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meeks-just-wants-to-scroll · 2 months

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thank you

kieran is a decent shot but is terrifying with a knife (people are not that different to fish). 110% he would win a 1v1 knife fight every time and thanks to army training he's pretty decent at disarming people in hand on hand combat. would take a knife to a gun fight and have a chance of winning

probably taller than 90% of the gang if he actually corrected his posture

his parents died when he was a proper baby only 8 or 9 and he pick-pocketed to survive along with a bunch of other urchins like the saint denis gang. he's still pretty good at it and is really good at being stealthy/light on his feet despite his stature (helpful for not getting noticed by the crueler VDLs)

he also became a pretty good liar and con artist as part of living on the street and getting out of trouble when caught (this is heavily inspired by how differently he treats gang members, happily tells karen he is a baby to get sympathy, people-pleasing 'whatever you say miss with mary-beth, needles arthur back a bit when they go fishing)

probably has a touch of the old imposter syndrome because he never really had the chance to figure out who he was he's just been focused on survival since since day 1. he loves horses because he doesn't have to worry about what mask he has to wear with them

he's frankly not sure how old he is on account of how young he was when his parents died. he enlisted for the army when he looked old enough, in reality he was probs only 17 and barely got in based on his facial hair, which he had never shaved a day in his life since it started growing (hc late 20s/early 30s in game)

he was in the infantry division. consistent food and routine after a decade of fighting for scraps and being spit on? he loved it. very upstanding, attentive, kept his uniform clean and sharp. was there years before he saw active combat. then he fucking hated it. refused to follow orders. was not dying over land. was not shooting at unarmed people. dishonorably discharged. would have deserted if they didn't.

looks like an absolute fucking baby without facial hair and would sooner bite someone than be clean shaven because he hates it

gets very irritable when he hasn't had a cigarette for a while. has picked cigarette butts of the ground for a quick hit. would have broken faster about six point cabin if they offered him a cigarette.

lying through his teeth about his time with the o'driscolls. he was probably with them closer to a year, and a little higher than bottom-rung. got to pick and choose what missions he went on, talk to colm directly, most knew his name ect. i cannot see him having the balls to argue with colm o'driscoll himself unless he had some level of protection/seniority within the gang esp given the circumstances of how he joined. he was trusted enough to ride off on his own without running off?

in saying that. he was definitely considering running off in colter. at no point does he try to fight arthur. no way he wasn't armed. just oh no i am being abducted this is v bad. don't give me food for weeks? still like you more than colm can i stay with you pls

AHHH!!! I READ THIS THE DAY YOU SENT IT BUT I DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO RESPOND BECAUSE I WASN’T REALLY EXPECTING PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY SEND IN THEIR HEADCANONS, THANK YOU THESE ARE WONDERFUL!

:D You explained these all beautifully and I feel like I couldn’t say much more, but I’ll try to “yes and…” everything you said because I feel it is worth exploring these ideas you proposed. Long HC ramble under the divider.

1) I don’t know much about 1800’s military training but I can see Kieran being a knife guy like you said. He has a custom knife in game (at the very least he has a custom pistol). Him being good with a knife makes me think of how he comes off as unarmed from a distance but harbors a wicked knife up close. I am sure he mainly uses his knife for cutting fishing line or whittling sticks in his free time. He used it for cutting up animals he hunted while with his past gang. That knife has gotten him through a lot, it’s practically an heirloom at this point; it kept him alive and is one of the few things he fully owns and kept from his youth.

2+3+4) lanky scary guy is stealthy!! Yes!! I would like to mention how no one in the VDL gang noticed Kieran wandering off and getting a gun belt from a corpse during the firefight in A Social Call Mission. He did all of that AND was swift enough to save Arthur. I agree that he was very young when his parents died. I more so think 11-13 in my HC but that’s just because I feel like the stables would rather kick out a tween/teen than a little kid. This blends into your 4th point about being a con artist. Kieran knows his strengths and weaknesses. He knows that people see a scrawny little boy before they see him as a thief. Squirming and squabbling can be enough of a distraction to get away with things.

I don’t have a good explanation for how Kieran did this since he can’t leave camp, but while I was playing, I saw Kieran donated a jewel necklace to the camp funds (and not to brag on his behalf, but he donated WAY MORE $$ than the other members 🤭). Kieran still can pull his weight in pickpocketing, even in game. I imagine he does it without straying too far from camp by pretending he is sick or hungry and thirsty on the side of well traveled paths and getting close enough to strangers to swipe something. It’s subtle enough to not draw attention to camp, yet effective enough to be worth it in the long run.

5+6) I agree on imposter syndrome! One hc I have is that Kieran was raised an only child while traveling westward to California with his parents meaning he had no consistent kids his age to be with. Even in the military (where he SHOULD be surrounded by his peers) he never really connected in a genuine way. Being roughened up by being an outlaw after that just made it harder to emotionally connect since so much required not breaking down if a group member dies. It’s odd; Kieran is unwilling to be vulnerable, but he isn’t this stoic wall. Instead he has this decoy vulnerability?… he’d rather people see him as a weak guy if it gets him out of a physical hurt yet he won’t be vulnerable if it means running the risk of being emotionally hurt.

7) I know very little about 1800’s military (and my cursory research has been shallow thus far) but I imagine it was better than being homeless and orphaned! Food, shelter and routine, like you said. I imagine Kieran was an obedient and hard working kid; helped his family with horses, fishing and hunting. Pre-outlaw Kieran felt conflicted about killing people. I mean… he joined the army so he isn’t clueless that he had to kill, but killing on paper vs actually killing is very different, plus he was a puny teen without a fully developed brain when he enlisted.

Once Kieran became an outlaw, he had to make some sort of peace / find some silver lining to killing. You have to have morally dubious ways of coping with being an outlaw or else you go mad. One way was him (guiltily or not) finding some thrill in gunfights or knife fights. Made him feel good for once about being an easy to underestimate guy. He got to taunt, shout, and watch his enemies faces contort in pain and horror.

8) the facial hair stuff!! I agree that Kieran likely looks like an exhausted young adult under all the scruff. I imagine Kieran has put value into his unkempt looks. He does care for hygiene (source: he says it in cut audio) but he can’t bring himself to trim his facial or head hair because he feels it is the only thing making him a man. Like you said, imposter syndrome, he doesn’t feel like he’s an actual adult who has his life together. I’m sure Kieran has some out-dated ideas of what makes a man (out-dated by modern day standards). Stuff like being strong, a provider, hairy, deep voiced, etc. Kieran isn’t many of those things. Having a snaggly beard is his tiny grasp on meeting what he wishes he could be. I also think he hasn’t cut his hair that much because of a lack of salons while being an outlaw.

9) I honestly forget most of the characters in RDR2 smoke… but I agree! Growing up with a smoker as a parent who tried to quite cold turkey a few times, I know how hellish withdrawal is on a person. While in Colter, tied up, Kieran was the most bellicose because of withdrawals peaking (upon other things). I feel like some point between his parent’s dying and him joining the outlaws was when he took up smoking.

10+11) Kieran was DEFINITELY lying about how involved he was with the O’Drisc, agreed. I see him as being with them for likely 6 months to a year. Maaayyybe more but I feel like Kieran ran with his prior gang for most of his adult life. To me, Kieran is fibbing a half truth when he says he wasn’t close with Colm and he was merely a stable boy. He WAS that, but with being an obedient, hardworking chore boy, he was kept around long enough to make it up little by little till he was on missions out of camp collecting supplies or defending territory/camp. Kieran was always a pawn, never someone Colm actually cared for. Kieran was just the least-annoying gang goon Colm could bring into the mountains to watch the horses in the cold stables. The fact Kieran was even spotted by the VDL gang was bad luck.

I don’t know why he is riding out of the camp solo before Arthur catches him ;-; my best guess would be Kieran was going to meet up with other members but when a fight with the O’Drisc vs VDL broke out in camp, Kieran took it as his chance to get the fuck out of there.

On the topic of getting the fuck out, Kieran didn’t fight as much as he could when Arthur got him, I agree. When his life depends on it, he will fight like a cornered animal, all knife slashing and wild-eyed. Whether Kieran fights or goes limp and pleads pathetically depends on the situation. When Kieran fled from the O’Drisc camp firefight, he knew he wouldn’t last out there unless he got off the mountain. Being snatched and dragged to an enemy camp was better than dying of exposure. I mean… everything in his life sucks. Kieran gets no easy options. Sometimes he just has to go limp and be tied up and see where life brings him.

His relationship with Colm is interesting. I don’t think Colm cares very much about Kieran (keep in mind I don’t actually know Colm’s character well since I haven’t finished the game). From what Kieran describes of him, I feel it was all things Kieran observed or eavesdropped on while doing chores or sitting around the camp. Who knows tho! I am open to the idea that Kieran was of higher rank and indeed had more reasons to talk with Colm directly. I don’t know much about the O’Driscoll gang inner workings.

Ah!! Once again, thank you so much :) I love all your headcanons and it was a blast brainstorming about your ideas.

#meeks rambles #asks #meek’s headcanons #rdr text post #rdr2 kieran #rdr2 headcanons #red dead redemption fandom #red dead redemption 2 #red dead redemption two #kieran duffy #rdr2 spoilers #rdr2 fandom #rdr2 community #rdr2 arthur #rdr2 #ask

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bluntblade · 3 months

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10 Fandoms, 10 Characters, 10 Tags

Thank you to @sinvulkt for the tag :D Let's go...

Rey (Star Wars Sequels)

Rey is at this stage by some way the character I've spilled the most ink over, specifically a post-TLJ Rey Nobody. I love her curiosity, her loyalty and that core of wounded anger. I want her to be happy and kick baddies in the head.

2. Ikrie (Horizon: Forbidden West)

Shape a woman out of abandonment issues and give her a spear. With so little screentime, she's such a fully-formed character, tough yet vulnerable, flitting between rambunctious and melancholy, and "I never cared about the Werak" cuts me to the bone each time.

3. Shiban Khan (The Horus Heresy)

Broken down and built back up, two or three times over. It's heartbreaking to see how he falls into bitterness over the course of the Heresy, and then glorious to see him rise again and become one of his Legion's greatest heroes.

4. Barristan Selmy (A Song of Ice and Fire)

It's fascinating to watch a character shaking off decades of swallowed doubts, forced to evolve by events. If we ever get The Winds of Winter, I hope his progression continues.

