#I’ll probably make another post about this because I find it so fascinating

[feelingtheaster99]

When your parents pick up up after the first day of your freshman year of high school during which you got attacked by corn monsters, witnessed five people die, two of whom were kids your age (which despite them eventually being resurrected is still incredibly traumatic), one of whom you accidentally killed in self defense (and as they died they have a speech about how it was YOUR FAULT, sending you into a panic attack), and two of whom died in a murder-suicide to resurrect your newfound friends… but your parents are mad at you because:

You are SLEEVELESS

You defended yourself using your martial prowess (instead of magic)

You got detention

[smokestarrules]

Why Caleb & Evelyn’s Absence is Good Writing

So if you don’t know me, I’m a big fan of Caleb and Evelyn (Clawthorne. Because I’m sure). I’m fascinated with their story -- I wrote an entire fic about them in 2022 before we even knew Evelyn’s name -- and I find them both incredibly interesting considering what is both shown about them and not. Despite that, I had a feeling that neither of them would make an appearance in Watching and Dreaming, and I was right. 

Understandably so, some people were disappointed with that decision, that they were hoping for an entire flashback scene or something close to it. But while that also appeals to me -- oh my god does it appeal to me -- I also really enjoy the intangibility of it all. 

So, I have three reasons as to why I like that Caleb and Evelyn didn’t show up again, which I’ll go through in no particular order. The rest of this post will be under a cut because it’ll probably get pretty lengthy. 

1) Haunting The Narrative

Half of Caleb and Evelyn’s intrigue comes from the fact that in the end, we really  don’t know all that much about them. Everything that we do know is from second-hand accounts at best and the rest of their story is up to your own singular interpretation; we only know the bare bones of their tale, but at the same time, they’re both extremely monumental to the main plot of the show. 

They’re hardly ever shown centered on-screen (in Evelyn’s case, never), and again, despite their huge impact on the characters and world even 400 years later, it’s part of their charm that... they’re mysterious. You’re not meant to know much about them, not meant to perceive them as normal characters. Caleb never speaks in the show, Evelyn hardly even appears, and in the end, they’re not meant to be understood. 

Caleb seems to have undergone some semblance of a redemption, but that’s only alluded to considering how he ends up dead; the implied is everything, and getting a concrete answer would, in my opinion, ruin part of what makes this story so fascinating. 

Of course, the biggest argument I’ve seen against this idea is that casual viewers of the show, the ones who don’t care about combing the background of Hollow Mind for lore about Emperor Belos’ big brother, will be confused without the lack of context. And... I disagree. 

Sure, maybe some people haven’t seen the portraits from Hollow Mind, but they’ve certainly seen Caleb when Gus went through Philip’s mind in King’s Tide. Maybe they missed the book about Grimwalkers in Labyrinth Runners, but they definitely caught Caleb in Philip’s diary during Elsewhere and Elsewhen. Then, in Thanks to Them, there’s an entire scene in which Masha very kindly gives an entire summary on the topic, tipping off both the main characters and anyone else in the audience who may be confused. 

The story’s all there, both in the background and in the forefront of the show, and it’s weaved in so beautifully that it’s hard for me to believe that anyone would see Caleb in For the Future (of which is a scene I will be talking about soon) and have absolutely no idea who he is. 

So in the end, I think having a more clear understanding of the going-ons that set everything into motion would be almost doing a disservice to the fans who have spent their time piecing things together and it’s also not really necessary in the first place. It’d be nice, and I’m sure I would have gone even more insane with more to analyze, but with the way this show has always portrayed Caleb and Evelyn, them fading into obscurity in the final episode just seems... fitting. 

2) Philip Doesn’t Really Deserve Closure

It’s a simple fact: Philip Wittebane is kind of a fucked-up guy. 

Besides a flashback scene, another idea for a potential Caleb and Evelyn appearance that I saw tossed around most was this: it’s the end, Philip’s about to be defeated, and in the interim, he sees his brother one last time. 

Either he’s given forgiveness or not, Caleb being present at his lowest moment would undoubtedly mean something to Philip; over the centuries he’s spent a significant amount of time trying to remake his brother -- to make him better -- and no matter how you feel about him, Philip is a tortured soul. Perhaps Caleb could help him accept his inevitable death, perhaps he could have one last chance for Philip to have a moment of genuine vulnerability. 

He’d die with the ghost of his brother and the ghost of his brother’s wife looking over him, and he’d die content... maybe. 

Or you can go the other route: 

On the other hand, maybe Philip goes to his death kicking and screaming the whole way, with Caleb and Evelyn staring him down as he’s ultimately annihilated for good. The tale of two brothers is over, and while Caleb is the one who perished first, centuries ago now, it’s Philip who is undoubtedly the one who loses in the end. 

The last thing Philip sees is his brother’s hateful, tired face, and he dies with that image. 

Of course, that’s the one that sounds better to me; Philip is not a villain you could ever redeem (a cruel upbringing will not excuse everything) and to even make an attempt at it would feel cheap and be completely unaligned with ToH’s core values, which actively (and correctly) condemn people like him. 

The problem with both of these ideas, different as they are, is that both of them give Philip a sense of closure that he simply does not deserve to have been rewarded with. Either way, he knows for sure how his brother would feel about him -- or, at the very least, how he believes his brother should feel about him -- and it’s just that, the knowing, that rubs me the wrong way. 

In the end, the last time Philip sees his brother is in this scene in For the Future, and it’s safe to say that there’s no actual closure or anything close to it here. Whether or not you believe this is actually Caleb or just Philip hallucinating him (personally I subscribe to the latter), it doesn’t really matter because the idea stays the same. 

Philip spends this scene snarling curses at his unyielding brother -- who seems to be, notably, his younger self, given his hair length -- while also actively melting away in front of his eyes. Philip is the one who’s alive, Philip is the one who (he believes) is on the right side of history, and yet Philip is also the one on his knees, his entire body disintegrating slowly due to his own choices. 

As the episode continues, it’s shown that Philip is seeing Caleb and the other Grimwalkers that he’s likely killed as well, and they’re clearly more of a taunt to his already-collapsing mental state than anything else. Again I reassert my opinion that they’re not actually there, that they’re simply Philip hallucinating in one of his weakest moments yet, and because of that, there is no answer given. 

They stare; he tells them to “Shut up” and they don’t react in the slightest. They watch and they stare and they dare him to care about them in any way and the entire scene is just... a precipice. Eventually they disappear for good, and Philip moves on without even trying to process this phenomenon. 

Basically what I'm saying is that Caleb appearing in Philip’s last moments would give him too much credit. And that actually leads us right into the final point I want to make, which is this: 

3) Caleb Wasn’t Actually That Important To Philip 

In the long run, at the very least. 

Now hear me out. When I say ‘important’, I don’t mean that what happened with Caleb didn’t have long-lasting effects on Philip, because that’s simply not true; otherwise, my entire last point would be meaningless. Obviously, it’s Caleb (and to a lesser extent, Evelyn) who can be credited with initially setting Philip down this path; Caleb was probably the most stable thing in Philip’s early life, and losing him in a way that felt like abandonment -- and then killing him -- is undoubtedly something that would stick with you for a lifetime, 400 years or not. 

But Caleb’s death is also largely an excuse. 

Much in the same way that “saving humanity” is an excuse for Philip to commit the atrocities he does, Caleb’s betrayal pushing him towards that path and his subsequent attempts at bringing him back are also an excuse. 

Here’s the thing: if Philip was genuinely passionate about remaking his brother -- but better -- then he’d care about the Grimwalkers more than he does. If Philip actually considered every Grimwalker a potential Caleb that he could just fix, then he would not have been able to dispose of them so coldly. There’s dozens of their corpses piled under the Skull, yet he only even commits to memory a rare few. Even Hunter, the closest to Caleb a Grimwalker’s ever gotten, was given a Sigil! A Sigil, which tells me that no matter what, no matter how perfect Hunter may have turned out, Philip was never going to let him survive the Day of Unity. 

True, there’s definitely a part of Philip that hates the Grimwalkers because they can’t be Caleb, at least not in the way he thinks he needs (which is impossible, but I digress) there’s also a part that I think is just... carrying on because this is what he’s done for the past few centuries. It’d feel like giving up on himself to give up on the prospect of having Caleb beside him again, but there’s no passion anymore. 

