#| meta |

[johannescabal-archive]

[Could you perhaps write meta on how Horst's and Johannes's relationship's changed after book five? Are there nuances we haven't really had a chance to see in previous books for instance?]

|| Ooh, this is a fun one. Ignoring that I hate how Horst was treated in book five (really? he’s a total idiot? you expect me to believe that he’s never displayed any competence before? did the author just... forget about book four???), I really like the implications for their relationship.

While there wasn’t a whole lot of visible, active development between those two, with Johannes’ relationships with the wonderful women in his life being at the forefront, the way his relationships with them has turned into a friendship will greatly make his relationship with Horst a lot smoother. Now that Horst can see that his brother is opening up and making friends, I think he’ll have even more faith in his brother, and Johannes being comfortable around other people will make him more comfortable around his brother.

The fact that they’re prepared to die for each other as brothers has been a thing for a while now, but I think they’re finally... family, in a personal way, not a blood way. I think that in the aftermath of book five, they’ll become a lot closer than they ever have been.

[johannescabal-archive]

meta + body build

| send me meta topics |

|| Cabal is canonically a thin guy. He’s described as “thin” quite a few times, if I’m not mistaken (not quite as often as he is as “pale,” but that is Howard’s favorite descriptor of anyone). He’s not exceptionally muscular canonically, either. He probably has some good back and arm muscles from digging up graves and the like, but in book two (like earlier, I can’t quote verbatim because I lack my book) he thinks about how he’s not as strong as he used to be when he was younger. He’s not some super-muscular guy. He’s lean and thin, not ripped. His stomach probably isn’t toned much if at all, as he doesn’t do crunches or anything. Sure, he’s thin from not eating much, but he doesn’t exercise beyond the usual manual labor. Doing actual workouts takes away from time he could be working, so that’s pointless. He has no one to impress. No one is seeing him naked (unless they break into his room at night, but that would result in them dying, so he really doesn’t care what they think of him). He might be attractive in face and the way he carries himself, and even quite attractive in form when clothed, but he’s not some super hot model with rippling muscles and a six-pack of abs.

[johannescabal-archive]

renegadelambrps replied to your post:Elaborate and explain on why you decided to type...

Exactly! It should also be noted that eight’s instinctual center and emotional theme is anger. As it is, they have a natural tendency to express their anger - mostly in physical ways. Fives, by contrast, have their instinctive center and emotional theme in anxiety, which, I think, resonates much better with Cabal. Our way of coping with this is to withdraw from the outside world. The hermit, such as they are, usually fits the general picture here.

|| Yes, definitely. He may get angry easily, but that’s not his emotional center at all. Typing him as an eight is a really... shallow typing, I think would be a good way to explain it.

[johannescabal-archive]

Elaborate and explain on why you decided to type Cabal as an Enneagram five instead of an eight.

| send me headcanon/meta prompts |

|| I’ll let you know right now that I didn’t look at eight in too much detail, as when I was reading the description of five I knew it was right. Starting with the names, eight strikes me as wrong. The names and traits for eight are The Challenger, dominant and powerful, willful and confrontational. Sure, he is powerful and he can be dominant, but as main personality traits? Not so much. He’ll run from a conflict if he can, just for the sake of keeping himself alive. Five, on the other hand, is The Investigator, intense and cerebral, innovative and isolated. Already this sounds so much better to me. I’ll admit that the basic fear and desire of eight does fit fairly well: fear of being harmed or controlled by others, and a desire to protect themselves. However, this is also a very external fear and desire, respectively. It’s almost just in the air he puts off, in his defense of himself. The desire for five is to be capable and competent, and the fear is to be useless or helpless. Again, it’s not a perfect fit, but they seem to be matches to his inner self, which is more important in these analyses to me. 

