#like i am all for the “love saves all” but also love doesn't absolve and fix every problem (perhaps i'm just not a romantic at heart)

[disastergenius]

maybe this is a hot take but i do wonder if the initial gnarlrock incident, following argument, and (imo) anticlimactic and almost complete brushing off of that conflict occurring between Imogen and Laudna had actually led to a real conversation about Delilah/her influence and Imogen and Laudna's relationship in general (pre-established romance) would have made discussing Delilah later in the campaign easier

[sokkastyles]

Iroh is likely to hold a selfish grudge against Azula forever, he absentmindedly gave her gift from imperial conquest, abandoned her to an abusive household, shows angry and contempt to her before she does anything wrong, repeatedly tells Zuko to hate her and beat her up, says she’s crazy, puts Zuko and Azula against each other, gets angry that he got burned when he backed her into a corner, tells Zuko she doesn’t love him, even after she makes a speech about how much she loves him and wants him by her side, and treats Azula like the devil, while treating Ozai with much more compassion than he deserves

he’d probably want he to be executed, have her bending taken away, etc.

He also abandoned his traumatized 16 year old nephew to rule over a country all by himself for one of the most selfish reasons ever, so he can open a damn tea shop in a city he wanted to commit genocide in, which is in another continent, he also doesn’t show up to his coronation, what a dick

he also decides not to stop the airships and instead gives that job to 3 children, so he and his cult members can selfishly “liberate” Ba Sing Se because it was his “Destiny” what an asshole

I may be harsh on Ursa, but at least she TRIED

This is why the Azula fandom can't have nice things.

He's not "likely" to hold a selfish grudge, and doesn't in canon, so that argument is moot, anyway. Iroh is actually the one who says in the comics that going with Zuko to find Ursa might be good for her, because he clearly cares about her and wants her to have that closure.

He "absentmindedly" gave her a gift? What the fuck does that even mean? Azula also very purposefully burned that gift, though, while calling her uncle a lazy fatso. Azula stans trying to downplay or justify that by saying Iroh's gift wasn't good enough is really, really ugly behavior, and not an argument I am interested in.

He doesn't show contempt for her "before she does anything wrong", he is actually polite when she shows up lying to his and Zuko's faces, but he doesn't walk into her trap because he sees straight through her. Pretending that she did nothing wrong, when she absolutely has malicious intent there, is stupid and dishonest.

Same with pretending Azula was just defending herself in the Chase, because the reason she was there is because she had mercilessly tracked down the gaang, Zuko, and Iroh. Them teaming up against her is what we call Karma.

Even then, though, Iroh isn't actually angry at Azula. Even when he says "she's crazy and needs to go down," it's delivered in a deadpan and humorous way, not an angry way, and he says it for Zuko's benefit, to tell Zuko that he is allowed to defend himself. It is not about his feelings at all.

He doesn't pit Zuko against her, or tell Zuko to beat her up. He also doesn't treat Ozai with any compassion whatsoever. That's all complete nonsense that actually hurts your argument because it's transparent that you have no actual argument.

I'm also not going to entertain any argument about Iroh opening a tea shop in Ba Sing Se because he also was instrumental in saving that city, which actually changes the whole situation, which is why you left it out. He also did not abandon Zuko. I don't agree with everything in the comics but what they actually show is Zuko not wanting to bother Iroh, but when Aang takes him to Iroh at the end, he says Zuko is always welcome there.

And lol, Ursa "tried" according to you when she's not the current target of your nonsensical rant, but I don't think for a minute that you won't try to turn your "criticisms" towards her if you think it might absolve Azula of responsibility. That's all this is, just the completely ridiculous ramblings of someone who overidentifies with a selfish and cruel character because it feeds your own victim complex. You don't want Iroh or Ursa to try to help Azula, because that won't feed said victim complex.

Again, this is why the Azula fandom can't have nice things.

[wetcatspellcaster]

After the recent chapter I had to take a breather and re-read previous ones, where everything was (somewhat) fine.

The way Rose was disassociated because she could feel all the pain, but no fear. The way she was in and out of it. It felt like a very feverish nightmare. It's so painful to read how barely coherent Rose is through the torture, and still trying, trying to find a way out, or at least a reprieve. And the way I laughed at her lamenting on Bhaal's healers. It reminded me so much of the Mirror Universe of Star Trek, where medics were there only to revive enough, not heal.

Am I weird for reading how Orin tortures and still having that little voice say "hot" the way D!urge says to Astarion in the graveyard scene?

I love love love how you use the canon events and twist them just so to make it even more heart wrenching and nightmar-ish, because I always felt like it felt a little bit rushed, all the interactions and especially the aftermath. I love seeing the lingering result of what just happened, more details that were not there in the game.

But reading the torture Rose endured, and that Astarion had seen her after, I have a question. Had this happened in Pieces too? Was Rose kidnapped there too? Because if she was, then it makes Astarion's Ascension even more twisted. Like even in game, if Tav/Durge is his lover, Astarion is not convinced by anything beforehand not to go with the ritual. And if he had seen how horrific all those Chosen are, he could've wanted to Ascend to protect his lover. But he had also seen the injuries , the indignity, the hurt that was inflicted on someone he cares for, and that must sting so much. Oof, this a very interesting concept to think on, that I'm constantly dwelling on since I played the Durge.

Also, I can imagine there could be a fight. And with Rose in this condition... Well, I hope others will take care of it. And I wonder if Gortash is dead now.

I can imagine that Rose will shrug it off, at least pretending to do so, like she had done before, and I will be right there with everyone else enraged at her lack of self-preservation. Shower her with care, rest, and people who love her to make sure she knows she will never be alone. Poor Rose. The things she had survived, she will need years of therapy afterwards, beside the years it will take to sort her phobias. I want to hug her, but it will hurt right now, so I'll just stay here, crying over how strong she is, that she does not need to be that stoic herself that Threnn shaped her into, and I miss her goofiness when she loses that fear of being too emotional. I love her so much. I want her to be healed and as happy as possible.

Thank you for this chapter. I wish you to rest well after the con, and regain your energy with this blueberry cupcake I'm offering. Take care!

I will absolve everyone now, in this moment, like a priest: it is ok to find Orin the Red hot, in anything that I write. It is, in fact, intentional.

I will confirm, Rosalie didn't get kidnapped in Pieces! I sacrificed Grubb there (RIP to a real one), partly to keep my plot twists under wraps, partly so that Rosalie doesn't suffer more than Jesus Christ himself in any given universe, and partly bc I wanted to make one very silly joke about soup. But I do plan for the kidnapping to inflect Astarion's thoughts on Ascendency, perhaps not in the way people are expecting!!! There is something that was teased in Pieces that *is* canon.

And thank you, I'm glad that seeing consequences play out makes the fic interesting!!! In my Rosalie playthrough, she was never ever at risk bc she had a lot of plot armour (a very stressed save-scumming player). I realised early on, that if she sailed through Act 3 it wouldn't make for a very compelling read - lord knows I could see the 'Mary Sue' accusations coming from a mile off. So I thought I'd leverage her major flaws - her lack of self-preservation, her belief that she's more useful with a tadpoel than without one, and her complete lack of tact. Unfortunately, kidnapping is the perfect situation to hit a bunch of character beats for both Rosalie and Astarion, and the perfect place to start raising the issue of what advantages/disadvantages the tadpole provides her with... so I kind of had to do it to her :')

at least it's not a murder? I was thinking about killing her in an earlier outline :'))) at least it's not that right?