5. Keeve Trennis (Star Wars: The High Republic)

Adorable, great haircut, bold and passionate yet warring with impostor syndrome. Also swears like a Corellian kriffing docker, and she has a neat splitting saberstaff. What's not to love?

6. Theoden (The Lord of the Rings)

It still amazes me upon rewatching The Two Towers that Bernard Hill doesn't just walk off with the whole film, his performance is so magnificent. I don't think there's really anything I can add which hasn't been said already.

7. Caitlyn Kirramen (Arcane)

Lawful good, beginning to realise just how how questionable the good of the law she serves is. Her evolving dynamic with Vi is great, she's tougher than those around her expect and of course, she's so very very pretty.

8. Stephen Maturin (Master and Commander)

A canny spy who is nonetheless perpetually baffled and exasperated by the nautical world he has inveigled himself into. Also a thorough nerd.

9. Mahit Dzmare & Three Seagrass (A Memory Called Empire & A Desolation Called Peace)

Cheating a little in part because I couldn't find a solo pic of Mahit that wasn't AI-generated and also because I love them so very much, your honour. These little bundles of anxiety and constant second-guessing, pitched into events far more massive and momentous than anything either had imagined. And they have moments of intimacy to eat rocks for.

10. Yrica Quell (Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron)

You can fit so much guilt and conflict in this bad girl. Quell has arguably the most fascinating "Imperial defector" arc in all the Star Wars media I've read, as she undergoes this evolving moral struggle across her trilogy.

No-pressure tagging @mehoymalloy, @foibles-fables, @meg-noel-art, @dino-trash-kieran, @iron-shrike, @retrob0t, @fancyfrey, @tremendouskoalachild, @robo-dino-puppy and @lilypuffsw

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faofinn · 8 months

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9. White Coat Syndrome

Holidays were a rare treat for the Cunningham-Cole crew. Both Taidgh and Harrisons jobs were difficult for raising a family, but they refused to let it get in the way. Each day out was precious, even a few hours at the park, a walk to feed the ducks, the tiny things that meant the world to both dads.

With the kids old enough to actually be a contender in races, Harrison often brought his running blade to join in - he wasn’t going to let Tai have the fun. So that's where they found themselves on a warm Sunday morning, charging around the park like idiots. They'd planned to stay the day, picnic packed and ready. Levi was old enough to join in, though he didn't always undenal the rules of whichever game they were playing, occasionally ending up in tears.

Frisbee was easy enough, so they eventually moved onto that. The park was quiet enough, though the hum of other families laughter carried across the air. Even Harrison's laughs carried across, Alfie having his life and loving it. Scout was just as bad as them, haring around the park and herding his family.

Tai loved their weekend days out, when the whole family could mess around together. It was a warm day, the sun shining over the grass. The kids were rowdy, on their last few weeks of school holidays, and it had been good to get out of the house. He’d been haring about with them that morning, trying to catch up with the kids, but his knee had twinged and he’d ended up sat on the picnic blanket watching them play Frisbee, Scout rushing madly between them as he tried to catch it mid-air. He let them play for a while, before his stomach growled at him and he couldn’t ignore the food he was sat next to any longer.

“Hars! Kids! Come on, lunch! I’m starving to death over here!” He called.

They raced over, Scout leading the way with his bounding strides. The boys were close behind, but Harrison lagged slightly, his own leg starting to ache.

Harrison settled by Tai, wrapping an arm around his waist as he pressed a kiss to his cheek, the pair like lovesick teenagers. Of course, the kids made their displeasure known, a quiet chorus of gross as they laughed.

Tai leaned into Hars, grinning at the kids. “You’ll get it when you’re older.”

"Ew, no! It's gross!" Kieran laughed, his nose scrunched.

“You’ll get a kiss too, if you’re not careful!” Tai teased, reaching out for him.

"No! Alfie, help!" Kieran wriggled away, shouting and laughing.

“I’ll get you both!” Tai said, as Alfie piled in, and Scout tried to join in too, barking and hopping excitedly.

Harrison sat back with a smile, looking proudly on at the chaos he'd created. He grabbed a sandwich while the others were distracted, sneaking Levi a piece of cheese his youngest had been eyeing up.

Eventually the chaos died down, the twins and Tai flopping back on the blanket breathless and grinning. He reached for the food, grabbing a sandwich.

As the kids dug in, Harrison nudged Tai's thigh. "Hey."

“Hey, you okay?”

"More worried about you. I saw you twist it."

“Just a little twinge, I just didn’t want to do any more damage to it."

Harrison rubbed his thigh. "Are you in pain?"

“Not now I’m sat down.”

"Are you sure?"

“Yeah, it’s not bad. I just didn’t want to be haring around on it and making it all swollen. If they don’t do this op tomorrow I’m going to have a breakdown.”

Harrison hummed, fingers trailing over skin. "Yeah, I know."

“Are you sure work are okay with your time off?”

"As if I'd give them a choice."

“And Steve’s okay with having the kids?”

"He's looking forward to it."

“Mm, okay.” He said, and kissed his cheek again.

Harrison reached a hand to cup his cheek, tilting his face up to kiss him properly. His thumb stroked his cheek as he pulled back. "It's going to be okay. I love you."

Tai smiled. “Love you too.”

He quickly pressed a kiss to Tai's nose before moving to lean against him and reaching for his can of pop. "You know I'll be there for you, whatever you need."

“Pass me another sandwich?” He asked cheekily.

"What's the magic word?" He teased, dangling it out of reach.

“Mm, please?”

Harrison grinned. "Nope."

“Hey!”

"You gotta say the magic word!"

“Please is the magic word!”

"Nope!"

“Come on!” He whined, kissing him on the cheek again.

Harrison's resolve cracked. "It's a good job I love you."

“And I love you too.”

Their day was heaven, a picnic in the warmth followed by more stupid games after they’d eaten. Eventually, though, they headed home, all of them just completely shattered. It was a job to corral sleepy kids to bed, Tai and Hars exhausted themselves. Scout had spent the evening sprawled out asleep on the rug in the living room, looking like they felt.

Even Tai and Hars had headed to bed early that night, aware they were up early the next morning. They fell asleep with Tai’s head resting on Harrison’s shoulder, warm and comfortable. When their alarm went off the next morning, Tai just snuggled up against him, refusing to move.

He was eventually coaxed out of bed and got dressed, enjoying the last glass of water he was allowed. Steve arrived to look after the boys, and after some hugs and fuss, the pair of them headed to the hospital. It was weird, driving their familiar commute for something other than work.

Harrison knew Tai was stressed. He could feel it a mile away. Of course, he was worried too, not just for the operation, but his recovery and everything that came with it. The operation itself was rubbing a little too close to home for Harrison, having had so many himself. It was the right leg, too, which only stirred up more emotions for him. He shook his head to clear his mind, taking Tai's hand as they headed in.

Tai squeezed his hand gratefully, heading through the doors into the day surgery unit. It was unfamiliar, which was both good and bad, but he signed in at the desk and then it was a waiting game, his left leg bouncing anxiously.

"You've got your bag, you've got stuff for after, some juice and some throat sweets." Harrison murmured, mainly to himself. "And you've got your sweets for emergencies, and I put an extra juice box in for you, too. I've got the insulin and I'll give it to the nurses when we get there."

Tai glanced over at him. “What would I do without you?”

"Probably be a lot less stressed." He admitted with a laugh.

“A lot more stressed, more like.”

"Mm, maybe."

“Got you to look after me.”

"I'll always look after you."

“Yeah.” Tai said, moving to rest his head on his shoulder.

"Sickness and in health. All that bullshit." He pressed a kiss to his hair. "And anyway, we've got the kids. I can't manage them alone."

“You could.”

"I wouldn't."

“I hope they’re okay with Steve.”

"I think it's the other way round." Harrison managed to joke. "I think dad's gonna regret offering."

“Probably, they’re nightmares.”

"I can't even stand up for them. I know I should." He said sagely, trying to keep a straight face.

“They’re feral, but hopefully yesterday tired them out enough.”

"I hope so. Scout was bloody knackered, bless him."

“Looked how I felt.” Tai agreed. It wasn’t long before they called him through, and he gripped Harrison’s hand as he stood. All he wanted was to go home, but that wasn’t possible. They asked him to change, and they’d be back for obs and things. He hesitated, looking at his fiancé. “Can I just sack this off and we just go home?”

"Don't be daft." He shook his head, though wanted nothing more than to do the same. "You need this sorted. Just think, this time tomorrow, all the operations and stuff will be done. And you'll only have the physio to do."

He pulled a face. “Even worse.”

"What, you're not looking forward to physio?" He feigned shock.

“Nobody looks forward to physio, knob.” He shot back.

"And after all the shit you gave me?"

“I’m allowed to give you shit, we’re getting married. Besides, I’m already doing physio.”

"Yeah, well, I'm doing a physio."

He snorted. “That’s a terrible joke. Can we go home? I don’t want to do this.”

"No, we can't." Harrison sighed. "And I'm not being a dick, but you need to take a few deep breaths, try and relax as much as you can. I can feel your anxiety from over here, and it's not gonna help you."

He forced himself to take a breath, his lips pressed tightly together. His shoulders slumped as he let it out, reaching for Harrison. “I hate hospitals.”

Harrison stood, moving to wrap his arms around his fiance. "I know, I know. I've got you."

He leaned into him, taking another deep breath and focusing on the smell of him, washing powder and aftershave and something that was just him. Some of the tension drained from his shoulders, his body softening against Harrison’s.

"That's it, well done." He praised, kissing his forehead. "Another slow breath.'

He nodded. “Feel all sick and anxious.” He admitted.

"I know, I know. It's fucking shit." He soothed. "But you'll get all the good drugs soon, get a nice little nap, and you'll wake up with your leg sorted."

“I’m such a baby, jesus.”

Harrison couldn't help his smile. "I know it's the wrong time and all that, but I really love your accent."

“Piss off.” He grumbled good-naturedly. “It gets softer all the time, being stuck here with you.”

"We should go across, once you're better. I'm sure your mum would appreciate it."

“She would, it’s been too long since she’s seen the boys.”

"Tell you what, Christmas? Steve said he'd come too, we'll go over for the two weeks. Stay in a cottage, have Christmas there." He said, feeling Tai relax into him.

“As if you’ll get two weeks of leave at Christmas.”