In the end, I think Papa Titan said it best:

“...That man doesn’t care about anything but his need to be the hero in his own delusion.” 

That’s exactly it. Philip believes himself as the hero of the story, as someone who’s been suffering for centuries but will one day finally get the ending that he deserves. He goes through all of this not because he wants to go home and not because he wishes he could return to the life he and his brother once had, but because he so desperately wants to believe in the delusion that he is a person doing all the things he does for good. 

You don’t live for over 400 years working towards a singular moment without at least having the thought that maybe what you’re doing is incorrect. But Philip has never let those supposed doubts stop him, and by the time the series is ending, nothing matters except his goal -- to see the destruction of every last witch and demon on the Boiling Isles.  

Which is why, in this final scene of his, there’s not a single mention of his brother. His brother, who he’s spent the last 400 years trying to save; his brother, who, by learning to be better, essentially kickstarted Philip’s entire goal, but it became so twisted so quickly as Philip subconsciously decided that he was the only one who could ever fix things. 

To put it simply: Philip’s only ever been concerned with himself. His idea of morality, his vision of the Boiling Isles, his opinions on the witches that live there. Nothing else matters; Caleb is a crutch to fall back on and so is the idea that Philip’s saving anyone, it’s all just more vindication to feed into his hero complex, because he’s the only one that really matters. He’s human and Luz is human and so they’re redeemable, but he stopped seeing Caleb as human the moment he saw him with Evelyn. 

In the end, I feel as if it’s almost safe to say that Caleb and Evelyn as constructs are more important to the all-encompassing plot than they are to Philip specifically; they set him on his path, sure, but his descent into madness almost feels inevitable, death of his brother or not. He blames his own misfortune on them, and the fact that they're never quite seen makes Philip’s villainous qualities that much more emphasized, I think. 

Overall, I loved Watching and Dreaming and I loved ToH and I think the characters of Caleb and Evelyn are some of the most haunting I’ve ever encountered, literally and metaphorically. 

Their story is largely up in the air, but it still gets told, you just have to look for it. That's their charm, that’s why they’re interesting to me, and that’s why I am content with getting the amount we got of them. 

[dear-wormwoods]

Rising from the dead to express a thought I had at the gym the other day while listening to IT again. I don’t know if anyone is still around to read this, and this post will probably be a bit incoherent, but - here it goes:

Okay, so we all know that Eddie feels a ‘rot’ inside him and that’s why he relates to the leper and goes back to Neibolt to put himself in the leper’s shoes before IT shows up.

I’ve written about this a few times over the years, so I don’t need to get too deep into it, but Eddie’s fascination with Neibolt only begins after he finds out that the leper doesn’t actually have leprosy but syphilis, at least according to Richie, and that the STD can be transmitted between men, not just men and women. It’s only then that his experience with the hobo transforms from a scary encounter with sexual overtones to something he identifies with in a way that’s confusing to him. He takes the feeling of ‘badness’ he’s had his whole life (see: church/toilet anecdote and shoplifting sign anecdote) and applies it to something he can actually visualize - physical rot, like he witnessed on the leper. He subconsciously associates the sexual nature of the leper’s disease with his own feelings - the rot is tied to sexuality, which IT used to target Eddie. The reason all this is relevant to THIS post is that Eddie is never able to express his thoughts and feelings in a way that is helpful or healing for him - he spends his entire life subconsciously repressing his sexuality, and thus is never able to rid himself of that ‘rotting from the inside’ feeling.

Which brings me to the scene I want to actually write about: the scene where Bill and Richie talk about Georgie’s death.

Like Eddie, Bill is weighed down by something rotting inside him - his feeling of guilt over Georgie’s death and thinking he’s responsible because he’s the one who made the paper boat. Unlike Eddie, Bill is able to voice his feelings, and voicing them allows him to let them go. He unloads on Richie, and subsequently receives some comfort, albeit not the best comfort because Richie is not very nurturing. Specifically, Bill feels clean after that release, which I’ll come back to in a bit.

On the same page, still on the subject of Georgie, Bill expresses that maybe Georgie didn’t know that Bill never meant for him to die, to which Richie responds:

This idea that death is like a window and everything becomes clear when you die, including knowing what others think and feel, seems like a relatively unimportant line at first glance. It definitely seems like Richie is making shit up - the closest line I could find to what he’s talking about is in Corinthians I, but that verse isn’t about death, it is about love and doesn’t mention any windows, only a mirror. Richie is just talking out of his ass. To be honest, I never paid this quote any mind any other time I’ve read or listened to the book. This time it jumped out to me because —

The concept returns upon Eddie’s death! Now, obviously Eddie’s death is incredibly important and meaningful because it symbolizes self acceptance in his last moments, but I never realized before that the window imagery had come up in the text previously.

As Eddie’s dying, both the ‘clean’ feeling Bill felt and the clarity Richie described come into play. This is the first time in Eddie’s life that he feels the ‘impurities’ leaving him. His death is cleansing him of his rot, allowing him to accept himself in a way he never has before. In addition, he’s able to see through a clear window and bask in the light of it, which, if what Richie said is true, means that he now has a true understanding of what others think and feel about him. This adds another layer to Eddie’s death that I never realized before - he is suddenly aware that the other Losers love and accept him for who he is, because he has that death clarity, and not only does that allow him to let go of his own pain and confusion (the rot), it almost allows him to voice his own feelings.

Richie loves him. The other Losers do too, but Richie is the one talking to him, the one he’s looking at in this moment, the one whose face he touches before he dies. He wants to voice his own love, because now that he’s let go of his self doubt he finally CAN, but dies before he’s able to.

The full Corinthians verse Richie MAY have been referring to before is often read at weddings:

Now, Richie was obviously inventing shit when he was comforting Bill, but there is something to be said for this verse re: Eddie’s death. It was not just about self acceptance, it was about accepting love from others and giving it in return.

After the fight is over, after ‘but he knew well enough’, when the Losers are back outside, this moment occurs:

Love overcomes everything, it’s the only thing that lasts, the thing that allows for full clarity and ‘knowing’.

All this dot connecting is to say that Eddie was going to say ‘you know I love you’, not ‘you know I hate that’.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

More replies! Related to our posts from yesterday + a couple of JadeSil ones from a while ago.

Anonymous asked:

I guess Sebek will be annoyed on waking up in the morning with Silver only to realized animals are around.

lol yeah, imagine falling asleep with Silver and waking up to that one scene from Bambi where all the animals greet the new prince. Things Sebek has to get used to….

hipsterteller asked:

Welp at least they didn’t find a skeleton

You mean… under the birdies?! Spooky..!

Anonymous asked:

Poor Jamil can't catch a break even at clubs.. (he secretly loves it, don't tell anyone lol he's shy)

- basketball poly asker

(this is related to a reply from yesterday)

Yeeeah, it’s probably better for Jamil when he gets pestered by these boys: this way he gets to have some action but also don’t proactively seek it out lol But of course the thought itself would never occur to Jamil! It’s all his subconscious mind.

Anonymous asked:

Hehe...imagine Azul seeing Jamil and Ace together. Another jealously alert. Even better, Jamil, Ace, and Floyd together.

Azul would get jealous with anyone who gets close to Jamil probably lol So with Ace it would be the same scenario as it is with Ruggie: he’s confused about Jamil’s choice and tries to win him over.

And with Floyd, well, Azul would just have to shut up and be patient and hope that Floyd gets bored of Jamil… because if he tells Floyd to stop, Floyd is just going to cling to Jamil even more :(

Anonymous asked:

Hi! I’m that JadeSil shipper from that one ask, is it okay if you can give some hcs on how would Silver’s first time would go if it was with Jade?

