runedwriting
i am working on the assumption that cloud remembers EVERYTHING about the memory stuff, but has made no indication to sephiroth in game that he does and has been keeping his distance
i also decided that the story about 'luca' is going to be from a children's storybook that actually doesn't get off the west continent where nibelheim is very often, so it's kind of a local thing
'luca' is a silver-white nibel wolf, who is shunned by the pack for sticking out like a sore thumb. the pack tells him that he's an eyesore and a threat to hunting because he can't blend in and chase him out
luca wanders around almost starving until he finds a little chocobo chick; the mother was killed and eaten but the baby hid, but now it's also starving. it'll make an easy dinner for luca, but instead of killing it luca had respect for its ability to blend into its surroundings, something he could never do
the pack tries to go after the chocobo luca's been living with and luca protects it, but when it looks like luca's going to die from his wounds the chocobo ends up kicking up a huge fuss, attracting the dragon, then pulling luca up onto its back and running away while the dragon eats the wolves
and the end, lesson of the story is that predators will eat anything if they're hungry enough, prey animals aren't always helpless, and maybe if you're nice to people they'll kill your old toxic family for you
lmao for any future tags along the "go to therapy or I'm telling april" line I should say the thing april's gonan say donnie should do for her is to GO TO THERAPY
don: yeah this big lug i almost ran over in my car is gonna let me take his blood. medically. not bc of a car accident. yeah he's ok i guess but otherwise w/e, im not a fan of these bending ppl, toph was such a little bastard, so bolin: don't geniuses have projects? can you tell me about them? don: Actually, he should have more civil rights than most people
OH YEAH
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IE the therapy sessions...obv gonna thread out the first meeting but since it's been a while...... entirely my fault......can we establish a general idea of what they've looked like since then?
i also don't know anything about cad beyond what we've threaded but i assume he would be like "ok.....getting to the vulnerability for this kid is going to take a while, so....i will work on getting him to trust/like me first"?? or am i off base
prrrrobably um. i'll have to think it over, donnie is probably the worst/most resistant he'll ever have come across as far as known canon goes. i think a primary focus is for him to try and work on stubbornness and the whole "i am the only one who knows anything/the smartest/etc"
like uhh, more like. "i know you think you're right but you're wrong" in a very gentle way, or more like "i see what you're saying, can you explain to me how your world works?"
bc like. cad is high wisdom low int. donnie is high int low wisdom. they are polar opposites. and cad can be like ok im obviously not as smart as you. but i know a lot of things about people you probably don't. we're smart in different ways. basically everyone has a different expertise than you, so how is it that you know better than everyone exactly
im working rn but during lunch and after work i can see if i can find a few examples of the therapy/counselling shit he does in canon that might help us both
i think with don its that when it comes to his feelings specifically, it's not that he thinks he knows himself or how he feels better than everybody else; i think it's more that he knows he DOESN'T understand himself or how emotions work, so he tends to write it off as not important to him. so what if he's sad sometimes. that shit goes away after a while
so things with staying power (like ptsd) are far, far beyond his capabilities to handle.
like, he has enough EQ to know that there is something very, very wrong with him bc the sad/scared/angry isn't getting fixed, but because he has 0 tools on how to deal with it, he takes the Papa approach of fixing your environment and avoiding it otherwise
but he full up will admit that april knows his feelings better than he does and somehow knows how to make him feel better when he can't do it himself through external means (eat/drink, dubsyep, violence), so he is aware to some degree that he's stepping directly into unknown waters here
cad has REALLY good emotional instincts and a mad good ability to read people, so it's entirely possible that as things went on he could make some solid guesses on how donnie felt or is feeling too
i don't think he'd be rude or dismissive to cad like "lmao ur a fake doctor and what you do doesnt work"; partially bc april WILL kill him but mostly because he's like sure, ok. mikey loves that talking shit bc that works for him. i am obviously different and it won't work on me from a stranger, only april can read me so we are just wasting everybody's time
after the first few 20+ insight checks don will be like "ok so i guess ur psychic or smth. what is my fav color" and cad goes......purple, kiddo and don goes WHO TOLD- oh ha I'm wearing it. Well! i very you can't guess my favorite drink!
