#people were discussing if all popular kids are Like That or just written that way in media

[its-vannah]

Girl, Put Your Records On | Eddie Roundtree x Reader

A/N: I haven't seen any fics with him, so I had to make one. I love his character so much.

Blurb: Being the daughter of a music producer has its perks, and one of those is meeting Daisy Jones and The Six's Eddie Roundtree.

Warnings: Just fluff and a hit of angst, implied intercourse (no detail)

Daisy Jones and The Six Masterlist

Being the daughter of a music producer had it's perks. For starters, you were able to listen to new albums and singles before anyone else. While the rest of the world waited for upcoming releases, you were already taking the record out of its sleeve and putting it on the phonograph.

Not to mention all the artists and bands you were able to meet. Your father was constantly popping open a bottle of champagne to celebrate his clients to celebrate their upcoming albums and tours.

Although you were too young to drink yourself, it was nice to feel included. Being there with your father, surrounded by new and interesting people with dozens of stories to share.

But being the daughter of a music producer has its downsides, too. On the smaller scale, sometimes your favorite songs wouldn't make the cut. When you were younger, it hit harder. But as you got older, you just accepted it and moved on.

That wasn't the only down that the role came with, however. You were a young, beautiful, kind girl with a heart of gold and a lot of love to give. Not many men in the industry had any problem taking advantage of that.

There was a thrill to it, for them. Sneaking around with their producer's daughter with the possibility of getting caught at any moment. You were sixteen when you had your first love. He told you all the right things, did all the right things. But the night before he left, he tried to convince you to "live in the moment" while leading you to his van.

It didn't take long for you to realize what was happening, so you freed yourself from his grasp, shoving him back and walking back inside your home.

He was too old for you, anyway. He was twenty, and you were still a kid. It wasn't right, but it was the seventies and he was gaining popularity. It didn't matter what he did, he had every girl in America wrapped around his finger. You, however, had made the choice not to be one of them.

A few years later, when you were nineteen, an up and coming group walked inside your father's studio. He was hesitant about letting them record, but he trusted Teddy and gave them a shot, alllowing you to sit inside the sound booth to hear them play.

You could see the nervousness written all over their faces as they got ready to play. They wanted to impress Teddy, and you didn't blame them. He wasn't easy to read.

Reclining in your seat beside Marcus, who gradually increased the volume on the lead vocalist and lowered the sound of the guitars, you smiled as you listened to them play.

By the end of their demo, you were on the edge of your seat waiting to find out whether or not they'd get an offer.

While Teddy went to discuss it with your father, you stepped out of the sound booth and made your way towards the group.

Smiling, you held out a hand to the only woman, who was closest to you when you walked in, introducing yourself, "Hey, I'm Y/N."

Karen gave you a gentle smile, shaking your hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Karen."

The drummer, who was fiddling with his drum sticks, hollered over her, "That's Karen Karen."

Raising a brow, you couldn't help but release a small laugh, "Karen Karen?"

The blonde shot him a look, "Fuck off, Warren."

Warren grinned, nodding his head as a way of greeting you.

Beside him, the lead vocalist looked over at you, "Is there something you need, Samantha?"

"It's Y/N," You corrected, "And I just wanted to say I like your sound. It's different. I think you guys have a good chance of getting a deal."

One of the guitarists, the one with curly hair who had been ogling Karen for the past half hour, smiled up at you from his seat on the amp, "Thank you, Y/N. Our main focus is creating music that people l-"

"For the love of God, Graham, shut up," The vocalist grumbled, turning back towards you, "Look, it's nice to meet you, but we're a bit busy here."

Graham held his hands up in surrender, returning to fiddling with his guitar, mouthing "sorry" to you.

The fifth member of the group, who had been nervously tapping his foot flashed his bandmate an irritated look, "C'mon, Billy, she's just being nice. At least people actually like our music."

"Eddie, all I'm saying is that we need to spend less time socializing and more time figuring out what we do if we don't get this deal."

On that note, you cleared your throat, "You'll get the deal."

Simultaneously, Eddie and Billy spoke over one another, the former asking if you really thought so and the latter asking how in the hell you knew.

"I know Mr. L/N well, and so does Teddy. Look, the last few bands Teddy has invested in haven't been doing too great. But I really think you guys have a chance. I know you guys do."

Eddie gave you a lopsided smile, "They liked us in Pittsburgh, I don't see how this is any different."

Billy glared back at him, "If you'll excuse us, I think we have a few things to discuss."

Nodding, you turned to exit, giving the band one last smile. But before you could step out the door, Teddy came back in with your father in tow.

Teddy looked at the band, "We're giving you a shot, don't blow it."

The band, who Teddy had earlier referred to as The Six, erupted in smiles, hugging each other and patting one another on the back.

Your dad wrapped an arm around you, addressing the band, "I see you've met my daughter?"

Billy's eyes widened a bit. He thought you were just some random kid. But you had been in the sound booth, he should've known better.

Warren, who was very obviously high, nodded, "Yeah, she's hot."

Wincing, Karen glared at him, "She's been very kind, Mr. L/N."

Your dad eyed Warren, kissing you on the head before congratulating the band one last time, kissing you on the forehead, and walking back to his office.

Once he was out of sight, Eddie took one of Warren's drumsticks out of his hands and smacked him on the head with it, muttering, "Dumbass, that was her dad."

The drummer's mouth formed an "O", "You think he knows?"

"Jesus Christ, Warren," Karen said, shaking her head before turning to Billy, "And you, you need to get the stick out of your ass."

A look of pride settled on Eddie's face. You could tell the two of them didn't see eye to eye just from the small interactions you had with them.

Moving towards the exit, you waved them goodbye, "I'll see you guys around."

Warren and Graham waved happily, Karen and Billy nodded, and Eddie tilt his head to the side with a smile.

Once you were out of earshot, Karen looked back at Eddie, "Jealous, are you, Roundtree?"

"Piss off, Karen."

Warren looked between the two of them, connecting the dots, "Psst, Karen, I think he's jealous."

Rolling her eyes, she flashed him an irritated smile, "Yeah, I figured that out, thanks."

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Billy: As soon as we got the news and packed up, I ran to the nearest phone to tell Camila. She had always believed in us, and now everything was falling into place.

Karen: I think I went back and got drunk in my room afterwards. We may have gone out to eat, I don't remember. We had been living gig to gig, I was just happy to have an income.

Camila: It was the first time in a while that Billy really seemed happy with how the band was going. He had always believed in it, but I really think it helped him to see that everything was coming into place. That we wouldn't be living in a shack forever.

Warren: I don't even remember being in the studio. I was in my twenties, I was doing anything I could get my hands on. Drugs, alcohol, women. I was just along for the ride.

Karen: I could still kill Warren for telling the producer's daughter, Y/N, that she was hot in front of her dad.

Warren: We all thought it. Especially Eddie. I was just the one who said it.

Eddie: There was something about Y/N that was different. She wasn't just a newfound fan, she believed in us from the start. She and Camila were the first people to have our record in their hands. As for Warren's comment to her dad... She was beautiful, still is, I just think he could've handled it better. A lot better. By not saying anything.

Graham: It was nice to know that someone outside of the band and Teddy believed in us. Moving out to LA meant that we were starting over. In Pittsburgh, nearly the whole city had heard of us. At least, the people our age.

Eddie: That day was a turning point for the band.

Camila: There was no going back after that. They started recording and within a month, they were on their first tour.

------------------------------------------------------------

You came to every recording session The Six had, excitedly listening to their songs and giving input. You studied the way Marcus moved the volume and reverb, making a mental note of it. What he did had always fascinated you, and he was willing to teach you. It was one of the perks of being F/N L/N's daughter. People bent over bsckwards to make you happy.

Over the course of their time recording, you went out for drinks a few times with them.

You met Camila, who you adored, and quickly became friends with. You wouldn't have changed any of it for the world.

Well, except one thing.

From the moment you met Eddie Roundtree, your heart hadn't stopped fluttering, skipping a beat every time he walked into the room.

Warren constantly teased the two of you about it, suggesting different ways to release the tension between the two of you.

Karen kicked him under the table, giving him a look that sent fear down his spine.

It made the moment awkward for a minute, but the band could sense it was bound to happen.

Eddie was used to being pushed around by Billy, who was by far the most popular and well-known member of The Six. But for once, he was first place. With you.

The two of you often nursed a glass of champagne, talking to one another at the bar while Graham attempted to flirt with Karen, who wound up finding another guy to hook up with, and Warren fell into a crowd of women.

He took a sip, looking down at you, "What's it like, getting to hear new music before anyone else? Not just ours, but in general."

"It's incredible. Don't get me wrong, being in the studio so much has its ups and downs, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. There's nothing else I can imagine myself doing. That's why I want to work in the sound booth."

"You do?"

"Yeah, Marcus offered to teach me a while back. I just wanted to wait until you guys went on tour. I just want to focus on The Six, just taking it all in."

Eddie bit his bottom lip, "So... You and Marcus...?"

You shook your head, "Are friends. My mother is friends with his. We grew up together, he's just a few years older. He's protective, like how I imagine an older brother would be."

He nodded, "So, are you seeing anyone?"

"No," You let out a shaky breath, not meeting his eyes, "Are you?"

"No, are—I already asked you that," He said nervously, swirling his glass in his hand, "Do you... Have an interest in... You know, seeing anyone?"

"It depends on who it is," You said, heat rising to your cheeks, "And you? Anyone on your mind?"

He set down his glass, looking at you, "There is."

Meeting his eyes, you turned your back to the counter, leaning on it for support, "What's she like?"

"You have a mirror?"

You burst out laughing, "Is that your best line, Eddie? C'mon, you can do better than that."

He put his head in his hands, embarrassed.

Pressing a hand to his back, you used your other to pry his head away from his hands, "Don't worry, you can make it up to me."

Raising a brow, he tilted his head, "And how can I do that?"

"Pick me up on Friday at six."

"That's the day before tour starts."

"I know."

He nodded, "Wear something nice."

"Don't I always," You tease, stumbling into his chest.

He lifted the glass from your hands, "You know what I mean. I do, however, think you've had enough of this. C'mon, I'll drive you home"

------------------------------------------------------------

Warren: I was so happy to see Eddie leaving with Y/N. He was growing up, leaving the nest. It was about time he got laid.

Eddie: I drove her home. She had driven herself, but I was worried with her having three glasses. Truthfully, I just wanted to see her get home safe. And she did. I dropped her off at her door, walked her up, and waited until she got inside before I left. Once I got back in the car, it hit me—I had a date with Y/N.

Karen: I think he was more excited about the date than the record deal.

Eddie: It had just been a big few months. Moving to LA, getting a deal, meeting Y/N. Things were finally going my way.

------------------------------------------------------------

Eddie: Long distance relationships weren't easy by any means. I was the one who had to call, since we were constantly moving around. It strained us a bit, but she was able to go to a few of our concerts and I got to see her, take her out a few times.

Karen: Y/N visited us while we were in the northeastern part of the states. She stayed with us for a week and a half. And I never got any damn sleep while she was with Eddie. They could've been quieter, but I guess it was young love.

Eddie: She had her own hotel room during her time staying with us. Her dad set it up. We'd just stay in mine talking to one another.

Warren: Eddie swore nothing happened in his hotel room when he was alone with her, but I was on the other side of the wall. Look, I was pretty high, but it'd be hard to forget that. I may have been the one to call her hot, but he was the one that took it three, four steps further. Good for him, though.