[ohgodmyeyes]

so i have this story i've been "writing" since before the pandemic (lol) where Anakin just keeps getting fatter and fatter with essentially no limit, and 50-60k words in, it's to the point where he's basically stuck on the upper floor of the house, and i am genuinely conflicted on whether i want to extract him or not.

on the one hand, i think accessibility and accommodations are super sexy, and the reader being willing to fight to maintain some of his autonomy is really endearing...

...but on the other hand, i also adore the notion of anakin not WANTING any of his independence back. i love that he's happy to be fed and washed and walked around at his caregiver's leisure; i love that he doesn't care what happened in the news yesterday, or whether it's raining outside. because at the end of the day, the hottest part of him being so dependent is the trust he's placing in you by doing so.

a story about helping him recover from an injury might be nice, and it's heartening to give him palliative care... but there's something about knowing that he's going to be existing for a long time in a state of utter helplessness where "recovery" isn't necessarily the goal that just drives me wild for him.

because i guess whether i like it or not, his brokenness is integral to who he is... and truthfully i hate changing him, even in the interest of giving him a happy ending... so why should those two things be mutually exclusive?

i think i'm probably going to move him to a main floor, partly because I am excited to write about reader having to hire a private contractor to break down the wall and hoist him out ... but in doing so i don't think i want to give him too much more mobility or autonomy than he already has, if only because he doesn't want it.

actually maybe it'll even make him anxious, and then you can pop a few nuggies into him to make him feel better — promising him that, no, you don't expect him to take care of himself just because he can; that room to move doesn't mean you expect him to move.

people have expected too much from poor ani his whole life, starting with his mom tbh... and part of me wanting him essentially fused to his bed is absolutely a desire to absolve him of those expectations.

like, no anakin, you don't have to save the world. it's great if you want to and i'll help you do it if it'll make you happy, but you're also just a person, and i'll still love you even if you never want to do a single thing for anyone else ever again — your disillusionment is part of who you are too, after all, and even if i'm a bad person for wanting to indulge it, is it really so wrong that i can't imagine you without it..?

because maybe my baby doesn't need to be fixed. maybe all he needs (all he wants) is cake and love and more cake and bacon fat.

[gayemeralds]

I read “Shadow fans I am not the blog for you” and have become the sad ant with a bindle looking back at you. Banger takes though ngl you have a lot of profound and really well thought out opinions when it comes to sonic and I don’t even find myself disagreeing with your take on Shadow staying dead despite loving him bc you’re honestly not even wrong there is so much thought behind what you say

THE THING IS i joke about not being good for shadow fans but i do LIKE shadow. in my heart i know if he was given the proper care and character arc that he deserved he would easily be one of my favourite characters. he's the type of character i would have absolutely latched on to.

the problem is i just think sega brought him back with no real direction. shadow was a fascinating and complex character in sa2, and i think his story honestly deserved to be self contained within that game. he was a fascinating foil to sonic- someone who lost everything facing someone who hasn't faced true loss at the time; and, deliciously, becoming the first loss sonic faces, when shadow dies at the end of sa2. he was a phenomenal character of grief and anger and revenge, and how people who love you can still turn on you; how revenge and despair can rot a person, but how you can always have hope. but i think his story really ended there on the ark when he died.

sonic heroes was fun, but ultimately, it did nothing for shadow. the amnesia route they took was arguably one of the worst options i could think of. the whole point of sa2 was UNCOVERING his past. the whole game told a story in reverse- we learn all we need to know about project shadow in that game. the fact that the whole "android" shadow arc doesn't even get resolved in that game is a little frustrating.

an exploration into shadow's identity if he survived the fall and retained his memories would have been FASCINATING. shadow assumed he would die at the end of sa2, absolve him of wanting to destroy the world, absolve him of his guilt over maria, and finally find peace. but he DOESN'T die. and now he's forced to live with the trauma he was given, and the anger he holds, and forge a new identity and place for himself. and, how is shadow going to keep maria's promise, to save humanity, when someone else is already doing his job? when shadow himself had already called sonic the ultimate lifefrom, when sonic has been and is doing what shadow would do to keep maria's promise? where does shadow fit in amongst these "heroes?" THAT'S an identity i would have loved to explore.

sonic battle and sonic 06 were honestly pretty good portrayals of him. i think you could arguably have a similar story in sonic battle without him, however, while still keeping the intrigue of gerald robotnik and What Exactly Was Going On With Project Shadow at the time, but i digress.

I think Shadow the Hedgehog 2005, for all of it's flaws, did try. It wanted to be compelling and morally challenging and it wanted Shadow to explore his identity and figure out what side he wanted to belong to. arguably, however, it solidified shadow's "brand" as being an edgy anti-hero who uses guns and curses and is "violent" when i don't really think that was the intention behind sa2. i also think it was sort of an unnecessary addition to the project shadow lore- the ark and all of its secrets are rather haunting enough. there's still so many implications over gerald robotnik perhaps knowing echidna lore, there's still so much mystique behind the original introduction of shadow's lore, that i don't think adding evil alien blood into the mix was necessary. this game could have honestly been an entire backstory for a whole new character.

and after those games, it becomes pretty clear that sega just doesn't know what to do with him. post-shadow the hedgehog has shadow let go of his past and become who he wants to be. but sega seems completely insistent on keeping shadow in his sa2 phase, keeps wanting shadow as a anti-hero rival when his arc contradicts it. they want him stagnant despite trying to have him move on from his travesty- and obviously, grief and trauma are not things that are linearly healed from, but the continuous storyline of shadow "letting go of his past" shows that they just don't have a direction for him. they don't know what to do with him.

and now, shadow, the same shadow who promised maria to save the world, to give humanity a chance, who watched his sister die in front of him, was written to have violently and thoughtlessly attack infinite and his squad (and is implied to have killed the rest of inifinite's squad)... and for what? his whole arc is moving away from his past and trying to do right by maria. WHY would he ever cause someone the same pain he felt when he's already learned from that mistake (sa2)? they just don't know what to do with him and keep putting him in increasingly antagonistic roles despite shadow being sonic's friend and ally.

i just think shadow should have stayed dead in sa2. it keeps the allure and mystery of the ark alive, no more bad characterizations, and it gives more weight to shadow fulfilling maria's promise. i also think that him being alive causes a problem because his arc sort of guides him into the position that sonic is in- as a hero and a saviour, but sonic's already filling that role. shadow sort of becomes... obsolete, because anything he can do, sonic can do, too. which is probably why they keep making him an antagonist/rival.

ideally, if they had to keep him alive, my hope would be to have shadow realise he has an entire life to live now. he can fufill maria's wishes of helping people perhaps on a smaller scale (a la the chaotix), and then also go on to travel the world and see the beauty maria was never able to see. it keeps him sort of in a back pocket if they ever want him to return and help sonic and his friends, and can guide him into hating humanity less by seeing how beautiful and kind the world really is.

whatever they're doing now just isn't working. the shadow we see now is nothing like the shadow from sa2, which is a damn shame. shadow became a fan favourite from that game alone for a REASON.

so like. i like shadow, i just wish he stayed dead to avoid all of this.

