#ct!jem

[ripley-writes-blog]

modern au jem probably has a tattoo but of What

[ripley-writes-blog]

studies show that there is a strong correlation between what colour eyes you have and the intensity with which jem hates you

[ripley-writes-blog]

would u hate me if I said all the things for dorian and jem .-. I'm curious ok

:D !!! Ah this was great thank you friend. However it did a) get extremely long b) stray from ‘headcanons’ and just become ‘discussions’. Oops.

■ - Violent headcanon

DORIAN: Dorian spent too much time as a child watching the Ring fighters brawl, and as soon as his magic started turning, that veil of shrewd curiosity swept over the violence. Everything became the movement of muscles, the swish of fists, speeds and angles, strong points and weaknesses. If not for his moral compass and experiences of violence at the hands of his siblings, Dorian would likely be a very different young man to what he is at present, perhaps a little more morbid and warped.

The memory of his past fascination conflicts directly with the morals he tries to uphold, as well as his awareness of his own insensitive streak, making for the repulsion he feels toward his tendency to swing back into the ‘safe’ world of the intellectual. Even more regret comes at the knowledge that it is in this world that he is most himself, most comfortable, most content. Guilt is definitely a major nexus of his emotions.

JEM: Jem doesn’t even remember what, exactly, caused that fight, but ey walked away from it with a tingle in eir fingertips and a terrifying thrill in eir veins. Eir opponent stabbed em. It wasn’t going to be fatal if properly cared for, but the pain and fear and adrenaline might’ve fooled eir body into thinking otherwise and a few moments later, it was the opposition bloodied on the ground, and Jem’s chest was heaving where ey stood over them. 

Ey ran when ey realised what ey did. Ey doesn’t know what happened to the other guy, and nobody’s ever heard of the incident. Eir remorse did not last long.

♦ - Emotional headcanon

DORIAN: He’s good at controlling and levelling his emotions, or at least using logic to smooth them out. However, on many many occasions it has been his tendency to think — and think — and overthink issues that causes in him his greatest insecurities and, indeed, the most extreme emotional responses. See the spiel on guilt above: if he didn’t spend so much time in his own head, if he wasn’t so introspective and consequently aware of his own inconsistent morals, he’d likely spend an awful lot less time stewing in remorse.  

JEM: An awful lot of Jem’s stirring, trouble-making tendencies spring directly from a need to ‘fill the void’. Ey laughs a lot. Ey sings, ey prods and jokes and insults just to have a giggle, but really that giggling is all ey has. Jem’s basically perpetually bored and empty or irritable. Notice how immature some of eir tendencies and behaviour is? Eir childhood was basically the only time ey was actually happy. Humour (and power) fuel the little rushes that ey lives on.

✿ - Happy headcanon

DORIAN: Happiness is a fairly rare emotion in Dorian, ever solemn and quiet is he. Fortunately, it’s not often that he’s truly sad or angry either, but his emotions tend to flux between contentment and mild anxiety, often linked with his often guilty conscious. I don’t think even learning really makes Dorian ‘happy’, and that’s saying something. He’s just this melancholy kid. (I really wish Pippa could’ve stuck around. She might’ve actually gotten through to him.)

What would make him happy, however, what would truly make him happy, would be for Spring to come and the birds, insects, animals to return with it. There’s a real wonder in his eyes every time Dante speaks of his travels, and Dorian honestly wants nothing in the world more than to just have a chance to discover and explore what the change of season has to offer.

JEM: I think Jem doesn’t hate kids as much as ey’d like people to think ey does. It does largely depend on eir mood at the time — which can change extremely quickly and without warning — I think ey does occasionally take a little time to mess around. After all, ey’s more or less a bored-slash-angry child in a twenty-two year old’s body. I can imagine em particularly paying attention to orphaned and or enslaved children, and ey did, with unusual speed, take a liking to Isa. I have this mental image of em seeing some lonely little kid sitting by the street, asking them if they’re bored, picking them up on eir shoulders and following market-goers as obnoxiously closely as possible for as long as possible before they notice. Otherwise known as ghosting.

● - Sad headcanon

DORIAN: When he was young, Dorian saw a cuckoo lay its eggs in a host nest, and later on, found the eggs of the hosts cracked and frosty baby birds on the ground while a cuckoo chick chirped in the nest above. Distressed by his discovery, he told anyone around, who happened to be one of his brothers. It didn’t go down well.

