#crossroads of destiny my beloved

[thelifeofacactus]

They really let zuko be happy for one (1) episode

[xasha777]

In a distant future where the boundaries of time and space have become malleable, a young woman named Evelyn finds herself at the crossroads of history and destiny. Evelyn, with her signature cowboy hat, white blouse, green tie, and brown shorts, works as a bartender in a small, timeless saloon known as "The Nexus." This bar is unlike any other; it exists outside the conventional flow of time, serving patrons from various epochs.

One evening, as Evelyn is cleaning the counter, a peculiar device resembling a pocket watch materializes in front of her. Upon closer inspection, she realizes it's a temporal communicator, a relic from a bygone era. Before she can fully grasp its significance, a holographic message begins to play.

The hologram projects an image of a distinguished man dressed in regal attire, holding a scroll emblazoned with a royal seal. "Greetings, Guardian of the Nexus," the hologram begins. "I am Prince Edward, claimant to the French throne by virtue of my English heritage. The throne of France has remained in dispute for centuries, and the stability of our timelines depends on resolving this ancient conflict."

Evelyn, intrigued and slightly bewildered, listens intently as the prince explains that the English claims to the French throne, dating back to the Hundred Years' War, have created temporal rifts. These rifts threaten to unravel the fabric of history itself. Edward's mission is to retrieve a lost artifact, the Crown of Convergence, believed to unify the claims and bring peace to the timelines.

Accepting the call to adventure, Evelyn sets out on a journey through time, guided by the temporal communicator. Her first stop is medieval England, where she meets Edward in person. Together, they navigate the treacherous political landscape, encountering figures such as John of Gaunt and Edward III, who provide crucial clues to the artifact's whereabouts.

Their journey takes them across centuries, from the courts of medieval France to the battlefields of Agincourt. Along the way, Evelyn learns of the deep-seated rivalries and alliances that have shaped the conflict. She also discovers her own hidden lineage, tied to both English and French nobility, making her uniquely suited to mediate the ancient dispute.

In a climactic confrontation at the ruins of an ancient castle, Evelyn and Edward face off against a faction determined to keep the throne contested. Utilizing her quick wit and mastery of time-bending technology, Evelyn secures the Crown of Convergence and presents it to the warring factions.

As the crown is placed on Edward's head, a brilliant light envelops the castle, sealing the temporal rifts and merging the divergent histories into a single, harmonious timeline. Evelyn returns to the Nexus, forever changed by her journey. The saloon, now infused with the wisdom of ages, continues to serve as a beacon for travelers across time.

Evelyn, the Guardian of the Nexus, remains vigilant, ready to protect the delicate balance of history. Her legacy, intertwined with the English claims to the French throne, becomes a legend whispered across the centuries, a testament to the power of unity and the enduring quest for peace.

[denimbex1986]

'****

Alan Yentob waits in reception at Doctor Who’s new HQ, with a Dalek prop for company. “Look, there’s the greatest evil in the universe,” says Russell T Davies in welcome. “And a Dalek.” I suspect it isn’t the first time Davies has cracked this gag, but delivered with a hearty laugh and a bear hug, Yentob is powerless to resist. After all, as presenter and series editor, he gamely left it in the final cut.

This joyous film profiles the once in a generation talent known as RTD. Well, I say once in a generation. A lovely sequence sees Davies reunite with his old Granada mucker Sally Wainwright, arguably his sole rival as Britain’s top television writer. As they ponder their parallel careers, I’m relieved there isn’t a gas explosion or similar tragedy. Contemporary British TV would have been ruined in one fell swoop.

A whistle stop tour of his TV CV begins with Davies’s roots in children’s programming, including a brief stint as a Play School presenter. Imagine if he hadn’t realised that his destiny lay behind the camera. Doesn’t bear thinking about. We fast forward past underrated gems like Bob & Rose (gay Jonathan Creek!), The Second Coming (young Christopher Eccleston!), Casanova (young David Tennant!), and Cucumber (which makes me cry all over again at that devastating Cyril Nri death scene).

Yentob traces Davies’s evolution as our foremost screen chronicler of the gay male experience. Davies first dipped a toe in with an episode of period soap The Royal, about a closeted barman discovering Manchester’s Canal Street in the 1920s. When producers hesitated, he held his nerve, knowing that budgets were so tight they had no choice but to shoot his script. Having found his voice, Davies was emboldened to create the landmark drama Queer As Folk and its spiritual prequel, the recent masterpiece It’s a Sin.

After channelling his political rage into the dystopian polemic Years and Years, and powered by the death of his beloved husband Andrew Smith, Davies felt ready to tell the story he’d been avoiding for 30 years. He had deliberately ignored HIV and Aids in Queer As Folk to kick against screen stereotypes. Now it was finally time to honour “those brave, beautiful boys” who died during the 80s epidemic. It’s a Sin duly broke streaming records and led to a huge rise in HIV testing.

Davies has always plundered his past for ideas. As he says: “There’s not the writer and then me. There’s just me. All of my life connects to the writing. All of it.” In his home in Mumbles, Swansea, there are toy Daleks on the bookshelves, and “La!” mugs in the kitchen (a nod to an in-joke from It’s a Sin). His teenage memories of the Jeremy Thorpe trial begat A Very English Scandal. His obsession with the wobbly-set soap Crossroads led to Nolly. He cheerfully reveals that stories, scenes and chunks of dialogue sit in his head for decades, waiting for an opportunity. Broadcast-ready scripts then come pouring out all at once, his typing fingers struggling to keep pace. He asks Yentob: “You talk to lots of writers. Aren’t we all like this?” Not really, no. Davies looks slightly disappointed.

Woven throughout, of course, is a certain Time Lord. Watching Doctor Who aged three isn’t just Davies’ first TV memory, it’s his first memory full stop. While other Swansea schoolboys were discovering football and girls, he was glued to the telly, creating remarkably accomplished Who comic strips. He eventually realised he was writing, not drawing. In 2005, Davies masterminded the show’s reboot after 16 years off air, transforming it from a naff joke into a global franchise.

There’s no better custodian of the ultimate show for outsiders and underdogs, hence he is taking the reins again for its 60th anniversary special. He must have been in the Tardis countless times, but Davies still fizzes with glee when he takes Yentob inside that magical blue box. It’s a Sin reinvigorated his taste for shows that spark a national conversation. Now he can pour all his passion and stored-up stories into NuWho MK II, using Disney’s cash to help realise his vision. It bodes well for the show’s future. So do tantalising glimpses of the incoming Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, who has charisma – or “rizz”, as the dictionary now calls it – to burn.

Sure, this is puff as much as documentary. Yet with its riotous interviews and evocative clips, this is a timey wimey treat – whether you’re a Whovian, a fan of great TV or just someone who appreciates a man with a resealable pack of 1,000 Tetley teabags (Davies is an out and proud bulk buyer). It is glorious to spend an hour in the company of his big, blazing brilliance – and a reminder of how lucky we are to have him.'

[snowdropsandtigers]

ATLA - Rewatch up to Crossroads of Destiny

- Ah I loved the visual callback with Katara’s ice shaking up Azula. Also, I will enjoy the rematch when I get to it, but still would have enjoyed one in which Azula was at her best, because damn Katara’s the only one we saw kick her ass at this point, and it would’ve been cool too see that play out without Zuko’s interference. But they did what they did in service of the story, which is best. It’s good that they took the time to show how much Katara had improved in Crossroads of Destiny, and to create variations on the theme of her fighting Fire Nation royalty in season finales, showing both opposition (in two different ways across the first two season finales!) and working together between two characters representing two warring nations. It’s narratively and thematically satisfying. Also, I remember some Zuko (or was it Azula? Zuko and Azula?) fans wishing he could’ve beat Azula at her best, and that Katara hadn’t been involved/been the one to actually secure the victory so that it would be entirely about the siblings’ history, so I’m not the only one interested in a final rematch for a beloved character! There’s another view on the story! But again, I think the narrative beats chosen were best for the story they were telling. Zuko offering Katara a rematch with Azula—and taking a hit for her—follows his teaming up with Azula against her in Crossroads of Destiny, and also fits with Katara having had two “matches” with Zuko in The Siege of the North: one a prolonged fight and the other a quick, decisive one. Too, she gets the bookends of a fight with a Fire Nation antagonist when the moon is high in the Water Tribe, and a fight with a different Fire Nation antagonist I’m her own nation, when Sozin’s Comet is in the sky. Additionally, Azula is Katara’s double as the prodigiously talented little sister, using her intelligence with people to prey on them versus supporting them, killing the Avatar versus repeatedly bringing him back to life. Defeating Azula is just as relevant and appropriate for Katara’s story as it is for Zuko’s, just for different reasons, and it allows them both to reach the ends of their character arcs working together rather than against each other. They both start out committed to the Avatar for different reasons which put them at odds, and end up in the same place. That’s more important than either of them getting to beat Azula alone. That confrontation works on multiple levels to fit into the larger story told throughout the show; it’s not just about Zuko, Azula, or Zuko and Azula—which I think is the reason for criticism, if you’re particularly invested from those angles. Katara’s place in it works. And I’m invested in her, which enhances my enjoyment of her having that place.

- Crossroads of Destiny was the first episode of ATLA I ever saw and I want to make note of that before continuing my rewatch. I channel surfed one day in December 2006 and landed upon The Cave Scene. (I remember this, specific phrasing, “the cave scene,” so I think it must have been a fandom term.) The interactions between Katara and Zuko in that crystal cave were the first thing I saw of the show and what drew me into watching it. The show is much bigger than this and them, but I am still moved by the emotions and vulnerability of that scene, and I love them still.

- Speaking of the cave scene! Seeing The Cave of Two Lovers a few days before made me think about how those caves are lit similarly, and getting to Crossroads of Destiny now is neat. They both have Katara in a different kinds of intimate situations—one with a boy she’s just started to think she might be into, another with a boy she’s starting to genuinely like—and there’s a connection there, but they don’t end up making it. Katara was ahead of Aang when she thought about kissing him, and then when he got to the same page, about to make a change their relationship, they were interrupted by loved ones. Zuko actually managed to get ahead of Katara in recognizing her suffering as a person—in terms of that specific interaction within the cave, because obviously Katara had already done that when she offered to heal Iroh—but she is the one ahead of him in trying to make that moment the start of a new dynamic between them, which is interrupted first by their loved ones and then by his character arc not being able to get there just yet.

- Another way this fits in Katara’s story arc is Jet! She just came off a storyline in which she liked someone who bonded with her about parental loss in war, who used that bond to manipulate her into doing something she didn’t want to do, whom she could not forgive but grieved nonetheless when he died doing the right thing. Now here she is again, responding to a boy who reaches out on the topic of shared loss, and he ends up spitting in her face and letting Azula kill Aang. Of course they have things to work out next season. I always thought her feelings were valid, but this rewatch has given me more appreciation for her growth. Katara strives to keep everyone together from the start, even though she’s not always successful. She tends to think she must put her negative emotions and her needs aside, which doesn’t always work and can backfire: see her projecting that internalized gender expectation onto Toph during The Chase, or look as far back as The Waterbending Scroll, when shame compels her to say she won’t have anything to do with the scroll, which forces her to use it in secret, getting them caught by Zuko and the pirates. She tries to make herself selfless and a safe space, for both personal reasons that involve both her mother’s sacrificial death and Water Tribe gender expectations. Going off to help the Avatar save the world has the effect of both honoring her need to help others at her own expense and honoring her need to have more for herself, for her own sake. She gets to not only learn waterbending, but master it, and be the Avatar’s master. She gets to help people more on her own terms—when she wants to do it—in a way that highlights her power, and not just as the background help who makes sure things keep running and gets taken for granted by people like early Sokka. She gets to have fun, and her feelings aren’t just something she suppresses until they explode. She can assert them and make them known. So, she sees Jet again, she freezes him. She accepts Zuko again, out of respect for group cohesion and because Aang does decide he needs him for a teacher, but her acceptance doesn’t go any further than that. She doesn’t have to like him or suppress her dislike of him just to make him happy or to keep things smooth and pleasant for the group. I like that for her. And I also like that when she does choose to respond to him differently, it’s because he remembered how she connected her anger at him to her anger at the Fire Nation back in Ba Sing Se, and figured out a way to redirect(!) her deepest negative emotions onto a different—also worthy—target, which she takes as free reign to let that out of her; she makes her final choices independently of what someone else wants, allowing her to face herself as judge and owner of her decisions, of how she lives with them, and with the side of herself which she has worked so hard not only to master, but to suppress. She faced that aspect of herself and integrated it with the rest of her, reconciled the conflict between it and her self-image as a good, compassionate young woman. This bullet point was only meant to juxtapose her subplot with Jet—who she softened to only when he was dying, and whom she couldn’t save—to her dynamic with Zuko, who didn’t have to die for her to reach that point (though he almost did, and she did save him). But there’s so much to Katara’s anger and her choices to forgive—or accept it and let it go, let it be without having to forgive—and I love her. I want to share what came into my head in this attempt to articulate what the season two finale does for her story.

