#there's bound to be plenty

[stromblessed]

Mizu's spectacles, and the levels of her disguise

In drafting some more Blue Eye Samurai meta posts, I find myself writing out the comparisons between what Mizu can and cannot hide about herself, and how that affects how she moves through the world.

Like, I get the jokes about Mizu's glasses, if only color contacts had existed back then, etc. etc., and I think (hope) that most viewers don't take the glasses jokes seriously, as in "I don't care about the suspension of disbelief because BES is a cartoon." But I wanted to write these thoughts out anyway without burying them in a text post about something else.

I think the points I'm going to lay out here are viewed very differently by different people, so please feel free to add to this post, reply, or put your thoughts in the tags!

Not only do Mizu's glasses not actually help her that much, there's surely more to Mizu's mixed race appearance than just the color of her eyes.

In my view, this was pointed out in episode 1:

I'm willing to bet most of us were expecting young Taigen to say "blue eyes," not "ROUND eyes."

Obviously this is still about Mizu's eyes, but not even spectacles can hide their shape.

I don't think the show is obligated to point out everything about Mizu's face that isn't quite as Japanese as the people around her expect. Though the creators have said that they specifically designed Mizu - and her clothes - to read both as "white" and as "Japanese," as well as both male and female. I think there's more about Mizu's features that read as "white" than just her eyes.

This is where my own headcanons start entering the picture, but it's my impression that people can just tell that Mizu looks different, whether or not they can put a finger on exactly how.

There's the little girl who looks at Mizu and then hides on the way into Kyoto:

When there's more to your face you'd like to cover up than just your eyes, big hats are a big help!

By the way, most of these examples have to come from the first half of the season, since by the second half, either Mizu is too preoccupied with fighting henchmen, or everyone Mizu is facing knows who she is already, and she therefore has no reason to hide her mixed race identity.

It's worth mentioning that the mere fact that Mizu has to hide multiple aspects of her identity - her mixed race and her sex - results in her having to choose clothes that really, really cover her up, which doesn't win her any favors either:

(Zatoichi reference, anyone?)

If it were as easy as, for example, tying her glasses to her head and wa-lah, nobody would ever know she was half-white - then (1) Mizu would've just done that long ago, and (2) Mizu wouldn't be so on guard and on tenterhooks 100% of the time the way she's depicted in the show, even when her glasses are on.

Her spectacles sure don't help her in the brothel, which is full of observant women who are trying to seduce her, meaning they get good long looks at her:

Mizu never takes her glasses off, but they still send a woman to her who has light eyes, thinking that must be what will interest a blue-eyed man:

No wonder Mizu gets mad after this, lol

So Mizu never takes her spectacles off in the brothel, it's dimly lit inside, and the women can still tell that she has blue eyes. I'm getting the sense that Mizu putting on her spectacles isn't a guarantee that people suddenly can't tell that she looks different.

And yet no one spots that she's female.

Mizu can hide her breasts, can wear her hair in the right style, can hide what's between her legs, can walk and talk and behave like a man - and she's been doing it for almost her entire life, to the point that not only is she very good at it, but the threat of being found out as female is deadly, but isn't presented in the show as omnipresent.

Let me explain.

She threatens Ringo for nearly saying the word "girl" out loud, because while she's constantly ostracized for being mixed race, being a woman traveling without a chaperone, carrying a sword, and disguised as a man will get her killed or flogged or arrested or some combination of these things.

But in addition, it's been drilled into her since she was a child that if she is discovered as female, the combination of her being mixed race and female will identify her as someone extremely specific, someone known to some bad people, and she will be killed:

I think of it as Mizu thinking to herself, "Being found out as mixed race means I'm treated badly. Being found out as mixed race and a woman means I'm dead."

Mizu's hair is cut as a child. But she isn't made to wear a big hat, or cover her eyes somehow, or anything like that. Because hiding her sex is a more successful endeavor than hiding her race.

Ringo finds out she's female by accident, but once Mizu accepts the fact that he won't rat her out, she relaxes pretty early on in the season. Because the threat of being found out as female is mitigated pretty much 99.9%, since Mizu has gotten so good at being a man. And also, because most of the time, people see what they want to see. Even if Mizu's face makes her stand out as "not 100% Japanese," no one in the world of BES looks at Mizu's clothes, her bearing, her sword, hears her voice, and will ever in a million years conclude that she is a woman, because expectations around gender roles in the Edo period were so rigid and so widely enforced.