Eddie: It was only when we got back from the tour that things started to go downhill with me and Y/N.

Camila: After I gave birth to Julia, Billy checked into Rehab. I was on my own for a while. But when the band came back, they were there to help me. Julia enjoyed time with Uncle Graham and Eddie, and Y/N whenever she was off work.

Graham: Eddie and I were there a few times a week just helping out and checking in on Camila and Julia. I loved that kid more than anything. We'd just sit out in the grass and I'd sing to her.

Eddie: Camila needed all the help she could get, especially with Billy not being there. Not that he would've done much anyway, to be honest. I tried to be there for her and Julia in any way I could. I didn't realize that it would tear Y/N and I apart.

------------------------------------------------------------

"Eddie, I barely ever get to see you. Can't you go one day without seeing Camila and Julia? You can stay with me. It's better than that shack."

"That shack is my home, whether it's shit or not, Y/N," He grumbled, "Camila needs all the help she can get with Julia. She's only a few months old."

"Her mother is with her, Eddie. She's got her mom, Graham, the whole band really. It's not that I don't want you to be with them, I just want to see you. I never get to see you."

Eddie sighed, "Y/N, they mean everything to me."

"They're your bandmates, I get it, I just—"

"Y/N..."

It was written all over his face. He wasn't just talking about The Six.

------------------------------------------------------------

Karen: We'd all known, except for maybe Billy and Camila, that Eddie was in love with Camila. We just thought that he had put those feelings aside when he met Y/N.

Warren: Out of all the girls Eddie had dated, which hadn't been much, she was my favorite. She was fun, she kept up with us, she was passionate about music and the band. When they broke up, I nearly snapped the guys neck. And I'm not a violent guy. She just deserved better than whatever the hell that was.

Eddie: Camila and Billy were married. I would never have come in the way of that. At the same time, it wasn't fair to Y/N. I loved her with my whole being, but I still had some unresolved feelings for Camila that started stiring when Billy was gone. It's wrong, and I know that, but it wasn't fair.

Graham: Eddie was an idiot for what happened. I remember when he came back from their first date. He swore up and down that they'd get married one day.

------------------------------------------------------------

When the band broke up, everyone went their separate ways. Karen continued touring, this time without Daisy and The Six. Warren got married and started working on boats, which became a passion for him. Billy stepped away from music and settled into life with Camila and his daughters and Graham continued working in the music industry, starting his own family. Daisy recovered from her addictions, and wound up adopting kids of her own.

These all took years to play out. But not for Eddie.

As soon as the band was over with, the first thing he did was buy a ticket to LA and knock on Y/N's door.

He explained everything and told her he loved her, he always had.

------------------------------------------------------------

Y/N Roundtree: Eddie proposed to me the night he showed up on my doorstep. He told me he couldn't imagine a life without me. I was touched.

Eddie: But she said no.

Y/N: I loved him, but I told him it would take time. We still had so much we didn't know about each other. It had been ages since I had seen him. I didn't even know that the Six had split up until he told me. He was back in LA that fast after the split.

Eddie: We did get to know each other, though. And I proposed almost a year later. We got married a few months after that. And the rest is history.

Y/N: It was a quiet ceremony. Eddie didn't want Billy there, and thought it may be a bit off putting for me to have Camila there. But I knew how much he cared about her and the girls, so we extended an invite.

Camila: Billy and Eddie never really saw eye to eye, and with Billy finally getting comfortable with family life, I didn't think it would be good to thrust him back into that.

Eddie: Y/N was a little upset they chose not to come, but understood. If you invite half a family, it doesn't exactly work.

Billy: I was surprised Eddie found the balls to get married.

Y/N: It wound up just being Eddie's immediate family, mine, Marcus, Warren, and Graham. Daisy showed up a few days earlier to congratulate us on our wedding, bringing a guitar with her as a gift. She just didn't think being back in that environment would be good for her. There would be too many questions.

Daisy: Just because the band was over doesn't mean the music couldn't continue. Eddie was a good guitarist and Y/N knew everything about managing sound and rhythms, so I figured it was an appropriate gift. I was really happy for them.

Eddie: Karen was touring at the time and wasn't able to make it, but she visited once the tour was over and stayed a few days.

Y/N: I preferred having a smaller wedding, with the people we knew the most.

Warren: They had great alcohol. I wasn't high during the reception, so I was actually able to enjoy it. I even met my wife there.

Graham: It made me long for a relationship, honestly. But it also made me realize I need to focus on myself first. I didn't want to just settle to settle.

Y/N: Our son was born a year and a half after we got married and music was automatically a big part of his life. He'd sit on Eddie's lap at not even a year old while Ed played the guitar. I still have pictures of them back then on the mantle.

Grant Roundtree, Eddie and Y/N's oldest son: I remember when I decided I wanted to pursue music. Dad sat me down and explained what happens when you achieve fame and how to handle it. Mom told me that I needed to take it one step at a time and really enjoy my childhood.

Farrah Roundtree, Eddie and Y/N's daughter: Grant never stopped playing that damn guitar mom gave him.

Grant: Sometimes I played just to drive Farrah and Eli crazy. I never stopped.

Eli Roundtree, Eddie and Y/N's youngest son: I wanted to be just like Grant when I was younger. He was my cooler, older brother. He even taught me how to play the guitar and I could carry a tune, but my stage fright got in the way of anything beyond that.

Eddie: Grant went into the music field, Farrah pursued modeling and is now acting, and Eli is just now graduating from high school, planning to attend college this fall.

Y/N: I'll always be grateful for Daisy Jones and The Six, but I've got to be honest—I'm even happier it ended when it did.

Eddie: Everything happens for a reason, and for me, it couldn't have ended at a better time.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

While "the network wants an episodic kids show, the authors want an epic dark complicated narrative" would explain A LOT about ML's problems, I'd still like to note that there are kids' shows that can do both, going full range from "mostly episodic with a sprinkle of narrative" (Kim Possible, MLP), to "heavily narrative but with episodic breather/filler episodes" (Gravity Falls, WITCH, the Owl House), with many variants in-between.

Even the transition from "fully episodic" to "more narratively-connected" that ML attempted to do can be done successfully - the aforementioned Gravity Falls and WITCH were more episodic in season 1 and more narratively driven in season 2.

However, I'd say there are a few other key problems that can be inferred from what we have:

The show tries too many things at once - as you have pointed out repeatedly. Magical girl and rom-com, single-hero, duo and team stories, wacky comedy and serious trauma, even trying to give several characters a redemption and a damnation arc at the same time (and failing with either). Apparently, it's not just TF vs writers: it's writers severely disagreeing with each other (see Thomas and Vincent's opinions on Chloe), and also trying to one-up the fans. Also, simply thinking too much of the work, which leads us to...

ML's total lack of self-awareness. Another famous case of a show that was almost entirely episodic is Phineas and Ferb. They use the same formula (the brothers build, Candace busts, Doof makes an Inator and is thwarted by Perry) over and over for four seasons. And by mid-season 1, the authors have been making fun of the structure, lampshading it, spoofing and twisting it, playing with "What if" episodes and never taking itself too seriously. When ML tries to be self-aware, it becomes either insulting to the fans (Animaestro), horrifically dark (Chat Blanc) or plain cringe (Simpleman). This is exacerbated by Astruc's arrogance and inability to ignore critics.

Is it possible to make a highly complex, genre-busting, yet kid-friendly story and succeed? Yes. But it needs to be better thought-out - if not from the start, then at the moment the network allows one to deviate from the formula.

And if all else fails and the story becomes too complicated and too repetitive at the same time... Well, self-awareness and the ability to make fun of one's own work can turn a sad mess into a hilariously fun disaster.

P. S. Love your posts as always, you are the main reason I'm still in the fandom!

Thank you for the kind words! I'm so glad that you're enjoying my stuff and I agree with all the things you brought up.

A big part of the reason that Miraculous is so fascinating to me is that there ISN'T a single cause of the issues. There are so many valid ways to discuss the show's problems. It's a masterclass in bad writing and what not to do!

It's why I'm able to run this blog. If it was as simple as, "here's the single reason why it's bad and here's how you fix that" or if the show never had any potential, then there wouldn't be much to talk about. But it did have potential and there is no single reason why it's bad. The causes are multitudinous as are the potential fixes! It feels like investigating some complex wreckage or an elaborate murder mystery in order to understand what the hell happened, which is really fun if you like talking about writing.

I find it much harder to discuss writing in an informative way if you only have good examples to draw from because that path risks stifling creativity. Just because a popular story did a thing well doesn't mean that story showed us the only way to do the things or even the best way to do the thing, but that's often the lesson people seem to learn. They see a thing that they like or even just a thing that audiences liked and want to copy it without understanding the full nuance of why they liked it.

A great example of this is Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender. He was such a well-written and popular character that all these properties started copying him even though the properties in question did NOT have a setup that worked for a Zuko. Praising Zuko won't really tell you all the ways that Zuko could have failed. Meanwhile, a case study of Chloe vs Zuko or even just a general discussion of Chloe lets you actually talk about the various styles of redemption arc and what you have to do to make them feel real. It's also far more interesting than talking how Zuko could have failed because Zuko didn't fail so why are we even talking about this? It's also far more interesting than talking about a bunch of properties that did redemption arcs well because that would require you to have seen all of those properties. But Chloe is from a single property and she did fail and people understandably have wildly different feelings about what the failure was because the writing was so bad, which means that digging into her writing is way more likely to hold your interest and teach you something.

This gif really does sum it up perfectly:

[Image description: scene from the movie Knives Out where the detective Benoit Blanc exclaims "It makes no damn sense! It compels me though" to explain his feelings on an ongoing murder mystery that he's trying to solve]

As does the old adage, "failure is the greatest teacher." Of course, no one ever said that it had to be your failure!

[bunnliix]

The Invisible Strings that Bind Us - Chapter Three

The angst has arrived! It's not as bad as it will be later on, but it's definitely angsty. Also, I'm adding in my own details to flesh out y/n some more, but I'm trying to keep her as neutral as possible, I promise. I have about 6 chapters pre-written, but after that, the chapters will come at whatever pace I'm able to write at.

Masterlist

word count: 3.4k

warnings: ANGST, fighting, yelling, people are angry, mentions of anxiety and panic attacks, but no actual details are provided, Minho being a lil shit, I think that's it

Chan ushers everyone into the room, guiding Y/n over to a chair and pulling it out for her, only sitting down once everyone else had. The two youngest and Hyunjin sat over on the left side of Chan, who sat to the right of Y/n, while Minho sat on her other side, and Han, Changbin, and Seungmin on his other side. Across from them, sat the managers for Stray Kids, and some of the higher ups in the company. As soon as all nine of them had walked in, all eyes in the room were locked on the newcomer, and this was why Chan had kept her between himself and Minho. 

Chan breaks the silence in the room, leaning forward towards the staff members. 

“This is Y/n, our last soulmate. We’ve confirmed this fact, and there is no way that she isn’t our soulmate. This meeting is just to inform you all about this, so that we’re all on the same page. We’d also like to have a bigger place, and one apartment instead of two separate ones, as we are now a bigger group, and we want to be closer, and not have to be split up.“ 

Chan spoke for the entire group, as he was the best suited to clearly get across their needs, and the group was on the same page, so no one needed to add onto anything he said. However, the staff didn’t have the same reaction.

“And how have you confirmed that she’s your last soulmate? She could be a sasaeng for all we know, and that she’s fooled all of you. And frankly, this is bad for your reputation and popularity if this gets out. She could ruin you all, you realize that?” One of the higher ups interrupted Chan, looking upset at this news.