"Watch me."

“Only if you forge a sick note will you get that much time off. And don’t even think about it.” He teased. “I don’t even think I could get that much off, but maybe a few days before new years?”

"We'll manage it."

“What about going to Fao’s? Won’t you miss that?”

"You miss your family for mine."

“I love your family.”

"My point still stands."

“Mm, it would be nice to go back. You won’t understand a word.”

"Be nice for the kids to have the accent though." He smiled, glad Tai was relaxing more. "Be like mini yous."

“We’d need to move for them to have the accent, really. Right now they’re just gonna end up like Fao.” He joked.

"Oh, I don't know which would be worse." He teased, his face falling as the door pushed open.

Tai tensed, his jokes forgotten as the door creaked open.

"Hi, Tai? Ah, excellent, you're all changed. I'm just gonna grab a few obs off you, and then we'll pop you through."

He nodded, swallowing thickly. “Okay.” He untangled himself from Hars, sitting down.

Harrison mirrored his actions, sitting and fidgeting with a stray thread. The nurse was nice enough, but Harrison couldn't focus on their conversation, his eyes trained on the monitor.

Tai did his best to try and relax, focusing on his breathing. He’d looked to Harrison, but he was just staring at the obs machine, and that didn’t help. He tried to think of something else, of the Christmas trip they’d been planning, but the stupid thing had sound and he could hear how fast his pulse was, the way the blood pressure cuff squeezed so tight his fingers tingled and he prayed it wouldn’t be ridiculously high.

The nurse made a soft noise. “Oh, those are a bit on the high side, aren’t they?”

“I’m, uh, a really nervous patient. White Coat Syndrome and all that.” Was Harrison going to be pissed he was anxious again?

Harrison frowned at the obs, and stood up. He moved back to Tai's side, kissed his cheek and hopped on the bed next to him. He laced their fingers together, bringing their knuckles to his lips.

"Deep breath together?" He said softly. "Make you feel better."

He nodded, forcing himself to take another deep breath with Harrison.

He kissed their knuckles. "And again? All the way down, from your head to your toes."

“Gonna make me go dizzy.” He grumbled, but did as he was told after a few moments, focusing on drawing the breath all the way to his feet.

"Don't make yourself dizzy." Harrison murmured with a gentle laugh. "Defeats the point."

“I know.” His pulse had come down, and the nurse hummed.

“I don’t suppose you do your blood pressure at home, do you?”

Tai nodded. “Yeah, they asked me to at pre-op, given my anxiety. Last one was 121/83.”

“Oh, perfect.”

"He's the fittest person I know." Harrison said. "And I know I've gotta say that, but it's true."

“Well, I’ve not been so good recently, but I do my best trying to stay fit.”

Harrison stroked his thumb over the back of his hand. "You know, he even does the physio he's supposed to."

“Only because if I didn’t, I’d be the world’s biggest hypocrite. Practice what you preach and all that.”

The nurse laughed, leafing through the paperwork. "Ah, yeah, here we are. You've got your blood pressures for the week. Bless, you really are nervous, aren’t you?"

He nodded. “Really nervous. I’m awful, I hate needles and I’m not overly fond of hospitals as a patient.”

"I don't blame you, not one bit. They're not nice to be in." He smiled. "Unfortunately though, we will have to put a little needle in when we go through."

“Yeah, I know.” He said. “I’d rather that than no anaesthetic, but I’m not a fan.”

Harrison huffed a laugh. "Hey, maybe they can get you a sticker for being such a brave boy? Finn did it to me for my last one."

“Oh, piss off.”

"I'm not even joking. He found a little cat one, and I woke up with paed tape on my cannula and a "good boy" cat sticker stuck to me." He laughed. "Ely was in on it, I swear. So was Fao."

“I don’t remember that.” He said softly.

"Oh, I shouldn't have said anything. I've ruined my surprise."

“Arse.”

He kissed his cheek. "I know."

The nurse smiled at the pair. "Your heart rate has come right down to normal now."

“He usually makes it go up.”

Harrison blushed immediately, his ears tipped red. "Tai."

“I didn’t mean it like that! I meant you’re always stressing me out!”

The nurse laughed again. "Right, before Harrison here melts, why don't we get you through? The sooner you go down, the sooner you can be in recovery."

Tai couldn’t help the anxiety that shot through him. “Already? Thought I’d have to wait longer.”

"You're top of the list. We'll pop you through to the room and the anaesthetists are waiting for you to have a quick chat and then they'll take you down."

He nodded. “And Hars can stay?”

"For now, yeah."

"I've already spoken to them." Harrison said quickly. "They know."

“Okay then.”

Harrison squeezed Tai's hand. "We've got this. You’ve got this."

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boltedfruit · 3 months

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I have totally stolen this tag from @ladyvaderpixetc, for fifteen fave shows!

1. The OA: I will never forgive its cancellation. Contains my number one problematic ship of all time. A true declaration of love in all its forms in a neat two seasons that should have been allowed to grow and continue. I adore it.

2. Altered Carbon (season 1): still love season 2 but it lacked some kind of pizazz I still can't pinpoint. Wonderful exploration of grief and life. Better than the book. Women led!!

3. True Blood: Eric being uninvited from Sookie's house and levitating backwards, offended, out the door will never not be peak comedy. I will never read the books because I don't want to read a world where Lafayette does not live.

4. Daredevil season 2/The Punisher season 1: season 2 of The Punisher was bad. I miss him.

5. Midnight Mass: beautiful, gorgeous, perfection in all its forms. The priest is hot and misguided.

6. Haunting of Bly Manor: queer grief, Big Sads, falling in love with a ghost, blows Hill House out of the water.

7.Battlestar Galactica: the only good thing my worst ex ever introduced me to. Suffering always for my crush on angry old man Saul Tigh. Bisexual disasters everywhere. Starbuck would beat me up and I'd let her.

8. Succession: only time I care about billionaires. Cycle of abuse in all its forms. Would Get Down Mr. President for Kieran Culkin any day of the week.

9. Sharp Objects: gorgeous, heartbreaking, equally as wonderful as the book.

10. Lucifer: goofy as hell award. Would simply declare my love for Amenadiel always. Also Mazikeen.

11. Raised by Wolves: when I tell you I had dreams of flying around like Mother for MONTHS. Incensed by the cancellation. Let beautiful things exist and continue!! Sadly suffers from annoying main character syndrome.

12. Evil: only religious themed show to not give me the ick. Actually frightening antagonist in the form of a pathetic little incel wet man who is constantly being foiled by a gaggle of prepubescent girls. Old nun who is fighting her own war with a broom and a mop.

13. The Americans: loved it more than Breaking Bad 🤷‍♂️, very bittersweet ending.

14. Shameless: never over Mandy's everything, Lip, Carl going from chaos incarnate to Good Man and the scene of Frank thinking that little sick girl in the hospital who passed was Fiona. They did Debbie dirty.

15. Walking Dead season 4: hot cowboy cop rips man's throat out with teeth, reaffirms familial bonds, more at eleven.

Honorary mentions: Mindhunter, House MD, Yellowjackets, The Office (US), Halo, True Detective, Boardwalk Empire, Mare of Easttown, The Outsider, American Horror Story, The Last Kingdom, Black Mirror, Sons if Anarchy, Westworld, Spartacus.

#boltedfruit fic #kind of #tag meme

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queenaeducan · 2 years

Note

Morrigan, Isabela and Sera for character opinion bingo? :) 💖

Keeping this under a cut for length / character critical discussion!

Morrigan

I really love Morrigan when she's talking to friendly Wardens or Kieran (I ADORE her development if she becomes a mother and think it's a great way of exploring the abusive upbringing she suffered) but I can't take her anywhere because her morality especially in DA:O feels very... fantasy ayn rand. I like a lot of fandom interpretations of her more than I enjoy her in the games themselves, although I don't necessarily think in-game Morrigan is like... poorly written. I do think she suffers a bit from "evil" companion syndrome tho, where someone has to support the Warden doing the worst thing imaginable, but it's consistent enough that I can accept it as part of her character/moral alignment.

Isabela

Isabela is neat. She's one of the characters where I wish I could take a middle ground between her friendship and rivalry path, I think I split the difference by having her at 100% friendship by Act 3 so I can pick the choice that gets me rivalry points without it costing me anything. She gets done real dirty by parts of the fandom thanks to whitewashing alone, nvm people who think she's shallow or hate her b/c of a Fenris romance glitch (or the fact that she dared to sleep with him in pts where they're trying out the Merrills or Andersmance). My first pt she actually left me and even when I loaded trying to fix her approval by giving her the book it still didn't work. I don't hold it against her tho <3

While I do like a lot about her writings in DA2 I do think there was wasted potential in her interactions with Aveline and Fenris. With Aveline I think the whole thing is a mess and, considering their morals etc, I don't think I'd want them to get along, but I wish their rivalry was less gendered. With Fenris I sort of lean into the interpretation that there is solidarity between them but I think the writing could have been tighter in places.

But anyway she's perfect.

Sera

I get why ppl don't like Sera, but I like her a lot. She can be a lot but I also think she's often done dirty by her writer and by the fandom. It's interesting to see what amounts to a regular person's take on mages and Templars after spending 2-3 games embroiled in their politics, even if that perspective is flawed. Her conflict with her elven identity could have been better written but I do like that she was able to grow in the Trespasser DLC. I wish she had a better arc in the main game, it's not without its strengths, but she parallels and contrasts with the likes of Solas and offers a unique perspective we don't get in many other companions through the series.

I do hope we see Sera again tbh b/c I wanna see her and Dagna be in lesbians together and I think she has a stronger case than Varric for being involved in DA4.

Oh and this epilogue for her is my fave:

With the Inquisition now serving the Divine / With the Inquisition disbanded, Sera returned to the singular and plural role of Red Jenny...because nobility and grammar could both still eat it. Many noted how Sera's methods had changed after seeing the Inquisitor stand for everyone. This Red Jenny was more focused, tactical, and, some dared say, effective. She and her network could also be counted on to act in the interests of the supposedly desk-bound / supposedly retired Inquisitor. Sera remained a formidable ally of allies, intent on proving that the powerful weren't, and that it was friends who mattered over all.