One detail that proved this to me is after the Four Fangs fight:

Ringo takes off Mizu's clothes so he can stitch her up, then leaves her clothes off even after he's done. He doesn't even throw her cloak over her as a blanket or anything. There's a little a straw (pallet?) as a divider there on the left, but anyone could just peek around it and see Mizu and her chest bindings. (I think it's mostly there as a windbreaker.)

And Taigen is right there, but he doesn't give a shit:

Opinions probably vary hugely on this, but my impression is that because the show doesn't make any kind of deal about Taigen being in the room with Mizu here, my guess is that Mizu isn't in any danger of Taigen thinking she's female. Even when I watched the show for the first time, I assumed that Taigen had seen Mizu out of her clothes here, and that he thought nothing of it.

Eat your heart out, Li Shang (Mulan 1998). I actually do think that this scene is a direct and purposeful side-eye to that movie, lol

There's obviously some nuance to how "severe" being mixed race is compared to how "severe" being a woman is for Mizu:

After all, Swordfather can't bear to listen to Mizu confess to being a woman.

So a Japanese man can go wherever he wants, whenever he wants in BES. A Japanese woman has limited options: marriage, religion, or a brothel. A mixed-race man is an eyesore in this story. A mixed-race woman is a death sentence.

May as well eliminate the female aspect, and do what you can about the mixed-race aspect. Because that's just realistic.

Meaning Mizu can avoid the strictures Edo society places on women. But she can't avoid the repercussions that come with being mixed race. And I truly don't think that it's just because "there's no brown contacts yet."

#blue eye samurai #mizu #racism #bes #I am truly disappointed that we didnt get absolute confirmation that Taigen saw Mizus bound chest and just didnt think it was a big deal #but I still think that scene is making a point #again I dont think most people take the glasses jokes seriously #but its been bothering me ever since I first saw them #I really dont think Mizu just looks like a 100 percent Japanese person...... with blue eyes #and I bet that will be made even more obvious when she goes to London where Im sure she will meet plenty of people #who are more than happy to point out their observations to her #also I ran out of room in this post to go into it but this is also what made Mizus marriage an absolutely doomed prospect #Mikio talks about wanting to find the right creature for his lord and well... a mixed race woman is the right creature huh #he just needed a little push imo #getting kind of sad at the thought that Ringo is the only person in Mizus life who knows her whole identity AND accepts it wholly

[kermitbread]

background are not my bestfriend

anyways, more redraws :)

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #yashiro nene #hanako kun #anime #my art #hananene #the brainworms are plentiful

[thehealingsystem]

nate please please please please I am shaking you by the shoulders right now no one needs to do this please you can make a actual thought provoking interesting thumbnail for the song you don't need to appeal to clickbait algorithms anymore you're still letting yourself be bound to it people loved your early original songs for what they were without this. please stop doing this please stop changing thumbnails I am going to cry

#literally has done this to multiple thumbnails that were even perfectly okay before #I mean the original for this one wasn't all that good either but this is far worse #massive disappointment when I saw with you change it's so. boring and predictable I have seen it plenty of times before #literal opposite of what he was going for #not to mention SCRAP HEAP DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THE SONG TITLE ANYWHERE EXCEPT THE VIDEO ITSELF #nothing left to want became boring too though at least STILL INCLUDED THE TITLE IN IT #does he realize that. THIS is probably just damaging his content further? #I mean he can do whatever he wants and if he's happy with it then fine by me #but do you SEE the traction and views sandcastle kingdoms and paid in exposure got? besides his fnaf songs and parodies #he's ALSO known for phantom! an original song! and I hate that his rebranding of it as a hazbin hotel song actually worked! #because it's not going to continue to! #like dude we all know a lesson in grief has nothing to do with sonic. none of the lyrics tie into anything sonic related whatsoever #ik he's trying to get his stuff out there via the things he was once known for but maybe..... it's time to FULLY let go of that? #bc it's embarrassing to watch and it doesn't feel all that passionate. though he's dropped fandom music he's still very much bound to it #and ADMITS it #please you can make original and thought provoking art! without ties to fandom! idk what you did with your first two original albums #but it wasn't this and you should do it again #I swear nate people love your music for what it is and even though to let go was not my favorite #you still have potential far past what the algorithm is doing to you. none of this is genuine and it's very much present #in how you promote your music. I feel it when I see these thumbnails. I feel it when I watch these videos. it PUTS ME OFF so much #sorry for the rant in the tags and sorry if this is a hot take I hope y'all can see where I'm coming from 👍 #natewantstobattle #nwtb #nathan sharp #nate posting #natewantstobtl

