 

who is the big spoon/little spoon: See, my GUT instinct is Solène for big spoon, since it gives her a place of security without her feeling pinned in, but also I love the thought of Olympe sometimes taking over, nuzzling into Solène’s neck and having Solène wake up and being like “Holy shit, this is real” even years later. 

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Taking walks together, reading. I like to think that Olympe helps Solène learn how to read (which is one of the areas where I feel like they differ from R/L. Even though I think Lazare would read out loud to Ronan, I’m not sure he’d go through the trouble of TEACHING him, especially since that’s…giving Ronan some serious power as far as being able to page through any of Lazare’s papers.) Sometimes, Solène just prefers to hear Olympe read out loud, with her absently putting her hand on Olympe’s arm as time goes on and she relaxes, since Olympe has a very bright, expressive voice that suited her well when she was an undergoverness, and even if she doesn’t mean to, she finds herself taking on different voices for different characters, which makes for an entertaining reading experience,. The two of them also help each other with their daily toilette, getting each other’s hair and clothes prepared. 

This? Is an Olympe innovation. 

And this? Is a Solène. She Tries. And Olympe loves her for it. 

#1789 les amants de la bastille #olympe du puget #solène mazurier #solympe #I guess that's my new tag for them #berncat

[bottomdiluc]

You are so right abt kl revolving around l0nce and that's why i got sick of it. As a keith stan i demand the boy to be more than just a trophy thank u very much :/

to be honest, i am still somewhat into k/l, but only as them in a future setting where they’ve matured (mostly on lance’s side) and keith has learned to trust people and overcome his own his own issues, as well as has allowed himself to trust people outside of shiro. so, because of that, in the beginning, i did venture to the k/l side and at first, i was surprised cause almost all the content i ran into was lance-centric–his pov, his struggles, his needs, and as a keith fan, i spent a long time trying to pick through content to find that one rare bit of keith content. i learned that kl is shipped overwhelmingly by lance fans or have a lance bias and it hasn’t really changed. most keith fans i’ve run into are either sk shippers, ka///llura shippers, multishippers, even ke///tor, but not many have turned out to be heavily into k/l.

k/l tends to heavily borrow the s/k elements in canon, like really fucking heavily. i’ve read a lot of fic that i ended up turning away from cause it read too much like s/k, or rather, it read too much like shiro with lance’s head pasted onto his body.  all that dedication and openness and friendly interaction was directed toward lance, albeit a bit watered down, but it was there, reading like it was shiro. k/l in fanon, at it’s most, hardly resembles its canon counterpart. in fact, it couldn’t be anymore different. i guess a lot of people were writing it as though they were in a future setting and had gotten over their own reservations, but it still heavily reeked of the s/k dynamic. 

i hardly ever mention k/l as a ship i somewhat have an interest in because of how it is framed, the tomfoolery of the fandom, and because i can’t truly dive into it because the content created for it tends to be:

most content is about lance or centers on him. like a huge amount, seeing as most k/l are lance fans or have lance biases

keith is often made to resemble so little of himself or his flaws dramatically increased or written from lance’s pov in order to make him palatable for k/l

lance is often treated as the golden boy who does no wrong or he’s got shiro’s or allura’s problems grafted onto him in varying levels of extremism

 k/l altean/galra aus are something i intensely despise because it often removes keith’s biracial identity (hello, interracial person here to tell you that is fucking awful and i hate it so much but it’s so popular that i literally can’t escape it) and treats it as interchangeable, as well as removing lance’s own cuban heritage, and it just feels like a male version of ka///llura. edit: actually, i despise all fics that take away keith’s biracial identity and i hope you step on a lego every day for the rest of your life.

keith and shiro are somehow siblings all the time, and you can tell how much the author doesn’t like how close keith and shiro are in canon by how hard they push shiro and keith to be strictly platonic (those who have put in past or implied s/k are so strong and brave) and use that to water down their relationship, as well as pretty much every other possible main contender for keith’s attention is made to be related to him (mmmm remember when thace/keith was a bit of a Thing but people were tryna act like thace could be keith’s father/uncle/adopted parent, etc? me, too, it was so funny. as well as axca/keith were long lost siblings as if vld doesn’t have a particular art style they use and sometimes recycles their character design for others? mmmmmm) and they constantly try to emphasize it

needing other characters as villains, twisting them into something they’re not, and it’s usually focused on lance being affected the most: see lotor is just a damn fool ass bastard for really no reason, shiro is a villain, lance’s family is homophobic for whatever reason, etc

langst. fucking hate that shit, i will skip any and every fic that has that tag in it or somewhere in the description, i won’t even entertain clicking on it except lamenting the loss of potential for that ugly tag

fake bisexual lance and not really gay but lance sexual keith. honestly, y’all are trying to turn the straightest character on the show bi and the one of the characters in the show that shows one of the least interests in anything. it’s blatantly obvious 

i’m only really in it for the possibility of them in the future being better to each other, seeing how they progress in the future cause them in current canon? would fall apart so fast and so hard and more than likely will have bitter resentment between them. however, as much as i try to hold onto it, i can eel my interest dwindling with every reveal of canon and the fandom’s idiotic behavior on and off the internet, as well as antis having made k/l the ship they are going to make sure the fandom can’t touch with their harassment and bullying. i just don’t even talk about k/l much anymore or even really try to give it any space on my blog.

#askbox for ts #anonymous #vld for ts #long post for ts #Anonymous

[drafee]

Let me preface this by saying that headcanoning brienne as anything, from lesbian to gnc to trans is perfectly cool. I will never police how someone interacts with a medium and what they find a connection with. What I’m gonna talk about here is some of the tone of certain posts and some of the implications of it, specifically that it’s mostly shippers who insist on brienne being straight (or attracted to men), and that it’s homophobic/transphobic not to see her otherwise.