+

Anonymous asked:

I have Jade/Sil brainrot after seeing some other people talk about it…(and totally not because I am dirty minded)

What if one day Silver was eating Mushroom Risotto but it had a “special” mushroom (courtesy of Jade)  which had an aphrodisiac-like effect. Silver eventually asks Jade for help on why he feels so weird…and you can imagine how the rest goes

Sorry it took me so long to reply, Anon! Or are you two different Anons..? In any case, I’m sorry for taking so much time and for not giving a satisfying answer: since these two aren’t a ship we’re very invested in, even though we like it in theory, I won’t come up with any headcanons, but I’ll share my thoughts…. Because when I started to think about their first time, the setup I came up with was pretty much the same as what was mentioned in this second ask lol

Since the main theme/motif of their relationship that I always think about is mushrooms, I think the whole thing will start with Jade’s fascination with Silver’s appetite for mushrooms and his appreciation of them. And for a very long time, he would simply feed him without adding anything suspicious to it, but then he’ll notice just how good Silver is at describing the differences between different kinds of mushrooms Jade uses for the risotto. So of course he’s going to be tempted to feed him a “special mushroom”…

Poor Silver would be so conflicted. He never expected to get poisoned, and Jade seems deeply concerned as well… but is he really?  And would Jade really make such a mistake?

So yeah, long story short, Silver’s instinct would probably be to try to get back to his room and hide there until he gets better, but the poison is too strong, and with all his actions and words being just a big blur, he’ll end up having sex with Jade.

Jade is going to be surprised y Silver though, because while he knows that a lot of what’s going on is due to aphrodisiac (that was the whole idea), some of the things just seemed way too “natural”: Silver’s body is clearly used to having intense and lengthy sex, his movements are very intentional and he even has some noticeable preferences. Silver wouldn’t say a word during their first time (he just couldn’t articulate – he was too aroused), but his body language spoke volumes. Jade would probably be quite intrigued by him…

(whoops I guess I wrote it in a way that it isn't Silver's first time, I just noticed that...sorry!!)

[effervescentism]

I have… so many thoughts about Harry Potter it’s actually embarrassing so I’ll be spewing them here 🫶

FOR REFERENCE: Fuck (is cursing bad here??) JKR. Her ideology is shit and I hate her but I will be talking about HP because the character building is decent and interesting to build off of

With that in mind: Tom Riddle & Voldemort (I’m separating them since I will talk about both differently)

TOM RIDDLE: Honestly Tom is one of the most interesting characters in HP solely because of the information given about him. The only time we see him in childhood is completely through Dumbledore (who I don’t hate but definitely is a capital b biased person that I also wanna explore in another post but).

The memories mostly comprase of the whole wardrobe on fire scene (awful way of introducing magic to a child btw) and Tom’s penchant for stealing items from children at Wools Orphanage and harming Billy’s rabbit as revenge. For me, this set the scene as a child that is trying to gain and find power wherever and however, possible. I think that his experience in Wools formed him into a Survior, willing to do anything to find power he feels he was deserved. We also see this kind of behavior when he goes to Hogwarts, forms the Knights, and so forth. This blatant disregard for everyone around him and his singlemindness to get to the top does kind of resonate of ASPD (Anti-social personality disorder) to me (not like a medical professional so take lightly).

I do think that Dumbledore’s whole thing about Amortentia and unable to feel love is kind of B.S. because it feels like a cheap way to say that he was doomed from the beginning. It doesn’t make sense considering how would it even work to create a child incapable of feeling just love? (Weirdo magic thing probably since potions usually aren’t based on a lot of logic) but you would think that it would be illegal, not just banned at Hogwarts if creating it in the first place if that’s a possible side effect. It seems like an excuse of why Dumbledore fundamentally thought something was wrong with him even as a small child (more of dumbledore’s rigid thinking). Also, there was little to no mental health services in the world as far as aware- especially in 1930s it was greatly unlikely that either world would have any access to them. This makes Tom’s conditions, whether it be a mental disorder or just traumatic issues from growing up feeling unwanted and both of his parents gone, difficult to understand especially for a man terrified of making the same mistakes from his youth.

Only other information that we have is from the diary, which does not actually reveal a lot about his exact life or memories. We can see that he is clearly a charming, influential person, although some of the influence might be a side effect from the horcruxes nature, and we see that he obviously knows how to manipulate people and get what he wants. He has a clear blood bias that we see, and he also clearly detest being a half blood in contexts when he talks about his “filthy” muggle father. He also seems to kind of have a superiority complex that only gets further in as he goes farther in the horcrux path, (greatest wizard of all time, etc). Although it’s assumed that he’s already created his first horcrux and the after effect is the diary, but we actually don’t know. I do wonder if this kind of overly confident shade of him was done after he split his soul in a two or if it was him naturally.

He also, has this clear fear of death that is why he created the horcrux assumably, but this is likely onset by the blitz and his want to stay at Hogwarts full-time (which is such an interesting parallel between him and Harry it’s obvious that they are supposed to be parallel characters, but the direct comparison between two scared children is truly fascinating and how dumbledore deals with it is eye-opening).

All that I have talked about are most of the actual facts surrounding Tom Riddle and his youth, but I also do have opinions. It’s clear that because of his Muggle-sounding name (riddle isn’t on the pure blood 28 list and likely not recognizable to purebloods) that he was probably treated badly in his first years before he could gain real power (from his studies and his heritage). I do wonder what he did if there was people that did that to him? Did he try to take revenge on them, or did he just rely on the fact that he is superior to them (in insert ways) so he cannot be harmed by them. 

What i find interesting, that I feel like a lot of fans misinterpret, is his personal beliefs. It’s assumed that he hated muggles & muggleborns to an extent, he talks about filthy Muggles, blood purity, and all of his politics hinge around those ideals. He clearly goes with pureblood ideology, and he leads a pseudo cult that is about exterminating muggles & muggleborns from society. But, he is a halfblood. which makes me wonder what was his true reason for doing all of this. Since to truly believe these ideals, he would have to consider himself lower than purebloods, something that he would never do. Was it for power, a mix of both or did he just kind of turn insane after too many splitting of a fundamental part of him? Also ends up working with multiple magical creatures, such as werewolves, and dementors making me believe either that was a false agreement, or he believes them to be semi-equals, which is also contradictory to the rest of the pure blood beliefs. It’s a question I can’t answer but undoubtably his blood & origin makes a major impact on his decisions, especially regarding Halloween and the prophecy.

Overall, he is a fascinating character to examine in his youth, and although I think we make too much distinction between him and Voldemort, since they are truly two sides of the exact same coin and acting like they are different people is smoke and mirrors, I feel that if we don’t distinct between them, we will lose a lot of interesting discussions. Tom did make the decision to split his soul, but did he actively participate in some of the stuff father along when more horcruxs were made? Or was that only Voldemort? When does the line between Tom riddle and Voldemort begin to blur and when does it fade? Ultimately, Tom is a good jumping point to wonder about choices in life. For how much emphasis Dumbledore places on the power of love, I truly think choices and decisions ruled the difference between Harry and Tom because they were in essence so so similar yet so different and that’s what makes me interested in the both of them.

if any of you liked this one, I’ll do dumbledore and Voldemort (or I’ll do it out of my own volition when I get too bored lmao)

[covenofthearticulate]

*breaks in through your window*

AIR CATCHER 2 PLEASE

WIP Titles

ehehehehehe YEEEAAAHHHHH this one is a long time in the making— I had originally wanted to do a one-year anniversary celebration and post a follow up fic on the same day, but since June is right around the corner there’s no way I’m going to make it LOL but I’ll gush about it anyway!!!

I really am interested in an Air Catcher sequel that in some ways mirrors the same plot beats of the original except Louis’ and Lestat’s roles are switched, so it’s Louis experiencing a bit of sub drop and Lestat experiencing top drop. Idk like it seems like a straightforward sort of premise, just a classic dom/sub scene, but I’m just never not fascinated by Louis and Lestat’s power dynamic and how they are constantly finding new ways to save each other and also to fail one another.

I think Lestat’s relationship to power is incredibly tricky, and given the context of their previous relationship, Louis’ decision to lend that power to him is also tenuous at times. To me, the stakes are actually much higher in this dynamic simply because Lestat has hurt Louis so many times in the past (that's not to say Louis hasn't hurt him as well but...[insert standard Abusive Relationship Acknowledgement/Disclaimer Here]). So on the one hand, I'm imagining this incredibly overwhelming scene where their communication is probably terrible and they trust one another but they have an enormous amount of baggage. But on the other hand, I also really want to explore what it might look like for them to experience the high that leads to the sub drop in the first place!! Especially since the original fic was written in that sort of period where human sex is still fairly novel, like I want to really dig in to the idea of Lestat learning what drives Louis crazy, how to really push him and get him past the point of logical thought and into that sub space to begin with!!!