[the-unconquered-queen]

So besties how do we feel about the 100 diamonds a day thing now? We agreed it was suspicious, but do we think it was to placate the non-VIPs ahead of the TDA announcement or are we still waiting for yet another shoe to drop?

#playchoices #something bad was bound to ensue with how they were buttering us up but do we think they could still do shit like make stuff more expensive? #or something else maybe? #ik some people were theorizing that it was a sign of PB struggling financially and I'm no business pro but I think this disproves that idea #because provided my interpretation of 'vip exclusive' is correct and it means it'll never be available for non-vips #then they must be doing well financially if they can afford to make a book that the majority of their players will never be able to play #especially for one of their most popular series - which means that plenty of non-vips WOULD have loved the chance to spend on it #not me tho I'm just here analyzing the situation

[becauseplot]

writing and whoops accidentally inflicted more trauma onto ur fave character haha sorry it will happen again

#was writing a scene where pov was being manipulated by an npc and i was like #“yeah it's ok if the npc is a manipulative asshole there's bound to be plenty of those in this particular setting” #but im getting to the end of the scene and quickly realizing #“hm. the outcome of this is probably going to scar pov for life. alrighty then.” #like i could rewrite it? but i wont bc honestly yeah this works. it still makes sense w the development of pov's outlook on life. #dont mind me im just rambling

[skyedancer2006]

OH MY GOD WE JUST READ THE NEW DBS TBHK UPDATE

HOLY SHIT

HOLY SHIT

#rambling about the update down here #don’t read if you don’t wanna be spoiled!!! #toilet bound hanako kun #tbhk manga #jibaku shounen hanako kun #jshk manga #OK RAMBLING TIME #TSUKASA APPEARING AFTER THE CLOCK BREAKS #THEN HIM KISSING NENE WHILE HER AND HANAKO ARE FROZEN #I WAS NOT EXPECTING ANYTBING LIKE THAT AT ALL HELLO????? #AND THEN HE JUST PICKS HER UP AND CARRIES HER AWAY??? #HANAKOS FACE WHEN AKANE AND KOU FOUND HIM TOO #OH MY GOD HE WAS FUCKING DEVASTATED #EVEN AKANE LOOKS CONCERNED FOR HIM #AND THEY DONT LIKE EACH OTHER AT ALL #I wanna see Hanako go apeshit so bad #his brother just stole his practically girlfriend so he has plenty reason to #but holy shit I can’t get his devastated face out of my head #have we ever seen him with that much emotion before?????

[bigsnaff]

koorn remaining in the inquest post rata primus, even now years later during SotO events, brings a lot of hilarious images to my mind. because in reality it's very passive. he's not like, actively doing anything under them, but the very fact that he's in the commander's inner circle and basically acting as a rep for the inquest in any and every insane circumstance he gets to as a result of being in said circle is enough for them. he essentially does the tyrian equivalent of a video call with his mom every few weeks and is like. hi mother. yeah i'm still globetrotting with the commander. yeah im still nefarious. no grandfather says i can't send over samples to create artificial dragon minions. yeah i'll visit for wintersday. love you too bye.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #my characters #koorn #I've went back and forth in my head for years whether kuda is his mother or just an unspoken inquest overseer (to make it easier on myself) #because the ages there are pretty wonky if kuda IS his mother and suggests she would've been a pretty young mother when she had koorn #and figuring out correlating ages between related characters is really annoying for me to do #but I guess I've decided to just go with that unless/until my brain thinks of something otherwise #YES I'm well aware this means kudu is his maternal grandfather and yeah there is bound to be plenty of baggage there

[martyrbat]

okie finished the lets play of arkham city while knitting and. hm..