“You don’t need to know how we confirmed it, but she’s here now and she’s ours. We all know she’s our last soulmate, and that’s all we care about. She’s moving here to Seoul to be with us, and she’s a part of our lives, as idols and outside of that. We expect that she’ll go with us where she can, and that will be that.” Chan replied curtly, anger filling his voice as he continued talking. “She’ll need security, and if the company won’t provide any, then we will independently find security for her. This meeting is simply to inform you of all of these facts, it was never meant to be a discussion.” He finished.

Chan was visibly upset, fists clenched and his body tense. The anger rolled off him in rage, he couldn’t believe that they would say that. That they’d really believe that he and the boys would be fooled by someone. Changbin laid a hand on Chan’s shoulder, also visibly upset, and trying to reign in his own emotions. Everyone was in varied states of anger, while Y/n was trying to make herself appear smaller, worrying that her presence may hurt the group. 

“I’m happy for you all, that you’ve found your last soulmate,” their main manager spoke up, “Though I worry what this will mean, if your fans find out. You know how vicious they can be.” He said. 

He wasn’t wrong, but it hurt to hear that from their manager, that they’re close to, that even he thought that their soulmate could bring ruin to their group. Minho pulled Y/n and Han close, feeling the anxiety they were both starting to experience. 

“If our fans are truly fans, then they’ll be happy for us that we’ve found our last soulmate. If people get upset about it, then they were never true fans.” Changbin piped up, defending Chan and the group.

The boys all voiced their agreement while Minho just stared down the staff members, anger clear in his eyes. It very quickly turned into an argument between the boys and the staff, words flying across the table, and it seemed as if Changbin was ready to leap across the table, judging by his expression. Y/n and Han both leaned closer to Minho, feeling very uncomfortable amongst all the yelling and loud voices. He held the two of them close, bringing an arm around each of their shoulders.

“I WILL NEVER SEND MY SOULMATE AWAY, NO MATTER WHAT YOU MAY WANT. SHE’S OURS AND YOU’D HAVE TO KILL ME FIRST IF YOU EVER THOUGHT ABOUT TRYING TO GET RID OF HER!” Chan roared, having stood up and slammed his hands on the table out of his fury. His eyes were burning with anger, and he looked one more word away from strangling the staff members where they sat. 

The others were equally as mad, also having stood up when Chan did, ready to defend their soulmates and their group. Minho was done with all of this, standing up and grabbing the hands of Y/n and Han, dragging the two of them out of the room with him. The boys watched as the three of them left, Chan glad that Minho did so, but also worried for his soulmates. 

“We’re done here, I’ve just informed you of what you needed to know, so we’re leaving now.” He tells them, before looking at their manager. “I’ll be talking with you later, manager-nim.” He told the man, as he gathered everyone out of their seats and they all left the room, leaving the staff and higher ups by themselves.

The remaining boys followed Chan as they made their way down the halls to the elevator, on a mission to find where their three soulmates had disappeared to. Everyone’s phone’s go off, and Felix checks it to see that Minho was telling them to meet in the lobby. The second eldest was taking Han and Y/n home, and no one was going to stop him. They rushed down to the lobby, finding the three of them on seats in the corner of the lobby, Y/n now wearing Minho’s jacket, almost drowning in it. Felix rushed over, sitting down next to Y/n and wrapping his arms around her. 

“We’re taking you home, soulmate. I’ll tell you this every time you need to hear it, but nothing of what those people said is true. They’re looking out for their own interests, not ours. We want you here, you will not ruin anything, nor will you being our soulmate hurt us or Stray Kids.” Felix whispered to her.

Meanwhile, Chan had already called cars to come pick them up and drive them back to the dorms, telling them to be quick. Thankfully, the drivers quickly showed up, and Chan ushered them all into the cars, sending Changbin and Hyunjin with the two youngest, as he stayed with the sunshine triplets and Minho. Felix clung to Y/n the entire ride home, not letting her out of his hold. The car ride felt like it took forever to arrive at their apartments, but as soon as they did, Minho was pulling Han out of the car, before reaching back to pull Y/n out as well, pulling the two behind him as he walked inside and to the elevator. The boys ran to catch up, arriving just as the elevator doors opened, everyone filing in.

It didn’t take long for the elevator to reach their floor, and they were pushing each other to get out of the elevator. Minho took his two to his dorm, Felix pushing ahead to open the door for them. 

The members stopped to take off their shoes, Han helping Y/n take off hers as Minho gave her slippers to put on. The duo of them, followed by Felix, lead Y/n into the living room, Han sitting down on the couch and pulling her down next to him. He wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her close and nodding at his soulmate, who left them there as he left to the kitchen. Felix sat down on the other side of Y/n, reaching out for her hand, lacing their fingers together. 

“Jagiya is getting us snacks, okay?” Han said to Y/n, getting a nod in response. 

Y/n had withdrawn into herself since they left that room, neither Han or Minho being able to get more than a couple words out of her at a time. She hadn’t seemed to spiral or have any anxiety or panic attacks. They were grateful for that, since they weren’t sure what they would do if she had a panic attack. The two sunshine twins just sat with her, keeping her company as cat man Minho prepared snacks and drinks for everyone.

The other five boys came into the room, everyone having separated to change or drop their things off in their rooms, and Hyunjin moved to sit on the floor in front of Felix, while the others sat down in various parts of the living room. Chan turned to look over at the three on the couch, getting shrugs from the boys, and a small smile from Y/n. 

“You doing okay, Y/nnie?” Chan asked, adding the nickname in hopes of getting a verbal response.

“I’m okay, promise.” She replied, looking at him, using her free hand to gesture at him to come closer. She wanted him close, he provided her with so much comfort, even when she was just a Stay.

Chan moved closer, and she reached out for his hand, which he grabbed and held. “I’m here, it’s okay. You’re ours now, and we’ll protect you and keep you safe. I’ll protect you and keep you safe, okay?” He said, looking up at her. 

She nodded, looking down at him with so much love in her eyes. She may not know if she was in love with him or any of them, but she knew that she loved them in some form, and she trusted them to protect her, and she just trusted them in general. She knew that they’d do what they could to keep her safe. She tried to convey all of that to him without words, because she didn’t think she could put this into words.

Chan could see that, and he couldn’t hold back his smile, squeezing her hand, trying to tell her that he understood. He loved his kids, in many many ways, and he knew he’d grow to love her in those same ways given time. He moved to lay his head in her lap, still looking up at her. She pulled her hand away, only to use it to run her fingers through his hair, and he melted like butter.

The others cooed at him, happy to see their leader and soulmate relax like this. He worked himself half to death, so maybe their newest soulmate could change that, if this is what something little like this could do. Minho heard the coos, and having just finished putting together snacks and drinks for everyone, came out to see Chan and Y/n, smiling at how at ease Chan looked. 

“Drinks and food, come get it.” He announced, catching the attention of everyone in the room. He laid the food on the table, but picked up a couple drinks and some snacks for Y/n, Han and himself. He moved to sit down on the couch, replacing Felix’s place next to their smallest soulmate, the sunshine boy, who had gotten up to grab some food for himself. 

He sat back on the couch, happy to watch everyone else in the room and just observe. He was content, just to have all eight of his soulmates in one room, and to see all of them happy. That’s what made him happy, and he couldn’t wait until Y/n was here permanently, and when they’d all be in one apartment again, and they’d have so much fun. They could show their smallest soulmate the places here they loved, introduce her to their friends, have someone to come home to every day, there was so much to be excited for. Minho knew that every one of them couldn’t be happier than they’ve been today, to finally feel complete now that they have their last piece here with them.

“So, what are we gonna do now?” Jeongin spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention.

“We could watch a movie?” Hyunjin advised, his sentence finishing on a questioning note.

“A movie is fine with me, but I’m not sure I’ll pay attention.” Y/n said, still carding her fingers through Chan’s hair, the older man putty in her hands. 

Murmurs of agreement came from the boys, and it was quickly decided to put on a children's movie that didn’t need to worry about the language barrier, and everyone knew it probably was on for background noise more so than to actually watch it.

“Oh wait, Y/n, we never asked how old you were. So, when’s your birthday? And how old are you?” Changbin asked her.

“I’m a 2000 baby, so I’m the same age as half of you, but my birthday is September 14th. So yes, Han, I share a birthday with you.” She said, looking over at Han while she said the second sentence. Her birthday twin looked shocked, but then quickly pulled her into a tight hug.

“Oh my gosh, my soulmate is my birthday twin!!” Han screams out, causing Y/n to pull her hands up to her ears. 

“Could you be any louder Han Jisung?” Chan and Y/n said at the same time.

“Oh! I’m so sorry Y/nnie! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Please forgive me.” He apologized, looking at you with doe eyes.

“I forgive you, but please never do that next to my ears again.” She told him, before impulsively leaning in to kiss his cheek.

Han’s face turned as red as a tomato, not expecting Y/n to kiss him, and the rest of the boys were as shocked as he was, bits of jealousy sprouting in more than a couple of them. Y/n pulled back, her face showing just how flustered she was as well, as she went to hide her face in the couch behind her. They boys all cooed at her, finding her embarrassment adorable. 

“Shush!” She shouted at them, but the word and sound was muffled by the couch she was hiding in.

All that happened was them laughing at her and cooing how cute she was. She pouted, and refused to turn to look at them. Minho smirked, and reached out to grab her sides, tickling her, as she screamed and yelled for him to stop. He refused to stop and she eventually moved back towards him, in an attempt to get him to stop. He used this as an opportunity to pull her closer and into his lap. She froze up as she felt him do this, and he chuckled at her actions. 

“Jagiya, why did you freeze?” He whispered, leaning down close to her ear.

“You try getting pulled into someone’s lap unexpectedly. I bet you’d react the same.” She whisper-shouted at him.

“Adorable, 토끼.” He said, chuckling in her ear, making her shiver and pull away, moving out of his lap and turning around.

“No. No, bad cat man.” She said, pointing at him. 

He just raised an eyebrow at her, and she pulled her hands up and curled them into fists, joking that she’d fight him. He leaned back on his hands, showing no fear, knowing she wouldn’t do it. She’s too cute to try anything.

“Okay, no fighting. Y/n, hands down, now. Minho, let’s not kill our soulmate, yeah?” Chan stepped in, scolding both of them. 

Y/n folded her arms across her chest, mumbling, “He started it, the lil fucker.”

Han overheard it, causing him to laugh, which made everyone look at him. “You better not let Jagi hear you say that about him. You’d be in for it then baby.” He said between laughs, not being able to keep a straight face. 

Y/n slapped his arm, pouting. “You shut up.” She told him, unhappy with his reaction. He laughed at how embarrassed she was at being overheard. She pouted, getting up off the couch, and out of the living room going down one of the hallways. Chan stood up and went after her. The boys waited in the living room, only to hear a shout of Chan’s name, and their curiosity peaked.

A minute later, he walked back in with Y/n laying over his shoulder. She smacked his ass, telling him to put her down. He chuckled and dropped her back into Minho’s lap. 

“There you go.” He said, smiling that smug smile at her, as Minho’s arms wrapped around her waist, locking in her against him. She tried to get out, but his grip was too tight, not letting her go.

“Yah, Minho, let me go!” She told him, only to receive a smirk and a head shake in response.

“So cute, our adorable soulmate.” Changbin teased her, giggling.

