#codependency cw

[grislyintentions]

|| Muse: Talus ||

FC: Undertaker Notable traits: Spring green/Apple-green eyes. Skin sutures across his face (eye to cheek) and all over his body (sometimes...they loosen) Peculiarity: He has in his possession the preserved skeletal frame of his deceased wife

History:

Once revered as a reputable physician, Talus' world fell apart when the love of his life, Vespera, was taken by a mysterious illness that cannot be cured.

It had been a long arduous process. More of a gradual fading away, a withering, in front of his eyes with each passing day. None of the treatments, medicine, healing practises he could afford helped. The nature of Vespera's sickness was not discovered by doctors but by a spiritual practitioner instead.

Vespera had been cursed.

The only way to prevent her death was for her to consume the flesh of the pure-spirited. Each life sacrificed was each year gained. Desperate not to lose her, Talus wages a losing battle with his own conscience each time he succeeds in luring victims to their abode.

With each soul consumed, Vespera herself began to change. She grew cold. Cruel and malicious. Nothing like the woman he once adored. Yet Talus found himself unable to leave her side no matter how abhorrent she'd became.

When her skin split and muscles atrophied, tearing from bone, he stayed. When she cracked and reshaped her appearance to ensnare prey, he stayed. When she started craving more and more, he stayed.

Over time, Talus himself started experiencing changes. How could he not after what feels like an eternity of being immersed in her malicious energy? The process of demonic cultivation in him may be slow but it is inevitable. The guilt and horror he feels cannot be overwritten by the exhilaration of transcending human limitations. It tears at his mind, his soul, his heart- gouging until what is left is mush.

Maybe a part of him, what is left of him, still wishes he could have done things differently. Even as they fed. Even as they took part in the Night parade with 100 demons, ghouls and spirits alike- descending upon villages and gorging themselves.

Their unnatural relationship wasn't made to last despite it all. Three times Vespera was struck down by the exorcists. Three times she arose once again. Then, at last, her remains are shattered and what hold she had over him vanishes for good.

Centuries since that fateful day, Talus still wanders the earth, staving off the hunger that had infested him in exchange for favours and oddities.

[the-masterless-press]

my goal for 2026 is to explore the more fucked up parts of betriz.

my original draft/idea for linger was that they fought near the sundered sea (risky, but cathartic for both of them because the tension from them at the board has officially boiled over)

here is the shoddy mspaint flowchart:

and also, the whole bitter exes thing.

imagine suddenly being around the one person you had a messy relationship and subsequent break up with suddenly show up in the same circles as you. inexplicably with similar level of power and influence as you. and you know how she is with things like politics: myopic, unable to see nuance where it needs to be, sees everything as a nail to hammer down. how she manages a whole board of directors--radicals, not ordinary directors invested in transport--is a surprise. she attacked the neddy men that came into the boardroom to assist you for what, to uphold an image?

and yet, you picked her to help.

[independentzaun]

Smash or pass + Silco for Jinx

𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃 “𝐒𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐇 / 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 (𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒) 𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐒” + 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐖𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐘.

There was no hesitation nor shame in Jinx's voice as she responded with a shrug. "Smash." Reaching for one of her braids she gave a little tug at it, and nodded. "I don't like sharing, and he's mine. Sides, I'm his too so it's okay."

Shaking her head the young woman sounded more amused than anything else. "It's not like he'd ever force me to do anything, like that, that I didn't want anyways. It's just, he's Important to me, and I care about him so isn't it just a natural thing to want to be as close as possible to an Important Person?" As far as she was concerned it was a rather obvious thing. Of course she'd "smash" Silco... if he wanted, and desired it as well.

[herawell]

Luv Kush headcanons, part 2

After Sita’s bhumipravesh, the twins feel very alone and isolated in Ayodhya. They’re surrounded by people and plenty of family, but they’re all strangers. Everyone around them either slandered their mother or tacitly condoned her exile, and while their cousins are innocent, LK can’t relate to these children who grew up in royalty.