ANYWHO I don't have a snippet because I haven't started writing it lmfao I'm still braindead from all the brain cells I dedicated to Open Wide but this has been on my docket for a long time so I'm really hoping to at least get it started soon!!!!

[three-semicolons]

I wish this fandom cared more about Aang.

I love every single character in A:TLA. In fact, I don’t think I have a favorite or least favorite character because all are balanced so well. But there are floods of video essays about Toph, Katara, Sokka, and god forbid even mentioning one or the members of the Fire Nation royal family. If anything, Zuko’s character has begun to grate on me over the years because he’s just so… overdone. Like a rich 3-star Michelin meal eaten over and over and over again until your arteries turn to butter emulsions and you just want a salad.

The exception is Aang. Fanart of him is by far the least prominent — especially when excluding group shots and romantic scenes. Searching for video essays, it wasn’t just that there were few; there were none. The only content I could find exclusively about his arc was a critique of the finale.

And on that note, it’s exclusively Aang’s flaws that are fixated on while others go forgiven, and all of the most fascinating parts of his character are either cast aside or given to another person entirely. Aang is childish and hesitant and matured and humbled. He’s haunted by the weight of his title and the guilt surrounding the genocide of his people (which, hot take, is by far the most tragic backstory in my opinion, but at the levels of trauma these characters have experienced, comparison becomes pretty irrelevant), and yet throughout the series finds the strength to assume his role with the support of those he loves.

For a fandom that produces ten “gaang-reacts-to-the-pretty-obvious-origins-of-zukos-scar” fics every day and half a dozen other explorations of characters’ trauma a week, how come the burden of expectations on the boy whose culture was eradicated by his failures is left so unexplored? How come nobody cares?

Idk. I’m not upset that any other character is getting love. I love Zuko and Katara and Sokka and Toph and Azula and Ty Lee and every one else so, so much. But I love Aang too, and it upsets me that I’m seemingly so alone in this.

It occurs to me in retrospect that this may partially be due to shipping. Ive always disliked romance in fiction and Avatar’s is no exception. It makes a lot of the relationship content unrelatable, but that’s perhaps the greatest portion of ATLA fandom output. Seeing as Aang is a literal child and not much of a “stud” by most standards, I understand why the various edgy 2008 emo kids got all the hype. I get it. But it makes me sad regardless that such a shallow interpretation of media has been allowed to dominate so much.

I’ll probably make more posts like this but I’m done for now. I made this blog just to vent my frustrations in the ether. Man, I’m bummed.

[bleachbleachbleach]

B3 can I just say that the machinations of your mind fascinate me so…can you pls elaborate what you mean by 1970s aerospace corruption schemes reminding you of hitshina? cuz I’m out here trying to Google it at 10 pm out of pure academic curiosity. Thanks for sharing ur thoughts with us tho!! Love how ur able to connect things in bleach with stuff I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise like genuinely <3

It's true, this blog will see Bleach in absolutely anything. It’s not even willful; everything can and WILL be Bleach. We were watching the first Fast and Furious movie last night, and ended up talking about Bleach (i.e. the sexual renaissance Hisagi experienced on first sight of Lance’s snakeprint pants).

But for the 1970s aerospace corruption schemes, I was thinking about HitsuHina first and the 1970s aerospace corruption schemes came up as a result, rather than me independently reading about 1970s aerospace corruption schemes and applying them to HitsuHina. I feel like the connection here is probably of the “…needed to be there to make sense of this…” variety, but I have also been VIBRATING INTENSELY OUT OF ENTHUSIASM FOR ALL OF THIS since yesterday, so I’ll do my best to explain my thought process!

I’ll begin by saying that I don’t think Hinamori cares about 1970s aerospace corruption schemes, nor do I think she’d be able to come up with a reason why she should, if anyone asked her. As far as she’s concerned, she is going to visit her grandmother in Junrinan to bring news of her having made 5th Division Vice Captain! And she’s taking Hitsugaya with her, which will make this the first time they have gone back to visit together.

But first Hinamori has to do her job, because part of becoming a Vice Captain is waking up at 2AM on your day off to see if you have any messages that say “we were able to handle it, actually, you don’t need to come help!” and not finding any, and so going out to deal with that before your long travel day begins.

Okay, what IS her job, though. Why does her squad need her at 2AM?

And I was like, well, I don’t want her to have to trek out to Rukongai, because that seems logistically complicated. So I decided that in this time period, the 5th has oriented itself toward the Living World! Because Aizen is supervising field studies regarding the nature of souls’ perceptions of the afterlife and how many require konsou vs. not! (Or at least, that’s his interest on paper. He has some ~other personal investments~ as well, carrying over from his presence at the Trauma Field Trip.)

So the thing Hinamori needs to deal with this morning is that a soul was recently ferried from the Living World into Soul Society and, owing to the nature of its death, is FEROCIOUSLY clutching its memories and beliefs. It is not taking its number and filtering obediently into Rukongai like it should, and the last five hours of Hinamori’s poor subordinates’ shift have been failing to convince this soul do just… do that. Now it’s her turn, because she’s the Vice Captain and this is what you do.

What is the soul clinging so hard to, then?

Or, to back up: When do I think Hinamori might’ve become the 5th VC? Byakuya and Ichimaru become captains sometime post-1960s, which leaves Ichimaru’s previous post open for some amount of time. I want this story to be before Isshin’s disappearance, which is some point around 1980. So I was like, okay, let’s say 1970s, then. Again, not that such a date means a whole lot to Hinamori, but it means a lot to me in terms of set dressing.

So I decided, in the Living World, it is 1976, and this soul died trying to visit justice upon another, whom he believed had betrayed their shared ultranationalist beliefs and incited national shame (via 1970s aerospace corruption schemes).

I decided that in Soul Society, there is an additional level of protocols for souls such as these, where their life purpose becomes so entwined with the nature of their death, so as to result in statistically more complications on the afterlife end (and, often, a higher chance of developing spiritual power). These protocols come up even more particularly when a soul’s life purpose specifically taps into identities and ideologies bigger than one person, one soul—where the visions/desires operate at the level of the (ultra)national/societal, and manifest in a death so ideologically fraught that the symbolic weight of it cannot be left behind, even in the afterlife. (This soul became a kamikaze and flew a plane into his betrayer-comrade’s house.)

--This is not something Hinamori yet has conscious awareness of, but to be dedicated to purpose in this way makes for the kind of shinigami the Gotei would like to have, if also the kind of shinigami Aizen has variable respect for.

The only parts of this situation that matter to Hinamori are the parts that help her ease this soul into his afterlife, and convince him to take his ticket and keep walking.

Then she’s on her way to Junrinan, and her weekend in the countryside with her grandmother and Hitsugaya. But the ghosts that follow her, whether she is aware of them are not, are about the ideological commitments of vice-captaincy in the Gotei; the ever-changing nature of human souls as their world changes; A I Z E N, always; and the rapid emergence of one’s identity, either in periods of dramatic economic/cultural growth or in similar periods when one’s professional growth is entangled with one’s spiritual/shikai growth (increases in talent beget promotions beget situations that inspire further evolutions). In my headcanon, Tobiume expresses as a carrion phoenix, aka condor!Tobiume.

Hinamori and Hitsugaya talk about the nature of flight, which it turns out Hitsugaya knows something about, too.

Most of that is dramaturgy, rather than things that I’m expecting to make an explicit appearance in Hinamori’s Pleasant Vacation Weekend, but THAT is how I decided yesterday that 1970s aerospace corruption schemes were “so HitsuHina.” I am very excited about it!!