(going under a cut because it got away from me)

First of all, I like to consider myself a pretty realistic person when it comes to my ships. We all have our little fantasies and ideal endings and such, but I think I can mostly understand where the creator actually wants to go with two characters. I’ve shipped things that I realize where meant to be seen as platonic because I enjoyed a chemistry or a dynamic, I’ve shipped things that were messed up, and I’ve shipped things where I haven’t been entirely sure about the intention but still enjoyed the ride. Jaime/Brienne is one of the few ships in all my years of shipping that I know for a fact was meant to be seen as a romance. I am dead certain. I would bet my right hand on it (heh). The dynamic GRRM wrote was a romantic one, and even if nothing ever comes of it, even if they both die in the first page of Winds, that intention has been marked clearly, and you will find that to be agreed by most meta writers.

“But Faidra! I don’t have to care about canon! I am reading the book however I like, and that is my takeaway from it!”

Great! I wholeheartedly support you! But here is the thing, you can do that without shitting on other people who agree with the author’s intentions. Saying that it’s only shippers who want Brienne to be straight is implying that we’re twisting the narrative to fit our own little masturbation fantasy, disregarding the text. That’s not the case. People are drawn to JB and Brienne’s feelings for Jaime because GRRM wanted them to.If you find a different interpretation that makes you happy, please don’t feel discouraged to voice them. But at the same time, don’t discourage those who connect to that story in another way (not the right way, but the intended way).

Now, regarding the -phobia side of it, I am not a trans person, so I will not discuss the transphobia angle, because it’s not my experience. But as a bi woman, it really hurts to see people accuse you of homophobia for not agreeing with Brienne facing compulsory heterosexuality, or her being on L/B. Because let me tell you, as an unattractive woman, it is insane to me how well a straight man in his 50s managed to capture Brienne’s struggle with men and romance. The fact that Brienne, who was asked out as a joke, who was bullied and mocked gets to win over the hottest guy in the land without getting a makeover (and actually getting uglier) just brings a lump to my throat.

Also I don’t wanna hear anything about how it’s not a progressive narrative because JB is a straight romance. If there is a saturated marked of straight couples where the woman is a head taller, built like tree trunk and butt ugly while the guy is like a male model and it’s not played for laughs, then by all means direct me to it and accept my apology. Hell, even their TV counterparts are conventionally attractive and TV!Brienne still gets flack from fans because her hair is short or whatever.

I think we also need to remember that we can’t draw parallels to the books and our own world without considering how much more rigid Westeros is in terms of gender roles. Brienne’s many issues about her own self image have a lot to do with the fact that she lives in a world that only gives her the options of beautiful maiden or laughing stock. She doesn’t get to develop a personality, or a friendly circle to give her confidence, or such other modern nonsense that would maybe help her feel comfortable in her unconventional skin. She gets lies or ridicule, and that directly contributes to her feeling “ not fit to be a son or daughter.” Again, that’s what I believe Martin was trying to convey. Brienne doesn’t magically become representation if she’s non gc or staright. Brienne is already a character for many ugly girls who have been hurt and demeaned and feel like they have no place in society, and claiming that it’s problematic to connect to a character that was written for that exact purpose is guilt-trippy and disingenuous. Lord knows, I understand that the representation for gnc/trans/lesbian characters is scarce at best, but this isn’t the Marginalization Olympics. You can fight for your representation without tearing down someone else’s.

So please, can we all just remember to be a little respectful and agree not to bash people’s emotional connections to characters? Thank you.

#brienne of tarth #this is an incoherent mess #but I have been thinking about that post for the past 2 days #asoiaf

[parchmints]

Why You’re Allowed to be Mad if Klance isn’t Endgame

Short answer: we’re being textbook baited if it isn’t.

Alright, buckle up because I’m about to lay out some receipts on Dreamworks.

Okay, so we all know that Klance is the biggest ship in the fandom and we also know that the show has a pretty big young, LGBT+ following. And the creators know this. Literally, every con someone asks “okay, but what about LGBT rep?” so they know.

Which leads me to my first point: tagging their shit as “Klance”

Remember when they uploaded this video with this tender af thumbnail?

Yeah, well if you go into the tags you’ll find:

They tagged it that twice. It wasn’t a fluke, they knew what they were doing. They intentionally tagged this video klance to acquire views and, by extension, for profit.

Unless Dreamworks pulls through, that’s baiting lads.

The second thing I want to point out is that Lance’s vlog was not tagged as A//urance, even though Lance is explicitly speaking about his crush on her. So, they’re not just tagging pairings, they specifically only tagged that one video as Klance. Hm.

The third thing I want to bring up is all the wishy-washy and vague comments the crew/cast make about Lance’s sexuality/Klance:

One minute Lauren says “the only thing incompatible about them is their ship name” to “we can’t just make them fall in love”

Jeremy says about LGBT rep “Don’t worry, you’ll be happy”, but then we also get comments like “we are fighting for as open and as broad a spectrum of characters as we can create” and “no comment” from creators.

They allow Jeremy to say things like “Lance’s milkshake brings errrrbody to the yard”, but they switch between she/her and gender-neutral pronouns when talking about his potential love interests.

They never explicitly state that Lance isn’t bi or that Klance isn’t going to happen, but we also haven’t gotten explicit confirmation that they are either. If Klance isn’t going to happen, then they could just outright say “that’s not the direction we’re taking them, no”, but they don’t.

Why? 

And that question brings me to my conclusion. There are only two possible reasons for this:

Dreamworks is aware of its fan base and its desire for mlm rep in the form of Klance. Knowing these feelings, Dreamworks intentionally tags their content “Klance” and is intentionally vague when speaking of the pairing so they are free of commitment, but still able to dangle the possibility of the pairing in front of their LGBT+ audience.