They end up clinging to each other, almost to the point of codependency. They share a bedroom, even when they’re old enough to have their own rooms and the palace is so big. Their twin is the only other person they really trust, who’s been with them since the beginning and who gets them.

Once, their father tries to take one of them to a neighboring kingdom, for diplomatic training, while leaving the other one behind in Ayodhya, and the twins resolutely refuse to be separated. It’s one of the only times they ever openly defy with their father, and finally he relents, something like sorrow in his eyes. They don’t say it, but they know he senses it all the same: You already parted us from our mother. You won’t part us from each other.

(Mentions of suspected incest below cut, no actual incest takes place.)

What finally gets LK to break out of their codependency are whispers that it’s sinister that the twins are so attached to each other. A leopard doesn’t change its spots, and the people of Ayodhya do not stop gossiping. No one seems to consider that brothers who had their lives uprooted might naturally cling to the one person they know in an unfamiliar place.

It’s only a few nasty people, not the multitudes that talked about Sita’s chastity and sent her to exile, but enough that LK are unnerved. They get separate rooms, they stop being glued to each other’s sides, and they finally begin making friends outside of each other. They don’t stop relying on each other, though, nor does the near-miss endear them to the Ayodhyans.

[usesboth-a]

META  +   BELLAMY   &   OCTAVIA   :   S6

honestly i’m not mad about bellamy and octavia.   i   wasn’t   super into the idea of how   harsh and negative   he was being before they had their conversation because it felt really out of place to me -- but after watching the episode and that scene,  i think the way it was handled and shown was   incredibly important    and i don’t think i’d change how that progression happened or how bellamy has reacted to her,   especially after coming out of the anomaly.   as much as i’ve changed my opinion on octavia,   i still think that the relationship that she and bellamy have was always one with a lot of co - dependency :  bellamy feeling like he had to take care of her otherwise no one else would,   octavia only having bellamy to lean on because their mother was too busy,   gone,   drunk,   ect.   and it turned into this thing of    ‘ my sister,  my responsibility ‘    because it    had to.    it was what their mother told him,   and in return,   it’s the mantra he chose to live by for the next sixteen - eighteen years.

i’m not about to make you all read an article dedicated to codependency,   specifically in siblings,   and then read this but there are a few key points that are super important in the blakes dynamic,   and how they shouldn’t necessarily get back to where they started,  but grow and heal and become better   in spite of   the chaos they’ve both endured.    (  the ties that bind turn easily into the bonds that strangle  )     

in the beginning of the show,   the common theme of bellamy constantly protecting and hovering over octavia could be seen as selflessness,   but it’s really masking control that he probably wanted since everything about his life was so    out of control    after she was born.   rather than seeing her as the reason  (  which isn’t the case at all,   their mother was a piece of work in and of herself  )    he chooses to take the responsibility and the job and duty of protecting her,  especially considering there were more than likely a lot of deep rooted fears in terms of bellamy and his relationship with his dad and the more than likely    deep rooted abandonment issues     he now has.   again,  not sure who he is or if he’s dead or alive,  but the dysfunctional aspect still stands and as an other brother,   he doesn’t want to subject octavia to that and turns into committing   all of his energy    into keeping her safe  (  see:  s1 - s3  )

his codependency on octavia    actually gets worse    after lincoln is killed,   because not only does he feel semi - responsible,   but because she’s spiraling out of control and is starting to do a complete change of her person due to the   trauma she faced,   he’s doing his best to do   damage control    in order to keep things held together but failed to recognize that he’s trying too hard,  and    his own behavior    is adding to the crisis.    when the two of them are separated at the end of s4,   this could have been a good moment for the both of them and bellamy realizing that his sister didn’t need him,  and while that was the case for octavia,   bellamy wasn’t ready to let her go.   he’s been there for   so long   and has had to carry the weight of being her rock and foundation and support for so long that he’s unsure of how to truly    let her go   (  see:  everything leading up to the moment in s5 where he’s thrown into the fighting pit  )   and not realizing that his grasp is actually   suffocating himself    and no longer of use to her.    she’s not a little girl anymore  ---  she’s capable of protecting herself.