[child-of-hurin]

tagged by @dontbotherwiththepronunciation and @chthonic-cassandra

tagging:

I saw this meme going around recently and I can't remember who's already done it and who hasn't, so I'm blanket tagging anyone who reads this and feels like it :) tag me so I can read your response

3 ships 

Túrin/Nienor (TOLKIEN) I haven’t talked much about them lately but they’re still the most compelling to me… Part of what keeps me distant from fandom is that I feel like many fans won’t touch this ship with a ten foot pole. So even non-shippy fics or meta ends up OOC, fails to acknowledge how these two are both founding & sinking stones in each other’s lives…Etc…But it doesn’t matter much, I’ve been shipping this by myself for a long time and I’ll probably do it forever 😌

Irene/Eugenides (QUEEN’S THIEF) My current obsession, this ship lets me explore so many things I like :’D

Sandor/Sansa  (ASOIAF) Another ship that lay dormant but that’s re-awakening lately because I keep seeing posts that annoy me lmao. The problem here though is that I love their interactions in canon, and although I’ll be very happy if they meet again (and wish them to do so), I’m perfectly satisfied with what we got!  I genuinely find their arc very touching if heartbreaking, and I love what GRRM is saying — esp. regarding gender and socially-enabled abuse — through them. I think I’m mostly fascinated by the conflict in how these two come into contact with very idealized notions of how they should interact: Protector-protected for Sansa, Preadator-victim for Sandor, and yet no matter how much they try to convince each other AND THEMSELVES to fit into these models, reality imposes itself every time, and then they end up relating to each other as one person to another… It touches me deeply, this theme of the rawness and implacability of perceiving someone else (whether you want to or not!) instead of the idealized version of them. And how it's not necessarily easy to bear, or to live with!! I also love thinking about them in comparison to Theon and Jeyne, who have somewhat similar themes (especially like, the crushing weight of being aware of someone else's humanity/peerness), but somehow managed to free themselves whereas Sandor failed Arya and himself and ‘died’ & Sansa is now at Littlefinger’s mercy. We'll see where that will go, though (or not...it's been 84 years)

first ship

I always have a different answer for this one haha. Now I’m thinking it might have been Rodka/Sonya from Dostoievsky’s Crime and Punishment…

last song: 

last movie

John Water’s Hairspray (1988), delightful

currently reading

I’m reading a bunch of books at the same time right now… Let’s say The Count of Monte Cristo which I hadn’t read before & I’m right in the middle of. I’m reading it in English which feels a little silly, but whatever. It has WAY more orientalism than I ever thought. The psychology of it is also more complicated than I was originally led to believe. I'm fonder of both Franz and Albert than I think I'm supposed to be. I’m halfway through and I can’t believe Dantès owns two slaves...I do love that he’s not beating the vampire allegations.

currently eating

Trying to make space for a raisin roll 😞

currently craving

Mint tea...

[lumosatnight]

Talk to me about SNARRYYYYYY (had to sorry 😂) 💛

Send me a ship and I’ll give you my (brutally) honest opinion on it (and also maybe a fic rec).

Haha hi Danni!!

Initial impression: confusion, hesitance, a little weirded out. Wasn't Severus in love with Harry's mom? Isn't that kinda creepy to be dating Lily's kid?

Improved impression: UNHINGED SCREAMING. Wasn't Severus in love with Harry's mom? Yes, and that's why this ship is so interesting (although one could argue it was platonic love but that was definitely not what was written in canon). Isn't that kinda creepy to be dating Lily's kid? Yes, and it creates such a fascinating relationship dynamic. Harry's eyes, Lily's eyes. Who does Severus really see when he looks at Harry? How can he resist falling for Harry when he already fell so hard for Lily all those years ago (and still carries a torch for her)? Answer: he can't.

In terms of cross-gen pairings for Severus, Snarry is probably my favorite. I don't really see him as the type of person to go after one of his students unless it was under very pressurized circumstances. Say, for example, in the middle of a war and he's just trying to do his goddamm best at keeping this infuriating kid alive. I could also possibly see Snaco, but that's an essay for another day. Although Eldritcher has an amazing Snudley fic that I devoured.

Surprisingly enough, I also enjoy reading Snarry in different AUs, outside the HP universe or the war doesn't exist universes. I attribute that largely to you actually. You kept posting so many Snarry recs in the CoMS discord, and I kept clicking them haha. But I do think their underlying personalities remain. Severus is an insecure, bitter, ugly (yes ugly) man. He thinks the best years of his life were stolen from him. He does not see any reason to care. Harry is an impassioned, stubborn, reckless youth. He listens to Severus. He finds a way to get past that bitter exterior and in a way Severus lets him. He makes Severus feel seen when really that was all he ever wanted.

And wow, that turned into a whole essay. Apparently, I have more thoughts about Snarry than I thought. I've never written a full Snarry fic, but I am oh-so-tempted by the Snarry AUctober Fest.

-

My ship rating: Snarrytastic

My fic rec: Miraculous by @liladiurne [E, 15.5k]

When Severus finds out that the gorgeous and charming young man Lucius set him up with, the one who's accompanying him to his mother's charity ball, is really a hired escort, he is furious and disappointed. At first. But then he realises he can use this to his advantage. After years of celibacy, he's finally found someone he connects with, someone who understands him. And this time, Severus actually has the means to see him again. Or the money. But if money's what it takes to spend time with Harry, then he's more than willing to drain his family's fortune. In an unexpected twist of faith, he might not need to.

(been thinking a lot about this fic recently and ik you've already read it because i'm pretty sure you're the one who recc'ed it on the server, but it keeps spinning around in my head. soooo goood)

[authortobenamedlater]

Oh, and even tho I know nothing about b5, Half baked B5Halo has me INTRIGUED.

(Hey @infinityactual you might find this interesting re: our conversation this morning.)

Send me WIP asks.

So. This got LONG. Sorry not sorry.

This not-story has the working title “For Such a Time As This” owing to a scene in my head where Delenn says “Perhaps the universe has brought us all together for such a time as this.”Appropriating Bible verses for the Minbari, oh yeah.

Right now this document is just a collection of ideas about how these universes might interact, and a few scenes/ideas. Such as:

- Infinity’s communications officer falls and breaks her nose when they crash out of slipspace. Lasky is shoving gauze at her when Babylon 5 makes contact. He shows up on the station with blood all over his uniform and his first conversation with Sheridan is something like “Do you have laundry around here? Also, what year is it?”

-Garibaldi and Palmer have to chase Halsey around the station. They bond over a shared love for Loony Toons. Palmer is a Roadrunner and Coyote girl, change my mind.

- Franklin is utterly furious when he finds out about the Spartan program. And that’s just the IVs. He doesn’t even know about the IIs.

- Lasky is insanely envious that B5’s computer can turn the attitude OFF and that cryo is not widely used in their world.

- Ivanova and Palmer become besties and give their respective captains a few headaches.

- Garibaldi wants to keep the Spartans because WOW are they useful for security.

- Various Halo characters grappling with the “who are you/what do you want” questions (I have ideas about this I will save for another post).

- What a fight with the Shadows might look like with Infinity in the mix. Seeing as Infinity is more powerful than anything in the B5 world. Sheridan and Lasky would make a fascinating team, too.

- How the Shadows would end up using Halsey, because even she couldn’t outwit them, and the trouble she could make in another universe.

- Lasky muses at some point how Babylon 5 gives him hope that one day humans and aliens can all work together peacefully; maybe the UEG should give something like this a shot. Palmer tells him, “You know they’d want you to run it” and Lasky is like F—- NO.

Now, all my reasons for why this epic will never make it out of my head:

Altering the B5 storyline (namely having to scrap the tensions with Earth for simplicity’s sake) would feel to me like sacking the Jerusalem temple.

I’d need to know even MORE about B5 lore than I already do, not like I’d have a problem with that research project, and a whole lot more about Halo than I do. On that last point, I am married to a walking Halopedia who would gladly tell me everything and then some.

There’s also the matter of having to make several OCs for the Halo side. Aside from Lasky, Palmer, and Roland, we don’t meet many of the Infinity crew. Does Lasky even have a first officer? I mean, he obviously does, but does he ever talk to this person? We got through all of Spartan Ops and Halo 5 with nary an XO in sight.