- She’s so crushed when Aang is shot and the whole sequence of her catching him, then fleeing with his body and bringing him back to life is so beautiful. Her face when she sees him regain consciousness. *-* And all her beautiful bending. She’s the best, she’s my fave.

[jhapalitimes]

Bride Ditches Her Own Wedding for Harry Styles Concert

When it comes to choosing the perfect wedding date, couples usually consider factors like guest availability and avoiding clashes with major events. But for Devon Ruth Collins and Mitchell Fellows, fate played a wicked hand. Just as they thought they had locked in their dream wedding day, news broke that their beloved crooner, Harry Styles, would be serenading the city on that very same date. Caught between two worlds, Devon found herself at a crossroads. Should she proceed with the meticulously planned nuptials or seize the chance to witness the enigmatic Harry Styles in all his glory? With a twinkle in her eye and a daring spirit, Devon decided she could have her wedding cake and listen to Harry's irresistible melodies too. As the wedding reception swung into full swing, the couple shocked their guests by making an unexpected exit. Casting aside convention, they embarked on a whirlwind adventure that would leave even the most audacious romantics in awe. Clad in their elegant wedding attire, they dashed through the city streets, heading towards Wembley Stadium, where Harry Styles awaited, his music calling out like a siren's song. Boarding the tube, their hearts pounding with excitement, Devon and Mitchell reveled in the sheer audacity of their actions. Passersby couldn't help but admire the fearless couple, who were determined to chase their dreams while still donned in their matrimonial finery. The train ride became a whimsical journey, filled with laughter, anticipation, and the promise of an extraordinary evening. Armed with a playful sign that read, "Just married – But Will You Be My Daddy?", Devon hoped to catch Harry's attention amidst the sea of adoring fans. Alas, destiny had other plans, and the sign went unnoticed. Nevertheless, the couple immersed themselves in the electric atmosphere of the concert, where the harmonies of their favorite artist mingled with the echoes of their vows exchanged earlier that day. Lovebirds' Dilemma: Tying the Knot or Chasing the Beat of Harry Styles Reflecting on the night that blurred the lines between fantasy and reality, Devon confessed, "It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, genuinely magical... Bit disappointing that Harry didn't get to see my sign, but it is what it is; other than that, it was an absolute dream." Devon Ruth Collins and Mitchell Fellows became the protagonists of an extraordinary tale, demonstrating that love knows no boundaries and that true passion can lead us on unexpected detours. Their audacious escapade will forever be etched in their memories as a testament to the power of following your heart, even when it means swapping the wedding cake for a little watermelon sugar and the dance floor for a stadium of cheering fans. Read the full article

[zkfanworkweek]

ZFAW Fan Content Creator Interviews: HayleyNFoster

Hey everyone! We hope you’re all excited for ZFAW, and to honor (ha!) ZFAW’s commitment to supporting and celebrating fan content creators in the Zutara fandom, we’re going to be rolling out a series of interviews with well-known and widely-beloved content creators over the next few weeks. We’ve got artists and fanfiction authors, some names you recognize as well as a few phenomenal up-and-coming talents, and we can’t wait for you to meet them all!

For the second interview in this cycle, we have our best propaganda creator and this fandom’s hottest new artist/undisputed queen of the animatic, @hayleynfoster!

1. Tell us about how you came to ship Zutara. What does this ship mean to you?

When I was around 14 or 15 and caught Avatar: The Last Airbender on television, I was drawn in by the art style, the humor, and the wonderful characters. I caught the episodes out of order, and the first one I saw and wasn’t prepared to be sucked in by was The Waterbending Scroll. It intrigued me at that age, and the line “I’ll save you from the pirates” combined with the tension between Katara and Zuko in that whole scene was electrifying. I remember my teenage self thinking these two have so much chemistry! And when I saw a commercial on Nickelodeon that featured fanart submitted by fellow Avatar fans, I realized that I could do that to! So I set about making Zutara fanart for myself. I stumbled onto Youtube, practically in its infancy, and discovered that people set clips of Zuko and Katara set to music (And this was still in season 1 days… so people who made these amvs were the real mvps because they were able to make compelling narratives in their amvs with like practically nothing to work with!). The AMVs really spurred my interest in this couple, I remember distinctly one Zutara AMV using the Dido song White Flag utterly capturing my imagination. I found fandom shortly after, getting into deviantart and forums. But the ship really began to mean something to me when, as I was working on my drawings in the computer lab at school, a buoyant presence hovered over my shoulder noticing my Zutara art on the computer screen. The girl was someone I had never really talked to and had only seen from afar but she immediately started excitedly saying she shipped Zuko and Katara too! In this simple shared obsession, I made one of the best friends I’ve ever had and we’re still friends to this day. We would theorize and fangirl over Avatar like it was nobody’s business; we poured over bootleg San Diego Comic Con footage that showed spoilers for season 2 before it aired; we lost our freaking minds when we finally saw The Crossroads of Destiny. We had watch parties every week as Season 3 of A:TLA aired, and comforted each other when the show ended as it did (much ranting was shared). Those are some of my happiest memories from high school… all because this one pairing from this wonderful show. Even though Zutara didn’t happen, we still chat every now and then about it. Zutara will probably be a lifelong obsession, always bubbling under the surface. And without it, I would have never realized that animation was a viable career path. It really did inspire everything including the work I’m doing to this day in the animation industry. I owe a lot to this ship and to Avatar: the Last Airbender.

2. What inspires you to create zutara fanworks?

The resurgence of Avatar: The Last Airbender this year really helped sort of spark that dormant love I had for Zutara. The show’s ending still disappointed me on the rewatch, but Zuko and Katara’s relationship arc was as captivating as ever, so I turned to some fanfiction and looking at people’s pretty Zutara art and AMVs to just revel in fanon instead of getting to hung up on the actual ending of the show. But then I realized, with quarantine and my work load being pretty light, I had time to actually make all new Zutara art for myself, art I was never fully capable of making as a kid, but now could do with my 7 years of industry experience and just… life experience. And I was inspired to do some corrective animatics to satisfy my own desire for a different ending. I just really like exploring these two characters, doing different and interesting things with them, and frankly I’m inspired to make cute, fluffy, romantic art simply by virtue of living in a really sad and depressing world. Things are so crazy right now, creating art about two characters I love being in love, is comforting. And it helps to have inspiring music and amazing Zutara amvs to just sort of stir up my emotions and imagery in my head to make into animatics and art.

3. Be selfish - if you could request one fanwork based on your own art/fanfic, what would it be? What would you absolutely love to see someone create?

Ohhhh… Well, It’s always nice to have people write fanfiction that puts words to my animatics. I am not that great at coming up with dialog myself, so I’ve just chosen to indulge in visuals and emotions for my boards. But when I read things like RideBoldlyRide’s take on my Reunion Animatic, it makes me pretty giddy. (They finally have voices!) :) And this is the MOST selfish thing I could request, but I’m not shy about saying how much I love well done amvs, so I will literally kill for someone to make Zutara AMVs to songs I like… Like, most of AURORA’s songs but especially Exist for Love, Sunseeker by The Naked and Famous, Promises or Take Me by Aly & AJ, Adore You by Harry Styles, Human Enough by ONR, Never Let Me Go by Florence + The Machine, and/or Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier just… I can see the AMVs so clearly to any of these songs in my head, but I don’t have the tools or skill set at my disposal to make a compelling fan video. When I was in high school, I originally thought I wanted to go into video editing simply because I loved making very crappy AMVs (they were so bad you guys), but I figured out being a storyboard artist was more in my wheelhouse. haha

4. Any words for people who are new to the fandom and/or nervous about sharing their work for the first time?

If you’re new to the Zutara fandom, just have a good time! Don’t waste too much time arguing with people over your shipping preferences. I wasted so much of my teen years having pointless shipping wars with people on DeviantArt, and I’m just so much happier nowadays because I’m just making Zutara art in my little corner of the internet, and honestly, in the politest of ways, I don’t give a shit if people don’t like my art or Zutara. haha I think that’s sort of a key thing for people thinking of posting creative works here in the fandom, just make art for yourself, satisfy your own desires for the pairing, get your creative sparks flying, and create just for the joy of creating. It’s always nice to get comments and such, but simply making the art should be what spurs you on, not the external validation. And have a good time, don’t worry too much - I say as someone who worries about EVERYTHING. But honestly, making art for A:TLA is some of the most relaxed I’ve been because I make it just for me. I’m lucky others seem to like it too!

5. What’s an idea for a fanwork that you have but haven't gotten around to making?

I have an idea for a second generation storyline with my Zutara kids that involves Kya (the eldest firebending daughter) falling in love with an airbender boy (tentatively named Gora in my headcanon who’s a bit of a rabble rouser and one of Aang’s kids he had with a Kyoshi Warrior), and then they start a socialist revolution in the Fire Nation in order to dismantle all of the hierarchical societies across the Avatar world… Together Kya and Gora Fan the Flames of revolution… ehhhhh... Get it?? Oh! Oh, and then Katara, who had put in legit liberal reforms in her time as Fire Lady listens to her daughter after resisting in the first part of the story, but then realizes she can actually play a part in the dissolution of the royalty and is also active in the revolution realizing that moderate liberal reforms are no substitute for a society free of serving royalty (which she had always been uncomfortable with but had rationalized with herself that she was doing good in her capacity as Fire Lady.) I just feel like there’s a lot of cool potential for discussing these ideas and also having some aspirational change in the Avatar world. lol For aesthetics and just happy fluffy times, I can indulge in Fire Lady and Fire Lord Zuko stuff, but really at the end of the day, I take issue with the structures in a society that have to exist for monarchies to exist. Soooo, I kind of want to do my own corrective story for that… if I ever have the time or guts. On a less ambitious note, I would love to do a Zutara sparring animatic to practice doing action, but I need a good story; I am not good at doing fights just for fighting’s sake. Those are just some things I have rattling around in my head.  

6. Are you participating in ZFAW? If so want to give us a hint as to your plans?

Yes! The most I can say is I have one animatic almost finished and one that’s still being thumbnailed. The rest are probably going to be comics or emotive single pieces based on the fanfics I really like right now. :)

[mcyt-peach]

I've been upgraded to ✨ anon my beloved. this calls for a celebration

wanna read a bit of my latest work? (I did say I am an aspiring author :p)

the waves keep crashing loudly onto the shore outside his rattling windows. for a long time, the world does not respond.

they like to watch you suffer, she says at last. they believe that if you have not gained anything before you lose, then you have not really lost anything. and that is not entertaining for them to watch.

my powers are always limited, canary. I may be the world itself, but I am easily manipulated—as are you—and there are so many things I cannot do. and for that, I am so sorry. I could not do more, but I wish so dearly I could.

the waves stop crashing so loudly. if he squints, he can sort of see the moon reflected in the murky swamp water. if he squints even harder, he can maybe see the tops of rivendell's towers reflected on the surface, but it's more likely that it's just a mixture of his imagination and wishful thinking.

what can you do? he asks.

little and less, she responds. I can nudge you along the crossroads of destiny so you will have an easier time, but I cannot change your choice. I guide, but only you can choose if you follow. I can control the small details, the fine print, but they get to pick the important ones.

the world pauses. not to say that the small things are not important. they are, if you will it to be. she adds. the word is not important, I don't think. Impactful.

✨ anon this is AMAZING!!!!

I love writing like this where the words are all flowy and beautiful omg this is awesome <3

[gemgirl28]

Kiss 38, Jinko

Hello! Thanks so much for the prompt!

JINKO MY BELOVED! Look no one asked but I’m going to tell you, I was SO MAD when Zuko got with Mai because I was so excited for him to be settling down with Iroh and living this nice simple life with this sweet girl and then of course the crossroads of destiny effed all that up. IF I were to put Zuko with anyone but Katara, I would have to say it would be Jin because they are just so sweet together.

Anyways, now that I’ve ranted about why Jinko is adorable, here we go. I was very inspired by this beautiful piece by @flameo-trashman that they did for the @avatar-rare-pair-ship-challenge so go check it out and give them some love for it! I like to think this is a post-war AU where the council is adamant Zuko should marry someone from the Fire Nation, but he and Iroh are trying to change their mind while dealing with assassination attempts and uprisings and the usual shenanigans you see in fics.