JEM: Ey sleeps a lot. Sometimes ey just doesn’t know what to do with emself — when ey’s run out of chores and extra training hours, when eir patrol is finished, when all the salves and herbs are set and stocked, the cat is fed and there is no havoc to be wreaked — ey sleeps. Sometimes ey couldn’t even be bothered causing mischief; at times even coming up with a prank idea is too much. 

♥ - Love headcanon

DORIAN: Certain people and I have come up with certain plans for Dorian’s first real steps into the precarious world of romance, and it’s all very scary and exciting. However, naturally, Dorian doesn’t open up, and whether or not he’ll identify any romantic feelings he has toward anyone as what they are is very well a gamble. But anyway, I speculate that Dorian’s likely the type to be attracted to mystery, like-mindedness, and intellect. In his adulthood, though, I doubt he’ll ever romantically engage with anyone.

JEM: Confession I really want Jem to crush on someone at some point. It would be so hilarious oh dammit. 

Stubborn, I don’t think Jem would ever admit to harbouring any real feelings toward anyone, though I do imagine ey likely tells people ey loves them just to make them uncomfortable. However, I can see it being a bit obvious when ey genuinely has romantic interest in them, once it’s fully fledged. Until then, however, it’s mainly tough-love and bitterness and…shit, Jem’s basically tsundere. A requirement of owning such a label is of course a warm side, though, which I think ey does have. Somewhere. Very small and shrivelled up after years of neglect, but its the side that lets someone curl up to it at night. 

♡ - Sex headcanon

DORIAN: Ha, ha, he’s fifteen. 

Hasn’t had The Talk yet, but is vaguely aware of, well, the concept. However I foresee that Dorian will likely be quite intimidated by the idea of having sex, mostly because of what he will think his magic might do. Take the intimacy out of it and strip the act of its…significance, I suppose, as Dorian is not the sort to take such things lightly.

JEM: Sex repulsed. Covered this here. Really sex repulsed, but not asexual. Represses all sexual urges until they are absolutely obliterated — and linking up with the above, would probably try to suppress romantic feelings as ey associates them with sex. But ey’d fail, I think. Ey’s more sensitive than ey lets on, and I think there is a tiny sliver of eir heart that does want intimacy and understanding.

Ah shit. 

☆ - Appearance headcanon

DORIAN: 5’4 or 163cm, impeccable posture and modest clothing. His general mannerisms and the way he speaks makes him seem older than he really is. He tries to take care of how he looks as best as he can, for various reasons, most notably relating to the maintenance of his image as neat and clean — both things his family are not. His hair is kept quite short; he’d hate it to bother him while working or, worse yet, obscure his vision. 

JEM: 5’10 or 179cm, either walks with a bold, cocky confidence or with a surly sort of prowling slouch. Jem will never be seen without eir cowl on, its shadow dipping over eir mess of brown hair. It is quite rare to see em without eir bag, and a knife is at all times on eir person. Ey does carry a fine sword when necessary, but seldom finds need to use it. Other than that, Jem will usually wear typical Ranger gear, though if ever the occasion arises that ey might don civilian clothing, naturally it is quite androgynous and lacking definition.

☠ - Death headcanon

DORIAN: I don’t know why, but I have always felt as though Dorian is going to die fairly young. Before that, he will grow up. He’ll work perfectly in sync alongside Dante, his perfect complement. He’ll be just as mysterious, too: he’s already doing a fairly good job. No-one will truly know Dorian Bloom. I think he will draw back into himself even further, but will likely attain more of a balance between his morality, intellect, and emotions. I think he’ll become an awful lot more peaceful, but also less engaged in reality — he’ll be so disconnected from the world, yet more connected to it than anyone. Mild, gentle, respectful, much like he is now but a lot less chaotic internally. However, I have always felt that his death will be associated with rebellion of some form. I’m thinking at around age thirty. 

JEM: Considering irony makes up the backbone of Jem’s life, I think it sounds about right that ey might die after taking up an injury — sacrificing emself for someone else. Sound familiar? 

That won’t happen for a long while, though. Not after some serious development. I can see it either when ey’s still twenty-something, or forty or so and tired.

♒ - Family headcanon

DORIAN: He has an aunt that not he, nor his mother, nor any of his siblings know about. Why?