OR

Klance is going to be endgame and they’re being intentionally vague because they want us to be surprised without them shutting down the pairing completely.

I really, really, really hope it’s the latter, but if not, boy howdy am I gonna be mad.

If Klance isn’t canon Dreamworks will have used the hopes and feelings of its young, LGBT base for profit while also stomping on those hopes and feelings. That’s not okay.

It’s not okay and you get to be mad if Klance isn’t endgame, no matter what anyone tells you. They baited us. YOU GET TO BE MAD!! 

tl;dr Dreamworks made their fucking bed the minute they tagged a video “Klance” for views and now they gotta lie in it.

#thanks for coming to my ted talk #vld #voltron #voltron legendary defender #dreamworks #voltron meta #vld lance #vld keith #klance #lance mcclain #keith kogane #lance vld #keith vld #laith #my post

[qualapec]

Favorite characters meme

@myheartgoesswimming tagged me in this!

“Post 10 of your favorite characters from different fandoms, in no particular order, and tag 10 people [if you want!] “

I’m a JERK who can’t help but rank my favorite characters,

Favorite male characters:

1. Jacob Frye Jacob had an absolutely unprecedented climb up my favorite characters list. He went from being this butch asshole in the trailers for AC:S to...I LOVE MY BI SON??? I don’t think I’ve purely identified with a character so much since Marian Hawke in DAII when I was a closeted 18 year old who didn’t think I’d ever come out. Like, I’m ultimately not too protective of my favorite dudes--I look at my list and I’m like, yeah, this is mostly garbage. Jacob is the one dude character who I have actually cried over people saying shit about him (I casually call Jacob garbage a lot, but not too long ago a good friend said “yeah, he fucks up everything. really everyone would be better off without him” and I cried harder than I thought I would).

I identify with Jacob because he’s a giant ADHD bisexual who messes up literally everything he does but still tries the best he can to be a good person and he’s someone who still legitimately cares about people who have hurt him deeply. At the same time, he’s not a queer character that wants to fully integrate with society either. He’s funny and loves his sister and she’s a better Assassin than he is. He’s a good person but his queerness isn’t clean--it’s rough and it hurts and it damages his relationships and it’s so real to me.

I’ve never felt happier about being bi and not totally good at things than the months after AC:S came out and Jacob was announced as canonically bisexual. Before that I’d been struggling a lot with the lesbians v. bi women thing, and Jacob just made me feel so good about myself and so hopeful. I love Jacob Frye.

2. Johannes Cabal I have never been more right about a character’s ultimate arc than I was with Cabal. He’s been on my list of faves for years, but the fifth book jettisoned him into second place among the guys. If he were canonically queer he and Jacob would probably be tied tbqh. I love this horrible man. I love his arc. Anyone who wants to write villains with a redemption should read these books. SPOILERS but I love how his arc isn’t about accepting things the way they are re: death. He never accepts the Bible, never goes to confession and gets his sins forgiven. He never gives up his desire for things to be changed and for the unfairness/injustice of death to be righted and his disbelief in religion as a savior. He never gives up his arrogance. He’s still really smart.

But by the end, he becomes a human who is worthy of having friends and is capable of doing the right thing and that means so much to me. I expected a giant Thing at the end where he did something truly villainous to show that he was Always That Way and Always Would Be, but it never happened. He slowly defeated evil within himself without even knowing it, and that matters to me.

END SPOILERS. The second trash wizard I ever fell in love with.

3. Loki (MCU). Oh, Loki. My queer rage analogue.

Some context: I saw Thor (2011) when my family was falling apart. I was mad, so mad. That scene when Loki confronts Odin was so profound to me--I read it as a coming out scene, and I know a lot of other queer folks did, too.

I’ve known I was bi since Dragon Age II, as dumb as that sounds. When I wanted nothing more than to romance both a dude and a lady. BUT I had planned to bury it. It was easier to just date men, so why not? When Loki was revealed as Canonically Bisexual, that was really when the word clicked for me. That was the moment I think I knew that word was truly inescapable for me.

Whoo boy. That scene in the Avengers when he shows up after creating a portal with the Tesseract and intends to tear the world apart...that’s the moment I realized how queer and angry I was. I was closeted and wanted to burn it ALL down. He would either win or be destroyed, and the fantasy of burning as I was was so satisfying to me--either way he was going to die as himself. I was sitting in the theatre and that was when I knew I had no choice but to come out. I was afraid. Anger was an easier feeling to have.

Loki. My reminder that I’ll take a queer villain over a Perfect Queer (TM) every day of the week and also for the rest of my life--I will never, ever care about a Perfect Queer, because that’s not what I am, that’s not the family I come from, that’s not the reality of my health or what I aspire to be. That rage gave me the courage to come out, and tbqh it gives me strength now.

4. Harry Dresden Harry is Trash Wizard Prime. I discovered him during a time when men were an absolute mystery to me--I didn’t grow up with many (any) good male role models. As a bi teenager, I started to notice men because that’s the thing girls attracted to men were socially supposed to do, and I realized I didn’t understand them.

I saw the cover for Dead Beat in a Barnes & Noble and I picked it up. He looked so dashing, so rogueish. And this chaotic good motherfucker is that. He cares about people and wants to do the best he can with his gift, even if he is imperfect, and that spoke to me as a teenager so much.

He was a male character who I felt safe with. Society hated him for his gift, and sometimes did its best to destroy him even while he was trying to be good (which, in retrospect, is one reason why I associate mages/wizards/witches with queerness). I felt like he was a man who would protect me as a girl who, at that time, thought of myself as het but who was very afraid of men (L O L. LOL. L      O       L. Biggest joke ever) and who had experienced trauma at male hands.