[runawaymun]

🗡️&⚓, if you please!

🗡️ Defend your favorite war criminal (or make them worse - I'm not your mom)

I'm a Maedhros apologist for so many reasons. Chief of which is because I love him. But in all seriousness, while he is a war criminal and he is a mass-murderer, I think out of all the The Sons of Fëanor, he displayed the most restraint and regret.

Like sure the narrative tells us that Maglor deeply regretted his actions explicitly -- but he comes late to that realization after the end of the third kinslaying. Out of all the sons, Maedhros props up my idea that the Oath is something Eldritch and Outside of Them -- a compelling Force (which doesn't absolve them of their actions, but does explain things a lot) the most. He seeks the peaceful, least-violent solutions first, nearly every time.

Maedhros didn't participate in the burning of the ships.

Maedhros repeatedly tries to protect others at risk to himself - taking up the most dangerous/at-conflict lands in Himring, and trying end the conflict with Morgoth with the least bloodshed possible - at risk of his own life by going to treat with Morgoth. Is this his smartest move? No. Is it perhaps his most selfless? IMO yeah. I'm sure he knew he was walking into a trap, but he was offered an opportunity to end things with the least amount of bloodshed and risk to others, so he took it.

Maedhros does a lot of political (and familial) work in healing all the division his father caused over the Silmarils via the Union of Maedhros, but is happy not to be in charge and doesn't seem to need/want recognition. He doesn't have a huge ego. He relinquishes kingship to Fingolfin even though his brothers don't want him to.

The second he felt that his brothers might cause conflicts with others, he moved them out of Hithlum.

Celegorm had to convince Maedhros to attack Doriath. This was after Maedhros attempted to simply ask Dior to hand over the Silmaril - Dior may have inherited the Silmaril from Beren & Luthien, but IMO stolen property, even inherited, is still stolen property. Does this justify the sack of Doriath? No. But I personally do not believe that Dior had any moral right to the Silmaril either. Maedhros was well within his rights to ask for it, and while I understand completely why nobody handed it over, and the Oath may have compelled kinslaying anyway due to the "he who hideth/hoardeth/in hand taketh etc etc" clause -- Maedhros still asked first. and IMO that's a sign of, again -- the fact that he seeks out peaceful solutions first. And it was only after the Oath had awoken and after a great deal of "stirring" from Celegorm that Maedhros agreed to launch an assault.

Maedhros canonically hated what happened to Elured & Elurin. It was done without his knowledge and he also canonically tried to save them.

In a repeat of what happened at Doriath: Maedhros sent messages to Sirion first, and while again -- I don't blame Elwing for withholding the Silmaril because nobody at Sirion had any reason to believe that M&M wouldn't take the Silmaril and kill them anyway (especially after Doriath) -- he still tried. And it was only after they refused to hand it over and the Oath was awoken & in some versions of the tale the Ambarussa urged him that they launched an assault on Sirion.

Maedhros doesn't send anyone else on the fool's errand to try and retrieve the last two Silmarils. He goes alone with Maglor. There is no assault. No battle. He does it in secrecy and kills the least amount of people he possibly can. It really feels to me like the goal was to sate the Oath/save his family from eternal darkness with the least amount of bloodshed possible.

⚓ Pick a Silm ship to go down with. What is compelling about their dynamic?

I'm gonna have to go with Brimbrond, obviously. I love me some Russingon and some Gilrond but I just am clenching Brimbrond in my fists. They're so good. And the tragic end makes it better for me because Elrond's the one Gil-Galad sends to liberate Eregion and he fails. And when you add in the ship background it makes it even worse. Just...the THEMES. THE THEMES.

Elrond and Celebrimbor are both friendship-focused and people-oriented.

If you're a kidnap fam stan then they have a lot of bonding to do over stories of M&M. In my head, Elrond has to deal with a lot of weird/rocky political fallout due to being a "Feanorian fosterling" -- people are mistrustful at first. And he has to deal with his complicated feelings about M&M and like, no actually, he doesn't hate them -- which no one else seems to understand. But Celebrimbor would.

Both have to deal with the crushing weight of family legacy & trying to forge their own path & in a way choose their mother-names over their fathers' legacies. Celebrimbor chooses to go by Telperinquar rather than Curufinwe III. Elrond chooses "Peredhel" over "Earendillion"

Something something echoes of Elrond's attachment to "silver" lovers who meet untimely and horrible ends thanks to Sauron.

there's more here because I could ramble about them for ages but I just really love them together.

silm ask meme

[tonya-the-chicken]

I've been thinking about Rei and Shouto as her savior and tbh this plot doesn't sit right with me. While very cute and romantic, it paints Rei in a bad light the moment you try to look at her actions from a more objective viewpoint

Here's the thing we know: 1) Fuyumi and Natsuo have been visiting her all these years; 2) Endeavor did not attempt to prevent or punish Shouto for visiting her; 3) During her stay in the hospital she was not allowed to have a phone but she could communicate through other means like letters; 4) at some point (maybe after housekeepers retirement) Fuyumi ended up being the one who took care of her younger siblings and 5) Endeavor neglected his family, not even coming for dinners

So, I got a question. If she was allowed to contact Shouto, why she never did? Sure, she believed that he hated her for the kettle accident but she is his mother and he was 5. Why on Earth he must've lived 10 years without receiving "Sorry for what happened. I love you and I want to see you. I am always waiting for your visit"? She could've written a letter and given it to Fuyumi who wouldn't have any problem delivering it to Shouto since their father never explicitly said they couldn't communicate and even if he did, he's not fucking home to enforce the rules. It's the simplest easiest thing and we can talk all day long about how she wasn't there "mentally" but her inability to get over her own made-up mental blocks (while in a hospital full of psychologists no less) and extend at least some love to her son that was left with an abusive father (and she knew he was abusive), honestly, makes me fume

But anyway this is not what I wanted to write about. The only thing stopping her is her own brain, ok. But then, the way the plot develops about it being a good, honorable thing that Shouto approached her first and not her failing as a mother and then also pushes Hawks to think "I left my parents behind", like, is any of this normal? Do you think we need to see children saving their parents? Do you think we need to act like they can save.... no, like it's their responsibility to save them? That's one of the most fucked beliefs an abused child can develop that will screw their lives. You can't save shit. You can't change them. If your parents wanted to love you, they would find a way, they have a whole ass life of experience

When you compare it with Enji's plotline it feels almost like a joke. Somehow he decided to become a better person on his own accord, despite all his children explicitly hating him while Rei always had the support of two of them and still waited until the third one came around before growing as a person. And her brutal favoritism is showcased by the narrative in a romantic way. Shouto saves her. He is their family's hero

Children are not supposed to save their parents. More importantly, when we talk about anything realistic, children can't save their parents. This is a manga about heroes but it touches on serious family issues and tries to show them in semi-realistic ways. It's straight-up harmful to push the idea that a child can fix their mentally ill distant parent that made no effort to be with them

Rei's behavior is so much more fucked up and traumatizing than the narrative is showing us. Maybe because Shouto never questions it and idolizes her. Sure, it's traumatic to be physically hurt by your mother but do you think her cutting off all contact with her son would help? You can free her from accountability by tripling down on painting Enji as the most horrid unredeemable person. But why? Can't we start talking about how mothers bear responsibility for their actions even if their marriage was fucked up? Can't we start talking about how their traumas don't absolve them from the blame?