#tas talks

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ebbarights · 1 year

Text

living+ liveblog under cut

had a good day then a bad day then went for a run and now it's a good day again. let's see if this changes things

logan jumpscare omg

okay i didn't fucking miss him lmao. disregard previous posts

he's against powdering his face because that's gay

literally googled lorene scafaria yesterday bc she directed hustlers and her name sounded familiar only to realise i know her as bo burnham's partner kms

barefoot swede tw

matsson with his affected lisp maybe you should hang out with roman instead of shiv who's too good for you

i have skarsgård stockholm syndrome (lol) bc i've seen him in soo many things lately

the first meeting me when i lie

TWEETS AND DRUG RUMOURS glass houses ken

a friend sent me a roman fancam the other say bc i told her he's my favourite character and it kind of annoyed me a tiny bit bc. that's not what this is but also. lbr. it's exactly what this is

roman facial tic comeback!! honestly my favourite thing kieran does

i want someone to do a hug counter per episode/season when this is all over this one is off the charts

shivyyy :'((((

roman you're not ready to fuck. you never are and i love that about you

ANNABETH GISH????????? MY LOVE

why does she give him advice about grief tho. 'it just hasn't hit you yet'? she's right but that's a really weird thing to say to a stranger

sidenote i have german subtitles on this episode because i was eating and they're the only ones available and. everybody is using like. the formal you? and that's so weird. i don't think they should do that. they're all using first names

the segregation comment should be so telling for those guys who think roman is actually right-wing. he knows shit about all ideologies he just doesn't give a shit!! (that would be very bad irl but in the show i think that's an important distinction)

roman you can't just fire people because you brought it up

is ... the presentation that day? and kendall wants to build a house? dude do you know anything about anything

who is tk. shiv lore unlocked

i used to play something like bitey with a friend in school but with. i think it's called indian burn in english? don't think that name's okay but idk what else you would call it

why is greg there

kendall looks exhausted

roman with the you're fired is like a little kid who just learned a new trick

oooh no i know that gerri outfit i know what comes next :(

this conversation hurts but also this is lifeblood to me

oh so it wasn't your dad will wash you away it was the money. that's such clever editing

roman's on such a power trip it's crazy. maybe post-grieve a little that'll make you feel better

the way he immediately regrets it and his mouth when kendall says he shouldn't is actually killing me dead

tomshiv wouldn't survive a day in a trailerpark

kendall sounds so sad when he talks about the clouds

kendall baby you're so manic and the sibs totally know it

roman pulls him out of it straight onto the other side and then leaves him alone with it that's horrible. i get it but it's horrible

is the fingers to the forehead thing a grounding technique

it's still so crazy to me that their dad just died. like JUST died. and now they have to do shit like this because the company's toast otherwise. something capitalism something humanity etc

ROMAN HUGGING THE HUGE PILLOW LMAOOO

maybe i'm an idiot but why would the guy ask him about matsson's tweet that he obviously hasn't seen?

somebody stop this how long will kendall talk about the tweet this is on l to the og level

literally laughed out loud when roman showed hugo that matsson deleted the tweet

roman in the car 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

(though the people who said roman was seriously genuinely for real horny listening to that make me fucking angry. necrophiliac believer bullshit)

the MUSIIIIIIIC

#ungodly long this time idk why #i just like being able to look back and see what i thought #succession s4 #succession spoilers

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skyburialatnight · 2 years

Note

What's the gay zombie show?

In the Flesh! It was a really interesting take on the Zombie Apocalypse and geez its almost 10 years old. It's 2 seasons, 9 episodes. I feel like it I gotta state it's gay but its angst drama gay not comedy lighthearted gay.

The basic premise is that there was a cure found for Zombieism and people who were zombies return in half state (brain state is human, appearance is still partially zombified) and slowly reintegrate into society. One of the big things is that there is quite of a lot of prejudice against Partially Deceased Syndrome (PDS) suffers, or 'rotters' (that's a like a slur in that world), especially from those who had loved ones killed, or have PTSD from being in anti-zombie militias while they were still risen.

The main character, Kieren, is a PDS sufferer, and returns home after being treated. The rough thing is, he committed suicide a couple of years ago, and the family life is Tense, especially with his now-older, younger sister Jem, who was part of the anti-zombie militia during the apocalypse and took his death hard.

The other major part of season one was his best friend and lover, Rick, who died on a tour of Afghanistan, coming back to the village, and who is in denial of being a PDS sufferer. Doesn't help his father is Incredibly Prejudiced against both PDS sufferers, and his son's relationship with Kieran.

Also I cannot forget Amy, love of my life, another PDS-sufferer who becomes Kieran's best friend, and helps him becoming more accepting of himself.

The second season introduces Simon (in the post), who is high up in the Undead Liberation Army, a group that supports PDS sufferers through following the teachings of the Undead Prophet to find the 'First Risen' or the first PDS sufferer whose body is becoming human again. Kieran is torn between liking Simon, and being wary of the radical teachings of the Undead Prophet and Simon's pride in being undead (Kieran covers up his face with makeup to hide his undead look, Simon does not). Someone's uploaded all their scenes on youtube if you wanna just watch those (spoilers of course!).

The series isn't without it's flaws (and content warnings, please check it out on doesthedogdie.com) but it made 19 year old Ashley very happy.

#in the flesh #we were robbed of season 3 i tell you! robbed!!

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whumpsy-daisy · 3 years

Text

CW // victim blaming, stockholm syndrome kinda??? dehumanization, nightmare flashbacks, dislocated wrist recovery (i don’t know anything abt medicine )

┏━━━━━━ʕ•㉨•ʔ━━━━━━━┓ Tagging: @thecitythatdoesntsleep

@neverthelass

┗━━━━━━━ ☆ ━━━━━━━━┛

continuation of this

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“You're mine, mine to play with, mine to break...all fucking mine.”

Master’s hand was wrapped so tightly around Pet’s neck he thought for sure his head would pop his head off. His hands digging as hard as they could against Master's wrist which didn't seem to be anything because it didn’t even phase Master at all.

“I’ve been feeding from you for hours, dealing with your whining and bitching just for me to realize you like this." He quipped.

"Your face is bright red and I haven't hit you in hours. You sick freak, you actually wanted this!” Master snickered. Pet nearly cried it wasn't true! Sure his face might have been red, but he was embarrassed, humiliated even. Who could like something this painful? He hated it, Master’s nails claws digging into his neck, the lack of oxygen, the awful sounds he was making, and his legs kicking wildly trying to balance himself. Drool and tears sliding down his face just to pool on Master’s hand and he hadn't seemed to care because his hands were still around his throat. His head hurt so badly, he could feel unconsciousness prying at him.

“N-No...didn’t...hurts...d-don’t want i-it!”Pet rasped. Master’s other hand seemingly came from nowhere slapping his face with an audible smack. Pet choked back a sob. The scream dying in his throat.

“Say it! Say you wanted it!” Master seethed, his grip somehow tightened even further Pet’s eyes rolled back before making a horrible gagging noise before falling limp in Master’s chokehold. He could still feel Master’s hands on him as his eyes fell shut.

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Pet whimpered, eyes widening from the memory that had just plagued his sleep, every time he’d pass out it was his just Master feeding from him on replay. He could feel the pain so vividly he'd wake up in even more than he'd been in the dream. He couldn't take it. Rolling onto his side wearily, whining as the sudden movement nearly winded him. He took shallow breath gazing down. If he could just snap his wrist back, maybe he could sleep just for a little while longer and be able to think clearly enough to figure out how to prove to Master he was still a good pet. He remembered watching a trainer pop a pets arm back in place. It didn't look too difficult to do. He clenched his eyes shut grabbing his wrist as fast as he could and squeezing down.

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Kieran flew back from his desk, chair toppling over making his impact to the ground louder than it needed to be. The screaming was still louder. Kieran shook his head, eyes finally adjusting to the blue hue shading his home. His eyes landed on the clock. 5:45am. He brought a hand to his head trying to soothe the ache. He felt like he was floating. He couldn't get his thoughts into one place. He hadn't even gone out drinking and it's not like he kept human blood in the house. He didn't like the effect it had on him; yet he felt as if he'd had drained one. He stumbled out of his home office, the screams turning to sobs. He stumbled towards the foyer. Was Pet having some sort of nightmare? After calming him down he'd probably end up sleeping in his room. He clumsily made his way into the room when the screaming started again.

And then he saw it. He saw him. Pet curled up on the floor by the stairs trembling at the sight of him.

He hadn't eaten...Caroline had taken his last bag and Pet was the only one here.

Kieran wasn't sure anything had ever sobered him up faster in his life. He dropped to his knees peeling his thrashing Pet from the floor.

“N-No please! M’sorry, I-I haven’t healed yet! I n-need a break! Just b-beat me please! I-I can’t...can’t take it...don’t w-w-wanna die please!” Pet bawled his cries becoming almost too much for his own body to handle...too much for Kieran to handle.

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Pet couldn't make out what Master was saying, he was stumbling over his words and stuttering, speaking much too fast for Pet to understand in his state. Something about pain and... food. The thought of getting anything into his mouth was enough to leave him drooling. His stomach hissed, a sharp pain making him flinch. Master took his wrist into his larger hand. Pet flinched, his eyes glancing from his wrist to Master. Was Master going to crush it? Maybe cut it off? Pet felt even sicker. Why was he being punished again? He was already in so much pain. He was sure he’d learned his lesson already.

"3...2..."

A pop sounded in Pet’s ears. Pet shrieked, body falling limp against Master, letting out another pained sob. His heart hammered against his chest as his vision blurred. He couldn't keep air in his lungs long enough to even take a breath.

“I’m sorry, I'm sorry. I’m so sorry” Master rambled, he sounded almost panicked as if he was worried, but Masters don't worry over Pets, it was probably pity then. His wrist didn't feel as loose as before, but it definitely still hurt, though it was nothing compared to what it was before. Sniveling, he took a shallow breath, his stomach growling loudly. He let his head lull to the side to hide his face from Master as tears continued to paint his face.

“S'gonna be ok. How about we get you some food?”

Why was he asking? Wasn’t it an order? He couldn’t understand what Master wanted. He was trying his best, he always did. Maybe he was just too stupid to understand. He’d been told that countless times before. He wanted to be smart, and he knew he wasn’t supposed to want things but maybe this didn’t count as bad wanting since it was just so he could please Master. He was truly willing to do whatever it took.

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Kieran was doing his best to avoid putting any pressure on Pet's body as he carried him down the hall. He kept his face buried in Kieran’s shoulder trying to keep his cries muffled.