38.  Whispering “I love you” before a chaste, delicate kiss.

Jin dropped her hood, stepping into the light. “Hi,” she whispered. Zuko stepped forward, a shy grin tugging at his lips. 

“Hi,” he whispered back, wrapping her in a tight hug. “I missed you.”

Jin blinked away the tears that unwillingly sprung to her eyes. “I missed you too,” she choked out. Zuko pulled back, keeping his hands on her waist. a frown tugging down the corner of his lips.

“I’m so sorry. Uncle- He’s been trying to help me win the councils favor, but they are still scared.” He dropped his eyes to the ground, the furrow in his brow increasing. “I know this isn’t what you want. If I wasn’t Fire Lord-”

“Hush,” Jin said, brushing back his bangs from his forehead. “If you weren’t Fire Lord, Azula would be, and the whole world would burn.” She stood on her toes to kiss his cheek, just below his scar. “I’ll wait however long it takes till you are safe.”

Zuko smiled weakly, bringing her hand up to place a kiss to her palm. “I don’t deserve you, you know that.”

“Stop that,” Jin said. “I love you,” she whispered before gently pressing her lips to his. It was quick, chaste, almost delicate, but it still said everything she could not put into words.

Zuko sighed and pressed his forehead to hers. “I love you too,” he whispered.

Jin smiled and breathed in deeply, savoring the unique mix of tea and smoke that was Zuko. Her Zuko.

She would wait as long as needed, but for now she would savor every stolen moment they had together.

[bleuspirit]

A take on some “analyses” about Zuko and Katara’s relationship

Ever since A:TLA aired, I have always been (and still am!) a Zutara shipper. I was already around deviantart back in 2008 and so for many years I’ve seen countless arguments and counter-arguments about this ship and almost all of them were in comparison with Kataang (w/c is understandable). Admittedly, I used to agree with the anti-Kataang sentiments back then, but over time (and with age and experience! Ahaha), I learned to appreciate the different ships in ATLA better — even Kataang. It’s just personally, I enjoyed the canon development of Zuko and Katara’s relationship more. I find it more fleshed out I guess — probably because they’re literally the “textbook definition” of relationship development (enemies to best friends kind of thing). But anyway, I’d like to point out that what made me do this is because a lot of the arguments surrounding Zutara and Kataang seem to disregard the canon development of each individual characters, and are specially enclosed in a spicy worded “analysis”. What actually made me see the other ships in a better light are those posts which nicely point out their strengths rather than banking on the weaknesses of the other ships. And since I ship Zutara, I’ll only be talking about their relationship here.

(Long post ahead)

One of the main arguments against Zutara is that Katara wouldn’t want to be the Fire Lady and be the mother symbol of the nation who literally killed her mom. This will be my starting point.

There are already a lot of Katara-centered metas out there which discussed her character development. One of the recurring points in them is that as much as Katara held so much anger against the Fire Nation, The Puppet Master and The Painted Lady proved that she doesn’t take it out on the innocent citizens of the country. Hence, we can safely argue that Katara was mainly angry at those who held power. Unfortunately, it seems like a lot of people still overlook this aspect of Katara’s character — even if it’s what makes her more nuanced. This is the Katara that we love. She’s fierce, compassionate, and fiercely compassionate.

Now, in The Southern Raiders, Zuko himself realized this. Katara told him back in Crossroads of Destiny that “It’s just for so long now, whenever I think of the face of the enemy, it was your face.” Katara knew Zuko was the Prince of Fire Nation. She knew that his forefathers started this war. She saw how persistent he was in (her words) “capturing the world’s last hope for peace”. To her, he was THAT “power” that she hated. That blurry image of the Fire Nation that she hated now had a face (of course, there was Yon Rha but Zuko was the prince). “But what do you know? You’re the Fire Lord’s son.” 

And Zuko realizes this. “I think she’s connected her anger about that (her mother’s death), to her anger at me.” And as we’ve seen in The Southern Raiders, Zuko genuinely tried to atone for every hurt that he has caused her. He sought out for her forgiveness, for her to see that he’s a friend that she could rely on. And he did atone himself!

Unfortunately again, most anti-Zutara sentiments seem to brush off Zuko’s entire character arc. Zuko undeniably has one of the best arcs in the history of television entertainment, and he is hands down one of the most beloved fictional characters of all time. But then in trying to deconstruct his plausible romantic relationship with Katara, I often read “but he was a bad person!” or “he’s a bad influence for Katara!”. And honestly, it pains me to read those. We were given one of the greatest scenes in A:TLA where Zuko himself denounced the “Fire Nation Legacy” against the Fire Lord himself. A lot of good commentaries about the show expressly said how glorious that confrontation with Ozai was especially when he called him out on his abuse and their propaganda. “What a great lie that was!” As known to us fans, that was already the turning point of Zuko’s character. From there, he broke free from being part of that line of power.

The conclusion of the The Southern Raiders has shown us that Katara no longer viewed Zuko as the enemy; that he was a good Fire Nation guy. And in fact, she has fully accepted that Zuko represented change in the Fire Nation; that he’s not going to be like his father or grandfather. She forgives him and trusts him completely at the end of the episode. That is why by The Old Masters, Katara readily accompanies Zuko to face Azula because she knows that by defeating his sister, Zuko will be the Fire Lord who will bring a new era of peace to the world. She has to help put Zuko to the throne, and Katara knew damn well that she’s capable to go toe-to-toe with Azula. And we could always view this without the romantic undertones.

It’s actually amazing how the Last Agni Kai parallels the Crossroads of Destiny because if Katara still had reservations about Zuko’s intentions, then she wouldn’t be so down to fight in the Fire Nation capital alone with those two surrounded by comet-powered soldiers. It’s so satisfying to see Zuko and Katara’s canon relationship journey (like as friends) come to full circle in that episode.

And with that, I don’t think Katara will hate the idea of being Fire Lady just because of her previous hatred towards the Fire Nation. Putting on my Zutara glasses now (ahaha), as the Fire Lady, Katara will most likely push for education reform debunking the previous propaganda set by Sozin’s era. As shippers, we can only explore as to what kind of Fire Lady Katara would want to be; and I can even see her and Zuko making some changes regarding traditional marriages. Who knows? Only fanfics can tell haha.

We can probably argue that there might be other reasons why Katara wouldn’t want to be Fire Lady (or like a traditional Fire Lady), but surely it’s not because she hates Fire Nation citizens or that because Zuko did them wrong before. I just wish we won’t overlook their character developments often. Yes, Zuko deserved the anger Katara held against him before, but he had already atoned himself to her. We all know that by the end of the series, they would literally and canonically die for each other — with or without romantic feelings.

Additionally, another thing that I adore about Zuko and Katara’s relationship is that they have a strong emotional bond. Of course, it is already granted that Zuko shares strong emotional bonds with the rest of the gaang as well, and I’m not here to point out that he has the best bond with Katara, because in canon, he’s great with everyone. We’ve seen him have a heart-to-heart talk with every member of the gaang. And now for a shipper, I think this is a great foundation for a healthy relationship!

Zuko grew up suppressing a lot of things and he needs to be in an environment where he can freely express himself, especially that he has a tendency to have self-destructive thoughts. And I’m really glad that he got to have that safe space with the gaang. Zuko could openly air out his frustrations and worries to them, and the gaang understands where he is coming from and helps him sort his issues out — including Katara (see: The Old Masters, conversation outside Iroh’s tent). As for Katara, we can safely infer that Zuko is a good listener and makes good responses. (”Your mother was a brave woman.”) If Zutara did become endgame, it wouldn’t have been a stretch since the series have already showed us that his relationship with each member of the gang is healthy. 

The entire show is complex and it was written extremely well that it reflects a lot of things in our world — including relationship dynamics. Meaning, nothing’s really perfect.

Finally, to end this, I’d like to remind everyone that there’s no point in trying to engage in a messy fanwar. Just enjoy your ships in peace and if you don’t agree with one, then don’t go around asks insulting people about their ships. There’s more to life than that. ✨

[strrwbrrryjam]

Iroh

In reference to @volkswagonblues poll on the Avatar: The Last Airbender Fandom. So I thought I’d give my own two cents. Throughout my blog, you can read that I have only ever said positive things about both Zuko and Iroh, most of it being so that they are my comfort characters, but I know that they have flaws and that it is their flaws that make them who they are.

To me, Iroh is one of the most morally grey characters in the show, his good and bad qualities balance each other out, he most definitely has his flaws and can come across as one-minded and hypocritical of certain characters, most of it coming down to his treatment of his niece, each of which I will talk about in this character analysis, if that is what you can call it.

Iroh’s Relationship with Azula

Iroh’s relationship with Azula is one of the reasons that many seem to hate him, most of who in fact criticize him for his famous line, “She’s crazy and she needs to go down,” from Bitter Work, Season 2 Episode 9. But, people seem to forget that she almost killed him, using lightning, which many do not survive from. There are many instances in the real world where teenage girls are charged with attempted murder, who can and do go to jail, Such as:

Recently, a fourteen-year-old girl charged with attempted murder on the Isle of Wight, where she can be sentenced to a maximum term of life imprisonment with a starting point of 6 years in custody.

The famous Slender Man stabbing where two twelve-year-old girls were found not guilty of stabbing another girl nineteen times, both of who had been found not guilty but sent to a mental institution of twenty-five to sixty-five years respectively.

In Florida, a fourteen-year-old boy was charged with attempted murder of three police deputies and is fleeing from the law, being charged with three counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, armed burglary, and theft of a firearm.

But listen, the context of this line is critically important, as he is with one child, who has been repeatedly tormented throughout his childhood, who, again, has almost been killed by the same child several times prior, asking whether he still should get along with his sister who is actively trying to do harm to him. If he tries to get along with Azula, he is repeatedly putting himself in harm's way because Azula is not above manipulating him into believing that his father can love him, that he has to constantly remind himself, that she always lies. Azula may be a child, a child who has been emotionally abused her whole life and has been propagandized to believe that what she was doing is right. She showed no doubt to this, wholeheartedly believing that the only way to survive in this world is that others have to fall. But she is still responsible for her own actions, just as anyone else is, no matter the age.

Their relationship is none existent, Iroh does not know Azula. Iroh does not know Zuko or Azula at this age, being a general at the time, plotting for the Siege of Ba Sing Se. Azula has repeatedly shown distaste to Iroh, actively wishing death on him at a young age to pave way for her own father, Ozai. When learning of her own cousin's death, and how Iroh crumpled in relief, she calls him a “quitter” and a “loser,” saying that a real general would “burn Ba Sing Se to the ground.”

Azula is Ozai’s favored child, the golden child. She is everything Ozai wants in a child, so, therefore, he would not let Iroh, who is actively one of Ozai’s threats to the claim to the throne, even corrupt his perfect pawn for his plan of world domination, he does not care for Zuko, believing that he is lesser for not being a child prodigy, which is why he likely has no qualms about Iroh joining Zuko. Azula actively dismisses Iroh when he shows her one of his tricks, in the Crossroads of Destiny, Season 2 Episode 20, while Zuko, knows exactly what his Uncle is talking about. While yes, Azula’s situation is downright dreadful, and Ursa should have most definitely done better in parenting Azula, actively being there for her, teaching her the right from wrong, and not letting her daughter think that her mother thinks of her as being a monster. “Uncle” Iroh has no chances to do so. Yes, he could have tried, yes, he should have tried, but during this time in the show, Azula is under the watchful eye of Ozai and he has no chance to.

Side Note: Out of anyone in the show, I would think of it being Iroh who knows when their younger siblings are going down a dark path, considering who his younger brother is.

Iroh’s Treatment of Women

This is most definitely a valid reason to dislike him. As a person who presents as a female, sometimes. Whenever I see Iroh, flirt, or for lack of a better word, perv and flirt his way out of situations, has always creeped me out, this doesn’t even have to be an old man, like Iroh, I get actively creeped out when Lucifer, played by Tom Ellis, does so. Please, please stop this trope of men and women actively flirting their way out of situations, showing the respective sex as nothing but a piece of meat. I always cringe when anyone does so, especially Iroh. I couldn’t even watch it when June had fallen and Iroh had faked paralysis because of how utterly disgusting it was.