Finally, silly as this may sound, I’m no Straczynski and don’t trust myself with his characters and universe. I have no problem taking a sledgehammer to Halo because it’s great and fun and sometimes just mind-bogglingly stupid. But B5 is so brilliant I can’t bring myself to touch it. I would be scared of incurring the wrath of my fellow fans and also probably feel like I had to write JMS a letter of apology.

—

I WAS going to post a snippet from this mess of an AU but I’ll put it in a reblog later to keep this post from getting even longer.

[3kiripima3]

Hi! I just saw your post about Hazbin match ups & I’ve never done this before so I hope I’ve included everything I needed to :D

. Gender Identity -> Gender Fluid

. Sexuality -> Bi

. Hobbies -> Ok so I have quite a few so first off I absolutely LOVE reading (bit of an understatement) but it’s a really bad habit of buying books that don’t fit anywhere, as for a specific genre of books I quote like murder mystery or dark (as in spooky, mystery etc) fantasy. Some of the books I own are how to kill your family, one of us is lying, hunger games, girl in pieces, good girls guide to murder, five survive, welsh poetry & to kill a mockingbird. Secondly I’m apart of the air cadets! I do not have a rank and I’m quite happy with just attending events and such and I’ve been having such a great time with them, another hobby of mine is baking (especially for my grandparents) their diabetic so I love trying to find receipted that don’t have as much sugar that they can have. And lastly I do horse riding, while I did stop for a while because of money issue I’m starting to get back into it and I’m hoping to start either show jumping or cross country.

. Interests -> Hmmm as for interests I’d probably say FNAF, hazbin of course and at the moment I’ve been getting back into Murder drones (especially after the 7th episode come out, I was so shocked) but I honestly don’t have many I treated as most of my time is taken up doing things like my hobbies (all though I do love to give places a good clean)

. Overview of personality -> umm I honestly don’t know what to say to describe myself, but based off what my friends are saying I’m quite sarcastic & quick witted with my answers, but I tend to be concerning in my sense of humour & my things, I’m somewhat on the neurodivergent spectrum but I don’t have a special interest I keep changing them a LOT (hence why I haven’t put much down for interests) and I think my friends start to get concerned when I become interested in things like needles and phlebotomy before changing to something like cannibalism (I find it fascinating what drives people to these things). Anyway I have been described as being quite a lovely person especially by family me members and I think it tends to show when I’m around people I don’t know much because I like to make a good impression of myself & not embarrass anyone or myself.

. Any character I don’t want to be paired with -> Husk (nothing against the man just not my type at all yk), Charlie & Vaggie (their such a cute couple and definitely prefer to keep them together and not get myself shipped with any of them)

. Anything extra -> idk if this helps but I honestly SUCK at using technology, like I can’t do it to save my life 😭, but I do like to have a good poke around on stuff like tv’s, laptops, sat navs, just to see if I can find anything out. Oh and I hugely look up to my grandad, anyone asks me and I’ll always say I’m a grandad’s girl he inspired me so much, he was in the navy & worked as an engineer. And I t think to do something like that for a good chunk of his life is so inspiring.

Anyway, hope I’ve written everything I need to, and have a good day/night xx

Hi! Thanks for the request! After some consideration, I think I'd pair you with…

Alastor!

I feel like you two would be practically perfect for each other.

I see Alastor as the type to also read a lot. I think he'd honestly have very similar taste in books to you. I could imagine him often recommending you books, albeit rather concerning ones.

With baking, I don't see Alastor being particularly fond of that. However, I view him as the type of person who likes to cook instead of bake. So, you'd likely both end up making different food at the same time and talking with each other.

Due to Alastor's nature, I don't think he'd exactly be interested in shows at all. Yet, I can see him listening quite avidly to any of your interests if you discuss them with him.

Alastor would appreciate your personality a bunch. As he himself is naturally quite sarcastic and quick-witted, he'd enjoy having a person like you who'd be able to reciprocate. Alastor would definitely not have any issue with concerning types of humour unless it involves anything sexual towards him.

I think Alastor would also love that you're able to make good impressions on people and be a lovely and polite person, as he values his reputation a certain amount and would rather not be around someone extremely brash in public.

Sucking at using technology wouldn't bother Alastor at all. He'd probably bond over the fact that you both struggle using technology.

Thanks for requesting! I hope this is good enough for you :)

[smokingtiger]

If Tae and Jennie are truly dating, I can’t help but feel sorry for them. They now have the attention of everyone including the media. They’re gonna get more stalkers, everyone is gonna watch their every move. There those that are already praying for the day the break up would be announced. I just hope they’re mentally prepared for what is to come. I hope it’s better for K-pop Idols to date privately than publicly because everyone now is gonna be up in their business (Taennie).

In the possible event that they are actually dating (because again, if nothing is truly said or confirmed, I think we should respect the silence/words of the artist), I’m not exactly sure what would be worse on them in this case — confirming the relationship or continuing in silence.

We already know that if fans/sasaengs want to know something, they will do anything to find out about it. Jennie has already experienced a data breach by crazy stalkers and Taehyung has already had an increase in paparazzi/sasaeng photos… people want to know more, they want a scoop, they want a scandal. Perhaps being silent could incentivize more sinister means to obtain information.

I don’t like saying that, because it seems as if I’m putting the blame on the artist, that they should just speak up because they’re only going to force people to breach their private information— but no, that’s not what I’m saying. There’s just a bunch of crazy people out in this world and I wish that celebrities, regardless of how famous they are, can still be treated and viewed like another human with a private life.

But anyways, let’s talk about the flip side of this equation: confirming it. Now it’s no secret that ARMYs and Blinks are mortal enemies at best, and that’s putting it lightly. Personally, I’ve never had anything against BP or their fandom, because I’m fully aware that the larger the fandom is, the more likely you are to encounter some bad eggs.

I have ten apples and two them are bad, I would say that I still harvested a good batch… now I have 1M apples and 200k of the apples are bad… it’s still a good batch, but it just seems like an overwhelming amount of them are bad…

But confirming it would probably force some sort of fandom marriage, if not that, a fandom tolerance. A mutual agreement.

Also, as I mentioned in my previous ask, I don’t necessarily think that confirmation would stop shippers and their theories. If they’re able to make up an entire false perception of Jimin being a p*do because he’s naturally affectionate, they will do the same to any other relationship outside of their own ship.

But the media, regardless of confirmation or silence, will definitely follow them around or use their relationship for clicks. Many kpop companies pre-screen interview questions, so if there was a journalist who tried to sneak something in, they wouldn’t make it very far. Though, American interviewers on red carpets are known to be incredibly persistent — so let’s just pray that if they are given a spot interview with no screening, their interviewer will have the decency to respect their privacy.

I think both outcomes have their pros and cons, but I also think it’s quite strange and/or fascinating that people have such an interest in who other people are dating, so much so that they go out of their way to pester them about it.

I’ll end this post here by saying: good luck to the possible relationship of Taehyung and Jennie, and good luck to all the future partners/current partners of any BTS member.

Let’s just respect their silence and give them some privacy.

[firesofdainix]

October 19: Waste | Sickness

This, of course, has some worldbuilding elements about my thoughts on the Element of Wind, since it’s so fascinating to me. I’ll probably make a post about it... with my Departed Realm fanfiction idea.

@morrotober

AO3 Version

i don’t think I need cw’s? someone’s dying.

The morning was quite peaceful if everything about the context of this day would be left on the sidelines, ignored, rotting over the confines of the closet in which Wu puts the skeletons of his past. The birds were chirping their familiar melody, and, while he would occasionally sing or feel revelry in the beauty of their song, he can only feel as if the birds were making fun of him and his current emotional state. The sun, too, was shining brightly, its rays watching him with a mocking observation as he readies his routine. His grueling, painful routine, both for him and his son. As he settles down near the irori, tending to the flames, he keeps himself ready. Ready to turn and run towards Morro’s room if he hears another one of his coughs.

When he hears the sound of the kettle whistling, he takes the kettle away from the irori and pours some of the hot, boiling water onto one of the teacups. He sees steam rise from it, and he takes one of the teabags from the cupboards and places it inside the cup. His hands, calloused and filled with a history that can rival the gods of old, start to carry the tray of perfectly digestible food and calming tea down the hallway.