“I’m sorry, I'm so sorry,” Kieran mumbled keeping his hand placed gently on Pet’s head. He didn't want to put him down. He wanted to keep holding him and tell him everything was gonna be ok, even if he wasn't sure that was entirely true. He wanted him to stop trembling . He wanted Pet to be able to look him in the eyes. He placed him on the couch putting a blanket on top of him.

“I'm just gonna call someone to bring food. My place is empty. It’ll be here soon I promise.” Kieran soothed.

“P-please...please...can I...sleep. Everything h-hurts...please.” Pet trembled his body curled up as much as it would go considering the number of bruises on his chest. Kieran’s brow furrowed. He’d asked him for permission to sleep. What else did he think he needed permission for?

“You don’t need my permission to do those kinds of things.” Kieran assured. The moment the words left his mouth pet went still, his breathing wheezy which meant he’d definitely done something to his ribs and it was messing with his lungs now. Still, even with the circumstances, it was the most relaxed Kieran had seen him. He moved quietly into the kitchen so he wouldn’t disturb him. His refrigerator was still empty, nothing but that sticky note. He was changing his locks in the morning he never wanted to relive this. He was going to find whoever conditioned him. Someone willingly put this poor thing through so much fear and abuse he thought he had to ask for permission to sleep. A basic function for a human.

But was he any better? He was the one who bought a “pre-trained” pet, but he didn't know what it meant. He didn't think it meant they couldn't perform basic tasks without asking for permission.

He let out a shallow breath. He'd call Victor, he'd ay that it was an emergency and that he needed food...food for a human.Technically it was, wasn't it? He needed food for….

He hadn't named it him...or at least told him he had a name.

Kieran leaned his head against the wall, was he really any different from the people who'd abused their pets. What if he hadn't stopped? What if he'd killed him because he wasn't in control? What if-

"Kieran?! Kieran?? Hello?!"

He hadn't even realized Victor had answered.

“It’s six in the morning!” Victor hissed

“Victor I need...I need a favor…”

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"You're done when I say you're done."

Pet didn't know how long this had gone on. Master had been on top of him for hours, his stomach churned at the metallic smell of his own blood. Blood that should have been in his body.

“N-no more...please...please I can’t! M’sorry...no m-more plea-please!” He whimpered, his eyes shot open as hands came to wrap around him.

"N-no! No, please! M'sorry p-please! I-I can't-" Pet was cut off by Master's voice gently shushing him, gently combing his hands through his hair. His other hand gently stroking his face.

"It's just a dream, just a bad dream...Just take a few deep breaths for me ok?"

Pet struggled for a moment, an order he finally understood. He wouldn't have to think anymore. Pets weren't supposed to think, that's what their Masters were for. Master's hands gently cupped his face forcing his face up, but Pet knew better than to look his Master in the face. His eyes stayed trained on the floor.

"Can you look at me?" Master said softly.

Pet snapped his head up, he'd never been told to look directly at his Master before. Why was this one so different from the others? He'd never really been allowed to see them directly without some sort of reason or punishment following it. Master thumbed the last remaining tears from his eyes. Crimson eyes staring down at him. He was the complete opposite of Pet. He had long black hair just past his shoulders, a lot taller than him, though every vampire was. His skin wasn't as pale as his other Masters. He looked...inviting?

"I never wanted you to see me like that. If I had know there wasn't food left I wouldn't have come home. I got distracted with work and I-

"I-it wasn't a punishment?" He hadn't meant to interupt but Master was really confusing him now.

"Punish- No! No, you're not being punished. I'd never punish you!" Master looked digusted by the words. Of course he didn't want to punish him now. He proabbly thought he liked it now. How was he supposed to learn anything if he was never punished? How was he supposed to his boundaries? What he was supposed to do if Master wouldn't make it clear?

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Pet cries died down a bit, still gripping tightly to Kieran's shirt, jerking each time a hiccup stirred his body. He hated admitting it but Victor was right. He thought he was just trying to be a dick when he said he was going to get a pet. Of course, he knew Pet shops like the one his Pet came from were frowned upon but others rescued them all the time and never mentioned anything like this experience...He just wanted the press to stop thinking he was a selfish asshole. A pet rescued by a young CEO, they were gonna eat it up but not with him in this condition. He’d read so many cases of the pets that were abused or found drained dry. It seemed like he pulled the Pet straight out of one of one of those papers. It was mostly frowned upon. But there would always be people who took things too far. Being addicted to human blood for too long and eventually not caring about the human's life anymore. Was he one of those monsters now? He looked down at the pet lying against him. He was smaller than before, a lot jumpier. He hadn’t fed him or even had a real interaction with him since he brought him home days ago. From the way, Pet was crumpled against him, whimpering and holding onto him. You wouldn't have even known Kieran had been the one to attack him. That was the thing about pets, you could do anything to them and they'd still stay, hell they'd beg for forgiveness when they'd done nothing wrong in the first place. He wasn't sure how, but he was gonna fix it, he'd fix him.

“I...I came up with a name for you, Elliot, if you don't like it we can change it.” Kieran spoke softly. ⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Pet

Elliot, he had a name, which meant Master actually wanted him. He’d proved he could be good and now Master wanted to keep him. If he had a name there was no way Master would want to get rid of him. He'd evetually teach him what the rules were because he wanted to keep him. He was gonna get to live! Even if it was just to die from Master’s hands later he could die happy, because at least someone had wanted him.

“I like it! I-I like it! Thankyouthankyouthankyou, I-I won't disappoint you! I” He babbled, tears springing to his eyes. There was a dull ache behind them.

"I know you won't Elliot, I know."

He felt like his old Mistresses porcelien teacups, they were so small and fragile, and they broke easily...but no matter how many times they broke Mistress would put the back togther and continue to use them.He wondered if Master would ever love him that much, so much that he'd even fix him when broke all the time.

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#human whumpee #whumpblr #whump fic #vampirewhumper #vampirecaretaker #whumper turned caretaker #captivity whump #caretaker #whumpee #petwhumpee #pet whump #whump community #whump oc #whump blog #emotional whump #conditioned whumpee

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crimeronan · 3 years

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Can you explain the appeal of Julian Blackthorn? This is a genuine question because I read the books and came away utterly bored by him and unconvinced of his moral greyness as opposed to like, Adam Parrish’s. He seemed so one dimensional to me but I want to know if I’m Wrong TM considering I tend to be very very biased toward my favourite characters and bored by the rest, and my favourites were Mark and Kieran. So maybe I just didn’t pay him enough attention??

it’s been a while since i wrote any earnest tsc meta but cringe culture is dead and the chance to infodump about my julian thoughts has me vibrating where i’m sitting so. yes okay.

technical stuff

(aka: things pertaining to How The Story Is Constructed)

cassandra clare’s characterization has become much stronger just in general since she first began writing the series like twenty years ago

perhaps most importantly: the more recent stuff i’ve read from her has involved characters who actually grow, change, and learn from their past mistakes

rather than repeating the same stupid decisions over and over again

and over and over and over some more

seriously take a shot every time someone in tmi miscommunicates or self-destructs in ways They Have Learned Not To Do for no real reason. u will die of alcohol poisoning

in tda this shines ESPECIALLY with the evolution of mark, kieran, and cristina’s relationship, but that’s a separate post

clare’s trademark is also the angsty traumatized jerkass love interest with a secret heart of gold

the woman is almost singlehandedly responsible for draco in leather pants and the proliferation of this kind of character type in fandom and teen lit. this isn’t a criticism it’s me marveling at how if you commit hard enough to a single trope you truly can change the world. follow your dreams

sad jackass with a heart of gold isn’t an Inherently Problematic Character Type

but poorly done it can lead to relationship dynamics in which one partner is constantly being hurt by and then forgiving the other despite them making no real effort to change, because they are narratively absolved due to being sad

(there’s a lot of this with earlier jace content. in some ways i think will was later created specifically to be a same-archetype protagonist who actually does get called on his shit and grow. that’s also another post)

also if all of your sexy male love interests are tortured jackasses with a heart of gold then people start calling you a one-trick pony

enter julian blackthorn!

from the very start everything about him is designed to be the INVERSE of the heart of gold jackass. which immediately makes him interesting just from a meta perspective

(mark and kieran are also both alternate angles on this time-honored archetype. mark gets the heart of gold and kieran gets the jackass and then they’re both much more deeply messy than that. yet another post)

julian is kind, self-sacrificing, empathetic, artistic, emotionally supportive, responsible, and favored by old grannies everywhere

so a completely nonthreatening milquetoast guy, right

immediately forgettable if you’re only here for the dramatic conflicts and shithead antics of clare’s other protags

except that he is A Mess

and that he has structured his priorities very carefully, and they are as selfless as you expect from The Hero (TM) but they are also Not Heroic (TM) and they do not align with the moral framework The Hero (TM) is supposed to use

moral ambiguity in characters always exists in relation to their narratives imo. you mention adam parrish - trc’s narrative already mucks around in different ethical shades of gray, and adam falls on the canon scale about where julian does on his canon scale. both more willing than the average pov character to do the ruthless thing or make the fucked-up choice if the ends justify the means; both with an intensely strong sense of internal priorities that they adhere to at all costs, both so unbelievably fucking down for murder; etc

i do think there are ways julian’s choices could have been pushed even further, but considering the number of readers who hate his guts already, i can see why clare opted not to go for the most controversial possible conflicts

so we’re flipping the narrative

instead of seeing this angsty bad boy and peeling back the layers of his trauma to find his heart of gold, we’re seeing the put-together selfless family man and peeling back the layers of his Responsibility Mask to expose the rotting husk underneath