Iroh is a War Criminal

This is an utterly undeniable fact. It is also one of the reasons why Iroh cannot and should not rule the Fire Nation. He had redeemed himself to an extent, but he should have and could have done more. Yes, he was grieving, and yes, he lost his son. But so had many others, people who worked for him, had lost their lives, and he had done nothing once he returned from his two-year spiritual journey. He could actively afford to do nothing while the people of the Fire Nation couldn’t because he had wealth while they did not. Also, his retreat at the Fire Nation, is a tragedy but also one of the many reasons why the people of the Fire Nation could not have Iroh on the throne. Because, imagine, the only reason why they retreated was that someone more important than their sons and daughters, thousands had lost their lives to the greed of this one man. It makes him not only actively hated throughout the Earth Kingdom but the Fire Nation too.

Iroh’s Decision in the Comics

Listen, I myself am a firm believer that comics, do not exist. They have their own issues and the Promise, to me, is utterly horrible. It fails as a continuation of the beloved series that is Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Iroh’s decision to have Zuko as the Fire Lord has its own faults, yes, leaving a sixteen-year-old on the throne to a country that has devoted itself to war sounds like a terrible idea, and it is, but I understand why Zuko was a perfect choice, and why they cannot abolish the monarchy this soon after the war.

Zuko is the Perfect Choice™ for Fire Lord.

They cannot abolish the Monarchy.

Zuko has the perfect story, for the rest of the world. He loves his people, does not care for the noble class, and actively spoke out against the war, albeit for his own people. He was banished and branded for his compassion and love, actively succeeded in the impossible task he was sent out to do, but in doing so learns of the fact that what his nation is doing is wrong and has the veil of propaganda lifted from his eyes. Leaving his nation he worked so hard to fight against the world and return to his nation as Fire Lord Zuko, Bender of Dragon Fire. He has shown compassion, dedication, and yes, unquestionable honor. He has been trained for this his whole life, as the replacement heir, and while ‘Zuko only having a thirteen-year-old education’ is a fun thought, I highly doubt that Iroh, who sounded so sure of Zuko being the Fire Lord would let him slip on his education.

People in a country, those who are sane, do not actively wish for war. When they have children and grandchildren that they wish to see grow and have their own families, they have no reason to go to war, which is why you have fed your nations lies and propaganda to believe that war is beneficial to them, which is what Sozin had done. When your president is ‘chosen’ by your patient spirit, who speaks through your Fire Lord, who are you to question them? They went to war because they believed it was right, they were being told it was right, they trust their spirit, therefore, they trust their Fire Lord. To abolish the monarchy so soon after the war, would lead them down a downward spiral to destruction, for them and the other nations.

However, despite this, Iroh’s decision to stay in Ba Sing Se while his beloved nephew is actively suicidal and leading another war on the Earth Kingdom while he serves goddam tea is utterly despicable and devastating. Yes, I understand having Iroh being watched in the Earth Kingdom so Zuko is not seen as a Puppet King is a valid complaint, but having one traumatized nephew, from a lifetime of abuse, death, abandonment and leave him alone on a thrown with nobles who actively hate him for ending the war? It is one of the stupidest things in the world, Iroh should at least have stepped up as regent or something, just staying there with his so-called “son” so Zuko doesn’t plunge to his death, is pretty good idea.

Iroh’s Relationship with Zuko

Iroh’s relationship with Zuko is one of the most heart-warming and -wrenching relationships in the series. It pulls at the heartstrings in all the right ways. Here is an Uncle who lost his son, and a Nephew who never had a father and they find each other.

Even in Season One, where Zuko is at his worst, he still shows that he cares for his Uncle by, yes, despite having a small tantrum, he still concedes with Iroh’s request, no matter how silly it is. He shouts, shoots fire, yells insults, but he still does so. Iroh’s silly requests are ways to delay Zuko going back to his father, who doesn’t want him, he respects him, knows that it is good in his heart. He is so attuned to him that he knows what is thinking, he calls him ‘honorable’ and instead of bringing it up again to Zuko’s question, he talks about tea, which tells Zuko that his honor was always unquestionable. Zuko gives up his chance to go after them to save his Uncle, and Iroh doesn’t even doubt that Zuko will choose him. He takes care of him and nurtures this broken boy into something wonderful.

In Season Two, they are forced into an uncomfortable situation where they hit the lowest of the lows, yet they still care for each other, yes Iroh disapproves of Zuko’s highway robbery streak, he knows this is how Zuko needs to cope with this. When someone assaults Iroh, Zuko works on his revenge to steal from him. Their relationship is tested, they still need each other and very much care for each other. He isn’t happy in Ba Sing Se, but he goes along with what his Uncle wants because it makes him happy. But, he isn’t ready yet, as an example in “Hello, Future Me,” video on On Writing: Redemption Arcs his view of the world has changed, his view of himself has changed, but he hasn’t had the capability to change his stakes because he isn’t ready to redeem himself because he still believes that there is a chance that his dad still loves him.

We don’t get much of Iroh and Zuko together in Season Three, for very good reasons, yet Zuko’s continuous visits to Iroh, he still values his opinion. His stakes are changing and his Uncle is the person he goes to when he doesn’t know of his place in the world. When he leaves, he works his way to breaking Iroh out of jail, but he’s too late. When he begins to join the others, he’s still in enemy territory, but he still becomes the missing piece Team Avatar needs, Iroh is regularly mentioned despite never being there because Zuko both loves and misses him so much that it doesn’t matter the company that he is in, whether in a group of technically enemies or friends. That apology scene is one of the best scenes in Avatar: The Last Airbender. Zuko got Iroh locked up and possibly marked for death, as Iroh committed Treason for helping the Avatar and Zuko still receives unconditional love, many of whom will not be received with such.

Conclusion

Listen, Iroh has many qualities to like and has many that he doesn’t. Both opinions of him being a hypocrite war criminal who peeves on women and a man who is working to redeem himself. He is both of them and that's what makes it great, Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of those shows that all characters have flaws, even Mentor characters who take as in children who have lost everything and had none of it in the beginning. You can love him and hate him and that's okay.

I love Iroh, despite his faults, because as someone whose childhood has been far from ideal due to parents and siblings, having a lonely childhood, full of depression and neglect, I would have loved someone like Iroh to take me in and help me.

[secretlyatargaryen]

I’ve read a lot of analysis of Zuko’s fever dream and the blue dragon/red dragon dichotomy, mostly focusing on how these represent Zuko’s internal conflict with his own morality, but I think there’s another interesting interpretation.

This dream is, in part, a “what could be” scenario for Zuko, with him on the throne, torn between good and bad, represented by Iroh and Azula, respectively, because those are the two people who most prominently represent these things in his life. It’s not entirely that, and the fact that Zuko is without his scar in the dream shows us that this is a future that can never be. In that case it’s a “what could have been” and a symbol of Zuko’s own desperate desire to fix what he thinks his problems are, and a hint that what Zuko is trying to regain, his place by his father’s side as the beloved crown prince, never really existed in the first place. This also shows us that this is a future that Zuko cannot quite believe in himself. I’ve written before about Zuko’s seemingly contradictory feelings towards his birthright and how I don’t think he ever really saw himself on the throne, and I think this is another hint that this is the case. In this dream, Zuko is sitting on the throne, but the reality we see is one that isn’t quite real.

The fact that he imagines Azula, and not Ozai, as the blue dragon shows the audience what a powerful influence Azula has over him (and also foreshadows Azula’s influence in leading him to betray Iroh underneath Ba Sing Se). It’s interesting because we might think the blue dragon would be Ozai, especially when contrasted with Iroh, as the two father figures in Zuko’s life, but it’s Azula who is contrasted with Iroh here. This does not mean Azula is a more powerful influence than Ozai, but rather it shows that Azula’s influence is different, more direct and tangible in Zuko’s mind. I do think that this is evidence that Zuko sees Azula as both someone who has power over him and someone he is afraid of. This is, after all, a nightmare, and the blue dragon’s appearance here is very dark and threatening. But his fear of her is very different from his fear of Ozai. Whereas Zuko views Azula as an antagonist, represented here as a negative and threatening presence vs Iroh’s positive and nurturing presence, Zuko doesn’t view his father as an antagonist. And interestingly, once Zuko does realize his father’s abuse towards him, he views Ozai as Aang’s antagonist. His standing up to Ozai is focusing on how he believes that it is Aang’s destiny to defeat his father. I actually think that Zuko is so afraid of Ozai that he can’t perceive of him as an enemy that he can face alone, even on the Day of Black Sun. Zuko is perfectly capable of facing Azula in battle (even though Azula is also abusive to Zuko) but the one time he faced Ozai in battle, he was so terrified that he couldn’t fight back. He does redirect lightning at his father when he finally stands up to him, and the fact that he brought his swords with him, and carefully planned to confront Ozai on a day when he knew Ozai would not be able to use his bending, shows that Zuko was prepared to fight back if he had to, but I think this was something he wanted to avoid and something he wasn’t confident that he could win. At the end of book 2, Zuko is certainly not capable of confronting his father even in a psychic fever dream.

In Zuko’s dream, both Azula and Iroh seem to represent what Zuko could become if he were on the throne. Azula is the abused child who never got free of her father’s toxic influence and become totally indoctrinated in the Fire Nation’s imperialistic worldview, while Iroh represents the freedom to choose good. But the threat that Azula poses in this dream is more than just an existential one. I also think that Azula here could represent a possible future for Zuko, were he to inherit his father’s throne.

Blue dragon: [In Azula's voice.] It's getting late. Are you planning to retire soon, my lord?

Zuko: I'm not tired.

Blue dragon: [Into Zuko's ear.] Relax, Fire Lord Zuko. Just let go. Give in to it. Shut your eyes for a while.

Zuko slowly starts to shut his eyes but widely opens them upon hearing the other dragon.

Red dragon: [In Iroh's voice.] No, Fire Lord Zuko! Do not listen to the blue dragon. You should get out of here right now. Go! Before it's too late! [Both dragons are poised to either side of Zuko.]

Blue dragon: Sleep now, Fire Lord Zuko.

The dragons disappear, and the room they're in, as well as the guards watching Zuko, crumble to nothing. The blue dragon reappears in front of him. Two golden eyes appear, followed by the face of the blue dragon, which closes rapidly.

Blue dragon: Sleep. [Voice grows louder and more hostile as it continues talking.] Just like mother!

The blue dragon in the dream behaves similarly to the way Azula does. She is manipulative, offering temptation with an implicit threat behind it which becomes more explicit by the end of the dream, while the red dragon with Iroh’s voice urges Zuko not to listen, just as Iroh urges Zuko not to listen to Azula when Zuko is awake.

I’ve read analysis of this scene that suggest that it show’s Zuko’s fears about what might have happened to his mother and that he believes on some level that she is dead, which I agree with, but I also think it represents a fear of what he thinks might happen to him if he were to take the throne. This also answers the question of why neither Ozai or Azula seem particularly bothered by the fact that Zuko is the heir to the throne, despite their obvious disdain for him, and why neither of them are bothered by him being reinstated as heir in book 3. There are two possibilities here.

1) Zuko takes the throne but is weak and easily manipulated by Azula, who becomes the true influence on the throne, represented by the blue dragon whispering in his ear and telling him not to worry and just “give in,” which Zuko does not want to do.

2) Zuko takes the throne but is killed by Azula, who takes the throne for herself, or Azula kills him before he can inherit the throne, or Azula usurps him in a similar way to what Ozai did with Iroh. This also goes with the idea that Zuko believes that his mother is dead, especially since his mother disappeared at the same time that Ozai took control of the throne, and the fact that at the end of the dream, the blue dragon tells him to “sleep, like mother” seems to imply that Zuko believes that what happened to his mother will also happen to him.

This is an interesting interpretation because it shows that the threat here is not just one against Zuko’s soul (although there is that, too) but that he believes on some level that his future as the crown prince is literally a threat to his life.

I also think it’s interesting that although the red dragon is portrayed as a positive and protective influence, telling him to go before it’s too late, it also appears vaguely threatening. This is because believing Iroh, and embracing the destiny that Iroh wants him to embrace, is a threat to the carefully constructed psyche that Zuko has built in order to cope with his situation. If it were easy, then it wouldn’t be a crossroads of destiny. This is also why it is ultimately important for Zuko to choose good for himself, and not because Iroh is pushing him to, which also is related to Zuko’s fears of being controlled even from a seeming position of power.

[moonlightstars16]

The Destined Truth

SO I biased this off an anime(well scene's at least) and a fan made artwork. The inspiration is just amazing!

Sword clashing against sword. The sound echoing all around them. Breathing fast and deep with every moment. Connie and Steven's movement was almost like a dance. Each side forcefully trying to lead. Getting the upper hand. However neither was willing to hurt the other. Not physically at least. But within, they each carried pain of a shattered heart.

