#mythic quest

[chrundletheokay]

Poppy gets so excited when her baby starts babbling for the first time, and Ian's like, yeah, but she's not actually communicating. she doesn't really understand you. she just hears you making noises and is making them back.

and Poppy's like, it's funny, because that's exactly how it feels communicating with you sometimes. you're not actually listening, you just hear me making sounds and then start babbling back at me.

[chrundletheokay]

Shannon sees Poppy's baby for the first time, turns to Ian and is like, "huh. looks nothing like you."

and Ian's like, "yeah. there's a reason for that."

[chrundletheokay]

s3 Dana: i'm done working for dysfunctional people

s4 Dana: i want to be that dysfunctional person other people work for

[chrundletheokay]

so many plot bunnies, so little time unmedicated adhd..... i've been thinking about the idea of a fic where Poppy's kid dies, which is such a depressing idea i don't even want to write it. but i think a Poppy Li Grief Fic could allow for some compelling character development, e.g.:

the vulnerability of allowing people to witness your grief.

the inevitability of Ian losing his mind when he sees Poppy struggling, bc Trauma Brain cannot distinguish between Poppy's grief and his mom's depression.

a part of Poppy resents Ian, bc all she wants is her baby back. Ian, meanwhile, threw away his chance to have a relationship with his son. and it strikes Poppy as supremely unfair that The Universe would give someone like Ian a child, and then take hers away.

this also could allow for some Poppy + Shannon interactions, which i love & need more of. unlike Ian, Shannon doesn't try to fix things. she's just... there.

Ian, Creator of Worlds, trying (and failing) to lure Poppy out of her depression hovel and back into the real world with the promise of a new expansion/game to work on: "I’ve invented five different worlds, and Poppy doesn’t want to live in any of them." :(

[chrundletheokay]

Ian sighs. “Poppy.” His tone of voice, one she’s intimately familiar with after all these years, indicates that he’s prepared to lecture her. “I’ve known you for, like, ever. You seriously think all this time, I’ve never seen your legal name written down somewhere?”

“No, but—But you never said anything,” Poppy stammers.

Ian shrugs. “What was I supposed to say? If you tell me your name’s Poppy Li, your name’s Poppy Li,” he says, matter of fact. “I figured if you changed it, you had your reasons; and if you wanted to tell me, you would; and if you didn’t, it was none of my business. Poppy, you are exactly who you say you are.”

[chrundletheokay]

literally no one out here shipping poppy/anthony but me

[chrundletheokay]

i think a huge part of Poppy's struggle in s4 is that Ian has always believed in her in a way that no one else ever has, but Storm sees her in a way Ian never could.

at a certain point, Ian's inability to see her becomes too painful to bear. his inability to understand The Mechanic isn't just about him being dense in general, or ignorant about art specifically, or insufficiently introspective, or struggling with #TheoryOfMind. he specifically doesn't understand The Mechanic because he doesn't understand Poppy. (it's almost like he doesn't understand that Poppy has a complex inner world that doesn't involve him.)

when the issue of her working after the baby is born comes up, it's just "oh, you're Poppy li; you're always working, haha." meanwhile she's been on this whole journey of realizing that her incessant need to work comes from a place of brokenness and pain. (this is something that she and Ian have in common, although he doesn't realize this about himself, either.) Poppy doesn't want to be that person anymore, so it hurts her deeply when Ian says that about her—and says it in such a lighthearted way, almost like it's a joke. he sees what's on the surface—that she's always been working—but doesn't realize that she's been in pain this whole time. (and maybe part of that is on Poppy! because as much as she criticizes Ian's inability to be vulnerable, imo, she's worse than he is.)

but Storm gets it! he helped bring her vision to life. he helped her express herself and that pain she was feeling. he's encouraging her to change—to develop a personal life, to broaden her horizons and do things outside of Mythic Quest (like art), and to take time off from work. so when Ian hurts her yet again, of course she'd rather go be in the Netherlands with Storm. he sees her. and things are just easy with him.

[chrundletheokay]

i still can't believe poppy said "fuck you" to jake the dog.