This post is too much about Rei's mistakes (that are not discussed enough in this fandom!) but I wanted to talk more about narrative. It often ignores Rei's mistakes, even shows them as good or so so sympathy-inducing and easy to understand. Not only this, with Hawks seeing Shouto as a good example, it's clear Horikoshi puts an opinion out there that it's a great idea to try to save your parent. It is not

[nikethestatue]

I have a hard time understanding the following:

The same people that blame Feyre and Elain for “bullying” Nesta are completely OK with Nesta bullying Cassian, and treating him like dirt. I wonder if the gender of Cassian and Nesta were reversed , would Cassian be praised as much as Nesta was after ACOSF.

I have always had a problem with their relationship after ACOSF, because of the above. I often think, if there was no mating bond, would Cassian care about Nesta? Would he put up with her shit? It’s not like they grew to love each other, as far as the emotional romance in her book, it was lacking. Cassian just kept at her until Sarah choose to write her as a better person. I wonder if her sisters or Cassian did not intervene, she would go down that path to recovery?

This is different from Feyre and Rhysand’s relationship, and even Elaine and Azriel’s relationship, because those relationships are written as mutual attraction and appreciation for the other person, and a solid friendship, not a mating bond.  I don’t understand people who like Cassian and Nesta’s relationship after ACOSF, maybe I am just too traditional?

The way SJM wrote Nesta in my opinion was terrible. Essentially she was just really nasty, met some people who didn’t know her backstory and got validated by them (so i guess the reader is supposed to think she is good then, lazy) and then saved her sister and everything was forgiven. Why not work on the relationships that she currently had, not just make her and Cassian’s relationship about sex, show us more of her friendship with Amren, for heaven sake’s have her actually talk to her sisters about real things. I don’t know how Sara got away with writing ACOSF the way she did.

I don’t know when it became OK to rationalize/absolve someone’s behaviour because they have mental illness or are going through a tough time. You are still responsible for your actions. Having trauma or mental health issues is an explanation for your behaviour, but it does not remove the responsibility of how your behave and the repercussions to your relationships (family /friends).

There is a pervasive theme in the SJM fandom and how she writes her characters that being a “ victim” and take responsibility for doing terrible things to people cannot occur at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive. It’s very odd and I would even say dangerous way of thinking.

Thank you for your thoughts. I am in love with “the agreement” and look forward to Thursdays because I know a chapter is coming out.❤️

I generally agree, however, I remain in the ACOWAR state of mind for Nessian. If we look at how they were, at what they did for each other, at how they grew to admire and support one another, you can definitely see that there was attraction, interest and growth without the bond.

Nesta in ACOWAR was understandable--her anger, her resentment, her unhappiness, especially in the beginning, were all legit, because her life was drastically changed, her whole existence altered, her sister's life also ripped out from her grasp. But then we saw Nesta's growth, her willingness to understand her powers, her willingness to help however she could, her willingness to to to the HL Meeting, and then to the front. Her growing affection towards Cassian was also obvious--despite her fighting it, she was still so into him. She trusted him, she sought him out.

ACOSF is a hot mess express and there is no other way of putting it.

Did I want Nesta to find friends and have that independence from the IC? Absolutely! But the whole 'oh they are my sisters!' or 'oh they are my family!' is such BS.

I've noticed that in general, SJM doesn't know how to write female relationships. Whether it's friendships, parental relationships, sisterhoods. It always comes out bizarre. Aelin and Lysandra=weird. Danika and Bryce=forgetaboutit. Mor and Feyre=what is that even? Maybe Manon and Asterin? But they are also unequal and are beating the shit out of each other. Nesta and Emerie and Gwyn had the beginnings of a great relationship, but SJM chose to make it over the top to the umptieth degree. Like she doesn't understand that both love AND friendships could be just that--strong, powerful, intense, intimate relationships outside of familiar ties. You don't NEED to call your friends 'family'. You can choose your friends, and you can create a relationship with them in a way that is beneficial to you. They don't need to become your 'family' to be falid.

Same with love--you can just love someone, without having a mate bond with them. The bond, in my opinion, often cheapens the relationship, because it sort of negates the growth and the feelings. Thinking back to Rowan and Aelin--did they really need the bond? No. Not at all. There was so much between the two of them that the bond was completely superfluous. The only time the bond made sense and needed to be there was for Feysand--it was their tether, it was the reason why Rhys was able to save/hear/feel Feyre. It made sense. It should've been the only bond. But no. SJM is gonna stick bonds on everyone, like Oprah giving out cars.

ACOSF happened and now we have to live with it. Nothing we can do. I hope she knows to add something in the future that would make the Nessian relationship better. Offer some insights and additions that would make it more palatable.

Also, thank you! :)

[andiwriteordie]

I am scaaared

i guess here is the ask for the sad sad sad Wheeler sibling idea!

part 1 | part 2

(you know it's bad when i... also had to go back and reread what i've already written to refresh myself lol. i am so so sorry this took so long)

so here are some st ramblings/thoughts to set up some more atla thoughts:

the wheeler family is such an interesting group of people to me (i'm going to leave holly and ted out of this because holly is too little and ted is... well, ted). so, mostly just talking about mike, nancy, and karen here. and it's so interesting to me because i do feel like these characters love each other—they're family, of course. they don't have the bond that their other parallel set of characters (will, jonathan, and joyce) have, but when i watch the show at least, i do feel like the three of them care for each other/their family and do love them.

but it's never really seen by the others in that trio—by mike. we do see a scene with karen and nancy bonding with one another. and then we also see individual scenes where their love for their family is shown by actions their family does not know about.

with karen, we see her worrying significantly in s1 about mike and then choosing to set aside her own pleasure/happiness for the sake of her family in s3 (now granted, one could argue that's motivated by holly and less so nancy/mike, since the decision is made when karen sees holly and ted, but i digress). same with how nancy, when she finds out mike has been caught up in the government mess in s1, is shown to really be worried about him, and then in s4, we see that she's clearly terrified for what vecna has shown her with the deaths of her family.

so i'm thinking about this sad sad firebending wheeler family scenario, where mike almost died, and nancy knows she made a decision that hurt her brother—even if she does believe it was the right decision. it's just difficult right now, and their relationship has always been strained. she's never really known how to be around mike, and in a way, it makes nancy feel a lot like her parents with their forced smiles and awkwardness that they try to pass off as love. and that hurts her too, because nancy never wanted to be like her parents. she does love her family. she does love mike. but it's just difficult for her to show it, and now, years later when they're both nearly adults, it feels like it's a little too late.

but at the same time, nancy wheeler isn't someone who sits on her ass. she's never been great with emotions either, especially when it comes to her family, and maybe she can't be the one to directly be there for mike. maybe she's lost that opportunity a long time ago—and certainly she has now, since she has to live with the understanding that she was willing to let her little brother die if it meant saving el. but that doesn't stop her from still trying to find ways to check in on mike. it's clear he doesn't really want to see her, and will, who hasn't left mike's side through all of this, really doesn't want to see her either. they're both angry, and mike is hurt.