Connie Maheswaren, a young woman who honored her duty for others and her destiny. She was a human. One who had helped defend her own home from outside forces. Villainous gems who wanted Earth for themselves. Some of their own kind started a rebellion, the Crystal Gems, and the humans were involved. However she had a deep secret. For Earth and the rebellion had a secret weapon.

Forged by gem technology but activated by human touch. However in a twist of fate, magic crept its way through. To unlock the true and fullest power, only the purest of human blood can get through. That is a very rare blood type. Not just a drop, but an entire human body's fill. With humans dwindling into lower numbers the chances of finding the person with the utmost unique blood was almost impossible.

Connie had exactly what they needed...and she was willing to sacrifice it all for the sake of saving humanity.

What stood in her way was not only a person, but someone who held her contradicting heart in his hands. Steven Universe. Half human and half gem like no others have ever known. For he was the only one of his kind. Living on Earth and learning all he can to help put an end to the war. Though he was forced to be in seclusion for most of his life. He was not only part gem, but his own mother was a Diamond. Ones who want Earth gone. Well that would be if she didn't come to care for Earth and began the rebellion.

Still to make sure no one knew of his true heritage, he was kept to himself mostly. Occasionally sneaking out to find some sort of enjoyment with his time between the endless battles. That's when he met her. In the midst of the forest as she trained to use the sword. One snap of a branch, a fallen boy and a girl's guard up was an interesting first meeting.

Over the course of there young lives(a few years), they met and did all sorts of things together. Trained for the battles ahead, did various activities including swimming in a nearby inlet, walking by the trees, reading books and conversing about many different things. Some serious like the war, others fun and happy. They talked about everything and nothing. Growing closer and closer.

One day, everything changed between them.

A town beside the sea, also protected territory from the war, was having it's annual festival. Celebrating another year of the town's founding from hundreds of years ago. Connie, though had dressed up a bit for the occasion, hid amongst the shadows. Two day's prior as she was going to meet Steven, she heard him talking. To himself it seemed, but it sounded like he was conversing with someone not in this plain of existence.

She didn't hear much, but it was enough that she heard him talk about being the son of a Diamond and the leader of the rebellion all at once. How he felt conflicted about it. But after that her mind clouded with so many thoughts. Was he secretly working for the other side? Invading and learning our secrets?! Only coming out during battles and then hiding, excluding the time with her, until the next one?

No. He was her best friend, there was got to be more than this. Looking ahead he seemed sad and angry about it. Taking a deep breathe she stepped out revealing her hiding place. Steven was expectedly surprised. Connie explained everything she heard as he explained everything to her. How confused he felt, the frustration from not telling others the truth and being hid away all the time. She was beginning to feel comfortable around him once more.

Until he began to confess his affections. How he never felt like others knew him but her. She was his light in the darkness, someone he could talk to and never feel like he had to hide. Especially after telling her the truth of his heritage. Connie's head was turned away as tears brimmed her eyes. She felt the same as well in a sense. No one ever truly cared what she had to say until he came into her life. He made her feel less invisible. Like she was worth more than being the secret weapon.

That's what it came down to.

Connie knew it was hopeless to think she could find love because her final destination was always to be the weapon. Ending the war once and for all. The others could only delay the inevitable for so long. Love was, in her mind, forbidden to the task at hand. And she fell for him anyways. Upon hearing him say the infamous 'I love you', she broke down. Unable to face the reality at hand. Standing up from the small boulder they sat upon she finally looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

Avoiding the questions....the expressions of confusion....the world around them. Uttering a simple apology and goodbye she left in a haste. Leaving Steven in the dark as she left her heart behind. Trying everything to stop from feeling anything. It did no good.

While at the festival, she needed a place away from home to clear her mind, she spotted him across from the other side of the parade. On instinct she ran as far away. Night fell as she stopped on a bridge and knelt down to catch her breath. After a few moments of hearing nothing but her own heartbeat from the run, she gasped as the sound of footsteps approached. 'Oh no...seriously?' she thought as her head lifted up to see the young man before her. Breathing as heavily as she was.

Standing up she took a couple steps backwards before going to sprint off again. Only this time she felt his hand grip hers, pulling her close to him as she struggled to get out of his grasp. One hand on the back of her head as the other wrapped around her waist. She pressed her arm against his shoulders trying, and failing, to break free. Steven pulled away just a bit, long enough to gently press his lips on hers. Shocking her senses as she stopped struggling.

Her heart seemed to leap for joy from the simple kiss. Like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. The cracks she felt mended together as she slowly began to return the gesture. Pulling away only slightly as they looked into each others eyes. His actions showed that he wasn't going to back down nor leave her side. At least not until she gave him her answer. Relishing in their warm embrace. After a few moments of silence she confessed her secret. Now feeling shame for not explaining sooner, especially after he told his willingly(well more in depth than what she heard). While also confessing the love she felt for him that couldn't be denied any longer.

The month before them was filled with happiness as he whisked her away to a secret and secluded area that was once a hiding place for the rebellion. An island that felt like a tropical vacation. But When Steven was by her side, Connie felt like it was paradise. They never spent a moment alone. They were joined at the hip and soon joined at the heart. Tied together for all eternity as they were secretly wed in the traditional sense(thanks to an old forgotten building from long ago. Most likely built by humans who also too refuge there). For this brief moment, it was heaven.

But dark days clouded them as her guilt grew. Abandoning her destiny and all the people that need to be saved. This was the selfish thing she tried ever so much to avoid. While she could stay and live in paradise, her sacrifice to help ensure the safety and future happiness of others was more important. One night her guilt invaded her dreams one to many times. This was the final straw. The time was drawing nearer for her to save the planet once and for all.

Looking down upon her beloved, reaching out to run her fingers through his soft, black curls and pressing her lips upon his softly. Whispering one last goodbye and I love you. Having already changed into her old battle training outfit and cape, she took her sword and began to walk towards where the warp pad was.

Only to be stopped by Steven himself, sword in his own hand and in his battle armor, including the cape. He hand stopped her only a mile before reaching her destination. Connie turned in his direction and felt the tears brimming her eyes. Trying her hardest to push her heart's emotions down. Steven deserved better. Someone who will not only live through this war, but love him like she does. But it wasn't her. It couldn't be her. So she thought.

He was never one for the sword, having a shield for not only the defensive but in attacks as well. anything can be a weapon if used a certain and right way. But he chose the sword. During the time there he had talked and tried to convince her that she didn't have to sacrifice herself. But it was obvious she answered better with action. Not only a small match between them, but using her own favorable weapon.

'Forget me...forget my name...I have nothing more to offer you.'  Was her final thought before the battle commenced between them. As there swords crossed softly with a small ting before clashing against one another. Crossing as both swords pushed against one another, both sides looking into each others eyes with an expression that at first glance was anger. But if looked closely, you can see the torment inside.

"Leave me to my fate! Please I beg of you!"

"Never!"

As they continued their battle of the heart, Connie felt his with every struck of the sword. The moments they shared since they first met flooded through her mind. Little did she know that he was thinking the same. Another blow was struck as realization entered her mind. This was the crossroads she faced. To turn back on the ones who need her... or turn back on her love. A small secret of honest poured out from her lips.

"Because I love you so dearly, I'll shed my blood for earth. Because I love you so dearly, I had broken your heart. I tried to sneak away without looking upon your eyes. Because I feel my courage to do this would fail me if I saw them- saw you with all the love you've given me. How could I take a single step. My love... I don't want to die. ... A simple life with you would be paradise."

Her words were soft as tears fell down her cheeks. Of course this destiny would scare her. Anyone would be if they knew they had to die. Especially at a young ate she knew this fate. Trying so hard to be rid of the mere thought, she brushed it aside. Unable to brave the full truth. Little by little she knew and it tore her up inside. Now she has seen all that will be lost to her.

Connie was afraid.

Suddenly the final clash of the sword came when Steven knocked her's out of hand. Letting it fall to the ground as they breathed deep from the battle. Connie slightly bent over from being knocked back in her stance as Steven had stood his from the last strike. Dropping his sword as he walked to her side. Reaching out to pulled her close to him as she clung to him and their lips touched. Staying that way for awhile before pulling back. Her head pressed against his chest as he held her close.

"I'm here....we'll end this war together." Feeling his head rest against hers Steven clung to her tighter. Connie nodded gently as more tears fell. Tears of sadness, pain, overwhelming love and fear from it all. The future was uncertain, but she began to hope. Hope to stay by his side through it all. Hope to live.

"P-..promise?" She whispered as he pressed his lips against her head and gently rocked her as she trembled.

"I promise. I won't let anything like that happen to you. We'll find another way." After a few minutes she stopped shaking and buried her face in his chest to hear more of his heartbeat. His hand stroking her hair and back, allowing herself to lean against him as he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist.

"Steven, I love you." Connie whispered a few minutes of silence passing.

"I love you too, my beloved Connie." Their words were filled with the truth. They stayed standing and holding onto each other in there own little frozen moment of time. Safe in each others loving embrace. Both preparing for a bright future to grasp together. One they will fight for till the end of time.

[fleurbastien]

✧･ﾟ(   persephone + jordan fisher + demiguy   ) 𝒎𝒂𝒎𝒎𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒂 !!  have you seen Bastien Lalande around ? they/he have/has been in kaos for fourteen months. the twenty-six year old is a botanist from martinique. people say they can be detached but maybe that’s not too bad ‘cause they can also be amicable. whenever i think of them, i can’t help but think of ((   a sunlit greenhouse, sand underfoot on a temperate beach, a streak of dirt smudged across the cheek    )).  ･ﾟ✧ 

Bio

Bastien Lalande was born and raised on the island of Martinique to Danielle and Henri Lalande. Their plan was to have a flock of children. Family was what they prized most in this world. They could imagine no happier future than peering out the window of their sizable family home and see kinds running through the grass, kicking back and forth a football. Their plans were abruptly thwarted. Between their first and third years of life, Bastien was too young to understand or remember the complications that Danielle experienced with having another child. How close she came to passing away after the third surgery. It was this near-death experience which prompted the couple to mutually agree on focusing raising Bastien, and to spare Danielle anymore physical and emotional pain. Despite their agreement, a fragment of Henri and Danielle died; their dreams shattered as though a rock had been thrown squarely into a mirror. Because of this, a seed was planted deep within their minds that, just maybe, if they hadn’t had Bastien, they would still have some semblance of future aspiration.

Life on Martinique was personal. Communal. Familial. Everyone said hello to one another as they passed. Honking was a sign of neighborly greeting, not irritation at the traffic. You can imagine that, growing up in this culture, Bastien became quite the socialite. They were charming, active, knowledgeable, and sportive. People loved seeing him skipping down the road on his way to school, and cheered him on as captain of the Yole Sailing team. He was the picture of stability, as his parents’ world was on the decline. Running a cafe was difficult with a staff of three, and even harder when you had to run operations at the age of thirteen. There were days when he was in charge of opening and closing procedures, and some days more during which he would have to miss school in order to help out at the shop. Bastien was growing to resent the positions into which he was thrust. He was convinced that he should be out enjoying his life, not toiling under responsibilities which should not be his own. A heavy weight began to oppress his shoulders. His personality began to dampen, despite his best efforts. What was worse, he didn’t let on to the community that he was struggling. He felt that, for the sake of dignity (or some other noble reason), he had to keep private the fact that his parents were no longer fit to care for him.

After several years, a poetic path appeared. A divergence of destiny. Bastien could travel halfway across the world and attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa, or they could continue looking after their parents, who severely needed their help. The decision sent the youngling into a depressive state. He knew his dreams lay at the other side of that graduation stage in Hawaii, but he also knew that there was no real choice; he had to stay for his parents, despite their contentious relationship. Danielle was fatigued more often than not, and if Bastien couldn’t anticipate her needs, she would find it in her energy to berate him (putting it kindly). At that point, Henri had enough of a reason to despise Bastien. Not only did his son take away three more children from him, but contributed to the heartbreak and physical condition of his beloved as well. It was at this important crossroads that Bastien’s behavior altered radically, deviating from his usual sunny disposition. As it happened, nothing went unnoticed by his extended family for long. By and by, upon discovering his dilemma, they practically made the decision for him. They would take care of his parents and send him off to college.

Sparing unnecessary details of Bastien’s college life, he obtained an undergraduate degree in biology, and went on to get his Master’s degree in Botany from the very same school. His intelligence and charisma had his professor’s hooked, and it was easy for him to be admitted to the PhD program there. His advising professor won a grant from the NSF and was further funded by the university to conduct a field school on the island of Kaos in Greece. Before applications even opened, the professor had made his decision, for the only name that jumped into his mind for a field assistant was none other than Bastien Lalande.