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

THAT IS FUN AS FUCK

then when julian DOES lash out in hurtful, uncontrolled ways, he has significantly more narrative justification for it than most of clare’s protagonists (will elaborate in characterization thoughts)

julian is also interesting as fuck because of how his struggles allow for a more in-depth look at the failings of shadowhunter society, something that’s also sorely lacking in clare’s earlier work

his apparent amorality is simply the result of him making pragmatic and impossible choices because he has been faced with fucked-up ethical dilemmas since age 12 Because Society Has Failed Him

which opens the door for narrative exploration of how and why he’s been failed so badly & what needs to change

i also love that he has such a coldly calculated way of analyzing situations and allowing harm to occur when need be, bc a lot of clare’s early protagonists have such a bad case of Rush In And Get Myself Killed Because I’ve Got Feelings About Impulsive Heroism syndrome that i wanna push them in front of a truck

probably there’s other meta narrative stuff i could say but i’m stopping myself and moving on to character analysis

characterization stuff

(aka: reasons why i’m also attached to him in a vacuum)

i don’t read him as one-dimensional at all tbh

u may feel the narrative pushes “ruthless julian blackthorn” too much without delivering enough actual ruthless julian But i don’t think that’s the same as having only one dimension

from the get-go, the big question centered on julian is always “how far are you willing to go?” and the narrative pushes the stakes slowly higher and higher to continuously test julian’s “the price is always justified” mindset

he has a far more layered and realistic response to trauma than clare’s early protagonists - trauma affects every single aspect of his personality and how he conducts himself, and the effects vary depending on the circumstances

his conviction that he has to be the perfect parent to his siblings because they will fall apart if they see him show weakness?? rooted in how he feels like he’s fallen apart since losing the stable adult support he once relied upon

his willingness to hurt semi-innocent people, commit coldblooded murder, manipulate people using political leverage, allow harm to befall any stranger if it protects his family?? rooted in how he has already had to ask himself how much he’s willing to sacrifice, and how his family is his only source of stability when the world has never done Shit for him

his conviction that he has a darker heart than anyone else because he killed his possessed father, even though intellectually he knows he was saving his brother’s life?? rooted in having no means of processing this trauma and being unable to voice his feelings for fear of backlash from a deeply non-understanding society

the way he represses every single negative emotion he ever has, to the point where emma - his actual literal magic soulmate who can feel his emotions - is startled to find him hurting or angry?? once again all about how he has to be the perfect father or he’s failed completely

the way his anger is so totally disproportionate to different situations and the way his negative emotions can only come out in completely uncontrolled breaks?? all that repression baybey. this kid has not processed a single bad feeling in five years. every single real grievance and petty annoyance has been festering indefinitely inside him like a slowly spreading infection

julian’s arc involves him needing to get thru being his worst self to actually start to heal

as in, he has to actually learn to acknowledge his feelings, take care of himself, lean on his family, and let other people take some responsibility

he also has to learn that in his quest to be the perfect emotionally controlled authority figure, he has not actually learned how to control or deal with his emotions. like. At Fucking All. good god

the narrative setup is also about asking “how far are you willing to go?” until the answer is finally “not this far. not this far”

and once he reaches that point, he has to reevaluate everything about how he weighs his priorities and morals and plans, etc

(i also like that emma has a perpendicular arc in which she’s always the one tempering julian and telling him “no we can’t go that far” until she’s willing to do something horrific that he absolutely won’t and HE has to stop HER. very sexy)

it’s also just really nice to have a character who’s learned to relate so well to literally every single member of his family while still having a very detached ruthless interior consciousness. i have similar feelings about how adam teaches himself to love people, but with julian it’s spelled out more explicitly in canon & it’s a more central character theme

i’m sure i’m also forgetting stuff here but this post is long enough so i’m gonna say good enough

and like i said in the tags on my other post, there are things i’d personally write differently if it were my story - plot points i’d shift, character contrasts i’d up, themes i’d explore differently, pacing i’d adjust, etc. i have plenty of ways i could be nitpicky and editorial about the effectiveness of julian’s arc. but i also don’t feel like writing them out at the moment & none of my critiques on effectiveness have an impact on the core appeal of his character 2 me. he’s so fucking good

#replies #tsc #tda #julian blackthorn #meta #long post #ungodly long post.#shadowhunters #Anonymous

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katnissgirlsmakedo · 2 years

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my shadowhunter friends and whether they would be riverdale enjoyers:

clary. immediately yes. but wrong, she watches it ironically, thinking it’s bad. she needs to open up her heart and sympathize with her fellow Ginger With Protagonist Syndrome. but she won’t <3

jace. immediately yes. he watches it with magnus and clary and pretends to watch it ironically. he’s not tho he looks at archie and he goes wow. that’s literally SO true

simon is also watching it ironically with clary. they suck <3

alec will watch it. but he won’t Get it. people have tried to explain it but he is simply not familiar enough with media to understand what a genre mashup is. god bless him though he’s trying

magnus. obviously

isabelle Gets it but she doesn’t watch it because she doesn’t care and doesn’t watch tv <3 love her

emma, similar to izzy, Gets it but doesn’t watch it. not because she doesn’t watch tv but because she just doesn’t like riverdale. it’s okay i forgive her

jules. he is a riverdale enjoyer the way moms are. good for him!

christina does not. she never will. she doesn’t need to ever and doesn’t watch tv

mark doesn’t get it but he likes kj apa so

kieran doesn’t know what television is. they’ve tried to tell him, he thinks it’s similar to a looking glass and watching tv is like spying, which is rude. which he says, not caring that he has also been rude and spied and just generally ruined the vibes of like so many days. anyway that’s a no

ty would absolutely Not watch riverdale. i love the boy dearly but he’s no riverdale enjoyer. he likes one genre in one media he doesn’t need jughead’s murder mystery narration combined with archie’s coming of age drama combined with veronica’s mafia movie etc

kit… my boy loves a tv show, he’d eat this shit up. jury’s out on whether he Gets it, but it doesn’t matter because he’s having fun

dru, my lovely little horror fan baby… she’s into it yeah

tessa. as a mom, she will watch it with her freak bisexual son. as a woman, she will admit skeet ulrich is very hot if you like em rugged. as an immortal warlock who’s been alive since the victorian era, she appreciates innovation. and as someone who was once a teenage girl with some truly fucked up family issues, she’s a fan <3

jem has had a hard enough life to deny himself the simple pleasure of sitting down in front of a screen with his wife and children to watch betty cooper kill a man with a chainsaw. he knows will would not approve of this show, tessa also knows this, they don’t care. if he has a problem his ghost can come haunt them about it

#and tavvy… he’s so young and he doesn’t stand a chance with dru for a sister #beth.txt #tsc

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cardiganloser · 4 years

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How I see the Shadowhunters Characters:

Jace - Angsty bitch, stop being emo and see a therapist about your Daddy Issues, you're also not better than everyone else.

Clary - Overall tolerable, sometimes too impulsive for me. Stop making out with your brother. Should probably also see a therapist about Daddy Issues.

Simon - I feel like he'd lightsaber duel me if I asked. Has a chill vibe and he's cute with Izzy. Also gave Julian a D & D figure in QoAaD as a weapon.

Izzy - Bad bitch queen who can step on me. I hope she never changes. She'd be really fun on a hen night.

Alec - Points for the bow and arrow. Has put Jace in his place as well, and he's an amazing Dad. Also "I'm not your bitch". A cool guy I like him.

Magnus - A king. Would let him control my wardrobe. 10/10 I worship the dirt he walks on. Also a good Dad.

Jocelyn - Idk if she had a personality beyond Clary's annoying Mom who was asleep for the first three books. She gets points for not liking Jace.

Luke - Seems chill, owned a bookshop. I guess he's okay.

Sebastian - Fucking die and never let me see your face again you alabama asshole bitch.

Aline - Lesbian Queen. Loves her wife and she has a cool vibe. The top energy is astounding.

Helen - Loves her family and her wife. A queen who put up with exile cause the clave are pussy bitches. She's cool too.

Emma - Sarcastic Queen with a badass sword. Can also step on me.

Julian - Book husband. Loves his family and can lie better than you. I feel like he could murder me at a moments notice.

Cristina - Sweetheart. Literally no flaws, absolute perfection.

Mark - Kinda wack but he was in faerie for years so it's cool. Usually funny and I do want to see him again.

Kieran - Had HAB (Herondale Angsty Bitch) syndrome for a bit but developed flawlessly. I hope he has good things in the future.

Diana - Queen. Probably pegging Gwyn and doing it flawlessly. We stan.

Zara - Pussy bitch. I feel like she'd hate- crime me. Her getting roasted was the most satisfying thing I've ever read.

Diego - Neutral. Did Cristina dirty but he was kinda forced into it ig?

Jaime - Chill af, would get stoned with me 100%. Points for being nice to Dru and Cristina.

Dru - Excited for her in TWP, badass, we stan her.

Ty - Definetly gay for Kit. He would read a book with me. Resourceful and loyal, he passes the vibe check.

Kit - Has his own bit of HAB syndrome but he's cool overall. Should've faced the fact he was in love with Ty instead of running away to another continent but ig TWP is addressing it.

Tessa - Stereotypical book mc but also cool, her brother did her dirty, I like her name.

Jem - Flawless, an icon, love him, he can hold my drink, literally has he ever been mean to anyone without being provoked ever. Another book husband.

Will - HAB sufferer but he's kinda hot ig, it's hard to tell with a book. I feel bad for him with the whole "you can't love ppl or they die" thing, but I prefer Jem. Still a fave tho.

Jessamine - Little hit of a bitch but I feel like she deserves better. Also I feel not wanting to do training it looks tiring and I'm lazy af.

Charlotte - Queen, step on me, pegs her husband, I can't wait for her to stomp on Gideon Lightwood's face

Henry - Kinda wack, same as Mark, but he's funny so it's fine. Tries his best so I'll give him a positive review.

Sophie - Literally just here to do her job. I relate to the being in love with Jem thing she has going on.

Update I spelled Jaime's name wrong so thanks to the person who lmk

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dianapocalypse · 3 years

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Kieran Shepard - Character Profile

(Systems Alliance vector by Deviantart User Karlika)

I got extremely carried away so let’s go under the cut

this only goes thru about the halfway point of Mass Effect 2 right now because I’m still working thru the game! I’ll update it when I’m done with ME2 and after ME3 probably.

Pre-Mass Effect 1

Kieran Shepard was born on Earth and grew up in the slums of Chicago. She was shuffled around various foster and group homes for her childhood, and the only sense of stability she knew was in the gang she was recruited to at a young age, the Tenth Street Reds. She was part of the "Clubs" suit of the organization, specializing in hitting hard and fast. She was outfitted with her biotic amps by the gang to make her more effective in close quarters combat. She grew up very distrustful of law enforcement and authority in general.