but jonathan is a neutral ground. he's trusted by will and by mike too, and while jonathan knows that he would've made a different decision, had he been in nancy's shoes and forced to save will, he can't fault her for the decision she made. it's simply too complex of a situation, and jonathan understands that not everything is black and white.

so, nancy asks about her little brother often. she doesn't visit as much as she wants to. she can pass it off as being too busy—as trying to help their little ragtag group of benders prepare for henry's next attack with the spirits. but jonathan's an airbender, and he's been one of the ones helping with the breathing therapy sessions to help mike recover. so nancy asks about mike all the time, and jonathan answers every time. maybe it can't absolve her of this guilt or change the strain that exists in her relationship with mike, but at least, nancy knows that mike is doing okay. he's getting better. he's alive.

nancy loves her brother from afar, simply because she doesn't know how to love him up close. and all the while, mike mourns his relationship with his sister, thinking she never really cared about him in the first place.

the love is there, but it's lost and strained—buried under nuances of emotion and by complexities of how they both learned to see the world and treat their relationships. and as both of them watch the person they love—nancy watching jonathan and mike watching will—and both of them see how much these other siblings can love each other, the wheelers grieve what their own relationship could've been.

[jacobsneed]

For Cricket, Rizpah, and Skunk! 🖤

I just want to know them better okay 👉🏻👈🏻

My clipboard saved things odd and if they're in a wacky order apologies!

What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

 How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? 

What memory do they revisit the most often? 

○ ○ ○

A) Why are you excited about this character?

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

H) What trait do you admire most?

aaaaaa I am screeching and flapping autistically :D No need to apologize :))

okay putting this under a read more since I'll be gushing about all these gremlins :)

Uncommon Questions for OCs and their creators

Cricket Rook

What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

I imagine Cricket would lie to their dad, claiming they were cutting down on their smoking near daily before he died. Boy do they feel haunted by that

How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

Will probably ponder in their head for a bit before politely asking for clarification

 How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? 

Oh very, Cricket is the type of person to lay awake at night haunted by something cringe they may have done as a child. They hold on to their guilt a lot :(

What memory do they revisit the most often? 

Going to church with their family growing up. They loved getting together with everyone, and it was the one time they would wear a dress their Grandmother gifted them

A) Why are you excited about this character?

I was in an awful depression/ptsd spiral before I started playing and after I got into it and started creating Cricket in my head I just went full hyperfixation mode and really helped pull me out of the nasty brains :'))) so I have a big ole soft spot in my heart for Cricks

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

A little bit, it took me a few weeks to figure out what exactly their deal was, I'm still working on plotting out the lore of the Rook family at the moment :D

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

I would absolutely love to have Cricks as a bible study buddy or have them take me out shooting. I just know they would badger me to quit smoking though as they should

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

Ugh, Cricket is just too damn forgiving. They should also try being more aggressive in their assertion once in a while

H) What trait do you admire most?

How even when it seems like everything is shit, and all the cards are stacked against them, Cricket still manages to maintain their faith

Rizpah Mags

What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

Oh lord, I see Maggie as the type to lie without even realizing it, it's just something that is so common to her. Unfortunately doesn't feel bad about it when she catches herself lying

How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

Will very bluntly and sternly just ask for clarification

 How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? 

Not that hard at all, just confesses her sins and believes herself to be absolved of any perceived wrong doings

What memory do they revisit the most often? 

Her first time in the bliss, or alternatively the first proper meeting between her and Cricket

A) Why are you excited about this character?

I originally made her as a joke because I wanted to make a cultist oc, but also thought it'd be funny to make an oc specifically to annoy Cricket. She kinda snowballed from that into an 'actual' character, and I'm just jazzed to write out her full lore :D

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

A bit, I took a couple artistic liberties making her little world. Mainly about inner cult workings and whatnot. I'm still doing so much work with her sdfghjkl trying so hard to not spoil anything in her story >_<

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

Hm, I probably wouldn't. I don't quite know why, but I just feel like we would be nowhere near the same wavelengths. I'm also not a fan of her because she's kinda mean and I'm sensitive, she would totally lightly bully me lmao

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

How easily she just shrugs off any guilt and tries to justify every morally questionable thing she does

H) What trait do you admire most?

If anything, she's incredible tenacious and self assured

Matthew "Skunk" Dennis

What lie do they most frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

He's the type of dad that tells his daughter harmless lies all the time (the tooth fairy, easter bunny, you know the drill) he doesn't find himself haunted by these lies much at all

How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

He's an utter idiot and will just kinda act like he knows what's up or what to until someone asks him just what the hell he's doing and helps him out LMAO

 How hard is it for them to shake a sense of guilt? 

I see him as being the type to hold on to guilt when he screws up, usually trying to smoke it away at first before coming to the realization that it's better to try to make amends and just going above and beyond to make it up to anyone he feels he's wronged

What memory do they revisit the most often? 

Arriving in Hope and the feeling of love he felt being accepted into the community, knowing that he found a place to set roots

A) Why are you excited about this character?

Another character started as a joke, based off a black&white mullet I had once, lmao. He's also got me super jazzed because he's kinda like an autism creature my sister and I made after binging trailer park boys a few times in a row, which was a lovely bonding experience lol

C) Did you have trouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

Not really, I figured since there is "oregano" throughout the map, someone had to have been growing, right? In my universe, he just kinda vibes in the trailer park with his daughter

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?

He's definitely in my dream blunt rotation, I'll say that. I feel like out of all my fc5 characters, he's the one I would get along with the most, but I know he'd clown on me for my inability to roll a joint but would love my idiotic jokes

G) What trait of theirs bothers you the most?

His utter recklessness, like sir please make a plan before doing something stupid. This man needs to learn to think first then act

H) What trait do you admire most?

His dedication to being a single dad and his ability to improvise

[siflshonen]

hi! i loved your bakugou meta (both the re-do and original!) and i wanted to ask you a question that’s been racking my brain- about how others perceive bakugou and how he feels about that. it’s an interesting concept since i’ve always felt that unlike todoroki and deku, bakugou’s goal doesn’t involve a mutual connection with people (like saving or reassuring like the two i mentioned above). it’s about how he feels about himself and strives to achieve that by his standards and how he sees fit. however, how do you think he feels about the impact he has on other people? there’s denki backing him up and his motives during the provisional license exam and saving them (also aizawa’s little speech about him being a driving force for the class), there’s kiri’s unbreakable, there’s him exciting the class during the cultural fest and reaffirming why they’re here and absolving their guilt for what’s happened, etc. the most notable one being of deku and his whole “image of victory” thing during their second fight (still waiting on something for that). but i wish we got more insight to how he feels about this directly. there have been the characters in story talking about his development (mostly sato as of late) and i wonder if that’ll segway into something like him reacting to it? i’m so curious!

Ah, wow, this IS a tough question. I think it kinda depends. I'm gonna take apart your ask a little bit to try and give a thorough answer based on where I am coming from on this. If it comes off as pedantic, I apologize. I just wanna make sure I answer this clearly.