She crossed her arms and pouted once again. Why must her soulmates be like this, she wasn’t prepared for this. What was in the drinks Minho gave everyone? There had to be something, with how they’re acting. Lino leaned his head on her shoulder, giggling like a smug lil fucker. 

“Why are you so insistent on getting away from me, hmm jagi?” He asked, in a tone a voice that told everyone that he wouldn’t be taking anything except the truth.

“Because you’re being a lil shit.” Y/n deadpanned, done with him by this point. 

“Awww jagi, you love me like that.” Minho said, causing the others to look at him, this was the Minho that they saw with Han, the teasy one who was ready to make the other person into a flustered mess.

“Minho, chill out.” Chan barked at him, knowing that he was crossing the line, when it came to their new soulmate, and he wasn’t going to let him go any farther. He didn't think this would be what happened when he left Y/n in the arms of his cat-like soulmate.

“Fine.” Minho replied, loosening his grip on Y/n as well. She used this opportunity to move over to Seungmin, who looked surprised. 

“I’m staying with you, you haven’t been bad yet today.” She said, looking at him.

He laughed, smugly smirking at the other men. “Okay, that’s fine with me. We could even go to my room to get away from them, if you really wanted to.” He told her.

“Hmmm, that wouldn’t be a bad idea.” 

“YAH, Seungmin-ah, no stealing our soulmate away for yourself.” Han inserted himself into the conversation, Felix, Hyunjin and Changbin backed him up.

While the five of them were occupied, Minho found a way over there, grabbing Y/n’s hand and stealing her away. He wasn’t completely unnoticed, Chan was watching all of this and quickly followed behind, leaving the six boys in the living room. Minho led her to his bedroom, but before he was able to close his door, Chan pushed the door back open. 

“What do you think you’re doing, Minho?” Chan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m just taking our y/nnie somewhere quieter. Right, jagi?” He answered Chan, directing the last sentence towards their younger soulmate. 

The answer they received from her was a yawn, y/n covering her mouth in the process. The two boys cooed at her, smiling at her. 

“I think it’s time for you to rest.” Chan said to her, as Minho directed her to his bed. The eldest of the two sat down next to y/n on the bed, as Minho searched his closet for clothes she could change into. He found a long oversized top for her to wear, and a pair of shorts. 

“We’ll leave so you can get dressed.” Chan said, as he got off the bed and moved to the door along with Minho. Y/n quickly changed, and hopped back onto the bed as she called out for the two to reenter the room. They reentered, smiling at her as she sat on Lino’s bed. The younger of the two men came over and pulled her off the bed, so that he was able to pull the covers back for her. She crawled underneath his sheets, the man covering her back up again after she was laid in bed.

“We’ll leave you to get some sleep.” Chan said as he moved to the top of the bed, ruffling y/n’s hair before he grabbed Minho and dragged him out of the man’s bedroom.

Y/n turned over on her side, closing her eyes as she heard the noise in the apartment die down. It didn’t take long before sleep claimed her, her dreams filled with the men who were now her soulmates, and everything they’d get to do together.

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Taglist: @queen-thiccness

[sokkastyles]

Do you think Toph was jealous (that might be a strong word) of Katara natural femininity And how easy being girly was for katara? It’s just that when they argue they do project some of their own insecurities onto each so it got me wondering. Maybe katara was jealous of toph toughness idk?? Thought?

Oh, absolutely. I don't think that's interpretation so much as textual fact.

I see a lot of discussions of this that take one side or the other, but I think Toph and Katara's relationship is a great portrayal of how gender expectations harm girls in multiple ways, and also can turn them against each other, and people who only take Katara's side or Toph's are missing the point.

Toph is jealous of Katara's natural femininity, and that has to do with why she disdains it, but not because she's a misogynist or she hates girls or whatever, but because those are expectations her parents tried to force on her. A lot of what it is popular on the internet to label as "not like other girls" behavior, in a way that implies that being NLOG is a bad thing, are girls who are rebelling against forced gender expectations. Toph is both an abuse victim and a disabled girl whose disability was used in conjunction both to force her to fit a certain gender standard and keep her dependant on parents who were emotionally abusive, and to reinforce how the nature of her disability meant that she would never fit certain gendered standards. I've written about this before, how Toph can't be totally comfortable with makeup because even when she enjoys getting made up and looking pretty, other people can look at her and know that she didn't do it herself, like the girls in the episode who make fun of her for it. Toph enjoys looking pretty but she also has no control over what she looks like and can't even see it for herself, so that also clashes with her trauma over needing to be independent and distance herself from what her parents wanted her to be, a girl who sits still and looks pretty and is there for other people to look at. Makeup as empowerment is all well and good, but it doesn't work that way for people who have certain disabilities, and there is a lot of ableism in makeup culture. Eyeliner that's perfectly on point isn't always possible for women who have vision problems or neurodivergence, and women who wear makeup are supposed to look perfect but make it look effortless at the same time, and that is naturally going to exclude a lot of people, especially disabled people. The show illustrates that beautifully without condemning one way to be a girl or the other.

At the same time, Katara is jealous of Toph for the way she gets to be "one of the boys," and gets respect from Sokka and Aang in ways that she doesn't. See her anxiety over everyone thinking she is no fun and acts like a mom. Katara is a nurturing person and that's one of her stengths, but she also is a kid who wants to have fun, too. And just because being the "mom friend" is natural for her doesn't mean it isn't hard on her. Just because Katara seems to fit gender expectations a little easier than Toph doesn't mean she doesn't feel the weight of those expectations, and even women who fit gender expectations also get derided for them, because patriarchy both tells women they need to be a certain way and then hates them for it. See Sokka making fun of Katara for sewing but absolutely expecting her to mend his pants. I think Katara also thinks that Toph should be on her side, as a fellow girl. Katara is so starved for female companionship and resents it when it appears that Toph is siding against her, because she's feeling the weight of those expectations. And Toph doesn't always understand that, and thinks Katara's attempts to bond with her are trying to force gender expectations on her in the way her parents did.

[autism-alley]

i don't know if you answer asks but you're one of the few blogs still consistently posting pjo tv crit and it's been such a relief. with the amount of praise it's gotten i feel so gaslit like am i just being a baseless hater?? but no there's a reason a lot of the people criticizing the show are writers. it's a poorly written show and the more i think about it the more problems i find

like i was thinking about the way the kids in the show just know everything and how boring it is to watch, especially the casino scene, and something hit me

the lotus casino functions perfectly as a metaphor for traits associated with adhd--the need for stimulation and time blindness. anyone would fall for the casino's lure, but especially adhd kids. the fact that the show takes that away is REALLY weird to me, to put it kindly

if i were being less kind? i would say there's grounds to argue that having these characters, who are children with adhd, be impervious to something that is designed to trap people exactly like them is, on some level, erasure of their disabilities. especially since the one character who does get affected by it is the one who doesn't have the same neurodivergencies as the two who don't. the explanation for why percy and annabeth didn't start to forget themselves was such a lazy cop out and i can't believe people ate it up

i don't know what that writers' room has against literal adhd children falling for traps that are designed to trap people, but it's embarrassing for them tbh

i’m so glad to hear it anon!! i’m a little surprised to hear it too tbh, i wasn’t sure if anyone else was still. interested in discussing it? it seems like the pjo/atla fanbase overlap means most people have moved onto to the live action atla show. and while i am an atla fan, i didn’t grow up with the show the same way i grew up with the pjo books, so based on what we’d already seen/heard of the natla show before it even released + my utter disappointment and heartbreak regarding the pjo show, i decided to spare myself the watch. i would rather keep my memories of the original show untainted; what i have seen of the show resonates with people’s criticisms of the writing (and as someone who has done costuming work. one look is all you need to understand THAT criticism lmfao).

but i’m honestly… surprised? the pjo show did not get the same level of criticism as the natla show? it’s not like pjo is not also very popular with that same generation, sure, atla being a show perhaps made it more appealing and accessible to more kids, etc etc, sure. but from the fan bases themselves, size aside? proportionately? the pjo fandom is FULL of show defenders just blatantly ignoring the show’s major foundational issues if not just outright parading them around as successes, meanwhile the critics are in the minority. compare that with what i’ve seen where the complete opposite is true of the atla fandom, it’s weird!! and especially jarring to me bc it seemed pretty clear to everyone in the atla fandom the show had Issues, meanwhile the pjo fandom heard the promise from rick riordan’s very own mouth this show is going to be faithful to the series’ spirit. it’s so weird to see the wildly different responses to what i think are prolly equally bad reboot shows, with a fandom of similar demographics (clearly not the SAME demographics or the response would prolly be more aligned but you get my point). so i agree anon, i do feel a little gaslit by the pjo fandom, and watching the atla fandom’s very reasonable response to the natla show is like. whiplash. another sign you and i are not losing it lmao

as for the lotus casino, this is an excellent point! i don’t even think it can be called unkind to point out how this episode is a symptom of the show’s overall disability erasure. i would say it’s unkind of the show to erase adhd and dyslexia representation. in fact, because of the explicit promise by its creator to see that representation, i would go as far as to call it cruel to then erase it. if anything, based on rick’s promises to add more representation, i was hoping for elements like autistic annabeth confirmation, since when pjo was first written, it was based off rick’s son and his friends who were all ND, and at the time it wasn’t thought to be possible to be AuDHD, but likely some of those kids probably were (and that then made its way into the books in characters like annabeth!). that would have been the perfect opportunity to add something with the foresight of modern times, but instead we got… absolutely no disability rep from the show aside from a few short lines of dialogue as a lame-ass bone-toss to the book fans.

the pjo show’s biggest crime is its lack of spirit of the original book series, and that book series cradled myself and every other ND child or child in an abusive situation who read it. it offered us a mother who never got angry with us when we showed “difficult” symptoms. it offered us camp half-blood, the idea of a place, a home, where people like us were not just accepted, but thrived. it offered us a new world. it offered us a friend in percy jackson. i do not feel the show truly offers anything substantial. it only takes.

[x-liv25-jamieswife]

short taylor swift playlists for each tig character - max

here's another playlist for my girl max. we don't know her that well, so some of these songs were added based on hcs i have or vibes. not proofread so i apologize if smth doesn't make sense.

#1: but daddy i love him: the song is about a person rebelling against the criticism they receive from their controlling parents, specifically when it comes to their romantic relationships. we already know max's parents are quite strict and that she has a complicated relationship with them. she had to hide her first relationship from them because they forbade her from seeing anyone (even though she was 18). i feel like they would have mixed feelings about her dating xander, and i see this song as her fighting back, saying that she doesn't care what they think, and she can do whatever she wants (also,the song was also purposefully written to sound really dramatic, and, max, to me, sounds like the type of person who would jokingly overdramatize a situation).

#2: i can do it with a broken heart: i think the title of the song is quite self explanatory. it's about a person putting on a facade whilst struggling to get over a breakup. in tig, avery and max had some issues with their friendship. we find out that max put aside all of her problems and hurt in order to be there for avery who didn't really think about doing the same for max. max sort of reminds me of xander and gigi because of this. they constantly put on a smile and act like everything's fine when in reality it isn't.

#3: so high school: i don't really have a reason for adding this song in her playlist. its about falling for someone new and feeling like you're back in high school (basically, its about a giddy, teenage kind of romance). this song sort of reminds me of max and xander for some reason. it might be because of how cliche they are; max is a bookworm who seems happy all the time and has a couple of friends whilst xander is the rich, nice, popular kid.