After a job went south when she was 16 and she ended up tied up in a homicide, she was given the option by the courts to go to prison or go to an 'alternative education' school funded by the Systems Alliance. It was her first taste of structure outside of the gang life, and she adapted to it better than expected, eventually falling in line with the Alliance’s way of doing things despite her initial resistance to trusting the authority of a large military organization. Upon her graduation at 18, she joined the Alliance military. She served under Captain Anderson on the SSV Tokyo, and was one of the Alliance marines on leave when the Skyllian Blitz hit Elysium. Leading the charge to defend the colony and using her years of experience of fighting dirty and coordinating disparate people in the Tenth Street Reds, coupled with her military education, she and the colonists beat back the invaders and she was awarded the Star of Terra.

After this point, Kieran’s dedication to being the Perfect Alliance Soldier intensified; there were eyes on her now, and expectations to meet. The impostor syndrome began setting in. She fought back against it by overworking herself to be better than the best, taking even the slightest mistakes as evidence she was worthless and going to be discovered as the fraud she was. This only got worse when Captain Anderson hand picked her to be his XO on the SSV Normandy.

Kieran kept a fairly stiff outward appearance and did her best to emulate Captain Anderson, thinking this was what was expected of her. Despite this, she, Jenkins and Joker managed to develop a sibling-like banter while the Normandy was being prepped for its first mission.

Mass Effect 1

Eden Prime was her first mission officially having a command, Elysium having taken place before she was promoted. Losing Jenkins so quickly was terrifying, proof that she wasn’t fit to be here. But, no time for that, she carried out the mission, recruited Ashley, was sucked into the Beacon, etc. No one seemed to blame her for Jenkins’ death, which only served to make her feel more fraudulent. Like now that she had authority, there was also a lack of appropriate consequences. Her old disdain for authority tried to breach above the water, but she forced it back down. She found some solace in Kaidan’s logical, clinical way of explaining things, including Jenkins’ death; it helped the Subjective feel more Objective, and she came to trust his opinions.

The Council’s reaction to Saren was, as it is for all Shepards, infuriating. Again, her old reasons for distrusting authority had one more ‘point’ in their corner. Still, she did her best to stay in line, to be the Soldier she needed to be, and eventually to be the Spectre she needed to be. Losing Captain Anderson to politics, though, shook her. Before, she had at least someone higher than her on the food chain to turn to when she was in over her head. Now, she was on her own.

She came to lean more heavily on Kaidan’s advice during this time, and on Joker for levity. She didn’t take well to Garrus; his history as a cop and constant complaints that red tape kept him from getting justice done ‘his way’ smacked of crooked cops on Earth. Still, when they clashed, he tended to back down and consider what she said. She enjoyed Wrex’s company, though, his old war stories reminding her of the senior members of her gang on Earth. She also enjoyed her talks with Ashley and Tali, the former because of her candor-- Kieran could at least be sure Ash was always honest with her--and Tali because she was the only person on board who seemed as out of place as Kieran felt. Plus, Tali’s a delight, who wouldn’t like her? She was fairly ambivalent to Liara, not sure if she viewed her as more of an extension of her Prothean research as a person, and they had their fair share of awkward conversations, but there’s no malice there.

Kieran’s next Major Event takes place on the Citadel, when a member of the Tenth Street Reds tries to blackmail her into using her newfound power and influence to release one of their own from prison. In the time since she left, they became an even more outwardly xenophobic organization, which rubs her the wrong way. Doing her best to be a Model Soldier, she immediately reports him to C-Sec, leading to a confrontation. In the heat of the moment, Kieran panicks. Her past is a matter of public record, but she can’t have him dragging her thru the mud, spreading lies, hurting her reputation and the Alliance’s. Her position is too precarious. They’ll find out that she’s a fraud, even if he’s lying. She shoots him, intending it as a warning, but killing him on the spot instead. (I wrote more about this here when I played that part of the game!) The Turian cop is impressed. Kieran is horrified, both by her actions, and by the cop’s approval of her killing him in cold blood. She returns to the Normandy and throws up.

I’m fudging the canonical timeline a little bit here, but I think this event is what leads into Kaidan telling Kieran the story of how he killed the Turian ‘teacher’ on Jump Zero as a way of helping her contextualize what just happened. They Bond. The rest of the game unfolds without too many more Major Character Moments that are unique to Kieran versus All Shepards. Wrex survives Virmire, Ashley doesn’t. Ash becomes the second to die under her command, the first to die as the result of an explicit choice she made to save the man she has feelings for. The guilt threatens to rip her in half, but we have a galaxy to save, so she does. She manages to talk Saren into realizing he is indoctrinated, but it’s too late for him. She leaves the council to die on the Destiny Ascension, not willing to risk losing firepower to use against the Reaper, and is infuriated when the political spin on the story becomes that she was ‘protecting human interests over galactic ones’. She does not understand why the lives of three politicians should outweigh thousands of soldiers or millions of civilians on the Citadel, and she never will.

Having never trusted Udina, Kieran nominates Captain Anderson to lead the new council. She spends the ensuing months cleaning up pockets of geth resistance with the Normandy crew before getting spaced by the Collectors, as all Shepards do from time to time.

Mass Effect 2

Kieran wakes up in a Cerberus facility and is horrified. She ran into Cerberus plenty in Mass Effect 1, and her impression of them is bad to say the least. After fighting her way through the facility under siege and being horrified by Miranda’s actions killing Wilson, she heads to Freedom’s Progress, all the while trying to figure out a way to get out of this, even tho she suspects The Illusive Man’s statements that she’s free to do as she pleases to be lies. No one invests that much without expecting returns, or demanding them. Her only solace is in Joker, who at least seems not to have changed much, and Dr. Chakwas. She tries to communicate to Tali on Freedom’s Progress that she doesn’t want to be here, tries to get her to come along for the mission, but at least for now, she can’t. She goes to Captain Anderson on the Citadel to try to bring the mission to the Alliance, the Council, anything to get away from Cerberus, but he cannot help her. Her old crew is unavailable, Kaidan’s location is classified, she can’t get messages out to any of her old crew without risking Cerberus reading them and someone has to stop the Collectors.

Even though the two had never been close, she is elated to see Garrus on Omega, in as bad shape as he is. At least he’s a familiar face and someone who doesn’t trust Cerberus. She bonds with Zaeed for similar reasons to Wrex; she likes his old war stories and he reminds her of the people she grew up with. And, he doesn’t treat her any differently because of her status. She’s still guarded around Jacob and Miranda, she doesn’t trust EDI, and she immediately gives Jack access to all of Cerberus’s files. The two don’t exactly get along, but they at least have hating Cerberus and their colorful backgrounds in common. Grunt at least is easy to understand for her; prove you’re strong, and he’ll respect you. Good enough for now.

Horizon hits Kieran like a truck. Seeing the Collectors in action is traumatizing enough; then she sees Kaidan, who she’s been wanting to talk to since she woke up, who she hoped would understand that she’s trapped, and he lays into her for a situation she feels she cannot control. He says she betrayed the Alliance, betrayed him, wonders if their relationship meant anything to her. She’s stunned. Until this point, the fact that she was gone for two years never really felt real, never sunk in. But now it’s undeniable. It’s changed her, it’s changed the people she cares about, and she feels like she truly lost everything. Even after getting his follow up email (which I highly recommend listening to the voice actor read), Kieran’s mental health is in shambles. It’s not enough to undo her self doubt spiral. He thinks she’s a bad guy now? That she’s a traitor? Fine. No point in fighting it, then. (To be clear, I personally don’t blame Kaidan at all for Horizon, nor Shepard, it’s just a shit situation, but Kieran’s self esteem is SHOT)

Kieran starts getting reckless in the ensuing missions. She starts taking a lot more renegade actions, in a gameplay sense, things she would never have done when she was trying to be the Perfect Soldier. Now, everyone already thinks she’s out of control, and she falls back into old habits. If everyone already thinks you’re bad, it’s easier to just become what they say you are.

I’ve only done Miranda’s loyalty mission so far, and the first exception to her current downward spiral into Renegade is Niket. His logic reminds her of Kaidan, as does how Miranda describes their friendship; she tells Miranda not to shoot, has a brief moment of clarity that oh, yeah, killing someone you were friends with is traumatizing, probably. Don’t do that. She and Miranda bonded a bit over that mission, I think; she still doesn’t like Cerberus, but she likes Miranda, and I think that counts for a lot for her.

That’s as far as I am in the game at the moment! Her current attitudes to the rest of the crew are: Jacob she is indifferent to but respects his honesty; she doesn’t like or trust Mordin due to his treatment of the Krogan and the sense of racial superiority over the Krogan; she likes Kelly and the engineers fine; she has a respect for Jack even if Jack doesn’t like her; she likes Garrus more now that he’s not so into his “justice by any means necessary” bit but we’ll see how his loyalty mission goes; she likes Kasumi; she is really glad to have Tali back, esp because she’s SO OUTWARDLY HOSTILE TO CERBERUS and it’s great; she likes Grunt and views Zaeed as kind of a fucked up father figure; she likes and trusts Chakwas and Joker; jury is still out on Thane but she at least can see he does his job well; and she CANNOT STAND SAMARA. Might end up going with Morinth on this playthru!

If you made it this far, holy shit, why???? Also thank you!!

#mass effect #mass effect legendary edition #commander shepard #femshep #kieran shepard tag #diana draws sometimes

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bellemorte180 · 4 years

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The “How Caroline would have been in Season 1 of The Originals” breakdown that a few people asked me to do.

First go read the breakdown I wrote about how Caroline joined TO!. Caroline is not in the first half of TO because she is dealing with all the stuff in TVD that would eventually lead to her coming to TO!

Buckle up, cuz this is LONG and it only covers Season 1.

Most importantly.NO MAGIC BABY.

Klaus comes to NOLA because he learns his adoptive son Marcel is still alive. He sees Marcel running NOLA as a king and feels betrayed that Marcel let him believe that he has been dead for a century. Marcel is less than welcoming to Klaus, believing that Klaus left him to die back in the day. Klaus starts a war, edged on by the witches, who cannot practice magic.

Jane-Ann D. is still alive. (no baby, no need to do the spell that got her killed) Klaus makes a deal with them to take down Marcel. War breaks out. Sophie and Jane-Ann are trying to get Monique back through Davina by completing the Harvest. Plus, Klaus always had a thing for witches back in the TVD (remember Greta and Maddox?) so they develop an alliance.

The Davina storyline is pretty much the same. Hidden in the attic. Klaus daggers Elijah….