i will need to be extra diligent about putting physical and environmental cues in my narrative stuff for cad when we thread bc donnie cannot lie but he is unintentionally a HUGE liar
i wonder how it would work on someone who isn't aware they're "lying" 🤔 like, if someone goes "I'm not depressed" because they genuinely don't think they are, but in reality they just haven't realized it, how would they be compelled to answer??
it's not a total catch all (it's only level 2) but it prevents deliberate lies. so its pretty good for evasion since if someone is being evasive, even if ZoT doesn't catch someone cad's insight usually can
i don't know what would be funnier, don being like "haha I'm scared all the time...... what" or don being like "i don't think it's that bad I'm pretty sure I'm just a little paranoid???" and cad internally being like dear god he believes that......why am i not charging for this again
actually if cad was like "can we try something? I'll cast a spell zone of truth; it'll make both of us answer truthfully, so we can ask each other questions and know we can trust what the other person says" donnie would absolutely go for it 🤔 i mean he'd go "lmao magic??? ok but jsyk only my mom can do real actual magic, go ahead tho"
yeah its optional to just agree to fail the save and accept the spell! cad never really lies anyway so thats the most likely thing he'd try if he noticed donnie dancing around answers hed suggest that
im also asking bc i wanted to see if they could get to a point where donnie would go into cad's inbox like "my little brother is here safe but I'm still not sleeping. which is obviously incorrect" with the unasked request of 'please help me fix this idk what I'm doing'
ok last one but this is a really good summary with a bunch of excellent quotes and explains how he does his shit super well. and ill circle back to everything you said and think.
theres a section of that video where he talks about trent and how cad handles him and the mention of them being opposites (INT versus WIS) made me go YEAH THAT (except trent is evil and donnie is not, its just a way of thinking about certain things logically)
NO but that is to trent lmfao. but that part is trent invites them all to dinner and he was caleb's abusive former master and spends the ENTIRE dinner going on and on about his methods and how cool and powerful he is (tbh i forget a lot of what he said but cad was super quiet throughout) and cad gives him a lil farewell monologue that is like
i do have concerns tho; i don't know the trent char so i assume he's just a bastard thru and thru, but im nervous that don's low empathy might uhhh come off very badly to someone as highly empathetic as cad
oh no no. it wasnt trent's lack of empathy but his entire demeanor was legit supervillain degree. it'd be like comparing donnie to avengers-era loki. hes a psycho
cad can recognize low empathy. they dont always get along (nott in his party is pretty low empathy and they're not FRIENDS but he knows shes not a bad person)
like donnie can come across as an uncaring asshole but the fact that rue loves him is enough for cad to go "theres something to this kid so lets see where it goes"
i don't like to play donnie like HE'S AUTISTIC!!! HEY EVERYBODY JUST SO YOU KNOW I PLAY HIM ON THE SPECTRUM. HEY SO HE'S AUTISTIC because that's just bad writing, but it is helpful when trying to understand his personality
also bc i don't want to fall into the opposite trap of infantilizing him BECAUSE he's low-emp and/or bc he's on the spectrum. "uwu poor baby just doesn't understand cues don't you feel so badly for him" no because being low empathy isn't the same as being unable to love
donnie has a pretty different love language but with people he doesnt care for he doesnt really bother much, whereas family and such get attention/thought?