The two, along with four undergraduates, have been on the island for just over a year, doing extensive research on Mediterranean vegetation. Bastien is using this opportunity to develop his doctoral research, simultaneously writing his dissertation. Weekdays, Bastien can be found in the field and in the lab, running soil samples, or peering into microscopes. On the weekends, he clacks away at his keyboard, synthesizing as much information as possible. When he finds free-time, or needs to clear his head, he loves swimming, or sailing if he can find a boat.

Running into Bastien, one would encounter a shining smile, a charming accent, and hospitality that would make you feel as though you knew him for an eternity. He might invite you on a hike, or show you a greenhouse. It is rare to catch him without a flower tucked behind the ear. However, if one truly tried to dig deeper beneath the surface than the charisma that he emanates, they might find that there isn’t much they actual know about Bastien, as if all information on his deep, honest thoughts have been entombed far beneath the ground.

Although they miss the Caribbean islands, they feel something deep in the pit of their stomach which anchors them to Kaos. A lifetime’s worth of knowledge sits at their feet in Greece. It would take all of their willpower to turn away from it.

Headcanons

very much “gerry durrell” from the durrels in corfu vibes

if you havent seen it i recommend

but instead of being obsessed with animals hes obsessed with plants

very smiley, outgoing, charismatic, loves chatting with strangers as long as the questions dont get too personal

A-1 athlete, can swim until the cows come home

flower aesthetics galore. he likes to draw flowers, wear flowers (prints and real flowers, ofc), and grow flowers in his window sills and from hanging pots

are u french ? he will speak french to u if so

underneath, hes a lil moody. his parents began to blame him for his mother’s health complications. they wanted a family so badly that they kinda alienated their only child

he loves loves loves martinique but dreads going back to that life that was hard, tortuous even

writes to his family to make sure everyone is okay, but doesnt talk to anyone on kaos about it

kinda wonders if he should blame himself for complications ?

can be found lying in the dirt contemplating his woes. or singing. or singing because of his woes.

you honestly cant be a fan of botany without developing a relationship with bugs. in this case, bastien l o v e s them. even the scary ones

Insp

click the link !

Playlist

orange trees  -  marina 

le monarque des indes  -  pierre lapointe

be my baby  -  the ronettes

harvest moon  -  neil young

sweet creature  -  harry styles 

at last  -  etta james

buttercup  -  hippo campus

semaphore  -  requin chagrin

home again  -  first aid kit

motivation  -  normani

dream a little dream of me  -  doris day

[trishmilburn]

Wonho, Monsta X, The Culture of Online Hate and Standing Up for What’s Right

One of the challenges of being an author is knowing where to start a story. I find myself facing that same question as I begin this blog post. There are times when we are feeling so many emotions at once that it’s difficult to express them fully. But I’m writer, and I should be able to put feelings into words even when those feelings are like a maelstrom inside of me.

As many of you know, I dove head-first into the world of K-pop a year ago. It wasn’t something I sought out. It almost seems like destiny that it found me, and I’m so glad that it did. At the time I found K-pop, I was at a crossroads of a sort. Though I’d been publishing books for a decade, the market was changing and I was burning out on the types of stories I was telling. I still loved those stories, put my all into them, and I’m thankful to my editors, publishers and readers for the opportunities and support they’ve given me. But that creative part of me wasn’t truly happy anymore. And I had no idea what to do about it because this is how I make my living. Did I have to give up the idea of enjoying what I do in order to put food on the table and pay the rent? That was depressing, to say the least. After all, I’d left journalism because I wanted to write fiction full-time. I didn’t think I could go back to being a journalist in today’s climate.

Enter K-pop, which I found by way of watching Korean dramas. Not since I was a teenager into a variety of 1980s hair bands (Hello, Bon Jovi! You’re still awesome!) had I been so into music. And to be honest, I’m pretty sure I’m enjoying music more now than I ever have in my life. That is saying a lot considering I’m a 49-year-old white lady from the American South and that enjoyment is originating a world away in a country I’ve never been to. But K-pop is infectious in the very best way. Not only are the typically upbeat songs fun to listen to, the entire world of K-pop is fun and fascinating. It has brought me countless hours of enjoyment. I listen to K-pop in my car on long road trips to concerts in Atlanta and on short trips to the grocery store. Dance is one of my two preferred forms of exercise in addition to walking at our local beach, and the playlists are all K-pop. I love watching not only the official music videos, but also the dance practices, the goofy videos the groups do in Halloween costumes, and the variety shows on which you get to know them better. K-pop is a bright, colorful, happy-making world of singing, rapping, dancing, fashion, cosmetics and more.

Until it isn’t. Today is one of those days. K-pop is not immune to the current world of online hate. While social media has allowed me to connect with my readers and fellow K-pop and K-drama fans around the world, which is fantastic, we all know it also had a dark side. Behind a computer screen, people say the most heinous things to each other, often people they don’t even know. Often while hiding their real identities. But in the current climate, many don’t even feel the need to hide their identities anymore. They feel free to direct hate at others in the full light of day, and others egg them on. It’s disgusting and it harms people who do not deserve it.

Today’s victim is Wonho from the group Monsta X. They are one of the four groups I’ve seen in concert so far this year, and their concert was fabulous. Wonho wasn’t feeling well during the show, but none of us knew that until he collapsed and had to be helped off stage. A bit later he came back out and apologized. I just wanted to wrap him in a hug and tell him he didn’t have to apologize for not being well. After all, these idols (that’s what members of K-pop groups are called) push themselves hard. They are constantly working, running on little sleep and little food to make it in a highly competitive industry that can easily discard them because there are always more groups debuting that can take their place. It’s exhausting just thinking about it.

An apology from a K-pop idol for the slightest perceived infraction or disappointment to fans is not unusual in an industry where them even dating is often considered a scandal. Not only do they have to perform their professional duties, but they are expected to be perfect with nary a wrong step, even before they became idol trainees. It’s unrealistic and it’s unfair. Who among us hasn’t done something in our life, particularly when we were young, that we regret? Something we learned from and grew because of having done it. Idols are not allowed this luxury of having been at any point a normal human youth. This is the fault of the companies they work for and the unrealistic expectations of certain segments of the fandoms.

Then there are the netizens who, for whatever twisted reason, love to cause chaos and do actual harm to the idols and their careers. That’s where we are today. There is a certain young woman in South Korea who has repeatedly caused problems for idols in one way or another. It’s often difficult to dig down to the root cause of why scandals blow up in K-pop, but supposedly she or her boyfriend posted some snarky comment about Wonho owing someone money. If that is true, there are ways of rectifying the situation that don’t include destroying someone’s career or life. Don’t take to social media where the person in question is not the only one who gets hurt. Wonho had also been the target of other malicious rumors for something taken out of context, and now Shownu, another member of Monsta X, has been targeted by false rumors. I don’t know that this is the case, but it feels very coordinated because of the timing. Monsta X just released a new album this week and are in their promotion period, and in the world of K-pop there is unfortunately an element that likes to try to tear down other bands so their own favorites can supposedly rise higher. This is complete nonsense and yet it seems to fester and spread like a disease. I don’t know the reasoning behind the attacks on Wonho and Shownu, but it’s part of a bigger problem – that of unchecked online hate.

I say unchecked because instead of the idols’ companies standing behind them, instead of them saying, “No, we will not let you tear down this person who has put his heart and soul into making his group a success and is beloved by fans,” they always put out the same kind of statement that the idol made the decision to leave the group for the good of the rest of the group members. I call a huge sack of BS! Even if Wonho did say he would leave for the good of his brothers in Monsta X – and I say brothers deliberately because K-pop groups become family since they live together, work together, vacation together, love each other – Starship Entertainment executives should have said to him, “That’s admirable but not necessary. We’re going to stand with you and behind you as we fight this. We will help you get through it, and you and the rest of Monsta X will come out stronger on the other side.” I would have admired them greatly for taking this stand, which is not something you see from the Korean entertainment companies. Instead, the idols are allowed to make sacrificial lambs of themselves for “the good of the group.” Again, I call BS. This is for the good of the companies’ monetary bottom lines. In no way do I believe that Shownu, Minhyuk, Kihyun, Hyungwon, Joohoney and I.M benefit from this. I’m sure in this moment their hearts are breaking and they’re worried about their dear friend, their brother, more than anything else. And yet they are going to be expected to perform to promote this new album in the midst of all this upheaval and heartbreak.

I chose not to have kids of my own, but in moments like these there is a dormant mama-bear instinct inside of me that makes itself known. I want to wrap all these boys, who are young enough to be my sons, in a protective hug and swat away anyone who dares take a swipe at them. I want to tell them that I’ll be strong for them while they’re hurting. I want to hold those attacking them to account and make sure they pay for what they’ve done. And I want to tell their company to grow a spine. I know the culture is different in Korea than it is here in the U.S., but how many times have you seen an American celebrity do much worse and no one bats an eye? There is a middle ground between letting people get away with true wrongdoing and destroying a person’s life and career for something that wouldn’t even be – and shouldn’t be – a blip on the radar here. And we should allow people to acknowledge youthful missteps that are relatively harmless – if they even happened – apologize, and move on. It’s called growth, and it can be an inspiration to others. If all of us who ever made a mistake as a teenager lost our careers because of it, there would be a lot of unemployed people walking around.

What needs to happen is this: all the Korean entertainment companies need to band together and say enough is enough. Rumors and magnifying small incidents to the point where netizens are ready to ride with torches and pitchforks should be called out and the instigators held to account, even by legal means. The companies need to stand behind their idols when they are attacked instead of throwing them away like they are disposable. Taking them away from everything they’ve worked for and their bandmates is cruel, not unlike ripping a child from his family and then telling them it’s their fault. If an idol has a problem, find them help. They are under so much pressure that it’s no surprise that they offer suffer from anxiety and depression, and unfortunately Korea still reportedly has an antiquated view of mental health. It’s part of the reason – along with external attacks – for their abysmal suicide rate. Look no further than Sulli, another K-pop idol who recently committed suicide after being attacked online for years. I don’t know that there has been a line drawn between those two things, but my gut tells me that it was at least a contributing factor. And I don’t want to hear of it ever happening again. Too many young, beautiful, kind, talented, giving lives are being lost.

Today, I’ve gotten next to no work done. I can’t pull my thoughts away from Wonho and how wrongly he’s been treated, how much he, the rest of the group and fans are hurting. I’ve been fighting crying all day because I know I’ll just feel worse afterward. I hate to see injustice. It just eats me alive inside. And unfortunately we are seeing more and more of it. Some might say there are worse injustices in the world than this. Yes and no. Yes, children ripped from their families at the border and genocide are great evils, but wrong is wrong. And what has happened to Wonho and other idols in the past because of online attacks is all kinds of wrong.

Wonho, if by some chance you and the rest of Monsta X read this, I hope you’re able to take comfort from the fact that you have many fans around the world who love you and who will go to bat for you. I hope you’re able to focus on those voices instead of the hateful ones. As a creative, I know it’s difficult to not focus on the vocal minority, the ones who say the negative things. Those are the voices that work their way insidiously into our brains, but we have to fight against them and remember that there are many more people to whom you have brought joy and to whom you will continue to bring job as a member of Monsta X if we have anything to say about it.

And to the decision-makers at Starship Entertainment, do the right thing. Do what is right, not what is easy or most beneficial to your bottom line. Bring Wonho back and stand up to the people who attack your idols, the people who work hard to make your company successful.

[defdaily]

[TRANSLATION] HIGH CUT Magazine August 2017 issue - JJ PROJECT: You are my destiny

High Cut 203 July 2017 JJ PROJECT : You are my destiny

Translated by igot7_markp

B-boy Lim Jaebeom and Park Jinyoung from Jinhae met for the first time in 2009. It happened during JYP Entertainment 5th public trainee recruitment audition in Seoul. Two boys, whose registration numbers stood one after another as 24th and 25th, were able to leave behind 10 thousand people and get the first place together for the first time in the history. They debuted in drama "Dreamhigh 2" together, released album as JJ Project, promoted with group GOT7 and their hearts literally beat in synch. After 5 years JJ Project came back again. Now in their twenties. JB and Jinyoung, who were involved in producing music and writing lyrics for all 8 songs, stayed humble throughout the interview, but also slightly radiated self-confidence and ambitions. Story of two men, whose side profiles look alike, and who without regrets dedicated themselves to everything, without highlighting specific point but concentrating on every single one at once.