#many thoughts but i am so kind <3 #will say its leaps and bounds better than what arkham asylum appeared to be #both in style but more importantly in the goons arent just 'lunatics' in a straight jacket #so its not as big as a stigmatization against mental illness but it has plenty of issues #also seems like it'll be very tedious at times. but also im not a gamer so who knows? #<- this is still me being very kind <3 #it was a good knitting background. it had some pretty visuals and the story could had been interesting #i wasnt distracted by it nor just fully ignored it. and hugo and bane wanting that brussy moments o #so. it coulda been a lot better but it coulda been worst. the potential is there even if the execution is lackluster #so far im giving arkhamverse as a whole a generous b-. this game and that one issue of arkham unhinged where harv had a courtroom drama #and wore a wig is what keeps it from being a low C instead.

[hanzajesthanza]

dandelion’s dialogue is an example in great comedic timing…

eternal flame:

bounds of reason:

baptism of fire:

edge of the world:

season of storms:

#the ‘… and i cant remember how many temples but. yknow. plenty.’ #after listing out so so so many diversion in great detail and numerical inventory #dandelion has such a sharp memory but only uses it for things he’s interested in #fashionable clothing. drinking. whoring. poetry. more drinking. and geralt #and ALL OF THE RESTAURANTS #excerpt #story: eternal flame #story: bounds of reason #book: baptism of fire #story: the edge of the world #book: season of storms #c: dandelion #the witcher books

[clownsuu]

Shifters are people who genuinely believe that if they believe hard enough their conscious can leave our reality and instead take up a "vessel" in another reality to live out their lives there instead. These other realities are often fiction places like Harry Potter or The Owl House or in this case Security Breach, I guess. Most people find this unhealthy and it does have a bit presence on Tik Tok, but no one knows if it started there.

huh- it just sounds like vivid/lucid dreaming which can be achieved by simply having a dream journal- but despite the mostly negative input I have received in my asks, I am not one to judge what one wants to do with themselves, but just to stay safe. I am betting anyone would want to escape this mortal existence, specially ones who feel so disconnected from this world and would rather be in a place of comfort

#And from what I was looking up it looks like it’s popular with younger individuals #Which again I do not judge as long as it’s not hurting anyone or themselves #If we could it would be nice to escape at least in our dreams #But we are bound by mortal flesh and blood #We are not going to shame children from trying desperately to find somewhere of comfort #Even if it’s looked down upon children and some individuals are not the type to listen til something bad happens sadly #If you ever decide to do anything you should always be 110% ready to do so with plenty of research of both the positive and negative #Sometimes sweet dreams are dreadful nightmares instead

[slippery-minghus]

okay!! i'm doing it!!!! first baby step towards a legal name change has been taken!!!!

#was born on the literal other side of the continent and i need to figure out how to change my birth certificate #i emailed a pride org in that state to see what they can do #i remember when i was actively in my transition there were case manager type folks who could help with that #but that was also in a state i no longer live #it doesn't seem too hard where i live now but i want to go back as far as my birth cert #my legal deadname has always been an anchor to me. long before i knew i was trans #i've always hated that name and hated having it be branded onto me #i've never been (legal name). never. not even by my parents when i was in trouble #only teachers who didn't know me yet and doctors.... so people bound to be disrespectful tbh #so i have literally zero positive associations with that name. and plenty of negative ones #it will feel so good to get rid of it #i resent my parents for many things but branding me with a name they never even fucking intended to call me is pretty high up there #narrating my life

[sheliesshattered]

first time ever working on a cosplay where the question “how do you know if the dress is spiral laced or cross laced?” can be answered with “because you can see the crossed laces coming undone in a 2 second shot in the sex scene”