I felt deeply betrayed when, after Changes, he had intrusive thoughts about raping the women around him.

I don’t quite have words for how much that hurt. Cabal was never misogynist in quite that way, and Loki is a virulent misogynist, but in a way that strikes me as very real for some queer men (not okay, but A Thing That Actually Happens). And as someone with OCD who experiences damaging intrusive thoughts myself, I feel like should have understood.

I felt really betrayed when Harry’s character took that direction. It caught me by surprise. It was actually triggering for me--the message I got was “every man will hurt you” and I’ve spent years trying to unlearn that. I remember shaking after a certain chapter of the book after Changes. I remember thinking that Men Will Always Hurt Me if Harry would.

Recent books revealed it was the result of a demon in his head...but it still hurt a lot. I discovered those books when I needed a man to look up to, and I still feel like that trust was betrayed.

I wouldn’t really recommend The Dresden Files to any of my friends now--I still want them to read them to understand a very formative text for me. I love Harry Dresden. He is part of what made me, of what defined my morality. I love him. I want him to be part of a better story.

Also I will be 100% honest and say that his super cis straight dude descriptions of wanting to sleep with women really spoke to me as a young queer chick. I was really into “vagazzled” btw.

5. Cullen Rutherford WE HAVE ARRIVED AT THE OUTLIER.

Cullen has that Captain America vibe I usually can’t stand. He’s super lawful good and even upholds laws that he shouldn’t.

He’s also a drug addict who was deeply traumatized and needs his girlfriend to function (an ongoing theme with me). Even his very oppressive anger makes sense to me. It sucks, but I get it. That’s valid.

Also, I really hate it when people say his character arc made no sense. I’m sorry, those people flat out don’t understand narrative or think characters can escape their original packaging. Spoiler; that’s not an ‘arc’. Characters change, deal with it.

I think one thing I love about Cullen is that he was really, really tailored for women who are interested in men (note: not just Straight Women).

I think one of the biggest things for me is that he’ll do anything for the Inquisitor (his girlfriend). He was SUPPOSED to be bi via leaks from the company that made the game (if that was canon he’d be much higher on this list). But it does ultimately matter a lot to me that he was so specifically tailored to be a fantasy for women who are interested in men. He loves her. He will do almost anything for her. She helps him get over a serious addiction. Cullen taught (my bi/poly ass) about m/f narratives that I needed.

I guess I have a Thing for men who really need the women in their lives. Cullen gets the girlfriend role, and all the trauma that only men are usually allowed to have.

Honorable mentions:

Victor and Yuuri from Yuri on Ice. (If they had more canonical trauma, they would have lettered, and they may in the future. I love that Literally Wearing a Bi Flag Victor is a garbage human being who doesn’t understand feelings but still loves is boyfriend and doesn’t want that relationship to end. I love how Yuuri is an anxious gay baby.) Albert Wesker, a truly fine villain who was not done justice by those movies. Ned Wynert, who taught me a lot about writing characters from marginalized groups I am not a part of.

Favorite lady characters: 1. Marian Hawke. I almost don’t have words for how deeply formative Hawke is to me. She changed my life. I know she can be a different person no matter who plays her, but I think the things I fundamentally love about her are somehow universal.

For context on Marian Hawke--I was 18 and deeply closeted when I played DAII for the first time. I had committed to “never coming out” because I thought it would make my mom sad. I remember sitting in the uni library and thinking about Hawke and how bi aka queer (ADDITIONALLY poly) I was and I regret how that was the moment I decided I would only date men because it would be easier. That didn’t last. I didn’t know how much that would tear me up inside.

Hawke was the first gateway to my sexuality, but I thought I could avoid her message.  I knew I wanted to date both men and women.

Hawke herself is...me. Granted, you can control some of her actions as the player, but she still fucks up in a lot of the same ways no matter which version of her you play. She still tries to do the best she can (sometimes that’s a lot, sometimes not a lot, sometimes it’s oppressive). She cares. I can’t remember if she or Cabal came into the Trash Wizard (or trash mage) #2 slot, but she’s right up there on my fave trash magician list.

Because she’s so deeply formative, she’s another character I can’t be rational about. I HATE with every fiber of my being that she’s not static/unchangeable. I partly hate dude!Hawke so much because there are no female characters like my take on Marian that even EXIST. Soft butch, bi, diplomatic, kinda funny, kinda mad.

She tries her best, just like I think I do. She fails a lot, even when she means well. My Marian is bi as fuck. She changed my life. I don’t know who I would be without her (I mean, probably still bi as fuck, but still). I love Marian Hawke.

2. Evie Frye. I’ll just say it: Evie Frye fixed my ability to write female characters.

I was feeling a lot of pressure from other female writers (sadly, even particularly other queer women) to write WOMEN’S NARRATIVES. I felt like those had to be about rape and weakness and strength in spite of that. THAT IS A NARRATIVE THAT MATTERS, however I either struggle to identify with it, or I over-identify with it and I’m afraid to walk to my car.

Evie isn’t that.

She’s perhaps the greatest Assassin in history, short of Altair or Ezio, who made the brotherhood what it is. She lives and breathes that tradition. She’s most powerful when she is unseen, and in that way, I always feel safe with her. She’s the rightful heir to the entire series, so I feel like she will always be safe.

I learned so much about how to write myself and what I wanted and what I think a lot of other women want even if it’s not part of The Discourse, through Evie Frye. She defies stereotypes about what it means to be “woman”. She’s treated no worse than Jacob by the narrative, and she’s arguably treated as the inheritor of the Assassin tradition and like her skills matter just a bit more. The narrative could do without Jacob (as much as I love him) but it couldn’t do without Evie. She’s just as powerful as he is.