Short answer: I think he is initially afraid when he is perceived as anything other than his personas, but later learns to become comfortable with being perceived underneath them. In fact, I think he is deeply, deeply touched by it. He seems to show a lot of (belated, because he's a shit about everything initially) loyalty and sentimentality towards those who do perceive him for what he actually is and recognize the positive in it. He craves the validation from the people that matter to him even if he doesn't say it directly. We do see his tells about it, though not for every instance.

Long answer under the cut.

"...it’s an interesting concept since i’ve always felt that unlike todoroki and deku, bakugou’s goal doesn’t involve a mutual connection with people (like saving or reassuring like the two i mentioned above)."

I can't say I totally agree that his goal (being the number one Hero) has nothing to do with mutual connections regarding saving or reassuring others, anon. However, I do think that it is more apt to say that he NEEDS the mutual connection regarding trust and belonging in an even broader sense than the two examples you've listed. Izuku and Shoto are lonely misfit boys with pasts marked by some form of isolation. Both center around saving and reassuring others and how those things relate. Yes. But so is Bakugo (his only "friends" were two sort of flunkies who made it clear they only liked him for his strength and talent and he rejected the one potential friend he had in Deku. Self-imposed or not, his social situation is not dissimilar to theirs in concept).

Bakugo needs others to feel assured that he's going to win, trust that his winning is a good thing, and trust that he wants to win because it is going to save everyone. While Bakugo doesn't doubt that he can do incredible things (for example, surpass All Might in a fight or otherwise), people aren't going to support him in continuing that path unless he can convince them it's a positive thing (or, yanno, in their interest.) While Izuku and Shoto openly want these mutual connections in regards to saving, winning, and also stuff like friendship, Bakugo initially doesn't think he wants them but comes to realize that he desperately NEEDS them.

That Bakugo takes Kirishima's hand in the rescue isn't just significant because he and Kirishima have an equal relationship. It is also significant because Bakugo accepted it because he knew he NEEDED to do so. It's not unlike him accepting help from Izuku in their fight against All Might because he NEEDED to do so.

No matter how much Bakugo might wish to be an island unto himself (heh heh heh...), the reality is that he cannot be. He NEEDS his connections with others. This is the whole reason he gets lumped in with Todoroki for the remedial course for the provisional license.

In order to become the number one Hero and surpass All Might (who totally shafted most interpersonal connections and, in practice, consistently failed to really reach out to Bakugo himself on at least two occasions depending on your point of view), Bakugo NEEDS those connections. Over the course of the story, he begins to understand that interpersonal connections are a win condition of "number one Hero", even by his own (somewhat changing) definition.

But as for how this ties into Bakugo's personal goal and personal desires outside of "things he needs to do to become the number one Hero that society doesn't reject utterly and prevent him from doing so"? Or, as you put it:

"It’s about how he feels about himself and strives to achieve that by his standards and how he sees fit."

I do agree that Bakugo's primary motivation is intrinsic. Bakugo doesn't just want to become the number one Hero by conventional standards. He wants to be number one by his standards! But that doesn't mean there aren't things he wants outside of that, or that his personal vision of number one Hero doesn't include interpersonal relationships and validation as the series progresses.

"however, how do you think he feels about the impact he has on other people?"

I think the significance of Bakugo refusing (and then angsting about refusing, in the case of Izuku) hands outstretched to him also show how, deep inside, he craves mutual connections with people who see him as he is. While his connection with Izuku is highly specific rather than the more abstract idea of "my personal goal is to foster mutual connections with people!", I think by coming to accept that a connection with Izuku is something he wants, Bakugo also comes to see that he wants and values mutual connections with other people besides just Izuku.

His involvement in the Todoroki plot, even through his udon comment, also suggests the same.

As for the examples you listed:

"there’s denki backing him up and his motives during the provisional license exam and saving them (also aizawa’s little speech about him being a driving force for the class), there’s kiri’s unbreakable, there’s him exciting the class during the cultural fest and reaffirming why they’re here and absolving their guilt for what’s happened, etc. the most notable one being of deku and his whole “image of victory” thing during their second fight (still waiting on something for that). but i wish we got more insight to how he feels about this directly."

He wasn't around to respond to (he could hear Kaminari's backup during the exam, but we sure weren't in a position to see his reaction!) most of this or know about it, but I think if he could see them and directly know how these things came from him, he'd be deeply flattered but not know how to take it. He'd probably scratch the back of his head and try to avoid or play down the praise much like he did with All Might and his classmates during the Joint Training arc. Or do that obviously overwhelmed thing he does when All Might pats him and Shoto on the head after they got their licenses.

Or he'd open his mouth and start to bitch on reflex because he doesn't know how to take it, but the words might not come out. Like when Sero calls him a delinquent with stray cats. Look at that face.

Or Endeavor compliments him when he's trying to be an asshole and draw public attention away from their personal family drama.

Authentic praise for authentic efforts and qualities is a lot for a growing bomb who only got insults and shallow praise in the past to handle, you know?

The one of interest is Izuku's honne regarding Bakugo, I agree. Honestly, the one I'm most interested in seeing him react to because it means so much more coming from his osana najimi (who almost never talks about his true feelings with anyone, but especially not Bakugo). I'm not sure what Bakugo might do in response to that, but I think the internal impact will be larger than the external. Like when Izuku apologized to the class (which includes Bakugo, though Izuku still isn't getting to the heart of the matter because he can't see it.)

As for Sato and the others commenting on how they still expect Bakugo to change... Here's my opinion: lovingly, because I do authentically like Sato and adore Tokoyami in particular, they can all get fucked :) If they can't see what's in front of them for what it is, they weren't meant to.

Thanks for the ask!

[foxstride]

relating to profic-firestar’s hawkivy post, how would you personally interpret a hawkivy au where bristle is their kit? B/c I’m really interested in it :0

Oh wow. Ok. So I haven't read the TBC arc yet, so I am sure I'll have more thoughts when I have. BUT. Based on my current thoughts and a quick skim of Bristlefrost's history on the wiki.

So let's assume that Hawkfrost survives. He helps turn the tide against the Dark Forest cats along Ivypool's side. This ofc does not absolve him and he isn't welcomed by the Clans, but he continues to meet with her in her dreams for the next arc. Optional polyamory with Fernsong (vee polycule).

SO. Eventually, Ivypool becomes pregnant. Either with Bristlekit alone or she has a split pregnancy (Flipkit and Thriftkit are Fernsong's).

She gives birth to Bristlekit, and Hawkfrost looks over her in his ghost form and adores her. It takes a few moons, but eventually Bristlekit is brought into a dream with both of her parents. She meets Hawkfrost for the first time and she's aware that she's Different but Ivypool pushes on the idea that cats must be loyal to their Clan. Hawkfrost agrees and says that not being loyal was his downfall, so now he has no Clan, but he knows Bristlekit will grow up to be ThunderClan's greatest warrior.

Hawkfrost watches over her as she becomes an apprentice, and in her dreams he teaches her how to swim like a RiverClan cat. She's nervous. She's not sure about it at all. But he tells her that water never needs to be her enemy, and learning to swim can only ever help her.