#I mean #in the very few shots of the dress from the back without the coat overtop #you can see maybe the lowest two rows of grommets below the edge of Rhaenyra's hair #and extrapolate from those since they do seem to be parallel and not offset like spiral lacing would be #tho often the very first and very last grommets/eyelets in a spiral lacing panel are ALSO parallel before the offset spacing starts up #but really the sex scene on the beach is what makes it really obvious that it's cross laced not spiral laced #Daemon is most definitely pulling open crossed lacings there. not unwinding the single lacing ribbon of a spiral laced closure #weirdly enough the SLEEVES are spiral laced on #but the back closure is definitely cross laced #also I would like to thank HotD costume designer #Jany Temime #for making metal grommets period-appropriate for HotD costumes #the clothing shapes are all vaguely 12th-14th century #so if it was actually historically set then everything should be hand-bound eyelets and no metal grommets at all #since those weren't invented until the mid 19th century #(so anything set in say a Jane Austen/Regency era or earlier should ONLY have hand-bound eyelets not metal grommets) #but hey it's a fantasy world so if they want to say Westeros (or Essos) invented metal grommets by Rhaenyra's time SURE WHY NOT #I have done hand-bound eyelets on plenty of things and don't actually mind sewing them #but grommets are so much faster #cosplay plans #my cosplay #Rhaenyra's red dress #tagtalking

[magicalgirlagency]

RSA Incorrect Quotes #620

Nova: A human heart costs $1 million, but I gave you mine for free!

Julie: ...

Julie, visibly concerned: How do you know how much a human heart costs...?!

#red star agency #when you've traveled the multiverse you're bound to discover plenty of things.

[inbarfink]

When talking about the distinction between Simon Petrikov and the Ice King,  it’s important to remember that originally, the Crown wasn’t trying to turn Simon into Ice King -

It was trying to turn him into this guy.

At the time, the Ice Crown - or rather the Wishing Crown - was programmed with Gunther’s wish to become Evergreen. So everything related to making the current wearer like Evergreen is a very direct result of the Crown’s Magic. The physical changes -

And the obsession with the name ‘Gunther’ -

And maybe some of the irritability and anger issues -

That is something the Crown is very directly forcing unto its current wielder. 

But everything else?

Ice King, personality-wise, was not much like Evergreen at all, or even like Gunther's view of him. And Ice Finn of the Farmworld Universe was also pretty different from the both of them.

At the time, I remember people assumed Ice Finn’s behavior is more indicative of what the Crown is actually trying to do with its wielders. That Ice King is so different because of Simon’s subconscious resistance against the Crown - while Finn’s much younger and dumber brain is a lot susceptible to the Curse’s influence to become some sort of mad world-conquering emperor of ice and snow. 

But, with the context of the Crown’s actual backstory. That doesn’t seem very likely anymore. I think what’s actually happening there is that the Crown is just trying to make its wielder an Ice Wizard on par with Evergreen (who was the Actual Goddam Ice Elemental) and that means pumping the wielder’s brain so full of Magic, Madness and Sadness to a level that is bound to overwhelm anyone.

And Simon’s and Farmworld Finn’s very different behaviors after putting on the crown is indicative, more than anything, of how their psyche reacts to Madness and Sadness in general. You know, Finn has a very proactive and kinda aggressive personality - and you add Crown-induced-Madness-and-Sadness and a compulsion to use Ice Magic as much as possible and you get all of…. this 

Meanwhile, for Simon, the compulsions of the Crown originally filtered exclusively via the language of protection 

As his madness always manifested as romantic obsession 

And using goofy humor to try and deny the pain he’s going through 

Because that’s how Simon’s mind specifically reacts to being flooded with so much Madness and Sadness.

That’s why there’s so many parallels between Ice King and the sort of mistakes and screwed-up stuff Simon does right now! He’s even kidnapping people again!

Because the Madness and Sadness of Ice King might’ve been induced by the Crown, but now Simon has plenty of personal home-grown Madness and Sadness inside him - and it’s no surprise that Curse-Induced or not, his mind reacts to it in a sorta-similar way. (Although obviously not as intensely, again, there was a LOT of MMS in the Ice Crown).

Now as for Ice Thing, and the fact that he seems to be actually rather well-adjusted under effects of his version of the Wishing Crown. I mean... not by the time of the 1000+ Era, but that’s literally eons in the future and also maybe more Gibbon’s fault. Even if the Crown will eventually take some sort of toll on him, for now he seems to be doing pretty well considering his wish. I mean, there's still some sort of Loss of Identity stuff going on

But everything we've seen of Ice Thing (in the present day, at least) shows him as a friendly and cheerful individual that gets along well with others. A far cry from how maladjusted every single wielder of the Ice Crown acted.