That we get to see her as both a new adult and a middle aged women is extra important. The fact that she spends her later narrative hunting one of the most virulent men in history (Jack the Ripper) means a lot to me. She is most powerful in her prime, while Jacob burns out later on, and that ALSO matters a lot to me. Shitty men are afraid of her, not the other way around. There’s no narrative where she lets the think they could rape her to win; she just wins. (Again, nothing wrong with female characters who use their femininity that way, but Evie just kills those fuckers, and that’s what I need in my life of believing in self defense).

I love her. She loves her husband, she loves her brother. She’s prim and proper and perfectly tailors her outfits and knows how to strike a killing blow. Evie is about a different kind of resistance than Jacob, but she’s still about resistance. She’s the first female character I’ve seen, in literal years, who is allowed to exist beyond her own femininity. She’s just allowed to exist and be really cool. Evie also means a lot to me.

3. Leonie Barrow This song really sums up Leonie Barrow for me. /They see you as small and helpless, they see you as just a child/ Surprise when they find out that a warrior will soon run wild/. She starts out as so?? Small?? compared to the overall narrative of the Cabal books, which are steeped in angels and gods and Lovecraftian abominations from whom the very foundations of the universe were forged. She’s the Innocent Girl at first. Her femininity, her innocence, does matter, but it’s not what I thought it would be. And by the end, she’s a shotgun wielding master detective, who Cabal CANONICALLY trusts to make the same logical decisions he would.

She is willing to kill to defend her friends even if she doesn’t like it. She will stand against the darkness and be afraid but she will smile.

She’s also almost /definitely/ canonically bi at the end of the fifth book, short of the actual word being used. It’s not a plot spoiler, but it gives me life either way. She’s not the girlfriend, she’s not the Woman, she’s something else and she matters in her own way. Her potential is limitless, and I’m inspired by her every single day. People talk about Stever Rogers as their human ideal, but I guess Leonie Barrow is my comfortable alternative.

Leonie Barrow saves people by her empathy--and she’s also willing to wield a shotgun. Outside of a magical girl narrative, she and Elizabeth DeWitt are the purest versions of the ‘weaponized femininity’ narrative I can think of.

4. Elizabeth DeWitt Oh, Elizabeth. I love her. I love her fucked up history. I love her fucked up present and her implied fucked up future. I wish she had a better ending. If I ever write fic, it will be to correct what has been done to her by canon.

Elizabeth is trying to escape her fate. Her ultimate arc may be about accepting a shitty end, but I don’t think that has to be the case, since I think so much of her story is about denying her future. Like her, I will always hope and strive for something better. She’s femme and hard and powerful and will break the world and make it whole again all with one wishing <3 .

She has the power of a god and the writers/developers/designers didn’t know how to handle that in an interesting way. I love her.

5. Talia (from Arrows of the Queen) SO

When you are reading about a clinically depressed character and you think, “I IDENTIFY WITH HER SO MUCH” that’s probably a sign. So many times, Talia tried to tell me how I was feeling, and it took me a very long time to listen.

I was easily clinically depressed when I read the Arrows of the Queen books. My uncle had just died without me coming out to him. I felt like a disappointment to my mom. My bachelors degree was on fire and it wasn’t totally my fault. There was nothing about myself that I didn’t deeply despise when I read these books, nothing that I didn’t feel the world would be better without. I didn’t want to die, since I have a very particular attachment to my mortality and no matter what, I’m attached to my life for my mom, but I felt so fundamentally worthless that it still hurts to think about. I haven’t been that low since then, and I hope to never be that low again.

I was depressed and I didn’t know it. I don’t think I was truly suicidal even then, even if I was experiencing almost daily suicidal ideation. I don’t think I would have died, but I still think Talia saved my life a little bit--she at least taught me that it’s okay to acknowledge my illness and seek treatment and that it’s okay to want to be happy. I’m so deeply grateful for that I don’t even have words for it, partly because, while I think I would have survived, I wouldn’t be happy.

Talia also got to fuck the most desirable male characters in the Arrows of the Queen trilogy. Even though she was quiet and was shy and was depressed. The message was this: I could have love even if I was mentally ill. I specify ‘male’ characters because Talia was straight, and also because a part of me feels less desirable to men than women, so that fantasy means a lot to me.

Talia is me at my most vulnerable. Talia is me when I want to reach into my own chest and tear myself apart. I love her. She matters. <3

Honorable mentions:

Pearl from Steven Universe (my favorite anxious lesbian, who got a great character arc that I never expected to be validating to both the lesbian-bi women dilemma and to her mental illness. I <3 Pearl). All the women in Overwatch. Sailor Moon and her soldiers. Tamora Pierce’s heroines. Lara Croft.

Tagging @swimthroughthefires @fakeandroid @doomquasar @amandaironic @strawberrylaugh @ghostofthemotif

[margridarnauds]

laz and solene pls

THANKS FOR MY LIFE AVERY

Lazare

Sexuality Headcanon: GAY GAY GAY. I mean, the man has a RAINBOW across his crotch at one point. (Now, you could argue that it was a trick of the lighting, but come on. We know the truth.) Possibly with a side of demi, since I really don’t think that he really has any interest in sex until Ronan comes into his life, despite having a longtime (unfortunate and unrequited) crush on Artois and I genuinely can’t see him, say, going to a brothel or even having an affair with another officer or a soldier. I just think the man, with one, single exception, is more or less completely married to his job, and given the emphasis in army training on avoiding libertinism, the idea that “vices” weren’t inherent and could be stomped out, and my own headcanons as far as his family history...it ain’t gonna happen no matter what. Like, there are probably ongoing challenges in court as to who can successfully get the D, with no one being successful. (This has led to a number of young ladies swarming him at any given function in the hopes that they’ll be the one to melt his brooding heart.) In some AUs, like the Polyam AU, he’s obviously bi, but that’s the odd one out on multiple levels and is one of the few I’d really put into its own continuity (Come on, it acknowledges R/O, for God’s sake.) Asexual homoromantic Laz is also Very Important to me, with him trying to deal with everything because Ronan unleashes SQUISHY FEELINGS in him but he still doesn’t feel any sexual attraction towards him, though he’s not 100% opposed to sex in principle, and Ronan taking it personally because it’s Ronan and, in all fairness, it’s not like they have pamphlets on asexuality in the 18th century, though eventually they decide to navigate it in a way that makes them both happy.

