(marriage of state) you've mentioned a couple times that the Rivendell siblings are pretty fucked up, but i'm not sure if they're like, an unusual amount of fucked up for their peer group. so on a scale of 1 to 10, where would you place all of the marriage of state rulers? are there any particular standouts we should know about, besides our beloved Scott and Xornoth?
I waited to answer this because I was going to draw a diagram but apparently that's just not going to happen right now so we'll just use our words.
Not Actually Doing Too Badly, Weirdly Enough:
Pearl. We love an unbothered queen. She is the sanest of the whole lot which is. Saying something. The desire to punch things in the face is unrelated to any sort of trauma its just her idea of a good time.
By the time of the main arc, Lizzie also fits here. She's dealt with most of her issues already. She knows who she is and she is comfortable with it. (Almost no one else is but that's not her problem)
Joel is vibing. An unbothered king. Living his best life, happily married. Definitely Unhinged but like, weirdly healthy about it.
Would Be Doing Fine If Not For Plot:
Shrub Berry was having a very normal time as a very normal gnome up until they very suddenly weren't so like, there is technically some fucked up-ness but its very recent and hasn't settled in yet. There is hope.
Jimmy has 99 problems and most of them are named fWhip and Mythical Sausage. A little insecure but like, he's got a supportive family and is doing alright.
There Is Something Wrong With You But Its Hard To Tell If It Has A Specific Root Cause Or If You Are Just Like That TM/Cumulative Effects of Your Environment:
Joey was raised in a temple under threat of assassination and also all kinds of magical things with strong potential to kill him but like, other than that he's doing alright he's just. Him.
Believe it or not the only thing Wrong with Mythical J Sausage is that he was raised in a family where power-hungry imperialism is the norm. Its mitigated somewhat by being close with Pearl especially but also like. He had loving supportive parents they just also taught him that Mythland is superior and the peak of civilization.
fWhip also falls into this category. He also had a good supportive, loving family but is also very undeniably one half-step in the wrong direction away from going full supervillain. Maybe its the redstone poisoning, maybe its being pushed into a position of leadership at too young an age with absolutely no preparation or even real warning.
Very Clearly Has Something Wrong With Them but Is Pretending So Hard to be Normal:
The Rivendell Siblings think they are doing so good at being normal. Especially Scott. Scott things he is The Most Normal. Everyone else is Very Very Concerned. Sucky parents, sucky situation what with the whole gods and possessions and prophecies thing. Religious Trauma personified x2
The only person who thinks they are More Normal than the Rivendell siblings is Gem. She is pretending so hard to be normal she's convinced herself of it. Beneath her traditional Wizard Character Faults (arrogance, tunnel vision) are some very deep-seated abandonment issues and self-loathing and identity issues.
Seems Very Normal Until You Realize Holy Shit You Are So Fucked Up Please Get Help:
Katherine Elizabeth was raised similarly to Sausage except her mother was not loving or supportive and instead of attempting to shield her from the uglier side of politics and power plays actively exposed her to them and trained her to commit them. The mortals that live around the Overgrown borders were very very lucky that Katherine decided early on that she likes mortals. Just like she likes sheep!
Pixlriffs. Just. Pixlriffs.