Rebekah comes to town to find Elijah just like in the show.

Hayley comes to town because she learned that her parents were part of the NOLA pack- that Tyler small storyline happens here but with Hayley instead. Klaus crushes her for the betrayal back in TVD that lead to 12 Hybrids being captive. He has Sophie and Jane-Ann curse Hayley to be a wolf every day except on the night of the full moon; like the rest of the pack.

Cami is a character, but Marcel is in love with her, so Klaus uses her as a pawn, toying with Marcel. Literally, I imagine Klaus keeping Cami as a prisoner or something; more or less with compulsion and not actually held captive in a dungeon. Not in the, forget me unless you see me way, but kill yourself if Marcel or Father Kiernan step out of line kind of compulsion. Cami does try and see the goodness in Klaus and developed a stock-holm syndrome type deal with him. This also leads Klaus to holding the human faction by the throat because Father Kiernan, Cami’s uncle, is head of it.

The whole romance drama between Rebekah and Marcel happens and that leads to them trying to overthrow Klaus and it all comes to head with Klaus taking back NOLA.

Now, this is where Caroline comes in.

Remember when Klaus goes to MF to see Katherine die? Yeah, instead it was because he learned that Caroline turned her humanity off. He goes and an emotionless Caroline comes back with him.

Caroline comes to town and really does not give two shits about anything. She kills who she wants and when she wants. She is a GIANT bitch to Rebekah (who Klaus has not forgiven for siding with Marcel). Elijah tries to get her emotions to turn back on, by telling her of his relationship with Celeste and that whole affair, Caroline does not care. Klaus actually enjoys Caroline this way and teaches her to embrace this part.

Caroline tries to seduce Klaus, but he says he won’t have sex with her again until her emotions are back on.

Cami is a prisoner of Klaus’s and Caroline likes to toy with her. Cami tries to psychoanalyze Caroline. Caroline does not give a shit and basically toys with Cami just to prove to her that Klaus can’t be fixed. Davina is helping Cami fight the compulsion that Klaus has her under.

All the while Klaus and emotionless Caroline are still having this dance of will they or wont they?-but with murder and chaos.

The Harvest takes place and Monique rises from the dead; continuing on with Sophie and Jane-Ann’s storyline.

Monique does not kill Sophie, but instead Jane-Anne; her mother. This sends Sophie into a depression. No. I don’t kill Sophie.

Then Genevieve comes to town.

Does Klaus have sex with Genevieve? Yes. But here is the kicker, Caroline doesn’t care. She actually then has sex with Genevieve herself, while Klaus watches. They use Genevieve as another layer for their twisted dance of whether or not they will give in to one another.

But Klaus wants Caroline’s emotions on first.

Now, the storyline that we learn about Rebekah and Marcel summoning Mikael and Klaus loses his shit in the graveyard? Still all happens with one change. Remember how I said Rebekah and Caroline hate each other- that comes to terms here. Elijah is the angel on Klaus’s shoulder telling him to spare his sister while Caroline is telling him to kill her. Emotionless remember.

Klaus doesn’t kill Rebekah but does set her free. Klaus then puts Marcel in The Garden; unable to forgive him for this betrayal.

Elijah asks Caroline why she would push Klaus towards killing his sister and she tells him that it’s because she doesn’t want to feel something for Klaus; thus her emotions turn back on. It would be easier if he hated her.

Ladies and gentlemen, Caroline is slowly starting to feel something….but it’s like dimmed.

The Francesca, werewolf, storyline is still going on in the background.

Elijah and Celeste are a bigger story here. I imagine that instead of him falling for Hayley, we dive more into this relationship throughout the series.

Caroline and Sophie bond over their shared pain. Sophie slowly becomes the first real friend Caroline starts making in NOLA outside of Klaus. Sophie starts practicing magic more than she had previously (remember prior to the Harvest, Sophie really didn’t use magic)

Shortly after this, Father Kieran dies much like in the show. Caroline is present for it and Cami believes that Caroline killed him. She didn’t actually do this, but Cami is convinced. They have the funeral and Caroline is with Klaus much like in the show. Elijah brings Cami to the funeral and she watches Klaus and Caroline, walk arm and arm down the street. Between believing that Caroline killed her uncle and her feelings for Klaus, Cami is enraged.

Cami goes to Davina and they both make a deal with Geneviève. Cami helps Genevieve retrieve the final white oak stake from Klaus’s possession, thinking that it will lead to only Caroline’s death.

Genevieve came back from the dead because Mama Original on The Other Side wants to kill her children. Surprise Surprise. Because remember, no magical baby. Genevieve preforms a ritual during the full moon, one written by Esther on the Other Side, to kill an Original.

During the ritual, Caroline is forced to watch as Klaus is slowly being killed. However, it’s not Marcel who saves the day in (he is in the Garden remember), but it’s actually Hayley. It’s a full moon, so she is in her human form. She hears that something is going down and saves Klaus by killing Genevieve and Monique and the third harvest witch. This also causes Celeste’s spirit to vanish. Elijah torn apart by Celest’s betrayal.

Hayley wants to make a deal to be human again, Klaus agrees to help the werewolves, but conveniently leaves her out of the deal.

Caroline’s emotions are turned on full force and when she realizes that it’s because she didn’t want Klaus to die. She has real feelings for him, which she knew about but with her grief she couldn’t focus on it. There is a scene where Caroline breaks down in Klaus’s arms over everything.

Davin is angry that the plot with Genevieve did not work, come up with plan B. She joins forces with Francesca. Making good on the deal he made with Hayley, Klaus agrees to create moonlight rings. Since Davina is a harvest witches and Sophie is still in the middle of a depressive episode, she do it; which backfires on him. Klaus is weakened by the moonlight rings.

Caroline is furious at what happened and blames Cami (it was her fault that they had the white oak stake in the first place). Caroline says that since Cami’s uncle is dead and Marcel is in the garden, Cami has been rendered useless and kills her. No, Cami coming back as a vampire….she just dies.

Which in turn angers Davina who built a friendship with Cami and wants Marcel out of the Garden.

Klaus is weakened by the moonlight rings. Caroline, who has full range of her emotions, calls Rebekah to tell her what happened. Caroline apologizes for being a giant bitch to her. While nothing is perfect, the two come to an understanding.

The season ends with the werewolves in power, Klaus weakened, Elijah mourning Celeste (again), Caroline finally grieving her mom and everything she has done, Sophie grieving over the loss of Monique and Jane-Ann, Davina pissed off because Marcel is in the Garden and Cami is dead, Hayley is still a werewolf full time, only human during the full moon, Marcel is in the Garden and Rebekah is still not in town.

#klaroline #how Caroline would have been in TO season 1.

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ostendes-tuum · 4 years

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you know, a question I don’t get asked often enough is why In The Flesh is my favorite tv show. because I was scrolling through tumblr and saw that love, victor was trending and i just. i’m honestly just tired. now I don’t want it to seem like i know wtf I’m talking about because I haven’t watched love, victor and I really can’t speak to the quality of the show itself. but the premise?

“Teenager Victor is on a journey of self-discovery during which he faces challenges at home, adjusts to a new city and a new high school and struggles with his sexual orientation”. I have no idea how touched upon his sexual orientation is, if it’s a main plot or a subplot, but there it is, the glaring sexuality struggle that every gay in a television show and movie is forced to have. i’m honestly just tired of the fact that it’s a big deal. because listen, we’ve had this story. how many TIMES have we had this story? it’s not a secret that people are queer, and shouldn’t be a surprise that queer people exist! I’m tired of my storyline being a struggle, in fact, I’m tired of it being a storyline at all! why can’t it just be an accepted fact that your main character is queer without trying to dive into explanations and hardships. And trust me, i KNOW it’s not that simple in real life, but since when do we expect tv to reflect contemporary reality?

the question i ask myself is why they couldn’t have continued love, simon. is it because writers struggle to give queer characters agendas outside of “be queer”? is it because queer characters couldn’t possibly exist outside of romantic plots? i’m tired of watching character after character have their only personality trait be “queer” without any sort of backbone or structure otherwise. they are two-dimensional throwaways that live to be dated and broken up with. and this is specifically targeted to teen shows, because I’ve noticed that in a lot of more adult shows, queer characters and relationships have gotten a lot more respect and recognition. but why is it that we couldn’t watch simon spier be happy and out and proud and just gay in college? like is it so wrong for your queer characters to be happy? do the end credits roll when they’ve finally come out, with no chance to live that life, to pursue their dreams?

which is why I love in the flesh. it never bothers to acquaint you with kierans sexuality, it just throws you in. it tells you that this is the reality and if you can deal with zombies you can deal with figuring out hes not exactly straight on your own. AND ITS NOT EVEN LIKE THEY IGNORE THE STRUGGLES OF BEING QUEER. they do it so goddamn responsibly it makes me cry. every single interaction kieran has with rick’s father? you know, they don’t even have to tell you and you know how much bill disapproves of kieran, how much he looks for a reason to hate him. the last episode of season 1? listen i’m not here to spoil anything because i’m a firm believer of you haven’t lived until you’ve watched in the flesh but. please, god. in the flesh does so much so right and the first thing above all is that they don’t care that kieran is queer. it gets as much attention as the fact that amy is straight. his relationships are treated with the same care and weight as any other relationship in the show and above all else, kieran isn’t queer, he’s a zombie. oh sorry, a partially deceased syndrome sufferer. he’s a zombie that’s come back from being a zombie and that’s what the audience is worried about, not who he sleeps with. in the flesh gives its queer characters purposes beyond just being queer and i appreciate that so much. i really really love this show because it tackles so many issues in such a kind and subtle way that you find yourself unable to do anything but love and respect it. are there flaws I’m probably not equipped to notice or deal with? probably. but it offers so much more than anything I’ve ever watched and has such a unique take on an old story that it definitely deserves a chance from anyone who has either refrained from watching it or has never heard of it before.

I’m not saying that shows like love, victor aren’t worth watching. but if you’re like me and you’ve seen too many queer kids “struggle” with their sexuality and are tired of it, in the flesh is one of those shows that don’t treat its queer characters like diversity on a stick, they’re people with motives and thoughts and feelings and purpose outside of being queer. anyway i really love this show so please go watch it bc it slaps okay next caller

ps i’m sorry this is so long lol

#in the flesh #love victor #love simon was a really good movie btw i really did enjoy it

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