Gender Headcanon: Generally, I write him as more or less cis, but trans Laz has a very, very special place in my heart since it puts his need to conform to society in an entirely different light. Like, it could be a Lady Oscar-esque situation where he’s an only child and Mama Peyrol and Papa de Peyrol (mainly Mama de Peyrol because *someone* is probably either in a brothel or on campaign WHOOPS) get worried and just...straight up raise him as a guy from the time he’s about 4-5 years old and he’s okay with it because, well, he is a guy and he’s happy that they finally notice that (and since boys habitually wore dresses until about the age of 7 when they had their breeching, this wouldn’t even be a Major Deal and they could probably come up with some bullshit reason for why they’d had a daughter baptized but now have a healthy son. Or if not, they just, like, bribe the local priest. Because they’re aristocrats and can afford to do shit like that). Then Papa de Peyrol dies, Grandpapa de Fuck comes into play, and it becomes more of a Thing, with always Upholding the De Peyrol Name and Fulfilling His Duty becoming the focus rather than, idk, raising a well-adjusted kid. Like, he gets some points for not misgendering him, but on every other level? Dude’s still an asshole. Because he’s Grandpapa de Fuck.

Laz is taught that he has to be the best grandson and heir that he can be, that no one can ever have a suspicion about him, which also becomes a bit of a strain as the pressure to marry looms in the future and Grandpapa de Fuck dies without even being useful. (Typical). And so Laz tries very, very hard to conform, to not so much as bend a single rule, to be the perfect military man. He gets this reputation for being standoffish from the time he’s a young officer, about the age of 14, never really interacting with the other men, even changing his clothes in secret, always sleeping on his own when he has the opportunity to, and, despite the other officer’s best efforts, never going into a brothel or having an affair no matter how many bets they make among themselves. Until one day some reckless peasant boy charges into his life and Laz really, really tries to fight it because this could ruin EVERYTHING but. It’s Ronan. Ronan’s persistent. And also an oblivious toenail so it takes a little while to get it through his head that, no, Laz is still a man and Ronan’s STILL gay AF. (Sorry, Ronan, you can’t no-homo your way out of this one. Full homo. All the homo.)

A ship I have with said character: R/L is pretty much my be all, end all for Laz, though I also can and do ship O/L and R/O/L.

A BROTP I have with said character: Poor Laz in canon doesn’t really have any friends that we see, unless you count the one time he and Artois conspire. (I don’t.) Even though I tend to have his troops shipping Laz/Ronan, that’s out of selfishness as much as anything else (if he’s getting laid, he might not be so snappish.) In the Abomination (which...obviously doesn’t go with the whole “Peyrol wanting to fire on him”...thing from the Zuka version), I like the dynamic between Laz and Papa du Puget, where you have the latter really helping him out in terms of figuring out where he is in terms of his relationship with Ronan and getting his sense of individuality back. Like, it shouldn’t require a neon sign to say “Hey, maybe not having anything to do with your boyfriend except for when you have sex might be part of the reason why he’s not speaking to you right now, maybe cuddle with him?” but Laz is new to this, doesn’t exactly have a roadmap, and thinks that his relationship with Ronan can be neatly packaged into his schedule. Which...surprise, it can’t be. Since du Puget is also very much a man of the Enlightenment with a HUGE library to match it (really, we know this, because when the Bastille fell he demanded compensation for it), if anyone can help Laz get grounded again, it’s him. And, since Laz is about 24-ish in the Abomination, he’s the perfect age to be Du Puget’s son (with Olympe being about 19), which adds an extra dimension as du Puget (my very, very specific version of him modeled after the historical figure) really mirrors Laz’s father in a lot of ways, from his friendship with de Sade (who Laz *loathes*) to his military career and his habit of occasionally having affairs. (Which is pretty shitty, but not unexpected given the times.) The difference is, du Puget really does get the opportunity to do what Papa de Peyrol never could: Do his best to protect Lazare from Grandpapa de Fuck’s influence, even if the damage has already been mostly done, as well as ultimately give up his career and his post for his family. (For what it’s worth, I tend to headcanon Papa de Peyrol as a wannabe Validad who was just...flawed in his implementation of it. Like, my take on him is this guy who would always bring back his son toys and souvenirs from his campaign, tell him stories when he tucked him into bed, etc., but whose own weaknesses ultimately still led to his death and his widow being left absolutely destitute to the point where she had to make a deal with Grandpapa de Fuck. Because it’s the 18th century and life’s a bitch, especially if you’re a widow with weakened financial prospects and a young child and your father in law is convinced your kid is his second chance from God.)

A NOTP I have with said character: Generally, I’d say Artois/Laz in anything that’s not set pre-canon given that, for all it could be interesting in a fucked up way, there’s no way it’ll end up well for Laz, but I have also seen Danton/Laz and it scarred me deeply. Salieri/Laz is something I’ve also seen a bit, which I don’t *get* because any time they would have met it’d be like: *gay staring*

*gay staring*

*gay panic*

*gay panic*

And then both of them rushing over to their extroverted boyfriends. If anything, I could only really see the two of them bonding over having absolutely ridiculous boyfriends (and, if it gets to postcanon for both, bonding over WHOOPS I ACCIDENTALLY KILLED MY BOYFRIEND).  