empathy is literally just being able to identify with or understand someone else's feelings in a particular situation, without being explicitly told or bearing witness to like, a screaming sobbing fit or smth. empathy can sometimes influence action afterwards but not always
even if you see donnie not caring abt someone else's problems in canon, he still goes along with whatever his brothers/april decides, even if he thinks its dumb or doesn't make sense. in fact most of the time he does it without complaint
i had him mention this to rue once but i think donnie is very aware of his difficulties with empathizing and as such has elected to take cues from his family in those matters, but he specifically said to rue that he's worried that his family doesn't think he loves them very much
he knows he's different and comes off as rude or standoffish and while he doesn't want to change himself to "fix" those things (bc he is of the opinion they don't need fixing and personally i agree), he does worry how it affects his relationships
if all or any of this came up cad would point out that worrying about this sort of thing is a sign of love, and ask if he's checked w/ them how they feel and/or what they see as signs of love from him to them
so while he's not an intentionally cruel person or an asshole (unless he's doing it on purpose to be antagonistic), a lot of times not automatically empathizing with someone can be seen as such. tbh its probs very lucky they grew up isolated from society bc society really chews up low-empathy autistic ppl and spits them back out
cad is all about open communication. if donnie needs guidelines and reassurance, the best course of action is to give him some tips on how to communicate to get the emotional answers he might be seeking
and if the answer is like, "idk we just know" that can lead to a line of questioning like ok how do OTHER people show you they love you, and he can compile a checklist and see what options could mesh with his own comfort level
cad: you said you used to dislike peter? how did that change don: i found out he has anxiety and me stating what I'm thinking clarifies for him so he doesn't get nervous cad: do you think that might work for casey? don: no he said he doesnt have anxiety cad: but maybe he still wants to know for clarity don:
eg. rue is shown and shows love with like, handholds and kisses and hugs and maybe donnie is not always comfy with that!! tactile! too much touching! but sometimes he can hold their hand and rue feels love by not being alone so maybe he can go to their house more and like, write his code shit in their sewing room
oh yeah but they've talked about that first, don is just a dumb stupid kid who forgets how useful EXTREMELY FRANK DISCUSSION can be. he's also very literal and frank to the point of perceived rudeness with rue sometimes
might be interesting to discuss- one of cads way of showing love is also gift giving, its a huge part of how he serves the world and those around him. but his gifts focus more on serving the other person, but sometimes in canon donnies "gifts" are more self serving
so something to explore could be like, ok what sort of gifts are you giving to show love, eg (as an example i know but cad would need to be told) you built an arm for leo, its helped him, but youre also trying to figure out making an eye for raph but he doesnt seem to want it? is it for you or for him et
its so funny in context, you don't find out until like 2 years later but when the 3 cup comment happened, he got super fucking high LAST NIGHT and hallucinated the campaign's endgame plot
i think what also could be interesting is cad grew up with an incredibly healthy attitude about death and goodbyes and donnie doesnt know how to let go of anybody ever
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sorry im in a zakkura mood but like. "Lore, to be precise! It even says so on a small metal plaque, attached near the firing mechanism: "Connection is one's true ammunition." Find a fellow Star Child and start chatting! The more meaningful the conversation, the grander the magic ball one may blast at the pirates with the cannons."
cloud and zack like "i can't live without you anymore" and they kiss and then they fire cannons at another sky pirate ship......................cloud hates thirteen and he's missing aerith so much it's like he's bleeding every day but. he has zack and zack has him. and fighting sky pirates is. very so cool
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btw if you wanted to do a mikleo thread for FM lmk. i don't think i'll TL with sorey after all, so i'm going to try and get his post up tomorrow
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: LMAO honestly maybe casey should be uhhh below deck bc donnie is going to shove him and yell and be furious but probably not punch him? but definitely say shit that casey would throw him over the railing for
both to use against donnie and also to find ways to safeguard it being used on himself
bolin: don't geniuses have projects? can you tell me about them?
don: Actually, he should have more civil rights than most people
like, he has enough EQ to know that there is something very, very wrong with him bc the sad/scared/angry isn't getting fixed, but because he has 0 tools on how to deal with it, he takes the Papa approach of fixing your environment and avoiding it otherwise
don:
don:
cad: have you tried asking them up front if they know how you feel
don: no, why
cad: so that YOU know
don:
don: i found out he has anxiety and me stating what I'm thinking clarifies for him so he doesn't get nervous
cad: do you think that might work for casey?
don: no he said he doesnt have anxiety
cad: but maybe he still wants to know for clarity
don:
also me: but what if they were a little fucked up about each other also