At the very least, if there's any notable amount of Sadness in him, we really haven't seen it yet.

There might be several factors here:

First things first, I should acknowledge the possibility that it’s just that Orgalorg’s eldritch brain is better at intaking all that MMS juice. That could play a part, but I think it’s probably more important, at least thematically, to look at the distinction between ‘I wish to be Evergreen’ and ‘I wish to be Ice King’. 

First in the sense that while Ice King was occasionally mean to Gunter at times - he was generally much kinder than Evergreen ever was for ‘his’ Gunther. So, like, pretty much the one Personality Flaw of Ice King that you can directly link to the Ice Crown’s attempt to mimic Evergreen is the occasional anger issues.

And how they relate to Gunther’s view of Evergreen, so grumpy and controlling and constantly saying ‘NO!’

(Both Finn and Simon’s demonstrable not-crown-induced trauma responses can make them pretty short-tempered as well. So I’m not going to say this is purely the effects of the Crown. It still probably plays some sort of factor at why the wielder of the Ice Crown is Like That).

And that is not a factor in how Gunter views Ice King. For him, Ice King was a doting and loving father figure - so if the Crown was ever trying to implement any sort of specific negative personality traits, this is absolutely no longer a factor. Because the original Ice Crown was a reflection of Evergreen’s abuse, and now Ice Thing is a reflection of Ice King’s fatherly love.

Which is, itself, probably an echo or remnant of Simon’s own strong parental instincts. 

Secondly, while the Crown was trying to make the Ice King just as powerful as Evergreen…. Ice King was obviously not as powerful as Evergreen. Because he was already a second-rate copy of the Ice Elemental’s power, and because Ice King was often just too doofy to use his powers correctly and probably because some remnant of Simon’s original sensible self is subconsciously holding his powers back.

Either way, being ‘like Ice King’ as Gunter sees him requires less Magic than being ‘like Evergreen’ as Gunther saw him - and therefore less Madness and Sadness. Leading to the wearer or, um, the eater being a lot more well-adjusted from the get-go.

And I think that the implication that Ice Thing has fused with the Crown, so there's never going to be another poor sap who puts on the Crown and gets Ice King'd. But if there is one somehow... at least the process is going to be less mentally detrimental that time around?

Maybe one day Simon could look back and appreciate how much he (or Ice King, or both of them, or however you want to look at the situation) is responsible for basically neutralizing the Crown that ruined his life in the first place.

#adventure time #atimers #adventure time fionna and cake #adventure time simon #ice king #simon petrikov #simon adventure time #the ice king #fionna and cake #fionna and cake simon #fionna and cake series #fionna and cake show #ice thing #the ice thing #adventure time gunter #gunter the penguin #adventure time gunther #gunther the penguin #Urgence Evergreen #simon and marcy

[snekdood]

i never get satisfaction out of winning. i dont like making other people feel lesser than. the short lived pride i have in myself for being so good at whatever doesnt matter to me when i look over at someone whos bummed about not winning. its such an unnecessary way to stroke my own ego.

I especially hate it when my lifes on the line, that its either win or die, and even the people who want me dead I dont like feeling "better than". none of it had to come to this. but what am i supposed to do when its someone else starting shit and I have no choice? am I just supposed to let myself die bc letting someone else feel like shit, someone i hate even, still doesnt feel good? It's a choice I dont want to make, but theres nothing else I can do.

#i dont even like seeing it this way but this is the way they've set it up and how they see it. #its not like im gonna be happy exactly when ppl find out im right. ill be happy that ppl finally realize im telling the truth #but im not gonna be happy about what happens to my abuser after. #they're just gonna go through the same shit I did and probably end up homeless or some shit #and they'll never be given the ability or chance to change and grow bc ppl online dont allow that grace 1 #but 2 bc our countries system doesnt give a fuck about poor ppl let alone homeless ppl. #and if everyone who likes them decided they hate them now bc they finally see who they are- #theyre basically just gonna be left to die. and I hate that. I hate the type of people who let that shit happen bc they hate whoever. #its sadistic and evil honestly. and I think a lot of ppl on here are just that. I hate to feel that way but dawg how tf else am I supposed #to feel when its clear plenty of yall get off on ppls suffering #my abuser knows all this which is why they fight so hard to maintain their image. #the problem is theyre just surrounding themselves with the wrong ppl who would drop them even at the slightest disagreement or whatever #i dont even think they've realized how shaky of ground they've built themselves up on #like. do you want ppl to love you for who you are or who you pretend to be? #bc I promise there will still be ppl who love you in spite of everything. even if most ppl dropped you. #human cruelty knows no bounds but so does human empathy.