#4: i hate it here: this song is about escapism. its about a person who escapes to this secret world they've created in their mind because they hate this world. i've always associated this song with reading since it's a form of escapism for me, and i like to think that max also sees reading that way. we know that max doesn't have the best home life so i can definitely see her trying to find ways to escape it.

#5: you're on your own, kid: i think the title of this song is quite self-explanatory. its about realizing that, at the end of the day, you only really have yourself. we know max isn't really close to her family and was sort of overlooked by other people in her life (im talking about avery but i'm guessing she wasn't the only one to do so). although she had people around her, she was basically on her own.

#6: paris: this is another song that i don't really have a reason for adding to her playlist. the song discusses being in love with someone and blocking out distractions like the paparazzi and gossipers. we don't know much about max's relationship with xander, but they seem like the type of people who couldn't care less about what the public thinks of their relationship. i mostly just added this song because of the vibes. it just feels like such a maxander song.

#7: mirrorball: the narrator of the song compares themself to a reflective disco ball. they reflect other people's personalities in order to please them or make them like them. this song sort of reminds me of max in the first book when she constantly put aside her problems in order to be there for avery. it also sort of reminds me of her relationship with her parents. they seem like the type of people who have high expectations for their kids, and so i can see max trying to mold herself into what they want her to be. i obviously don't know for sure, but she seems like she would hide parts of herself in order to be more likeable.

#8: i think he knows: this is another song that i mostly just added because of the vibes. the song is about a person's attraction to another person. there isn't really a lyric in this song that screams maxander, but the vibes definitely do.

#9: paper rings: the song is about a person who's so in love with their partner and committed to them, that she would marry them with paper rings. again, this is another song that doesn't really have any lyrics that scream maxander. i added it simply because of the vibes.

#10: call it what you want: this song is about not caring what the media has to say about your relationship bc all that matters is that the two of you know the truth. i mentioned earlier that maxander seem like the type of couple who don't really care about what the public has to say about their relationship. i feel like this song fits them because of that (its also just a really cute love song that i think they'd like).

#11: how you get the girl: this song screams romance reader to me (and we know that max is a romance reader). its a song about a person that gives advice to a guy who wants to get a girl back. max seems like the type of person who would give relationship advice to people even though she's never been in a healthy successful relationship. also, the vibes are just so max.

#12: new romantics: this is another song that i simply just added because of the vibes (the 1989 vibes fit max so well imo). the song discusses young love and how young adults approach romance. i don't think the meaning of the song fits max, but it sounds like a song she'd really enjoy and, like i said, gives off max vibes.

#13: i bet you think about me (ft. chris stapleton): this is a song i like to think max relates to. the song is about a person who confronts their ex after moving on, knowing the ex still hasn’t. we know that max has a really shitty ex who sent her nudes to her parents and tried to invade her privacy, so i like to think that she confronts him at some point in time. max seems like the type of person who can really hold a grudge (when she wants to), so although she moved on, i don't think she'd ever forgive her ex.

#14: all too well: this is another song that i don't think is a perfect fit. its about a person reflecting on her best and worst memories with her ex. now, we don't know much about max, so i don't know if she'd relate to this song, but smth about the song just screams max to me. the ex in the song is a little older than the narrator, and i've always thought that max's ex was also a little older than her. although her ex was a huge asshole, i don't think it's possible that he was that bad over the course of their relationship. i mean, when max called avery in the first book, she sounded truly heartbroken and betrayed over the breakup (as if she truly loved him) (although you can obviously still be heartbroken after breaking up with a toxic bf, i just have this feeling that max's ex wasn't all that bad before the events of tig). idk, i just feel like this song suits her for some reason.

#15: the story of us: the song is about finding yourself in the same room as one of your exs (like at an event or smth). now, i don't think max would ever be put in this type of situation (and even if she was, the song still wouldn't suit her perfectly bc of how they ended things), but i feel like some of the lyrics apply to max, and the vibes of the song really suit her.

[viola-ophelia]

in defense of thranduil

hello! so you know how i occasionally do “in defense of” meta posts about unpopular characters ( X X X ) ? well, i’ve been thinking for a while about doing one for thranduil, but i wasn’t quite sure how to go about it since tbh, i don’t think anyone could call thranduil unpopular. his ao3 tag is very well-populated, and, ahem, a good portion of it is smut lol. he even has a ton of “x reader” stuff about him on tumblr, which to me is usually the hallmark of a popular character. but i’ve felt the urge to defend him anyway, and i think it’s because... well. i do think a character can be both popular and misunderstood, and for all the thranduil enthusiasm i’ve seen, i’ve seen just as much thranduil hate and criticism, so clearly something about him has people at odds. specifically, a lot of people seem to think he’s a bad dad, and/or that the peter jackson movies totally butchered his character, which is really interesting to me because i actually believe neither. so i’m going to try to illustrate why! i’ll be primarily discussing movie-verse thranduil in this post, with a few references to the books as a secondary source. so without further ado, here is why i think thranduil is A Good Dad Actually, and the movies are not a “butchering” of but a compelling darker/grittier spin on a character who - since he exists in tolkien’s written works only in a book for children and in the margins of a sprawling and very bloody history - only really works if you reconcile those two things. 

under a cut because as always, this is LONG!

let’s first talk about what seems to be people’s main grievance with movie-verse thranduil: the fact that he’s “turned into this greedy character whose only motive is getting back those gems” when that’s not what he’s like in the book. while it’s definitely true that there are a few key differences between book thranduil and movie thranduil, i actually don’t think that the two versions are so incongruous with each other. the areas where they differ, i think, flesh out movie thranduil into a character who compels beyond his simplified, kid-friendly presentation in the hobbit book and who makes sense within the larger historical context of his world. it’s true that the elvenking in the hobbit isn’t explicitly interested in material gain. he mainly seems to get involved in the battle of the five armies to help out bard, since mirkwood is allied with laketown. and there’s also no mention in the book of the elvenking having lost his wife, even though that’s a key part of his backstory in the hobbit movies. in the movies, those gems that he’s so interested in getting back from the dwarves are actually a necklace that belonged to his wife before she died. he’s still motivated by wanting to help laketown - which is why he shows up before the battle with wagons of food and supplies for the starving people - but he’s also motivated by grief - something deeply personal that none of the other characters (except gandalf, because gandalf knows everything lol) are even aware of, and this, i feel, gives depth to his character. 

the thing is, thranduil seems greedy because none of the other characters know of, and thus inherently cannot understand, his real reason for pursuing the gems. and it’s true - at face value, it doesn’t make sense why he’d seemingly put his people at risk for a random necklace. a pretty harsh reading of thranduil’s motives could even align him with thorin’s dragon-sickness. but remember how the battle of the five armies started? thranduil and bard pulled up with their forces thinking it was gonna be all of them against twelve dwarves and a hobbit lol. they probably thought there’d be no casualties and it’d be over in twenty minutes! they had no way of knowing how many other forces were going to get involved. and when thranduil does see the first elves laying dead on the ground, he tries to draw out. he never wanted to spend his people’s lives like that. he realizes he had been blinded by his grief for his wife and had acted selfishly - and personally, i like this a lot better than the book’s sort of handwave-y explanation for why the elvenking is even bothering to involve himself and his kingdom in the (petty, by his standards) affairs of dwarves and men. because... movie thranduil is not just Like That for no reason. he has a whole history, going wayyy beyond his wife’s death even, that makes him the way he is - and that is what is so satisfying about his portrayal in the movies, because it actually attempts to acknowledge that deeper context. 

we have to remember that thranduil, at least in comparison to pretty much every other character in the hobbit, is old as hell. he reminds us of this multiple times in the movies: “a hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf. i can wait.” for a character who presumably shouldn’t need to worry or think about death, he’s unusually fixated on his own immortality in the movies, a trait that is missing from the books. and while i do get why some readers are charmed by the idea of an elf who doesn’t seem to perceive himself very differently than the men and dwarves he’s surrounded by, i’m a lot more drawn in by the idea of an elf who just can’t forget about how different he is. because if you actually think about where thranduil fits into the bigger history of middle-earth, it’s sort of hard to turn the page back from this darker, more scarred side to him - because yeah, he might live forever if he avoids conflict, but he also knows death in a way that someone like bilbo baggins would not even be able to conceptualize. thranduil was born in doriath in the first age, making him old enough to likely have been involved in not one but two kinslayings against his people. we know nothing about his mother, making it likelier than not that she was lost in one of them when he was still a child. his father, oropher, the original elvenking of the greenwood, was killed in the battle of dagorlad in the second age - the “last stand” of elves against sauron. thranduil, fighting alongside him and the silvan elves, had to watch his father die and then be crowned as the new king right then and there. (also, oropher died in the very first charge of the battle, which then continued on for months. imagine how hard it’d have been to stave off that creeping hopelessness.) and finally, thranduil’s wife was killed in battle at some point not long after their son was born. thranduil’s dragon fire scar on his face is an invention of the movies, and it’s unclear when exactly it happened - at the same battle where he lost his wife? some time earlier? but anyways. i’ve been going on and on about his life for a reason, and that reason is Thranduil Has Seen A Lot Of Shit. it’s easy to look at him in the movies and critique him - why is he so cold? why is he an isolationist ruler when in the books he’s more welcoming (after initially chucking the dwarves in jail, lol)? but the hobbit isn’t really thranduil’s story, so exposing all of this context in the movies wouldn’t have made much sense, would it. and i actually like that there are some gaps, because that’s what makes him so interesting. no one knows his history, and why should they? when it comes down to it, thranduil is just a side character in someone else’s adventure. 

the last thing that i really want to address is thranduil’s relationship with legolas, his son - partly to refute the idea that he’s a bad dad, but also partly to talk about how despite all the griping that i’ve seen about how stupid it was to “randomly” insert legolas into the hobbit movies, it actually made so much sense for both of their characters. obviously, while it’s confirmed elsewhere that thranduil/the elvenking is legolas’s dad, legolas is not actually in the hobbit book. but this, i think, is more so to do with the fact that tolkien wrote the lord of the rings (and invented legolas’s character) after he wrote the hobbit, and less so to do with the idea that legolas is inherently “irrelevant” to the story of the hobbit. because if legolas is irrelevant to the hobbit, then is he irrelevant to thranduil? i really don’t think so, because even though tolkien gave us no clues as to what their relationship might’ve been like, even the fact that they’re father and son is really important. for thranduil, the fact that he has a son adds dimension not just to who he is in the movies - and yes, we see a fraught side of his dynamic with legolas as he has to reconcile with legolas growing up and wanting a freedom that thranduil with his too-deep understanding of the world’s dangers doesn’t want to give - but also to the concept of his character. thranduil has lost so many people he loved in horrible ways that now legolas is all he has left, and consequentially there’s so much talk about him as an oppressive parent, so paranoid of losing him that he keeps him imprisoned inside the always-closed kingdom gates. but at the end of the hobbit movies, thranduil also gives legolas his blessing to go on the quest to destroy the one ring. when it comes down to it, he is willing to let legolas do what's best for him, even knowing that this could be how he loses him. i know thranduil isn’t a perfect parent, that’s pretty obvious lol. but i don’t see how people watch these movies and their takeaway isn’t that he’s at least trying his best and that he does genuinely love his son. also, look at legolas! legolas is clearly proud of his identity as a wood elf. and he’s happy, he’s caring, he’s adventurous, he’s even pretty wise despite being one of the youngest elves. i don’t exactly see a traumatized victim of horrible parenting in him (and believe me, there is no shortage of victims of terrible parenting in the silmarillion/elsewhere in tolkien’s works) - i see a strong and well-adjusted young adult who wouldn’t hesitate to threaten anyone who spoke ill of his father’s kingdom with his bow lol. 

anyway, if you’ve made it this far through my rambling, i hope you can understand at least part of what i’m trying to say lol. it’s hard, because i have so many things i’m kind of trying to say all at once, but: tl;dr i actually think the hobbit movies did thranduil’s character right, not wrong, and that they do the opposite of proving that he’s a bad dad. :3

[lej222]

ASLFUA Rant//

So I was informed that my very first theory posted on here was shared on another platform. While I'm always open to civil discussion and sharing ideas, I was sad to see just how much my words were taken out of context. I want to thank the person who sent me the screenshots and I want to take this opportunity to address and clarify some things that were written about me and my posts:

First of all, a theory is called a theory for a reason. It does not mean I think what I post will 100% happen or it has to happen in the story. I write about possibilities, and I try to support my ideas by using the webtoon as the primary source. Reader interpretation can vary among different people, that's the fun of reading and the very reason why I started posting in this fandom after seeing that these theories hadn't been discussed before.