all in all,   this season has been a    huge    metaphor for breaking the cycle of a codependent relationship,   specifically,   bellamy hanging on too tight to octavia.    him leaving her behind at the beginning of the season was something that needed to happen for them    both to grow,    but for him to realize that he doesn’t have to protect her or look out for her.   if he continued to try and save her from the chaos that was her life,  she probably    wouldn’t have changed   and grown into the person she is now,  and neither would he.   typically in a codependent situation,   one has to be so out of control and so far gone that the other swoops in and    “ rescues  “    the other person from it,  typically putting their needs above their own.   with this said,   i think this conversation was a huge    turning point    in their relationship because it meant that bellamy was finally letting go of what needed to be let go of for the last two and a half to three seasons:   although octavia is his sister,    she’s no longer his responsibility.      he no longer has to protect her and no longer has to take on the chaos from her world.   this was just as important for bellamy   to let go of   as it was for octavia to admit that she needed him to say that she is his sister.

[eloquentyrant]

|HC|

[ Now let’s examine his relationship with his mother- again, highly controversial so read with a grain of salt. We don’t have to agree- I simply ask that we have mutual respect. ]

[ A surface conclusion that most could come to was that Oswald and Gertrude are extremely close, which is an accurate one seeing as she raised him as a single parent. This essentially meant that they were all each other had for a long long time. 

Given Gertrude’s background (under servitude to the Van Dahls for years, being spurned as Elijah’s lover, feeling like she had to leave and having to navigate the harsh streets of Gotham by herself), it’s also very likely that she isn’t well to do. It’s inevitable that mother and son would cling to one another over the years for support- which could be perceived as a form of  codependency. Perhaps Gertrude felt bad that Oswald was born without ideal conditions in life and without the presence of a father so she began to spoil and dote on him whenever she was able to. Her excessive doting likely imprinted on him, leading to him taking comfort and viewing her as a saint who could do no wrong- this also unfortunately lead to him feeling expectant of the same level of appreciation/love from others and being absolutely incensed when he does not receive so. Oswald often has trouble perceiving neutral affection and only takes to people doting upon him in idolatry, regardless of whether or not he truly deserves it.

In her recent years, Gertrude appears to experience difficulty tethering herself to the present from time to time. She could be described as someone who prefers living in the version of her own world that fits her best- the decorations and knickknacks in her house are reminiscent to how one would imagine a life of luxury would be, almost fantasy like until you notice the chipped paint and realise things aren't quite right. She's often confused when out of her element and seems to have the most clarity when she's focused on her darling son. During her scene with Maroni confronting her about secretly knowing Oswald’s true misdeeds, she appears confused and agitated despite the fact that she clearly knows enough to doubt, and becomes so distraught by having it presented to her that she passes out. At her best, she is theatrical and fanciful, as if she fancies herself playing the lead of a role in her own head, living in a romanticised version of her own reality. 

She also appears to switch her behavior when it comes to treating him as a son. For example: she still mothers him excessively and babies him quite a lot, going so far as to scrub his skin and draw him a bath when he’s already an adult who could very much bath alone. Due to her high opinion of him and perhaps an ever constant worry (long past the timeframe) that Oswald would be snatched up by the Van Dahls if they were to find out he existed, she perceives almost everyone as a threat that’s out to hurt her baby. Especially law enforcement and women, even going so far as to throw tantrums and accusing him of being out with girls. As if she was deathly afraid of losing her son, behaving like she was the petulant child who wanted to hold onto his attention.  And on some level, Oswald comprehends that such behavior from his mother breaks plenty of boundaries but he is far too doting, far too blinded by his own dependency on her affection and care for her to set up any. He would never speak ill of his mother.] 

[dotthings]

So I was chatting with @blueskysammy about Sam and Dean and Cas and Destiel and the bro bond (as you do) and they encouraged me to post some of what I was saying. I’ve cleaned up my chat messages into a post about love and loyalty being the backbone of Sam & Dean and Dean & Cas’s bonds, and what those 2 bonds have in common about enduring and surviving despite their own dysfunctions.