However, healthy fives in an area of growth can appear like eights do, so the fact that those fears and desires are more external makes sense to me. The digression of eight to five makes no sense, as Cabal doesn’t become secretive and fearful; In fact, we’ve seen him become distressed in the third book, and he almost completely unravels, becoming hyperactive and scattered as fives do. He lacks the charisma and persuasive abilities of eights (I don’t think holding someone at gunpoint is what is in mind, even if it works), but he does canonically observe, learn, and understand information at a rapid rate. The pocket universe in the first book is a prime example of this.

I can honestly keep going on about this, but I think this is enough for now. The basic reasoning: Any traits of an eight that he has can be chalked up to fives appearing as eights in their time of growth, because everything else about five matches up to him much more than everything about eight.

[johannescabal-archive]

Topic: The relationship dynamic between Cabal and Horst.

|| Oh, this is a good one and involves some delving into the past. I don’t think I’ve described these thoughts publicly here, although I have discussed them with most anyone who will listen. Here goes.

No matter what Cabal says, there was no actual favoritism in their youth. What he read as favoritism was his parents knowing that he and Horst were very different. Whereas Horst needed attention and affection, Cabal didn’t, and so they gave it to Horst while giving Cabal his space. This resulted in him seeing Horst as the favorite, which led to the resentment we see and hear mentions of.

Now, despite being rather flippant and noncommittal, Horst did try to be a good brother. He wouldn’t have got himself locked in a tomb for eight years if he wasn’t, now, would he? I think he always wanted the best for Cabal, no matter how misconstrued his actions ended up, and some part of Cabal always looked up to him. He was more social, more charming, didn’t have to try to get what he wanted. Cabal wasn’t social, wasn’t too charming (he’s always been too blunt for that), and couldn’t just smile and flatter his way through life.

Now, though, all of that has to be put aside. Now they’re all one another has. Father’s dead, Mother is gone. They have no one and nothing else. They have each other and impossible dreams of cures and new lives. Yes, old habits die hard, and certain animosities don’t just disappear, but they do fade, and hardships breed familiarity.

[johannescabal-archive]

Topic: Common misconceptions about the scientist.

|| I’m assuming you mean misconceptions others have about him, and how they’re wrong. I suppose one of the largest ones is that he’s “evil,” but even that isn’t completely wrong. No, he isn’t evil and is in fact truly neutral (his own moral code isn’t structured much at all and boils down to “do what works out best”), but seeing him as evil when compared to a strong moral code isn’t wrong. It isn’t right, but it’s not the most incorrect assumption. “Good” and “evil” are purely subjective terms. Calling him a doctor is merely a matter of semantics. I wouldn’t do it if you want to be on his good side, and he doesn’t technically have a doctorate in anything, but he easily could pass any classes/tests to do so. Again, not technically wrong, but also not technically right.

A lot of misconceptions about him are grey areas. Not wrong, not right. Matters of subjectivity and semantics. Seeing him as heartless is, again, neither wrong nor right, since he does have emotions and feelings, they’re just very isolated and particular. He’s a very grey man. That’s the only way I can describe him. He’s morally grey, mentally grey. Grey in every way possible, so nothing you can assume about him (besides far-off, baseless claims such as, “He is so nice and happy all the time,” which makes no sense as far as assumptions go) is right or wrong. They’re just... misconceptions.

[johannescabal-archive]

Topic: Mindless hate.

|| What do I even say about this one? Cabal hates a lot, and usually for very petty reasons. So much as look at him the wrong way and you’ll probably end up on his Shit List. I don’t know why this is, honestly. I don’t know if it stems from anything in particular, or if it’s just a side-effect of everything he’s been through and how cold he has to make himself. I feel like that’s probably the case. Whatever he’s done to himself to make himself cold and untouchable has rendered him full of this hate that he directs at every nuisance, no matter how small and unimportant. It’s not rational at all, but don’t tell him that. It’s an instinct. I don’t even know if he’s completely aware of it being mindless hate, or if he just doesn’t think about it anymore and lets it happen without any consideration.