[practically-an-x-man]

Secret!

Ooh, okay! Let's see...

Let me give you a little background on my future Witcher fic!

It'll be Jaskier x OC since I absolutely love Jaskier (and really, Joey Batey needs to be in more things! He's really talented!)

The OC's name is Lydia, I haven't given her a last name yet and I'm not entirely sure I will. At the time of the story, she's a siren (note that I haven't read the Witcher books yet so my depiction might be different from any sirens in that). I'm planning to go pretty dark with this - these aren't "mermaids", they are sirens that charm men into the water, attack them like piranhas, and eat their hearts. I'm also thinking of giving them some sort of bioluminescence as a means of communicating underwater.

I'm sticking to some typical "modern" depictions of sirens: they can shift between tail and legs via contact with standing water (not rain, and anything larger than a bathtub), they have to stay near the water (otherwise they grow weak and sick, like the flu, it's referred to as the "oceansong" or "call of the ocean"), and must consume the hearts and blood of living humans in order to survive. Most depictions state that it's men's hearts specifically, I'm saying that any human heart will work but most sirens still choose to hunt men because they're generally more susceptible to their song.

The siren curse operates similarly to other curses in the Witcher: in theory, would be cured by true love/true love's kiss. HOWEVER, the siren curse is spread through kisses, and the siren curse would transfer before the cure occurs - I.E., the curse is (normally...) too strong, and overpowers the cure. If you've read the Warm Bodies book it's basically the last scene in that This leads to it being viewed as an incurable curse (and results in a lot of grief on Lydia's end)

This will also be a soulmate AU: people get small tattoos on their wrists representing their soulmate - not names, but representative of the person. Aroace people either get a mark for their platonic soulmate, or a small braided band around their wrist that marks them without soulmates. This is normal - some people just prefer to be alone, that's respected. If a soulmate dies, the person's tattoo shifts to another design, either another romantic or platonic soulmate to fill their life.

Sirens have no soulmate. It's believed that they are completely incapable of love (similar to Witchers), and their wrists are completely bare. Not even a wristband tattoo, which isolates them even from the people who are naturally without soulmates.

Now, you might be thinking "R, you said this was a Jaskier x OC fic, what do you mean sirens don't feel love?"

Yeah, that's a load of bull. Much like the idea that Witchers don't feel emotion. It's a social superstition that isn't actually true, and is perpetuated by the fact that the older sirens simply enjoy their violent, immortal lives and don't mind being isolated.

Enter Lydia. She's a younger siren: turned six or seven years before the events of the fic (and ring the bell bestie because that story gets dark as all hell, probably one of my darkest backstories period), and this event leaves her with a lot of standing grief and emotional ties.

She's washing her clothes on the riverbank when Jaskier comes up to scrub his own tunic, stained with mud and blood and monster guts from Geralt's latest hunt. He doesn't know she's a siren, and being the painfully social flirt that he is, they get to talking as they wash their clothes.

Geralt returns after a while and realizes his bard has been talking with a siren on the banks of the river, and she could've killed him at any point. He pulls Jaskier away quickly - Lydia tries to promise that she wouldn't have hurt him (and she really wouldn't, it was nice to have someone talk to her as a human being after so long being treated as a monster), but he's hurt and leaves without another word.

The next day he goes down to the riverbank while Geralt's still asleep. Lydia's gone, but his tunic is clean and folded on a flat rock nearby. She leaves him a note: I'm sorry. For what it's worth, I never meant to hurt you.

This is where we begin our story.

#thank you bestie!!! #this one's been brewing for a while and I'm really looking forward to writing it #but it's bound to be a pretty long story so I need to time it right #answered asks #my friends!!! #my writing #my ocs #(oh and I have plenty more “secret” WIPs so if you want to hear about another one I'm happy to oblige) #(i'm still trying to choose which to write next so this helps me gauge it)