There is drama and story in some of those dysfunctions but as I keep saying lately, that doesn’t define their bond and why they endure. It can be part of the appeal, because of drama and the needs of storytelling. But that isn’t all they are.

Dean does love Sam, and they are unusually close. That closeness was made extra due to forming via unusual circumstances but it’s love and loyalty and closeness—it’s having someone watch your back and be there always (and it’s interesting 14.12 equated them to twins).

Some siblings are like that. Some insist so hard on Sam and Dean’s uniqueness but there are siblings in the world who would die for each other, or one acted as a guidance and helped raise the other. I’ve seen posts and tweets from SPN fans who had to help parent younger siblings. Talked to SPN fans who are devoted deeply to their siblings. 

And this can be a really good thing and I see Sam and Dean’s bond as a good ting but equating the dysfunctional aspects of Sam and Dean to love is a minefield. Equating the specialness/uniqueness of Sam and Dean to the dysfunction when it’s their love and loyalty that, I feel, is the actual reason so many fans love this bond and take comfort from it. Some enjoy the codependency and if that’s their thing, they can enjoy that, I’m countering here a pov that tries to dictate this is why everyone loves it, or that everyone watches only for the sibling bond, and that without it, there is no Sam and Dean. Which honestly blows my mind, speaking as someone who’s been critical of the darker aspects of the bro bond, but also takes comfort from it, and loves it, and I have been watching SPN since the pilot. It’s not just that I don’t agree that SPN is “only about Sam and Dean.” It’s that it actually hurts my heart to see some fans claiming that their only definition is isolation, codependency, suicidal ideation, and all the dishonesty and conflict that comes along with it. That, honestly, breaks my heart on behalf of a bond that is important to me.

The love is that Sam and Dean respect and care for each other.

In fact I’d argue the bond is so strong because it survives the dysfunctions. The backbone of it endures and that’s one of its appeals. That’s because despite the problems they like each other and respect each other. They see the good in each other. Those parts aren’t codependency. Sam and Dean showing love for each other isn’t codependency. Even a lot of the pain isn’t codependency. Nor are they inherently toxic. Nor is every intense Sam and Dean emotional broment codependency or the show being a “brosonly.” There are some specific Sam and Dean plot points and scenes in a few seasons that I really, really take issue with, but it’s specific issues.

And here’s the thing: I can argue the same about Dean and Cas’s love and loyalty and how it’s stronger than their dysfunctions. Because yes there are dysfunctions in Dean and Cas’s bond. Is it the same as Sam and Dean’s? No. Do I see it as consistently healthier and more functional and less weighed down with certain baggage? Yes. And I’m tired of being shamed for being drawn to more functional dynamics, but I’m not denying Dean and Cas have dysfunctions and some dark times. But their bond transcends it, it survives it, just as with Sam and Dean, because they know the good in each other, they love each other and respect each other. All of Team Free Will thinks the others are worth saving and that is earned. Sam and Dean are an exercise in brothers by choice, not just by blood. Dean and Cas demonstrate found family--chosen brothers-in-arms.

I think Dean and Cas have a smaller, different kind of dysfunction than Sam and Dean’s...Dean and Cas aren’t codependent for one thing. Also neither was parentified for the other. Dean didn’t change Cas’s diapers. Dean wasn’t raised to believe protecting Cas specifically was his only worth. Cas lived a millennia before he knew Dean. At times I have worried about Cas’s isolation and have said he needs more than just Sam and Dean. But Dean and Cas weren’t children together huddling up against thunderstorms and their father’s harshness. Dean and Cas are each other’s rope in a storm, though, and Dean has given Cas a home, finally, after millennia.

So both bonds are different in nature and how they formed but  love and loyalty is the backbone of them both.

[selfihateyouithink]

14x08 spoilers.

Am I allowed to hate Jack yet, or are y’all still under the deeply mistaken delusion that he’s/that relationship’s ever going to be good for Cas.