Sure enough, a few moons later she saves Rootpaw by using her father's swimming technique and Hawkfrost couldn't be prouder. Some cats wonder about just how well she can swim, because ThunderClan apprentices don't exactly practice swimming, especially not like this, but Ivypool defends her by asking why they're criticising and analysing her daughter rather than being impressed by how she saved another cat. It gets them to stop.

When struggling to catch prey, Hawkfrost encourages her to try fishing. She's resistant because only RiverClan catches fish, so he focuses on teaching her about swimming and how she can catch prey (fish) in water instead of fishing from above. When she catches her first fish, Ivypool goes to Hawkfrost, worried because ThunderClan don't catch fish, and they don't want RiverClan to accuse them of stealing prey even if it's from the lake. Hawkfrost accepts this, apologises, and tells Bristlepaw they should focus on hunting prey in water only if they're water voles or otherwise escape into water. She asks why, and her parents are honest with her.

Part of Bristlepaw's lack of urgency over the medicine cats not focusing on the lack of prey is because, while she believes, she's also aware her father isn't in StarClan. If Hawkfrost can teach her to help catch prey, then why can't StarClan do the same for the Clans?

It's Ivypool that comforts her when Stemleaf doesn't return her feelings, but Hawkfrost also tells her that love takes time - from both sides.

That's all I have right now! One day I'll read through TBC and we'll see how I feel about it then. In general, based on the wiki descriptions, I feel like there are a LOT of opportunities and potential plot lines for fitting Hawkfrost into place!

[commodoreseverus]

The letter that explained everything

Pairing: Elizabeth Swann x James Norrington (one-sided), Elizabeth Swann x Will Turner

Warning: Character death

James Norrington is unlocking the door of the brig.

"Come with me." James said to Elizabeth but she doesn't move, "Quickly!" He added urgently as she nods to crew and they exit.

"What are you doing?" Elizabeth asked James.

"Choosing a side." James said as Elizabeth exits cell. Bootstrap sees empty cell and looks around.

"Do not go to Shipwreck Cove. Beckett knows of the meeting of the Brethren. I fear there may be a traitor among them." James said to Elizabeth quickly.

"It's too late to earn my forgiveness." Elizabeth told James.

"I had nothing to do with your father's death. That doesn't absolve me of my other sins." James said looking down at his own feet.

Elizabeth looked out to her crew, shimmying along the rope that led to their ship, her ship, and felt something within her...catch.

James Norrington had betrayed her. He had betrayed everything she stood for, everything he himself stood for, when he plotted and schemed and gave the heart of Davy Jones to Cutler Beckett. Even now, perhaps especially now, that betrayal struck deep.

And yet.

Had she not betrayed him? Accepting his proposals of marriage, leading him on, giving him hope when all along her all consuming love for Will had made sure that there was never a hope for the Commodore? Elizabeth had grown up quickly in the past years, quicker perhaps than she should, and the childishness which had pervaded her when she was first taken captive by Barbossa and played with men's hearts so easily was fading fast.

It was time to stop the circle of lies and betrayal. It was time it ended.

"Come with us."

She turned, meeting James' eyes, suddenly turned from sad and resigned to shocked...hopeful. Even after all the time which had passed, all the wrongs between them, he still looked at her like she was worth it all. She could still inspire hope in him. The catch in her chest tightened at that look - it was as though they were back in Port Royal, back to being the 'sensible match' of the town, back to his blind adoration of her. Yet somehow it was also vastly, painfully different because they both knew better than that now.

"James, Come with me."

At the clarification his eyes widened further and she saw him take in a breath that was sharp, disbelieving. However almost as soon as the words were from her mouth a voice called out in the darkness,

"Who goes there?"

He grabbed her, pulled her behind him by the belt around her waist, shielding her with his body. His sword was already drawn and though her eyes skirted the upper deck, looking for the one who'd spotted them, her eyes drifted down almost as quickly as they'd been raised, tracing the line of his jaw, the collar of his coat, small things which she had once been very familiar with in the long hours of polite company and conversation.

"Go. I will follow." James said and gives the letter he had written earlier to Elizabeth.

"You're lying." Elizabeth said as she looks at his frightened face.

"Our destinies have been entwined, Elizabeth... but never joined." James said sadly and kissed her, which he knows it is the first and last kiss he gives her. It is already enough for him. A small but sweet kiss. "Go! Now!" He said to Elizabeth urgently before he turned to Bootstrap and said, "Back to your station, sailor."

"No one leaves the ship." Bootstrap said.

"Stand down. That's an order!" James said frightened but he still trying to sound brave.

"That's an order. That's an order. Part of the crew, part of the ship. Part of the crew, part of the ship." Bootstrap muttered more likely to himself.

"Steady, man!" James said.

"Part of the crew, part of the ship. All hands, prisoner escape!" Bootstrap suddenly shouts.

"Belay that!" James shouts, truly frightened. He then shoots the line between the ships and as he is turning back around Bootstrap spears him, then cuts down to water where Elizabeth is.

"James! James! No!" Elizabeth shouts

When Elizabeth went back to the Empress, she reads the letter that James has given her before his death.

To my dear Elizabeth Swann,

I know I might be dead by the time you read this letter. I want to tell you that if I died, don't cry for me. I think I don't deserve happiness as I have betrayed your trust after giving Davy Jones's heart to Beckett. I was really upset after the supposed execution of Jack Sparrow as Will Turner has rescued him and when he declared his love to you, I feel my heart is broken into millions pieces. My heart is so broken that I have loss my mind as I ordered my ship, the Dauntless into the hurricane. After that, I lose everything. Including your love, and all the trust of my shipmates as I sent them to death because of the hatred that I have to Sparrow. I really regret that.

I just want to tell you that I have already fallen in love with you when I first met you...when you are 12 and I am 19. I know my love to you will always be there, deeply in my heart. I know I will never have the love from you like I have to you. It seems that you see me more like a friend or an older brother you never have than seeing me as a lover. Although I am really sad at first, I now see myself only a protector to you. I will always there when you need me, protecting you, even it meant for my life. I will even sacrifice my own life if it can exchange for you safety because I really love you. Our destiny has been entwined but never joined. And it seems to be the beginning and end of everything.

Always there in your heart,

James Norrington

She cried after she finished reading it. It is so sad that it has cut deeply in her heart. She is now full of regret that she hasn't save him before it's too late.