When he hears the sound of coughs, he walks faster. He did not want to neglect his son, knowing that any breath or cough he conjures will be his last.

His illness started out innocently, as all other kinds of afflictions deep within the body started. Wu did not even notice until Morro started to act abnormally, concerningly pale and slimmer than before. During his twenty-ninth birthday (in which they prepared a grand feast along with the other elemental masters), Morro had been, initially, overjoyed by the feast that had been presented towards him, even when he was not really the most social or confrontational person. Wu entertains every question that finds their way towards Morro, especially the insinuations of a formal omiai because, according to the Elemental Masters, he needs a wife to have a child to pass his element onto.

Morro awkwardly laughs at those statements, plainly stating he was not going to marry just for the sake of passing his element down. He would rather keep the element to himself if it means having to put the inheritance of it in jeopardy. The others laugh at his supposed joke, but Wu can tell he wasn’t thinking of it as a joke, rather a sincere promise.

During the eve of his twenty-ninth year, however, when the Elemental Masters left after giving him dozens of gifts, he and Wu stargaze on the roofs, tea between them. Wu can remember that night vividly; Morro reaching up towards those omnipresent entities in the night sky, blinking like they were the eyes of the night. There was a serene, soft smile on his face, eyes looking calm. So unlike the winds that blew to the course of forever, to stir the storms and awaken them to wreak havoc on the population.

“To think I would not see the stars in the sky again without the knowledge that it is beautiful if you hadn’t saved me from going into a downward spiral of not being the Green Ninja,” Morro says, his eyes still fixated on the stars.

The Green Ninja prophecy was, initially, a sour subject for Morro. Since he found out he was not the alleged savior that Wu — foolishly — believed, he started to make reckless and impulsive decisions, that almost always ends up in Wu having to save him time and time again. He was young, unwise, but he had so much to live for other than the rank he had accidentally made an equivalent to his worth. He was worth more than a title that will not give him the time of day, like a wealthy lady ignoring a noble admirer of hers. Destiny ignored Morro, but Wu believed it was for the better. It was why he did not give up on him; ambition was the blanket of his desperation and self-worth, after all.

He is glad that he saved Morro.

“Do you regret it?” Wu asks, sitting in a more formal manner, as Morro lays down to see the stars in a more visual-pleasing way. “All those impulsive tasks you’ve made simply to achieve a destiny that was not yours?”

Morro thinks for a moment, and then he sighs. “I… I feel embarrassed by the stunts I’ve done in childhood, but I don’t find myself holed up in any regrets about it. I think it was a— a teaching moment for me, to recognize my self-worth and achieve my full potential.”

Wu smiles, ruffling his hair. “Yes, you’ve matured so much.” He hums, taking a sip of his tea. “... Although, I do miss your child self. You were very adorable.”

Morro had scowled. “I was literally a quiet brooding teenager.”

“You were not ‘quiet.’”

He waves a hand around. “Fine, perhaps I was a brooding teenager going through a rebellious phase.”

Wu nods, but there is no grudge or anger in it. Just exasperation. “You exhausted me, but perhaps that was also my fault.”

He shrugs, “Perhaps. I just believe—” Morro suddenly interrupts himself with a loud cough, something that Wu knows shakes him to the core. Even he could feel Morro’s bones shaking from a mile away, as if he was currently going through the biggest earthquake in his life. Wu, with a worried crease, puts a steadying arm on Morro as he continues to delve into raucous coughs. It was like the wind inside him was fighting against their master, but Wu has no idea why.

When Morro finishes the odd coughing fit, he looks vaguely exhausted, as if coughing most of the germs in his body was an exhausting task reserved for the daunting. Wu opens his mouth to ask him what that was, but he was cut short by his son heaving a few more breaths. Like coughing had deprived him of the necessary breathing he had made. Like the wind wouldn’t give him sufficient air.

Wu pats his back, “Morro… what in the Underworld was that?” He asks once Morro regains his breath, as if nothing had happened.

Morro clutches at his chest, panting slightly. “I— I don’t know. It felt like… suddenly, my lungs stopped cooperating and I needed air.”

The wind brushes past them. They did not stop to greet their master.

His father frowns. “I believe we should do something about that. Are you feeling any feverish symptoms?”

The young man thinks for a moment, before shaking his head. “No. This hacking is out of nowhere.”

Another wind whizzes past them, wilder and less friendly. The smell of the winter’s scent is evident in their breaths.

Wu gives him another meticulously suspicious frown, but he sighs, nodding. “Maybe it’s because of the cold weather.” He did not sound particularly convinced by this conclusion.

Morro did not sound convinced as well, but he nodded. “Yes, perhaps.” The night immediately souring from his coughing fit, he stands. “I believe it is late. Shall we head in?”

The older man chuckles. “It is not like you to turn away the opportunity to stargaze.”

He shrugs. “The birthday boy is tired.”

That should have given Wu enough clues about how his sickness will become an important detail in their lives.

*

*

That had been, if Wu can pinpoint where everything went wrong, the beginning of the end.

At first, Wu did not want to believe it; foolishly, as if he was a child looking over his brother’s sick body as it tries to fight the venom that was injected into him, he believed that the Curse would skip over Morro, as if they disregard the fact that he is the current Master of Wind. He was delusional, indeed; too desperate to believe the truth, too terrified to truly accept it. All he wanted was for Morro to live a happy life, simply because he was his son.

And he kept that necessary, required information away from his child, all because his selfishness is afraid of his son dying.

The thing is, he was already dying without Wu saying anything about the Curse. If he was being blunt, Morro would have died in the Caves of Despair. He had only been delaying the inevitable, giving him a slow, torturous death simply because he wanted him to live past his teens.

The Curse shall reap him of the only son he has grown to cherish and love.

He did not want that to happen, but it is not his will. It will always be the choice of destiny, who decided that Morro’s life is less important than the wheels of fate turning against the two of them. Why is his family always caught up in the throes of destiny, Wu will never understand either. He could not fathom a life without his son, who died so young. He has to hide his tears and sadness; he was not the one being strongly affected by the Curse. It was the Master of Wind himself, currently bed-ridden, too weak to even walk across the room. He was like a ghost, but the thing is, ghosts can live after death. And Morro will have to be lost to the Departed Realm, and Wu didn’t want that.

He was selfish. He’s aware of that.

The Curse of the Masters of Wind. A curse that has tainted the good will and beauty of the people who manipulate the winds for peace. Whoever is a descendant of the First Recorded Master of Wind — which was, ironically, the first Morro — they shall be inflicted with the curse of never making it before their thirtieth birthday, doomed to a life that is both marred by tragedy and personal losses. A karmic retribution for their ancestor’s wrongdoings. Since their birth they have always been plagued with the looming sphere of death following them wherever they go, waiting for them to make a reckless move to cast them to the Departed Realm, or patiently loom before their thread gets cut off.

It’s one of the reasons why, unlike the other Elemental Masters, they had to have their children early. Wu wonders what goes on in their mind, desperate for their children to live a long fruitful life when all they know of the suffering they brought onto their descendants as a whole.

This is only a month before Morro’s thirtieth birthday— ah, how time flies so slowly.

And how time flows so fast, like a wild river, when it comes to taking all the time in the world away from him and Morro.

He takes a deep breath before he opens the doors to Morro’s room; he has to be mentally strong and capable, even if it means having to see his child in a pitiful, ghostly state.

He could hear his ragged breathing now; he was filled with wind, full of life, but now Morro is fighting for his life to have an intake of breaths with the element that is now shunning him.

“Good morning, Master Wu,” Morro’s voice says in a hoarse tone, struggling to speak. Wu shushes him, putting a hand to his forehead.

“You should not be speaking, young man,” Wu replies with a worried tone, as he applies a warm compress on his forehead. “You must save your energy.”

“Save my energy from what?” Morro says, letting out a sardonic laugh. It sounds more like a rasp, however. He was shivering, and Wu pulled his covers up. “I already know I am dying. There is no preventing this dreadful curse.” He shudders, eyelids fluttering like a butterfly’s wings. Wu caresses his hands. Out of the corner of his eye, a lone butterfly sits on Morro’s always-open window sill (Morro insists he keeps it open, just so he can talk to his own element again before all the air within him fades). Wu glares at it— he wants it to go away, to fly to another one’s dying child.