A random headcanon: Oh God, pretty much everything I have on him is a headcanon. Like, even the things I take for granted on him (like Sugardaddy!Laz) are headcanons. The man is one massive, walking headcanon because no one in the writer’s room wanted to sit down and work on their contract cop-out; they were just like “fuck, let him keep Maniaque. And give him this new song. And a bit in the opening, where he demonstrates the beginning of his homoerotic tension lifelong hatred with the lead. That’s good, right?”

Laz always liked music growing up; he liked how steady the beats were, he liked the smooth texture of the harpsichord keys, he liked his mother sometimes sitting him on her knee and gently moving his fingers over the right keys, he liked the way he could channel himself into the music. Communication was hard, mired in social niceties that he didn’t always understand, things that the adults treated like they were life and death, but music was simple. Hitting the key one place produced one sound, hitting it in another produced another, every time. When his father was at home, he would sit in the drawing room and listen to the two of them play, applauding at the right moments and praising Lazare enthusiastically. This was the first time young Lazare tasted success and praise, and he basked in it. By the time his father died, when was about seven or eight, he was quite good at it in his own right.

Obviously, since this was a bright, happy period in Lazare’s life, guess what Grandpapa de Fuck did? Yep, it went out the window. A man, Grandpapa de Fuck believed, could only ever be talented at one thing, barring some few geniuses (with his grandson not being among them), and Lazare was going to be a soldier. Everything else was going to go. As with most things relating to his childhood that his grandfather robbed him of, he chose to convince himself that it had been a childish indulgence. He still felt the music, though, in the steady rhythm of soldier’s boots and the beat of the regimental drum, but he could only direct it now, never play it for himself. Once, when he was a young officer being used by enthralled with the Comte d’Artois, the latter took him to a performance of an opera, chastising him when he noticed the way Lazare’s hands moved throughout the performance. Lazare buried it even further, not even talking about it when it could be avoided, much less consuming it.

Then, Ronan comes into his life. And Ronan’s not a music critic; the most he knows are the peasant songs they played at festivals or sang as together in the winter months when things looked bleak and they had little else to do. He probably doesn’t know the difference between a harpsichord and a piano, just that they’re Rich People’s Instruments. But, despite everything else, despite the hard time he gives Peyrol for it at first, he ends up egging him into taking classes again because, Hell, it’s something besides homicide that makes Laz happy and, for all of their differences as a couple, Ronan wants him to be happy. And it’s frustrating, because he should know how to do this; for so long everything in his life has been something that he already knew and could predict and, with this, he can hear his failure. There are many times that he takes his anger out on the keys or scatters the sheet music around. But, over time, he feels himself improving, the keys start to become old friends to him, and, gradually, he starts to play again. And it’s not like it was when he was a child, there is no audience eager to praise him, but, sometimes during a late practice session, Ronan will come over from behind (with some amount of warning, since approaching the experienced army officer from behind tends to have unforeseen consequences), drowsily nuzzle into Laz’s neck, and it’s just as good. (Also, he probably reaches around to play a few notes of “Ah, Ca Ira” or “La Marseillaise” while Laz is briefly distracted because Ronan Mazurier is, first and foremost, a little shit). (Also, they totally bang on the harpsichord at one point.)

General Opinion over said character: MY SON. My useless, emotionally repressed, gay, homicidal, aristocratic son who needs to have some sense knocked in his head but is trying his best and is quite possibly the only officer in Paris who is actually doing his job. Deserves more screentime and/or cuddles from his boyfriend who is STILL ALIVE, thank you very much, if and when he gets into the position when he’ll accept them. I wish he got something resembling character development or an arc, but HE’S MINE NOW. (And, tbh, I’m a little worried that it’ll be a monkey’s paw type situation with him getting more time. Like, I’m fully prepared to sell my soul to the Toho production, but I’m also preparing myself to see a much darker take on my son than I’m used to. Including when it comes to Ronan. And that might be a bitter pill to swallow.) Even though I love all my sons equally, I prefer the opportunity for nuance that original!Laz afffords (and the amount of Done he seems to be most of the time), as the other two lean a little more towards sadistic (though sex dungeon Laz is too good for me to pass up entirely). Also, I still hold Toho!Laz as an ideal faceclaim for Grandpapa de Fuck. 

Someone please save him. I would, but I’m too busy tossing him into the Seine atm.

Solene

Sexuality Headcanon: Solene’s sexuality has always been tricky for me because bisexual Solene is very near and dear to my heart (ONE OF US, ONE OF US), but I could also make an argument for lesbian Solene who separates her working life from her private life. In another universe, she very likely would have ended up with a man no matter what, I’m not sure if she’d have been entirely content, but she probably wouldn’t have questioned it so long as she was decently secure and well-cared for, like most WLW throughout history probably did. Even in canon, I could see her taking up with a man (like in the Zuka and Toho versions where she and Danton have a longer term “relationship”), because it’s a means of security + stability so long as he’s not some abusive assfuck who thinks that he owns her, but as far as actual trust and companionship are concerned? I can only really see it with women, which makes sense when you consider how closely tied Solene really is to women, especially in the French and Toho versions where she’s got “Je Veux le Monde” which is literally her belting out about how awesome women are and how men (specifically Ronan) are too blinded by their own ambition and bloodlust + the fact that we always see her surrounded by the other women, during La Nuit M’Appelle, Je Veux le Monde, and Fixe.