LIM JAEBEOM

Our indestructible relationship with Jinyoung is that kind of relationships, when later you'll be side by side even under the gravestone

Q: After 5 years JJ Project's still staying together and released album on July, 31. You uploaded on homepage "track cards" where you personally read one line from the songs you've written yourself. "Fade Away" lyrics was the really strong ones. "Always shutting my mouth, claiming it's love, you make me forget what kind of person I am" – is it something you've experienced?

JB: Both experience and imagination. First song's theme is the one that always big and common – "thing that bothers me". Sinking into that theme, I wrote basing both on my experience and imagination.

Q: You have been involved in producing and writing all 8 tracks. Which song one was the hardest to write?

JB: "Icarus" and out title track "Tomorrow, Today". Even though the theme of "Icarus" was clear picking right words were hard, therefore I had really a lot of worries. In the beginning when I started working on "Tomorrow, Today" I wasn't entirely sure what I should write about. Park Jinyoung PD-nim cleared it out for me. But for me it's more important to think of what I wanted to write when I've just listened to the music (for the first time). It was difficult to write lyrics about feelings you have, standing on the crossroad not sure of the choice you should make, so people of my age can empathize with it.

Q: I heard that the first thing you do in the morning after getting up is reading three lines from the book out loud? Seems like regular reading also helps you with writing.

JB: Ah, this is completely in the past. (laughing hard) Now as soon as I open my eyes in the morning I'm feeding the cats.

Q: Thinking of it, you own three, right? Nora, Koonta and Odd. Actually I was wondering if those scratches on your arms are cat's work.

JB: That's right. But scratches are not from the cat I own but from the stray cat. I was feeding stray cats and decided to slightly touch them. (smiles) When I walk down the street and meet cats, I don't want to scare them and just quickly go to the nearby convenient store and buy can of tuna to feed them. I also make sure that some food is remained. Because this is the only thing I can do for them.

Q: Seems like you are "Cat's Butler" to the core. I heard you had to be apart with your beloved Nora but now you are back together.

JB: Yes. In fact, originally all GOT7 members used to live together in one dorm, but now a few people moved out. In the beginning I shared the room with Youngjae and it suddenly appeared that kid is allergic to cats. That's why I asked members to change room arrangement a little bit, but all of them refused. (smiles) So I had to leave Nora in the other place for a while. When members moved out and each of us had separate room, I brought her back and she recognized me. When parents drove Nora back to me, she kept crying in the car. But as soon as I appeared in the car and said "Hi, Nora" she stopped crying immediately.

Q: No one wanted to change the rooms with their charismatic leader? (smile)

JB: I gave up a lot. (smile) I'm not sunbae for children, it's more like we are people of the same age group who are working on music together. But I'm really straightforward. That's why when I'm going around in conversation, I'm not sure children understand it and it feels awkward. So instead I'm just extremely cautious, when I talk.

Q: During JJ Project promotion you put GOT7's leader role slightly aside, right? To be honest it's kind of relieving, isn't it?

JB: It is. Really relieving. But I still have another burdens. Two people need to cover space that was filled with 7 people. Since me and Jinyoung don't have really entertaining character, I am worrying a lot if it will be too serious.

Q: I found an interview you gave when you started first activities. Back then it was 19 years old JB. You were asked to describe your teen years in one word and that word was "secret". How about JB's twenties?

JB: I'm still 24. For now, if you ask me, the word is "Vain". There are people who say that you shouldn't think too much and enjoy the time during your twenties, but if I think twice, I think I could have done a little bit better. If to say concretely, I could have been more careful and smart – and now it's a pity.

Q: But after debut you continuously worked hard. After JJ Project you filmed in "Dreamhigh 2" and then after GOT7 debut you promoted quite successfully.

JB: I'm just like that. I often think only about regretting things. With this album, too, when I listened it fully and finished mastering, I felt unsatisfied. "I could have done a little bit better. It's already late to fix it, right?" – this is what I was thinking about. (smile) I put efforts not to lose the heart I had in the beginning (rookie mindset).

Q: If you started to talk about rookie days, as I remember, you were a b-boy before becoming a JYPE trainee, right? I heard during each practice you only ate 1000 won worth vegetable crackers.

JB: Ah, back then we didn't have practice room, so we practiced in metro station. Since I was a student I didn't have money, but because I danced a lot I got hungry fast. Three packs of vegetable crackers costed 1000 won at that time, so I ate them as the refreshment.

Q: You applied for JYP auditions and shared first place with Jinyoung-ssi, right? Then you debuted together as JJ Project, filmed together in "Dreamhigh 2", made it together to GOT7 and now you are coming back as a duet once again. Your relationships must be really indestructible.

JB: Yes, they really are!! Seems like we will be side by side even under the gravestone. (laughs hard) I accidentally saw what fans write. How I do something or Jinyoung does something and we are copying each other's moves exactly in the same way. Unconsciously.

Q: In 2012 interview to the question "JJ Project's position?" you replied "Bottom". Now?

JB: Still bottom. Even though we gained some proficiency, after being left for 5 years I think we need to consider it as starting from the bottom again. The music that was there 5 years ago and music that is coming out now is significantly different. And there are so many skillful singers in the music world nowadays. (smile)

Q: Then I will change my question. Till what floor you want to go up during this promotions?

JB: Hm…If there are 10 floors, I guess till 3,5? The situation when you have already passed the third floor and on your way to the fourth?

Q: Is there a tip you want to give to fans so they can enjoy this album more?

JB: I can't recommend anything. Please, check everything. We put a lot of effort in it. Not only into music, but also into other things. In order to our face and body not look fat, we skipped dinners and got slimmer. (smile) We paid a lot of attention to everything – starting from music video and finishing with clothes. Even when we left the studio we kept sending and receiving ideas via mail, so songs would become even better. We really worker hard. So, please, check everything. (smile)

PARK JINYOUNG

"The day" is the song, I wrote in the plane, when I listened to music and started longing for parents

Q: When decision regarding JJ Project was done, how did you feel?

JY: I honestly asked the company: why now of all time? Since I though there a lot of things we had to accomplish as GOT7. Then I received reply from company that we would represent GOT7 and show people the different color of the group, so it would help GOT7 to grow more. I was infatuated with this answer. (smile)

Q: I guess during album preparations you have also felt how much you have improved yourself.

JY: Somehow comparing to us 5 years ago, we allow yourself more. Ah, and my throat stopped aching. When we prepared first album, my voice broke and also I didn't sing a lot. I only did rap and sang occasionally so my voice had gone. This time my voice cords definitely became stronger. I feel like I found comfortable tone for my voice.

Q: I heard the lyrics you have written are poetic. Especially, "Coming Home" lyrics. "When the emptiness passes, the cold wind blows. When the longing passes, the spring rain falls"…

JY: This is the lyrics I wrote in the airplane while listening to New Age's song. Suddenly I missed my parents so much and felt really melancholic. So I wrote down what my heart felt. When we composed album I found the song that suited those lyrics a lot.

Q: Looking at lyrics, team colors changed significantly after 5 years.

JY: I think it's just two opposites. It's been really bright back then. This time it's a light-beat youth song, which we can sing and dance to.

Q: Which song is your favorite?

JY: My solo song "The Day". I wrote the story I wanted to tell a lot. I can explain what this song is about in one sentence: "That day, when I thought everything was good, that day, when it went away from me so easily and it felt like the world will crumble down, it's vanishing like it was nothing". I live with the thought that things I always liked aren't really good things and things I disliked aren't really bad things. No matter how great the sadness or happiness was, after 1 year the memories of it will start vanishing.

Q: When you read the lyrics you've written yourself, haven't it made you embarrassed or cringe?

JY: I did it with one thought. "I must do it. I can only go home after I finish it smoothly. I have no time. I need to go (home) fast". (smile)

Q: I found an interview that you gave after debut in 2012. In it you explained your teen years as "Preparation". How will you explain your twenties in one word?

JY: Twenties are "Warm-up". (Isn't it and teen years' description same?) Undoubtedly different. Making analogy with health, teen age is like changing clothes. Twenties is like exercising on running machine and riding the bicycle to make your body slightly hot. Since I'm only 24, I haven't "sweated" yet. I guess sweat will appear at 29.

Q: In that interview you talked really detailed about your ideal type. "I'd like if she has something to say when we're sitting in a café and talking. And I wish her face would be natural. Even if she does something to it, it should still be natural in my eyes. I like big eyes and well-defined features. No fringe, just long natural hair falling down her spine. About clothes – just jeans, shirt and converse".

JY: I remember why I said this. It was influenced by Shin Minah sunbaenim's "My girlfriend is a nine-tailed fox". Whenever I receive questions about my ideal type, I describe main heroine from the film or drama I watched and was impressed by. That's why I don't have ideal type now – I didn't watch love story movies recently. (smile) Although I watch movies a lot.

Q: Your hobby is "watching movies alone".

JY: I watched 5 movies over the last few days. "Dunkirk", "Hedwig", "Amazing Spiderman", "My love" and one more. "Dunkirk" is like three part space novel, that cross each other. I like it even more because it has short running time. I cried watching "My love". It's a real story, so tears come out naturally. I'm happy when I watch movies alone. You can fully concentrate not caring about others. And also each time I watch movies I talk to myself. When character does something disappointing, I'm saying: "Aigoo, why are you like that?". I can't do something like this in front if others. (smile)

Q: Even being really busy you find time to watch movies. Do you master your acting?

JY: I really watch it without any thoughts; though people say you should go to study while watching. (smile) No matter how good actor plays, it's not easy to analyze acting. I also visited Pixar Animation exhibition recently.

Q: When you come around don't people recognize you?

JY: When they recognize they are like "It's Jinyoung, right?" and I reply "Right, but sheesh". They recognize me, but since they are not fans, they don't follow me. (smile)

Q: You are constantly busy with one thing or another. You played a role of university student who haven't had girlfriend even once and dreams of becoming a civil worker in 2017 web-drama "Magic School" produced by JYP Pictures, right? The shooting has just finished. It's the first time you play twenty-years old, isn't it?

JY: It is. Even if it's an act, I liked to experience the living of ordinary 20-year-old. Thing I envy the most is an opportunity to live with your family under one roof. It's been a year since I last visited my parent's home.

Q: I visited fan-café on my way (to the interview). You pay a lot attention to fans, so they gave you a nickname "Fan-Jal-Al" (the one, who knows fans). When I looked through SNS, what caught my eyes is that whenever GOT7 fans went to the trips they dress their official goods' dolls "GOTOON" and make prove shots with it. Have you known about it?

JY: No, really? (Manager: You haven't seen even once?) Since I don't use SNS, I didn't know at all. Wah, I'm so sorry right now. Sincerely, thank you. Even though traveling is the time for yourself, they are even going all the way long to bring GOTOONs and dress them. Once the interview finishes, I will search and take a look for sure. When I go for a trip, I will also take a picture with goods and upload it.

Q: Fans highly anticipates JJ Project's comeback. 5 years ago when you were asked "What is JJ Project's position?", you replied "20th floor underground". In your opinion till what floor you will be able to climb with this album?

JY: 5th ground floor? Because on the 5th floor JYP management office is located. Our company's top floor. (laugh hard) I don't have regrets about this album. We have done everything we could. We put our stories in it. Please, enjoy it a lot.

Translated by @igot_markedby7

Interview and photos scans - @GGOONERR_

All rights reserved by HIGH CUT magazine and JYPE

[lovehaswonangelnumbers]

New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/full-moon-lunar-eclipse-in-sagittarius-june-5th-2020/

FULL MOON Lunar ECLIPSE in Sagittarius June 5th 2020

FULL MOON Lunar ECLIPSE in Sagittarius June 5th 2020

By Mystic Mamma

*FULL MOON* Lunar ECLIPSE in SAGITTARIUS

June 5th 2020  12:12 pm PDT | 7:12 pm GMT 

June 6th 2020 6:12 am AEDT

★

With things in the state that they are right now, it should come as no surprise that we are headed into Eclipse season beginning with this FULL MOON Lunar ECLIPSE in Sagittarius on June 5th 2020.

Eclipses usually come sets of 2, but this year they come in sets of 3, so this is the first of these 3 consecutive Eclipses which continue to precipitate life-changing shifts.

Current Gemini energies continue to reflect and communicate the reality that we all experience life through different fractals. 

Our collective lens has focalized the experience of our black brothers, sisters and relatives that continue to be subjected to racism rooted in white supremacy and abuse that has been systematically allowed to perpetuate.