I have repeatedly emphasized that I do not care about romantic outcomes in this work because I view the webtoon as a growth story. In my ASLFUA ending theory I wrote about the possibility of Jisu ending up together with Miae. At that time, it wasn't a popular theory, that's why I raised the possiblity of it happening. It doesn't mean I won't like the ending if it doesn't come true. It was a theory for a reason. I wrote that if Jisu was only added to the story to create tension between the two main characters, it would mean bad writing. I never said Cheol ending up with Miae would be bad writing. What I meant was that I want Jisu to have his own character development outside of the Cheol-Miae romantic storyline. I firmly believe he will be an important character because there was no way the creator has left clues about him since the beginning if he wasn't going to be relevant to the main plot. Ever since then, I have made many theories about his role in the story, and I never said he definitely has to be a love interest. Please stop taking my words out of context.

Someone accused me of spreading mistranslations, referring to the lines in ch 2 and 4 about how Cheol will be a special person to Miae whom she'll never forget. The official English translation here is not wrong, it's the same in Korean. If you don't believe me, read the comment section on Naver under episode 2. There are a lot of readers who went back to that episode trying to understand why that line was there. It had a very important placement because it was at the end of the episode, right before the cover of the series which itself was also very symbolic. In the comment section readers have made theories about that line and many expressed their sadness over the possibility of the main characters not ending up together. About the emoji added in episode 4 after the same line, it really depends on your interpretation. I have written several posts where I mention how the narrator treats the characters as kids and uses a playful tone reflecting their age and inexperience about the world. This could be one interpretation - the narrator is looking back on these moments, knowing full well what's going to happen, and even if they don't end up together the tone is playful because those feelings are nostalgic (because with time you grow and look back differently on sad memories). Or you could say the narrator is playful because they are lying and the main characters will actually end up together. As of now, we don't know the answer, so anything is possible. The English translation is not wrong, one question about the series is why that sentence was added in the first place, which opens the door to many interesting theories.

Just my personal opinion, but I do not understand why Cheol and Miae not ending up together would ruin the story when they are 14/15 years old. I don't think many people stay with their first loves, especially if they start dating as teenagers. Then would you guys say that your first relationship was meaningless? Every social encounter, especially romantic relationships, are meaningful because they change us in many ways. We always learn from our experiences. Although, if they end up together, that's also good because some people only date once and stay with them for the rest of their lives, it's not impossible, and those people are lucky. I'm just saying for me a bittersweet ending wouldn't cheapen the story. And I don't understand why it would be a copy of 25 21 when ASLFUA was published before that tv series and likely had its ending planned out by that time.

Last of all, every one of us is entitled to our own opinion, I always ephasize that my theories might be totally wrong, they are theories for a reason. I never try to force my opinions on others, that's why I would happy if even if you share my posts, you wouldn't attack me because we have different theories or interpretations about the series. I won't take down my posts because I have very kind readers who might want to read them again, but I wanted to clarify my stance on this whole issue.

[historiavn]

ABOUT THE ROLEPLAYER

◈　NAME　 ⋯ 　callie

◈　PRONOUNS　 ⋯ 　she / they

◈　MOST ACTIVE MUSE(S)?　 ⋯ 　&.

VALORUMS: Shi’al Valorum (Star Wars)

HISTORIAVN: Agatha Morrible (Wicked), Ophelia Chronsturn (Fandomless), Anastasia Andrews-Ismay / RMS Titanic (Historical), Sarah Phillips (Liberty’s Kids / Historical), Abraham Lincoln (Historical), Cassandra Fatesworth (Bridgerton), Ethan Clay (Historical), Robert Todd Lincoln (Historical). I blame my Lincoln family muses on FINALLY getting to have free time for making Actual Progress with the musical that I’ve been developing about his presidency 😭

◈　RP PET PEEVES?　 ⋯ 　&.

People who conflate the muse with the writer. I run into this problem ALL THE TIME with my historical fiction centric muses (ESPECIALLY my historical figures, for obvious reasons), and as I always say in my rules, if someone can’t separate the writer and the muse, then they are not mature enough to write with me. For the MILLIONTH TIME — just because the old dead white guys that I write as hold problematic views doesn’t that I endorse or have those views myself <33333333

Forgetting that plotting is collaborative, and expecting me to do all the work. If you want to interact with me, make an honest effort to match my energy and my contributions during the plotting process. Suggest some ideas and concepts of your own; I don’t bite!

◈　EXPERIENCE/HOW MANY YEARS　 ⋯ 　 I am pretty sure that I've been roleplaying since 2016, which was my freshman year of high school. The musical Hamilton was starting to become popular at that time, so that — as well as the adjacent American Revolution community — was my first RPC. George Washington and John Adams were my very first muses, and Celeste Franklin became my first ever original character created for roleplay. Since then, l've written on Instagram, Discord, and Twitter. Tumblr is probably my favorite platform for roleplay.

◈　FLUFF, ANGST, OR SMUT　 ⋯ 　Out of these three, I like writing a perfect blend of them all. However, my favorite type of roleplay is a secret fourth genre — hurt / comfort.

◈　PLOTS OR MEMES　 ⋯ 　Askbox memes all the way! They are a GREAT way to get interactions going, test the waters of a new dynamic, and start new threads! I also like using them as a springboard for the plotting process. When it comes to “plotting”, I perceive it as an umbrella term that encompasses exchanging headcanons about our muses or discussing character dynamics in detail, so to me it is an ongoing process that begins the moment I reach out to you OOC and continues throughout our roleplays. Plotting only ends when interactions between us end.

◈　LONG OR SHORT REPLIES　 ⋯ 　My replies tend to vary in length, and oftentimes these lengths will match your own. It is the substance that matters to me the most — you just have to give me something to work with by having some form of interaction with my character in your response, and I won’t bat an eye about how long it is.

◈　TIME TO WRITE　 ⋯ 　I try to get my responses done throughout the entire day, but the majority of my writing is typically finished in the afternoon, early evening, and right before I go to bed.

◈　ARE YOU LIKE YOUR MUSES　 ⋯ 　As a writer with multiple muses, the answer is naturally “it depends on the muse”. I’d say that the ones I relate to the most are Shi’al Valorum, Abraham Lincoln (literally why I’m writing a whole entire musical about his struggle with mental health), Sarah Phillips, Emmeline Eisenhower, and maybe Ophelia???

TAGGED BY no one; stolen from @storiesbreathed <333

TAGGING @bijoupreciieux, @honorhearted, @audaciiae, @vyrulent, @redbraid, @greaterfinds, @peculiarbeauty, @frxncaise, @fallesto, @unwaivering, @bloodiedsails, @misfittcd, @0brighta, AND YOU. All tags on dash games are no pressure, so feel free to ignore this if you want! I like to use tags on dash games as a way to let my mutuals know that I see them even if I’ve been quiet or slow to reach out. Please let me know if you do not want me to tag you in dash games.

[lizbethborden]

I never got the hype for Muirs books because they were so oddly plotted and written in super online meme speak which means they’re dated before they come out and honestly come off as really bland YA. Like reading fanfic for a kids cartoon vibes idk like I felt insane watching all my friends laud her as the lesbian writer because the work said otherwise lol but now you’re telling me she’s bi? Wow. Never looked her up but she’s always on my dash and based on how her fans discuss her I always thought she was a lesbian that came out late in life but she has a whole husband? Currently? And people are just eating up the lesbian thing? lol ok. Also lesbian with a male exception is insane people will really say anything to avoid saying BISEXUAL lol

That's how I feel about the books too. They're just truly not very well-written. They're so like memeified fanfiction--that's why I made the comparison to Cassandra Clare. The Mortal Instruments were originally all based on Clare's Harry Potter fanfiction and her writing was incredibly memey (for her time) with tons of lines and plots lifted wholesale from Buffy and similar shows. If every character quips and snarks instead of talking like a normal person, it's just intolerable. It's MCU for wooloowoos and made even worse by the fact that the author is manufacturing clout/authority for herself in a completely-easy-to-disprove way.

I'm not going to say the books have 0 good lines, laughs, or concepts. But their popularity definitely disproves the sense of intellectual superiority tumblrinas et al have re: the media they consume.

[seriousbrat]

If you were to modernise the dynamics of the marauders versus Snape to today’s landscape, how would it be? I think ideas and representations of bullies, popular kids, oddball kids, have all changed a lot - but they still find insidious ways to be mean to each other. Politics have also become more polarised and complex to navigate. Where would they fit?

This is an interesting question! I'm not sure if you mean if they were muggles, or just how I think the dynamics would be represented differently if the books were written today. I do think a lot of the themes are still very relevant today, and in some cases, even more relevant-- for instance the way Snape is a great parallel to the way modern day teenage boys fall down the alt-right pipeline online and become incels. Obviously young boys being radicalised isnt a new thing, but the reason the incel movement fits so well with Snape's story is because of how it's tied to his unrequited feelings for Lily, which seem to mirror the stereotypical narrative of the average sad loner incel who is eternally overlooked by the girl he likes. "Friendzoned" if you will, in favour of the "chad" "alpha male" James, which causes him to join a hate group in rage over the unfairness of life lmao. It fits so well that it's almost prophetic.

You can probably chart the changes in people's attitude towards Snape as time has passed. When DH came out, most people's (including myself) reaction to the Snape reveal was "aww, how sad, poor Snape" and he was viewed as romantic and heroic and tragic for loving Lily. At the time, if you think about it, the story of the shy loser nerd who is in love with and eventually gets the pretty girl was allllll over film and television, and people by and large sympathised with those characters and rooted for them and cursed the girl for not giving this nice guy who loved her soooo much a chance.

In a post-gamergate world, however, we've seen the consequences of male entitlement, because the incel movement is based on the belief that all men inherently deserve access to women. Very often, these consequences are violent. We're incredibly jaded by this and nowadays those sorts of characters are viewed as creepy, entitled, and given little sympathy. as it should be, imo, but you can definitely see how this has altered fan perception of Snape who is generally reviled, particularly by younger fans.

Personally, though, I think this modern lens can make his story more powerful, because it's not about whether Lily should have given him a chance (she shouldn't have) it's about the fact that his actions in the end were truly selfless, the opposite of entitlement. Lily's death was the catalyst, but if it was just about Snape's selfish desire then what is the motivation? She can never love him if she's dead, and there are moments that prove his change of heart, such as his yelling at Phineas for saying "Mudblood" when he previously used the word freely. If it was written today (i mean who knows, it is jkr after all) I think there would probably be more focus on that aspect of Snape than the fact that he loved Lily, which simply doesn't have the impact it once did. people are unimpressed by that narrative, but I think the story of a sincerely reformed incel could still be powerful. Maybe. I think people are also less forgiving nowadays haha, but I still think that teen incels growing up and seeing the error of their ways is a good thing. They may not deserve medals for it, but it's still what we should want for them.