Gender Headcanon: She’s most likely a cis woman. Je Veux le Monde has a great emphasis on childbirth, etc. associated with that, though I could also roll with a significant portion of that being her taking power in her own terms, using the only language she knows, like she also seems to be doing in La Nuit, while still perhaps being a little unhappy with the way gender identity is dealt with in 18th century French society. 

A ship I have with said character: Solene/Olympe. Like...was there any doubt?

“Oh, I think Peyronan’s my OTP and I can’t wait to work on all my fanfiction for them!” *Accidentally writes Solympe fic after Solympe fic*

“How did THAT happen?”

I mean, it does help that they aren’t at each other’s throats for the early part of their relationship, unlike SOME PEOPLE.

In all honesty, given how little Solene actually gets to do, there’s really not all that much room for shipping, save with the women around her and Lucille in the Zuka version. Which is an option, definitely, given that they “become friends” BUT.

A BROTP I have with said character: Despite headcanoning Solene as one of a VERY small number of people who can genuinely scare Laz, I do like to imagine the two of them bonding over Ronan’s more ridiculous moments. Like, at first she’s pissed as HELL at him for obvious reasons, but it also becomes a matter of “What did he do this time?” “He told me that my chess set was royalist propaganda. Then he jumped out the window. I have yet to try to retrieve him” “*Sigh* Let me talk to him.” And, in the Abominationverse, with the advent of the twins, Uncle Lazare is the nearest thing they have to a responsible adult when Solene and Olympe want to have a date night and Olympe’s parents are otherwise occupied, and since the children are already strangely drawn to him, well...there are worse babysitters, especially during the period of time when Ronan is off playing Hero of the Revolution and the twins are the only thing Laz really has to keep his mind off of him.

A NOTP I have with said character: Solene/Danton as a ship somewhat creeps me out, given that (1) He still has the ability to throw her out on the street with nothing and (2) ...Historically, we know how this one’s going to work out. Danton’s married, eventually he’s going to marry a fifteen year old a couple of weeks after his wife dies, and then he gets fucking guillotined. There is no way Solene doesn’t get fucked over AGAIN in this one. (Also, I just...don’t see them as a romantic couple. He was a customer, they did the do, Ronan was SUPER pissed about it and Danton’s probably forever on his shit list for it, but still. It wasn’t a *romance* for her. It was food for the day. It was part of her rent for the month.)

A random headcanon: The pink ring that Solene wears in the “Je Veux le Monde” music video (and, seemingly, in the showcase video) belonged to her mother. When Mama Mazurier realized she wasn’t going to survive her last birth, when Solene was probably about 5-7, she pressed it deep into the girl’s hand, as if hoping that she could press the ring into her memory as well. It was the last movement she would make in this life. As time went on, the taxes mounted up as one disaster after another seemed to befall the family. They sold off whatever they could, with the ring being one of the few things that remained. (And it got to the point where their debt was so high that, really, selling the ring wouldn’t have helped in the long run, and so Papa Mazurier decided that at least Solene could have it, nearly crying for the first time in front of his children when she offered it to him once before firmly putting it back on her finger). She briefly considered selling it off when she got to Paris, to the point where she had it in the palm of her hand, ready to sell to a street vendor before she decided that it wasn’t worth it, feeling the sharp press of metal when she clasped it hard. When Ronan later told her, “When people lose their dignity, it’s the end,” he didn’t know what she’d done to avoid doing just that. Ronan, as always, saw only what she’d lost, rather than what she’d kept.

Also, since I’m just returning home from the angst wars with Laz and he got a nice, long headcanon, Papa Mazurier loved both of his children equally. Really, he did. He was a true validad, which is also why he had to die. But, looking back, Ronan always felt a little bit like he was the least favorite of the two of them, because it seemed like, generally, Solene tended to get what she wanted more. In reality, though, as Solene would later tell Ronan when he, Olympe, Lazare, and her were sitting down together, it was really just that she knew how to ask for things tactfully, including when to wait, whereas Ronan went in guns blazing. Solene learned how to play the long game, and it paid off. (Also, even though she was initially pissed off over her brother screwing their father’s murderer after abandoning her to pursue a half-baked revenge plot, she is also personally amazed at the fact that, not only did Ronan get a gig that her and most of her friends DREAMED of, a furnished apartment with a faithful, devoted, aristocratic lover who is willing to buy him anything he asks for, not the least well-tailored outfits, he did it accidentally. By continuously insulting him. In prison. If Ronan ever screws this up, Solene is going to personally kill him. And then kick Laz’s ass because Ronan is still her brother dammit.)

General Opinion over said character: Hello, continuing evidence of my bisexuality. The Superior Mazurier Sibling, AKA THE ONE WHO ACTUALLY HAS SOME COMMON SENSE. Deserved better writing, hot cocoa, and to have seen Olympe at least one time that wasn’t over her brother’s corpse. She is one of the few things I think the French cast did best with, since later productions really tried to sanitize her, though I love Zuka!Solene directly calling out Ronan in La Nuit m’Appelle. LET HER HAVE A PLOTLINE DAMMIT. Also: WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T WE GET HER SHOWCASE COSTUME?  (Also, Matthieu Carnot would have rocked as her sibling, just saying.) I just...have many emotions about Solene Mazurier and what she deserves and what she got and I will never forgive the show for skimping on her storyline the entire time and then having the last thing we see of her being her crying her eyes out over the brother who abandoned her (and, okay, in other productions, they reconcile, but it doesn’t ACHIEVE anything between the two of them and it’s mainly Solene reaching out to him whereas I want him groveling). It’s a good thing she hooks up with his beard after his funeral, otherwise the angst and overall incomplete nature of her arc might be too much to bear. 

#1789 #or rather my very specific take on it #janetcarter