Our expanding realizations are transforming into bridges of solidarity and action calls to the ways we can each proactively participate in the active dismantling of the oppressive systems that we consciously or unconsciously maintain.

We are in a time of collective and personal awakening to what has been in the shadows, oppressive and imbalanced across our implemented systems as well as our personal myopic realities. 

The process of awakening can be painful, because new realities precipitate trajectory shifts.

In the process of things dismantling, disassembling, and crumbling, we can feel unstable and this is why change is often so dreaded.

But we are the changemakers of this time, and we are here at this time for a reason.

We each carry our own truth, but a universal truth is that we’re all here ultimately to learn to love.

All those who have had crossed over and come back through near-death experiences, and those who are mediums between worlds echo this truth: Life is a school of learning, and we are here to learn to love. 

At this time, like Rumi said,  that is our task, and not only to love but to seek to dissolve “all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

It is also a time to have courage and not be afraid to communicate, even as it makes us feel increasingly more vulnerable.

Vulnerability is the straight path of the heart, the direct access point.

Gemini continues to teach us that through communication we can heal our separateness and isolation.

As we’ve heard it said, the more difficult the subject, the more healing is to be gained from talking about it.

In what ways can we speak from our experience like elders, like our grandmothers and grandfathers, with compassion but with strength that illuminates another facet to be taken into account?

Like Einsten said “we cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” Let’s expand our thinking and let’s get massively creative with new ways to implement change.

Let’s use that surge of Sagittarius creative power to launch new Life affirming ways to support our existence and everyone’s right to Liberty. Because we’re in this together.

We are lovers, We are love. That’s what we are here to remember, here to learn, here to BE.

Here are the MYSTIC MAMMA Astral Insights from our beloved featured astrologers:

PAM YOUNGHANS from her NorthPoint Astrology says:

“Our Milky Way galaxy is part of a great river of galaxies that flows through space, being magnetically pulled in the direction of a massive galactic anomaly called Abell 3627, more commonly known as the Great Attractor (GA)…

“Our Lunar Eclipse this Friday is… aligned with the GA… (and) will be activating its influence in our awareness.

“Since the GA continuously draws us toward itself, it represents the inexorable pull of our Higher Destiny.

“When it is activated in our collective awareness through events such as an eclipse, new insights and unexpected viewpoints become possible.

“We can experience a major shift in our perceptions and beliefs, which in turn alters our trajectory. 

“Astrologer Philip Sedgwick, who has studied the GA in great depth, explains:

  ‘The enormous gravity of the GA actually bends light around it.

“It bends the light so much, that a glimpse of what is behind it can be taken.

‘This provides clear behind-the-scenes insights, while simultaneously offering other refractive illusions.’

  “Friday’s Eclipse, being conjunct the GA, represents a profound juncture in our evolution.

“As we stand at that crossroads, we must expand our understanding of reality, while also accepting that each person may rightly have their own version of truth. 

“Another quote from Sedgwick:

  ‘A narrow view (or opinionated nature) does not fit with the Great Attractor.

‘There is not one simple answer.

‘Perhaps each point of focus is only a fragment of the hologram of understanding.’

  “Sedgwick advises that in order to find our own truth, our own ‘fragment of the hologram,’ each of us must ‘Center the source of your light within the matter of your life. What matters clearly focuses your truth.’

“The last time we had a Lunar Eclipse that aligned with the Great Attractor was on June 4, 1993.

“Events that occurred around that time, and subsequent changes in our perspective, pulled us into a new future, perhaps a different destiny than the one we had thought we were building toward.

“We may have gone willingly toward that new future, but maybe not. And yet, looking back, we can see how essential that trajectory shift was, and how it forever changed the course of our life.

“We are at a similar time now. This Lunar Eclipse conjunct the Great Attractor alters the landscape, requiring us to reroute.

“In time, we will find that our new road is more aligned with that greater destiny we came here to fulfill.”

© Copyright 2020 PAM YOUNGHANS

  SARAH VARCAS from Astro-Awakenings.co.uk her says:

“An alliance between Chiron, Uranus and Mercury at the time of this eclipse unlocks fresh perspectives.

“But to benefit from them we must reclaim the fundamental right to honor our own experience and not have it dismissed, ridiculed or silenced if it runs contrary to the received wisdom of the time.

“This takes courage in a world where people are being demonized and discredited for daring to question… and reflect more deeply on the narrative they’re being fed.

“But if ever there was a time for courage it is now!

“Courageous thought, courageous speech, courageous hearts open to a new world in which we’re not told how things are but instead discern, through digesting many perspectives and listening, perhaps most importantly, to the voice within that knows truth..

“As we stand at this juncture in human history there are weighty choices to be made and we must each make them as best we can.

“This eclipse season will both reveal the shadow side of readily accepted sources of information – hidden interests, inaccurate assumptions, covert agendas –  as well as illuminate in their wake new sources of knowledge previously eclipsed by the might of received wisdom and unquestioned ‘truths’.

“The path ahead remains scattered with obstacles and the battle for dominion over the collective mind continues unabated.

“This lunar eclipse is just the beginning and there is much to be revealed and digested before we can decide, collectively, the quality of our future.

“Saturn is now retrograding through Aquarius before returning to Capricorn in July. (You can read more about what this means for us in terms of freedom of thought and speech in full here.)

“..Saturn is a key player in the unfolding of events this year. As signifier of the establishment and authorities, its alignment with Pluto speaks to the extension of government powers and the reduction of civil liberties.

“It illuminates who gets to shape a dominant narrative, how they do it, and the use of fear to suppress and control.

“Indeed, the Saturn / Pluto conjunction of January speaks far more deeply to issues of power and control than of health and disease, signifying the imposition of authoritarian power over the masses in ways never before seen on such a vast scale.

“As Saturn completes its shift from Capricorn to its new home in Aquarius during the course of 2020, it illuminates the suppression of free-thought and open debate.

“The silencing of free speech and what happens when those silenced refuse to be so…

“Initially, Saturn in Aquarius can continue to manifest as the metaphorical boot that kicks dissenters back into line, stifles independence and acts contrary to collective well-being.

“It’s the fear of having to think for yourself in a confusing and paradoxical world.

“It wants to be told what to think and believe, who to love, who to hate, how to keep yourself safe…

“As Saturn tiptoes from the familiarity of conventional perception (Capricorn) to the uncharted terrain of independent thought (Aquarius) this year, fear arises: What if I’m wrong? They’re the experts. What would I know? How do I justify gut instinct when what it tells me goes against the grain of accepted belief? What if I’m left standing alone in my beliefs, ridiculed for daring to think differently? What if I’m roundly rejected, left in a group of one?

“But Saturn is nothing if not steadfast!

“Its presence in Aquarius empowers us to think for ourselves whatever it takes.

“To take responsibility for our own well-being. To enjoy maturity of thought and behaviour, not surrender our sovereign view to a surrogate ‘parent’ who tells us what to believe.

“Saturn in Aquarius reminds us that even the oft-uttered refrain ‘everything is happening as it should’ doesn’t mean there’s nothing to be done but let it all unfold.

“We don’t download awakening, we cultivate it, nurture it, question those aspects of self that mitigate against it.

“And in doing so we discover that wise action in this moment can change the next.

“That by being present to the full triumph and catastrophe of the human experience we can recalibrate it and shape the course of history rather than simply be shaped by it.

“And we’re currently living at a historical crossroads of monumental proportions.

“To choose well we need to harness the power of Saturn’s journey into Aquarius to engage courageous thought and nurture fresh perspectives.

“Not to stifle debate and feed the fear of dissent.

“Black Moon Lilith and Chiron were conjunct the Sun when Saturn first entered Aquarius in March 2020, highlighting the influence its Aquarian journey would have over our individual and collective sense of self.

“They affirm the healing radiance of the human spirit and the unadulterated power unleashed when we remember who we really are – divine through and through, and equally human. Of this world and all others everywhere.

“This power cannot be diminished by tyranny or lies, by manipulation or fear.

“It is unassailable. Always. And it knows the truth. We know the truth. This is the message of Saturn in Aquarius…

“It’s a long road ahead. Courage will be needed.

“As will a sense of humor and the ability to know when to speak up and when to keep one’s counsel for a more propitious time. No outcome is assured so complacency is best avoided.

“That said we need to know our own limits and take care of ourselves first and foremost.

“Saturn in Aquarius can be a game changer if we let it, opening up debate, revealing hidden truths and endowing each and every one of us with a deep sense of responsibility for what we believe, such that simply accepting what we’re told by anyone will be anathema to our finely tuned moral compass.

“Let the prevailing narrative place its evidence alongside that of alternative views. Let us debate and explore, question and analyze. Let us be convinced of an argument, not receive our beliefs by dictate.

“But most of all, let Saturn in Aquarius cement the sovereignty of our mind and our right to form our own opinion from external evidence and our internal knowing about it…

“For whatever’s going on in this world today, it is we the people, not the privileged elite with vested interests in our obedience to their cause, who can – and must – decide the shape our lives take from here.”

© Copyright 2020 SARAH VARCAS

  DIVINE HARMONY says:

“The North Node in Gemini is about coming back to beginner’s mind. This is about cultivating the mind of a child- full of openness, curiosity and generosity.

“This is about saying ‘show me where I am wrong’ and ‘hmm I don’t know- what is the Truth here? Show me the Truth Universe.’

“The Highest expression of Gemini is open mindedness.

“The karmic South Node in Sagittarius highlights where we do the opposite of this. This is where we have hubris, self righteousness and dogma.

“This is where we think MY beliefs are the right ones and yours are the wrong ones- you just need to listen to me, I will teach you the RIGHT way of doing things/seeing things/believing.

“In any conflict if anyone is coming from this position I can guarantee you it is a no win situation.

“But cultivating an open mind and willingness to see other perspectives and work to understand other positions WILL open doors in communication rather than close them.

“The thing to remember here is when we listen to another’s perspective it’s not about right or wrong. It’s about understanding where another comes from.

“Understanding another person’s world view and lived experience…

“Vesta is conjunct the North Node – drawing us forward to our Sacred Focus and Greatest Devotion.

“The North Node is in Gemini but Vesta is in Cancer- the sign of the Great Mother.

“One of the great necessities of this time is to honor and reinstate the Divine Feminine…

“The denial of the Mother has had horrific ramifications on our planet.

“The Feminine elements are Earth and Water- body and soul, physical reality and emotion…

“We need to heal our disassociation from our emotions and (Water) and our detachment from and abuse of the body (Earth).

“If we were fully connected to these elements we could NEVER harm another person, dump toxic poison in the water or air, abuse a child, kill, murder or go to war.

“If everyone’s heart chakra was fully open we would FEEL what we do to another and we would never be able to do the horrific things happening on the planet right now.

“Reclaiming and restoring the Divine Feminine to her rightful place is NECESSARY… (and to be clear- this is not about men vs women- as men and masculine identified beings have an inner feminine just as women and feminine identified beings have an inner masculine)

“Use this sacred Eclipse portal to question your assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and ways of perceiving the world around you.

“Use this time to anchor more deeply into your heart, compassion, empathy and love for all beings- human, animal and non-human- everywhere.

“Use this portal to open up to Higher Truths that go beyond ego-mind perspectives. See beyond the veil of delusion/illusion/manipulation so you can get to the Truth.

“Start with yourself (do your shadow work) and then extend that inner work out into the world around you.”

© Copyright 2020 DIVINE HARMONY

And ELLIAS LONSDALE interpretation of the Chandra symbol for this Full Moon Eclipse is:

SAGITTARIUS 16:A man shearing sheep.

“Practical fortitude. Resiliency to keep finding a way to do it, to keep discovering how to get through the deepest quandaries, the greatest karmic traps. Ingenious and resourceful. Paying attention to the cues, going to get it right.

“You’re involved within a path which requires discipleship or apprenticeship, learning the ropes. Building up fresh capacity in this lifetime to scale the heights. But you remain preoccupied and absorbed within honest tasks.

“A pervasive conviction grows and forms, of how it really is.

“You’re willing to take every step to reach a far goal, and attentive to what is really there. A throwback to the old ways of a rural past.

“Oddly comfortable in adopting forms and moving through phases and taking on the worlds.

“The journeyman learns the ways of the journey and gathers Earth wisdom in small bundles.

“Knowing how to be there when it counts.“

© Copyright 2020 ELLIAS LONSDALE

This has been a very tough week. For me personally, I lost one my very best friends and allies on this physical plane. This last line, “Knowing how to be there when it counts,” is what she embodied and reason we all continue to do what we must.

Sending so much love to each of our hearts during this trying passage,

With all my heart~

MM ☾☾☾

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