As for the bullying, obviously if they were modern day muggles the internet would be a huge factor, as social media is hugely important for kids nowadays and a lot of bullying takes the form of cyberbullying. I honestly think the themes of class differences and bullying in general are still just as relevant today as they ever were-- although I think we've seen how modern interpretations of SWM have changed. "James SA'd him" was not even remotely a discussion back in the day, I've talked about this before so I don't want to get into it, but it's a good example of something that might be different if it was written today. At the time, that would have just been a typical example of schoolyard bullying, but modern day sensibilities view it differently. The same goes for Snape's mistreatment of his students-- at the time he would have been an average 'mean teacher,' now we view it as abusive. Which is a good thing, don't get me wrong, both offences are incredibly serious and should be viewed as such. I think particularly in the case of SWM it would be written differently today-- in the case of Snape's behaviour as a teacher there's a certain suspension of disbelief just because Hogwarts is a magical school and things there are less realistic. On the other hand, James was a minor and Snape was an adult, so irl different standards would apply.

Anyway, sorry that got so long, it's an interesting topic!

[oikasugayama]

OMG NO BC GENUINELY MORI IS SO FREAKING HOT 😮‍💨😮‍💨😭😭 like…the way that he would consume my life if he wasn’t a child kisser…genuinely concerning 😭 also silly little side note- before i actually got into bsd, I thought Mori and Fyodor were the same person 😣 Mori is dilf Fyodor. I won’t be hearing any other opinions.

But fr in all seriousness, ignoring his silly behaviors, he’s such an interesting and well written character. Literally Asagiri HAD to nerf him. His personality and motivations are actually so interesting. He’d be way too powerful bro. I’d lowkey be such a Mori apologist if he wasn’t a kid diddler 😭😭😖 idc what anyone says, Asagiri will totally give us some weird ass Mori redemption arc explaining why he (contrary to popular belief) only likes legal, adult humans (fukuzawa) TRUSTT 🙏

OMG ALSO!! IT ANNOYS ME SM WHEN PPL CENSOR MORI. IT’S AN ACTUAL NAME DUDE AND ITS DISRESPECTFUL ASF TO PPL W THE NAME

-🪐

There's this pic of young Mori smiling dementedly and it's so fucking hot I can't..... Even current Mori is such a DILF.....if he didn't diddle children....... Hopefully Elise, who isn't a person and is just a manifestation of mori's ability, is the only child knows... He was a surgeon and a combat medic so we know he didn't work with children thank GOD.

Asagiri really said "hm I made this dude too cool, he's a surgeon and he killed the Port Mafia exec, and he worked as a combat doc, and he has hella respect for fukuzawa, hmmmm... Too good, too interesting. People can't question why he's the head of the PM. Let's make him a pedo." 😭😭😭😭😭😭

I had to delete a whole paragraph bc I'm not trying to get the wrath of some antis on my case. I'll just finish this off by reminding everyone that all these characters are lines on paper, they're not real, fanfic isn't real either, people can discuss and write what they want and it is not a reflection of the ideals they support irl!!!! 💙

[thekeeperofbalance]

so while writing my prev post (here) i was reminded of how much i dislike a lot of the canon relationships

mainly bc i'm a person with an excellent eye for unhealthy dynamics (i have much experience with them, but also i'm just very good at detecting power imbalances in relationships) and i felt like discussing them.

keep in mind, i'm fine with ppl who ship (i ship quite a few as well) these. i am just not fine with them being written like they were in canon, because they were deeply unhealthy.

warning: discussions of unhealthy relationships, death relating to valhalla's to-the-death activities (alluded to), abuse, (and because i don't want people clamoring unless they have questions and want me to clarify things, which i am perfectly happy to do, unless your rude) discussions of popular riordanverse ships being toxic/abusive/unhealthy

˚.⋆ 🌱 ⋆.˚

to start: percabeth.

i'll be honest---i haven't ever read hoo, and i never will. i just don't have the patience for it. but when ppl can quote lines abt a relationship being at least toxic, and at most abusive?? i get pushed off any ship real quick.

homes will discuss unhealthy relationships, will display the characters working through the problems presented within their relationships as they grow throughout the story. but i will never, ever, write an endgame toxic and/or abusive ship.

i loved percabeth in the pjo books, for the most part---even if i think it kind of overshadows all the other amazing ships out there, other than solangelo, for the most part. i'm not leaving solangelo out of this either.

anyways, i won't write endgame percabeth. that's just not gonna happen. they'll stay friends, and i've honestly preferred it that way for a long while. they just don't really fit together. i wasn't planning for them to stay together (you will see them together, but there will be some identity shenagins that annabeth will have to realise and imma be going through canon's mess, as well), because of an idea i've had for a while, that eventually birthed the ace-/aro-spec chase joke (magnus in homes is ace, natalie is aro, etc)

˚.⋆ 🌱 ⋆.˚

next: solangelo.

so, something i noticed when reading toa, is that will carries a lot of the emotional burden in his relationship with nico. i mean, he's fucking keeping him alive!! that's not something your partner should have to do. and by that i mean, your partner should not have to bear the burden of being the only thing keeping you alive---that's a fuck-ton of emotional labour, and i will give nico points for seeking some help, but i'm still re-working their relationship.

please do note that almost every relationship change spirals from my main relationship change of alex and magnus's healthy, consensual, and very queer, but not necessarily "typical" to society relationship. most of these characters have never really had a healthy relationship in their faces during their childhoods---i mean, percy has paul and sally, but their relationship is later, and they don't exactly push boundaries to make people reconsider their relationships and emotions. (i.e. alex and magnus are in a non-heterosexual, completely non-sexually-intimate (except for the very rare kiss on the lips, but it never gets further than that), healthy relationship that has extremely close ties to the kids in question)

˚.⋆ 🌱 ⋆.˚

fierrochase.

so, i absolutely adore fierrochase. i think they are, honestly, one of the healthiest relationships displayed within the entire riordanverse (they bow to carter & zia. blitzstone, sam & amir, hazel & frank (i think), and partially sadie x waltnubis which is only partial bc they have problems to work out, btw) that are majorly present and that i consistently remember bc i have adhd shit memory.

but i also must recognise, because this is a point i wish to make for later on, that any dynamic based upon killing your partner is unhealthy. no, i don't care that they can resurrect, that is still fucking traumatising. i will mention that them killing each other/magnus constantly being killed by alex is a mostly fandom-specific plot, so congrats, rick, there's one healthy relationship that's canon (and there are quite a few other ones, but i'm mainly pointing out the idealised ones).

they respect each other's boundaries, are learning about each other, and are taking their time to figure out their relationship. it's not really shown in canon---mainly because we get so little time with alex and magnus in a more-than-friends capacity, but we still see a lot of equal ground between the two of them. which is fucking important.

˚.⋆ 🌱 ⋆.˚

anyways: mallory x halfborn.

y'know the comment i made about dynamics based upon killing your partner are unhealthy a paragraph ago? yeah, this is what i was talking about.

one of the biggest bases, if mallory and halfborn were real, of their relationship would be fear. mainly because you would fear your killer. yeah, you can get desensitized to it, but you shouldn't have to become numb to fear of your partner just to continue being with them. no one is at fault here, and i will show that in the one-shot that discusses mallory & halfborn's relationship. i'm kind of horrified that their relationship is a thing that exists. i mean, can you imagine never knowing when your partner will just to decide to kill you, and did, and has?? even if you can't die permamently, that fear would stick.

especially in homes, where the battle scars stay. magnus will have a scar on their neck from the one time (just the once, and they discussed it afterwards), all of them have scars. (why i changed this will be part of another post.)

i can't write a relationship like that. one of homes' largest themes is healing, is growth, is escaping unhealthy thought patterns and relationships. the song that backs the entire series is don't panic by coldplay, if you wish to know the ideas i'm aiming to represent.

jason & piper, and calypso & leo are also problematic but not generally idealised within the books or by the fandom, and i can cover them later because i don't see much about them (personally) and because i am running out of steam.

lark, out.

[shrinkthisviolet]

Talk Shop Tuesday - so 'main gehra tamas tu sunehra savera (main tera)' is one of the best and most heartbreaking ATLA fics I've ever read, and I'd love to know how you wrote it and what advice you have for anyone who wants to do a fusion fic like that, because the way you combined the two was excellent.

Ahhh thank you, I’m so glad you liked it! To be honest, I wrote it because when I was watching the Hasan x Aisha episode of Ms. Marvel (the flashback one), I kept thinking “wow this would be a really cool Maiko AU”, and then I told one of my friends that, and she basically went “👀👀” because of course she did, she’s my top enabler 😂

So from there, it was just a matter of figuring out the logistics. I’ve had a bunch of fusion crossover ideas (and this isn’t even the first fusion fic I’ve written for Maiko), but logistics are definitely the tricky part…though here, it wasn’t altogether difficult.

Here’s the link to the fic for those who don’t know it! More discussion about it (+ advice about fusion fics) under the cut:

It meant ATLA canon divergence, obviously, because canon Maiko wouldn’t jive with this - they’ve known each other since they were small kids. So, in this version, I decided they never did. Mai met Azula and Ty Lee after Zuko’s banishment, and they were friends. Three years pass Ty Lee runs off to join the circus, and Ozai pushes for Azula to be declared Crown Princess a year early on her upcoming 15th birthday, since Zuko is of age to be Crown Prince but not around to actually be declared so.

Ofc the Sages are reluctant, since Zuko is only missing and not dead, so Azula convinces Mai to go out and find Zuko and bring him back to be executed.

(And also, btw, in this fic, Zuko isn’t involved in any of the Avatar business. He just kinda went off and made a quiet life for himself somewhere else. Maybe Iroh was with him at one point, but…he isn’t anymore, because that didn’t fit the framing of this fic.)

And that, in essence, lays the groundwork. This enables Mai and Zuko to meet much like Hasan and Aisha did, on a distant farmhouse where they then fall in love. The rest of it kinda fell into place after that…though ofc with the addition of Izumi.

And ofc Aisha’s “magic” became Zuko’s rainbow fire here - presumably he learned the proper way to firebend during his years away, and his firebending can change color at will now.

Honestly, my advice for fusion fics is this: I haven’t written all my fusion fic ideas, because some of them just don’t get to the writing stage, but for the ones that do, the logistics fell into place because I went “okay, I clearly need to change canon, but what do I have to change and what can I keep?” Be open to possibly having to throw out chunks of canon that you might’ve liked, to make it fit in a fusion…but if it doesn’t work, then don’t force it. Most people won’t get too hung up on the little details, but you’re the writer - if you’re not satisfied with it, then that’ll show in the fic. It’s okay if an idea doesn’t work…and maybe it will later, you never know! Just give it time, and be patient with it. Fusion fics tend to be tricky beasts, but they’re incredibly satisfying to get right. More power to anyone who has written a fusion fic (or multiple), I salute you. It’s not easy.