She is like him.

JEM: Jem’s father was fairly poor and certainly illiterate. He met Cat when she dropped a bunch of books and a script for an upcoming play. He helped pick them up and they chatted awkwardly for a moment, before he asked her what all the papers were and soon after made it a goal to guiltlessly spare enough money to see her perform. 

☮ - Friendship headcanon

DORIAN: Haha that moment when your character has no friends. Except Maeve and Dante but they really are more family than friend. He doesn’t even consider Emmeline and Isa as friends. Dorian doesn’t have friends. He doesn’t think he needs them. Doesn’t want them. But the thing is, he could have friends. He really could. If he were to just let people closer, be friendlier, and above all stop exploiting people and lying…he feels guilty for lying and cheating, yet still does so. A lot of what holds him back is that guilt, as well as his trust issues — but again, they more or less stem from the fact that he knows he’s manipulative and can hide it.

JEM:  Depending on eir mood, Jem will either tell you that everyone is eir friend or nobody is. Usually nobody. 

▼ - Childhood headcanon

DORIAN: Everything got so much better after Dante took him in. Dorian, though most of it was consumed by his endless drive to work and the lingering fear that Dante might dismiss him if he grew slack, actually could look fairly fondly back at the later half of his childhood. In a few years he’ll remember it as a time of learning and growth. But in all honesty, it was after Dante took him in that Dorian started to actually feel safe, loved, though his inveterate tendencies toward suspicion and distrust kept him ‘grounded’, as if genuinely being cared for was outrageous. Which, in his neglected heart, it unfortunately was.

JEM: Eir father taught em how to swim and ey loved it, ey loved it so much. Ey’d have to be coaxed sulky and shivering out of the shallows just to get em home in time for dinner, and ey’d always be trying to catch the bugs and fish that swam about the rocks. Eir old man’s warm, broad shoulders made eir throne on the trip back home and ey never felt more grand, though little Jem’s lips were blue and eir skin would certainly be stinging and red the next day. And when the time came, Jem would — and I like to imagine that Tristan found this pretty gross — sit there peeling the film off eir sunburnt back, smugly satisfied all the while. If you were to ask Jem the one thing ey misses most about summer, it would be that feeling.

∇ - Old age headcanon

I don’t think either of them are going to make it to old age. As mentioned, Dorian might make it into his thirties. Jem might make it to forty, if ey’s lucky and not stupid. (Gwenna will grow old, however. Old and happy with grandchildren, if she has her wish.) 

☄ - Food headcanon

DORIAN: He can cook, and does so for Dante when needed. All very simple dishes, nothing very complicated, though such things are likely well within the reaches of his tenacity and willingness to learn. Just doesn’t see an awful lot of point in overextending resources such as time and money in order to prepare particularly fancy meals. He eats like a bird, though. Eats slowly and in little bits, and not much of it either. He has a knack for making basically any quantity of food ‘enough’.

JEM: A surprisingly good cook. I think potatoes are genuinely Jem’s favourite thing, but shoot a deer and chuck the meat into stew and you have one very nostalgic and appreciative Ranger Adair.

★ - Education headcanon

DORIAN: Well, Dante has taught him almost everything he knows regarding their craft — I say ‘almost’ because Dorian did fashion his own masks out of as little as clay, at age seven. However, as has been fairly well established, Dorian learns through observation and careful analysis of observed material. Obviously he also performs research and records information, quite carefully and with dogged determination. He has trouble reading and comprehending written material, yes. But Dorian is more intelligent and has amassed more information than he is capable of describing. 

JEM: No child of Cat Adair’s wouldn’t learn to read — no offence intended, Jay, she’d tell her husband, and he’d say none taken and try to contain his pride while young Jem sounded out the words on the page. Once upon a time, Jem might’ve read occasionally for enjoyment, or to please eir parents, but outside of medically-oriented books nowadays ey does not read unless necessary.