[hella1975]

I know it's like, 1:46 am where I am, but I have ThoughtsTM about Kanut?? Can we just take a second to appreciate him?? out of all of zuko's father figures, I think Kanut is the one who *might* respect him most???? because Hakoda *gets* zuko, he understands that he hurts and how he works and shit like that but his love is protective to the point that it tries to keep zuko from doing things, and iroh adores zuko, but doesn't quite *know* him the way he would need to to respect him like that (1/?)

and ofc there's the rest of the SWT, but they're not quite the same?? and then there's fucking Kanut who respects zuko and his decisions and his need to do things, and in the end, when zuko's hands are covered in blood, kanut has a way to absolve him. He could have saved fong. Hakoda would have in an attempt to save zuko; by keeping him from being the reason someone died. Hakoda remembers the boy who couldn't kill an animal, hakoda remembers the boy who cried because he 'killed' Lee. (2/?)

then IROH'S remembering the boy who spoke out against the firelord's general for the sake of a few soldiers. he's remembering the child that zuko was, hakoda is remembering the child that zuko deserved to be, but kanut? kanut still gives the decision to zuko. He knows how much it will weigh, but he also knows that zuko is the only one to make that decision, and in the end that just fucking hit me. That kanut would respect zuko that much. That he would look zuko in the eyes and accept that choice (3/?)

idk Hella, maybe it's just late and I'm not making any sense, but there's something about kanut giving zuko that choice that just completely and utterly takes me apart, because that's kanut showing zuko his love in one of the only ways he know how. that's him giving him the only closure he can, the only sense of control. There's just,, there's something about it Hella, and its breaking me apart. you're a God-damned amazing writer okay? fucking hell, your brain is so fucking big (4/4)

---------

hey bro hey dude hey what the hell bro i wasn’t expecting this bro idk how to act bro ILY FUCK IT turns out whoever is writing our enemies to lovers romance doesn’t know how to pace a story and now we are rocketing on our way to being in love. the readers will complain that it’s too rushed but we won’t care. 

like damn yes of course i’m gonna love this because hello??? kanut supremacy?? but also i cannot stop thinking about how well you described this. specifically in the sense of how each of the Big Adult Figures see zuko, so;

Hakoda: knows Zuko as the boy he deserved to be (friends with tom nook, wouldn’t kill a caribou yak etc)

Iroh: knows Zuko as the boy he used to be (everything with the 41st division)

Kanut: knows Zuko as who he is in that moment

like UIGHSIGHSIU i’m going feral that’s such a beautiful way of putting it, and it’s so true??? one of the best things about Hakoda is that, no matter what awful shit he goes through, he tends to still have such a lovely streak of optimism running through him. And Zuko needs someone like that, don’t get me wrong. But in that library, Hakoda was so busy trying to fix Zuko and the situation that he didn’t give either of them the chance to accept it.

Kanut did. He accepted that this was awful and bad and wouldn’t end well, and he made it clear that he would still stand at Zuko’s side and respect his decisions, whether he had blood on his hands or not.

idk kanut and zuko’s relationship means a lot to me so seeing someone else lose their shit over it makes me just

[thehollowprince]

Context is Everything, Pt. 2

Or... "Have You Actually Watched The Show?"

Pt. 1, with excellent additions by @camelotpark and @princeescaluswords can be found here.

As anyone who follows me knows, I've been particularly active when it comes to defending Scott McCall on Teen Wolf recently, because we've had a lot of anons (one anon on repeat) harassing us. It made me more familiar with those who are just hellbent on taking Scott and casting him in the absolute worst possible light at every opportunity.

As such, occasionally, I'll find myself venturing behind enemy lines to see what nonsense they're spouting now out of a sense of morbid curiosity.

And boy did I find some doozies this time around.

For example:

This is why this post is titled Context, because its something that these people conveniently leave out when they try to woobify certain characters and demonize others.

Take this one - every line written down there is taken out-of-context. If people actually watched the show, they'd know that Derek was living in the burned out shell of his family home by his own choice. We found out later that he had a hell of a lot of money, enough to by entire building. Hell, there were even clues before that, in the fact that he drove around in an expensive muscle car and clearly had enough cash to replace a shattered window on said car in a relatively short period of time. Derek lived in squalor (first the mansion and then the train station) by choice, which is entirely apparent if one would just watch the show.

And then there's the attempt to deflect by bringing up Derek's trauma, hoping that people won't pay attention to all the horrible things Derek did in the first two seasons. These people straight up switch the definitions of Excuse and Explain in an attempt to make Derek's actions, particularly toward Scott and Stiles seem either not that bad, or weirdly enough, romantic (in the case of Stiles). They like to pretend that the horrible things that Derek went through (which explain his behavior) give him free reign to do whatever he wants, particularly when it comes to assaulting Scott (them trying to excuse his behavior.)

They wave Derek's trauma, being sexually assaulted and manipulated by Kate Argent who used him so that she could murder his family as an excuse for him to assault teenagers new to this world, breaking-and-entering, attempted murder (more than once) and actual murder. This is even more disturbing when you remember that the same people who love to troy out what Kate did to him when he was a teenager love to ship Derek as an adult with Stiles, who is a teenager. The irony is so thick you could choke on it.

Derek may have had one of the most fulfilling arcs on this show, but just because he finally stopped trying so hard to be something he wasn't and learned to let go, doesn't absolve him of the things he did in earlier seasons. Was he a hero by the end of the show? Yes, but he wasn't always. His first two seasons were him being one of the antagonists to being more akin to an actual villain (not the main villain, but still a villain - or anti-villain) in the second season.

And then we have this gem:

Once again, every aspect of context from the show is removed from these sentences to make Scott look like the worst thing since the plague.

Without context this just paints Scott as some warmongering asshole who goes around picking up random teenager shapeshifters and inducting them into his personal war.

With context, we know that Scott saved that kid, Alec, from Tamora and her hunters after they'd already killed all of his friends/pack. Scott didn't just pick Alec and say "hey, you're a werewolf and these hunters are after you so you have to join me or else." He invited Alec to join them in stopping the hunters with full knowledge of what he would be getting into. Not at all Derek's recruitment of Isaac, Erica and Boyd, where he preyed on them at their most vulnerable and gave them the most vague idea of what they'd be getting into. You need further proof of that? How about the fact that Derek's whole pack left him because they didn't sign up to be foot soldiers in his personal vendetta. Erica and Boyd straight up left after saying that Derek lied to them about what they'd be getting into and Isaac went and joined Scott's pack, because Scott actually cared about those in his pack.

Scott never asked any of his friends, his pack, to fight for him. Hell, in season four, during the whole deadpool hitlist plot, when Liam was too scared to get involved any more, Scott reassured him that it was okay and that he didn't think any less of him. And when Liam did get involved, that's because it was his choice. Scott didn't order him to fight, Liam chose to because it was the right thing to do. This is in direct contrast to Derek ordering his betas to kill Lydia on nothing more than his own suspicions and lack of knowledge about his own world.

Its also another blatant use of their double-standards when it comes to Scott. For the entire run of the show, these people have complained ad nauseum about how Scott didn't do anything. He was too nice and let the villains off without any consequences (he didn't, but they don't care about that), and yet here, in the finale, we have him finally taking the fight to the people coming after him, and suddenly its a bad thing.

Am I the only one that's confused by that logic?

What makes it worse is the fact that they're comparing Scott and Derek at two very different points in their lives and trying to paint Scott as comparable to Derek at his worst (kudos to them for admitting Derek was bad). Once again, with context, we know that the two situations are completely different, no matter how similar they may look. Derek went actively recruiting child soldiers, turning them into werewolves to fight in his war against Gerard and the hunters. Scott only ever bit two people, and one of them was an accident. Everyone that joined his fight was already a werewolf (or shapeshifter of some kind). Scott didn't turn any of them. He found Alec (and I'm assuming others) and offered him the chance to fight back against people who were actively hunting him. Isaac, Erica and Boyd weren't in any danger from the hunters until after Derek recruited them. On the surface, these two situations look very similar, but with context, they're not even remotely the same.

Context is everything. Without it, people can make whatever statement they like, but it doesn't change the truth of what actually happened. All it takes is for someone to actually watch the show to see how things actually went down.