Oh also…suggestion: don’t expect them to be popular 😂 even if you’re combining two very popular fandoms, it’s not always a guarantee that people will like it, because crossovers aren’t always popular (Arrowverse shows being the exception, because tbh they’re all one big fandom). This one WAS fairly popular, much to my pleasant surprise—it’s still one of my most popular fics—but my other fusion fic wasn’t so much. And that’s fine—I had fun writing it, and the person I wrote it for loved it, and that’s all I needed. If even a few people are happy with my fic and touched by it, and it makes me happy, that’s worth it 💞

talk shop tuesday!

[sokkastyles]

So, this is a post for another fandom, but the discussion of Azula and Zuko came up in it, and OP revealed themselves as an Azula apologist. Thought you might be interested.

What's so funny about this is that before OP goes on their rant (so tired of people misusing feminist talking points to excuse abusive behavior) they themselves actually hit on, then immediately dismiss, the reason why people like Zuko more than Catra.

"just because her redemption arc wasn't as good"

Like, that's it. That's the thing. It doesn't matter what actions Zuko did that might be worse (although given what OP later writes, I would seriously question that statement). We're talking about stories, so the character who has a better written arc is going to be liked more, and that's that. It has nothing to do with gender at all. It also has nothing to do with who did what when they were a villain, because if the redemption isn't believable enough, it doesn't matter. Zuko has a better written story and in the land of fiction, that is always going to be more forgivable.

You could argue that there is misogyny in the fact that we don't get enough female characters who are as well-written as Zuko, but I'm a feminist who reads enough fiction that I don't need to pretend something is a good story just because it's female-led. I think a lot of people wanted the She-Ra show to be good for that reason, but in the end, consuming media isn't activism. And from what I've seen of the relationship between Catra and Adora - hell, from the way people talk about Azula, too - a LOT of people will forgive shitty behavior if a woman is doing it on the grounds of "feminism," and that's not only not feminist - how many women suffer because of Catra and Azula's actions? - it's extremely dangerous because it perpetuates the idea that women cannot be abusers.

You want good female representation? Maybe read a book instead of putting all your money on one or two popular cartoon series.

Now that I got THAT out of my system, there's a lot wrong with what OP says about Azula.

None of what OP says to defend Azula is feminist. Like, they don't even attempt to back up this claim the way some Azula stans do, they just say it like they think declaring themselves a feminist makes it so. And then they spend most of the post bashing Ursa, natch. OP will not explain why defending Azula is feminist (because it isn't), but I can explain why bashing Ursa is misogyny. Because you're taking a female character we know barely anything about other than that she was a mother and that she was fridged for the main characters, and insisting she must have been a bad mother based on minimal evidence. Even though we know why her children acted the way they did and we know it had to do with the negative actions of their father. Blaming Ursa for Azula is misogynist because it is shifting blame from a male abuser to a female character who was his victim, and focusing the blame on how she was a bad mother, with very little evidence that she was. But reducing a female character to motherhood and criticizing her for not being saintly is absolutely misogyny.

Where is it "expanded on in the comics" that Ursa gave up on Azula? Or that Azula acted out for Ursa's attention?

Here we see Ursa spending time with both her kids. Azula hangs back because she sees a flower in the garden that isn't as pretty, and waits until Ursa's back is turned to burn it. Then, when Zuko tells on her, she burns Zuko. Azula isn't trying to get Ursa's attention here. She waits until Ursa isn't looking and is mad when she gets negative attention from Ursa because Zuko told on her. She did not want her mother to notice her burning the flower. But when her mother does notice, Azula explains why she did it. Because it wasn't as pretty. It's very obvious what's going on here. Azula is acting out, but not because she's being neglected by her mother. She's acting out in the ways her father groomed her to act out, because her father taught her that if something isn't the best, it's worthless and deserves to be hurt. She then applies this to Zuko, who she thinks deserves to be hurt because he told on her.

And this is a pattern of behavior for Azula that we see not only in the comics, but the series itself. In "Zuko Alone," far from acting out to get her mother's attention because she "gave up on her," we see Azula lie to her mother so that she can get Zuko to play with her, with the purpose of playing a mean prank on Zuko.

Azula appeals to the fact that she knows Ursa thinks she and her brother should get along. If Azula was desperate for her mother's attention, if Ursa gave up on her, Azula would not be able to successfully lie to her mother this way.

What these scenes show is not that Ursa gave up on Azula or that Azula lacked attention from her mother, but that even at a young age (which was more like 8, actually) Azula was influenced by her father's cruelty and acted it out on others, and knew how to manipulate her mother in order to get what she wanted. Shifting blame onto Ursa for trying to teach her child right from wrong, for trying to protect her other child, is misogyny.

Also "Zuko let his insecurities get in the way of his relationship with Azula" is a weird way of saying that Azula deliberately played on Zuko's insecurities to hurt him. Like, you cannot ignore that the reason Zuko is insecure is, in large part, because of Azula, because she provokes his insecurites and then blames him for feeling insecure. This is victim blaming.

Also, the doll thing. I am so tired, y'all. If you automatically assume Azula getting a doll from her uncle is proof he doesn't care about her, who is the misogynist again? If the show wanted us to think this was a thoughtless, sexist, or even misguided gift, that would be shown. We would see Iroh ignoring hints that Azula does not like dolls. Instead, what we see is Azula getting a gift from a relative who hasn't seen her in years, and she burns it because it isn't exactly what she wanted, and then says she hopes her uncle dies. This says FAR more about Azula than it does Iroh, and it is meant to. The OP then goes on to say that Azula was right about Iroh when she mocked his son's death and said he should have burned Ba Sing Se to the ground, but then says he committed more crimes and bloodshed than her, conversely. What bloodshed? We're shown no bloodshed because this is a nickelodeon cartoon show. But we ARE shown Azula mocking Iroh for not being more violent. So don't tell me Iroh is somehow worse. Azula's coup on Ba Sing Se would not be bloodless if this was Game of Thrones, and overthrowing a city using deception isn't more moral than a siege.

Azula also was not "right" about Iroh in the way OP claims because they make it seem like she objected to Iroh ending the siege because she cared about her nation and people. That is not what she said. She said he should have burned the city to the ground to be "a real general." This, and Azula's other actions, such as giving irrational orders and making threats when they aren't carried out from her introductory episode, show that Azula has no real concept of statecraft beyond how to violently assert power, and we know who taught her that.

Also, Azula did not immediately apologize to Ty Lee after making her cry by slut-shaming her (how often the "feminists" forget that). She begrudgingly apologized, and then made it about herself and what Ty Lee should do for her.

Okay, okay, calm down. I didn't mean what I said. [Frontal view over Ty Lee's shoulder.] Look, maybe I just said it because I was a little ... [Whispers.] jealous.

I know people make a lot of this because it's a rare scene of Azula being accountable for her actions, but that alone should tell you something. It doesn't make Azula this kind and compassionate soul. It's not even a great apology. Sincere apologies do not begin with "Okay, okay, calm down." Azula just told her friend that boys only like her because she's easy. The fact that Ty Lee forgives her, especially after everything Azula did to her, makes Ty Lee a saint. And then Azula has a very difficult time admitting that she is jealous, because of course she does. And yes, I know, people make a lot of this because it's Azula, and yeah, it probably did take a lot of effort for Azula to admit that Ty Lee was better at her at something, but that is because Azula is egotistical and selfish and cruel to even her "friends."

And Mai...Azula does not get points for not understanding that she can't force Mai to murder her boyfriend for Azula. Azula asking Mai why she did it even though she "knew the consequences" again shows how little regard Azula has for even her friends, who she thinks she can control using threats. Azula thought she could use Mai to control Zuko and then when Mai's feelings were inconvenient, expected Mai to just watch Zuko die, and is so offended when that doesn't happen.

Also, Zuko never worked on his anger issues? It is literally a major plot point that Zuko says he doesn't want to rely on anger anymore and finds another way. And I've talked about this before, but this idea that Azula is so calm and collected is utterly ridiculous. You only have to look at the examples I mentioned above, but also many more, to see Azula fly into a rage at the slightest provocation, make threats, act out violently, and attempt to control others through fear to see that that is not true. The real difference is that Azula thinks she is justified in acting this way, and when that stops getting her results, rather than trying to change and learning to understand and value other people, she has a breakdown. You have to misunderstand Azula's entire arc to not get that. It is literally explained to us at every opportunity in the narrative.

Conclusion: if you claim to be a feminist, act like one and get to know some feminist theory. And just because you're a woman does not exclude you from being an idiot.

[starsailores]

Hit me wirh 11, 23, 24 and 30 for holland vosijk!!! 18, 19, 25 and 28 for kell maresh as well!!

cats i hope you are ready for me to lose my fucking mind. adsom spoilers incoming

holland vosijk:

11 - first thing when you think about when you think about them: "'vosijk', he almost said. 'my name is holland vosijk.' but it didn't matter now.". there is so much emotion packed into that line and i have it written on a post-it note stuck to my laptop, so that i can suffer emotionally every time i open it. i cannot think about him without the agonies striking

23 - future headcanon: if he had survived a conjuring of light, he would have worked on improving relations between arnes and makt in order to try and undo some of the damage caused by osaron's disappearance. dying is not the only sacrifice a person can make, and the most selfless thing holland could have done at that point was keep living and keep fighting, and in doing so the magic would gradually be able to return. he makes a better diplomat than ruler, seeing as he never wanted the crown, though he would have reclaimed it until he found someone he trusted enough to take over.

24 - what do you think is a secret they have never told anyone: hm. the danes and osaron would have gotten anything they wanted out of him, and he would have told vortalis a lot of things, but i dont think he would have willingly shared the story of how vor died, both because of the vulnerability it entailed and the fact that he never stopped blaming himself. the wound is too raw even seven years later for him to be able to talk about it, and the one person he could discuss it with was dead

30 - funniest scene: giving another one of his scenes that makes me smile. when he is imprisoned beneath the soner rast, a group of guards come in to attack him on behalf of lila, and he just sits there as kell comes in and threatens to attack them all because he 'thought they wanted bloodsport'. only after they leave does holland say anything, and the bastard simply says 'my hero' and attempts to move on. i believe this was also when kell said (paraphrasing) 'you seem awfully good at making enemies. have you ever tried making friends?'. everybody knows this man is a cunt and he does nothing to dispel the rumours.

kell maresh:

18 - how do you think they were as a kid: this largely aligns with canon, but he was simultaneously quiet and cocky. he would never go out of his way to interact with people outside of the palace + tieren, but he was well aware of his intelligence and skill, and willing to flaunt it to get his way or piss people off (see: fletcher). simultaneously a sweet kid and the most infuriating type of child to try and interact with.

19 - most random ship you've seen: the two most popular kell ships are kellila and kellholland, both of which i am fond of, and the adsom fandom is not big enough for rarepairs to be common, so i have not really seen any random ships with him. that being said. i do not like kell/rhy or kell/rhy/alucard, for obvious reasons, though i have stumbled upon it on ao3 before

25 - when do you think they acted most ooc: this is a hard one, probably when he inadvertently convinced king george iii that he could fly. it is the sort of trick kell would pull on someone from grey london that he disliked, but he was fond of george, and putting someone unstable in a dangerous position, especially when he cared about them, is unlike kell. because that man does not care easily, but he cares very deeply.

28 - most unnecessary thing they ever did: discounting the whole 'kay' thing in threads, because i have only read it once and do not have access to the book right now to elaborate accurately, throwing holland's body into black london. logically, i understand it. emotionally, it was uncalled for, and if he hadn't done that, osaron never would have been set free, and he wouldn't have suffered the issues with his magic post-acol. he said the man had suffered enough and then sent his mutilated body to faux-hell. holland did not deserve that.