[chestburst]

headcanon: jem talks a lot like eir father, particularly in how ey weights 'l' sounds like 'awright' and 'awready'. obviously eir mother always urged jem to be careful with eir pronunciation and grammar, but ey never seemed to care nor learn. after eir father died, however, ey made a valiant effort, but quickly relapsed into eir normal speech and never stopped.

bonus headcanon: you can tell jem is sad or concerned by the way ey is speaking - but you'd have to know em pretty well

[chestburst]

vilarps replied to your post: au where jem is the princex locked up ...

au where lavinia is said knight, sent to rescue the princex, and forces em down from the tower. Shennanigans ensue

isnt that canon

[chestburst]

au where jem is the princex locked up in the tower and throws heavy things at every approaching knight 

[chestburst]

today i was bored in biology (I had time after the test) and started looking up stuff about salves and poultices and herby healing and stuff. gwenna has made salves in her time, and jem obviously makes them up regularly. anyway, here are just some notes for myself

plaintain (not the banana) is a winner apparently. antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal. good for bites, stings, eczema, psoriasis, poison ivy/oak/sumac, sunburn, rashes, cuts... [x] [x]

can also be made into a tea, which helps with heartburn/indigestion 

needs to be used dried, so that works for Nore setting, seeing as though it wouldn't be growing, and would probably be imported from elsewhere. Sol, i suppose? everything comes from Sol lmao. but yeah no needs to be dry. so that works

olive oil is a pretty core ingredient in most salves. i was thinking about this - olive oil has been around since forever, and grindy olive press things too have been kickin for ages upon ages. at first i was like, shit man, olive oil would be expensive as fuck if it was imported, but it was also such a massive part of medieval cooking apparently. and then i was like, well duh zip, they probably just grow a shit ton of olives off in sol or something and then import them to sell locally in nore. then probably someone makes oil. and rolls in $$$

honeycomb. honeycomb, man. this is hard. this is a tough one. but its an important ingredient, esp. powdered. i imagine you might be able to buy powdered or raw honeycomb off traders, BUT, i reckon it'd be seriously expensive. there's the harvesting -- which can't be particularly safe -- and then importing and its like. lmao. how. but like

tumeric. im gonna guess that tumeric would be a southern isles thing so im gonna take another guess and say that it'd have to go through sol...first...? deserts even? somewhere beyond the deserts? anyway. if you manage to get your hands on it in nore, i think it'd probably cost you a ton. but shit man, it has a lot of uses. 

sprinkle powdered turmeric onto a clean minor cut or scrape, cover with a bandage. antibacterial

shit, even arthritis. anti-inflammatory. but u have to swallow it, and like 400mg a day. 

one tsp powder with milk works as a general whole-body helper. this same mix can also be used with a compress

comfrey is pretty solid. good for poultices and salves. you snip them into a dish, then like boil water over them, mash it up, let it cool, then spread it over the site and cover with bandages. as a salve, bruises, cuts, scrapes, joint and muscle pain.

this site is fantastic.

lemon balm is another versatile herb and i think jem's already used it (?) in eir tea thingy. or maybe that was lemongrass. lemongrass? fuck, i don't remember. one of the two. anyway, unlike comfrey and plantain, it's better for stuff like insomnia, menstrual pains, headaches, colds and flu, fever, digestive ills, even working to calm some anxiety down. it can be made into tea, hot water infusions, tinctures, poultices. [x]

interesting! apparently lemon balm wine shared between two friends is said to have, in folklore, powers to bring about love.  lemon balm in general encourages success, love, healing, and people used to carry a few sprigs around, which is cute as hell.

lemon balm grows throughout summer and into autumn. i imagine it'd grow in sol. god, nore really relies on sol regarding herbs, fruit, vegetables...most plant matter i guess, or whatever can't be grown throughout winter. cattle, even, wouldn't be a go because they need to graze, man, they need to graze. so, dairy would pretty much just be goats. 

i wonder if salves would be available ready made. i suppose they would. i wonder if it'd be cheaper to buy them as they are? maybe in some cases. depends on ingredients and quantity. but i think the more of it is made, the harder it would be to transport, so the price would go up. gee

i think im thinking about this too much

hAHA

[chestburst]

okay ive been thinking a bit about jem things, regarding sexuality

pretty much sex repulsed but not asexual - does get urges and attractions and stuff, but is super super uncomfortable with them

cannot wrap head around the general idea of prostitution? results in looking down on the enslaved. jem cant really fathom being comfortable enough in your own body and with sex to yknow. sell it.

on that note, being comfortable with one's body is a super fuckin foreign concept and jem, being jem, is probably the type to shun it because one, ey doesn't understand, two, ey's uncomfortable and jealous

makes sexual jokes from time to time. probably p much because ey's uncomfortable