Not Morro. Anyone but Morro.

Please.

“Fight it,” he replies gravely, holding Morro’s frail, almost bony hand. He could not eat properly during these last few months. Even Misako’s treatments she’s found from every ancient tribe that had a Master of Wind fell short; Garmadon’s hypotheses over alternative medicine were concluded as null and devoid. “For me.”

The young man, wisened beyond his years, chuckles dryly. “I am living for you, Master. But,” he lets out a dry cough, as his hand regains the strength that had been sapped quickly by his affliction, gripping on Wu’s hands as if it were a lifeline. He wishes it was. Green-gold eyes meet his, and while it is generally filled with this remorseful sadness, there is also some form of happiness and relief within it. He opens his mouth once more, a question that is permanently in the air that startles Wu from the very core. “Will it ever occur to you that you must live for yourself?”

He loosens his grip on Wu; he is not dead, but he may as well be.

The older man gasps at Morro’s statement, staring at their interlocked hands, thoughts undecipherable. While he certainly doesn’t agree with the notion that he lives for the sake of others and their impressions of him, he certainly, unsurprisingly, cannot imagine a world where his first student, his son, is not anywhere near him. He can’t imagine a future that wasn’t Morro and Wu, father and son, master and student, staring at the stars together, making banter and brewing tea just so they could test their taste buds' flexibility over it. To find himself with his worst fear— alone, buried deep in the troubles of his past… Well, he was certainly not fond of this new scenario.

However, it’s already set in stone, and Wu knows that, for the next few years, he will have to get suited to being alone, just him against the world. No one can keep him as comfortable as Morro is, and, like a father burying his child, he is dying next to him, his hands numb and losing strength.

What a waste.

(The same butterfly visits Wu when he was doing the funerary procession on Morro, succumbing just a day after their last conversation.

The butterfly had taken his soul.)

[truthem]

LANGUAGES I WANT TO LEARN

- Japanese

It makes sense to me that every Korean learner learns Japanese. Not only that, I’m a huge fan of J-rock. Something about the Japanese language and those guitars and drums and the artist screaming just makes my ears feel blessed. I used to be a really big anime fan (I’m trying to get back into it so I can actually finish HxH) but now I prefer J-dramas.

- Thai

Thai is one of my favorite Asian languages. It’s so beautiful and I absolutely love Thai music (especially Thai hiphop). Thai dramas and horror movies are some of my favorite things to watch, too. (I literally love Girl from Nowhere)

- Portuguese

Portuguese has been on my list of languages since I started learning Spanish. If I do learn it, I’d probably go for Brazilian Portuguese rather than European Portuguese. I love the way Brazilian Portuguese sounds!

- Mandarin

I wanted to learn Mandarin before Korean but I couldn’t really find any motivations for it. However, now I really want to learn it because I would love to travel to China one day. Chinese landscape and culture are absolutely astonishingly beautiful.

- Romanian

I honestly don’t know much about Romanian, but I’ve heard it being spoken so much and I absolutely love how it sounds. It just seems interesting to learn.

- Greek

I have a couple friends from Greece and sometimes i see them speaking Greek to each other and it’s so fascinating. The language is literally amazing and don’t get me started on how much I love the writing system 🙏

- Filipino/Tagalog

I have a Filipino aunt, she’s not my blood aunt but I would love to connect to some of my family by learning their languages. I also just love the Philippines and it’s my dream to go visit one day.

- German???

German has always somewhat interested me, I put the question marks because I’m not totally sure if I want to learn German or not. It would be a fun experience but I don’t know of any motivations… and it’s hard for me to get going without having a motivation… 😓

- Polish???

I tried learning Polish on Duolingo (not the best idea), but I was obsessed with Polish music and this Polish singer, sanah. I think Polish is one of my favorite slavic languages but similar to German, I’m not sure if there’s anything to keep me motivated to learn Polish.

- Arabic

I mean have you seen the writing system???? It’s so intriguing there’s no way I can’t learn Arabic. The way it’s spoken is so pretty too.. I love this language so much.

- Hindi

I feel similarly to Hindi as I do to Arabic. Indian culture is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve said this a lot, but I love how Hindi sounds, too. I think I’ve set in stone that I want to learn Hindi and I’ll probably learn it after Mandarin and Thai.

I know I talked a lot about motivations in this post, but please remember that learning a new language isn’t all about being motivated. Obviously motivation helps, but discipline helps even more. Always remember to have self discipline or you won’t hardly be able to do anything such as learning another language.

Personally, I need motivation to begin a language, not keep up with it.

안녕!!!!

[tutuandscoot]

Here’s a fun little post I’ve been planning to do for a while:

So I, as I’m sure with many others, the first time seeing this lift: (or others like it) wondered how that can be possible without cutting his legs.

I was fascinated by it and wondered how they did it (for probably longer than I should’ve been) [there’s a great post somewhere that talks about the physics of it that I’ll link when I find it again]

(I do know how it’s possible to be done btw.. it’s because the blades have 2 edges- therefore distributing the weight across 2 points rather than one.)

Cleary I wasn’t the only one because there are several instances VM have been asked about it over the years.

Here: (2010 NBC fan questions)

Here: (2018 Olympics Q+A- filmed at oly summit in the summer)

Here: (2018 breakfast TV interview)

[I’m sure there have been other instances on camera and several others, but I feel like 3 is enough to state my point.]

So, what I love about all these instances is when ever he/they are asked if it hurts when she stands on him, he either says straight out ‘NO’, like just ‘no’ or as in the last one interrupts to say ‘no, it doesn’t’ or kind of dismissively nods along as T answers explains that he doesn’t wear padding (but never says wherever it hurts him or not).

Let me get to the point here. Whether it does hurt him or not, he never says ‘yes’, implies that it does. He doesn’t even say ‘yeh but I’m use to it’.

This is essentially me on my I ❤️ SM bullshit because he doesn’t want anyone to think that (if it does) Tessa is hurting him. Whether it does or it doesn’t is not important. That they do these types of lifts so much and she hasn’t slipped, she just ‘rocks it’ (I’m sure it’s possible she’s slipped at some point). But I just love how he dismisses the idea that it hurts or he could get injured because, it’s their jobs. It’s the choreography. His job is to lift and hers is to be lifted.

Compare that to another couple answering the same question (I think the way in which they answer is interesting too, just as a comparison):

(Isn’t it great how this already has the captions and I don’t have to waste time doing it myself!!)

That seemed like a pretty definitive ‘YES’…..

I’m not trying to say anything nasty with this- I just find it interesting. And I think it’s another… kinda ‘trademark’ of VM’s- it’s just how they are with each other. It’s part of that thing where they will never ever say a bad word about each other, they will never coach each other, they will never imply that one of them did something wrong- like if one makes a mistake the other is quick so say it was their fault. They are so so good at their respective jobs. Tessa knows not to slide, so she doesn’t slide. Scott knows to put her in the right spot so he knows she won’t slide, and it’s his job to stay on balance. If each of them is doing their job properly and it still hurts- then it doesn’t matter if it does, that’s just the job.

It also, I feel to me at least, it also goes along with not shaming the girl for having to be lifted. I only say that coz I’ve experienced it and it’s a terrible burden to have on you that as the partner being lifted you need to be light and strong and hold yourself, yet people still think you are “too heavy”. (And that’s sometimes when the unhealthy habits start). And we know for a fact Tessa experienced this body/weight shaming as well and Scott never let her think that- always dismissed anything anyone had to say on the subject as bullshit- and rightly so because it was none of their business. He is the only one her weight effects as he is her partner, and he’s the kind of parter that (I’m sure) would say ‘well then I need to be stronger or have better form- it’s not on her’. He recently said (and has said in the past) how she is the best partner in the world because she holds herself so well, she was taught to feel as thought she was doing the lift herself. If there is an issue technically with a lift, it means they both need to fix something, it’s not one persons fault. They approach it all as a team and everything one does affects the other. So maybe if they are both doing everything right, it doesn’t hurt. But if it does, he doesn’t let anyone think it does.

In summary.. Scott is a prince and we should clone his ass..